Cardinal Lamberto left Rome with a large sum of money and several documents. Fearing that their corruption will be exposed, Keinszig, Lucchesi, and Gilday plot to murder the Pope. Gilday poisons the pontiff's tea, killing him in his sleep. The character of Lamberto and the film's depiction of the events which led to his murder are based upon one of the conspiracy theories surrounding the sudden death of the real-life Pope John Paul I, Albino Luciani. Like the Lamberto character, Luciani was discovered dead in his bed in 1978, 33 days after his election to the papacy. Various theories, such as the
Pope Valentine papal electoral process. Not only had they managed to get one of their own elected, but they also took part in the election itself. The Lateran Council of 769, under Pope Stephen III, had mandated that the election of the pope was to be the responsibility of the Roman clergy only, and that the nobility could only offer their respects after the pope had been chosen and enthroned. This gradual encroachment into the papal electoral process would reach its nadir during the tenth century, when the papacy became the plaything of the Roman aristocracy. Pope Valentine Pope Valentine (in Latin: