All Vatican elections

1154 Papal Election

elected Adrian IV

4 December 1154 · The first papal elections · Old St. Peter's Basilica, Rome

Pope Anastasius IV died on 3 December 1154 in Rome, at a very advanced age. The College of Cardinals assembled in Old St.

Elected pope

Adrian IV

Nicholas Breakspear

Succeeded

Duration

1 day

Cardinal electors

pre-conclave election

Key officials

DeanImar of Tusculum

Ballot-by-ballot tallies are destroyed by design — the paper is burned in the stove whose smoke announces the result — so this entry records what the Church documents: the dates, the electors, the number of ballots where known, and the man who walked out onto the balcony.