1198 Papal Election
elected Innocent III8 January 1198 · The first papal elections · Septizodium, Rome[1]
The 1198 papal election (held 8 January) was convoked after the death of Pope Celestine III; it ended with the election of Cardinal Lotario dei Conti di Segni, who took the name Innocent III. In this election for the first time the new pope was elected per scrutinium.
Elected pope
Innocent III
Lotario dei Conti di Segni
Succeeded
Celestine III
Duration
1 day
2 ballots
Cardinal electors
—
pre-conclave election
Key officials
| Dean | Konrad von Wittelsbach |
| Camerlengo | Cencio Savelli |
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.