All Vatican elections

1243 Papal Election

elected Innocent IV

16 May–25 June 1243 · The first papal elections · Anagni Cathedral

The 1243 papal election (16 May – 25 June) elected Cardinal Sinibaldo Fieschi of Genoa to succeed Pope Celestine IV. The conclave began after the Holy See had been vacant for 18 months and six days, therefore ca.

Elected pope

Innocent IV

Sinibaldo Fieschi

Succeeded

Celestine IV

Duration

41 days

Cardinal electors

pre-conclave election

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.