All Vatican elections

1254 Papal Election

elected Alexander IV

11–12 December 1254 · The first papal elections · Naples

The 1254 papal election (11–12 December) took place following the death of Pope Innocent IV and ended with the choice of Raynaldus de' Conti, who took the name Pope Alexander IV. The election was held in Naples, in the former palazzo of Pietro della Vigna, and required only one day.

Elected pope

Alexander IV

Rinaldo dei Conti

Succeeded

Innocent IV

Duration

2 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.