1261 Papal Election
elected Urban IV26 May – 29 August 1261 · The first papal elections · Palazzo dei Papi di Viterbo
The 1261 papal election (26 May – 29 August) took place after the death of Pope Alexander IV on 25 May and chose Pope Urban IV as his successor. Since Pope Alexander had been resident in Viterbo since the first week of May 1261, the meeting of the cardinals to elect his successor took place in the Episcopal Palace at Viterbo, which was next to the Cathedral of S.
Elected pope
Urban IV
Jacques Pantaléon
Succeeded
Alexander IV
Duration
3 months
80 ballots
Cardinal electors
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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.