All Vatican elections

1268–1271 Papal Election

elected Gregory X

1 December 1268 – 1 September 1271 · The first papal elections · Palace of the Popes in Viterbo

The papal election that followed the death of Pope Clement IV lasted from 1 December 1268 to 1 September 1271 and was the longest in the history of the Catholic Church. This was due primarily to political infighting between the cardinals.

Elected pope

Gregory X

Teobaldo Visconti

Succeeded

Clement IV

Duration

2.8 years

Not less than 137

Cardinal electors

pre-conclave election

Key officials

DeanOdo of Châteauroux

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.