All Vatican elections

1492 Conclave

elected Alexander VI

6–11 August 1492 · The early modern conclaves · Sistine Chapel, Apostolic Palace, Papal States

A papal conclave was held from 6 to 11 August 1492 to elect a new pope to succeed Innocent VIII, who had died on 25 July 1492. Of the 27 members of the College of Cardinals, all but four attended.

Elected pope

Alexander VI

Roderic de Borja

Succeeded

Innocent VIII

Duration

6 days

4 ballots

Cardinal electors

locked in under conclave rules

Key officials

DeanRoderic de Borja
CamerlengoRaffaele Riario

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.