All Vatican elections

1676 Conclave

elected Innocent XI

2 August – 21 September 1676 · The early modern conclaves · Apostolic Palace, Papal States

After the death of Pope Clement X on 22 July 1676, the College of Cardinals convened in Rome to elect a successor. The college consisted of 67 members: 44 of them took part at the opening of the conclave, and the number rose to 63 when others finally arrived from abroad.

Elected pope

Innocent XI

Benedetto Odescalchi

Succeeded

Clement X

Duration

51 days

Cardinal electors

locked in under conclave rules

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.