All Vatican elections

1846 Conclave

elected Pius IX

14–16 June 1846 · The long nineteenth century · Quirinal Palace, Papal States

A conclave was held from 14 to 16 June 1846 to elect a new pope to succeed Gregory XVI, who had died in 1 June. Of the 62 members of the College of Cardinals, all but twelve attended.

Elected pope

Pius IX

Giovanni Mastai-Ferretti

Succeeded

Gregory XVI

Duration

3 days

4 ballots

Cardinal electors

50

locked in under conclave rules

Key officials

DeanLudovico Micara
CamerlengoTommaso Riario Sforza

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.