All Vatican elections

1914 Conclave

elected Benedict XV

31 August – 3 September 1914 · The modern conclaves · Sistine Chapel, Apostolic Palace, Kingdom of Italy

A conclave was held from 31 August to 3 September 1914 to elect a new pope in succession to Pius X, who had died on 20 August. Of the 65 members of the College of Cardinals, all but eight attended.

Elected pope

Benedict XV

Giacomo della Chiesa

Succeeded

Duration

4 days

10 ballots

Cardinal electors

57

locked in under conclave rules

Key officials

DeanSerafino Vannutelli
CamerlengoFrancesco Salesio Della Volpe

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.