Selecting a new pope has always been an arduous process, but some conclaves seemed to suffer more than others… 1268-71 – The longest papal election in history lasted two years and nine months – mainly due to factional infighting between cardinals. Three of the 20 cardinal electors died before a decision was made.
The meeting held to elect a new pope after the death of Pope Leo XIII in 1903. Photograph: Print Collector/Getty Images
Modern-day conclaves are steeped in mystery: cardinal electors swear an oath of secrecy – and so do the cooks, drivers, medics and others who support their deliberations. Before the conclave begins next week, the Sistine Chapel will be swept for electronic bugs, jamming devices will be installed, and special coatings will be placed on windows to stop laser scanners picking up anything audible.
It wasn’t always this way: in the past, letters, diaries and other writings by cardinals and their attendants gave revealing accounts of what happened in the meetings convened in order to choose a pope.
Here, with the help of the historians Vanessa Corcoran of Georgetown University in Washington and Miles Pattenden of the University of Oxford, we look at some of the more noteworthy conclaves from the past.
After the truth-shower 