| Papal conclave August 1492 | |
|---|---|
| Dates and location | |
| 6–11 August 1492 Sistine Chapel, Apostolic Palace, Papal States | |
| Key officials | |
| Dean | Rodrigo Borja |
| Sub-dean | Oliviero Carafa |
| Camerlengo | Raffaele Riario |
| Protopriest | Luis Juan del Mila y Borja (substituted by Girolamo Basso della Rovere) |
| Protodeacon | Francesco Piccolomini |
| Election | |
| Ballots | 4 |
| Elected pope | |
| Rodrigo Borja Name taken: Alexander VI | |
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The 1492 papal conclave (6–11 August) was convened after the death of Pope Innocent VIII (25 July 1492). It was the first papal conclave to be held in the Sistine Chapel.[1]
Cardinal Rodrigo Borja was elected unanimously on the fourth ballot as Pope Alexander VI. The election is notorious for allegations that Borja bought the votes of his electors, promising them lucrative appointments and other material gifts. Concerns about this conclave were among the reasons that Pope Julius II — who was at the time of the election one of the foremost candidates and participants, as Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere — enacted stronger rules against simony in 1503, shortly after Alexander VI's death in the same year. In the 1492 conclave, Charles VIII of France reportedly bankrolled 200,000 ducats (plus 100,000 ducats from the Doge of Genoa) for the election of Giuliano della Rovere.