Papal election, 1198

The papal election of January 8, 1198 was convoked after the death of Pope Celestine III; it ended with the election of Cardinal Lotario dei Conti di Segni, who took the name Innocent III. In this election for the first time the new pope was elected per scrutinium.

Pope Celestine III had been elected to the papacy in 1191 at the age of 85. In spite of his very advanced age, his pontificate lasted almost seven years. On Christmas Day, 1197 the 91-year-old Pope expressed the wish to abdicate the papacy on condition that his close collaborator Cardinal Giovanni di San Paolo would be elected the new pope. The cardinals rejected the suggestion as inconsistent with the rule that papal elections must be free ones. Shortly thereafter, on January 8, 1198, Celestine III died and the cardinals present at his deathbed immediately started proceedings for the election of his successor.

At the death of Celestine III there were 29 cardinals in the Sacred College. However, no more than 21 were present at Rome:

Four electors were created by Celestine III, five by Lucius III, one by Alexander III and the remaining thirteen by Clement III.

At least eight cardinals were absent:

On the same day that Celestine III had died the cardinals assembled in Septizonium in the voluntary enclosure. For the first time the electors voted by scrutiny (per scrutinium). Some cardinals were elected scrutineers; they counted the votes, recorded the result and announced it to the rest of the Sacred College. In the first scrutiny Cardinal Giovanni di Salerno received the greatest number of votes (ten), but declared that he would not accept the election to the pontificate. In the second scrutiny the cardinals united their votes in favor of 37-year-old Cardinal Lotario dei Conti di Segni, deacon of SS. Sergio e Bacco, who was the youngest of all the cardinals. He accepted his election and took the name Innocent III, maybe as a reference to his predecessor Innocent II (1130-1143), who had succeeded in asserting the Papacy's authority over the emperor (in contrast with Celestine III's recent policy). .

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