The 1513 papal conclave, occasioned by the death of Pope Julius II on 21 February 1513, opened on 4 March with twenty-five cardinals in attendance, out of a total number of thirty-one. The Conclave was presided over by Cardinal Raffaele Sansoni Riario, who was both Dean of the College of Cardinals and Cardinal Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church (Camerlengo). Voting began on 10 March, and there were only two Scrutinies. Negotiations after the first balloting led to the election of Cardinal Giovanni de'Medici, the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent and the de facto ruler of Florence, as Pope Leo X on the morning of 11 March.
1513 papal conclave
Rafaele Riario was a leading candidate in the Conclave. Riario, a former member of the Pazzi conspiracy against the Medici, would later be caught plotting against Leo X and be forced to surrender the Palazzo della Cancelleria to avoid execution.
Pope Leo X was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death, in December 1521.
Detail from Raphael's Portrait of Leo X
Santa Maria in Domnica
Raphael's Portrait of Leo X with cardinals Giulio de' Medici (later Pope Clement VII) and Luigi de' Rossi, his first cousins, (Uffizi gallery, Florence)
Bulla Contra errores Martini Lutheri of 1521
