Pope Francis passed away this week, the first Jesuit and first man from the Americas to assume the Papacy. His death triggers a new election for the position – a conclave, named for the practice of locking the cardinals in a building until they can agree on a candidate.

The reason for this goes back to the 13th century. After the death of Clement IV in 1268, the cardinals took nearly three years to decide on a successor. The split was between the Angevin faction – those who supported Charles of Anjou and his military hegemony over the Italian peninsula – and the remaining cardinals who opposed this development. To become Pope, a candidate needed to have a majority of two-thirds of those voting – this was not going to be forthcoming.

Charles of Anjou was in the city of Viterbo (the place Clement IV died and therefore the site of the conclave) for the entirety of the election, so nobody quite dared to install a candidate who opposed him. The cardinals instead stalled for time, with Charles and his supporters trying to break their resolve – they locked everyone in one building to force the electors to negotiate, reduced their diet to bread & water and eventually resorted to removing the roof in order to expose the clergymen to the elements.

Finally, in 1271, an Italian named Visconti was elected to the Papacy. He was not one of the cardinals at the conclave – in fact, he was over a thousand miles away, in the Crusader stronghold of Acre and under the protection of Edward Longshanks, eldest son of Henry III of England. Visconti would reach Italy the following year and take the name Gregory X – he is one of only six popes to have not also held the position of cardinal.