The tragic death of the much beloved Pope Julius II on February 21, 1513 came as a shock to the College of Cardinals. Actually he wasn't particularly well liked and it wasn't particularly shocking that he died after being ill for months so as it turned out many Cardinals made their way to Rome to pay their last respects to Pope Julius II, and also make sure they were there when he died so they could partake in the conclave.

After the funeral mass of Pope Julius II on March 12, 1513, the Cardinals rapidly began preparations. Nobody knew who the Pope would be, and the betting odds reflected that uncertainty. Some four cardinals were all marked as papabile, Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, Cardinal Raffaele Riario, nephew of Pope Julius II though not always friendly with his uncle, Cardinal Domenico Grimani of Venice, and Cardinal Giovanni de Medici of Florence.

The bull of Julius II against simony was read on Thursday, March 10. It had recently been reenacted by the pope, on February 16, 1513. In stark contrast with the Conclave of 1503, and in obedience to Pope Julius II's bull against the practice, there would be no simony at the Conclave of 1513.

As it turned out, Cardinal Ippolito d'Este had been plotting a church council to reform the church, oh and also to depose Pope Julius II. The Council was to meet without the Pope's approval and attracted attention from the Spanish and French cardinals, as well a few Italians dissatisfied with Pope Julius II. Cardinal d'Este was the preferred candidate of the French and Spanish monarchs. Controversially though, the d'Este family was closely tied to the Borgias and consistently clashed with Pope Julius II.

Cardinal Raffaele Riario enjoyed support mostly from Italian and Palatine cardinals. His standing as a nephew of the Holy Father gave him support from the della Rovere cardinals. Additionally, as a native of Rome, he was not coming from a region which would offend any foreign power and immediately antagonize the Papacy's neighbours. A famed diplomat and politician, he would certainly adeptly navigate any temporal crises.

Cardinal Domenico Grimani, a Venetian cardinal, was a great scholar and patron of the arts. As Venice's preferred candidate, he enjoyed the support of the Venetian cardinals. Grimani did not enjoy as much initial support as d'Este and Riario however he had two important tools on his side: he was a relatively inoffensive candidate, and the well-respected Cardinal Tamás Bakócz supported him. Venice is Italian so the Italian cardinals would respect him, and Venice had not really involved themselves in any of the affairs of the peninsula so they had not made too many great enemies.

Cardinal Giovanni de Medici was very well liked by his fellow cardinals, but not very well liked by any temporal rulers because of his family name. The man himself was by most assessments the best amongst the cardinals. Additionally, the relatively large Florentine contingent would support him.

The first scrutiny reflected the uncertainty we entered the conclave with. Cardinal Riario led with 8 votes, Cardinal Ippolito d'Este closely followed with 7 votes, Cardinal de Medici followed with 6 with the rest of the votes scattered between Cardinals Grimani, Serra and Carretto.

The Serra and Carretto blocs quickly collapsed with the influential Cardinal Bainbridge switching to Grimani, and together with Bakocz, they convinced a few other cardinals to join. Cardinal d'Este enjoyed two defections from the de Medici camp, the most influential being Cardinal Sigismondo Gonzaga. However d'Este lost the support of Cardinal d'Aragona to Cardinal Grimani. Cardinal Riario gained votes from Cardinal Carretto and Serra. The ballots after the second were as follows: Cardinal Riario led with 10, Cardinal d'Este followed with 8, Cardinal Grimani then had 7, and Cardinal de Medici held 5.

The de Medici bloc saw the writing on the wall and, after negotiations, he moved his 5 votes to Cardinal Grimani. Cardinals Sanseverino and de Remolins moved to Riario from d'Este making the count of the scrutiny as follows: Riario with 13, Grimani with 12, and d'Este with 5. Cardinal d'Este knew that he had to shift his votes and gave the instruction to his cardinals accordingly.

It was clearly down to just Riario and Grimani. The two men entered Grimani's cell and spoke long into the night in negotiations, in the morning the other cardinals entered to greet the man who would become Pope. This man will face great challenges, beginning with his promise to immediately call a council upon election.

Before the crowd outside of the Basilica of St. John the Lateran the great announcement was made by Cardinal-protodeacon Giovanni de Medici:

Gaudium magnum nuntio vobis! Papam habemus, Reverendissimum Dominum Domenicus Grimanus Cardinalem Presbyteri Sancti Niccolai de colleseum, qui vocatur Pio Quatrus