Pope Pius II died on August 14, 1464, in Ancona during preparations for the crusade against the Ottoman Empire.

At the time of his death, there were 29 living cardinals, but only 19 of them participated in the conclave:[1] Ten electors were Italian, four Spaniards, four French and one Greek.

Bessarion, d'Estouteville, Trevisan, Carvajal, Torquemada and Barbo were mentioned as main papabili in the contemporary reports of the ambassadors and envoys of Italian Princes.

[5] He took the name Paul II,[6] and a little bit later protodeacon Rodrigo Borgia announced the election to the people of Rome with the ancient formula Habemus Papam.

On September 6 the new pope was solemnly crowned on the steps of the patriarchal Vatican Basilica by Cardinal Niccolò Fortiguerra, priest of the title of S.