It began on 20 March 1724 and ended on 28 May that year with the election of Cardinal Vincenzo Maria Orsini, a Dominican friar, as Pope Benedict XIII.

Innocent was elected unanimously with the prospect that he might cooperate with both Bourbon France and the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor.

[2][1] At the start of the conclave, electors from the zelanti faction attempted to elect Giuseppe Renato Imperiali, but this was not possible because of his unpopularity with both France and Spain.

[2][4] Charles VI had instructed his representative to the papal court Maximilian Ulrich von Kaunitz to work closely with Álvaro Cienfuegos to elect a candidate he favoured.

Albani did not support this because he had not been a part of the negotiations despite being the original elector to suggest Piazza, and undermined his election by proposing Vincenzo Orsini as an alternate candidate.

Members of religious orders at the time were often respected by the cardinals but rarely elected, with Benedict XIII being only the fourth since the Council of Trent.

[9][10] Unlike the other mendicants elected to the papacy in this period, he was of noble birth, being the eldest son of the Duke of Gravina, but had forfeited his rights to his father's title to enter the Dominicans.