The cardinals loyal to the Bourbons proposed the name of Pompeo Aldrovandi, but he fell just short of securing the two-thirds majority required.

[8]On 17 August in the evening, Lambertini was elected Pope, receiving the ballots of more than the required two-thirds of the fifty-one Cardinals present.

Giovanni Angelo Braschi, later Pope Pius VI, attended the conclave while still a layman as assistant to Cardinal Ruffo.

[10] The young Horace Walpole, who was in Rome at the time, attempted to attend the coronation but gave up because he found the waiting interminable.

"[11] Of the sixty-eight cardinals living at the death of Pope Clement XII, four died during the sede vacante and fifty-one took part in the final ballot.