, the candidate of Louis XII There were thirty-nine cardinal electors. Cardinal
Georges d'Amboise was the favorite of Louis XII, and also expected the support of the faction of Cardinal
Giuliano della Rovere (future Pope Julius II), who had fled to France due to a dispute with Alexander VI. Furthermore, Charles VII and later Louis XII had been campaigning of d'Amboise's behalf for years and had entered into a secret treaty with Cesare Borgia for the support of the eleven Spanish cardinals (more loyal to Cesare than the Spanish monarch) in exchange for the maintenance of his numerous territorial claims.
Ascanio Sforza, who had been taken prisoner by the French in 1500 when they captured
Milan, was also freed in exchange for his promise to vote for d'Amboise. D'Amboise was also bankrolled with a large sum of gold and—according to the Venetian ambassador—no attempt at bribe or threat was spared. The Roman crowds hailed him as the next pope when he triumphantly entered the city on September 10. A French agent informed the college that the king would regard it as a "major affront" were the conclave to begin before the arrival of d'Amboise and the other French cardinals. Della Rovere, from Genoa, also sent a courier to demand the college await his arrival as well. Rather than begin the conclave after the proscribed ten days after the pope's funeral, the college opted to delay Alexander VI's funeral to accommodate these demands, and the conclave was entered on September 21. d'Amboise and his supporters were able to arrive in time and only two of the eight absent cardinals were French. The thirty-nine cardinal-electors made the election the largest since the creation of the
conclave.
The papabile The Roman bookmakers, accustomed to
gambling on papal elections, did not regard d'Amboise's election as certainly as the Roman public. His odds were set at 13 to 100, while della Rovere's were 15 to 100; Cardinal Piccolomini (elected
Pope Pius III) was the favorite at 30 to 100. ==Proceedings==