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The papal conclave, a gathering of 130 Roman Catholic cardinals who will elect the successor to Pope Francis, begins on May 7. No matter whom they choose, his place in church history is already assured.

Over the centuries, papal conclaves, like popes themselves, have been a mix of religion, politics and power.

The choice will signal how the Catholic Church, with its 1.4 billion adherents, will conduct itself in the coming years. It could continue the progressive legacy of Francis, who died April 21 at age 88, or return to a more traditional role.

As in the past, the cardinals will be sequestered in the Sistine Chapel to debate and vote in secret. Since 1846, cardinals have have taken two to five days to make decisions on the past 12 popes.

But it hasn’t always been that quick.

How long have papal conclaves lasted?

You can’t read about papal conclaves without learning of the longest one, the 33-month conclave of 1268-1271. After Pope Clement IV died in November 1268, cardinals met in Viterbo, Italy, about 68 miles from Rome, to vote on a successor.

The cardinals were divided by two powerful Italian families:

• The Guelphs, who supported the pope, the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church.
• The Ghibellines, who supported the holy Roman emperor, the secular leader of the Holy Roman Empire, a group of regions in Central Europe.

As disagreements dragged on, frustrated citizens of Viterbo locked the cardinals in the Episcopal Palace and “even removed the roof to expose them to the elements, hoping to expedite the decision-making process,” according to ucatholic.com.

The Guelphs’ side prevailed as the cardinals finally elected Pope Gregory X on Sept. 1, 1271.

Gregory’s reforms helped reduce the length of future conclaves. Even so, two other conclaves that ended in 1316 and 1417 lasted two years or more.

The shortest conclave lasted only a few hours on Oct. 31, 1503. Cardinals elected the powerful and popular cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, who took the name Pope Julius II.

To get elected, Julius made a series of promises to his fellow cardinals and even used bribery for some of them, according to New Advent’s Catholic Encyclopedia. He became known as “The Fearsome Pope” during his reign.

SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Reuters; ucatholic.com; catholic-hierarchy.org; ewtnvatican.com; newadvent.org