Welcome to the History Extra podcast, fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History Magazine.

Yesterday saw the announcement that a new Pope has been elected, following four rounds of voting.

But how does the current process of choosing a Pope compared to that of previous centuries?

What can the elected popes tell us about the times in which they lived? And has there ever been a female Pope?

Shortly before the new Pope was elected, Matt Elton caught up with Rebecca Rist, Professor of Medieval History at the University of Reading.

This Easter marked the death of Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church at the age of 88,

and following his funeral, the process of choosing the next Pope began.

Rebecca, thank you so much for being with us today to talk through this process and some of the history behind it.

Before we go any further, can you walk us through how the process works?

So the Cardinals have gathered from all over the world in Rome in the Sistine Chapel for the Conclave.

And Conclave comes from two Latin words conclave with the key.

So the idea is that the cardinals are sequestered, they're locked in to the Sistine Chapel,

and there's then a balloting process by which they will choose the next pope.

So on the first day there is traditionally one ballot and then subsequently up to four

ballots a day until the pope is chosen. And what they're trying to get is a two-thirds majority.

Could you just run us through who is involved in the conclave as it currently exists?

Yes. So obviously the conclave is made up of these cardinals. Cardo comes from the Latin meaning hinge. They're the people on whom the papal election hinges. That College of Cardinals goes back to a sort of formed body to at least 1059, the 11th century. These cardinals come together. They have to be male, they have to be Catholic, they will have held

senior offices in the church, either within Rome itself, you know, in the Deccastries or something,

or they've been, you know, senior archbishops in wherever or bishops. And yeah, this makes up

the College of Cardinals. So to become Pope, you don't absolutely have to be a

cardinal, but it's very likely that you will be. If you're over 80, you don't get a vote,

but I say you could still be made Pope, though it's unlikely. There might be people listening to

...