In the spring of 1721, Rome became the stage for one of the most politically charged papal conclaves in history. Over thirty-nine tense days and seventy-five ballots, powerful factions battled for control of the Church’s future. Out of this storm emerged a quiet and steady figure—Michelangelo dei Conti, who would become Pope Innocent XIII. On this episode of *Dave Does History*, we take you behind the locked doors of the conclave, exploring the intrigue, the backroom deals, and the man who rose to the papacy not through ambition, but as the compromise candidate no one hated—and the Church desperately needed.