Fistfights and divine doves A colourful history of the conclave

Modern-day conclaves are steeped in mystery; cardinal electors swear an oath of secrecy – as do the cooks, drivers and medics who support their deliberations.

- Harriet Sherwood

Before next week's conclave begins, the Sistine Chapel will be swept for electronic bugs, jamming devices will be installed, and special coatings will be placed on windows to stop laser scanners picking up anything audible.

It wasn't always this way: in the past, letters, diaries and other writings by cardinals and their attendants gave revealing accounts of what happened in the meetings convened in order to choose a pope.

Here, with the help of the historians Vanessa Corcoran of Georgetown University in Washington and Miles Pattenden of the University of Oxford, we look at some of the more noteworthy conclaves from the past.

236 A dove landed on the head of a priest named Fabian, which the cardinals took to be the Holy Spirit descending upon him. Fabian was unanimously elected pope.