(Lat. conclave, a chamber that may be secured by means of a key, clavis), the place in which the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church meet in privacy for the election of a pope. It also denotes the assembly itself. The conclave is a series of small cells or apartments ranged in a line along the galleries and hall of the Vatican; and each cell has the arms of the particular cardinal over it. By the constitutions of the church the cardinals may make choice of any place for the conclave as they deem convenient; but it is generally held in the Vatican.