Eugene IV had died on February 23, 1447. The cardinals entered conclave early on March 4, after waiting the full nine days proscribed by Ubi periculum. Of the twenty-four cardinals living, all but one had been created cardinal by Eugene IV, and only eighteen were present in Rome for the conclave. The conclave, like its predecessor which had elected Eugene IV, was held in the dormitory of the Dominican monks of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, even though many members of the College of Cardinals would have preferred to relocate to the Vatican.