when was the first pope elected

The first pope, according to Catholic tradition, was St. Peter. He is recognized as the first bishop of Rome and thus the first pope. His papacy is traditionally dated from around AD 30 to around AD 64. St. Peter was appointed by Jesus according to the tradition and is considered the foundational leader of the early Christian Church in Rome. However, exact historical dates for his papacy are not definitively known. The formalized papal election process called the Conclave was established much later, in the 13th century, with the first official Conclave held in 1276. Before then, the process of choosing a pope was less structured and evolved over time. So, the first pope (St. Peter) was not elected by a conclave but rather accepted as leader in the earliest days of Christianity around the 1st century AD[citation ].