How to Use This Book

Vatican Archives, An Inventory and Guide to Historical Documents of the Holy See was prepared by historians and archivists affiliated with the Vatican Archives Project of the University of Michigan at the invitation of the prefect of the Archives, who was consulted at every stage of this work. This project could not have been accomplished without important special permissions granted the project staff by the prefect. Because of the press of other responsibilities, the June 1996 staff of the ASV did not participate in this project in any official way, though many members of the staff were helpful in answering a variety of questions. As a result, users of this guide should be aware that while this work was authorized by the prefect, it is not an official inventory of the archives, though it was the hope of the prefect that this work might form the basis for an official inventory at some point in time. This guide is in essence the product of a research effort to understand the evolution of the corpus of papal documentation and the various extant instruments that assist in utilizing that documentation. Members of the project staff surveyed every shelf of the ASV, therefore what follows does represent a complete overview of the holdings of the ASV as seen by the project staff during the academic year 1989-1990 (with a brief follow-up visit in 1993) when the inventory was done. In 1990 and in 1993 a similar inventory of the Archives of the Propaganda Fide was completed. In 1994 a survey was conducted of the holdings of the Archives of the Fabbrica. In 1996 surveys were conducted of the materials in Paris and Dublin.

.In 2002, Mons. Alejandro Cifres, Director of the Archives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, gave permission to do an inventory of its holdings in a format consistent with the other repositories included in the original Guide. The supplement is the result of that work. In addition to the administrative records of the CDF as currently defined, The CDF archives holds the records of two predecessor congregations: 1. The Holy Office, called the Suprema Sacra Congregatio Romanae et Universalis Inquisitionis until 1908 and 2. the Sacra Congregatio pro Indice Librorum Prohibitorum whose functions were absorbed into the Holy Office in 1917. These branches of the organization of the Holy See formed in the wake of the Council of Trent were concerned with doctrinal orthodoxy. The records in the archives include, but by no means are limited to, the administration of the counter-reformation Inquisition and the procedures for compiling the Index of Forbidden Books. The CDF archives also contains the entire archive of the agency of the Holy Office in Siena. These records of one subordinate office were transferred to the CDF archives in 1911. The series is noted at the end of this supplement. Though the CDF archives has been closed, some records of the congregation and its predecessors found their way to other repositories. These were noted in the Guide and are only given brief reference in the supplement

In using this guide, it is important to note that this is an archival guide. In order to realize the full potential of the information contained therein, it is important for the user to enter into an archival mindset. The introduction to this volume provides a historical and analytic framework for the entries in the guide. It is particularly important to read this introduction. Users unfamiliar with archival access frequently expect specific subject access to the material contained in the archives. Scholars used to libraries are familiar with searching subject lists and terms. The search process in an archive is more like the process of searching an office directory to find the individual in an organization whose responsibilities bear most closely to the kind of information desired. That is, one needs to read historical accounts to learn the nature of the function and activity of a given office. Then, based on that background, the user can start to predict where particular kinds of information might have been kept and the types of activities that were performed. This can then be used in conjunction with information in the series listings such as dates and types of documentation. For example, we know that in the seventeenth century the Datary had responsibility for various kinds of appointments to offices in the Vatican administration. We also know that documents labeled "consensus" pertain to this function. So we can predict that in that series, there will be the kind of information relating to the process of application for positions.

The entries in this guide are of two types designed to facilitate archival thinking about the documentation of the Holy See:

1. Agency Histories

The histories appear at the beginning of various sections and provide background on the office, agency, institution, family, or person that generated the documentation listed for that section. The history is designed to provide a user with basic elements of structure and function. When one agency was disbanded and another substituted, that information is noted to the extent that project staff was able to trace such relationships. Each entry presents the following fields:

Name of Agency:

The name is usually in Latin unless the only authority for the name of the agency is in Italian. Agency names are indexed in the rear of the guide by their commonly cited names in Italian, Latin, and English.

History:

The agency histories in this guide are designed to provide a brief overview of the structure and function of an office over time. The histories are drawn from general secondary sources and from the official bulls and other documents that mark official notice of change or direction. Often added to the agency history note is information about other agencies that contain records related to the particular agency under consideration.

References:

For some of the most important agencies of the Holy See, there is a substantial body of scholarship and in some of those cases, there is some disagreement over the precise role and function of a particular office. The agency histories in this guide provide a basic historical background but do not attempt to present a complete historiography. References, where provided, are designed to point users toward the broader corpus of historical scholarship regarding particular offices. These entries are, however, only selective.

2. Series Descriptions

The series descriptions are the descriptions of the records generated by a particular agency. The project staff made every effort to determine what record series were most appropriate to each particular agency. Nearly all series consulted were assigned to a particular agency. Some of the assignments, particularly in Part 7 of the guide, are tentative. When series appeared to contain records created by more than one agency a cross-reference was provided. In some cases despite the best efforts of the project staff, series could not be assigned to particular agencies. These are noted in the miscellaneous section in Part 7.

It is difficult to define the word series in the context of this work. It is best to think of a series in this case as a discreet physical unit of documentation that was generated in the course of carrying out an activity or group of activities. In some cases, like the Datary Supplications , the series is composed of a series of volumes in chronological order, each of which is similar in form to the other. In other cases, such as the nunciature material of the Secretariat of State, a series is a known grouping of records that is in fact composed of several subseries. Also in some cases, a set of series identified separately in the guide is also known as a single entity. The Fondo Modemo of the Secretariat of State is an example of this. It is noted as a single series but in addition its four components are noted separately as series. When this occurs it is clearly noted. There are yet other cases where "series" are merely miscellaneous groups of somewhat related material brought together physically on particular shelves in the stacks. These cases, too, are specifically noted.

The structure of these records is as follows:

Name of series:

To determine the name of the series the project staff first consulted the series list in the Index Room of the ASV or other repository. If the series had an official designation, that designation was assigned to the series. If the series did not appear in the list in the Index Room, the staff determined the title of the series from the labeling on the spines of the volumes or from the boxes or buste. If that could not be determined, the project staff assigned a title to the series. These supplied titles are clearly noted in brackets in the entry. In some cases, the project staff encountered miscellaneous material on a shelf that had no official designation. These were assigned the titleMiscellane a, with a designation of the location of the material in 1990. These miscellaneous materials were found in two areas of the archives, the Scaffale di Ferro (SF), which is a two-story area of metal shelving placed in rooms that at one time used as a picture gallery, and the Soffittone (V), which is the attic of the Belvedere. Series are listed alphabetically by title within each agency. Titles are for the most part in Italian or Latin. If a title was found in both languages we used the Latin. For the series in Dublin, the titles are in English; those in Paris are in French. They are not grouped by repository.

For series in the ASV, titles were often transcribed from the spines of volumes or from handwritten labels on boxes or buste. In this process we often encountered a mixture of languages, unusual abbreviations, and idiosyncratic, wrong, or antiquated spellings. Every effort was made to transcribe these as we found them.

In this guide series titles always appear in italics when found in the body of descriptive texts. This is designed to facilitate location in this volume. Among the indexes in the back of this guide there is a complete alphabetical listing of the series that are listed in this volume along with their numerical designation in this guide.

Database ID:

The information contained in this guide exists in database form and is accessible in the RLIN database of the Research Libraries Group (U.S.A.). This database is accessible through major colleges and universities in the United States and in the United Kingdom. The specific database ID will get a user to the comparable record in RLIN.

Inclusive Dates:

Inclusive dates include the earliest document in the series and the latest document. In many cases, there is a stray early document that leads to a conclusion that a given series seems to cover a longer period than in fact is the case. In this case there can be two date designations: inclusive dates that give the entire chronological range and bulk dates that give the researcher the dates from which most of the materials originate. When this was evident to the project staff, it was also noted in the organizational note. When we were not sure of a date it is in brackets. A date in brackets with a question mark, for example, [18-?], means that we are not even sure of the century. When there is no question mark, for example, [18-], it means that we are sure of the century but not of the exact years. We did note the existence of material generated after 1922 even though under current Vatican policy, that material remains closed to research use. Note that a chronological index is provided in the back of this guide that facilitates locating those series containing material created during a particular century.

Bulk:

To as great an extent as possible the project staff attempted to measure the amount of material in a collection in terms of linear meters. This was done by measuring the amount of shelf space taken up by the series. This only measures the width of the collection. Some series are composed of rather small volumes. In other cases the series is rather tall. That dimension was not taken into consideration. We also present the number of volumes, boxes, cassette, pacchi, and/or buste in this entry. In cases where there is a notation of number of volumes, it should be noted that it is not uncommon in the ASV for a number to be assigned to more than one volume (e.g., 109a, 109b, 109c). In these cases we have noted that a collection has, for example, 467 numbered volumes. That means that volume 467 is the last volume in the series.

Because of skipped numbers, missing volumes or multiple numbers, this may not be an accurate representation of the actual number of volumes in the series. The measurement in linear meters is a better indication of bulk.

Organization

The organization field gives the researcher three types of information.

First, there is an indication of how the material divides within the series. It is here that subseries are noted, often with inclusive dates. In some cases where the series is a true miscellany, select items are listed. Second, a note may be given concerning how materials are filed within a series or subseries, for example, alphabetical or chronological. Third, there are notes concerning missing volumes, numbering irregularities, and so forth. Organizational information is not given for material generated after 1922.

In the ASV when we listed titles of individual volumes, boxes, or buste, titles were often transcribed from the spines of volumes or from handwritten labels on boxes or buste. We often encountered a mixture of languages; unusual abbreviations; and idiosyncratic, wrong, or antiquated spellings. Every effort was made to transcribe these as we found them.

Scope:

The purpose of the scope note is to give some indication of the contents of the series. Scope was a secondary concern of this project. Scope information was derived from a number of sources and by observation in some cases. The bibliographical references with each series often will provide additional information on a specific series.

References:

References fall into two categories. The brief citations in the reference section are to several standard guides to the ASV and other collections of papal documentation.

The brief citations are designed to indicate to the user of this guide the extent to which a series has been generally known to have existed. If there is no reference listed for a particular series, then it is one that has not been noted in these standard sources. In addition, in this section there can be more specific references to particular articles or books that relate to the series. These entries are not comprehensive bibliographies. Note in particular that some of these citations are not complete particularly for those items that are part of large series of publications. The bibliographic entries in this guide have been designed to provide enough essential information on a given work so that a user can consult an online bibliographic utility to obtain full cataloging and/or citation information.

The four standard guides to the Vatican Archives are:

Also important for its list of recent holdings of the ASV is T. Natalini, S. Pagano, and A. Martini, eds., Archivio segreto vaticano , (Florence, 1991). A valuable earlier survey is L. Macfarlane, "The Vatican Archives: With Special Reference to Sources for British Medieval History," Archives 4 (1959): 29-44, 84-101. In addition to these standard general works, there are guides for specialized aspects of the documentation for the Holy See that are referred to in the reference notes: For the Propaganda Fide: N. Kowalsky and J. Metzler, Inventory of the Historical Archives of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples or "de Propaganda Fide, "3d enl. ed. (Rome, 1988). For the series that remain in Paris: J. Favier, Les Archives Nationales: État General des Fonds , (Paris, 1978-), and J. Favier, Les Archives Nationales: État General des Inventairse , (Paris, 1985-). For the material in the Archivio di Stato di Roma: P. d'Agiolini and C. Pavone, Guida generale degli Archivi dei Stato Italiani (Rome, 1981-), and A. Lodolini, L'archivio di Stato di Roma: Epitome d'una guida degli archivi dell'amministrazione dello Stato Pontificio (Rome, 1960).

Finding Aids:

Every effort has been made by project staff to locate and describe all known inventories and indici for the various series described in this guide. This is particularly true for material in the ASV, the Propaganda Fide, the Fabbrica, Trinity College, and the Archives Nationales. For material in the Archivio di Stato di Roma we relied on the descriptions of the finding aids as presented in the D'Angiolini/Pavone guide. In the finding aids section we have listed all official indices and inventories prepared by the staffs of each repository. For the ASV, we have also made every attempt to locate and describe those inventories and descriptions that have been prepared by scholars not affiliated with the archives. These are published for the most part and copies of many, but not all of these are located in the index room of the ASV. In addition, at the ASV there are several inventories that have been prepared by staff, but for one or another reason are not located in the index room of the ASV. These are noted where they were seen by project staff.

This section also includes information about those indexes that were generated at the time when the records were created. These in some cases are located with publicly available indici and in other cases with the records series themselves in the stacks of the particular archival institution. In addition to identifying finding aids, we have also presented an analysis of the sources identified by explaining limitations, strategies for use, and degree of completeness.

When an entry contains no finding aid entry, that is an indication that no inventory was located by the project staff.

Notes:

The note field is to provide a variety of information. In some cases this relates to the provenance of a collection. In others it may indicate that a portion of the collection appears on microfilm or the like. To provide information on the continuity in record keeping, the note field also informs the user when a series has a direct predecessor series or a specific successor series.

Location:

The location field indicates where the records are physically located.

There are several caveats to remember as you use this guide:

  1. Access to material in Vatican repositories, even before 1922, may be problematic in those cases where no finding aids exist. Not all material in the repositories examined has been fully processed and the lack of a numbered ASV indice is an indication of this.
  2. Users will very likely find variations and changes in the status of some of the series since the preparation of this guide. This is particularly true of the material in the Datary series, but also with the various groupings that we called miscellanea.
  3. A few books and articles listed in the references section within the series descriptions and in the bibliography could not be verified in standard bibliographical sources, although their existence was noted through photocopies, detached parts, or consultation with other researchers. These titles are listed along with a note to that effect.
  4. In a few cases the names of particular congregations or offices appear in another agency's history but do not appear in the general index to agencies listed in this guide. In those cases we simply could find no records or information about that particular congregation or office.
  5. In many cases we present the history of an agency and then note that no records for that agency could be located. This means that during the course of our survey of the ASV, the Fabbrica, the Propaganda Fide, and the Guida generale of the Archivio di Stato di Roma, we could not locate any records that were clearly generated by that agency. We stop short of saying that records do not exist. In some cases they may be subsumed by other series. This is particularly true in the series of the nunciatures. In other cases there may indeed be no records. Readers are urged to read the agency histories carefully.
  6. Because of the international nature of the institutions and holdings described in this guide, we have freely used words from Italian, Latin, and in some cases French. We have not italicized these words unless they appear in a formal title of a published work or document.
  7. As with all complex organizations, the Holy See has changed over time. To the extent possible we have tried to incorporate information relating to predecessor and successor offices. We have also tried to the same extent to link record series to antecedents and subsequent series.
  8. As with most offices, the filing system for documents in Vatican offices was not perfect. Occasionally items are misfiled or deposited with offices that in retrospect may seem inappropriate. It is therefore useful to have a sense of all documentation that existed for a particular date. This guide contains chronological indexes for that purpose. It is also possible to conduct a chronological search in the RUN database from which this guide has been derived. Note also that dates of dossiers can be deceiving in that often earlier supporting documentation can be attached to the particular document from which the date of the dossier has been determined.
  9. Where we know microfilm copies exist, we have so noted that information. However, we did not do a complete survey of all microfilm copies that exist for the documents described in this guide. Researchers should consult the repositories directly for information.

It is important to note that access to archives of the Holy See (including the ASV) is a privilege granted upon application to the prefect. It is essential to write a letter in advance of a visit that states the purpose of the research and the series to be consulted. It is also important to have a signed response in hand prior to arrival at a Vatican archival repository. The State Archives of Rome is an agency of the Italian State. An exchange of letters is advisable at state archives as well.