Vatican

View of the second hall of the «piano nobile»
with the marble bust of father Augustin Theiner,
Prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives
between 1855 and 1870.
Above the door there is the coat of arms
of Cardinal Scipione Borghese Caffarelli,
Librarian between 1609 and 1618

The modern archives of the Holy See were established thanks to Paul V Borghese around 1610, but the roots of the history of the archives of the Roman Pontiffs reach way back in time, linking up with the very origin, nature, activities and development of the Roman Church itself. Right from the apostolic times, the Popes carefully preserved the manuscripts concerning the exercise of their activities. This collection of manuscripts was kept in the scrinium Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae that usually followed the Popes in their various residences, but the fragility of the papyrus, normally used at the papal chancery until the XI Century, the transfers and the political upheavals nearly caused the total loss of all the archival material preceding Innocent III.

From the XI Century onwards, when the Roman Pontiff and his Curia gained a central role, the number of offices of the Curia grew, as well as the number of archives, and in the XV Century the most precious documents were taken to Castel S. Angelo. After several projects for the creation of a main archive of the Church, Paul V gave the order to transfer the registers of the Papal bulls and briefs, the books of the Camera and the collections of documents up to the papacy of Pius V included, to the three halls next to the Secret Library (the so-called Sale Paoline). This gave life to a new archive «pro privata Romanorum pontificum commoditate» and «ad publicam studiorum utilitatem», for a total of just over three thousand pieces, of which the most important part included the registers of the papal bulls from Innocent III onwards, (Registra Vaticana). The new archive was called «Vatican Secret Archives».

During the XVII Century, the Archives increased considerably, especially under Urban VIII Barberini (the Bulls of Sixtus IV and Pius V; the papers of the Briefs Secretariat from Alexander VI to Pius V, the abundant documentation contained in the Armaria XXXIX-XLV; the books of the Apostolic Camera from Avignon, where they had remained after the end of the Scism; the papers of the Council of Trent), and under Alexander VII, who chose to place the diplomatic correspondence of the Secretariat of State on a specific floor of the Vatican Palaces.

In the first half of the XVIII Century, during the prefectures of Pietro Donnino De Pretis and Filippo Ronconi, the papers kept in the Archives were put into order for the first time, and many fonds still maintain that same order even today. Between 1751 and 1772, the history of the Archives is dominated by Giuseppe Garampi, the main creator, besides other things, of the famous Card Index named after him. He carried out, or urged, many acquisitions, deposits and transfers of archival material (for instance, the Albani, Carpegna and Pius fonds, as well as the 1.300 books of the Camera).

In 1783, all that remained at Avignon was taken to the Vatican, with the series of bull registers, called Registra Avenionensia; in 1798, the Archives of Castel S. Angelo were also taken there (Garampi was already both archivist of the Vatican Secret Archives and of Castel S. Angelo), which included also 81 documents with gold seals (in gold leaf, in solid gold, gold and silver plated caskets) and among which stood out for its precious ancient value a diploma by Friedrich Barbarossa, dating back to 1164.

When the Italian troops conquered Rome in 1870, the archives found outside the Vatican walls were confiscated by the newborn Italian State, thus constituting the core of the new State Archives of Rome.

In 1881, thanks to the generosity of Leo XIII, scholars were allowed free access to the Vatican Secret Archives, thus becoming one of the most important historical research centres in the world.

In 1892, a large part of the Dataria Apostolica archives were transferred from the Lateran Palace to the Vatican Archives, along with the bull registers of the Chancery since 1389 (Registra Avenionensia, the ancient Archivum Bullarum) and the Registers of the Petitions since 1417. In the XX Century, as well as the modern part of the archives of the Secretariat of State, arrived the archives of the Briefs Secretariat, of the Roman Rota, of various Congregations (Consistorial, of Bishops and Regulars, of Sacraments, of Rites, of the Council, etc.), of the Apostolic Palace, of the Vatican Council I, of various Nunciatures (especially starting from 1971) and of some Roman noble families linked to the history of the Holy See (Borghese, Boncompagni, Rospigliosi, Ruspoli, Marescotti, Montoro, etc.).

In the year 2000, the entire archive of the Vatican Council II was transferred there thanks to Paul VI who liberalized it to the access of scholars beyond the usual limitations set for the consultation of the archives of the Holy See (January 1922, death of Benedict XV).