Privilegia Sancti Officii
Item
Country
IT
Name of institution (English)
Archive of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
ita
Contact information: postal address
Piazza del Sant’Uffizio 11, 00193 Rome
Contact information: phone number
0039 0669895945
0039 0669895945
0039 0669895945
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
archive@cfaith.va
Reference number
ACDF, S.O. Privilegia
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Privileges of the Holy Office
Title (official language of the state)
Privilegia Sancti Officii
Language of title
lat
Creator / accumulator
Congregazione del Sant'Ufficio dell'Inquisizione
Date(s)
1699/1939
Language(s)
lat
Extent
59 storage units
Type of material
Textual Material
Physical condition
Good
Scope and content
The Privilegia Sancti Offici series is part of the Leges et Ordinationes section of the Archivum Sancti Officii Romani (Roman Holy Office Archive) fonds. It contains records concerning the competences, obligations, faculties, appointments, privileges and oaths sworn in the Holy Office. The series also comprises records on matters generally concerning the internal life of the Dicastery and its personnel, as well as events of the Holy Office palace. In this series, it is possible to find various information and documents regarding privileges granted to members of the Jewish communities of the Papal States, especially regarding the three main ghettos of the States: Rome, Ancona and Ferrara.
Archival history
As part of the Leges et Ordinationes section, this series results from the reorganisation by subject of the Roman Holy Office Archive undertaken in the second half of the 18th century, which separated criminal and doctrinal issues. The first volume of the series, containing documents from the origins of the Congregazione del Sant'Ufficio until 1668, is missing. Since 1905, the Privilegia Sancti Officii series also includes the oaths taken by members and staff of the Sant'Ufficio, which were until then systematically gathered in the Iuramenta series.
Administrative / Biographical history
The history of the Roman Inquisition and its archive begins with the appointment by Paul III of a commission of cardinals, which took place on July 21, 1542 with the Bull "Licet ab initio". This congregation was intended to defend the Church from heresies, to maintain the integrity of the faith and to identify and condemn errors and false teachings. When Paul IV died in 1559, the Roman people sacked and burnt the first seat of the Inquisition, located in via di Ripetta, causing the loss of much of the original documentation.
In 1566, Pius V established the seat of the congregation and its archive in the current palace. Initially, the archiving of the documentation was determined by the procedural activity carried out by the congregation. In the second half of the 18th century, a reorganisation by subject was undertaken, separating the criminal issues from the doctrinal ones and creating the series that still compose the archive today. During the 19th century, the Archivio della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede was subject to various movements and suffered considerable dispersions. With the union of Rome to the French Empire in 1809, it was transported to Paris by order of Napoleon. For the return of the archives to Rome in 1816, the Apostolic Delegate was mandated to destroy the parts of the documentation not strictly essential to administrative activity.
The criminal series were almost entirely burnt and only a few important trials were saved. During the Roman Republic of 1849, the complex of documents underwent further transfers and losses and only in 1868 the part of the documentation necessary for the current administration was relocated to the palace of the Holy Office, while the oldest closed series remained stored in the Apostolic Palace until 1901. Then, this archival material was recovered and rearranged, forming the so-called Stanza Storica. This has remained the main structure of this archive to the present day. The Archivio della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede was open for consultation by scholars in 1998.
In 1566, Pius V established the seat of the congregation and its archive in the current palace. Initially, the archiving of the documentation was determined by the procedural activity carried out by the congregation. In the second half of the 18th century, a reorganisation by subject was undertaken, separating the criminal issues from the doctrinal ones and creating the series that still compose the archive today. During the 19th century, the Archivio della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede was subject to various movements and suffered considerable dispersions. With the union of Rome to the French Empire in 1809, it was transported to Paris by order of Napoleon. For the return of the archives to Rome in 1816, the Apostolic Delegate was mandated to destroy the parts of the documentation not strictly essential to administrative activity.
The criminal series were almost entirely burnt and only a few important trials were saved. During the Roman Republic of 1849, the complex of documents underwent further transfers and losses and only in 1868 the part of the documentation necessary for the current administration was relocated to the palace of the Holy Office, while the oldest closed series remained stored in the Apostolic Palace until 1901. Then, this archival material was recovered and rearranged, forming the so-called Stanza Storica. This has remained the main structure of this archive to the present day. The Archivio della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede was open for consultation by scholars in 1998.
Access points: locations
Access points: corporate bodies
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
Finding aids
Indexes: 1. Priv. S.O. Index (1669-1800); 2. Indice della Rubricella «Priv.S.O.» (1814-1924).
Rubrics: 1. Privilegia S.O. (1801-1825); 2. Privilegia S.O. (1814-1890); 3. Privilegia S.O. (1814-1924); 4. Privilegia S.O. (1925-1939).
"Inventario generale Shades 6 Ecclesia" (Software for Historical Archives Description – Ecclesia) only available in the reading room
Author of the description
Andrea Cicerchia, 2022
Bibliography
Linked resources
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| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Archivio della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede | Collections (official language of the state) |