Censura Librorum

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

Contact information: web address

Contact information: email

archive@cfaith.va

Reference number

ACDF, S.O., Censura librorum

Type of reference number

Archival reference number

Title (English)

Censorship of books

Title (official language of the state)

Censura Librorum

Language of title

lat

Creator / accumulator

Congregazione del Sant’Ufficio dell’Inquisizione

Date(s)

1570/1939

Language(s)

ita
lat

Extent

197 storage units

Type of material

Textual Material

Physical condition

Good

Scope and content

This series preserves particularly important documents for the history of the censorship of Jewish books, Hebrew texts, and commentaries of the Torah, but, above all else, for the study of the persecution undertaken by the Holy See through qualifiers and consultants of the Talmud. These sources have not yet been studied in-depth. The studies that have been developed by Fausto Parente and Marina Caffiero in recent decades have used the Censura Librorum series in various ways, also regarding book testimonies coming from the Sephardic diaspora.

Archival history

The series entitled "Censura librorum” belongs to the Res Doctrinalia subfonds and results from the examination and evaluation of manuscripts and printed books subjected to censorship by the Holy Office. In addition to the “vota” (censorship) of the qualifiers and consultors of the Congregation of the Holy Office, there are also denunciations, reports, transmissions of acts, etc. Manuscripts or printed copies of the works examined are often attached to the documents. The series is divided into two distinct parts, according to the chronology. The old part is the largest, with documents from 1570 to 1928; the most recent part contains documents from 1917 to 1939. It has three distinct “rubricelle” (indexes) that can be consulted in the reading room.

Administrative / Biographical history

The history of the Roman Inquisition and its archive begins with the appointment of a commission of cardinals by Paul III (papacy: 1534-1549) with the bull "Licet ab initio", which took place on July 21, 1542. This congregation was intended to defend the Church from heresies, maintain the integrity of the faith, and identify and condemn errors and false teachings. In 1559, on the death of Paul IV (papacy: 1555-1559), the Roman people sacked and burnt the first seat of the Inquisition, located in via di Ripetta, thus causing the loss of much of the original documentation. In 1566, Pius V (papacy: 1566-1572) set up 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 began, separating the criminal issues from the doctrinal ones and creating the series that still make it up 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 received the mandate to destroy the parts of the documentation not strictly essential to administrative activity. The criminal series was 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 kept 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 until today. 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

Three index books: 1. 1570-1850; 2. 1852-1916; 3. 1917-1939
"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

Item sets

Linked resources

Filter by property

is part (item) of
Title Alternate label Class
Archivio della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede Collections (official language of the state)