Stanza Storica: Haebraeos
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 0669895942
0039 0669895942
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
archive@cfaith.va
Reference number
ACDF, S. O. Stanza Storica. Haebraeos
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Historical Room: Jews
Title (official language of the state)
Stanza Storica: Haebraeos
Language of title
lat
Creator / accumulator
Congregazione del Sant'Uffizio dell'Inquisizione
Date note
16th century/19th century
Language(s)
ita
lat
por
spa
Extent
137 volumes
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
Within the Stanza Storica section, the collection entitled Haebreos contains documentation related to the Jewish communities in the Italian peninsula, as well as numerous records on other destinations of the Western Sephardic diaspora, especially concerning the relations between the Roman Holy Office and Iberian Inquisitions. Through this documentation of various kinds, it is possible to reconstruct the relations of the Jews with the local Christian populations, the concessions and privileges granted to them, the measures taken by the Roman Inquisitorial Tribunal, and to find numerous documentation relating to Jews converted to Christianity.
A sub-series of about seven units is dedicated to "Judaizzantes Lusitaniae" (Portuguese Judaizers). Many of these records offer detailed information on the jurisdictional conflicts that arose during the 17th century between the Roman Holy Office and the Portuguese Inquisition regarding New Christians. There are two trials and numerous supplications that were sent from Portugal to Rome by New Christians. A trial against Portuguese New Christians in Pisa, kept in St.St. BB 5 b, was recently recounted by Novoa (2019). Another vast field of investigation that emerges from the documentation preserved in the vast Stanza Storica concerns forced baptisms and oblations of children and adults. Numerous cases have been investigated in this context by Marina Caffiero (2012).
In segnature St.St. Q 4-q a fragment of Halakot is preserved, with commentaries of Yishaq ben Ya'aqov Alfasi, written in square Sephardic script with Italian influences and dating back to the 13th or 14th century. This fragment specifically contains Šabbat 49a-50a.
A sub-series of about seven units is dedicated to "Judaizzantes Lusitaniae" (Portuguese Judaizers). Many of these records offer detailed information on the jurisdictional conflicts that arose during the 17th century between the Roman Holy Office and the Portuguese Inquisition regarding New Christians. There are two trials and numerous supplications that were sent from Portugal to Rome by New Christians. A trial against Portuguese New Christians in Pisa, kept in St.St. BB 5 b, was recently recounted by Novoa (2019). Another vast field of investigation that emerges from the documentation preserved in the vast Stanza Storica concerns forced baptisms and oblations of children and adults. Numerous cases have been investigated in this context by Marina Caffiero (2012).
In segnature St.St. Q 4-q a fragment of Halakot is preserved, with commentaries of Yishaq ben Ya'aqov Alfasi, written in square Sephardic script with Italian influences and dating back to the 13th or 14th century. This fragment specifically contains Šabbat 49a-50a.
Archival history
The archival section called Stanza Storica is composed of nearly 2,000 storage units, divided into distinct series and sub-series. At the beginning of the 20th century, this complex of documentation was deposited in the Stanza Quarta (Room Four) of the Holy Office palace. Until then, the documentation had remained in the Apostolic Palace, where it had been deposited since 1851 after the recovery of the entire Archive of the Holy Office, which had been seized by the organs of the Roman Republic of 1849.
The layman Pietro van der Eerenbeemt directed the transference of the documentation, initiating an organisation by material subject. The reorganisation was only completed in the 1940s by the Jesuit archivist Wilhelm Hentrich. The Haebraeos section derives from this reorganisation. It is composed of documents that had previously belonged to other series of the Archives of the Holy Office. In fact, some volumes can be associated with the Dubia, Censura Librorum, Devotiones Variae series, etc. The individual descriptions of these series as well as their original series can be reconstructed through the SHADES online inventory, currently only available in the archive's reading room.
The layman Pietro van der Eerenbeemt directed the transference of the documentation, initiating an organisation by material subject. The reorganisation was only completed in the 1940s by the Jesuit archivist Wilhelm Hentrich. The Haebraeos section derives from this reorganisation. It is composed of documents that had previously belonged to other series of the Archives of the Holy Office. In fact, some volumes can be associated with the Dubia, Censura Librorum, Devotiones Variae series, etc. The individual descriptions of these series as well as their original series can be reconstructed through the SHADES online inventory, currently only available in the archive's reading room.
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: persons, families
Access points: corporate bodies
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
Finding aids
"Fondo Santo Officio-Stanza Storica. Inventario provvisorio". Ottobre 1999.
"Inventario generale Shades 6 Ecclesia" (Software for Historical Archives Description – Ecclesia) only available in the reading room
Author of the description
Andrea Cicerchia, 2021
Bibliography
Published primary sources
Linked resources
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