In Rome, the Vatican, which brings together all the institutions of the Catholic Church, has just announced the renaming of its famous "Secret Archives" to dispel the aura of mystery and intrigue that has long plagued it. surrounded…
In the heart of the "Secret Archives" of the Vatican, in Rome (Italy).
The vast body of documents kept since the 17th century in the Vatican (Rome) under the name of "Secret Archives", will now be called more prosaically "Apostolic Archives of the Vatican". This modification, made on October 28, 2019, by a decree "Motu Proprio " ("on his own initiative") of Pope Francis, is meant to put an end to the negative connotations surrounding these prestigious archives. detrimental" from "hidden" , [a term] "misunderstood, tinged with ambiguous, even negative undertones", the Vatican said in a statement. Indeed, the term "secret", in its Latin denomination ("archivum secretum "), would have from the beginning enveloped these documents in a sulphurous perfume, when "secretum" , was only there to indicate "private" rather than "hidden" access. Most of the documents have been accessible to researchers since 1881.
Suspicion of the presence of prohibited, occult or cryptic documents, existence of reserves withheld from the knowledge of the world... Everything has been said or imagined for twelve centuries, since Pope Paul V, took the initiative in 1612 to bring together the official documents of the Holy See, the oldest dating back to the 8th century. All of them now occupy a building near St. Peter's Basilica. Their historical value is immense. There are thus, among others:the decree of Pope Leo X (1521), excommunicating Martin Luther, promoter of the Protestant reform; the transcript, of the trial against the astronomer Galileo condemned for heresy (1633) for having taught that the Earth revolves around the Sun; the divorce petition - refused - by King Henry VIII of England which led to the separation of the churches of England and Rome (1534); an autograph document of Michelangelo complaining about not being paid for his work in the Sistine Chapel; writings from the Inquisition or the Templars, etc.
The vast body of documents kept since the 17th century in the Vatican (Rome) under the name of "Secret Archives", will now be called more prosaically "Apostolic Archives of the Vatican". This modification, made on October 28, 2019, by a decree "Motu Proprio " ("on his own initiative") of Pope Francis, is meant to put an end to the negative connotations surrounding these prestigious archives. detrimental" from "hidden" , [a term] "misunderstood, tinged with ambiguous, even negative undertones", says the Vatican in its press release. Indeed, the term "secret", in its Latin denomination ("archivum secretum "), would have from the beginning enveloped these documents in a sulphurous perfume, when "secretum" , was only there to indicate "private" rather than "hidden" access. Most of the documents have been accessible to researchers since 1881.
Suspicion of the presence of prohibited, occult or cryptic documents, existence of reserves withheld from the knowledge of the world... Everything has been said or imagined for twelve centuries, since Pope Paul V, took the initiative in 1612 to bring together the official documents of the Holy See, the oldest dating back to the 8th century. All of them now occupy a building near St. Peter's Basilica. Their historical value is immense. There are thus, among others:the decree of Pope Leo X (1521), excommunicating Martin Luther, promoter of the Protestant reform; the transcript, of the trial against the astronomer Galileo condemned for heresy (1633) for having taught that the Earth revolves around the Sun; the divorce petition - refused - by King Henry VIII of England which led to the separation of the churches of England and Rome (1534); an autograph document of Michelangelo complaining about not being paid for his work in the Sistine Chapel; writings from the Inquisition or the Templars, etc.
Proceedings of Galileo's trial resulting in the scholar's conviction by the Inquisition. Credits:Tiziana Fabi /AFP
In 2012, the Capitoline Museum in Rome had already carried out a first "defusing" operation by presenting around a hundred documents from these "Secret Archives" in an exceptional exhibition entitled "Lux in Arcana " ("light in the secrets"). One could admire there in windows with subdued lights a bubble "Inter cetera " of May 4, 1493, emanating from Pope Alexander VI announcing a new division of the world after the "discovery" of America by Christopher Columbus; final letters of supplication from the Scottish queens Marie Stuart (1542-1587) and French Marie- Antoinette (1755-1793), but also a correspondence between Caliph Umar al-Murtada (1248-1266) and Pope Innocent IV; or even a missive from Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519) addressed to her father, Pope Alexander VI! According to the Vatican, documents covering the period 1939-1958, and thus the role of the highly controversial Pope Pius XII during World War II, will be available for researchers to view from March 2, 2020. Until then, the specialists could only access documents up to February 1939. Revelations in perspective?