The Vatican Secret Archives is a central repository established by the Holy See where all actions are kept. The archive contains government documents, correspondence, books published by the church, and other documents accumulated over the centuries. In principle, the Pope who will replace the incumbent Pope is the owner of the archive until he is elected by the Papal Conclave or until the incumbent Pope dies or resigns. The archive was opened in the 17th century with limited access for scholars on the instructions of Pope Paul V. However, it did not have access for foreigners. The archive was opened in 1881 when the Vatican Library was opened in the XIII. Opened to researchers by Leo. Today, thousands of researchers examine the archives every year.
The word “Confidential” regarding the archive is not used in the sense of secrecy for the Vatican Secret Archives. Here it means that the archive is the personal property of the Holy See and is a private archive of the Roman Curia. It is also known that the word carries the meaning of honorable duties such as secret agents, secret carriers and secret rights.
The Size of the Vatican Secret Archives
The shelves of the Vatican Secret Archives contain an estimated 84 km of documents and hold 35,000 elective catalogs. Indexes of archives can only be used in the rooms where the archives are located and publication in whole or in part is prohibited. It also has its own photography studio for the preservation of archives. According to the Vatican’s official website, the oldest document in the archive dates back to the late 8th century. However, displacement and political upheavals, III. It has destroyed archival material dating back to the 13th century before Innocentius.
The Vatican Secret Archives is located adjacent to the Vatican Library and a new underground storage area was added in 1980. The archive allows qualified academics working in higher education institutions who want to do historical research by providing an entry card to do research. However, applicants require a letter of introduction for research purposes, which must be sent by a recognized institute or suitably qualified person. Applicants are required to indicate their personal information and undergraduate students are not accepted into the archive.
Found in the Vatican Secret Archives
100 important documents on display at the Capitol Museum in Rome were selected from the 400-year-old Vatican Secret Archives and are on display outside the Vatican for the first time. Among the documents in the exhibition, documents related to the trial of Galileo Galilei, II. There is also a letter about the repulsing of the Siege of Vienna, and documents about the Battle of Lepanto with the Ottoman Empire. Other important documents are:
- Papal fatwa in which Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther.
- King of the English clergy VIII. Henry’s petition demanding the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
- 60 meters long documents from the Knights Templar trial.
- Correspondence regarding the trial of Galileo.
- Abraham Lincoln’s Pope IX. A non-war letter to Pius.
- Jefferson Davis’ Pope IX. The letter he wrote to Pius in which he spoke of the terrible effects of war.
- Pope Michelangelo II. The letter in which he warned Julius about the guards who hadn’t been paid for three months.
- Pope VI, who caused the Spanish to dominate the new lands. Alexander’s fatwa.
- The doctrine asserting the “sinless” pregnancy of the Virgin Mary.
- The letter Mary wrote to Pope Sixtus V before she was executed, begging him to save her life.
- Certificate of donation to a church in Venice from 809.
- Pope XII. Letter from Clement to the seventh Dalai Lama requesting the preservation of a Franciscan mission in Tibet.
- The design of the flying machine invented by a Brazilian priest.
- Pope III. Fatwa of Innocent that started a new crusade.
- Letter written by Empress Dowager Helena Wang of China on silk parchment, addressed to Pope Innocent X but never received by him.
