Apostolic Chancery
Encyclopedia
The Chancery of Apostolic Briefs (also known as the Papal, Apostolic or Roman Chanc(ell)ery), is a former office of the Roman Curia
, merged into the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs
by Pope Pius X
on June 29, 1908 with the apostolic constitution
Sapienti Consilio. The chief official was the Chancellor of Holy Roman Church who was always Cardinal-Priest of San Lorenzo in Damaso
. This office should not confused with the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church which is a cardinal that deals with the vacancy of the Apostolic See
.
The principal function of the Chancellor was founded originally to collect money to maintain the papal armies. Pope Pius VII
reformed the office when Napoleon obviated the need for papal armies. In the early 20th century the office has the duties to collect money for missionary work. The office was abolished by the motu proprio
Quo aptius of 27 February 1973 issued by Pope Paul VI
. Its functions were transferred to the Vatican Secretariat of State.
made it necessary that the Pope should have in his service officers to write and to transmit his answers to the numerous petitions for favours and to the numerous consultations addressed to him. This office, in course of time, underwent many transformations, too may to treat in full.
After Pope Martin V
had instituted a large number of offices in the Chancery, Pope Sixtus V
placed many of them in the class of vacabili, as they were then called, i.e. venal (a practice also resorted to by secular court, e.g. in France even under the absolutist Louis XIV of France
). The origin of this institution was as follows: The pope was often compelled, in defence of Christendom, to wage war, to fit out expeditions, or at least to give financial assistance to the princes who waged such wars at his exhortation. But the pontifical treasury was often without the means to defray even the expenses of the Pontifical States, so in order to raise funds. Accordingly, the popes resorted to the expedient of selling several lucrative offices of the Curia
, as a rule to the highest bidder; however, that what was sold was not the office itself, but the receipts of the office, e.g., the taxes for the favours granted through the office in question. Some offices were sold with the right of succession by the heirs of the purchaser, but this could be done only in the case of an office of minor importance, in the exercise of which no special ability was required. Those offices which entailed grave responsibilities, and which could be filled only by pious and learned men, were sold on the condition that they should revert to the Curia at the death of the purchaser. An aleatory contract
, therefore, was made, the uncertainties being the amount of the income of the office and the length of life of the purchaser. The prices of the offices, especially of the more desirable ones, were considerable: Lorenzo Corsini, afterwards Clement XII, bought the office of regent of the Chancery for 30,000 Roman scudi -- a large fortune for those times. The hazard was not necessarily confined to the life of the purchaser; he was free to establish it upon the life of another expressly designated person, the so-called the intestatary. The purchaser was also allowed to change the life hazard from one person to another, providing this were done forty days before the death of the last preceding intestatary.
The offices of the Chancery which were transformed into vacabili by Sixtus V included the regent, the twenty-five solicitors, the twelve notaries and the auditors of the causes of the Holy Palace. Sixtus V assigned the proceeds of these sales to the vice-chancellor (see below) as part his emoluments; but this too liberal prescription in favour of the cardinal who presided over the Chancery was revoked by Pope Innocent XI
, who assigned the revenue in question to the Apostolic Camera
. Pope Alexander VIII
restored these revenues to the vice-chancellor, at that time the pope's nephew, Pietro Ottoboni.
Under Napoleon I of France
the Government redeemed many of the vacabili, and but few remained. Pius VII, after his return to Rome, undertook a reform of the Chancery, and wisely reduced the number of the offices. But as he himself granted to the vacabili the privilege that, by a legal fiction, time should be regarded as not having transpired (quod tempus et tempera non currant), and many proprietors of vacabili having obtained grants of what was called sopravivevza by which deceased intestataries were considered to be living, certain offices remained vacabili in name, but not in fact. Finally, Pope Leo XIII
(1901) suppressed all the vacabili offices, ordering his pro-datary to redeem them, when necessary, the datary's office being substituted for the proprietors.
It was only under Pope Pius X
that the name of Chancellor of Holy Roman Church was restored. His cardinalitial title is always the church of San Lorenzo in Damaso
as mandated by Pope Clement VII
in the constitution Etsi ad singula issued on July 5, 1532.
The presiding cardinal, prior to the Constitution, was called vice-chancellor
. The authors writing on the Chancery gave many ingenious reasons why that dignitary should not have received the more obvious title of chancellor. Cardinal De Luca regarded these explanations as senseless (simplicitates et fabulae), proposing an explanation of his own, without insisting on its correctness. According to him, it was probable that the title of vice-chancellor arose in the same way as the title of pro-datary, the custom having been to call the head of the datary office (dataria) the datary (datario), if he were not a cardinal, and the pro-datary (pro datario), if he were a cardinal. The reason for this must be sought in the fact that the office of datary was really not that of a cardinal, but rather of minor dignity; wherefore it did not seem well to give the title of datary to a cardinal. The same custom still obtains in the case of a nuncio who is elevated to the cardinalate: he retains his position for a time, but with the title of pro-nuncio
. This theory of De Luca's is not certain, but at least probable. The new Constitution establishes that the head of the Chancery be called chancellor, a very reasonable provision, seeing that this office has been filled for centuries by cardinals. For the rest, the office in question was always regarded as one of the most honourable and most important of the Curia, as may be seen from Moroni's account of the funeral of Cardinal Alexander Farnese, vice-chancellor and archpriest
of the Vatican Basilica. The authority of the vice-chancellor was increased when, under Pope Alexander VIII
in 1690, there was added to his office, in perpetuity, that of compiler (sommista).
The chancellor retains little of his former influence and attributes. He acts as notary in the consistories and directs the office of the chancery. The greatest splendour of the chancellor was under Pope Leo X
, from whose successor, Clement VII, this functionary received as residence the Palazzo Riario, long known as the Cancelleria Apostolica, where he remained. His former residence was in the Palazzo Borgia, from which he moved to the Palazzo Sforza Cesarini, the latter palace being, on this account, known for a long time as the Cancelleria Vecchia. The removal of the vice-chancellor's residence and office to the majestic Palazzo Riario, in the Campo di Fiori, was due to the confiscation of the property of Cardinal Raffaele Riario
for his share, with Cardinals Petrucci
, Sacchi, Soderini
and Castellesi, in a conspiracy against the life of Leo X.
Contiguous to the Cancelleria, in fact forming a part of it, is the Church of San Lorenzo in Damaso. When Clement VII assigned this palace as the perpetual residence of the vice-chancellor, he provided that the vice-chancellor should always have the title of that church; as the chancellors were not always of the same order in the Sacred College, being either cardinal-deacons, cardinal-priests, or cardinal-bishops, this church could not follow the rule of the other cardinalitial
churches, which have a fixed grade, being either "titular" (churches over which cardinals of the order of priests are placed) or deaconries (churches over which are placed cardinal-deacons). San Lorenzo, on the contrary, became a titular for a chancellor of the order of priests, and a deaconry for a cardinal-deacon; when he is a suburbicarian bishop, the chancellor retains this church in commendam
.
The Regency, the next office in the order of precedence in the Chancery after the chancellorship, was created in 1377, when Gregory XI returned from Avignon ('Baybylonian exile' of the papacy in France) to his see. Cardinal Pierre de Monteruc, the chancellor at that time, refused to follow the pope from Avignon to Rome; as it was necessary that someone should direct the office of the Chancery, the pope, leaving the title of vice-chancellor to Montéruc, appointed the Archbishop of Ban, Bartolommeo Prignano, 'regent' of this important office. At the death of Gregory XI, in 1378, Prignano was elected pope, and he appointed a successor to himself in the office of regent of the Chancery, which was thereafter maintained, even when the vice-chancellor re-established his residence at Rome.
There is not space here to refer in detail to the other, minor offices of the Chancery, the greater number of those offices which disappeared for good under Pius X's constitution, under which the Chancery is charged only with the expedition of Papal Bull
s for Consistorial benefices, the establishment of new dioceses and new chapters, and other more important affairs of the Church requiring various forms of Apostolic Letters
(see BULLS AND BRIEFS.)
Formerly, there were four different ways of issuing Papal Bull -by way of the Curia (per viam Curiae), by way of the Chancery (per Cancellarium), secretly (per viam secretam), and by way of the Apostolic Camera
(per viam Camerae)- because while some Bulls were taxed, there was no taxation on others, and it was necessary to determine upon what Bulls the proprietors of the vacabili offices had a right to receive taxes. Thus Bulls concerning the government of the Catholic world, being exempt from all taxation, were said to be issued by way of the Curia; those of which the expedition was by way of the Chancery were the common Bulls, which, after being reviewed by the abbreviators of the greater presidency, were signed by them and by the proprietors of the vacabili, the latter of whom received the established taxes; the Bulls said to be issued secretly were those in favour of some privileged persons—as the palatine prelates, the auditors of the Sacra Rota and the relatives of cardinals and were signed by the vice-chancellor, also exempt from taxation; finally, the Bulls of which the expedition was said to be by way of the Camera were those that concerned the Apostolic Camera. Since the style and the rules of the Chancery could not be adapted to these Bulls, they were issued by the sommista, whose office was created by Alexander VI and later, as was said above, united by Alexander VIII with that of the vice-chancellor.
After all the vacabili were abolished, these various forms of expedition ceased, Pius X's Constitution providing that all Bulls be issued by way of the Chancery, on order of the Congregation of the Consistory for all matters of its competency, and by order of the pope for all others, in keeping with the new organization of the Chancery as a merely issuing office. The Constitution "Sapienti consilio" provided that the ancient formulae of Bulls should be changed, and the duty of preparing new ones was given to a commission of cardinals composed of the chancellor, the datary and the secretary of the Consistorial Congregation.
This commission having reformed the Bulls for the Consistorial benefices, Pius X's Motu Proprio
of 8 December 1910, approved the new formula; and ordered them to be used exclusively after 1 January 1911. The college of the abbreviators of the greater presidency having been suppressed, and the abbreviators of the lesser presidency having become extinct in fact, the Apostolic prothonotaries in actual office were appointed to sign the Bulls.
Another reasonable change was made in regard to the dating of Bulls. Formerly Bulls were dated according to the year of the Incarnation, which begins on 25 March. This medieval style of dating remained peculiar to papal Bulls, and in time gave rise to much confusion. Pius X ordered these documents to be dated in future according to common custom, by the year which begins on 1 January.
Mention should here be made of what are known as the Rules of the Chancery. This name was given to certain Apostolic Constitutions which the popes were in the habit of promulgating at the beginning of their pontificate, in regard to judicial causes and those concerning benefices. In many cases the pope merely confirmed the provisions of his predecessor; in others he made additions or suppressions. The result was an ancient collection of standing rules which remained unmodified even in Pius X's reorganization of the Curia. These Rules are usually divided into three classes: rules of direction or expedition, concerning the expedition of Bulls; beneficial or reservatory rules, relating to benefices and reservations; lastly, judicial rules, concerning certain prescriptions to be observed in judicial matters, especially with relation to appeals. The Rules of the Chancery have the force of law, and are binding wherever exceptions have not been made to them by a concordat
(treaty with a state). In ancient times, these rules ceased to be in force at the death of the sovereign pontiff, and were revived only upon the express confirmation of the succeeding pope, but Urban VIII declared that, without an express confirmation, the Rules of the Chancery should be in force on the day after the creation of the new pope. The commission of cardinals charged with the reformation of the formulae of Bulls had also charge of revising the Rules of the Chancery.
Roman Curia
The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
, merged into the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs
Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs
The Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs was a congregation of the Roman Curia, erected by Pope Pius VII on 19 July 1814 by extending the competence to the Sacred Congregation for the Ecclesiastical Affairs of the Kingdom of France , which Pope Pius VI had set up in 1793...
by Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X
Pope Saint Pius X , born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914. He was the first pope since Pope Pius V to be canonized. Pius X rejected modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox...
on June 29, 1908 with the apostolic constitution
Apostolic constitution
An apostolic constitution is the highest level of decree issued by the Pope. The use of the term constitution comes from Latin constitutio, which referred to any important law issued by the Roman emperor, and is retained in church documents because of the inheritance that the canon law of the...
Sapienti Consilio. The chief official was the Chancellor of Holy Roman Church who was always Cardinal-Priest of San Lorenzo in Damaso
San Lorenzo in Damaso
San Lorenzo in Damaso is a basilica church in Rome, Italy, one of several dedicated to the Roman deacon and martyr Saint Lawrence...
. This office should not confused with the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church which is a cardinal that deals with the vacancy of the Apostolic See
Apostolic See
In Christianity, an apostolic see is any episcopal see whose foundation is attributed to one or more of the apostles of Jesus.Out of the many such sees, five acquired special importance in Chalcedonian Christianity and became classified as the Pentarchy in Eastern Orthodox Christianity...
.
The principal function of the Chancellor was founded originally to collect money to maintain the papal armies. Pope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII , born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was a monk, theologian and bishop, who reigned as Pope from 14 March 1800 to 20 August 1823.-Early life:...
reformed the office when Napoleon obviated the need for papal armies. In the early 20th century the office has the duties to collect money for missionary work. The office was abolished by the motu proprio
Motu proprio
A motu proprio is a document issued by the Pope on his own initiative and personally signed by him....
Quo aptius of 27 February 1973 issued by Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
. Its functions were transferred to the Vatican Secretariat of State.
History Until 1908
It takes its name chancery from civil law and from the imperial chanceries, and is certainly of very ancient origin in its essence. The primacy of the Roman PontiffPrimacy of the Roman Pontiff
The primacy of the Bishop of Rome is an ecclesiastical doctrine held by some branches of Christianity, most notably the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion. The doctrine concerns the respect and authority that is due to the Bishop of Rome from bishops and their...
made it necessary that the Pope should have in his service officers to write and to transmit his answers to the numerous petitions for favours and to the numerous consultations addressed to him. This office, in course of time, underwent many transformations, too may to treat in full.
After Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V , born Odo Colonna, was Pope from 1417 to 1431. His election effectively ended the Western Schism .-Biography:...
had instituted a large number of offices in the Chancery, Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V , born Felice Peretti di Montalto, was Pope from 1585 to 1590.-Early life:The chronicler Andrija Zmajević states that Felice's family originated from modern-day Montenegro...
placed many of them in the class of vacabili, as they were then called, i.e. venal (a practice also resorted to by secular court, e.g. in France even under the absolutist Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
). The origin of this institution was as follows: The pope was often compelled, in defence of Christendom, to wage war, to fit out expeditions, or at least to give financial assistance to the princes who waged such wars at his exhortation. But the pontifical treasury was often without the means to defray even the expenses of the Pontifical States, so in order to raise funds. Accordingly, the popes resorted to the expedient of selling several lucrative offices of the Curia
Curia
A curia in early Roman times was a subdivision of the people, i.e. more or less a tribe, and with a metonymy it came to mean also the meeting place where the tribe discussed its affairs...
, as a rule to the highest bidder; however, that what was sold was not the office itself, but the receipts of the office, e.g., the taxes for the favours granted through the office in question. Some offices were sold with the right of succession by the heirs of the purchaser, but this could be done only in the case of an office of minor importance, in the exercise of which no special ability was required. Those offices which entailed grave responsibilities, and which could be filled only by pious and learned men, were sold on the condition that they should revert to the Curia at the death of the purchaser. An aleatory contract
Aleatory contract
An aleatory contract is a contract in which the performance of one or both parties is contingent upon the occurrence of a particular event. The most common type of aleatory contract are insurance policies...
, therefore, was made, the uncertainties being the amount of the income of the office and the length of life of the purchaser. The prices of the offices, especially of the more desirable ones, were considerable: Lorenzo Corsini, afterwards Clement XII, bought the office of regent of the Chancery for 30,000 Roman scudi -- a large fortune for those times. The hazard was not necessarily confined to the life of the purchaser; he was free to establish it upon the life of another expressly designated person, the so-called the intestatary. The purchaser was also allowed to change the life hazard from one person to another, providing this were done forty days before the death of the last preceding intestatary.
The offices of the Chancery which were transformed into vacabili by Sixtus V included the regent, the twenty-five solicitors, the twelve notaries and the auditors of the causes of the Holy Palace. Sixtus V assigned the proceeds of these sales to the vice-chancellor (see below) as part his emoluments; but this too liberal prescription in favour of the cardinal who presided over the Chancery was revoked by Pope Innocent XI
Pope Innocent XI
Blessed Pope Innocent XI , born Benedetto Odescalchi, was Pope from 1676 to 1689.-Early life:Benedetto Odescalchi was born at Como in 1611 , the son of a Como nobleman, Livio Odescalchi, and Paola Castelli Giovanelli from Gandino...
, who assigned the revenue in question to the Apostolic Camera
Apostolic Camera
The Apostolic Camera, or in Latin Camera Apostolica or Apostolica Camera, is the central board of finance in the Papal administrative system, which at one time was of great importance in the government of the States of the Church, and in the administration of justice, led by the Camerlengo of the...
. Pope Alexander VIII
Pope Alexander VIII
Pope Alexander VIII , born Pietro Vito Ottoboni, was Pope from 1689 to 1691.-Early life:Pietro Ottoboni was born of a noble Venetian family, and was the son of Marco Ottoboni, chancellor of the Republic of Venice...
restored these revenues to the vice-chancellor, at that time the pope's nephew, Pietro Ottoboni.
Under Napoleon I of France
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
the Government redeemed many of the vacabili, and but few remained. Pius VII, after his return to Rome, undertook a reform of the Chancery, and wisely reduced the number of the offices. But as he himself granted to the vacabili the privilege that, by a legal fiction, time should be regarded as not having transpired (quod tempus et tempera non currant), and many proprietors of vacabili having obtained grants of what was called sopravivevza by which deceased intestataries were considered to be living, certain offices remained vacabili in name, but not in fact. Finally, Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
(1901) suppressed all the vacabili offices, ordering his pro-datary to redeem them, when necessary, the datary's office being substituted for the proprietors.
Modern history
By the Constitution "Sapienti consilio" of Pius X on 29 June 1908, the Chancery was reduced to a forwarding office (Ufficio di Spedizione) with a small personnel: besides the cardinal presiding over the Chancery, the regent, with the college of Apostolic prothonotaries, a notary, secretary and archivist, a protocolist and four amanuenses.It was only under Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X
Pope Saint Pius X , born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914. He was the first pope since Pope Pius V to be canonized. Pius X rejected modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox...
that the name of Chancellor of Holy Roman Church was restored. His cardinalitial title is always the church of San Lorenzo in Damaso
San Lorenzo in Damaso
San Lorenzo in Damaso is a basilica church in Rome, Italy, one of several dedicated to the Roman deacon and martyr Saint Lawrence...
as mandated by Pope Clement VII
Pope Clement VII
Clement VII , born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, was a cardinal from 1513 to 1523 and was Pope from 1523 to 1534.-Early life:...
in the constitution Etsi ad singula issued on July 5, 1532.
The presiding cardinal, prior to the Constitution, was called vice-chancellor
Chancellor
Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
. The authors writing on the Chancery gave many ingenious reasons why that dignitary should not have received the more obvious title of chancellor. Cardinal De Luca regarded these explanations as senseless (simplicitates et fabulae), proposing an explanation of his own, without insisting on its correctness. According to him, it was probable that the title of vice-chancellor arose in the same way as the title of pro-datary, the custom having been to call the head of the datary office (dataria) the datary (datario), if he were not a cardinal, and the pro-datary (pro datario), if he were a cardinal. The reason for this must be sought in the fact that the office of datary was really not that of a cardinal, but rather of minor dignity; wherefore it did not seem well to give the title of datary to a cardinal. The same custom still obtains in the case of a nuncio who is elevated to the cardinalate: he retains his position for a time, but with the title of pro-nuncio
Nuncio
Nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning "envoy." This article addresses this title as well as derived similar titles, all within the structure of the Roman Catholic Church...
. This theory of De Luca's is not certain, but at least probable. The new Constitution establishes that the head of the Chancery be called chancellor, a very reasonable provision, seeing that this office has been filled for centuries by cardinals. For the rest, the office in question was always regarded as one of the most honourable and most important of the Curia, as may be seen from Moroni's account of the funeral of Cardinal Alexander Farnese, vice-chancellor and archpriest
Archpriest
An archpriest is a priest with supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic Churches, although it may be used in the Latin rite of the Roman Catholic Church instead of dean or vicar forane.In the 16th and 17th centuries, during...
of the Vatican Basilica. The authority of the vice-chancellor was increased when, under Pope Alexander VIII
Pope Alexander VIII
Pope Alexander VIII , born Pietro Vito Ottoboni, was Pope from 1689 to 1691.-Early life:Pietro Ottoboni was born of a noble Venetian family, and was the son of Marco Ottoboni, chancellor of the Republic of Venice...
in 1690, there was added to his office, in perpetuity, that of compiler (sommista).
The chancellor retains little of his former influence and attributes. He acts as notary in the consistories and directs the office of the chancery. The greatest splendour of the chancellor was under Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X , born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, was the Pope from 1513 to his death in 1521. He was the last non-priest to be elected Pope. He is known for granting indulgences for those who donated to reconstruct St. Peter's Basilica and his challenging of Martin Luther's 95 Theses...
, from whose successor, Clement VII, this functionary received as residence the Palazzo Riario, long known as the Cancelleria Apostolica, where he remained. His former residence was in the Palazzo Borgia, from which he moved to the Palazzo Sforza Cesarini, the latter palace being, on this account, known for a long time as the Cancelleria Vecchia. The removal of the vice-chancellor's residence and office to the majestic Palazzo Riario, in the Campo di Fiori, was due to the confiscation of the property of Cardinal Raffaele Riario
Raffaele Riario
Raffaele Sansoni Galeoti Riario was an Italian Cardinal of the Renaissance, mainly known as the constructor of the Palazzo della Cancelleria and the one who invited Michelangelo to Rome. He was a patron of the arts...
for his share, with Cardinals Petrucci
Alfonso Petrucci
Alfonso Petrucci was an Italian nobleman, born to the Petrucci dynasty. He was the son of Pandolfo Petrucci. In 1511, he was made a cardinal, which gave the Petrucci dynasty some influence with the church....
, Sacchi, Soderini
Francesco Soderini
Francesco di Tommaso Soderini was a major diplomatic and Church figure of Renaissance Italy, and brother of Piero Soderini. He was an adversary of the Medici family....
and Castellesi, in a conspiracy against the life of Leo X.
Contiguous to the Cancelleria, in fact forming a part of it, is the Church of San Lorenzo in Damaso. When Clement VII assigned this palace as the perpetual residence of the vice-chancellor, he provided that the vice-chancellor should always have the title of that church; as the chancellors were not always of the same order in the Sacred College, being either cardinal-deacons, cardinal-priests, or cardinal-bishops, this church could not follow the rule of the other cardinalitial
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
churches, which have a fixed grade, being either "titular" (churches over which cardinals of the order of priests are placed) or deaconries (churches over which are placed cardinal-deacons). San Lorenzo, on the contrary, became a titular for a chancellor of the order of priests, and a deaconry for a cardinal-deacon; when he is a suburbicarian bishop, the chancellor retains this church in commendam
In Commendam
In canon law, commendam was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice in trust to the custody of a patron...
.
The Regency, the next office in the order of precedence in the Chancery after the chancellorship, was created in 1377, when Gregory XI returned from Avignon ('Baybylonian exile' of the papacy in France) to his see. Cardinal Pierre de Monteruc, the chancellor at that time, refused to follow the pope from Avignon to Rome; as it was necessary that someone should direct the office of the Chancery, the pope, leaving the title of vice-chancellor to Montéruc, appointed the Archbishop of Ban, Bartolommeo Prignano, 'regent' of this important office. At the death of Gregory XI, in 1378, Prignano was elected pope, and he appointed a successor to himself in the office of regent of the Chancery, which was thereafter maintained, even when the vice-chancellor re-established his residence at Rome.
There is not space here to refer in detail to the other, minor offices of the Chancery, the greater number of those offices which disappeared for good under Pius X's constitution, under which the Chancery is charged only with the expedition of Papal Bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
s for Consistorial benefices, the establishment of new dioceses and new chapters, and other more important affairs of the Church requiring various forms of Apostolic Letters
Apostolic Letters
The term Apostolic Letters has two uses in Roman Catholicism:# The letters of the Apostles to Christian communities or those in authority, i.e. the Pauline Epistles, the Letter to the Hebrews, together with the seven General epistles of the other Apostles.# various documents issued by the Pope or...
(see BULLS AND BRIEFS.)
Formerly, there were four different ways of issuing Papal Bull -by way of the Curia (per viam Curiae), by way of the Chancery (per Cancellarium), secretly (per viam secretam), and by way of the Apostolic Camera
Apostolic Camera
The Apostolic Camera, or in Latin Camera Apostolica or Apostolica Camera, is the central board of finance in the Papal administrative system, which at one time was of great importance in the government of the States of the Church, and in the administration of justice, led by the Camerlengo of the...
(per viam Camerae)- because while some Bulls were taxed, there was no taxation on others, and it was necessary to determine upon what Bulls the proprietors of the vacabili offices had a right to receive taxes. Thus Bulls concerning the government of the Catholic world, being exempt from all taxation, were said to be issued by way of the Curia; those of which the expedition was by way of the Chancery were the common Bulls, which, after being reviewed by the abbreviators of the greater presidency, were signed by them and by the proprietors of the vacabili, the latter of whom received the established taxes; the Bulls said to be issued secretly were those in favour of some privileged persons—as the palatine prelates, the auditors of the Sacra Rota and the relatives of cardinals and were signed by the vice-chancellor, also exempt from taxation; finally, the Bulls of which the expedition was said to be by way of the Camera were those that concerned the Apostolic Camera. Since the style and the rules of the Chancery could not be adapted to these Bulls, they were issued by the sommista, whose office was created by Alexander VI and later, as was said above, united by Alexander VIII with that of the vice-chancellor.
After all the vacabili were abolished, these various forms of expedition ceased, Pius X's Constitution providing that all Bulls be issued by way of the Chancery, on order of the Congregation of the Consistory for all matters of its competency, and by order of the pope for all others, in keeping with the new organization of the Chancery as a merely issuing office. The Constitution "Sapienti consilio" provided that the ancient formulae of Bulls should be changed, and the duty of preparing new ones was given to a commission of cardinals composed of the chancellor, the datary and the secretary of the Consistorial Congregation.
This commission having reformed the Bulls for the Consistorial benefices, Pius X's Motu Proprio
Motu proprio
A motu proprio is a document issued by the Pope on his own initiative and personally signed by him....
of 8 December 1910, approved the new formula; and ordered them to be used exclusively after 1 January 1911. The college of the abbreviators of the greater presidency having been suppressed, and the abbreviators of the lesser presidency having become extinct in fact, the Apostolic prothonotaries in actual office were appointed to sign the Bulls.
Another reasonable change was made in regard to the dating of Bulls. Formerly Bulls were dated according to the year of the Incarnation, which begins on 25 March. This medieval style of dating remained peculiar to papal Bulls, and in time gave rise to much confusion. Pius X ordered these documents to be dated in future according to common custom, by the year which begins on 1 January.
Mention should here be made of what are known as the Rules of the Chancery. This name was given to certain Apostolic Constitutions which the popes were in the habit of promulgating at the beginning of their pontificate, in regard to judicial causes and those concerning benefices. In many cases the pope merely confirmed the provisions of his predecessor; in others he made additions or suppressions. The result was an ancient collection of standing rules which remained unmodified even in Pius X's reorganization of the Curia. These Rules are usually divided into three classes: rules of direction or expedition, concerning the expedition of Bulls; beneficial or reservatory rules, relating to benefices and reservations; lastly, judicial rules, concerning certain prescriptions to be observed in judicial matters, especially with relation to appeals. The Rules of the Chancery have the force of law, and are binding wherever exceptions have not been made to them by a concordat
Concordat
A concordat is an agreement between the Holy See of the Catholic Church and a sovereign state on religious matters. Legally, they are international treaties. They often includes both recognition and privileges for the Catholic Church in a particular country...
(treaty with a state). In ancient times, these rules ceased to be in force at the death of the sovereign pontiff, and were revived only upon the express confirmation of the succeeding pope, but Urban VIII declared that, without an express confirmation, the Rules of the Chancery should be in force on the day after the creation of the new pope. The commission of cardinals charged with the reformation of the formulae of Bulls had also charge of revising the Rules of the Chancery.
Chancellors of the Holy Roman Church 1088-1187
Note: some chancellors before 1144 used the ancient title bibliothecarius instead of cancellarius.- Giovanni de' CaetaniPope Gelasius IIPope Gelasius II , born Giovanni Caetani , was pope from January 24, 1118 to January 29, 1119.-Biography:He was born between 1060 and 1064 at Gaeta into the Pisan branch of the Caetani family....
(1088-1118) - Crisogono Malcondini (1118-1122)
- Aymeric de Borgogne (1123-1141)
- Gerardo CaccianemiciPope Lucius IIPope Lucius II , born Gherardo Caccianemici dal Orso, was pope from March 9, 1144, until his death Feb 15, 1145. His pontificate was notable for the unrest in Rome associated with the Commune of Rome, and its attempts to wrest control of the city from the papacy.-Early life:Gherardo Caccianemici...
(1141-1144)- Baronio, pro-chancellor (1144-1145)
- Robert PullenRobert PullenRobert Pullen was an English theologian and official of the Roman Catholic Church.-Biography:Nothing is known of his early life except that he was of English parentage. The conjecture of an early-20th-century biographer that he was born at Poole, Dorsetshire is not supported by any evidence....
(1145-1146) - Guido da Vico (1146-1149)
- Boso BreakspeareBoso Breakspeare-Origins:According to the older historiography Boso was an Englishman from St Albans and nephew of Nicholas Breakspear, future Pope Adrian IV, on his mother's side. He ostensibly joined the Order of Benedictines at St Albans Abbey in the young age, and then entered the Roman Curia when his uncle...
, pro-chancellor (1149-1153)
- Boso Breakspeare
- Rolando BandinelliPope Alexander IIIPope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...
(1153-1159)- Ermanno, pro-chancellor (1159-1166)
- Gerardo, pro-chancellor (1166-1168)
- Graziano da Pisa, pro-chancellor (1168-1178)
- Alberto di MorraPope Gregory VIIIPope Gregory VIII , born Alberto di Morra, was Pope from October 25, 1187 until his death.-Early life:...
(1178-1187)
Vice-Chancellors of the Holy Roman Church 1187-1908
- Moyses (1187-1191)
- Egidio Pierleoni (1191-1194)
- Cencio CamerarioPope Honorius IIIPope Honorius III , previously known as Cencio Savelli, was Pope from 1216 to 1227.-Early work:He was born in Rome as son of Aimerico...
(1194-1198) - Rainaldo di Acerenza (1198-1200)
- Biagio di Porto Torres (1200-1203)
- Giovanni da Ferentino(1203-1205)
- Giovanni dei Conti di SegniGiovanni dei Conti di SegniGiovanni dei Conti di Segni was an Italian cardinal and cardinal-nephew of Pope Innocent III, his cousin, who elevated him in 1200 with the deaconry of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. He was also Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church 1205–1213 and Protodeacon of the Sacred College from 1210 or...
, chancellor (1205-1213) - Rainaldo Magallona (1213-1214)
- Tommaso da Capua (1215-1216)
- Rainiero (1216-1219)
- William of ModenaWilliam of ModenaWilliam of Modena , also known as William of Sabina, Guglielmo de Chartreaux, Guglielmo de Savoy, Guillelmus, was an Italian clergyman and papal diplomat. He was frequently appointed a legate, or papal ambassador by the popes Honorius III and Gregory IX, especially in Livonia in the 1220s and in...
(1219-1222) - Guido (1222-1226)
- Sinibaldo Fieschi (1226-1227)
- Martino of Sens (1227-1232)
- Bartolomeo (1232-1235)
- Guglielmo (1235-1238)
- Giacomo Boncampio (1239-1244)
- Marinus de Eboli (1244-1252)
- Guglielmo di Catadego (1252-1256)
- Rainaldo Maestro (1256-1257)
- Giordano Pironti (1257-1262)
- Michele di Tolosa (1262-ca.1271)
- Giovanni Leccacorno (1272-1273)
- Lanfranco di Bergamo (1273-1276)
- Pietro Peregrossi (1276-1288)
- Jean Le Moine (1288-1294)
- Giovanni Castrocoeli (1294-1295)
- Pietro Valeriano Duraguerra (1295-1296)
- Riccardo Petroni (1296-1300)
- Pietro Valeriano Duraguerra (again) (1300-1301)
- Papinianus della Rovere (1301-ca.1305)
- Pierre Arnaud de Puyanne (1305-1306)
- Petrus de Podio (1306-1307)
- Arnaud Nouvel (1307-1316)
- Gauscelin de JeanGauscelin de JeanGauscelin de Jean was a French cardinal.He was born at Cahors in the family related to the family of Pope John XXII. From 1312 he was archdeacon of Paris...
(1316-1319) - Pierre Le TessierPierre Le TessierPierre Le Tessier — French churchmen. In his youth he joined the Order of Canons Regular of St. Augustine and in 1318 became abbot of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse. Close advisor of Pope John XXII. Papal nuncio in Sicily in 1317. Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church from 1319 until his death...
(1319-1325) - Pierre DespresPierre DesprèsPierre Desprès was a French Cardinal during the period of Avignon Papacy. He was son of Raymond II Desprès, seigneur of Montpezat....
(1325-1361) - Pierre de Monteruc (1361-1385)
- Francesco Moricotti Prignano (1385-1394)
- Vacant (1394-1405)
- Angelo AcciaioliAngelo AcciaioliAngelo Acciaioli II or Angelo Acciaioli junior was an Italian Catholic cardinal.- Biography :Born in Florence, Angelo was elected bishop of Rapallo in 1375, but in 1383 he was transferred to the see of Florence where he had been preceded by a previous family member many years before, Angelo...
(1405-1408) - Jean de Brogny (1409-1426)
- Vacant (1426-1436)
- Jean de la RochetailléeJean de La RochetailléeJean de La Rochetaillée was a French churchman, eminent jurist, and Cardinal. His real name was Jean de Fort.He was bishop of Saint-Papoul in 1413, bishop of Geneva in 1418, and bishop of Paris in 1421/2. He became archbishop of Rouen in 1423, but fell out with his chapter...
(1436-1437) - Francesco CondulmerFrancesco CondulmerFrancesco Condulmer was a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.He was made cardinal on 19 September 1431 by his uncle, Pope Eugenius IV, and accumulated many offices and dignities. He was Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church , administrator of Narbonne and Amiens...
(1437-1453)- Vacant (1453-1457)
- Rodrigo Lanzol-Borja y BorjaPope Alexander VIPope Alexander VI , born Roderic Llançol i Borja was Pope from 1492 until his death on 18 August 1503. He is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, and his Italianized surname—Borgia—became a byword for the debased standards of the Papacy of that era, most notoriously the Banquet...
(1457-1492) - Ascanio Maria Sforza ViscontiAscanio SforzaAscanio Maria Sforza Visconti was an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church, generally known as a skilled diplomat who played a major role in the election of Rodrigo Borgia as Pope Alexander VI.-Early years:...
(1492-1505) - Galeotto Franciotti della Rovere (1505-1507)
- Sisto Gara della Rovere (1507-1517)
- Giulio de' MediciPope Clement VIIClement VII , born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, was a cardinal from 1513 to 1523 and was Pope from 1523 to 1534.-Early life:...
(1517-1523) - Pompeo ColonnaPompeo ColonnaPompeo Colonna was an Italian Cardinal, politician and condottiero.Born in Rome, he fought very early against the traditional family enemies, the Orsini....
(1524-1532) - Ippolito de' MediciIppolito de' MediciIppolito de' Medici was the illegitimate only son of Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici.Ippolito was born in Urbino. His father died when he was only five , and he was subsequently raised by his uncle Pope Leo X and his cousin Giulio.When Giulio de' Medici was elected pope as Clement VII, Ippolito...
(1532-1535) - Alessandro Farnese (1535-1589)
- Alessandro (Damasceni) Peretti de Montalto (1589-1623)
- Ludovico Ludovisi (1623-1632)
- Francesco BarberiniFrancesco Barberini (seniore)Francesco Barberini was an Italian Catholic Cardinal. The nephew of Pope Urban VIII , he benefited immensely from the nepotism practiced by his uncle...
(1632-1679)- Vacant (1679-1689)
- Pietro Ottoboni (1689-1740)
- Tommaso RuffoTommaso RuffoTommaso Ruffo was an Italian archbishop of Ferrara and Cardinal.-Life:He was born in Naples, son of Carlo Ruffo, 3rd Duke of Bagnara. He was educated at La Sapienza University, becoming a doctor of canon and civil law...
(1740-1753) - Girolamo Colonna di SciarraGirolamo Colonna di SciarraGirolamo Colonna di Sciarra was an Italian Catholic Cardinal of the noble Colonna di Sciarra family.He was the brother of Prospero Colonna di Sciarra and grand-uncle of Benedetto Barberini, who, after the merger of the Barberini and Colonna families, was also referred to as Benedetto Barberini...
(1753-1756) - Alberico ArchintoAlberico ArchintoAlberico Archinto — was an Italian cardinal and papal diplomat.He entered the Roman Curia in 1724. Twelve years later he was ordained to the priesthood, and on November 1, 1739 received episcopal consecration as titular archbishop of Nicea...
(1756-1758) - Carlo Rezzonico (1758-1763)
- Henry Benedict StuartHenry Benedict StuartHenry Benedict Stuart was a Roman Catholic Cardinal, as well as the fourth and final Jacobite heir to publicly claim the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Unlike his father, James Francis Edward Stuart, and brother, Charles Edward Stuart, Henry made no effort to seize the throne...
of York (1763-1807) - Francesco Carafa di Traetto (1807-1818)
- Giulio Maria della SomagliaGiulio Maria della Somaglia-External links:*...
(1818-1830) - Tommaso Arezzo (1830-1833)
- Carlo OdescalchiCarlo OdescalchiCarlo Odescalchi, was an Italian prince and priest, archbishop of Ferrara, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Vicar of the diocese of Rome. Close collaborator of Pope Pius VII. and of Gregory XVI he renounced his titles in order to become a Jesuit in 1638.He was born in Rome to a family of...
(1833-1834) - Carlo Maria Pedicini (1834-1843)
- Tommaso Bernetti (1844-1852)
- Luigi Amat di San Filippo e SorsoLuigi Amat di San Filippo e SorsoLuigi Amat di San Filippo e Sorso was the dean of the College of Cardinals during the last part of the record long reign of Pope Pius IX....
(1852-1878) - Antonino Saverio De Luca (1878-1883)
- Teodolfo MertelTeodolfo MertelTeodolfo Mertel was a lawyer and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the last lay cardinal.Pope Pius IX made him a Cardinal-Deacon of S. Eustachio on 15 March 1858. Two months later on May 16, Pope Pius IX ordained him as a deacon...
(1884-1899) - Lucido ParocchiLucido ParocchiLucido Maria Parocchi S.T.D. was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Secretary of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office.-Biography:...
(1899-1903) - Antonio Agliardi (1903-1908)
Chancellors of Holy Roman Church 1908–1973
- Antonio Agliardi (1908-1915)
- Ottavio Cagiano de AzevedoOttavio Cagiano de AzevedoOttavio Cagiano de Azevedo was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Religious from 1913 to 1915, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1905.-Biography:...
(1915-1927) - Andreas Franz FrühwirthAndreas Franz FrühwirthAndreas Franz Frühwirth was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and was former Major Penitentiary of Apostolic Penitentiary....
, O.P. (1927-1933) - Tommaso Pio BoggianiTommaso Pio BoggianiTommaso Pio Boggiani O.P. was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Genoa....
, O.P. (1933-1942) - Celso Benigno Luigi Costantini (1954-1958)
- Santiago CopelloSantiago CopelloSantiago Luis Copello was an Argentine Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1932 to 1959, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1935.-Biography:...
(1959-1967) - Luigi Traglia (1968-1973)