Archivio Segreto 21 
issued in slightly different form, during the time between the election and 
the coronation of the Pope. 
To draw up bulls is the function of the chancery and of the dataria. The 
matter in hand having been decided by the proper authority, a note of it is 
sent to the chancery or the dataria endorsed: “ Fiat ut petitur.” In the case 
of petition, this is often written on the back of the original, in the case of 
business originating with the Curia, a brief statement of the case is submitted. 
A minute is then prepared by the college of abbreviators, 4 and this is signed 
by the Pope. This minute is preserved by the department concerned, which 
issues, on this warrant, the formal bull, bearing the signature of various chan¬ 
cery officials, and in rare instances, as in the case of a bull of canonization, 
that of the Pope. 
A brief is, as its name indicates, a shorter document. Its phraseology is 
less formal; it is dated by the year of the Nativity; and it is sealed, except in 
rare instances, with the seal of the Fisher, though briefs may be found with 
the seal of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in lead. 6 Briefs are prepared by the 
department of briefs. The preliminary steps are similar to those in the case 
of bulls, but briefs bear only the signature of the secretary of briefs or his 
substitute. 
Together, the bulls and briefs represent practically the sum total of the 
official decisions of the Holy See, though the letters of the secretary of state, 
and the decrees of congregations are scarcely less important. The signatura, 
or decision not put in the form of bull or brief, is used only for minor matters. 
The originals of the bulls and briefs are scattered throughout the world, and 
a complete collection of them would be impossible, but various official col¬ 
lections of registers and minutes exist at Rome, which constitute, on the 
whole, the most important part of the historical material thrown open to stu¬ 
dents by Leo XIII. A discussion of these several series follows. 
It is unfortunate that the great wealth of learning and research which has 
been expended on the regesta has been devoted almost entirely to the period 
previous to the discovery of America, particularly as it is quite unsafe to deduce 
from the practice of one century the practice of the next. The papacy is indeed 
conservative, but this very conservatism has led to the conservation of institu¬ 
tions in their ancient forms, after their objects have become changed or non¬ 
existent, and similarities become traps for the unwary. Of the different series 
the Regesta Vaticana have always received the most attention. 
REGESTA VATICANA. 8 
This register is made up by the combination of several independent reg¬ 
isters, which were united, and in 1611 were transferred from the Camera to 
4 By the constitution of 1908 the college of abbreviators was abolished, and this work 
was transferred to the college of protonotaries. 
3 Grimaldi, Congregations Romaines, pp. 431-440. 
8 The best discussion of the Regesta Vaticana is that by E. von Ottenthal, “ Die Bul- 
lenregistrer von Martin V. und Eugen IV.” (Innsbruck, 1885, pp. 189), printed in the 
Mittheilungen des Instituts fur Oesterreichische Geschichtsforschung. Another admir¬ 
able description is that by Camelli Kropta, “ Acta Urbani VI. et Bonifatii IX. Ponti- 
ficum Romanorum”, part I., 1376-1396 (Prague, 1903), in the Monumenta Vaticana res 
gestas Bohemicas illustrantia, V. 1-19. See also W. H. Bliss, English Historical Re¬ 
view, IV. 810-811, on contents of bulls; L. Duchesne, “Rapport sur la Publication des 
Registres Pontificaux ”, in Melanges d’Arch. et d’Hist., XXV. 443-450, on problems of 
publication; Gregorio Palmieri, Ad Vaticani Archivi Romanorum Pontificum Regesta 
Manuductio (Rome, 1884, pp. xxviii, 176), for a brief description of chancery methods; 
and Hinojosa, Los Despachos, pp. xxxiv-xxxvii. 
