Introduction 
7 
independent powers than the congregations, thus concentrating power in the 
hands of the palatine administration, the Pope and secretaries. 28 At the same 
time the recent legislative changes of Pius X. in 1908 lessen the activity of 
the congregations by increasing the powers of the bishops and diminishing 
the amount of business to be brought to Rome on the one hand, and on the 
other hand by sending much of what will come, to the Rota 27 and other 
tribunals. 
The system of government of the Church at large, by bishops and archbish¬ 
ops, is too well known to require comment, and at the same time an understand¬ 
ing of it is not so essential to the use of the Roman archives. Unfortunately 
for the historian, the control of these local prelates by central administration 
was not, especially in America before the nineteenth century, so close as is 
sometimes supposed. Payments for bulls of appointment, and the necessity 
of requesting at regular intervals certain special powers necessary in America 
because of the difficulty of communication and other local conditions, formed 
almost the only uniform bonds; and, in the absence of a nuncio or other 
regular representative of the Curia, special occasions were often met by an 
assumption of authority on the part of those on the spot. The monastic system 
was better knit, but even here the American provinces of the several orders 
were not held in hand as were those of Europe; nor was the American work 
of European provinces so carefully supervised, at least until the coming of 
the Propaganda; while the control of the Curia over the orders was never 
detailed. The conflicts between the monastic and episcopal systems, how¬ 
ever, and between the several orders, caused frequent reference to Rome. 
In regions without a bishop, the orders were at first supreme; but in time 
the Propaganda, for many years the most vigorous arm of the pontifical ad¬ 
ministration, made its power felt, and here, perhaps, the control of Rome 
was most direct. 
CONDITIONS OF STUDY. 
Pontifical Archives. The pontifical archives are much dispersed. First 
in importance is the collection in the Archivio Vaticano, begun by Paul V. 
in 1611. This has been formed by transferring, from time to time, records 
from departmental archives to this general depositary, by the incorporation 
of the archives brought from Avignon, and by the purchase or gift of private 
collections rich in archive material. The bodies best represented are the 
consistory, the chancery, the secretariate of briefs, the Dataria, the Camera, 
and the secretariate of state. There are also many documents belonging to 
other departments, but it is not always evident whether they are originals or 
copies. In general, these series are open to call, down to 1815, the date to 
which, until not many years ago, European archives were generally accessible ; 
and where the deposits extend to a later date, as in the case of the corre¬ 
spondence of the secretary of state, individual documents may sometimes 
be obtained. 
Current records, and in very many cases complete files, are still in the cus¬ 
tody of the several departments, as transfers are not regulated by any general 
law. The availability of these archives depends wholly upon the attitude of 
the department, but access in all such cases is a matter of special grace. 
31 For term palatine, see Grimaldi, pp. 13-23. 
27 See p. 201, note 38. 
