78 
Vatican Archives 
lished until 1596, 71 representatives with the rank of nuncio had often resided 
there temporarily, and the extreme dates of the collection are 1554 and 1796, 
but there is a gap from 1556 to 1591, inclusive. Owing to the well-known 
energy with which historical studies are pursued in Belgium, this series has 
been more completely exploited than any other of the nunziature. While these 
publications lighten the work of exploration, they do not reveal the American 
material. 
One feature of importance in the position of the Belgian nuncio was that 
Antwerp was, during the seventeenth century, the great western news-centre 
for the Catholic world, as Lisbon had been during the sixteenth. Particularly 
was he expected to supply the Roman government with news of England, 72 
except during the short period when a separate nuncio was resident in that 
country. A special relation with portions of America was added in 1623, 
when the Propaganda, in its division of the world into provinces for each of 
which a nuncio was responsible, included England and Holland in his share. 73 
With England went its American possessions, though this was, perhaps, not 
formally recognized until 1746; 74 and with Holland, New Netherland. As a 
matter of fact this new function was quite largely discharged by the forward¬ 
ing of documents prepared by the local vicars apostolic, and it remains true 
that this collection is important chiefly for the awisi. 
Sixteen volumes were examined, of which 17 , giving the letters from the 
nuncio, 1630; 21 , 1632-1634; 24 , 1636-1639; 58 , 1670; 135 Qq, 1782-1783; 
and 193 , with letters to the nuncio, 1779-1782; contained no relevant material. 
References to material found, follow: 
18 . Letters from the nuncio. 1631. 
Feb. 1. Arrival of the fleet from the Indies, in Spain. 
Feb. 8. Joy in Antwerp over arrival of fleet. 
24 . Letters from the nuncio containing mention of letters forwarded from 
papal representatives in England. 
44 . Letters from the nuncio. 1660. 
June 19, 26. On the peace between England and Spain. This volume 
contains selections and abstracts carefully made by the nuncio, of 
news-letters from England and elsewhere, copies of important Eng¬ 
lish documents, and copies of communications from the vicar apos¬ 
tolic of London, of which the originals were retained at Brussels. 
introduction to the following edition of the instructions themselves. A. Cauchie and 
R. Maere, Recueil des Instructions Generates aux Nonces de Flandre (1596-1635) 
(Brussels, 1904). M. Gachard, Les Archives du Vatican (Brussels, 1874) ; of which 
pp. 49-T05 analyze material relating to Flanders and Spain in the 25 volumes of Por- 
firio Feliciani, secretary to Cardinal Borghese (nephew of Paul V.), 1608-1616, pre¬ 
served in the Biblioteca Angelica. L. V. Goemans, “ Tien geinventorieerde Nummers 
der Nunziatura di Fiandra ”, in Bulletin Gesch. Brabant, 1906, containing an inventory 
of the first ten volumes. R. Maere, “ Les Origines de la Nonciature de Flandre ”, in 
Revue d'Histoire Ecclesiastique, VII. 565-584, 805-826. This study extends only to the 
end of the sixteenth century. 
71 Gachard, Archives, p. 52. 
72 R. Ancel, “ £tude Critique sur quelques Recueils d’ Awisi”, in Melanges d’ Arche- 
ologie et d’Histoire, XXVIII. 127; Angelica 1220, S-6-12, f. 189. June 4, 1611, to the 
nuncio: “ Sono grate le diligenze che V. S. usa in darci awisi delle cose di Inghilterra, 
delle quali con le sue lettere di 14 del passato habbiamo solito foglio. Perseveri in avvi- 
sar tutto quelo, che giudichera degno di notitia.” 
73 Propaganda Fide, Acta, vol. 1 , f. 3, f. 230, no. 15. 
74 Ibid., year 1746, f. 176, no. 10. 
