Archives of the Secretary of State 
87 
Letters to Bishops. 
167 . 1644-1651. 
168 - 169 . 1655-1665. 
169 A, B, C, D. “ Minute di Segre- 
tario di Stato ai Principi, 
Cardinali, Nunzii, Prelati, 
Particolari.” 1657-1665. 
170 . 1666-1669. 
171 - 173 . 1667-1679. 
174 . 1680, 1688. 
175 . 1687-1689, 1692. 
176 , 177 . 1693-1707. 
179 . 1708-1710. 
185 , 186 . 1721-1728. 
187 , 188 . 1726-1730. 
189 . 1606-1616. 
190 . 1609-1652. 
192 . 1664-1683. 
193 . 1670-1678. 
194 . 1684-1699. 
195 - 230 . 1685-1739. 
323 - 336 . 1730-1761. 
337 - 342 . “ Lettere di Vescovi a 
Benedicto XIV. con Minute 
di Risposte.” 1744-1758. 
PRINCIPI E TITOLATI. 80 
This collection owes its separate existence to the fact that for the last four 
centuries a special secretary of letters to princes has been a member of the 
papal organization. A brief list of the volumes belonging to the Archivio is 
found in indice 134 , De Pretis, folios 178-185. There are 277 numbers, but 
as twenty volumes are unnumbered or internumbered and one is lost, the 
actual number is 296. Indice 231 is entitled, “ Rubricella delli tomi tre di 
Minute di Brevi a Principi de Paulo V. e Gregorio XV.”, but these volumes 
could not be identified. The extreme dates of the collection are 1515 and 
1815. The letters of princes are originals bound in volumes containing from 
350 to 500 each; they are arranged chronologically, though not perfectly so, 
and the folios are numbered. Those to princes, so far as examined, are min¬ 
utes rather than registers, and are often illegible; the volumes contain about 
400 folios each. Sixty-seven volumes of registers of letters to princes, ex¬ 
tending from Gregory XIII. to Benedict XIII., are to be found in arm . 45 
of the Archivio Segreto. Compare also the collection of Letters to Princes, 
noted on page 30. 
This collection does not by any means include all letters to and from princes, 
for such are scattered through many series. The title prince was used to 
cover varied forms of preeminence: sovereigns, princes of the blood, ministers 
of state, commanding generals, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and occasion¬ 
ally nuncios. For the most part they are formal in character, letters of con¬ 
gratulation and courtesy, but some are of genuine historical importance. Each 
is rigidly confined to a single subject and they could easily be calendared. 
They have been used for various studies in European history, and letters re¬ 
lating to the special subjects have been published. 01 
Volumes 115-121 and 222 , for the years 1686-1691, and 1722-1724, of the 
letters of princes; and volumes 186 , 187 , 195 , 196 , for the years 1609-1614, 
80 G. Bourgin, Les Archives Pontidcales, p. 73; W. Friedensburg, Nuntiaturberichte, 
vol. I., pp. xviii-xix; also, “ Regesten zur Deutschen Geschichte aus der Zeit des Pon- 
tifikats Innocenz X.” in Quellen und Forschungen, IV. 236-285. See also pages 30 to 31. 
91 M. Rosi, “Alcuni Documenti relativi alia Liberazione dei Principali Prigioneri 
Turchi presi a Lepanto ”, in Arch. della Soc. Rom. di Storia Patria, XXI. 141 seq., 
XXIV. 1 seq.; Abbe H. Surrel de Saint-Julien, “Documents inedits pour servir a l’His- 
toire du Cardinal Mazarin”, in Annales de St. Louis des Frangais, II. 354-380; “La 
Revolution Frangaise et les Cours fdectorales du Rhin, ibid., III. 25-57; Riva, “ Lettres 
inedites de Muratori ”, in Studi e Documenti, XXI. 347 seq. 
7 
