Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 9.djvu/236

 LXTTSBS

203

LETTERB

ciallv, in a durable manner and form, for all time; but by a rescript was understood a papal ordinance issued at the petition of an individual tnat decided a lawsuit or granted a favour. Compare the Bulls of pro- mul|Dition prefixed to the *' Decretals'' of Gregory IX, the^iber Sextus " of Boniface VIII, and the 'M^lemen- tinss''; also the titles, " De constitutionibus" and ** Dc rescriptis " in the * * Corpus Juris Canonici ' '. Notwith- standmg^Edl this, usage remained uncertain (c. x^v, in Vlto, I)e praeb., Ill, iv) . The above-mentioned dis- tinctions between papal documents were based on the extent of their authority. Other names again had their origin in the form of the papal dociunents. It is true they all had more or less evidently the form of letters. But essential differences appeared, especially in regard to the literary form {stylus) of the docu- ment and the method of sealing, these depending in each case on the importance of the contents of the respective dociunent. It was merely the difference in the manner of sealing that led to tlic distinction be- tween Bulls and Brieis. For Bulls, legal instnmients almost entirely for important matters, the seal was stamped in wax or lead, seldom in gold, enclosed in a case, and fastened to the document by a cord. For Briefs, instruments used, as a rule, in matters of less importance, the seal was stamped upon the docu- ment in wax. Curial letters (liUerce curiales or de curia) denoted particularly letters of the popes in po- litical affairs. During the Middle Ages, just as in the early Church, the letters of the popes were deposited in the P&pal archives either in the original or by copy. They are still in existence, and almost com- plete in niunber, from the time of Innocent III (1198- 1216). Many papal letters were also incorporated, as Jheir legal nature required, in the ''Corpus Juris Ca- nonici. Others are to be found in the formularies, many of which appeared unofficially in the Middle A^es, similar in kind to the ancient official ''Liber Diumus" of the papal chancery in use as late as the time of Gregory Vll. The papal letters were for- warded fay the papal officials, above all by the chan- cery, for whose use the chancer^' rules, regulce can- cdUuia ApoatolioBf were drawn up; these rules had r^;ard to the execution and dispatch of the papal letters, and date back to the twelfth ccnturj'. Is ever- theless, the forcing of papal letters was even more fre*

2uent in the Middle Ages than in the early Church. anocent III (in c. v, X, De crimine falsi, V, xx) refers to no less than nine methods of falsification. From the tJiirteenth century on to a few years ago it sufficed, in order to give a papal document legal force, to post it up at Rome on the doors of St. Peter's, of the Lat- eran, the Apostolic Chancery, and in the Piazza del Campo di Fiori. Since 1 January, 1909, they acquire force by publication in the "Acta Apostolicee Sedis".

III. Letters of the Popes in Modern Times, — In the modern period also, papal letters have been and still are constantly issued. Now, however, they pro- ceed from the popes themselves less frequently than in the Middle Ages and Christian antiquity; most of thCTfi are issued by the papal officials, of whom there is a greater number than m the Middle Ages, and to whom have been granted large delegated powers, which include the issuing of letters. Following the example of Paul III, Pius IV, and Pius V, Sixtus V by the Bull ''Immensa jetemi** of 22 January, 1587, added to the already existing bodies of papal officials a numl^er of congre^tions of cardinals with clearly defined powers of edmmistration and jurisdiction. Succeeding popes added other congregations. Pius X, however, m the Constitution "Sapienti consilio" of 29 June, 1908, reorganized the papal Curia. Papal writinp are yet divided into Constitutions, Rescripts, Bulls, Briefs, and Apostolic Letters (Ldtterce ApostoHcw). The LU- tertB ApostoUcoB are further divided into lAUercB ApostO' UoB rimpUcet or BreoeUi, Chirographa, Encydicm (En-.

cyclicals), and Mot us Proprii, By LiJtterai Apostoliat simplices are understood all documents drawn up by virtue of papal authorization, and signed with the pope's name out not by the pope personally. Docu- ments signed by the pope personally are called Chiro- grapha. Encyclicals are letters of a more hortatory nature, addressed to all or to a majority of the higher officials of the Church. A Motu Proprio is a dociunent prepared at the personal initiative ot the pope, without previous petition to him, and issued with a partial avoidance of the otherwise customary forms of the chancery. By Constitution is understood, as in the Middle Ages, a papal document of general authority; by Rescript, a similar document applicable td an in- dividual case. Bulls and Briefs are distinguished from each other by characteristics of form which have al- ways remained essentially the same. The papal docu- ments are still deposited in the Roman archives. There are no official collections of them corresponding to the medieval "Corpus Juris Canonici". The last official collection is that of the Constitutions of Bene- dict XIV (1740-1758). From the sixteenth century, on the other hand, private collections have appeared, some of which are called buUiiria, from the more im- portant part of their contents. Many papal letters are also found in the collections of the Acts of the Councils. The documents issue<l by the officials of the Curia and the Congregations of Cardinals contain either resolutions (decisions) for individual cases, or declara- tions (exiensivce or comprehensivw) interpreting laws, or decrees, which are entirely new laws. Some con- gregations of cardinals have issued official collections of their decisions.

IV. Collections of the Letters of the Popes and of the Roman Officials. — Constant, "Epistoke Romanorum Pontificum et quse ad eos scripto; sunt a S. Clemente I usque ad Innocentium III (Paris, 1721), goes to only 440; Schonemann, "Pontificum Romanonim a Clemente I usque ad Leonem M. genuinse. . . epifh tobe" (Gottingen, 1796);Thiel, " Epistolae Romanorum Pontificum genuinse. . . a S. Hilaro usque ad Pela-

Flum 11" (Brunshyrg 1868). From 1881 the Ecole ranyause of Rome has published, with particular reference to France, the Registra" of Gregory IX, Innocent IV, Alexander IV. Urban IV, Clement IV, Gregor>' X John XXI ^ficholas III Martin IV, Honorius IV, Nicholas IV, Boniface VIlI, and Bene- dict XI. The " Registra" of the Avignon popes are also in course of publication. Cf. " Melanges cParch6- ologie et d'histoire"^ XXV, 443 sqq.; Hergenr6ther, "Leonis X Pontificis Maximi Reg^ta" (Freiburg, 1884 — ); "Regesta dementis Papse V cura et studio monachorum ordinis S. Benedicti" (Rome, 1885—); Pressuti, "Registrum Ilonorii III" (Rome, 1888—). There are innumerable collections of papal letters issued from a partisan point of view. All Known papal letters up to 1198 are enumerated by JaflFd in the "Ke- gesta Rom. Pont." The papal letters of 1198-1304 are found in Potthast, " Regesta Pontificum Roman- orum ab anno 1198 ad annum 1304" (Berlin, 1874). Professor Paul Kehr is preparing a critical edition of all papal letters up to Innocent III. See the " Nach- richten", of the Gottingen Academy of Sciences, 1896, 72 sqq.; " Pii IX acta " (Rome, 1854—); " Leonis XIII acta^' (Rome, 1881); "Pii X acta" (Rome, 1907). For the Bullaria, see Tomasetti, " BuUarum, diploma- tum et privilegiorum s. Romanorum Pontificum Tau- rinensis editio locupletissima" (Turin, 1857 — ); for collections of the Acts of the Councils, Mansi, "Sa- crorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio" (Florence and Venice, 1759), goes to 1439. It is con- tinued by "Collectio conciliorum recentioris ecclesifls universae", ed. Martin and Petit (Paris, 1905); "Decreta authentica S. Congregationis Indulgentiarum edita jussu et auctoritate Leonis XIII" (Ratisbon, 1 883); " Jus Pontificium de Propaganda Fide Leonis Xni jussu recognitum" (Rome, 1888); "Decieta