Apostolic Camera
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The Apostolic Camera ( la, Camera Apostolica), formerly known as the was an office in the Roman Curia. It was the central board of finance in the papal administrative system and at one time was of great importance in the government of the
States of the Church The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
and in the
administration of justice The administration of justice is the process by which the legal system of a government is executed. The presumed goal of such an administration is to provide justice for all those accessing the legal system. The phrase is also commonly used to d ...
, led by the
Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church The Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church is an office of the papal household that administers the property and revenues of the Holy See. Formerly, his responsibilities included the fiscal administration of the Patrimony of Saint Peter. As reg ...
, originally known as ''camerarius (''chamberlain). In 2022,
Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
' apostolic constitution '' Praedicate evangelium'' abolished the office as of 5 June.


History

The office of camerarius (chamberlain) was established by Pope Urban II. Since the middle of the 12th century the Papal chamberlain (') was a regular member of the
Curia Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...
, entrusted with the financial management of the
papal court The papal household or pontifical household (usually not capitalized in the media and other nonofficial use, ), called until 1968 the Papal Court (''Aula Pontificia''), consists of dignitaries who assist the pope in carrying out particular ceremoni ...
. At that early period the income of the papal treasury came chiefly from many kinds of censuses, dues, and tributes paid in from the territory subject to the Pope, and from churches and monasteries immediately dependent on him. Cencius Camerarius (later
Pope Honorius III Pope Honorius III (c. 1150 – 18 March 1227), born Cencio Savelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 July 1216 to his death. A canon at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, he came to hold a number of impor ...
, r. 1216–1227) made in 1192 a new inventory of all these sources of papal revenue, known as the ''Liber Censuum''. The previous list dated back to
Gelasius I Pope Gelasius I was the bishop of Rome from 1 March 492 to his death on 19 November 496. Gelasius was a prolific author whose style placed him on the cusp between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages.The title of his biography by Walter Ullma ...
(492–496) and Gregory I (590–604), and was based on lists of the incomes accruing from the patrimonies, or landed property of the Roman Church. In the 13th century the Apostolic Camera entered on a new phase of development. The collection of the
Crusade taxes The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...
, regularly assessed after the time of
Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 J ...
(1198–1216), imposed new duties on the papal treasury, to which were committed both the collection and distribution of these assessments. Moreover, during the course of this century the system of payment in kind was transformed into the
monetary system A monetary system is a system by which a government provides money in a country's economy. Modern monetary systems usually consist of the national treasury, the mint, the central banks and commercial banks. Commodity money system A commodity m ...
, a process considerably influenced by the administration of the papal finances. The ''servitia communia'' of bishops and abbots (see
Annates Annates ( or ; la, annatae, from ', "year") were a payment from the recipient of an ecclesiastical benefice to the ordaining authorities. Eventually, they consisted of half or the whole of the first year's profits of a benefice; after the appr ...
) were regulated at fixed sums. The income regularly yielded by them to the Curia is by no means small. To these were to be added the annates, taken in the narrower sense, especially the great universal reservations made since the time of
Clement V Pope Clement V ( la, Clemens Quintus; c. 1264 – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his de ...
and
John XXII Pope John XXII ( la, Ioannes PP. XXII; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected by ...
, the extraordinary subsidies, moreover, levied since the end of the thirteenth century, the census, and other assessments. The duties of the Apostolic Camera were thus constantly enlarged. For the collection of all these moneys it employed henceforth a great number of agents known as collectores. With time the importance of this central department of finance became more marked. The highest administrative officers were always the chamberlain (''camerarius'') and the treasurer (''thesaurarius'') — the former regularly a bishop, the latter often of the same rank. Next in order came the clerics of the Camera (''clerici cameræ''), originally three or four, afterwards as many as ten. Next to these was the judge (''
auditor An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting and a ...
'') of the Camera. The two first-named formed with the clerics of the Camera its highest administrative council; they controlled and looked closely to both revenues and expenses. In their service were a number of inferior officials, notaries, scribes, and messengers. The more absolute system of ruling the Church which developed after the beginning of the 16th century, as well as the gradual transformation in the financial administration, modified in many ways the duties of the Apostolic Camera. The Camerarius (''camerlengo, chamberlain'') became one of the highest officers in the government of the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
, until the beginning of the 19th century, when new methods of administration called for other officials. In 1870 what remained of the Papal States was annexed to the
Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
and ceased to exist, replaced by the diminutive
Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...
: the Apostolic Camera ceased almost entirely to exercise any practical influence on the papal administration, and the income of the papal treasury since chiefly derived from
Peter's-pence Peter's Pence (or ''Denarii Sancti Petri'' and "Alms of St Peter") are donations or payments made directly to the Holy See of the Catholic Church. The practice began under the Saxons in England and spread through Europe. Both before and after the ...
and other donations contributed by the faithful, the Camera lost its practical importance as a board of finance, for the revenue known as Peter's-pence is managed by a special commission. The officials who since constituted the camera – the cardinal-camerlengo, the vice-camerlengo, the auditor, the general treasurer (an office unoccupied since 1870) and seven cameral clerics – hold in reality quasi-honorary offices.


Officials

The Officials of the Apostolic Camera were: *The ''Cardinal Camerlengo'' enters upon his chief duties on the occasion of a vacancy in the Holy See, during which time he is invested with a portion of the papal authority. *The ''Vice Camerlengo'', one of the highest
prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...
s of the Roman Curia, was until 1870 governor of Rome, and was charged with the maintenance of peace and order in the city; during a vacancy in the
Papal See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rom ...
he is even yet first in authority after the cardinals, and entrusted with the surveillance of the
conclave A papal conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a bishop of Rome, also known as the pope. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church. Co ...
, to which no one is admitted without his permission. *The ''Auditor-General of the Camera'', also one of the highest prelates, used to be the chief judge in all cases concerning the financial administration of the Curia. Before 1870 he presided over the supreme court, to which the Pope referred the most important questions for decision. *The ''Treasurer General'' used to have supreme financial control of the whole income derived from the temporal possessions of the Church, as well as the rest of the tribute accruing to the papal treasury. *The ''College of Clerics of the Apostolic Camera'' has had seven members since 1870; before that, its membership varied in size. The members of the body, chosen from among the highest prelates, used to have the management of the property and income of the Holy See, and were consulted collectively on all important questions concerning their administration, but also officiated as a court in all disputes affecting the papal
exchequer In the civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's '' current account'' (i.e., money held from taxation and other government revenu ...
. When
Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...
, after the installation of the various ministries, divided among them the administrative duties, he assigned to each cleric of the Camera the presidency of a section of the department of finance. Four of them, moreover, were members of the commission appointed to examine the accounts of the Camera, entitled to special places whenever the Pope appears in public on solemn occasions, in the papal processions, and in public consistories. At the death of the Pontiff they take possession of the Apostolic palaces, attend to the taking of the inventories, and manage the internal or domestic administration during the vacancy. In the conclave they had charge of all that pertains to the table of the cardinals. Apart from this, the clerics of the Camera are usually professors and canons, with regular ecclesiastical appointments.


Other offices

The Apostolic Camera must be distinguished from the treasury or ''camera'' of the
College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are appoi ...
, presided over by the cardinal-camerlengo (''Camerarius Sacri Collegii Cardinalium''). It had charge of the common revenues of the College of Cardinals, and appears among the curial institutions after the close of the 13th century. It has long ceased to exist.


See also

*
Avignon Exchange The Avignon Exchange was one of the first foreign exchange markets in history, established in the ''Comtat Venaissin'' during the Avignon Papacy. The Exchange was composed of the agents (''factores'') of the great Italian banking-houses, who acted ...
* Bank of the Holy Spirit * Christian finance


References


Further reading

* Malachi Martin - ''Rich Church, Poor Church'' (Putnam, New York, 1984) {{Authority control 12th-century establishments in the Papal States