Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
: ''What Comes In and What Goes Out''Ambrosini, 1996, p. 122. ''of the Apostolic Camera'') is a six-hundred-and-six-volume financial record of the
Apostolic Camera
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 Stat ...
of the
Holy 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 Rome ...
, from 1279 to 1524, located in the
Vatican Secret Archives
, seal = Seal of the Vatican Secret Archives.svg
, seal_width = 200
, seal_caption = Former seal of the Vatican Apostolic Archive
, logo =
, formed =
, jurisdiction =
, headquarters = Cortile del Belvedere, Vatican City
, coordinates ...
. The volumes span the reigns of thirty-two popes from
Pope Nicholas III
Pope Nicholas III ( la, Nicolaus III; c. 1225 – 22 August 1280), born Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 November 1277 to his death on 22 August 1280.
He was a Roman nobleman who ...
to
Pope Clement VII
Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...
. The volumes relating to the
Avignon Popes
The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon – at the time within the Kingdom of Arles, part of the Holy Roman Empire; now part of France – rather than in Rome. The situation arose ...
(1305—1387) as well as the following
antipope
An antipope ( la, antipapa) is a person who makes a significant and substantial attempt to occupy the position of Bishop of Rome and leader of the Catholic Church in opposition to the legitimately elected pope. At times between the 3rd and mid- ...
s were moved from
Comtat Venaissin
The Comtat Venaissin (; Provençal: , Mistralian norm: , classical norm: ; 'County of Venaissin'), often called the for short, was a part of the Papal States (1274‒1791) in what is now the region of France.
The entire region was an enclave ...
to the Secret Archives in 1783.
The records include both the books in which an array of Curial officials recorded receipts and expenditures, and general annual accounts of items.Haskins, Charles H. 1896. "The Vatican Archies." ''The American Historical Review''. 2, 1: 40-58. They were recorded in journal form until 1378, denoting the expenditures of each subset of the
papal household
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 ...
, military expenses, construction costs, and art commissioning. However, ''Introitus et Exitus'' is fundamentally an incomplete record of the financial dealings of the Holy See, as the Apostolic Camera itself represents only the surplusses of various regional transactions, and popes conducted significant financial dealings off balance sheet. Notably, these records often exclude direct cash payments made by popes themselves or mediated through the Curia's
Bank of the Holy Spirit
The Bank of the Holy Spirit ( it, Il Banco di Santo Spirito) was a bank founded by Pope Paul V on December 13, 1605. The bank was the first national bank in Europe (as the bank of the Papal States), the first public deposit bank in Rome, and the o ...
.
Because of the thoroughness of the records down to the minutest details, they have been used by historians to establish the daily living conditions in the papal household and the administration 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 ...
. The records have been utilized by
art historians
The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetic visu ...
, notably
Eugène Müntz
Eugène Müntz (11 June 1845 in Soultz-sous-Forêts, Bas-Rhin – 30 October 1902 in Paris) was an Alsatian- French art historian.
From 1873 to 1876 he was a member of the École française de Rome. to determine the number of artists who contributed to certain works, authenticate works of unknown origin, and to discover previously unknown works.Ambrosini, 1996, p. 136. They have also been scoured by
economic historians
Economic history is the academic learning of economies or economic events of the past. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of economic theory to historical situations and inst ...
to study past
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an
exchange rate
In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...
s and
interest rate
An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited, or borrowed (called the principal sum). The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, th ...
s. The sudden appearance of debts from the Apostolic Camera to Cardinals Campofregoso,
Domenico della Rovere
Domenico della Rovere (1442 – 23 April 1501) was an Italian cardinal and patron of the arts.
Life
He was born at Vinovo, near Turin, and was not a relative of Pope Sixtus IV (Francesco Della Rovere), who, however, favoured him in the hope ...
, Sanseverino, and Orsini after a gap in the records in August 1492 has been used to allege that
simony
Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to imp ...
occurred in the
papal conclave, 1492
The 1492 papal conclave (6–11 August) was convened after the death of Pope Innocent VIII (25 July 1492). It was the first papal conclave to be held in the Sistine Chapel.
Cardinal Roderic Borja was elected unanimously on the fourth ballot as ...
.
Other records of the Apostolic Camera include ''
Liber Censuum
The ''Liber Censuum Romanæ Ecclesiæ'' (Latin for "Census Book of the Roman Church"; also referred to as the Codex of Cencius)Gregorovius, 1896, p. 645. is an eighteen-volume (originally) financial record of the real estate revenues of the papac ...
Chancery of Apostolic Briefs
The Secretariat of State (Latin: ''Secretaria Status''; Italian: ''Segreteria di Stato'') is the oldest dicastery in the Roman Curia, the central papal governing bureaucracy of the Catholic Church. It is headed by the Cardinal Secretary of State ...
, and other secretariats; the '' Registra Avenionensia'' catalogs materials relating jointly to the Chancery and the Camera.Levillain, 2002, p. 1605.