| PREAMBLE The documentary patrimony of the Vatican Secret Archives arouses universal interest, both for those documents regarding in general the history of the Christian civilization from the Middle Ages until nowadays and for those concerning the history of single nations; moreover, for some countries, the Vatican documents are the oldest ones, which even mark the beginning of their own national history. Nowadays, the Secret Vatican Archives have more than 630 different archival fonds, for an extension of about 85 linear kilometres of shelves, covering an almost continuous chronological period of over 800 years of history. The oldest document dates back to the end of the VIII Century, while the archives have an almost uninterrupted documentation starting from 1198. The Secret Vatican Archives are above all and primarily used by the Pope and his Curia, that is the Holy See (Motuproprio by Leo XIII, 10th May 1884). In 1881, thanks to the generosity of Pope Leo XIII, the Archives were opened to be freely consulted by scholars, thus becoming the most important centre of historical research in the world. |
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http://asv.vatican.va/en/doc/1_doc.htm
