Thursday, June 21, 2012
The Vatican Secret Archives
Yesterday, Mark Movesesian, our dean Michael Simons, and I went to the Capitoline Museums in Rome. The Capitoline is one of the most famous of Rome's museums, but we actually spent most of our time at the absolutely incredible exhibition of the Vatican Secret Archives (there was an amusing note explaining that in Italian "segreto" just means "private," not "secret"...but they felt pretty secret to me). For those interested in law and religion, you really couldn't ask for a more exciting exhibit.
Among the many highlights:
- The Dictatus Papae of Pope Gregory VII
- A petition from many members of the House of Lords asking Pope Clement VII to grant Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon, to which they attached their individual seals
- Leo X's papal bull excommunicating Luther, and Charles V's corresponding imperial edict divesting Luther of any civil protection
- A surprisingly obsequious letter by Voltaire to Pope Benedict XIV telling him in ornate terms how great he was (in fact, he was pretty great)
I surreptitiously ('segretamente') took a few pictures of some additional documents of special relevance to MOJ readers and writers, which I'll put up when I get back.
https://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2012/06/the-vatican-secret-archives.html
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"I surreptitiously ('segretamente') took a few pictures of some additional documents of special relevance to MOJ readers and writers, which I'll put up when I get back. "
Do these reveal the location of the ark of the covenant and/or the holy grail, the Pope's bank account number, or why the Oscars always get things so wrong? If not, are you sure they were worth it?