User:Funny adam47/sandbox

Vatican City and the Vatican Vatican City is located in Rome, Italy. Although it is in the center of Rome it stands as its own city and country. The Vatican has been the residence of the pope since 1337 is the smallest city in the world. The country is also considered to be one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It holds it’s own economy and is separate from the economy of Italy. Italian police still enforce the area but the Vatican still holds a security force of it’s own known as the Swiss Guard. It holds international landmarks like St. Peters square, St. Peters basilica, the Sistine chapel, and the tomb of St. Peter. It also claims to hold pieces of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, these being his thorn crown, a piece of the wooden cross, and part of the spear that pierced him.

Background The Archives of the Universal Church known as the Vatican contain vital information and history of the Catholic faith as well as important documents from philosophers like Galileo and many other historic figures. It spans 12 centuries, from the 8th to the 20th and holds as much has 85 kilometers in shelving. Only a select number of people can access its content. A person must hold significant value in the church or be a prestigious man or woman in research. It is one of the most famous history research centers in the world. The archives are not only used for just important and historic documents but also as part of the Vatican's book keeping as well.

Important Documents Henry VIII was made the Prince of Wales after the passing of his brother Arthur. The archives. The letter shown holds a piece of history dating back to January 18, 1529, and is written in Latin. Henry VIII is announcing the divorce of his wife. This document contains one of the most significant events in British history and holds more that 275,000 Euros, or 349,250 U.S. Dollars. It's is he most expensive piece of merchandise that the Vatican holds. Copies can be bought in the gift shop for $75,000. The archives hold chapters of the bible that were never published because the Church found them un necessary but still hold some key information to the Christian faith, which leaves a lot of Christians wondering why the Vatican left them removed from the bible. The archives also holds Galileo’s theory that the sun is the center of the universe and that the earth revolves around it, rather than the earth being the center of the universe which was the churches theory. This document dates back to the 16th century. This caused trouble in the church in the 16th century because it was the Catholic Churches idea that the Earth is the center of the universe and the sun revolves around earth. The oldest document that is held in the archives is dated back to the 8th century. History Timeline According to the Vatican website. 1611 Paul V implemented the project to build the Novum Archivum in the Apostolic Palace and collected some registers and volumes from the Vatican Library, the Apostolic Chamber and the Castel Sant’Angelo Archives, the Archivum Vetus, in the Paoline Room adjacent to the present-day Sistine Hall of the Vatican Museums. The Castel Sant’Angelo Archives continue to house the oldest, most precious documents of the Holy See carefully stored in wooden armaria and arranged geographically. The pope appointed Michele Lonigo “prefect of the bulls and registers of the Vatican Library” to supervise the new archives. 1612 January 31. Paul V appointed Baldassarre Ansidei, former custodian of the Vatican Apostolic Library, custodian of the new archives. The official history of the Archivio Segreto Vaticano dates back to this day, and today the Archives are still a sort of «department» of the Papal Library.

1613-1614 The documentary material collected by Paul V in the Paoline Room was then housed in the three rooms on the piano nobile in the present-day Archivio Segreto Vaticano the Pius IV wing of the Apostolic Palace next to the Sistine Hall of the Museums. 1630 July 23. Urban VIII granted the Archivio Segreto Vaticano autonomy from the Apostolic Library. 1660 Alexander VII assigned the floor above the three Paoline Rooms to the Archivio Segreto Vaticano and set it aside for the conservation of the Secretariat of State Archives. 1798 The Castel Sant’Angelo Archives were transferred to the Archivio Segreto Vaticano along the Passetto di Borgo. 1810 Napoleon Bonaparte seized the papal archives and transferred them to Paris starting from February of the same year. About 3,239 cases or baskets of documents from the Archivio Segreto Vaticano and other archives of the Roman Curia left Rome on enormous wagons. 1814 Procedures were initiated to return the papal archives from Palais Soubise in Paris to the Holy See. 1815 February-June. After Napoleon temporarily regained power - the so-called Hundred Days - operations to return the archives to the Holy See were suspended. September-October. Operations to return the papal archives to the Holy See were resumed. December. The first nucleus of documents arrived back in Rome. 1816-1817 Several convoys transported back to Rome the rest of the documents Napoleon had seized from the Holy See and transferred to Paris. The high transport costs involved prompted the papal commissioners to destroy hundreds of documents that were considered “useless” and to sell thousands as wastepaper. Many documents belonging to the archives were lost in transit, and some papers and documents were delivered to the wrong place and did not end up in the original archives. 1881 Leo XIII opened the doors of the Archivio Segreto Vaticano to scholars of all faiths from all nations. 1884 May 1. The new Regolamento dell’Archivio Segreto Vaticano was approved and set the functions of the persons in charge and their staff. It also regulated admission procedures for scholars. 1980 October 18. John Paul II inaugurated the new storerooms (Bunker) under the Cortile della Pigna of the Vatican Museums.

Conclusion The archives are filled with endless documents of information and iconic bits of history. Although some may not be affiliated with the Christian religion it is a great epic center of information for scholars and those who are high in the Catholic Church. The archives hold great history and hold a a great center of history and culture of the Catholic church.

References