papal chancery
Roman Catholicism
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historical record of papal office
- In diplomatics: The papal chancery
Knowledge about early papal documents is scant because no originals survive from before the 9th century, and extant copies of earlier documents are often much abridged. But it is clear that the popes at first imitated the form of the letters of the…
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importance to medieval Catholic church
- In history of Europe: Ecclesiastical organization
…the formal communications of the papal chancery, the pope created an influential model, imitated by all other European principalities and kingdoms. Although only four papal registers (collections of important papal letters and decisions) from before 1198 survive more or less intact, all registers since then have been preserved.
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