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The oldest documents in the Vatican Secret Archive are evidences of donations, lists of Churches and of Charity actions.
From the IV century on, after the Church of Rome was officially recognised, the collection could be regarded as a real archive. The erection of Saint Peter's Cathedral (or Basilica), was started in this period of theological and artistic excitement. Since the Middle Age, the archive kept growing and remained in the Lateran Palace until the XIII century.

During the of papacy of Gregory the Great, the archive was kept partly inside Saint Peter's Cathedral, next to Saint Peter's tomb, partly in the Chartularia Tower, near Titus' Arch, and partly in the vestiary of the Church of Rome (Vestiarium Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae) at the Lateran Palace.Unfortuntely, due to the vulnerability of the material and to the adventurous and frequent displacement as well as to wars and sacks (among them the Sack of Rome in 1084), a large part of the archive was lost.

Under Pope Innocent III (1198-1216), at the time of Saint Francis and Saint Dominic de Guzman, the fervour in economy, culture, politics and religion produced a big number of documents that were to be preserved in the Vatican Archive.
The Archive was then transferred to Vatican City and the registers became more regular. Unfortunately, in the following years they followed the various Popes to many different places: to Lyon, to Viterbo, with Pope Boniface VIII to Anagni, with Pope Benedict XI to Perugia. The Vatican Archive remained there for some years and then part of it was sent to Assisi, part to Avignon. The Archive was badly damaged as a consequence of the many conflicts, documented by many precious evidences preserved in the Archive itself.
With Popes Urban VI, Boniface IX, Innocent VII and Gregory XII a new nucleus of the Archive was developed in Rome.
The books and documents of the Vatican Archive were thendispersed in the various pontifical offices. Pope Martin V (1417- 1431) started to re-collect the material. Sixtus IV (1471-1484)founded the Vatican Library , which contained a bibliotheca secretathat was to become a part of the Archive. Some documents were takento Castel Sant'Angelo and thus they were miraculously saved duringthe Sack of Rome in 1527.
Pope Pius IV felt that the Holy See needed a Secret Archive of itsown (the term 'secret' means 'private', which means it was not opento the public) and founded a central Vatican Archive in theApostolic Palace, in Vatican City.
This was a grand project and was continued by his successors (PiusV, Gregory XIII, Sixtus V, Clement VIII. During the latter's papacythe Vatican Archive of Castel Sant'Angelo (Archivum ArcisSancti Angeli )was finally established.

Paul V gave order that all the writings belonging to the Holy Seeand the Apostolic Chamber should be delivered to the Guards of theVatican Library or to the Archive at Castel Sant'Angelo.
The fisrt nuclues of the Vatican Secret Archive was thenset up in three halls, adjacent to the Vatican Library and decoratedwith frescoes by many artists, between 1612 and 1614.
In 1615 the first inventory of the Archive of the Vatican Librarywas made, and the Vatican Archive gradually became independentfrom the Apostolic Library. In 1630 more halls were given to theArchive to preserve the diplomatic correspondence of the Holy See.In 1783 the papal archive that had been left in Avignon was takenback to Rome.
In 1810 Napoleon I wanted to transfer the Archive and many worksof art to Paris. They returned to Vatican City between 1815 and1817, but with significant damage and losses.
Under Pius IX (1846 - 1878) the Italian Government confiscated partof the Archive.

Pope Leo XIII (1878 - 1903) decided to open the Vatican Archiveto scholars and historians for their researches.
The liberalisation of the access to the Archive qualified the HolySee for its important service to culture and research. Many culturalorganisations were founded after Leo XIII farsighted decision. Amongthem the French School, The Germanic Historical Insitute, The BelgianAcademy, The Austrian Institute for Culture, etc.
In 1884 Leo XIII founded the School of Palaeography and Diplomacyto promote studies and researches on the History of the Church.
After World War I the international relationships of the Holy Seewith the religious non-Christian world increased, and the productionof documents increased. The Vatican Archive acquired thehall in the Torre dei Venti (Tower of the Wind), frescoed in 1580-1582by Niccolò Circignani (alsa known as Pomarancio) and by theFlemish artists Matthew and Paul Bril.

After World War II the Archive was given the rooms above the Gallery of Geographic maps at the Vatican Museums.
The most important improvement was the erection of a dedicated building that was inaugurated by Pope John Paul II on October 18, 1980.

The Vatican Secret Archive is an infinite source of information for the scholars. The access to the Archive is governed by pontifical rules and today it includes all periods until the age of Pope Benedict V (1914-22). The latest documents are still "secret".

Diploma of Emperor Ottone I,
written in 962 d.C.


West and north sides of the
Belvedere Courtyard


Letter from english lords to the Pope to ask for wedding cancellation on behalf of Henry VIII, King of England


a view of the Archive


one of the rooms of the "noble" floor