The Vatican Apostolic Archive (previously known as the Vatican Secret Archive) was formed in 1612, after Pope Paul V mandated that all Church documents be held in one location.
By that point, though, there were already 16 centuries of Church history. And the Church had held (and also lost) documents in multiple locations dating back to the first century A.D.
For the majority of the Church's existence, its most important records had been in a rather precarious state. Popes tended to keep Church documents nearby, especially when they were traveling for diplomatic reasons, such as negotiating treaties between various heads of state.
Many of the early losses of records transpired during periods of persecution against Christians (such as occurred during the reign of emperors Nero and Diocletian). As Maria Luisa Ambrosini's book The Secret Archives of the Vatican pointed out, imperial police would have wanted baptismal records, so they would know exactly whom to target.
The climate of oppression was, of course, dangerous for pontiffs as well. For example, in the early third century, Pope Saint Callixtus I was fatally attacked by a mob and thrown into a well.
Ambrosini's book contended that by the fourth century A.D., a significant portion of Church records were likely kept at a location in Rome that later became the Palace of the Chancellery.
Even by this point, people who could access these records were already using them for historical research. Indeed, the small amount that is known about some of the earliest popes comes straight from this early archive.
Some documents included statistical data, such as numbers of priests and deacons, as well as the numbers of Christian widows needing financial relief.
Other documents included letters from popes and the records of decisions that impacted Church regulations or endeavored to settle various theological controversies of early Christendom, which was continuously beset by breakaway churches and heretical doctrines.
It can be said with confidence that, by the seventh century, Church records were held at the Lateran Palace (a former longtime papal residence). Ensuing centuries saw additional documents stored at St. Peter's Basilica and very possibly at other locations.
Schism mishaps
In 1404, during the volatile period of the Western Schism, a violent uprising took place against Pope Innocent VII. As the pontiff fled for his life, an angry mob sacked the Church records and threw many manuscripts into the streets.
Not long before the 1612 establishment of the Vatican Apostolic Archive, many documents were stored in Rome's Castel Sant'Angelo, formerly a papal fortress and now a museum.
Some of the records that went missing during the Western Schism were not reunited with the Vatican Apostolic Archive until the late 18th century, some 350 years after the Schism had ended.
Also, there were cases in which influential family members of a pontiff had held archival materials in their own personal libraries. Such items began to resurface during more recent centuries.
The documents from the earliest Christian centuries, though, were lost to the vicissitudes of history and its destructive mobs.
A real turning point for the Vatican Apostolic Archive took place in 1881, when Pope Leo XIII opened its doors for scholarly visits. This unprecedented move would transform the once “secret” archival venue into one of the world's most notable settings for historical research.
Whatever difficulties the Church contends with these days, its most important records have probably never been in a more secure and yet accessible location.
