From: Vatican Secret Archives:
The Liber Diurnus Romanorum Pontificum is a collection of predominantly papal statements and its tradition has been preserved for us by three witnesses: the Vatican Code (V), probably copied at the end of the VIII Century or at the beginning of the IX Century, the Claromontano Code (C), compiled towards the middle of IX Century and finally the Ambrosian Codes (A), probably dating back to the end of IX Century or at the beginning of the X Century. The Vatican Code, the most precious witness of the Liber Diurnus, is preserved in the Vatican Secret Archives and it is its oldest manuscript. It is a little membranaceous volume, 17.4 cm x 10.9 cm, with 104 sheets bound in white parchment. It gathers 99 statements of the Papal Chancery, some of which apparently date back even to the middle of the VI Century, others to the beginning of the VII Century and way on throughout the centuries that follow, up to the time when the code itself was formed. This outstanding chronological stratification makes the V Code of the Liber Diurnus a very important witness of the ecclesiastic custom and of the style of the official writings of the Roman Pontiffs of the VI, VII, VIII and IX Centuries: the election of the pope; the relations between the pope, the emperor of the East and the exarch of Ravenna; the administration of the Patrimonium Sancti Petri; the building and consecration of churches; the formulary of the most solemn papal documents, such as the privileges of apostolic protection and exemption, grants to monasteries or other ecclesiastical institutions; the supremacy of the Church of Rome over other Sees; etc.
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Liber Diurnus Romanorum Pontificum (VIII Century) ASV, Misc., Arm. XI, 19, ff. 67v-68r |
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