Dark Mysteries of the Vatican

Vatican Library Chronology

This chronology is from New Advent, “The Vatican and Its History” at www.ibiblio.org/expo/vatican.exhibit/exhibit/History.html.

1451-Pope Nicholas V conceives of a library “for the common convenience of the learned,” and the Vatican Library is born. Nicholas’s collection numbered about 1,160 books.

1475-Pope Sixtus IV brings the Library to life, installing the books in a restored suite of rooms, building up the collection, and naming Bartolomeo Platina as the Vatican ’s first formal librarian.

1470-1525-During the High Renaissance, the Library grew enormously. By 1481, a handwritten catalog by Platina shows 3,500 entries. As from its inception, the collections are available without restriction regarding the reader’s religious or other views.

1517-Protestant Reformation begins.

1570-1610-Counter-Reformation. The Library inevitably suffers from the introduction of the Index of banned books (1558) and some limitations on access are imposed.

1623-Most of the rich holdings of the Palatine Library in the Protestant stronghold of Heidelberg become part of the Vatican Library collection as war booty.

Mid-1600s-The Library again welcomes unfettered scholarly pursuit, including by Protestants. It acquires vast new holdings of manuscripts and books, most notably a spectacular assortment of items from distant lands.

1785-Pope Pius VI strictly limits the consultation of manuscripts, prompting Spanish priest Juan Andres to accuse the pope of overseeing a “cemetery of books not a library.”

1883-Pope Leo XIII formally declares the Library open to qualified researchers.

1927-39-The Library of Congress and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace help modernize the Vatican Library’s book catalog system.

1992-Vatican Library holdings number almost 2 million printed books and serials; 75,000 Latin, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Ethiopian, Syriac and other manuscripts from the 2nd Century A.D. on; 65,000 units of archival volumes in 23 deposits or fondi; 100,000 prints, engravings, maps and drawings; 330,000 Greek, Roman and papal coins and medals.

2007-Publication of the Chinon Parchment of 1308 exonerating the Knights Templar of charges of heresy.

2007-10-Closes to the public for renovations/rebuilding for first time in 500 years.