Vatican Apostolic Archive
Vatican City, Vatican City. Founded 1612.
- Type: Archive
- City: Vatican City
- Country: Vatican City
- Founded: 1612
Overview
Separated from the Vatican Library by Pope Paul V in 1612, the archive holds the central records of the Holy See across more than a thousand years. Known until 2019 as the Vatican Secret Archives, a name that meant private rather than hidden, it was opened to scholars by Leo XIII in 1881. Its holdings include the petition of English peers asking the pope to annul the marriage of Henry VIII, the records of the trial of Galileo, and roughly 85 kilometres of shelving.
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