A notarius is a public secretary who is appointed by competent authority to draw up official or authentic documents (compare English "

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

"). In the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

there have been apostolic notaries and even episcopal notaries. Documents drawn up by ''notarii'' are issued chiefly from the official administrative offices, the chanceries; secondly, from tribunals; lastly, others are drawn up at the request of individuals to authenticate their contracts or other acts.

Overview

The title and office existed in the bureaucracy of the Christianised Roman Empire at the Imperial Court, where the college of imperial notaries were governed by a ''

primicerius The Latin term ''primicerius'', Hellenized as ''primikērios'' (), was a title applied in the later Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire to the heads of administrative departments, and also used by the Church to denote the heads of various colleg ...

''. From the usage in the Emperor's representative in the West, the

Exarch of Ravenna The Exarchate of Ravenna (; ), also known as the Exarchate of Italy, was an administrative district of the Byzantine Empire comprising, between the 6th and 8th centuries, the territories under the jurisdiction of the exarch of Italy (''exarchus ...

, the post and title was applied in the increasingly complicated bureaucracy of the

Papal curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes us ...

in Rome. There were ''notarii'' attached to all the

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

, whence they passed into use in the royal chanceries. All these ''notarii'' were in

minor orders In Christianity, minor orders are ranks of church ministry. In the Catholic Church, the predominating Latin Church formerly distinguished between the major orders—priest (including bishop), deacon and subdeacon—and four minor orders— acolyt ...

. As the ''ex officio'' head of the papal chancery, the ''primicerius'' of the notaries was an important personage. During a vacancy of the papal chair, he formed part of the interim government, and a letter in 640 is signed (the pope being elected but not yet consecrated) by one "Johannes, ''primicerius'' and serving in the place of the holy apostolic see". There were formerly apostolic notaries and even apostolic prothonotaries commissioned by papal letters, whose duty it was to receive documents in connection with

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

s, foundations, and donations in favor of churches, the wills of clerics and other affairs to which the ecclesiastical hierarchy was an interested party. The title no longer exists; the only ecclesiastical notaries at present are the officials of the Roman and episcopal

curia Curia (: curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally probably had wider powers, they came to meet ...

Prothonotaries

Liber Pontificalis The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (Latin for 'pontifical book' or ''Book of the Popes'') is a book of biography, biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' stopped with Pope Adr ...

'' attributes the seven regional notaries of the Church in Rome, one for each ecclesiastical district of the Holy City, to an institution of

Pope Clement I Clement of Rome (; ; died ), also known as Pope Clement I, was the Bishop of Rome in the late first century AD. He is considered to be the first of the Apostolic Fathers of the Church. Little is known about Clement's life. Tertullian claimed ...

(traditionally 88–98), to record the acts of the martyrs;''Liber Pontificalis'', ''s.v.'' "Vita Clementis", ed. Duchesne, I, 123, noted in ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. though this is unattested in any early document, the notice of

Pope Julius I Pope Julius I was the bishop of Rome from 6 February 337 to his death on 12 April 352. He was appealed to by Athanasius when the latter was deposed from his position as patriarch by Arian bishops, Julius then supported Athanasius and condemned hi ...

(337-352) in the ''Liber Pontificalis'' relates that this pope ordered an account of the property of the Church, intended as an authentic document, to be drawn up before the ''primicerius'' of the notaries. These important officials became the '' prothonotaries''.

References

{{Authority control Officials of the Roman Curia Catholic ecclesiastical titles Government of the Byzantine Empire Notary

Overview

Prothonotaries

See also

References