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A Papal bull is a written communication from the Vatican Chancery, bearing a formal papal seal. The title of a bull is its opening words.
The term is derived from the Latin bulla referring to the seal impressed onto wax which was contained in a hemisphere of gold about the size of the eye of a bull, through which passed the ends of a gold and silver braided cord that was looped through slits in the document. Later seals were contained in flat, disk-shaped cannisters with removable covers. Such seals were used to authenticate a document because the seal could not be transferred to a forged document without either cutting the cord (which would be too obvious) or first removing the cord from the seal (which could not be done, due to knots in the cord within the wax seal, without melting the wax, thus also destroying the image impressed into it).
There has never been an exact distinction of usage between a bull and other forms of communication, such as a Papal brief.
Examples of papal bulls
- Omne Datum Optimum, 1139 (recognizing the Knights Templar)
- Milites Templi, 1144 - Celestine II (granting privileges to the Templars)
- Militia Dei, 1145 - Eugenius III (granting more privileges to the Templars)
- Ad extirpanda, May 15, 1252 - Innocent IV (authorizing torture of heretics)
- Clericis Laicos, 1296 - Boniface VIII (prohibiting seizure of clerical revenues by the state)
- Unam Sanctam, 1302 - Boniface VIII (supremacy of the Church over the state)
- Fasciens misericordiam, 1308 - Clement V
- Regnans in coelis, 1308 - Clement V
- Aeterni regis, 1481 - Sixtus IV (dividing the New World between Spain and Portugal)
- Summis desiderantes, 1484 - Innocent VIII (suppressing witchcraft along the Rhein river.
- Inter caetera, 1493 - Alexander VI (realigning the New World division between Spain and Portugal)
- Exsurge Domine, 1520 - Leo X (warning Martin Luther)
- Docet Romanum Pontificem, 1521 - Leo X (excommunicating Martin Luther)
- Regimini militantis, September 27, 1540 - Paul III (establishing the Jesuits)
- Injunctum nobis, March 14, 1543 - Paul III
- In Coena Domini, 1568 - Pius V
- Regnans in Excelsis, 1570 - Pius V (anathemising Elizabeth I)
- Inter gravissimas, 1582 - Gregory XIII (calendar reform)
- Gratia Divina, 1656
- Unigenitus, 1713 - Clement XI (condemning Jansenism)
See also
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