The Vatican Secret Archives

Pictured above, Address of the Peers of England to Pope Clement VII asking for the Annulment of King Henry VIII’s Marriage, 1530 July 13th. Includes many seals of each peer.

There is a new book being released by Belgian publisher VdH called "The Vatican Secret Archives". It includes great detail of 105 documents, 19 of which have never been published before.

The Archives at the Vatican include documents dating back over 1200 years. Included in this book are:

• A 13th-century letter from the grandson of Ghengis Khan to Pope Innocent IV includes, in its seal, one of the earliest examples of written Mongolian. In the letter, the Mongol emperor orders the pope to "pay service and homage to us".



• A 1493 bull of Pope Alexander VI grants Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella dominion over the New World discovered by Columbus the previous year.



• A 1550 letter from Michelangelo complains that a long papal conclave has interrupted his work on the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, and he needs money.



• An 1887 letter from Canadian Indians to Pope Leo XIII is written on birch bark. It addresses the pope as the "Great Master of Prayer, he who holds the place of Jesus."

The archives have been open to any scholar since the 1880's. The use of the word "Secret" in the name of the archives means "Personal" or "Private".

Much of the information within the Vatican Secret Archives is also available on its website http://asv.vatican.va/home_en.htm

The book should be available within the next 30 days from various retailers like Amazon here http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9088810079/ref=s9_simi_gw_s0_p14_i1