BULLATORES — BULLETIN OF CHRISTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY
The first mention of the *b.* is found in a letter of Innocent III from 1198, and they then appear in the new ordinance of the chancery of 1213. They were usually two in number, at least from the time of Eugenius IV, and were called *fratres barbati* because originally chosen from among lay brothers of Orders who wore beards, mostly from the Abbey of Fossanova of the Cistercian Order (Constitution of Innocent VIII of 15 May 1486: «Notorium quippe est, in Romana Curia b. licetarum apostolicarum monachos monasterii Fossenove Cisterciensis ordinis, Verulane diocesis, et licetarum ignaros a longissimo tempore citra semper fuisse et adhuc existere»). That they were to be illiterate, as a guarantee of secrecy, was not laid down in any written rule (1524: «ab aliquibus assertur officium predictum per viros legere scientes obtineri non posse»). A dowry granted to the daughters of a deceased *bullator* is recorded in 1512; from which it may be inferred that they were not always religious.