BULLATORES. - In the pontifical chancery they affixed the lead seal to documents (bulla); the first mention of the b. is found in a letter of Innocent III of 1198, and they then appear in the new organization of the chancery of 1213. There were usually two, at least from the time of Eugene IV, and they were called fratres barbati because they were originally chosen from among the lay brothers of Orders that 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. licterarum apostolicarum monachos monasterii Fossenove Cisterciensis ordinis, Verulane diocesis, et licterarum ignaros a longissimo tempore citra semper fuisse et adhuc existere »). That they had to be illiterate, as a guarantee of secrecy, was not sanctioned by any written rule (1524: « ab aliquibus assertur officium predictum per viros legere scientes obtineri non posse »). From 1512 comes the report of a dowry granted to the daughters of a deceased bullator; from which it is deduced that they were not always religious.

Bibliography5 works

BIBL.: M. Tangl, Die päpstlichen Kanzleiordnungen, Innsbruck 1894, passim; P. M. Baumgarten, Aus Kanzlei und Kammer; B., Taxatores, Domorum Curiores (sacc. XIII-XV), Freiburg im Br. 1907, passim; W. v. Hofmann, Forschungen zur Gesch. der kurialen Behörden, 2 vols., Rome 1914, passim; B. Rusch, Die Behörden und Hofbeamten der päpstlichen Kurie des 13. Jahrh., Königsberg 1936, pp. 17-18. On the use of the bull during a vacant see and before consecration, cf. P. M. Baumgarten, Das päpstl. Siegelamt beim Tode und nach Neuwahl des Papstes, Rome 1907.

Carmelo Trasselli

@incollection{ec3_bullatores, author = {Trasselli, Carmelo}, title = {Bullatores}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {III}, pages = {210--211}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/bullatores} }

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