CHIROGRAPH (from Gk. χειρ = hand, γράφειν = to write). — In general, it is the document written in his own hand by the person who issues it; however, the term is used in particular to indicate special types of acts at different times.
In Roman times, it is found on wax tablets (1st century) for receipts and quittances, and at least from the 3rd century it designated documents of a dispositive nature relating to all kinds of business, written and delivered by the author to the other party.
In the Middle Ages (from the 9th century and especially in the 12th, outside Italy, where notarial practice was less developed) the term chirograph referred to documents written in two or more copies on the same sheet of parchment, then cut and distributed to the parties (chartae partitae); to guarantee authenticity, the cut was made along a straight, wavy, or indented line, through a writing formed by the letters of the alphabet or by a sacred invocation or by the word itself chirographum.
Among papal documents, the chirograph (from the 16th century) is mostly used for administrative dispositions, lacking the solemnity of the chancery or secretariat, but signed by the pope; however, the use of the chirograph is now rare. Giulio Battelli.