CHIROGRAFO (from the Greek χείρ = hand, and γράφειν = to write). - In general, it is a document written in the hand of the very person who issues it; the term, however, is used particularly to designate special types of acts at different times.
In the Roman age it is found on wax tablets (1st century) for acknowledgements and receipts, and at least from the 3rd century it designated documents of a dispositive character relating to every kind of business, written and delivered by the author to the other contracting party.
In the Middle Ages (from the 9th century and especially in the 11th-13th centuries, outside Italy, where the notariate did not exist or was less developed) documents written in two or more copies on the same sheet of parchment, then cut apart and distributed to the parties, were called c. (chartae paritae); as a guarantee of authenticity, the cut was made along an irregular, wavy, or toothed line, across an inscription composed of the letters of the alphabet, or of a sacred invocation, or of the very word chirographum.
Among pontifical documents, the c. (from the 16th century) is used chiefly for administrative provisions, lacking the solemnity of the chancery or secretariat, but signed by the pope; at present, however, the use of the c. is rare.