CORTE PONTIFICIA. – A name introduced in the twelfth century, since previously there had been no distinctions among: C. p., the Court of Rome, the Holy See, and the Apostolic See. From the time it first began to be used, it was disapproved by many, such as, for example, Gerhoh, provost of Reichersberg (d. 27 June 1169).
Zaccaria writes that cardinals, prelates, and ministers constitute the C. p. Moroni, however, rightly observes (s. V. Curia romana, in Diz. di erudiz. storico eccles., XIX) that it is necessary to have clear ideas about this, since misunderstandings may arise. For example, in chap. 1 of his Relatio Romanae Curiae, De Luca listed as the last members of the Roman Curia those persons who assist and serve the pontiff, the cardinals, and the prelates, and who are commonly called courtiers. The C. p., which De Luca calls the aula curia, would be nothing other than a part of the Roman Curia, having an exclusive connection with court ceremonies and rites, that is, with those of the court. In all this, however, there is nothing contradictory or ambiguous, since this name may be understood either in an extensive sense, in which case one accepts the constitution of the C. p. as Zaccaria presents it, or in a restrictive sense, in which case one agrees with De Luca’s writing.
What should be disapproved is not so much the use of this name as the abuse subsequently made of it, when, by distinguishing the C. from the Roman See, a means was found of venting the most grievous venom against the Apostolic See. It is readily understandable that this abuse was extremely common at the time of the Protestant Reformation, when the innovators raged against the Holy See, contemptuously called the C. of Rome.
Gradually, however, this name too entered into common proper usage, and in the middle of the seventeenth century Girolamo Lunadoro published, from the press of Andrea Fei in Bracciano, his Relazione della C. di Roma, containing truthful information about the various offices that make up this C. The name, however, was only rarely used officially. Indeed, in the unofficial publication La gerarchia cattolica e la famimiglia pontificia, issued in Rome by the Monaldi brothers, it is mentioned only in connection with the Indirizzi dei dignitari e primari ufficiali cardinali, prelati, laici, ecc. della c. p. e Curia romana. This mention continued to be repeated until a few years ago in the Annuario pontificio, the official publication of the Holy See, but has now disappeared entirely. It is nevertheless used in art. 10 of the Lateran Treaty and in the Protocol between the Holy See and Italy of 6 September 1932, which also provides a list of the offices composing the C. p.