REGESTO. — The term *regestum* (from *re-gero*) was used primarily, from the end of classical antiquity almost up to modern times, as equivalent to *registrum* (in the sense of "fiscal record" it occurs three times in Gregory of Tours, *Hist.*, IX, 9 and 34; X, 19), though with a meaning that does not always coincide with the modern sense of "register."
I. Common is the title of *r.* given to books in which all or the most important documents constituting the muniments of monasteries, churches (cf., for example, the *r.* of Tivoli), confraternities, etc., were copied; however, this often dates back to a recent period: the 15th century is attributed the designation of *Regestum* for the cartulary of S. Angelo in Formis (ed. M. Inguanez, in *Tabularium Casinense*, Montecassino 1925); at the end of the 17th or beginning of the 18th century the name *Regestum Farfense* for the *Liber gennigraphus sive cleronomialis ecclesiae Farfensis* (ed. I. Giorgi and U. Balzani, 5 vols., Rome 1879-92 and 1914 [introduction]), etc. More common in these cases in the Middle Ages was the denomination of *registrum*, as for the famous *Registro di Pietro Diacono*, or for the *Registro di Tommaso Decano* (by the editors [Montecasino 1915] called *r.*: but cf. cod. 1°), or those of *chronicon*, *cartularium*, *liber instrumentorum* or *privilegiorum*, etc. On the other hand, the opposite extension of the term *r.* is frequently cited, namely to what is properly *registri*, that is, the collection of acts issued by the same author or drawn up by the same notary, recorded at the author's behest as documentation of ongoing acts in the chancery or notarial office.
Diplomatists today commonly call *r.* partial editions of documents in which only the essential data are reported, omitting fixed formulas and rhetorical amplifications, similar to what was done for practical reasons in many chancery registers. This system, which enjoyed great popularity between the end of the last century and the beginning of the present one, no longer finds many adherents today; it is in fact methodologically imperfect both because the criterion for distinguishing between essential and non-essential data remains always subjective, and because the continuity of a formula, its even minimal changes, and the lexical variations in which it may appear carry weight from a historical, legal, linguistic, as well as diplomatic perspective. Different in value, in that they do not intend to replace the edition but only to offer an index of the document, are the *r.* consisting of a very brief summary that provides information about the author, the recipient, the disposition, and sometimes even the scribe of the act: arranged in chronological order, they closely resemble, in structure, archival catalogs (especially those of the 17th and 18th centuries). They are also often prefixed, in editions of "diplomatic codices," to individual documents, to offer the reader a quick overview of the content.
II. To the modern meaning of *r.*, in the double sense indicated, are linked the titles of some important collections, among which the principal ones are:
1. **REGESTA IMPERII**. Index of documents from the imperial chancery begun by Johann Friedrich Böhmer in 1831 with a volume dedicated to *Regesta chronologico-diplomatica regum atque imperatorum Romanorum, inde a Conrado I usque ad Heinricum VII* (Frankfurt a. M. 1831), for the period 10 Nov. 911–24 Aug. 1313. Subsequently, Böhmer prefixed to it the *Regesta chronologico-diplomatica Karolorum* (ibid. 1833), from March 752 to May 987; and then added a vol. III of *Regesta imperii inde ab anno MCCCCXVIII usque ad annum MCCCCXLVIII* (ibid. 1839), in which he also collected, in separate sections, papal documents and those from other particularly important chancelleries for the history of Germany in that period. This volume also had three *Additamenta*, published respectively in 1841, 1846, and 1865 (the latter posthumously in Innsbruck, edited by J. Ficker).
The discovery of other documents soon suggested the usefulness of a 2nd ed., expanded beyond the original design, comprising several volumes, still in progress. The following have appeared to date: vol. I: *Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter den Karolingen, 751-958*, ed. E. Mühlbacher (3 tomes, Innsbruck 1890-1908); II: *Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter den Herrschern aus dem Sächsischen Hause, 919-1024*, fasc. 1 (919–973), ed. E. von Ottenthal (ibid. 1893); fasc. II (973–983), ed. H. L. Mikoletzky (Graz 1930); III: *Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter dem Salischen Hause, 1024-1125*, part I, fasc. 1 (1024–1039), ed. H. Appelt with the collaboration of N. von Bischoff (ibid. 1951); V: *Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter Philipp, Otto IV., Friedrich II., Heinrich (VII.), Conrad IV., Heinrich Raspe, Wilhelm und Richard, 1198-1272*, ed. J. Ficker and (from fasc. III) E. Winkelmann, t. I: *Kaiser und Könige*, fasc. 1 and II (Innsbruck 1881-82); t. II: *Päpste und Reichsachen*, fasc. III and IV (ibid. 1892-94); t. III: *Einleitung und Register*, fasc. V (compiled by F. Wilhelm, ibid. 1901); VI: *Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter Rudolf, Adolf, Albrecht, Heinrich VII., 1273-1313*, part I (1273–1291), ed. O. Redlich (ibid. 1898); part II, fasc. 1 and II (1291–1295), ed. V. Samanek (ibid. 1933-35); VIII: *Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter Kaiser Karl IV., 1346-78*, ed. A. Huber (ibid. 1877), with an *Additamentum primum*, ed. the same (ibid. 1889); XI: *Die Urkunden Kaiser Sigmunds, 1410-37*, ed. W. Altmann, part 1 (1410–1424), fasc. I and II (ibid. 1896-97); part 2 (1425–1437), fasc. III-V (ibid. 1897-1900).
2. **REGESTA PONTIFICUM**. A similar collection for documents issued by the papal chancery, begun by Philipp Jaffé with the vol. *Regesta Pontificum Romanorum ab condita Ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum MCCCCXVIII* (Berlin 1851), now republished in 2 vols. with additions and corrections by S. Loewenfeld, F. Kaltenbrunner, and P. Ewald (I: from St. Peter to 1248, Leipzig 1885; II: from 1248 to 1298, ibid. 1888); it includes, counting also forgeries and supplements, 18,000 *r.*
Jaffé’s compilation, which extends to the pontificate of Celestine III (the terminus was chosen on the assumption that for the subsequent period the list would be unnecessary, given the preservation of the papal registers [v.]: in reality only a small part of the documents from the papal chancery are transcribed in the registers), was continued by Augusto Potthast for the popes from Innocent III to Benedict XI (i.e., for the entire pre-Avignon period) in *Regesta Pontificum Romanorum inde ab a. post Christum natum MCCCCXVIII ad a. MCCCCIV*, in 2 vols. (Berlin 1874-75), which together comprise 26,662 *r.*
The same title Kehr (v.) to two collections, still incomplete, devoted to papal documents up to Celestine III preserved in libraries and archives of Italy, Germany, and Switzerland (the original plan also included France, the British Isles, Spain, and Portugal, but the volumes relating to these have never been published). For the preparatory phase of
*Enc. Catt.*
Regesto — *R. of Tivoli*. Miniature depicting the people of Tivoli pledging to offer every year, on the feast of St. Lawrence, the sum of one denarius (2nd half of the 12th century) — Vatican Archive, arm. I. 3658, f. 38².
As a foundational work for the complete critical edition of all papal documents up to 1198, Kehr benefited from the collaboration of M. Klinkenborg and L. Schiaparelli for Italy, A. Brackmann for Germany and Switzerland, and W. Wiederhold for France, and he presented the results progressively in numerous communications to the *Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften* in Göttingen (see the relevant *Nachrichten* of the historical-philological section from 1896 onwards). The published volumes, all issued in Berlin, provide material organized by regions, dioceses, and archives, and offer valuable information on the holdings of each archive, with appropriate bibliographical references. The two collections are divided as follows:
**Italia Pontificia**, I: Rome (1906); II: Latium (1907); III: Etruria (1908); IV: Umbria, Picenum, Marsia (1909); V: Aemilia or the Province of Ravenna (1911); VI: Liguria or the Province of Milan, part 1: Lombardy (1913); part 2: Piedmont, Maritime Liguria (1914); VII: Venetia and Histria, part 1: Province of Aquileia (1923); part 2: Republic of Venice, Province of Grado, Histria (1925); VIII: Kingdom of the Normans, Campania (1935).
**Germania Pontificia**, I: Province of Salzburg and Bishopric of Trent (1911); II: Province of Mainz, part 1: Dioceses of Eichstätt, Augsburg, Constance I (1923); part 2: Helvetia Pontificia: Dioceses of Constance II, Chur, and Sitten, Geneva, Lausanne, Basel (1927); part 3 (erroneously indicated on the title page as vol. III): Dioceses of Strasbourg, Speyer, Worms, Würzburg, Bamberg (1935).
3. **REGESTA CHARTARUM ITALIAE**. Ongoing collection of volumes (33 so far) dedicated to the edition (initially in the form of regesta, later complete) of documents drawn from Italian archival holdings. It was begun in Rome in 1907 under the auspices of the Prussian Historical Institute and the Italian Historical Institute; the latter assumed sole responsibility for its publication from 1928 (vol. XIV), and after its division into the Italian Historical Institute for the Middle Ages and the Italian Historical Institute for the Modern and Contemporary Age (1934), it was transferred to the former.
4. Lists of regesta for acts issued by certain authorities have also been published outside the collections mentioned, either as appendices to historical monographs or as independent compilations. Among the best known are: K. Fr. Stumpf-Brentano, *Die Kaiserurkunden des X., XI. und XII. Jahrhunderts...* (vols. I and II, Innsbruck 1865–83), covering from Henry I (April 919) to Henry VI (September 1197), only partially superseded by the *Regesta imperii*; W. Behring, *Regesten des normannischen Königshauses* (in *Sicilianische Studien*, II, Elbing 1887, pp. 3–28); R. Poupardin, *Les institutions politiques et administratives des principautés lombardes de l'Italie méridionale, IXe–XIe siècles* (Paris 1907); R. Ries, *Regesten der Kaiserin Constanze, Königin von Sizilien, Gemahlin Heinrichs VI.* (in *Quellen und Forschungen aus italienischen Archiven und Bibliotheken*, 18 [1926], pp. 30–100), etc.