Rota

ROTA. - At the beginning of the 16th century one can observe, both in the Papal State and in other regions of Italy, a flourishing of civil tribunals that adorned themselves with the name of Ruota or R., a name certainly originating from the S. Romana Rota (v. TRIBUNALI DELLA S. SEDE, II), which had already existed for some centuries and was by then famous throughout the Catholic world.

Not all the R., however, were instituted by the Roman pontiffs; almost all of them, on the contrary, had competence for the most part only in the civil forum. It would be interesting to discover the reason for the almost simultaneous origin of so many similar tribunals; to inquire why that particular name was chosen; to investigate further what possible relations may have existed with the Roman R., and finally to determine all the elements they had in common, bringing out also those peculiar to each. For now one can say only that it is not established that there was any relation between the S. Romana R. and the other particular R.; no relation of dependence appears, even though one must recognize in the Roman R. a field of universal jurisdiction, while the others

R. had a limited territory and a determined and restricted competence.

The local R., of which none ever had the qualification of sacred, wished to assume, and generally with papal approval, a name by then of worldwide fame, out of a certain vanity; nevertheless it must be recognized that after 1500 there was a substantial change in the judging institutions. No longer a single judge, an absolute arbiter, but a collegial tribunal composed of three, four or five members, with the faculty for the parties to appeal before the same tribunal: in this one can note an influence of the S. R., with the effect of a greater guarantee of judgment. To better protect the independence of the judges, these were not chosen locally, but were mostly brought in from other regions: it is recalled how the two cities of Macerata and Perugia exchanged auditors for their respective R.

The first R. that, in order of time, arose in the Papal State is that of Perugia, requested from the local authorities themselves from Pope Clement VII and granted by him on 28 March 1530 with the brief Exponi nobis nuper fecistis. At the beginning of Sept. 1532 the new College began its activity, which lasted, apart from the brief interruption under Paul III, until 1798, that is, until the invasion of the Papal State by French troops. Subsequently there came the R. of Bologna, instituted by Paul III with the bull of 11 July 1535 Ex iniuncto nobis. Five judges were assigned to the tribunal, to be chosen from outside the city of Bologna, with a five-year term. Civil cases could be judged there at any instance, so that there was no need to have recourse, for appeals, to outside tribunals. This R. too lasted until the French Revolution. At Macerata the R. was erected by Sixtus V, for all the provinces of the Marches, with the bull Romanus Pontifex supremi Iudicis in terris vicarius of 15 March 1589. Its competence was extended beyond the civil forum, including also ecclesiastical and mixed cases and in part criminal ones. The tribunal could be considered almost papal, because the Pontiff himself reserved to himself the appointment of four of the five judges. These too, like those of Bologna, were not to be natives of the place and were elected for five years: one each year, in turn, assumed the functions of president. The rotals enjoyed all the privileges already granted to those of the Bolognese R. On 22 March of the same year Sixtus V added to the R. of Macerata a college of five notaries and one of eight cursors. At Ferrara too, with the bull of Clement VIII of 29 May 1599 In supremo iustitiae throno, a R. was erected, likewise composed of five judges, elected for five years.

Outside the Papal State, but still in Italy, the R. of Florence and Genoa are worthy of mention. That of Florence, which is the first of all, was born under the Medici in 1502, to limit the powers of the podestà and to receive appeals; nevertheless the path of recourse to the prince always remained open in Tuscany, who reserved to himself the right to modify any sentence. At Lucca and Siena too two R. arose, similar to that of Florence. This

The latter survived until 1833 and, thanks to its able jurists, enjoyed great reputation, and numerous decisions were also printed. It is worth noting that the Florentine R. was the first court to give reasons for its judgments (from May 1542); in this it was soon followed by almost all courts, including the Roman R. In 1528 a great reform took place in Genoa which changed the constitution, and in that year the civil R. arose as a supreme court, composed of auditors chosen from outside the region. Its competence covered appeals and requests for revision; its decisions in commercial and maritime matters enjoyed great reputation, and to the number of 215 were printed in two editions, at Genoa in 1581 and at Venice in 1582, under the title Decisiones Rotae Genuensis de mercatura et rebus pertinentibus ad eam.

Altogether distinct from the preceding ones is the origin of the R. of Madrid. As early as 1500, special cases that could not be resolved by the ordinary courts began to be handled at the apostolic nunciature of Spain. Officially the R. of Madrid, also called the Tribunal of the R. of the apostolic nunciature of Madrid, was erected by the brief Administrandae iustitiae aelus of Clement XIV of 26 March 1771. The King of Spain Charles III by another decree of 26 Oct. 1773 gave life to the new tribunal. Composed of seven judges, it generally handled cases on appeal in the second and third instance, forming within itself panels of three judges. Its authority was truly considered eminent, because appeal from the R. of Madrid to the Roman one was never permitted; its competence extended to so-called ecclesiastical affairs, that is, to those civil and criminal questions Regularium aliorumque Sanctae Sedi subiectorum in regno Hispaniarum. The fortunes of the Madrid R. were varied, owing to the many political upheavals, since it was a tribunal subsidized by the State and largely subject to it. Of all the R. mentioned, it is the only one still surviving, by virtue of the motu proprio of Pius XII of 7 Apr. 1947 (AAS, 39 [1947], pp. 155-63).

Pietro Santini