On Mon, 7 Apr 1997 [log in to unmask] wrote:
> Query: How old are the various (Latin) papal titles of address? Evidence of
> their earliest documentary attestation? Is 'Your Sanctity' papal?
>
> I thought I had the information from a book by Yves Congar, but my notes
> (or memory) deceived me. There must be a properly historical study of the
> subject; what I don't want is a courtesy guide to ecclesiastical titles!
>
> Gary Dickson
> University of Edinburgh
One starting point now is James-Charles Noonan, Jr., _The
Church Visible: The Ceremonial Life and Protocol of the Roman Catholic
Church_ (New York: Viking-Penguin, 1996). Pp. 379-81 have a brief history
of papal titles, though I'm not sure it is accurate in each detail; p.
221 has a list of formal titles for all ecclesiastical
prelates; the book tells you all the protocol issues, order of precedence
in processions etc. It tells you what constitutes formal dress for
various formal occasions at the Vatican, it tells newly elected bishops
and cardinals all the details about the various types of vestments and
which occasions they are to be used for. It is geared toward present
practice, but necessarily includes the history of most matters. It is
well illustrated. It has a complete guide to papal and curial heraldry,
to the various ecclesiastical orders of knighthood etc.
Now for the bad part--it doesn't seem to answer the specific questions
posed in this query. It does list 8 titles of the pope on its dedication
page, but these are 3rd-person titles, not second-person. On pp. 205-222
it has forms of address for all levels of the hierarchy. For the pope it
lists only "Your Holiness" or "Most Holy Father."
The historical titles it discusses are Pontifex Maximus (adopted in 1464
by Paul II), Summus Pontifex (since Leo I in 452, not only for the pope
but for all important bishops and other leaders; applied exclusively to
the bishop of Rome since about 750); Servant of the Servants of God
(Gregory I, 602); Vicar of Peter (Leo I); Princeps Lateranensis,
supposedly going back to the granting of the Lateran Palace to Milchiades
by Constantine the Great.
But even though it will not answer the specific questions you pose, it
does have a good bibliography and is a fascinating book to leaf through.
Dennis Martin
>
>
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