A Lesson on Papal Bulls & Bullas in the Papal Artifacts’ Collection

The bull is generally an official document of the Holy Father. We know by the choice of threading used, either silk or twine, of the importance of any particular bull.

It is noteworthy that nearly all bullas— which are the mostly  lead seals (but sometimes wax) attached to the documents that act as the Pope’s signature–were the same: they contained  only the name of the reigning pope on one side, and the  faces of Saints Peter & Paul on the other side….Except for the rare ones that are a part of this Collection….

And then there’s  the existence of a matrix (which “stamps” the lead seals) that should have been destroyed at the death of that pope (Paul II)…but appears here in this Collection.

This papal bull, the most modern one in the collection, is on parchment and is dated 1958:  Pope Pius XII

The bull concerns the appointment of Cardinal Stephanos I Sidarouss as the Titular Bishop of Alexandria.

The word, bull comes from the Latin, bubble. It is the lead seal that was appended to the end of a document acting as the signature of the pope. On one side, it contains the pope’s name and on the other, images of Saints Peter and Paul from whom he is given his authority.

The bull is generally an official document of the Holy Father. We know by the choice of threading used, either silk or twine, the importance of any particular bull.

Folded Papal Bull from the Pontificate of Pope Benedict XIV
1700s

A bull is the lead seal that was appended to the end of a document acting as the signature of the pope.

This papal bull is on parchment and dates from the mid-1700s during the reign of Benedict XIV.

Because it is folded, rather than flat for preservation purposes, it creates a very unique presentation.

Pope Leo X:  A Very Rare Papal Bulla from 1517, Complete with Seal, & A Design Never Seen on a Bulla
1513-1521

This particular bulla is an extremely rare and valuable artifact to have in the Collection, not only because of its age, but also because it was issued by the Medici Pope, Leo X, during an era that presaged the Protestant Reformation. In fact, this document was issued in 1517, the same year that Martin Luther drifted into open rebellion with the Catholic Church and posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral on October 31st of that year.

The actual bulla on this document, displaying Leo PAPA X, on one side, has the traditional image of Saints Peter & Paul on the other side with a variation on bullae: this one has the addition of the Medici symbol of five balls, which figure heavily in architecture in both Rome and in Florence, seat of the Medici family. Pope Leo X’s coat of arms also has that image and immediately identifies him as a Medici.

According to Father Kunst, it is a design he has never seen on a bulla.

Stories abound on the internet as to the true meaning of the five balls, but no one knows for sure.

The word, bulla comes from the Latin, bubble. It is the lead seal that was appended to the end of a document acting as the signature of the pope. On one side, it contains the pope’s name and on the other, images of Saints Peter and Paul from whom he is given his authority.

The bull is generally an official document of the Holy Father. We know by the choice of threading used, either silk or twine, the importance of any particular bull.

Pope Leo X: A Rare Wax Seal Containing the Medici Coat of Arms
1513-1521

Not much information is available regarding this very rare wax seal.

It is a papal seal displaying the coat of arms of the Medici Pope, Leo X, which makes it over 500 years old since he reigned from 1513-1521.

Lead seals are much more common from this period, and for a wax seal to survive this long is highly unusual.

Matrix For a Bulla from Pope Paul II
1464-1471

The item presented here is an item that shouldn’t exist. It is one of two items I own that should not exist, a very rare matrix. When we talk about papal bulls, and we’ve talked about papal bulls, basically the word comes from the Latin, “bulle”, meaning, “bubble”, which was the lead seal, the process of making a lead seal that would seal a document of the pope’s.

Papal bulls were traditionally not signed. And they had these little lead seals hanging from the parchment document. On one side of the seal would be an image of Sts. Peter and Paul, their faces, and on the other side would be the pope’s name. And that acted as his signature.

For a thousand years, maybe a little more, the papal bulls have been used, and their seals have always been consistently identical. With one exception: Pope Paul II, who was Pope from 1464-1471. He changed the seal during his pontificate.

Talk about a man who was really self-assured. I mean he was pretty comfortable in his own skin, very confident. He totally changed the matrix. That is, he totally changed the papal ‘bulla’, that little lead seal that authenticated the document. What he did instead of taking just the face of Saints Peter and Paul, was he used an image of their whole bodies.

Then, on the other side, he put his picture and then wrote his name. And so that only lasted for the years that he was pope, and of course the next pope went back to the traditional image. They said, “Pope Paul was crazy. We’ll just go back to the traditional matrix.”

But because they’re so old these bullas don’t always stay attached to the parchment; they will fall off, and people will buy them and sell them independent of the document to which they were attached. And the papal bull from Paul II is exceedingly rare, because it’s so unique, and this is actually one side of the matrix that made it. This is the side of Sts. Peter’s and Paul’s full profiles.

Again this should have been destroyed upon the Pope’s death. The mere fact that it wasn’t destroyed, and also, that when you add the fact that in the 1000 plus years of history of papal bulls, this is the only one that was changed so uniquely, that makes this an incredibly unique matrix.

The brass seal, the brass matrix, would have been on something like pliers, and they would have molten lead and hold it tightly to make the little seal.

So this is one side of the matrix, the side that has Sts. Peter and Paul in full profile. It doesn’t have Pope Paul’s name anywhere, but we know this is from his pontificate, because it has the full bodies of Peter and Paul. We also know because no other popes used this particular matrix.

Again, this is one of those items that when I walk through the Vatican museums, I look at some of their things, and as awesome as those things are, there’s nothing that compares with this, because this shouldn’t exist. Not only should it not exist but also it’s just so unique and is a part of this Collection. But the fact that it is in existence and is outside of the Vatican makes it is as rare as an item can possibly get.

Additional Information:

Among all the items in the Papal Artifacts’ Collection, this is the rarest one. It is a device called a matrix that made the reverse side of bulls, (the lead seals), during the papacy of Pope Paul II. Bulls are legal documents that contain official church business. The bulla, or lead seal counts as the signature of the pope. They hang from either twine or silk, depending upon the importance of the document which is made of some type of parchment.

Matrixes are destroyed when popes die so they can no longer be used. The authority of the pope has ceased and so the matrixes are destroyed. The Church has been using papal bulls for over a thousand years and during that time, they have never changed. One side is always the profiles of Saints Peter and Paul and the other side always has the name of the pope who has issued it.

Only one pope has ever changed the appearance of the matrix and that was Pope Paul II. Instead of the profiles of Saints Peter and Paul, his matrix shows not just their faces but full profiles of them. On the other side, in addition to his name there is also the pope’s image. It is the only time in papal history that this has been done. After he died, the traditional way of making papal bulls was resumed by Pope Sixtus IV.

In the field of collecting papal bulls and seals, this is the rarest one to find and the hardest one to purchase. Father Kunst believes this is the rarest item outside of the Vatican Museum. In fact, there are not too many artifacts in the Vatican Museum that could compare with the rarity of this matrix.

The handle of the matrix is not original. At a later date a wooden handle was added.

In the past, as well as today, the two brass matrixes for making each side of the lead seal would be put between two vice grips and warm lead would be squeezed together to form the image. It would then be cooled and hardened and would be ready for use.

The matrix is truly an incredible addition to the Collection.

Papal Bull from the Pontificate of Anti-Pope John XXIII
1410-1415

The lead seal that we have here is a papal bull that was originally attached to a parchment, and it fell off, but this is such a unique papal bull. I have several of them in the Collection, but this is the only item I own that is from an anti-pope.

All throughout church history we have had people who have claimed to be pope. An anti-pope is a person who claims to be pope and who may have significant followers, but is not the legitimate Bishop of Rome.

Some of them have had strong arguments that suggest they are the legitimate popes, and we hear about a period of time in the 1300s and into the 1400s where we had the “great schism.” That was when two men claimed to be popes at the same time, or even three claimed to be popes at one time. So we have had men that have claimed to be pope at one time or another for different reasons, and some of them had strong arguments. And we hear in that period of time where various groups of cardinals went off and voted for pope or the other.

This is actually a papal bull from the anti-pope John XXIII, who was in the first part of the 1400s. And because he was an anti-pope, the name was still open and available for another to use. There have been some situations in papal history that when an anti-pope uses a name, the name is never used again. In other cases they might choose to go to the next number. As a matter of fact, this is true in the use of the name, John XXIII. The mere fact that Blessed John XXIII was elected in 1958, when the last John XXIII died in the 1400s shows the amount of time that elapsed before the name was used again.

So it took 500 years for someone to feel comfortable to use that name again, and it’s the most used papal name: there are twenty-three Pope Johns, and sixteen Gregories and sixteen Benedicts.

So it’s a great item to look at Pope John XXIII but to know, in this case, that he’s an anti-pope.

A Papal Bulla from the Pontificate of Boniface VIII (1294-1303)

The bulla is from the pontificate of Pope Boniface VIII who reigned from 1294-1303. It is a rare artifact and  great addition to the Collection.

The word, bull, comes from the Latin, bubble. It is the lead seal that was appended to the end of a document acting as the signature of the pope. On one side, it contains the pope’s name and on the other, images of Saints Peter and Paul from whom he is given his authority.

A Papal Bull from the Pontificate of Clement IV
Dated 1266

The item presented here is the oldest document in the Collection. I have items that are older, but this is the full document. It is from Pope Clement IV and is dated 1266. It’s a papal bull and you can see the lead seal hanging from silk thread, which means it was more important than if twine thread had been used. So this is a silk thread bull attached to the parchment from 1266. So it’s a great item, and is not too long after Francis of Assisi lived.

Again I have items that are older, but this is the oldest full document in the Collection.

The Collection is so fascinating for both clergy and laity, and even non-Catholics, I think, find it fascinating. If you think that this item in 1266 was before the ‘split’–that is, the Protestant Reformation–Clement IV was their Pope, too.

Additional Information

This papal bull is unsigned and untranslated and dated 1266 from the second year of Pope Clement IV’s pontificate. It is one of the oldest items in the collection.

The word, bull comes from the Latin, bubble. It is the lead seal that was appended to the end of a document acting as the signature of the pope. On one side, it contains the pope’s name and on the other, images of Saints Peter and Paul from whom the pope is given his authority.

The bull is generally an official document of the Holy Father. We know by the choice of threading used, either silk or twine, the importance of any particular bull.

In this document the bulla is still attached to the item.

Papal Bulla from the Pontificate of Innocent III
1198-1216

A Bulla from the Papacy of Pope Paschal II
(1099 – 1118)

This bulla is extremely rare as it was used during the reign of Pope Paschal II who reigned from 1099-1118.

It is the oldest artifact in the Collection.