Description: This is a study of the history and function of the highest ecclesiastical tribunal, the Sacra Romana Rota, from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries. Despite its importance for Christendom and in contrast with other important papal offices, the activity of the Rota has never been thoroughly investigated on the basis of archival sources. This book fills this significant gap by explaining how the Rota functioned-its organization, the phases of a Rota process, everyday practices at the tribunal-and the kinds of issues it handled, where the processes originated from and how long they lasted. The study demonstrates that the Rota dealt with a range of cases much broader than has previously been acknowledged, whilst also confirming that the tribunal mainly oversaw litigation over benefices.
Review Quotes:
"Kirsi Salonen's study of the papal tribunal called the Sacra Romana Rota offers an excellent model of compelling institutional history, and should be useful to scholars of premodern justice and the Catholic Church."
- Jennifer Mara Desilva, Ball State University, US
"The author presents interesting samples of procedural documents, together with notaries' remarks which cast light on the cycle of audiences in court, holidays, special events in the curia, locations where court sessions were held, and the provisional replacement of judges during illness or temporary absence from Rome."
- Gero Dolezalek, University of Aberdeen, UK