The origin of Papal Bulls is a bit cloudy, but the story most often referenced is about a ‘Bull-like’ document from the Roman Emperor Constantine I in the mid-5th Century giving the city of Rome to Pope Sylvester I. The original document no longer exists, but an 8th century copy of it has been accepted as a legitimate, though somewhat altered, reproduction. The alterations were apparently made to improve the legal language in the document to prove that Constantine had willfully ‘donated’ Rome to the Church. Papal Bulls of this type became known as ‘Donations’ and gave away land and property that the Pope didn’t occupy and/or own. The justification was that Christ had spiritual and secular lordship over the entire world, and so this authority could be claimed by his worldly representatives, the Popes, who then in turn, could delegate this lordship to others for application over non-Christian lands and peoples. When a ‘Bull of Donation’ was issued to a king, that king always wanted the other kings to recognize and abide by it, as well. Most didn’t.
Why the name ‘Papal Bull’? According to the Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica: “. . . in Roman Catholicism, [a Papal Bull is] an official papal letter or document. The name is derived from the lead seal [bulla – “. . . the round usually lead seal attached to a papal bull.” Merriam-Webster] . . . that shows the heads of the apostles Peter and Paul on one side and the pope’s signature on the other.”
By the 13th century Papal Bulls were being used only for the most important documents issued by the pope. These included, in addition to ‘Donations’, such actions and events as the canonizations of saints, dogmatic pronouncements, Henry VIII’s dispensation to marry Catherine of Aragon (his brother’s widow), the restoration of the Society of Jesus in 1814, and the announcement (December 25, 1961) of the forthcoming Second Vatican Council.”
The following graphic is what an ancient Papal Bill looked like. This particular one was issued by Pope Urban VIII (1623 – 1644), and I’m fairly certain those Pope Nicholas V issued (discussed below) were formatted in the same manner. This is an image of the document that is part of the George Powell of Nanteos bequest given to the University of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1882.
The first Papal Bull I found when I began my research in early 2010 was the one by Pope Nicholas V issued on June 18, 1452 titled ‘Dum Diversas’, which roughly translates into ‘Until Different’,. The title and the content, in my mind, don’t necessarily track, but there may be a subtle connection that I’m missing. There are a number of translations from the Latin of the original document, but there isn’t a significant difference in the three versions I’ve found.
The following is a portion of a translation that was posted on the Unam Sanctam Catholicam website by the webmaster, Boniface, in early 2011. He found the Latin text the previous summer in the rare documents depository at the University of Michigan and engaged his friend, a distinguished professor of Latin, to translate it for him.
“Therefore we consider, that those rising against the Catholic faith and struggling to extinguish Christian Religion must be resisted by the faithful of Christ with courage and firmness, so that the faithful themselves, inflamed by the ardor of faith and armed with courage to be able to hate their intention, not only to go against the intention, if they prevent unjust attempts of force, but with the help of God whose soldiers they are, they stop the endeavors of the faithless, we, fortified with divine love, summoned by the charity of Christians and bound by the duty of our pastoral office, which concerns the integrity and spread of faith for which Christ our God shed his blood, wishing to encourage the vigor of the faithful and Your Royal Majesty in the most sacred intention of this kind, we grant to you full and free power, through the Apostolic authority by this edict, to invade, conquer, fight, subjugate the Saracens and pagans, and other infidels and other enemies of Christ, and wherever established their Kingdoms, Duchies, Royal Palaces, Principalities and other dominions, lands, places, estates, camps and any other possessions, mobile and immobile goods found in all these places and held in whatever name, and held and possessed by the same Saracens, Pagans, infidels, and the enemies of Christ, also realms, duchies, royal palaces, principalities and other dominions, lands, places, estates, camps, possessions of the king or prince or of the kings or princes, and to lead their persons in perpetual servitude, and to apply and appropriate realms, duchies, royal palaces, principalities and other dominions, possessions and goods of this kind to you and your use and your successors the Kings of Portugal.” (Emphasis added)
A couple of comments for clarification and your attention: First, the ‘Royal Majesty’ referenced in the Bull was King Alfonso of Portugal. The Portuguese during Alfonso’s reign (1438 – 1481) were aggressively exploring the western shores of Africa for two reasons; one to exploit the land and its inhabitants, and two, probing for a sea route East to the Orient.
And the second item concerns the last two words in the highlighted portion – ‘perpetual servitude’. Understandably, much has been written and spoken about these two words and what was Nicholas’s intent, and more importantly, the interpretations and actions taken by Alfonso and others as a result of those words being contained in a Papal Bull. On the one hand, there are those that feel the words should be interpreted in a ‘feudal’ sense that recognizes there was a class of the population that could only perform duties as unpaid servants. On the other hand, some feel that this phrase is colonizers’ code for slavery. Their point is that in the context of the tone and tenor of the entire Bull, Nicholas doesn’t seem interested in improving the quality of life for Saracens, pagans, infidels and other enemies of Christ, so ‘perpetual servitude’ should be understood to mean ‘slavery’.
Here is a 1455 Papal Bull Nicholas wrote for King Alfonso continuing his support for the Portuguese invasion of West Africa.