Verzeichnis der in den Supplikenregistern der Pönitentiarie Innozenz’ VIII. vorkommenden Personen, Kirchen und Orte des Deutschen Reiches 1484–1492. 1. Teil: Text; 2. Teil: Indices (review)

Pope Innocent VIII (1484–92) is one of the less noted Roman pontiffs of the pre-Reformation era. Reigning after Sixtus IV (della Rovere), the founder of the Sistine Chapel, and before the Borgia pope Alexander VI, Innocent is best known for supporting witch hunting in Germany and the heresy hunting of the Spanish Inquisition. Throughout his pontificate, however, the Roman Curia continued transacting routine business. The routine business that affected the largest number of the faithful was transacted by the papal Penitentiary. That office dealt with requests for absolutions, dispensations, and special graces. The Cardinal Penitentiary and his staff acted in the pope’s name. The registers of their work, coupled with such letters as the minor penitentiaries gave penitents who confessed to them, illustrate the concerns of Christians faced with the genuine spiritual and legal needs. They might need—among their possible requests—to regularize marriages, be relieved of the legal effects of illegitimacy, secure release from censures reserved to the Holy See, or obtain absolution of sins and plenary indulgences when faced with death. These requests were presented by proctors and were recorded in the Registers of the Penitentiary, as well as in letters sent to the petitioners.

The Repertorium Poenitentiariae Germanicum was inaugurated by Ludwig Schmugge and his collaborators in 1998 with their volume covering part of the reign of Eugenius IV (1431–47). Since then, they have covered the records of German petitions from the subsequent reigns of Nicholas V (1447–55), Calixtus III (1455–58), Pius II (1458–84), Paul II (1464–71), and Sixtus IV (1471–84). Each volume provides not just documentary evidence but also detailed indexing. Their latest volume covers the pontificate of Innocent, revealing no new directions in the work of the Cardinal Penitentiary and his staff. What is provided, however, is additional material allowing us to look more deeply into the lives of Christians in the Germanic lands.

The first part of this volume begins with an introduction, including a table of the Registers employed, an examination of the format of the Registers, lists of the identifiable curialists and procurators involved, indications of the two letters of the Cardinal Penitentiary active in this pontificate, and a table of the documents also found in the Bullarium franciscanum Innocentii VIII, ed. Cesare Cenci (Rome, 1989–90). There follow tables of abbreviations, those for a diocese and those employed as shorthand in the Registers. This last is very important for use of the collection of entries in the Registers. There follow extracts from the Registers grouped as De matrimonialibus, De diversis formis, De declaratoriis, De defectu natalium, De uberiori, De promotis et promovendis, and De confessionalibus. Most of these categories cover routine business: providing marriage dispensations (De matrimonialibus), removing the barriers illegitimacy imposed on clerical careers (De defectu natalium and De uberiori), eliminating obstacles to ordination (De promotis et promovendis), and establishing the right to choose one’s own confessor (De confessionalibus). These tend to be the most routine and, therefore, the most condensed, requiring use of the table of common abbreviations. The De diversis formis requests, concerned with special privileges, and those giving evidence about serious offenses (De declaratoriis) are less predictable and thus more detailed.

The second volume contains detailed indexing of the names of petitioners, curialists, and procurators; dioceses mentioned; patron saints; religious orders; and dates on which petitions were registered. Perhaps the most useful index is the alphabetical guide to terms found in the records, including cognatio spiritualis, eucharistia, and ordinatio, that can be used to find subjects...