An artificial collection created in the mid-1880s of papal documents, brought together from a variety of archival sources among the public records.
The records cover the whole range of dealings between the papacy and the royal government and ecclesiastical authorities. A significant proportion of the series consists of letters addressed to the King of England. There are also numerous letters addressed generally or to named ecclesiastics and others, most of which relate to matters touching royal government, from papal taxation and papal provisions to benefices and ecclesiastical dignities within the king's lands.
The records include:
- Great or solemn privileges, bearing subscriptions, the rota and benevalete: these are described in the list as 'great bulls'. They were issued increasingly rarely after the twelfth century.
- Letters of grace, to which the bulla was attached by silk strings: the string is noted if any survived at the time of listing; otherwise the name of the pope is printed in capital letters as it appears in the document. Such documents were issued in response to petitions, usually to grant or confirm rights (including earlier solemn privileges), to confer benefices or to decide causes.
- Letters of justice or mandates, to which the bulla was attached by hemp strings. Again, these were issued in response to petitions, but they were used most commonly to convey administrative orders or to appoint judges delegate in ecclesiastical causes which had been referred to the Curia. They were sometimes sent folded and sealed in such a way that they could be opened only by cutting the parchment or the string: these bullae clausae are described in the list as 'letters close'.
- Generally-addressed letters, some issued motu proprio, usually declaring or confirming an action or event; these open with the words 'ad perpetuam (or futuram) rei memoriam'. They first appeared at the very end of the fourteenth century but became common in the second half of the fifteenth.
The documents relating to Cardinal Wolsey date from the years 1524-1530, and deal with various aspects of Wolsey's power, including his diplomatic activities on behalf of King Henry VIII. The majority, however, relate to his exercise of power as legate a latere in conducting visitations of religious houses in England, and his campaign to suppress some of the smallest of these.
Many documents are transcripts or exemplifications, often made many years after the original date of issue.