Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Pius IV , 1499-1565 , Pope x Medici , Giovanni Angelo
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Papal letters were initially used in the early church as a method of introducing papal laws and edicts to the entire church. As their number grew during the middle ages, they divided into several types, including general letters (constitutions) which were understood to regulate ecclesiastical conditions of a general character judicially; and ordinances issued for individual cases (rescripts), which were issued at the petition of an individual and decided a lawsuit or granted a favour.