What’s Inside the Vatican Archive? — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00[Music]
2. 0:05Beneath Vatican City lies one of the
3. 0:07most mysterious archives in the world.
4. 0:10Rumored by some to be the greatest
5. 0:13repository of human knowledge. But what
6. 0:15exactly are the Vatican archives? And
7. 0:18what kind of items are stored there? In
8. 0:21recent years, the Vatican has granted
9. 0:23exclusive access to researchers, finally
10. 0:25revealing the contents of history's most
11. 0:28legendary archive. And in this video, I
12. 0:31want to show you what they found. The
13. 0:34Apostolic Archive is located within
14. 0:37Vatican City, the world's smallest
15. 0:39sovereign state. It lies adjacent to the
16. 0:42Vatican Library, a short walk from the
17. 0:44Systeine Chapel and the magnificent St.
18. 0:46Peter's Basilica. Today, most of the
19. 0:48archive is kept in a purpose-built
20. 0:51subterranean facility. It's a sprawling
21. 0:54maze of storage rooms spread across two
22. 0:57underground levels. Inside, there are
23. 0:59hundreds and thousands of individual
24. 1:02items. In fact, if you lined up the
25. 1:04shelves end to end, they'd stretch over
26. 1:0653 mi. That's roughly the distance from
27. 1:09London to Oxford. While no floor plan
28. 1:12exists to the public, we do know that at
29. 1:14the center is a highly restricted area
30. 1:17known as the bunker, a climate
31. 1:19controlled vault that safeguards the
32. 1:22archives most delicate possessions. As a
33. 1:25whole, it's a warren of storage rooms, a
34. 1:27network of shelves that seem to go on
35. 1:30endlessly. And for much of its history,
36. 1:33access to this exclusive collection was
37. 1:35only reserved to inner members of the
38. 1:38church itself. Due to the secretive
39. 1:41nature of the Vatican archives, many
40. 1:43have speculated about what might be
41. 1:45hidden there. A quick online search
42. 1:47turns up no shortage of claims, from
43. 1:49forbidden Christian documents to
44. 1:51evidence of extraterrestrial life. These
45. 1:54claims are unverified, and some are
46. 1:56considered to be highly dubious. But one
47. 1:59of the most bizarre stories about the
48. 2:01Vatican archives doesn't come from
49. 2:03conspiracy theories. Instead, it comes
50. 2:06from within the church itself. This tale
51. 2:08originates from Father Pelgro Anetti, a
52. 2:11Benedicting monk and former physicist
53. 2:14who claimed to have built a device known
54. 2:16as the chronovvisor. This machine was a
55. 2:19television that allegedly allowed users
56. 2:21to witness historical events as if they
57. 2:24were happening live. In other words, a
58. 2:26timetraveling television. Aneti said he
59. 2:28used the chronizer to view scenes from
60. 2:31ancient history and confirm events as
61. 2:33described in the Bible. Along with the
62. 2:35article was this supposed photograph of
63. 2:38Jesus and his disciples. Of course,
64. 2:41Anetti's outlandish claims drew
65. 2:43widespread skepticism. Such a device is
66. 2:45outside the bounds of accepted physics
67. 2:48and the image of Jesus bears a striking
68. 2:50resemblance to this widely circulated
69. 2:53Christian postcard. Despite this, Anetti
70. 2:55stood by his claims of the chronovvisor,
71. 2:58insisting that the Vatican had hidden
72. 3:00the chronovvisor to prevent it from
73. 3:01falling into the wrong hands. According
74. 3:04to his testimony, the machine was locked
75. 3:06away deep within the Vatican archives,
76. 3:08never to be seen again. If you're
77. 3:10thinking this sounds like science
78. 3:12fiction, well, you're not alone.
79. 3:14Skeptics believe it to be from the
80. 3:16imagination of Anetti himself. In any
81. 3:19case, he continued to defend the
82. 3:20Chronovis's existence, even until his
83. 3:23death in 1994. Over the years, rumors
84. 3:26surrounding the Vatican archives have
85. 3:28gained a lot of traction, and to be
86. 3:30honest, I can understand why. But I
87. 3:33think a lot of these rumors originate
88. 3:35from the name of the archives
89. 3:37themselves. Let me explain. For much of
90. 3:39its history, the collection was known in
91. 3:41English as the Vatican Secret Archive. I
92. 3:44mean, using the word secret is bound to
93. 3:47attract speculation. All that changed in
94. 3:492019 when the late Pope Francis renamed
95. 3:52it to Vatican Apostolic Archive.
96. 3:55According to his papal letter, it was
97. 3:57done in an effort to dispel the
98. 3:59reputation that the church was hiding
99. 4:02something. Name change or not, what a
100. 4:04lot of people may not know is that the
101. 4:06archive is actually open to visit and it
102. 4:08has been for more than 100 years. At the
103. 4:11end of the 19th century, Pope Leo I 13th
104. 4:14opened up parts of the archives to
105. 4:16historians. For the first time, people
106. 4:18from outside the church could visit the
107. 4:20collection. If you want to visit, well,
108. 4:23you can, provided you fulfill these
109. 4:25strict requirements. A master's degree
110. 4:28in a relevant field, a letter of
111. 4:30recommendation from a professor or
112. 4:32university, and a clear description of
113. 4:34the specific document you want to view.
114. 4:37I was curious, so I made an application
115. 4:39of my own using an official form from
116. 4:42the archives's own website. However,
117. 4:44after only 20 minutes, my application
118. 4:46was sadly rejected. For lucky applicants
119. 4:50who get accepted and successfully pass
120. 4:52the interview process, you'll be granted
121. 4:54temporary access to the Vatican
122. 4:56archives. So, let's pretend that we made
123. 4:58it inside. Congratulations. Now, where's
124. 5:01the time machine? Well, the true answer
125. 5:03may surprise you, and it's here we turn
126. 5:06to next.
127. 5:09Walking through the Vatican archives,
128. 5:11you are surrounded by rows and rows of
129. 5:13shelves, each housing many thousands of
130. 5:16items. So, let's take a look at some of
131. 5:18them. The reality of the Vatican
132. 5:20archives is quite different from the
133. 5:22movies. Firstly, there are no booby
134. 5:24traps. Looking at you, Tom Hanks. What
135. 5:26Angels and Demons does get right is that
136. 5:28the Vatican archives contain official
137. 5:31records of the Holy Sea, the central
138. 5:33governing body of the Catholic Church.
139. 5:35It's essentially a massive warehouse
140. 5:37full of papal bureaucracy. Broadly
141. 5:40speaking, the archives contents fall
142. 5:42into four main categories. papal
143. 5:45letters, private correspondences from
144. 5:47the popes, state papers, documents
145. 5:49relating to the functioning of the
146. 5:51Vatican City, minutes from church
147. 5:53councils and trials, and finally, a vast
148. 5:56collection simply labeled miscellaneous.
149. 5:59While a lot of this might sound like
150. 6:00paperwork, look closer and you'll
151. 6:02discover secrets that have been kept
152. 6:04away for centuries. So, what I have here
153. 6:07is a selection of items from the Vatican
154. 6:09archives.
155. 6:11The hidden fate of the Knights Templar.
156. 6:13Our first item relates to one of the
157. 6:15most powerful organizations of the
158. 6:18medieval world, the Knights Templar. The
159. 6:20Templars were a military order founded
160. 6:22after the first crusade, a series of
161. 6:24Christian wars called to recapture the
162. 6:27Holy Land. It was during these bloody
163. 6:29years that the Order of the Templars was
164. 6:31formed. Originally, they sought to
165. 6:33protect Christian pilgrims. But over
166. 6:35time, they evolved into one of the most
167. 6:37powerful institutions in medieval
168. 6:40Europe. But with all that power came
169. 6:42enemies. In 1307, King Philip IV of
170. 6:45France launched an inquisition against
171. 6:48the Templars, accusing them of heresy
172. 6:50and devil worship. What followed was the
173. 6:53arrest of thousands of Templars, many of
174. 6:55whom were forced to confess false
175. 6:58crimes. Even their leader, the
176. 7:00Grandmaster Jack de Malay, was
177. 7:01eventually burnt at the stake in 1314.
178. 7:05For centuries, the accepted story was
179. 7:07that this inquisition was supported by
180. 7:09the church. But in 2001, all that
181. 7:13changed. Deep within the Vatican
182. 7:14archives, researchers uncovered a
183. 7:17long-lost document known as the Shenan
184. 7:19parchment. It details a secret
185. 7:22investigation into the Templars by the
186. 7:24church, one that found them to be
187. 7:26innocent of the charges levied against
188. 7:28them. In fact, even Pope Clement V
189. 7:31absolved the order and quietly forgave
190. 7:33the Templars in secret. However, he
191. 7:35never made his pardon public. Despite
192. 7:37the Templars being secretly forgiven,
193. 7:40they were still wiped out. Why? Well,
194. 7:43politics. The Shenon parchment reveals a
195. 7:46power struggle between the Pope and King
196. 7:49Philip IV. You see, Philip owed the
197. 7:51Templars a massive amount of debt. By
198. 7:53dismantling the order, he could
199. 7:55conveniently erase his financial burden.
200. 7:58It appears that the king strongarmed the
201. 8:00pope into complying with his orders. Had
202. 8:03the pope's forgiveness been made public,
203. 8:05then the order might have survived to
204. 8:07this day. But instead, the document was
205. 8:10filed away, buried in the archives for
206. 8:12centuries.
207. 8:14The trial of Galileo. Among the most
208. 8:17important documents housed in the
209. 8:19Vatican archives are the original
210. 8:21records from the infamous trial of
211. 8:24Galileo. Galileo Galilei is considered
212. 8:27one of astronomy's greatest minds.
213. 8:29Having studied the movements of the
214. 8:31planets, he defended helioentrism, the
215. 8:33idea that the earth revolves around the
216. 8:35sun. But at the time, the church upheld
217. 8:38the doctrine of geocentrism, the belief
218. 8:41that the earth was fixed at the center
219. 8:43of the universe. And so in 1633, Galileo
220. 8:47stood before a church inquisition,
221. 8:49having been accused of heresy. These
222. 8:52precious documents outline the
223. 8:53proceedings of Galileo's trial,
224. 8:55including his own handwritten defense in
225. 8:58which he desperately argues that his
226. 9:00scientific views do not contradict the
227. 9:03Christian faith. However, he was
228. 9:05unsuccessful. Under pressure, he was
229. 9:07forced into a plea bargain. In exchange
230. 9:09for his life, Galileo formally withdrew
231. 9:12his support for helioentrism. He spent
232. 9:14the remaining 9 years of his life under
233. 9:16house arrest and never lived to see his
234. 9:19scientific observations become widely
235. 9:21accepted. It wasn't until the modern era
236. 9:24that the church formally acknowledged
237. 9:26its mistake, pardoning Galileo and
238. 9:28recognizing his contribution to
239. 9:30astronomy. Today, the church has now
240. 9:32embraced science. In fact, the Vatican
241. 9:35now operates its own telescope in
242. 9:37southeastern Arizona in the United
243. 9:39States. The Pasarola. The deeper we go
244. 9:43into the Vatican archives, the clearer
245. 9:45it becomes that it's very different to
246. 9:47the one we see in pop culture. Rather
247. 9:50than being a Christian Area 51, instead
248. 9:53it's a historian's playground. Housed
249. 9:55here are mostly documents, but primary
250. 9:58sources from history as it unfolds. And
251. 10:01while there might not be any
252. 10:03timetraveling television, there is still
253. 10:05some sci-fi to be found. Hidden within
254. 10:08the archives is a concept for a flying
255. 10:10machine known as the Pasarola. Drafted
256. 10:13by a Portuguese priest by Tomo de
257. 10:15Gazmau. These unusual drawings depict an
258. 10:18aircraft shaped like a bird with a large
259. 10:21central sail flanked by wings on either
260. 10:24side. Of course, the Pasarola never got
261. 10:26off the ground, and it's one of
262. 10:28thousands of fantasy aircraft that
263. 10:30predate the era of flight. I have to
264. 10:33give it some credit, though. It is
265. 10:34rather inventive. It looks like the
266. 10:36church thought so too and so kept hold
267. 10:38of these blueprints just for
268. 10:40safekeeping. Among the most fascinating
269. 10:42treasures from the Vatican archives are
270. 10:44letters sent to the church by historical
271. 10:47figures. One of them is from history's
272. 10:50most celebrated artist Michelangelo who
273. 10:53famously designed several of the
274. 10:55Vatican's landmarks from the ceiling of
275. 10:57the Systeine Chapel to St. Peter's
276. 10:59Basilica. Although this letter is far
277. 11:02less glamorous, it's about a payment
278. 11:04dispute. According to Michelangelo, the
279. 11:06workers in the Vatican had not been paid
280. 11:08for 3 months and were threatening to
281. 11:11walk off the job. One section reads, "We
282. 11:13can't go on like this anymore."
283. 11:17The excommunication of Martin Luther. As
284. 11:20you may know, Christianity is not a
285. 11:22single unified religion. Today, it is
286. 11:25divided into a number of denominations.
287. 11:28One major split is between Catholicism
288. 11:30and Protestantism. And this next
289. 11:32document reveals the very moment that
290. 11:34split began. It's a papal bull signed by
291. 11:37Pope Leo I 10th, a formal decree that
292. 11:40officially excommunicated Martin Luther.
293. 11:43Martin Luther was a monk and theologian.
294. 11:45But beginning in 1517, he became a
295. 11:48fierce opponent of the church and
296. 11:50criticized what he saw as corruption.
297. 11:53Over time, a reform movement developed
298. 11:55around him and spread like wildfire
299. 11:57across Northern Europe. This document
300. 11:59contains the church's response to the
301. 12:01crisis. Luther was banned from preaching
302. 12:04and participating in the sacraments. In
303. 12:06effect, he was cast out forever. Only
304. 12:09one official document of this
305. 12:10excommunication letter exists today. A
306. 12:13second was sent to Luther himself,
307. 12:15although he famously burnt it in a
308. 12:17public protest. At the time, no one
309. 12:20could have predicted the full
310. 12:21significance of this document. It marked
311. 12:24the first formal break between
312. 12:26Catholicism and Protestantism and
313. 12:28triggered the Reformation. Soon,
314. 12:30Christianity would begin to fragment
315. 12:33across Europe, just like in the Kingdom
316. 12:35of England where Henry VIII appealed to
317. 12:37the Pope for an anulment of his marriage
318. 12:39to Catherine of Araggon. In fact, the
319. 12:42archives contain this letter too adorned
320. 12:44with 81 seals from English noblemen. The
321. 12:48Pope of course rejected King Henry's
322. 12:50request and so he promptly broke away
323. 12:52from the Catholic Church and created the
324. 12:55Church of England placing himself at the
325. 12:57head. The Vatican Apostolic Archive is
326. 13:00one of the most impressive collections
327. 13:02of historical data in the world. While
328. 13:05it might not contain any earthshattering
329. 13:07revelations plucked from a Dan Brown
330. 13:09novel, it's still a remarkable
331. 13:11collection in its own right. It's an
332. 13:13extraordinary archive of documents, some
333. 13:16of which lie at the very epicenter of
334. 13:18world history. Despite what you might
335. 13:20have expected, the Vatican archives are
336. 13:22not completely closed off. In recent
337. 13:24years, there has been a greater trend
338. 13:26towards transparency. And yet, a sense
339. 13:29of mystery still pervades the archives
340. 13:32today. There remains one problem.
341. 13:34Visitors wanting to access the archives
342. 13:37must request to view specific documents
343. 13:39in advance. This raises a paradox. How
344. 13:42can you request a document if you aren't
345. 13:45even aware of its existence? Perhaps
346. 13:48then there are still items tucked away
347. 13:50in the Vatican archives that still
348. 13:52remain off limits. One can only wonder.
349. 13:59Hey, thanks for watching. I had a great
350. 14:02time making this and I hope you enjoyed
351. 14:04it as well. If you like this video and
352. 14:06want to see more, why not subscribe? A
353. 14:08like and a comment also go a really long
354. 14:10way. Anyway, I look forward to seeing
355. 14:12you next time. Goodbye.