Referendary

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Referendary is the English form or rendering of a number of administrative positions, of various rank, in chanceries and other official organisations.

[edit] Secular referendaries

The office of referendarius (plural referendarii; Latin from refero, to inform) existed at the Byzantine imperial Court. They were officials who reported to the emperor on the memorials of petitioners, and conveyed to the judges the orders of the emperor in connexion with such memorials.

During the Merovingian period of the Frankish Empire, the official later known as Chancellor (Latin cancellarius) is called "Referendarius".

Other medieval kingdoms also had a referendary, e.g. Anianus who compiled the Breviary of Alaric II in 506 AD for that king of the Visigoths.

Later the office was multiplicated and hence devaluated, which could be reflected in compound titles differentiating some positions, as amongst the Offices in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

It can also be a position -compare (Grand) Chancellor- in an order of knighthood, e.g. the Order of Saint Lazarus

[edit] Ecclesiastical referendaries

In the Papal Curia Romana (court), the office of referendarii Apostolic' ('apostolic referendaries') originated in the Middle Ages; their duty was to receive all petitions directed to the Holy See, to report on them to the pope and to tender him advice. The treatment and decision varied according to the nature of the question: if a favour was concerned, it might be either granted or refused; if some dispute, the pope decided whether it should be referred to a judge. The referendarii were entrusted with all arrangements for these papal decisions, which they had to prepare for the pope's signature (signatura).

From these referendarii developed the court of the Signatura (Collegium referendariorum Signaturæ votantium), concerning which there are various papal constitutions. Pope Innocent VIII (1484-92) introduced a distinction between the referendarii on questions of favours and of justice, whence developed the "Signatura gratiæ" and the "Signatura justitiæ", each competent to give final decision within its sphere. Utriusque Signaturae Apostolicae Referendarius (attested for Joseph Simeon Assemani), or shorter referendarius utriusque signaturae (attested for Pietro Sforza Pallavicino), 'Referendary of both signatures', was a specific title in the Roman Curia, apparently combining both competences.

In the court of the "Signatura justitiæ" developed a distinction between the prelates entitled to vote (prœlati votantes) and those whose duties were confined to reporting on individual cases (prœlati referendarii). The whole body gradually lost all practical importance, especially after the loss of the Papal States, and was entirely abolished at the reorganization of the Curia by Pius X.