Monumenta Bellarmini Works

Manuscripts

In this section, we aim to transcribe some of the Bellarmino's manuscripts preserved by APUG (a list of these is available here) and other institutions.

• Notae in Genesim
  

• In Doctrina Bellarmini observata a Lessio (APUG 351H)
• Roberto Bellarmino autobiography (APUG 2743)
• Index haereticorum

1. 1. Context: The Four Youthful Works

During his professorship between Louvain and Rome (1570–1585), Bellarmine composed four historical-critical works to prepare for his defense of the faith (the famous *Controversies*):

1. **Index of Ecclesiastical Writers:** (Published in 1613). 2. **Chronology and Biblical Questions:** (Published posthumously). 3. **Universal Chronology:** (Synchronic tables of popes, emperors, and heresiarchs). 4. **The Index of Heretics:** Considered lost for centuries until Tromp's discovery.

1. 1. 2. The Discovery of the "Trier Codex"

The author identified the lost work in **Codex 1373** of the Municipal Library of **Trier** (Germany).

• **Why was it "missing"?** In the library catalog, it was erroneously described as a simple excerpt of already known works. In reality, it is an original and autonomous work.
• **Format:** It is a manuscript of approximately 94 dense pages, written in tiny characters by two different copyists between 1572 and 1580.

1. 1. 3. Content and Method

The work lists **217 heresies** divided by "centuries," from 40 AD up to the Protestant Reformation.

• **Scientific Method:** For each heresy, Bellarmine provides brief historical notes and then lists the doctrinal errors point by point (articles).
• **Scope and Detail:** Luther is analyzed in 144 articles, Melanchthon in 101, and Calvin in 186.
• **Sources:** Bellarmine utilized a vast library (ancient historians, acts of the councils, Church Fathers) and, crucially, **cited heretical texts directly** (Luther, Calvin, the Quran), consulting them with special permission while in Louvain.

1. 1. 4. Evolution of Tone

The work reveals a shift in Bellarmine’s psychological and academic approach:

• **Ancient Heresies (e.g., Manicheans):** He maintains a nearly "surgical" and purely descriptive detachment.
• **The Reformers (e.g., Calvin):** The tone becomes more heated. Faced with Calvin’s perceived "pride," Bellarmine abandons historical neutrality to insert brief, sharp refutations.

1. 1. 5. Value and Authenticity

Authenticity is proven by internal cross-references found in Bellarmine’s other writings and by textual comparisons with his lectures.

• **Why was it not published?** It was his private **"research tool"** (an early version of a database). Bellarmine did not wish to publish a list of errors without providing a full, definitive theological refutation, which he would later present in his major works.

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1. 1. 1. In Summary

The rediscovery of the *Index Haereticorum* is fundamental because it shows the "behind the scenes" of Bellarmine’s genius: a meticulous researcher who, before writing his great treatises, cataloged every doctrinal error in Christian history with mathematical precision.

• • Would you like me to focus on a specific section, such as the sources Bellarmine used or his analysis of a particular heresy?**

Tromp 1934 = Sebastiaan Peter Cornelis Tromp, De Bellarmini indice haereticorum Treviris reperto, «Gregorianum», XV (1934), p. 187-214.

Printed works

• De scriptoribus ecclesiasticis liber unus
• Disputationes de Controversiis