# Vatican Library 1215 **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 27, 2006, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162 "2006-03-27T22:31:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/1 "2006-03-27T22:31:42Z")
The Vatican has a 5000 square foot library that was sealed in 1215, with specific instructions that it was not to be opened until February 19, 2010 Is this true? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/2 "2006-03-27T22:39:43Z")
> [@fifty-six](#): > > The Vatican has a 5000 square foot library that was sealed in 1215, with specific instructions that it was not to be opened until February 19, 2010 > Is this true? Where did _that_ come from?!? šŸ˜•šŸ˜•šŸ˜•šŸ˜• ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/3 "2006-03-27T22:53:57Z")
A 795 year embargo? Iā€™ve heard some strange Catholic/Vatican rumours in my time, but itā€™s the first time Iā€™ve heard this one. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/4 "2006-03-27T23:54:20Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Where did _that_ come from?!? > šŸ˜•šŸ˜•šŸ˜•šŸ˜• [Here](http://www.eightballmagazine.com/epiphanies/1010605.html), or [here](http://70.86.59.150/forum/thread89483/pg4)? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/5 "2006-03-28T00:22:21Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > [Here](http://www.eightballmagazine.com/epiphanies/1010605.html), > or [here](http://70.86.59.150/forum/thread89483/pg4)? I hope you donā€™t regard the first of those as a serious cite?! :eek: :dubious: It lists the 'average life span of a samurai" vs. ā€œthe average life span of a ninjaā€. WTF? How would you determine the average life span of a ninja? Did you think there was a Hall Of Records, & under ā€œOccupationā€ they listed ā€œNinjaā€? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/6 "2006-03-28T00:54:30Z")
> [@fifty-six](#): > > The Vatican has a 5000 square foot library that was sealed in 1215, with specific instructions that it was not to be opened until February 19, 2010 > Is this true? Yes. Inside are the days that the Jesuits stole when they forced the Gregorian Calendar on us. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/7 "2006-03-28T02:38:13Z")
Well, in a small way itā€™s true-- for all intents and purposes, the Vatican Library\*\* is \*closed and has been for a long time. Iā€™ve read that theyā€™ve refused research access to even the most eminent of scholars. As a historian, I positively drool thinking of the little tidbits of unknown historical knowledge that lurk in there. If the Apocolypse ever comes and Iā€™m one of the few suvivors, I know where Iā€™m heading! _I do not know if only certain areas of the Library are off-limits, but itā€™s the impression that I got that most of the collections are forbidden_\* to researchers. \*\* Note that I donā€™t necessarily think itā€™s a conspirascy-- as someone who works in a museum with a vast and priceless library, I know the difficulty in monitoring visitors. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/8 "2006-03-28T02:45:43Z")
God, donā€™t you people know _anything_? Thatā€™s where they keep all the porn! Duh! ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/9 "2006-03-28T15:54:16Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > Well, in a small way itā€™s true-- for all intents and purposes, the Vatican Library\*\* is \*closed and has been for a long time. Iā€™ve read that theyā€™ve refused research access to even the most eminent of scholars. **Lissa** , do you have a cite for that? According to this [pdf](http://www.vaticanlibrary.vatlib.it/BAVT/info/vaticanlibraryfiles/rules.pdf) from the Vatican website: > [@](#): > > Qualified researchers and scholars from around the world, particularly professors and researchers from universities and other institutions of higher education, and other learned persons known for their writings and scholarly publications, are admitted without distinction of race, religion, origin or culture. The prerequisites for admission are the availability of space and adequate training, documented and attested by an accredited academic institution. According to a long-standing tradition, readers are requested to indicate the nature of their research project. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/10 "2006-03-28T17:51:38Z")
> [@JohnM](#): > > **Lissa** , do you have a cite for that? According to this [pdf](http://www.vaticanlibrary.vatlib.it/BAVT/info/vaticanlibraryfiles/rules.pdf) from the Vatican website: No I donā€™t, other than the memory of a historian (and my mind insists it was David Starkey for some reason) refused access to certain documents. I should have kept my mouth shut. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/11 "2006-03-28T20:12:24Z")
> [@](#): > > God, donā€™t you people know anything? Thatā€™s where they keep all the porn! If the Vaticanā€™s porn collection has been sealed off since 1215, then thereā€™s no way it could possibly be the largest in the world. The sum total of porn produced before 1215 probably pales in comparison to the contents of some hard drives. Now, if it were in some sort of write-only archive, and 1215 was just the last time that itā€™d been _read_, then they could be continually streaming it in from the Internet even today. šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/12 "2006-03-28T20:12:42Z")
I wish such a thing were true, but I seriously doubt even the Vatican could keep something that big sealed up for that long without somebody getting to it. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/13 "2006-03-28T20:52:51Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > God, donā€™t you people know _anything_? Thatā€™s where they keep all the porn! heheheā€¦imagine, a young Ron Jeremy! šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/14 "2006-03-28T21:22:30Z")
The Vatican ā€œSecret Librariesā€ can be obtained on CD/DVD-ROM thru the official [Vatican Library](http://asv.vatican.va/en/stud/1_stud.htm) website. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/15 "2006-03-29T03:41:31Z")
No, no, no! The Secret Vatican Library contains a copy of _The Encyclopaedia Galactica_ that fell through a time warp from 1000 years in the future, saying that the Marketing Department of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation were the first against the wall when the Revolution cameā€¦ šŸ˜ƒ If thereā€™s anything that the Catholic Church might want to keep secret from the general populace, it would be a page from the front of a certain major religious text which reads: _To Pookie- All Characters contatained in this work are ficticious, and any resemblence to any person living or dead is entirely coincidental. First illuminated in the Roman Empire, Anno XII Caesarā€¦_šŸ˜ƒ Is that Lightning I see in the distance? šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/16 "2006-03-29T05:18:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If the Vaticanā€™s porn collection has been sealed off since 1215, then thereā€™s no way it could possibly be the largest in the world. The sum total of porn produced before 1215 probably pales in comparison to the contents of some hard drives. Itā€™s not the size that counts. Itā€™s how you _use_ it. :eek: šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/17 "2006-03-29T05:23:30Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > Itā€™s not the size that counts. Itā€™s how you _use_ it. > > :eek: > > šŸ˜ƒ Okay, we donā€™t need to know how Catholic clergy use anything. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/18 "2006-03-29T05:27:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If the Vaticanā€™s porn collection has been sealed off since 1215, then thereā€™s no way it could possibly be the largest in the world. The sum total of porn produced before 1215 probably pales in comparison to the contents of some hard drives. > > Now, if it were in some sort of write-only archive, and 1215 was just the last time that itā€™d been _read_, then they could be continually streaming it in from the Internet even today. šŸ˜‰ Maybe they have a mail slot? Just push the porn through and close it back up? ---
**Author:** ![First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/First_Amongst_Daves)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/19 "2006-03-29T12:09:39Z")
It is entirely feasible that the Vatican has restricted access libraries - for example, containing the notes and diaries of recent Popes. I cannot think for the life of me of a vallid rational reason why the Vatican would want a llibrary sealed in 1215 to be opened in 2010. > [@vetbridge](#): > > heheheā€¦imagine, a young Ron Jeremy! > > šŸ˜ƒ LOL. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162/20 "2006-03-29T16:58:34Z")
> [@First Amongst Daves](#): > > It is entirely feasible that the Vatican has restricted access libraries - for example, containing the notes and diaries of recent Popes. I cannot think for the life of me of a vallid rational reason why the Vatican would want a llibrary sealed in 1215 to be opened in 2010. > > LOL. Isnā€™t it obvious, from 1215 to 2010 is 795 years, 9 - 7 + 5 = 7! The holy number! Itā€™s quite obvious that the apocalypse will occur at that time. šŸ˜ƒ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vatican-library-1215/350162.md?page=2)