Chirograph


A chirograph is a medieval document, which has been written in, or very occasionally quadruplicate on a single piece of parchment, with the Latin word chirographum written across the middle, and then cut through to separate the parts. The term also refers to a papal decree whose circulation is limited to the Roman curia.

Etymology

The Latin word chirographum, often spelled cirographum or cyrographum in the medieval period, is derived from the Greek χειρόγραφον, and simply means "handwritten".

Description

The intention of the chirograph was to produce two identical written copies of a legal agreement, that could be retained by each party to the transaction, and if necessary verified at a later date through comparison with one another. The cut itself would generally be made with a wavy or serrated edge, running through the word chirographum, to allow the copies to be matched physically as a safeguard against forgery. The earliest surviving portion of a chirograph in England dates from the middle of the ninth century.
The practice of separating the copies with an irregular cut also gave rise to the description of the documents as "indentures", since the edges would be said to be "indented". In the post-medieval period, as legal documents grew in length and complexity, it became impractical to fit two duplicate texts onto a single sheet of parchment. It therefore became more usual to make the two copies on two or more separate sheets, the top edges of which were still cut with a symbolic or matching wavy line.

Ecclesiastical use

A more restricted use of the term is to describe a papal decree whose circulation—unlike an encyclical—is limited to the Roman curia.
Pope Francis on June 26, 2013 used a chirograph to set up a Commission to investigate the decisions and underlying investments of the Institute for the Works of Religion. The document was "an instrument under canon law giving the commission legal force, and expressing its broad aim to help ensure that 'the principles of the Gospel also permeate activities of an economic and financial nature.'"