n. The second, the actual
date of the execution of the deed, was entered (ostensibly) by some high
official, _data_, or _datum, per manum N._, and contained the day of the
month (according to the Roman calendar), the year of indiction, the year
of pontificate (in some early deeds, also the year of the empire and the
post-consulate year), and the year of the Incarnation, which, however,
was gradually introduced and only became more common in the course of
the 11th century. For example, a common form of a full date would run
thus: _Datum Laterani, per manum N., sanctae Romanae ecclesiae diaconi
cardinalis, xiiii. kl. Maii, indictione V., anno dominicae Incarnationis
mxcvii., pontificatus autem domini papae Urbani secundi X^o_. The simpler
form of the date of a lesser bull might be: _Datum Laterani, iii. non.
Jan., pontificatus nostri anno iiii_.

By degrees the use of the lesser bulls almost entirely superseded that
of the greater bulls, which became exceptional in the 13th century and
almost ceased after the migration to Avignon in 1309. In modern times
the greater bulls occasionally reappear for very solemn acts, as _bullae
consistoriales_, executed in the consistory.

The third period of papal documents extends from Innocent III. to
Eugenius IV., A.D. 1198-1431. The pontificate of Innocent III. was a
most important epoch in the history of the development of the papal
chancery. Formulas became more exactly fixed, definitions more precise,
the observation of rules and precedents more constant. The staff of the
chancery was reorganized. The existing series of registers of papal
documents was then commenced. The growing use of lesser bulls for the
business of the papal court led to a further development in the 13th
century. They were now divided into two classes: _Tituli_ and
_Mandamenta_. The former conferred favours, promulgated precepts,
judgments, decisions, &c. The latter comprised ordinances, commissions,
&c., and were executive documents. There are certain features which
distinguish the two classes. In the _tituli_, the initial letter of the
pope's name is ornamented with openwork and the other letters are
stilted. In the _mandamenta_, the initial is filled in solid and the
other letters are of the same size as the rest of the text. In the
_tituli_, enlarged letters mark the beginnings of the text and of
certain clauses; but not in the _mandamenta_. In the former the mark of
abbreviation is a looped sign; in the la