Dear brothers and researchers.
I hope that this virtual space will allow you to have a first approach to the valuable documentary heritage kept by the Augustinian General Archive and that it will be an instrument that contributes to the conservation, valorization and above all to the transmission of the historical memory contained herein.
Welcome!
P. Andrés Gómez Rozo OSA
In the context of the inventory project of the parchment collection "Instrumenta Antiqua Fulginii I-II", the oldest document of the AGA was found.
It is a contract of sale dated March 1119, through which the family of Bonezo, his wife Tosa and his son Offredone sold a piece of land to Petrus de Fove. According to the geographical area from which the parchment collection originates, the act referred to in the document probably took place in Foligno, a town in the Italian Umbra region.
I became acquainted with the Augustinian General Archives during my doctoral project focused on the library of the Roman convent of Santa Maria del Popolo. The research carried out at the AGA was an opportunity not only to investigate the rich and important documentary holdings of the Augustinian Observant Congregation of Lombardy and the convent of Santa Maria del Popolo, but also to describe and enhance the nuclei of incunabula and manuscripts preserved in the Archives. Among these, the valuable library of choral books from Santa Maria del Popolo stands out.
The Augustinian General Archives (AGA), which is located in Rome, at the seat of the General Curia of the Order, Via Paolo VI, 25, is fundamental for any research on the historical development of the Order as a whole and on the individual provinces and convents, including some individual friars, from the 13th century to the present day. It must be said, however, that the archives of the provinces and convents of the Order have not been merged into the General Archives, but are preserved in situ, at the provincial headquarters and in the convents (from the late 1800s onwards), or in the State Archives of each city. Visiting the AGA is essential, because it is an exclusive source of various news about the Prior Generals, the General Chapters, the relations with the Holy See, the relations between the various local Augustinian entities and the religious from all over the world with the Superiors General. The AGA also includes a rich collection of books and engravings on Augustinian history that can be consulted (saints, personalities, provinces, convents, literary works of Augustinian authors from all over the world).
All brothers and sisters who are part of the Augustinian family can access the General Archives for their respective research on topics related to the history of the Order. Likewise, lay researchers, duly accredited, can access the consultation room of the Archives.
First of all, it is necessary to send an access request to the Archive's e-mail address, so that the Archivist General can consider the request and verify availability, according to the opening hours and the capacity of the consultation room.
Secondly, the researcher must accredit his/her personality through a letter of presentation from the university, institute or entity of origin where he/she is conducting his/her research, doctoral thesis, etc.
The Augustinian General Archive is the custodian of the documentary patrimony produced over the centuries by the governing bodies of the Order of Saint Augustine; it is not a depository of all the documents of the Order of Saint Augustine, since each circumscription and each convent organizes and conserves its own archive. It should also be taken into account that, due to different historical vicissitudes, part of the documentary patrimony of the General Curia of the Order and its circumscriptions has been dispersed and is currently conserved in different public and state archives.
Due to conservation and copyright criteria, the AGA does not make photocopies of any of the documents in its custody, nor is it allowed to take photographs of any document with cell phones or any other means. To obtain a copy, in digital format, of a document, you must fill out the appropriate form and pay for the service. For this purpose, please refer to section Services - Digitalization where you will find all the respective information.
