Die geheime Inquisition ­ The Secret Archives of the Vatican

According to scholar Luisa Ambrosini in her seminal book The Secret Archives of the Vatican (published 1969), L’Archivo Segreto Vaticano contains 25 miles of bookshelves stacked with parchment and paper manuscripts of great historical value. Altogether, there are 4857 registers, not counting those lost in wars and looting (Napoleon was one of the worst culprits). Not every scholar had access, however, to the secrets files of the Inquisition ­ but Tübingen University Prof. Peter Godman did, who began researching the special Archive of the Congregation of the Faith, formerly called the Archive of the Holy Inquisition, to pen Die geheime Inquisition.

        From this source came the three-part documentation under that title, produced by Regina Zielger in collaboration with ZDF and ARTE and directed by Jan Peter. This historial thriller begins with the burning at the stake of Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno in 1600 (in photo, courtesy Ziegler-Film). More information: www.ziegler-film.com