The Chapter Archive de Mallorca (ACM in Catalan) has the mission of gathering, conserving and spreading the documental patrimony of the Cathedral of Majorca, including all the documentation, current or historical, in any kind of support, produced or received by the Chapter in the exercise of its functions.

The Archive has a long and dynamic history of collecting and preserving of documents. The documentation kept refers mainly to the administration, the government and the liturgy celebrated in the Cathedral, but note that you can also find documentation about Mallorca civil life, such as notarial books from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries, heirlooms information and documentation of noble families on “possessions”, villages and farmhouses in Mallorca after the Conquest. The documents conserved in the archive are witness of a great part of the history and culture of Majorca.

The history of the Archive begins with the construction of the Cathedral and the Chapter of canons. Although the Archive was born at the same time as the diocese created the first document, the regrouping of all documents in the same physical space does not occur until 1526. Initially it was located in the sacristy, until the bishop Rodrigo Sánchez del Mercado ordered in 1530, the construction of some rooms specially dedicated to the Archive. Canon Jeroni Milia was elected first canon archivist, and since then and almost uninterruptedly, a member of the Chapter has held the post of canon archivist. Currently it is Canon Llorenç Alcina.

CATALOGUE

The Archive was catalogued by Canon archivist Josep Miralles (who was later appointed bishop) between the years 1896-1901. The documentation is divided into 3 main groups:

-Books manuscripts: 5,167 units.

-Notebooks and loose papers: 2,828 units in 311 boxes.

-Parchment: 6,087 units.

Totally, the archive catalogued by Canon Miralles had 14,082 units. The manuscript books are grouped into the following series:

The cataloguing of Josep Miralles, made on paper cards, was published in 1936 in a book of three volumes, with an extension of  2,500 pages. 

The Cathedral in 2012 published a CD with the digital cataloguing. In this CD, which is available in the same Archive, the researchers will find a document in PDF format for each of the original paper volumes. In this way it is no longer necessary for researchers to go to the Archive to look up the catalogue on paper, but they can do it at home. In addition to this, the CD not only improves the access but also facilitates information retrieval, because it allows automatically to search through the search box of PDF reader.

Since the early twentieth century, the Chapter Archive of Majorca has been growing up. On the one hand, thanks to internal transfers of new documentation. On the other, by incorporating several record groups, the most important of which is the archive of the Brotherhood of St. Peter and St. Bernard, which contains documents from 1370 to the present. Other incorporations of record groups are the personal archives of Chapter dean Bartomeu Torres, Soller Archpriest John Canals and the historian and archivist Llorenç Pérez.

Llibre de la Cadena (Book of chain)	Butlla de Manuel Paleologo (papal bull, parchment)	Cantoral de la Concepció, cant de la Sibil·la (choir book, Sibyl song)

At present, the Archive, in addition to cataloguing new transferred documents has begun the process of documentary treatment of the Brotherhood of St. Peter and S. Bernard. On the other hand, it has started to digitalize documents that are in poor condition of conservation and it is relocating loose papers catalogued by Bishop Miralles. It also has a relevant record group of musical documentation, which is currently in the process of classification, with the support from members of the Music Research Centre of Cathedral (CINMUS).

Finally, besides regularly organizing all kind of diffusion activities of Archive (guided tour, open days) it also promotes annually a conference on historical studies. It has as well a line of publications under the Publications of the Cathedral, and provides support to technical teams working on the restoration and maintenance of the Cathedral.

In the context of quality management and as a commitment to researchers and the general users, the ACM has created a tool to report on all matters relating to the service, a services charter, which can be downloaded from this link (only in Catalan).

Contact the Chapter Archive