Regesta

A regesta is a synopsis or condensation of the contents of papal documents, providing a brief overview of their information. The study of papal documents, including their condensation into regesta, gained significant momentum with the publication of works by Philipp Jaffé in 1851, who covered papal documents up to 1198, and August Potthast, who extended this coverage to 1304. This practice is a part of the broader field of diplomatics, the science of verifying historical documents. The popes were among the first to keep registers of outgoing documents, a practice that has led to the preservation of an extensive series of papal registers from the pontificate of Innocent III onward.12