The word
prothonotary is recorded in English since 1447, as "principal clerk of a court," from L.L.
prothonotarius (c.400), from Greek
protonotarios "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the
Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
, from
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
protos "first" +
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
notariusA notarius is a public secretary who is appointed by competent authority to draw up official or authentic documents . In the Roman Catholic Church there have been apostolic notaries and even episcopal notaries...
("notary"); the -h- appeared in Medieval Latin. The title was awarded to certain high-ranking
notariesSolicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter apart from conducting proceedings in courts , with some exceptions. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers, and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
.
Byzantine usage
The office of
prōtonotarios , also
proedrosProedros was a senior Byzantine court and ecclesiastic title in the 10th to mid-12th centuries. The female form of the title is proedrissa .- Court dignity :...
or
primikērios of the
notarioi, existed in mid-Byzantine (7th-10th c.) administration as head of the colleges of the
notarioi in various administrative departments. There were
prōtonotarioi of the imperial
notarioi (secretaries of the court), of the various
sekreta or
logothesia (government ministries), as well as for each
thema or province. The latter appeared in the early 9th century and functioned as the chief civil officials of the province, directly below the governing general (
stratēgosStrategos, plural strategoi is used in Greek to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor...
). They were responsible chiefly for administrative and fiscal affairs (characteristically, they belonged to the financial ministry of the
Sakellion), and were also responsible for the provisioning of the thematic armies. The office vanished after the 11th and 12th centuries, along with the
themata and the
logothesia, although there are traces of a single
prōtonotarios functioning as the emperor's chief secretary until the Palaiologan period.
Catholic Church usage
In the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
,
protonotaries apostolic (
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
protonotarii apostolicii) are
prelateA prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who either is an ordinary or ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, literally, "carry before," or "to be set above, or over," or "to prefer," hence a prelate is one set over...
s in the
Roman CuriaThe Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Roman Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
who perform certain duties with regard to papal documents. Also, after examining the candidates, they name annually a fixed number of doctors of theology and canon law. Historically, the college of protonotaries developed out of the seven regional notaries of Roman antiquity, and are therefore called protonotaries
de numero (of the number). They are also called "participating" protonotaries, because they shared in the revenues as officials of the Roman
ChanceryThe Chancery of Apostolic Briefs , is a former office of the Roman Curia, merged into the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs by Pope Pius X on June 29, 1908 with the apostolic constitution Sapienti Consilio...
.
These high papal officials are the highest class of
MonsignorMonsignor, pl. monsignori, is the form of address for those members of the clergy of the Catholic Church holding certain ecclesiastical honorific titles. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, from the French mon seigneur, meaning "my lord"...
, are often raised directly to the
cardinalateA cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and making themselves available...
, and hold distinctive privileges in address and attire. Current practice is based on
Pope Paul VIPope Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Roman Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 1963 to 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
's two
motu proprioA motu proprio is a document issued by the Pope on his own initiative and personally signed by him.It may be addressed to the whole Church, to part of it, or to some individuals....
s, "Pontificalis Domus" of March 28 1968 and "Pontificalia Insignia" of June 21 1968. They are addressed formally as "most reverend monsignor," and they wear the
mantellettaA mantelletta, Italian diminutive of Latin mantellum 'mantle', is a sleeveless, knee-length, vest-like garment, open in front, with slits instead of sleeves on the sides, fastened at the neck, once even more common than the mozzetta.-History:...
, the purple choir cassock and
rochetA rochet is a vestment generally worn by a Roman Catholic or Anglican Bishop in choir dress. It is unknown in the Eastern Churches. The rochet is similar to a surplice, except that the sleeves are narrower...
for liturgical services, the black
cassockThe cassock, an item of clerical clothing, is a long, close-fitting, ankle-length robe worn by clerics of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Church, and some clerics of the Reformed, and Lutheran churches...
with red piping and purple sash at other times, and may add the purple ferraiuolo and the
birettaThe biretta is a square cap with three or four ridges or peaks, sometimes surmounted by a tuft, traditionally worn by Roman Catholic clergy and some Anglican and Lutheran clergy...
with red tuft to the black cassock for formal ceremonies of a non-liturgical nature, e.g., a graduation.
There are also honorary protonotaries, referred to as supernumerary (or 'beyond the number'), on whom the pope has conferred this title and its special privileges. This title is purely honorary and is not attached to any duties in the Curia. This is the type of protonotary found outside of Rome, and is the highest grade of monsignor found in most dioceses. Priests so honored are addressed as "reverend monsignor", wear the purple choir cassock (with surplice) for liturgical services, the black cassock with red piping and purple sash at other times, may add the purple ferraiuolo to this for formal non-liturgical ceremonies, and may put the letters "P.A." after their names, but use none of the other accoutrements mentioned above.
Canada
In the
Federal Court (Canada)The Federal Court is a Canadian trial court that hears cases arising under certain areas of federal law. The Federal Court is a superior court with nationwide jurisdiction...
, the prothonotary is not a clerk, but instead is a judicial officer appointed under the
Federal Courts Act and exercises many of the powers and functions of a Federal Court judge. The prothonotary's authority includes mediation, case management, practice motions (including those that may result in a final disposition of the case, regardless of the amount in issue), as well as trials of actions in which up to $50,000 is claimed (see Rules 50, 382, and 383 to 387 of the
Federal Courts Rules). The current members of the Court are found at
Prothonotaries.
Chief court clerk
The
prothonotary is the chief
court clerkA court clerk is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include maintaining the records of a court. Another duty is to administer oaths to witnesses, jurors, and grand jurors...
in certain courts of law in certain Anglo-American jurisdictions, including the
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
states of
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
and
DelawareDelaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The state takes its name from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, a British nobleman and Virginia's first colonial governor, after whom Cape Henlopen was originally named.Delaware is located in...
, the
CanadianCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
provinces of
Nova ScotiaNova Scotia is a Canadian province located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. Its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada with an area of...
and
Prince Edward IslandPrince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
, and the Supreme Courts of the
AustralianAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
states of
New South WalesThe Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales...
and
VictoriaThe Supreme Court of Victoria is the superior court for the State of Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1852, and is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited jurisdiction within the state...
.
In Australia the prothonotary is the official in charge of processing a certification of readiness from the two parties involved in a tort.
Truman
U.S. President
Harry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice-president and the 34th Vice President of the United States, he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
was introduced to a prothonotary during a campaign stop in
PittsburghPittsburgh is a city in and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and the second largest city in the state. Its population was 334,563 at the 2000 census; by 2006, it was estimated to have fallen to 312,819. The population of the seven-county metropolitan area is...
in 1948. It is widely rumored that Truman's first reaction upon hearing the term "prothonotary" was to say "What the hell is a prothonotary?" There are more colorful versions of the tale. Truman is also attributed with saying that "prothonotary" was the most impressive-sounding political title in the U.S.
Sources