Papal bull

A formal document issued by a pope, traditionally authenticated with a lead seal. It can address doctrine, appointments, privileges, legal matters, or other church affairs.

Papal chancery: The administrative office that drafts, registers, and issues documents on behalf of the pope. Its clerks produced and authenticated papal bulls.
Apostolic Dataria: A papal office that historically handled petitions and the dating and dispatch of certain papal documents. Its administrative work formed part of the process for issuing some bulls.
Unam Sanctam: A 1302 papal bull by Boniface VIII asserting the necessity of submission to the Roman pontiff for salvation. It shows a bull used to state a forceful claim about papal authority.
Papal brief: A concise papal document, generally less solemn in form than a bull. A brief is the closest formal counterpart, but typically uses a wax seal rather than a lead bulla.
Bulla: A pendant seal, often made of lead, used to authenticate an official document. The bull takes its name from the seal traditionally attached to it.
Papal register: An official record book in which copies or summaries of papal documents were entered. Registration preserved a record of bulls beyond the sealed originals.
Exsurge Domine: A 1520 papal bull by Leo X condemning propositions associated with Martin Luther. It demonstrates the bull’s use in formal doctrinal censure.
Apostolic constitution: A formal papal decree addressing matters of major ecclesiastical importance. It names a type of papal enactment by authority and purpose, while bull names a document’s form.
Lead seal: A seal made of lead and attached to a document as a mark of authentication. Its impressions identified the issuing pope and helped secure the document.
Papal lead seal: A lead seal bearing the names of Saints Peter and Paul and the issuing pope’s name. Its attachment supplied the characteristic physical authentication of a bull.

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