UA History Professor to Research Vatican Secret Archives and Pope’s Private Library

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A University of Alabama history professor will have access to the Vatican Secret Archives, a privilege granted to only a limited number of researchers each year.

Dr. Anthony Clark, assistant professor of Chinese history at UA, also will have access to the Pope’s private library in Vatican City this summer to research 14th through 17th century letters between European and Chinese monarchs.

“This is an extremely rare opportunity,” said Clark. “The ability to access and analyze this information will improve historical understanding.”

The research is for Clark’s upcoming book entitled “Martyrs of the Middle Kingdom: The Catholic Saints of China,” a historical study of the recently canonized missionaries and Chinese converts who were tortured and killed during China’s Boxer Uprising in the late 1800s. During that time, Chinese troops slaughtered foreigners and then destroyed or suppressed the records. However, a few surviving priests smuggled some records, which now are believed to be in the Vatican Secret Archives.

“This research will result in the first-time publishing of many accounts and photographs of the Christian massacres in northern China,” Clark added.

The UA history department is part of the College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest public liberal arts college in the state. Students from the college have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the “USA Today” Academic All American Team.