ABSTRACT
The Libri formatarum series in the Vatican archives is the single most important source concerning the ordinations carried out in the Roman curia. The information provided by the Libri formatarum can be divided into two categories, namely the people who were ordained during the six actual ordination days and those who were ordained outside these days. Reading through the Libri formatarum one gets the impression that Denys Hay's opinion is simply an example of gross overstatement. In addition to the Libri formatarum, some other register series of the Vatican archives provided with further information concerning clerical ordinations and the ordained. Clerical ordinations needed to be carried out by someone who had the legal right to celebrate them. In addition to clerical ordinations, Jacobus also dealt with the consecration of new bishops. Once he started ordaining clergy he gradually became the most important ordaining bishop.
