The History of Medieval Canon Law in the Classical Period, 1140-1234: From Gratian to the Decretals of Pope Gregory IX (History of Medieval Canon Law Series)

Gratian has long been called the Father of Canon Law. This latest volume in the ongoing History of Medieval Canon Law series covers the period from Gratian's initial teaching of canon law during the 1120s to just before the promulgation of the Decretals of Pope Gregory IX in 1234. Gratian's contributions to the birth of canon law and European jurisprudence were significant: he introduced a new methodology of teaching law by using hypothetical cases and by integrating--and inserting in the texts themselves--his own comments on the canons. He also used the dialectical method to analyze legal problems that he raised in his cases. Though this methodology was first developed by Peter Abelard and others in the schools of Northern France, Gratian was the first to apply it to legal texts with the publication of his Decretum (ca. 1140). Because the Decretum was not just a collection of texts but an analysis of the sources and doctrines of ecclesiastical law, his book enjoyed immediate success across Europe. The Decretum was adopted by teachers from England to Italy and Germany to Spain. Gratian's successors later applied his methodology to the papal appellate decisions (decretals) that gradually became the foundation of canon law in the later Middle Ages.In this volume, distinguished legal historians contribute noteworthy essays on the commentaries on Gratian, the beginnings of decretal collections and commentaries on them, and the importance of conciliar legislation for the growth of canon law. There are also chapters on the influence of Roman law on canon law and the teaching of canon law in law schools. Contributors are James A. Brundage, Anne Duggan, Charles Duggan, A. Garc?a y Garc?a, Joseph Goering, Michael H. Hoeflich, Peter Landau, Wolfgang P. M?ller, Jasonne M. Grabher, Kenneth Pennington, and Rudolf Weigand. Gratian has long been called the Father of Canon Law. This latest volume in the ongoing History of Medieval Canon Law series covers the period from Gratian's initial teaching of canon law during the 1120s to just before the promulgation of the Decretals of Pope Gregory IX in 1234.

Gratian's contributions to the birth of canon law and European jurisprudence were significant: he introduced a new methodology of teaching law by using hypothetical cases and by integrating—and inserting in the texts themselves—his own comments on the canons. He also used the dialectical method to analyze legal problems that he raised in his cases. Though this methodology was first developed by Peter Abelard and others in the schools of Northern France, Gratian was the first to apply it to legal texts with the publication of his Decretum (ca. 1140). Because the Decretum was not just a collection of texts but an analysis of the sources and doctrines of ecclesiastical law, his book enjoyed immediate success across Europe. The Decretum was adopted by teachers from England to Italy and Germany to Spain. Gratian's successors later applied his methodology to the papal appellate decisions (decretals) that gradually became the foundation of canon law in the later Middle Ages.

In this volume, distinguished legal historians contribute noteworthy essays on the commentaries on Gratian, the beginnings of decretal collections and commentaries on them, and the importance of conciliar legislation for the growth of canon law. There are also chapters on the influence of Roman law on canon law and the teaching of canon law in law schools.

Contributors are James A. Brundage, Anne Duggan, †Charles Duggan, A.García y García, Joseph Goering, Michael H. Hoeflich, Peter Landau, Wolfgang P. Müller, Jasonne Grabher O'Brien, Kenneth Pennington, and †Rudolf Weigand.

Wilfried Hartmann is emeritus professor of the medieval history of canon law at the University of Tübingen. Kenneth Pennington is Kelly-Quinn Professor of Ecclesiastical and Legal History at The Catholic University of America. He is the author of numerous works including Pope and Bishops: The Papal Monarchy in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries and The Prince and the Law, 1200-1600: Sovereignty and Rights in the Western Legal Tradition. Hartmann and Pennington are coeditors of the History of Medieval Canon Law series.

Gratian has long been called the Father of Canon Law. This latest volume in the ongoing History of Medieval Canon Law series covers the period from Gratian's initial teaching of canon law during the 1120s to just before the promulgation of the Decretals of Pope Gregory IX in 1234. Gratian's contributions to the birth of canon law and European jurisprudence were he introduced a new methodology of teaching law by using hypothetical cases and by integrating--and inserting in the texts themselves--his own comments on the canons. He also used the dialectical method to analyze legal problems that he raised in his cases. Though this methodology was first developed by Peter Abelard and others in the schools of Northern France, Gratian was the first to apply it to legal texts with the publication of his Decretum (ca. 1140). Because the Decretum was not just a collection of texts but an analysis of the sources and doctrines of ecclesiastical law, his book enjoyed immediate success across Europe. The Decretum was adopted by teachers from England to Italy and Germany to Spain. Gratian's successors later applied his methodology to the papal appellate decisions (decretals) that gradually became the foundation of canon law in the later Middle Ages. In this volume, distinguished legal historians contribute noteworthy essays on the commentaries on Gratian, the beginnings of decretal collections and commentaries on them, and the importance of conciliar legislation for the growth of canon law. There are also chapters on the influence of Roman law on canon law and the teaching of canon law in law schools. Contributors are James A. Brundage, Anne Duggan, Charles Duggan, A. Garca y Garca, Joseph Goering, Michael H. Hoeflich, Peter Landau, Wolfgang P. Mller, Jasonne M. Grabher, Kenneth Pennington, and Rudolf Weigand. Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgments......Page 8 Abbreviations......Page 10 1. The Establishment of Normative Legal Texts: The Beginnings of the Ius commune......Page 16 2. Gratian and the Decretum Gratiani......Page 37 3. The Development of the Glossa ordinaria to Gratian’s Decretum......Page 70 4. The Teaching and Study of Canon Law in the Law Schools......Page 113 5. The Decretists: The Italian School......Page 136 6. The Transmontane Decretists......Page 189 7. The Decretalists 1190–1234......Page 226 8. Decretal Collections from Gratian’s Decretum to the Compilationes antiquae: The Making of the New Case Law......Page 261 9. Decretal Collections 1190–1234......Page 308 10. Conciliar Law 1123–1215: The Legislation of the Four Lateran Councils......Page 333 11. The Fourth Lateran Council and the Canonists......Page 382 12. The Internal Forum and the Literature of Penance and Confession......Page 394 General Index......Page 444 Index of Citations......Page 450 Index of Manuscripts......Page 452 The development of Church law between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries was fundamental to the growth of the Western legal tradition. Despite its long reach - across Europe, well into modern times, and into such secular subjects as theft, wills, and the sale of goods - classical canon law has been the subject of far too few general studies in English. Illuminating the basic nature of the canon, this work explores the roles of moral, social, political, and religious values in the laws' development through the seventeenth century. At the same time, R. H. Helmholz makes relevant the attitudes and formal techniques of the laws' authors, practitioners, and interpreters. The size and complexity of the body of Church law and its jurisprudence have kept historians in fields as diverse as law, society, theology, and political thought from appreciating how this topic might enrich their studies. The Spirit of Classical Canon Law provides the ideal entree.