Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 9.djvu/88

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^orks without indudiDg the texts, we have now com* of the Council of Vienne (1311-12); it was published pilations of supplemental^ texts for the* purpose of in 1317 by his successor John XXII and was called the teaching, but woich nevertheless remain qwte dis- "Clementin®'\ This was the last of the medieval iinct; m addition, we at last find the legislators official collections. Two later compilations included takingpart officially in editing the collections. While in the "Corpus Juris are private works, the Ex- the^Breviarium" of Bemara of Pa via, the first to travagantes of John XXII", arranged in 1325 by Zen- exhibit the division into five books and into titles, zelin ae Cassanis, who glossed them, and the ** Extra- which St. Rayo&imd of Pennafort was later to adopt, vagantes communes", a belated collection; it was only is the work of a private individual, the ' ' Compilatio in the edition of the " Corpus Juris " by Jean Chappuis, tertia" of Izmocent III in 1210, and the " Compilatio in 1500, that these collections found a fixed form. The (^uinta" of Honorius III, in 1226, are official collec- "Sextus" was glossed and commented by Joannes An- tions. Thouffh the popes, doubtless, intended only to dreee, called the "fons et tuba juris" (d. 1348), and give the pro^ssors at Bologna correct and authentic by Cardinal Jean Le Moine (Joannes Monachus, d. texts, they nevertheless acted officially; these collec- 1313), whose works were often printed, tions, however, are but supplements to Gratian. When authors speak of the *' closing" of the "Cor- Thjs is also true of the great collection of ** Deere- pus Juris", they do not mean an act of the popes for- tals" of Gregory IX (see Decretaxs and Corpus bidding canonists to collect new documents, much less Juris Canonici). The pope wished to collect in a forbiduing themselves to add to the ancient collec- more uniform and convenient manner the decretals tions. But the canonical movement, so active after


'Utury,

sities of Bologna and Paris. He did not wish to sup- vourable to the compiling of new canonical collections;

press or supplant the "Decretum" of Gratian, but but there were more direct causes. The special ob-

this eventually occurred. The " Decretals" of Greg- ject of the first collections of the decretals was to help

oiy IX, though composed in great part of specific de- settle the law, which the canonists of Bologna were

cisions, represented m fact a more advanced state of trying to svstematize; that is why they contain so

law; furthermore, the collection was sufficiently ex- many specific decisions, from which the authors gath-

tensive to touch almost every matter, and could serve ered general principles; when these had been asccr- as a basis for a comj " gave rise to a senes works, as the **Decretum'

these were more important since they were based oh when they are the statement of a general law. Any

more recent and actual legislation. The commenta- changes deemed necessary could be made in teaching

tors of the Decretals were known as Decretalists. The without the necessity of recasting and augmenting the

author of the *' gloss" was Bernard de Botone (d. already numerous and massive collections.

1263); the text was commented on by the most dis- F. From the Decretals to the Present Time, — ^After

tinfuished canonists; fcimong the best known previous the fourteenth century, except for its contact with

to 9ie sixteenth century, we must mention, after Ber- the collections we have just treated of, canon law

nard of Pa via (" Summa" edited by Laspeyres, 1860), loses its unity. Hie actual law is found m the works

Tancred, archdeacon of Boloena, d. 1230 C^Summa de of the canonists rather than in any specific collec-

liatrimonio", ed. Wundernch, 1841); Godfrey of tion; each one gathers his texts where he can; there

Trani (1245); Sinibaldo Fieschi, later Innocent IV is no one general collection sufficient for the pur-

(1254), whose *' Apparatus in quinque libros decre- pose. It is not a case of confusion, but of isolation

talium" has been frequently reprinted since 1477; and dispersion. The sources of law later than the

Henry of Susa, later Cardinal-BiBhop of Ostia (d. "Corpus Juris" are the decisions of councils, es-

1271), hence "Hostiensis"; his** SummaHostiensis", pecially of the Council of Trent (1545-1563), which

or "Summa aurea" was one of the best known ca- are so varied and important that by themselves they

Doni(»l works, and was printed as early as 1473; Mpr form a short code, though without much order; the

liufl de Fuscarariis (d. 1289); William Durandus {d, constitutions of the popes, numerous but hitherto

1296, Bishop of Mende), sumamed "Speculator", on not officially collected, except the "Bullarium" of

account of nis important treatise on procedure, the Benedict ^V (1747); the Kules of the Apostolic

"Specidum judiciale", printed in 1473; Guido de Chancery (q. v.); lastly the decrees, decisions, and

Baysio, the archdeacon", already mentioned; Nico- various acts of the Roman Congregations, jurispru-

las de Tudeschis (d. 1453), also known as "Abbas dence rather than law properly so called. For local

siculus " or simply " Panormitanus " (or also " Abbas law we have provincial councils and diocesan statutes.

junior seu modernus") to distinguish him from the It is true there have been published collections of coun-

" Abbas antiquus", whose name is imknown and who cils and Bullaria. Several Roman Congregations have

commented on the Decretals about 1275); Nicolas also had their acts collected in official publications;

left a "Lectura" on the Decretals, the Liber Sextus, but these are rather erudite compilations or rcper-

and the Clementines. tories. We are to-day farther away than ever from a

For some time longer, the same method of collecting single accurate code of ecclesiasticstl law, owing to the

was followed; not to speak of the private compilations, mass and variety of documents, and also because no

the popes continued to keep up to date the " Decre- regulation is presumed abrogated imless it is abro-

taLs <H Gregory IX; in 1245 Innocent IV sent a col- gated expressly by a new law. From this one can

lection of forty-two decretals to the universities, or- appreciate the utilitv as well as the difficulty of the

dering them to be inserted in their proper places; in edification undertaken by Pius X.

1253 ne forwarded the "initia" or first words of the V. Codification — The method followed, both by

authentic decretals that were to be accepted. Later private individuals and the popes, in drawing up ca-

Gregory X and Nicholas III did likewise, but with nonical collections is rather that of a co-ordinated com-

little profit, and none of these brief supplementary col- pilation or juxtaposition of documents than codifica-

lections survived. The work was again undertaken tion in the modern sense of the word, i. e. a redaction

by Boniface VlII, who had prepared and published an of the laws (all the laws) into an orderly scries of short

official ooUection to complete the five existing books; precise texts. It is true that antiquity, even the

this was known as the "Sextus" (Liber Sextus). Roman law, did not offer any model diifferent from

dement V also had prepared a collection which, in that of the various collections; that method, however,

•ddltioii to his own decretals, contained the decisions long since ceased to be useful or possible in canon law.