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Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Canon Law
The Treatise on Laws
The first twenty distinctions of the Decretum, which comprise a treatise on law and deal with questions of enduring interest, have now been translated into English. A translation of the ordinary gloss, a scholarly commentary usually found in the margin of the Decretum, is also provided.
"What first strikes the reader in the CUA Press translation is the editorial presentation: Gratian's text is located in the middle of the page, with the gloss arranged around it. In its form, it parallels exactly the appearance of the medieval manuscripts and early printed editions; one could move from the text to the gloss and back again without flipping pages, having to consult another book or losing one's place. . . . The CUA Press translation deserves to be in any law library, at least an introduction and access to the history of this law."--Ecclesiastical Law Journal
"What first strikes the reader in the CUA Press translation is the editorial presentation: Gratian's text is located in the middle of the page, with the gloss arranged around it. In its form, it parallels exactly the appearance of the medieval manuscripts and early printed editions; one could move from the text to the gloss and back again without flipping pages, having to consult another book or losing one's place. . . . The CUA Press translation deserves to be in any law library, at least an introduction and access to the history of this law."--Ecclesiastical Law Journal
131 pages, Paperback
First published December 12, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 14, 2015
Gratian's Decretum is essentially the Bible of canon law, in the Middle Ages and later: after being cobbled together in a way that's fascinating but still a little obscure, other scholars began to obsessively annotate and comment upon it, pulling out different interpretations that led to different world views on topics as disparate as marriage, ecclesiology, and political theory.
This translation unfortunately covers only the first 20 distinctions of Gratian (there are 101 in the first part of the work alone), dealing primarily with the fundamentals of law. There's plenty of interest, though. Take Distinction IV: after exploring why laws are instituted and what they ought to contain, Gratian veers off into a section about Lenten fasting. It's disorienting, at first, until you realize that he's delving into what to do when a law that's just been promulgated contradicts with existing custom. Gratian - here, at least - says that custom would abrogate that law.
Not everyone was in agreement on this point, though, and that's where this edition gets really fun. Gratian's work here is accompanied by its ordinary gloss, the standard commentary that came to accompany it on most medieval manuscripts from the middle of the 13th century. Nerds like me, you will be very pleased to hear that commentary is actually in the margins, as it would have been on an actual medieval manuscript. This is delightful, since you not only get all the fun of Gratian's original work but also get to see how people of the time would have actually read it, with arguments layered on top of arguments.
I hope that there are more of these, moving their way through the distinctions. Don't hold out too much hope, since this was published in 1993. But you never know.
This translation unfortunately covers only the first 20 distinctions of Gratian (there are 101 in the first part of the work alone), dealing primarily with the fundamentals of law. There's plenty of interest, though. Take Distinction IV: after exploring why laws are instituted and what they ought to contain, Gratian veers off into a section about Lenten fasting. It's disorienting, at first, until you realize that he's delving into what to do when a law that's just been promulgated contradicts with existing custom. Gratian - here, at least - says that custom would abrogate that law.
Not everyone was in agreement on this point, though, and that's where this edition gets really fun. Gratian's work here is accompanied by its ordinary gloss, the standard commentary that came to accompany it on most medieval manuscripts from the middle of the 13th century. Nerds like me, you will be very pleased to hear that commentary is actually in the margins, as it would have been on an actual medieval manuscript. This is delightful, since you not only get all the fun of Gratian's original work but also get to see how people of the time would have actually read it, with arguments layered on top of arguments.
I hope that there are more of these, moving their way through the distinctions. Don't hold out too much hope, since this was published in 1993. But you never know.
November 21, 2023
The glossary alone makes this book valuable. If one desires to get into Gratian here is a must use text.
March 3, 2017
An excellent introduction to the Decretum of Gratian! Here are translated the first 20 distinctions of the Decretum with "Ordinary Gloss" surrounding the text, as appears in earlier Latin editions of the work. Although it is just a glimpse, this editions allows one to see how the canon law of days gone by integrated the writings of Popes, saints, and councils, as well as insights from secular law and the Sacred Scriptures, both old and new. It is not wholly irrelevant for the current study of canon law either: the 1983 Code cites the 1917 Code, and this latter cites Corpus Iuris Canonici, the earliest document of which is the Decretum of Gratian. So any canonist who wants to trace the history of the current laws of the Church would do well to acquaint himself the earlier books of law, and this edition is a great place to start.
July 27, 2009
Honestly I found it extremely boring...but, no bad to know those medieval ideas
September 22, 2013
hellish read but worthwhile; the gloss was a nice feature.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews