Description

An interpretation of Gratian's Decretum, based on the discovery of a shorter, original version. Gratian's Decretum was a key text in the legal and intellectual developments of the twelfth century, and long remained a fundamental work. Professor Winroth has now discovered the shorter, original version of the Decretum, which invites a reconsideration of the resurgence of law in the twelfth century. Gratian's Decretum was a key text in the legal and intellectual developments of the twelfth century, and long remained a fundamental work. Professor Winroth has now discovered the shorter, original version of the Decretum, which invites a reconsideration of the resurgence of law in the twelfth century. This book offers perspectives on the legal and intellectual developments of the twelfth century. Gratian's collection of Church law, the Decretum, was a key text in these developments. Compiled in around 1140, it remained a fundamental work throughout and beyond the Middle Ages. Until now, the many mysteries surrounding the creation of the Decretum have remained unsolved, thereby hampering exploration of the jurisprudential renaissance of the twelfth century. Professor Winroth has now discovered the original version of the Decretum, which has long lain unnoticed among medieval manuscripts, in a version about half as long as the final text. It is also different from the final version in many respects - for example, with regard to the use of of Roman law sources - enabling a reconsideration of the resurgence of law in the twelfth century. List of illustrations; List of tables; Preface; List of abbreviations and Conspectus siglorum; 1. Gratian and the Decretum; 2. Heresy and excommunication: Causa 24; 3. Obedience or contempt: Causa 11, Questio 3; 4. The two recensions of the Decretum; 5. Gratian and Roman law; 6. The men behind the Decretum; Conclusion: medieval law and the Decretum; Appendix: the contents of the first recension of Gratian's Decretum; Bibliography; Index of cited passages in Gratian's Decretum; Index of papal letters; General index. '… he deserves credit for not only breathing life into the two-recension theory, but articulating it in such a manner that it will now stand as the thesis to be argued against.' D'histoire Ecclésiastique