CanonLaw.info

Dr. Edward Peters

To work for the proper implementation of canon law is to play an extraordinarily

constructive role in continuing the redemptive mission of Christ. Pope John Paul II

Please support

CanonLaw.info

Blog

Facebook

Webmaster

Notices

 

22 sep 2022

Masterpage

1983 Code

Masterpage

1917 Code

Masterpage

 Liber Extra

 Masterpage

 Eastern Code

Research links

 

Codex Vivens 1983

Codex Vivens 1990

 

Pan-Textuals 1983

Pan-Textuals 1917

 

Academic Works

Related


Overview

 

This page undergoing development.

Resources in the General History of Canon and Roman Law

 

This page presents basic resources for studying the history of canon law. Some of the works listed here might have been eclipsed by later studies but all works listed here are of lasting value and were themselves carefully read and understood by those who later improved on them.

 

Background

Canon law itself possess a 2000-year history and, drawing upon a legal tradition that reaches back to the Old Testament and that is organized around Roman Law, this history presents a formidable challenge to students and other researchers.

 

Orientational studies

 

q.v. "Canon Law” and q.v. “Canon Law, History of” in P. Stravinskas, ed., Our Sunday Visitor’s Catholic Encyclopedia (OSV, 1991/1998). • Both entries by E. Peters (unsigned). Very short.

 

q.v. "Canon Law, History of," NCE III: 34-50. • Multi-part, various authors, excellent, with a series of good bibliographies. Look also for numerous individual entries on specific works and canonists.

 

Jules Besson, "Canons, Collections of Ancient," Catholic Encyclopedia (1908) III: 281-287; and, A. Boudinhoun, "Law, Canon," Catholic Encyclopedia (1910) IX: 56-66. • Excellent, both.

 

Pietro Gasparri, "Praefatio [Codicis Iuris Canonici emendationem]", available in any monographic printing of the Pio-Benedictine Code; Eng. trans. in Edward Peters, The 1917 or Pio-Benedictine Code in English Translation with Extensive Scholarly Apparatus (Ignatius, 2001) 1-19. • Notes: The first half of Card. Gasparri’s famous Preface brings the reader up to the 19th century, while the second half narrates the development of the 1917 Code. On the authority of Gasparri, see, e.g., G. Osterlé, "Gasparri (Pierre)", DDC V: 939, and W. Peters, "Gasparri, Pietro" NCE2 VI: 103-104.

 

John Gilchrist, The Collection in 74 Titles: a Canon Law manual of the Gregorian reform (Pontifical Institute for Medieval Studies, 1980) 288 pp. Notes: One’s best first exposure to reading an actual historical source, this is a beautiful and very approachable work for beginning students.

 

Constant Van de Weil (=, =), History of Canon Law (Peeters/Eerdmans, 1991). Review: R. Trupia in The Jurist 52 (1992) 740-741. Notes: One can (and perhaps should, if a beginner) skip the introduction and the first chapter (but read them later). Though Van de Weil sometimes strays into a bit too much religious order history, overall this is a solid “first book”. Order book here

 

Advanced studies

 

Anyone who knows merely the text of the Code of Canon Law ... will posses inadequate knowledge [of it]; the whole field of the development of canon law will be a closed book to him. Obviously, the ignoring of centuries of jurisprudence is not desirable either in the training of a canonist or in his subsequent work. E. Roelker, Invalidating Laws (1955) p. vii,

 

 

Pietro Gasparri, "Praefatio [Codicis Iuris Canonici emendationem]", available in any monographic printing of the Pio-Benedictine Code; Eng. trans. in Edward Peters, The 1917 or Pio-Benedictine Code in English Translation with Extensive Scholarly Apparatus (Ignatius, 2001) 1-19. • Notes: The first half of Card. Gasparri’s famous Preface brings the reader up to the 19th century, while the second half narrates the development of the 1917 Code.

 

Constant Van de Weil (=, =), History of Canon Law (Peeters/Eerdmans, 1991). Review: R. Trupia in The Jurist 52 (1992) 740-741. Notes: One can (and perhaps should, if a beginner) skip the introduction and the first chapter (but read them later). Van de Weil sometimes strays into a bit too much religious order history, but overall this is a solid work. Order Van de Weil, here

 

Robert Mortimer (Anglcian cleric, 1902-1976), Western Canon Law (University of California, 1953) 92 pp. • Reviews: E. Roelker, The Jurist 14 (1954) 373-374; W. Morris, The Journal of Religion 35 (1955) 188-=. Notes: Five classic lectures, only one of which (no. 4) does not call for careful reading and rereading.

 

Amleto Cicognani (Italian prelate, 1883-1973), Canon Law, 2d ed., (various publishers, 1934). Review: E. Roelker in The Jurist 7 (1947) 439. Notes: Roughly the first 425 pages of this famous work are a history of canon law. It's about as complex and detailed as one can get in English studies.

 

Alphonsus Van Hove (Belgian priest, 1872-1947), Prolegomena ad Codicem iuris canonici [1928], 2nd ed., (Dessain, 1945) 671 pp. Review: P. Fedele in Ephemerides Iuris Canonici 4 (1948) 473-474. See also R. Naz, "Van Hove (Alphonse)", DDC VII: 1402-1403, and C. Lefebvre, "Mgr. A. Van Hove", Ephemerides Iuris Canonici 3 (1947) 573-575. • Simply magisterial. Editions after the first are greatly expanded and even more valuable.

 

Alphonsus Stickler (Austrian Salesian/Roman prelate, 1910-2007), Historia Iuris Canonici Juris Latini, Historia Fontium (Augustae Taurinorum, 1950) 469 pp. • Reviews: E. Roelker in The Jurist 11 (1951) 442-443; P. Fedele, Ephemerides Iuris Canonici 6 (1950) 93-94. Notes: Superb. Titled as if it were the first volume of a projected three-volume work, the other two volumes were never written (pressing duties from the Holy See prevented Stickler's return to the project), so the numeric "1" may be, and should be for clarity's sake, omitted from the title.

 

James Brundage, Medieval Canon Law (Longman,1995) 260 pp. Reviews: C. Reid, Studia Canonica 32 (1998) 563-565, and K. Christensen, The Jurist 56 (1996) 948-949. • Very readable, quite accessible to non-canonists (even those who have not read everything in "General Overviews"), paints an engrossing picture of the practice of canon law. Excellent work to introduce longer studies. Good chapters on pre-medieval canon law, too. Consider starting with chapter 4, and saving ch. 2-3 for last. Order Brundage here.

 

Brian Ferme, Introduction to the History of the Sources of Canon Law: the ancient law up to the Decretum of Gratian, (Wilson & Lafleur, 2007) 320 pp. • Review: E. Peters, Journal of Law and Religion 25 (2009) 589-591, here. • Excellent work.

 

Helmholz

 

Richard Helmolz, The Spirit of Classical Canon Law (University of Georgia, 1996) 514 pp. Review: J. Brundage in The Jurist 58 (1998) 257-259. Order Helmolz here.

 

Stephan Kuttner, "Harmony from Dissonance" [The Wimmer Lecture] (Archabbey Press, 1960) 64 pp.

 

Robert Kretzschmar, Alger von Lüttichs Traktat 'De misericordia et iustitia', (Jan Thornbecke Verlag Sigmaringen, 1985) 411 pp.

 

Pennington

 

 

 

W. Müller & M. Sommar, eds., Medieval Church Law and the Origins of the Western Legal Tradition: A Tribute to Kenneth Pennington (Catholic University of America, 2006), 26 scholarly essays in four languages, 404 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0-8132-1462-7. • Review: E. Peters in Journal of Law and Religion 23 (2007) 101-104, here.

 

Robert Somerville & Bruce Brasington, Prefaces to Canon Law Books in Latin Christianity, 500-1245. (Yale, 1998) 247 pp. • Reviews: A. Thompson in Studia Canonica 33 (1999) 564-566; C. Reid in The Jurist 59 (1999) 291-295. Order here.

 

J. Sweeney and S. Chodorow, eds., Popes, Teachers, and Canon Law in the Middle Ages (Cornell, 1989) 342 pp.

 

Elizabeth Vodola, Excommunication in the Middle Ages (Berkeley, 1986) 281 pp. • Review: E. McDonough in The Jurist 46 (1986) 687-688.

 

Wolfgang Müller, Huggucio: The Life, Works, and Thought of a Twelfth-Century Jurist (Catholic University of America, 1994) 220 pp. • Review: C. Reid in The Jurist 55 (1995) 401-403.

 

Harold Berman (American law prof., 1918-2007), Law and Revolution: The Formation of the Western Legal Tradition (Harvard, 1983) 674 pp. Order here. Reviews: Berman's book was quite widely and very positively reviewed. Of special interest to canonists would be, however, the negative review by J. Soria in Studia Canonica 28 (1994) 487-515 and the rebuff of Soria's review by C. Reid in Studia Canonica 29 (1995) 433-480.

 

Roman Law

 

 

Legista sine canonibus parum valet, canonista sine legibus nihil.

Not sure I quite agree, mind, but I know what it's getting at.

 

Albert Gauthier (1933-), Roman Law and its Contribution to the Development of Canon Law (University of St. Paul, 1996) 169 pp., and Gauthier, Droit Romain • Albert Gauthier (1933-), Le Droit Romain et son apport à l'édifiction du Droit Canonique (Université Saint-Paul, 1996) 169 pp. Review: C. Reid, Studia Canonica 31 (1997) 272-273. Also available in English.

 

T. Mommsen, et al., The Digest of Justinian, Latin-English text in 4 vols., (University of Pennsylvania, 1985).

 

Adolphe Berger, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law (American Philosophical Society, 1954) 808 pp. Review: M. McGuire in Seminar (The Jurist) 10 (1952) 85-88.

 

Andrew Borkowski, Textbook on Roman Law (Blackstone, =).

 

William Buckland (1859-1946), A Textbook of Roman Law from Augustus to Justinian [1921], 2d ed., (Cambridge,1932), 763 pp.

 

W. Buckland and Arnold McNair, Roman and Common Law, (Cambridge, 1936) 354 pp. Review: P. Ciprotti, Apollinaris 11 (1938) 595-596.

 

Herbert Jolowicz (1890-1954), Historical Introduction to the Study of Roman Law [1939] (Cambridge, 2008) 556 pp. Order here. See also S. Kuttner, "In memoriam: Herbert Felix Jolowicz", Seminar (The Jurist) 12 (1954) 1-6.

 

Barry Nicholas, An Introduction to Roman Law (Oxford Clarendon, 1962) 281 pp. Order here.

 

Fritz Schultz, Classical Roman Law (Oxford Clarendon, 1951/1954) 649 pp. Review: A. Berger, Seminar (The Jurist) 10 (1952) 93-97.

 

See John Merryman , The Civil Law Tradition: an introduction to the legal systems of western Europe and Latin America [1969], 3rd ed. (Stanford University, 2006) 168 pp. Order here.

 

Ochoa-Diez, Indices Titulorum • X. Ochoa & A. Diez, Indices Titulorum et Legum Corporis Iuris Civilis (Commentarium pro Religiosis, 1965). Review: B. Deutsch, The Jurist 26 (1966) 265-266.

 


The Council

of Trent

 

Paul III

 

I

30 December 1545

Procedural matters

-

II

07 January 1546

Procedural matters

-

III

04 February 1546

Symbol of Faith

-

IV

08 April 1546

Sacred Scripture

proto-imprimatur

V

17 June 1546

Original Sin

lectureships, alms

VI

30 January 1547

Justification

clergy

VII

03 March 1547

Sacraments, esp. Bapt., Conf.

varia

VIII

11 March 1547

Procedural matters

-

IX

21 April 1547

Procedural matters

-

X

2 June 1547

Procedural matters

-

Julius III

 

XI

01 May 1551

Procedural matters

-

XII

01 September 1551

Procedural matters

-

XIII

11 October 1551

Eucharist

canonical procedure

XIV

25 November 1551

Penance & Anointing

varia

XV

25 January 1552

Procedural matters

-

XVI

28 January 1552

Procedural matters

-

Marcellus II

 

No conciliar sessions were held during this very brief papacy.

Pius IV

 

XVII

18 January 1562

Procedural matters

-

XVIII

26 February 1562

Procedural matters

-

IXX

14 May 1562

Procedural matters

-

XX

04 June 1562

Procedural matters

-

XXI

16 July 1562

Holy Communion issues

varia

XXII

17 September 1562

The Mass

varia

XXIII

15 July 1563

Holy Orders

clergy

XXIV

11 November 1563

Marriage

varia

XXV

03 December 1563

Purgatory, Saints, Religious

varia

 

Note on the major periods

of canon law

 

 

 

 

Quo in genere, nemo sane ignorat, leges, quae ante Gratianum (intra ann. 1140-1150) latae sunt, ius antiquum, nostra quoque aetate, appellari; quae a Gratiano ad Concilium Tridentinum (ann. 1545-1563), ius novum, etsi iam nobis antiquissimae sunt; quae denique post Tridentinam Synodum, ius novissimum. Gasparri, Praefatio [CIC] ¶ 2.

 

Gasparri's expertise regarding the development of canon law is beyond dispute, but in this one regard, I think that his admiration for the substance of Tridentine legislation led him to over-estimate that council's importance for the fundamental development of the canonical system itself (as opposed to the content of that system) and, consequently, to under-appreciate the central role that Gregorian decretal law played in organizing canonistics for three centuries before Trent and for three-and-a-half after.

 

During the first millennium of Church history (for canonists, the Ius Antiquum period), canon law generally operated in a certain, recognizable manner. With the appearance of Gratian's Concordantia, all would agree, canon law entered into a new kind of activity. Gasparri, in common with other canonists, held that the publication of Gratian's Concordantia (long reckoned as the first part of the Corpus Iuris Canonici) inaugurated the so-called Ius Novum, a phase of canonistics that lasted, per Gasparri, until the Council of Trent (1545-1563), at which point, he held, canon law entered the Ius Novissimum phase, a period that ran until the advent of codified law in 1917.

 

The problem with Gasparri's timeline, however, with its disregard for the Decretals of Gregory IX and its focus on the Council of Trent, is that, the Council of Trent, though a tremendous source of canonical legislation, did not change how canon law was actually done in the Church. Instead, the promulgation of Gregory's decretals had already, some three hundred years earlier, significantly changed how canon law was done and it was its method of turning to officially collected law that was observed in the Church until the advent of confided canon law in the twentieth century. To be sure, the appearance of Gregory's decretals did not obviate the need for consultation with Gratian's work, and commentary on it continued for some time after the publication of the Libri Quinque Decretalium, but once Gregory's decretals were promulgated, the primary referent, its fons essendi as well as it fons cognoscendi, in canon law was his work, not Gratian's, and it remained that way until the twentieth century.

 

I suggest, therefore, a modification of Gasparri's timeline. Whereas Gasparri suggests a neat, linear sequence in the development of canon law:

 

c. 1140

1545-1563

1917, 1983

Ius Antiquum

Gratian inaugurates

the Ius Novum

Trent inaugurates

the Ius Novissimum

Codifications

 

I suggest, however, that the following sequence more accurately, if less tidily, reflects what actually happened in canonistics:

 

c. 1140 / 1234

1545-1563

1917, 1983

Ius Antiquum

Gratian inaugurates

the Ius Novum (unofficial collections, 'Decretum')

Trent

 
 

 

Gregory IX inaugurates the Ius Novissimum

(official collections, 'Decretal Law')

Codifications

 


User notes

There might be editions of works that pre-date or post-date those cited herein. Reviews and Notes are grey-highlighted, on-line biographical information is underlined blue-linked, and matters in green highlights are of special interest. Yellow highlights are cautions for users, while the markers "=", "≠", and "≈" are placeholders for use by webmaster.


Abbreviations

on this page might include:

AAS

CCC

CLD

CLSA

Comm.

Acta Apostolicae Sedis (1909 et seq.)

Catechism of the Catholic Church (1997)

Canon Law Digest (beginning 1933)

Canon Law Society of America

Commentary (≠ Communicationes)

DDC

DMC

NCE

NCE2

QLD

Dictionnaire de Droit Canonique (1935-1965)

Dictionarium Morale et Canonicum (1962-1968)

New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967)

New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2° ed. (2003)

Quinque Libri Decretalium (1234)


 Materials on this website represent the opinions of Dr. Edward Peters and are offered in accord with Canon 212 § 3.

This website undergoes continual refinement and development. No warranty of completeness or correctness is made.

Dr. Peters' views are not necessarily shared by others in the field nor are they intended as canonical or civil advice.

 

CanonLaw.info Homepage & Site Directory / Help support CanonLaw.info / Original Materials © Edward N. Peters


 

 

 

 

 

 

Staging

 


Related Pages

 

Master Page on

Corpus Iuris Canonici

 

Master Page on

Gratian's Concordantia

 

Master Page on the

Ius Decretalium

 

Resources on

Ius Decretalium (Friedberg edition)

 

Resources on the

Ius Novissimum

 

 

 

A. Cicognani

 

 

Stickler