Decretum Gratiani: Canon Law Collection
Decretum Gratiani: Canon Law
The Decretum Gratiani, also known as the Concordia discordantium canonum or Concordantia discordantium canonum, is a collection of Canon law compiled and written in the 12th century as a legal textbook by the jurist known as Gratian. It forms the first part of the collection of six legal texts, which together became known as the Corpus Juris Canonici. It was used by canonists of the Roman Catholic Church until Pentecost (May 19) 1918, when a revised Code of Canon Law (Codex Iuris Canonici) promulgated by Pope Benedict XV on May 27, 1917, obtained legal force.
Compilation of the Decretum
Around 1150, Gratian, a teacher of theology at the monastery of Saints Nabor and Felix—sometimes believed to have been a Camaldolese monk—composed the work he entitled Concordia discordantium canonum. It was also called by others Nova collectio, Decreta, Corpus juris canonici, and Decretum Gratiani, the latter now being the commonly accepted name. He did this to obviate the difficulties that beset the study of practical, external theology (theologia practica externa), that is, the study of canon law. Despite its great reputation and wide diffusion, the Decretum has never been recognized by the Church as an official collection.
Structure of the Decretum
It is divided into three parts (ministeria, negotia, sacramenta):
- The first part is divided into 101 distinctions (distinctiones), the first 20 of which form an introduction to the general principles of canon law (tractatus decretalium). The remainder constitutes a tractatus ordinandorum, relative to ecclesiastical persons and functions.
- The second part contains 36 causes (causae), divided into questions (quaestiones), and treats ecclesiastical administration and marriage. The third question of the 33rd cause treats the Sacrament of Penance and is divided into 7 distinctions.
- The third part, entitled De consecratione, treats the sacraments and other sacred things and contains 5 distinctions.
Dicta Gratiani and Canones
Each distinction or question contains dicta Gratiani, or maxims of Gratian, and canones. Gratian himself raises questions and brings forward difficulties, which he answers by quoting auctoritates, that is, canons of councils, decretals of the popes, and texts of the Scripture or of the Fathers. These are the canones; the entire remaining portion, even the summaries of the canons and the chronological indications, are called the maxims or dicta Gratiani. Many auctoritates have been inserted in the “Decretum” by authors of a later date. These are the Paleae, so-called from Paucapalea, the name of the principal commentator on the “Decretum”. The Roman revisers of the 16th century (1566–82) corrected the text of the “Decree” and added many critical notes designated by the words Correctores Romani.
Referencing the Decretum
The Decretum is quoted by indicating the number of the canon and that of the distinction or of the cause and the question. To differentiate the distinctions of the first part from those of the third, question of the 33rd cause of the second part and those of the third part, the words de Pœn., (de Pœnitentia), and de Cons., (de Consecratione) are added to the latter.
- “c. 1. d. XI” indicates the first part of the “Decree,” distinction XI, canon 1.
- “c. 1., de Pœn., d. VI,” refers to the second part, 33rd cause, question 3, distinction VI, canon 1.
- “c. 8, de Cons., d. II” refers to the third part, distinction II, canon 8.
- “c. 8, C. XII, q. 3” refers to the second part, cause XII, question 3, canon 8.
Sometimes, especially in the case of well-known and much-quoted canons, the first words are also indicated (e.g., c. Si quis suadente diabolo, C. XVII, q. 4, that is the 29th canon of the second part, cause XVII, question 4). Occasionally the first words alone are quoted. In both cases, to find the canon, it is necessary to consult the alphabetical tables (printed in all editions of Gratian) that contain the first words of every canon.