Decretum Gratiani

Jus novum (c. 1140-1563) Jus novissimum (c. 1563-1918) Jus codicis (1918-present) Other Sacraments Sacramentals Sacred places Sacred times Supra-diocesan/eparchal structures Particular churches Juridic persons Philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory of Catholic canon law Clerics Office Juridic and physical persons Associations of the faithful Pars dynamica (trial procedure) Canonization Election of the Roman Pontiff Academic degrees Journals and Professional Societies Faculties of canon law Canonists Institute of consecrated life Society of apostolic life The Decretum Gratiani, also known as the Concordia discordantium canonum or Concordantia discordantium canonum or simply as the Decretum, is a collection of canon law compiled and written in the 12th century as a legal textbook by the jurist known as Gratian.

[4] The so-called vulgata or vulgate version (an advanced editorial stage) of the Decretum is divided into three parts (ministeria, negotia, sacramenta).

Gratian himself raises questions and brings forward difficulties, which he answers by quoting auctoritates, i. e. canons of councils, decretals of the popes, texts of the Scripture or of the Fathers.

The Roman revisers of the 16th century (1566–1582) corrected the text of the "Decree" and added many critical notes designated by the words Correctores Romani.

He was said to have become a monk at Camaldoli and then taught at the monastery of St. Felix in Bologna and devoted his life to studying theology and canon law,[8] but contemporary scholars do not attach credibility to these traditions.

Since the 11th century, some cities of central-northern Italy such as Arezzo, Pisa, Bologna had been the centre of the study of Roman law, after the Corpus Juris Civilis was rediscovered in western Europe.

Therefore, some scholars today exclude that he was trained in Justinian Roman law and that (at the beginning of his career) he worked mainly in certain cities (such as Arezzo, Pisa or Bologna) where Roman law was known and applied for years, it being plausible that he came from an episcopal city in which all jurisdiction, both civil and ecclesiastical, was dealt with by the only court present: the ecclesiastical one.

Perhaps also for this reason he feels the need to create a legal work to be applied only in ecclesial courts and only for cases relating to canon law, putting an end to the mixture between civil and ecclesiastical jurisdictions.

[9] Gratian's work was an attempt, using early scholastic method, to reconcile seemingly contradictory canons from previous centuries.

Gratian quoted a great number of authorities, including the Bible, papal and conciliar legislation, church fathers such as Augustine of Hippo, and secular law in his efforts to reconcile the canons.

[11] He has long been acclaimed as Pater Juris Canonici (Latin: "Father of Canon Law"), a title he shares with his successor St. Raymond of Penyafort.

Research by Anders Winroth established that some manuscripts of an early version of Gratian's text, which differs considerably from the mainstream textual tradition, have survived.

The Decretum quickly became the standard textbook for students of canon law throughout Europe, but it never received any formal, official recognition by the papacy.

[20] One of Luther's chief concerns surrounded Distinctio 40 (Chapter "Si papa") which reads: If the pope fails, and neglects fraternal salvation, if he is found useless, and remiss in his works, and moreover silent from good, which offends him more, and nevertheless leads countless peoples with him as the first slave of hell, with himself to be scourged with many plagues for eternity.

Thanks to the research of modern scholars (in particular Charles Munier, Titus Lenherr, and Peter Landau) it is now known that Gratian made use of a relatively-small number of collections in the composition of most of the Decretum: Other sources are known to have been used in the composition of particular sections of the Decretum: Gratian himself named his work Concordia Discordantium Canonum – "Concord of Discordant Canons".

The name is fitting: Gratian tried to harmonize apparently contradictory canons with each other, by discussing different interpretations and deciding on a solution, as a judge in a case.

... the Concordance of Discordant Canons or Decretum served the function of giving the canonists a text like that of the Corpus Iuris Civilis for the civilians or the bible for the theologians.

[35] The same author, Woods, called the Decretum "the first comprehensive and systematic legal treatise in the history of the West, and perhaps in the history of mankind – if by 'comprehensive' is meant the attempt to embrace virtually the entire law of a given polity, and if by 'systematic' is meant the express effort to codify that law as a single body, in which all parts are viewed as interacting to form a whole."

The Decretum made a direct contribution to the development of Western law in areas that it dealt with such as marriage, property and inheritance.