Burchard of Worms ( 950/965 – August 20, 1025) was the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

of the Imperial City of Worms, in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

. He was the author of a

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is t ...

collection of twenty books known as the '' Decretum'', ''Decretum Burchardi'', or ''Decretorum libri viginti''.

Early life

Burchard was born on ''c''. 950–965 to a well-connected, wealthy family in the northern

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are ...

region of the

. He had two siblings: an older brother, Franco, who served as the Bishop of Worms from ''c''. 998–999, and a sister, Mathilda, who became the abbess of an unknown monastery near Worms in ''c''. 1010–1015. It is evident from the ''Vita Burchardi'', written by Ebbo/Eberhard of Worms in ''c''. 1025, that during the early life of Burchard his parents not only possessed "many properties and servants", but had local influence sufficient to directly position two of their sons to becoming confidants of the inner Imperial circle and Bishops of Worms. Burchard's family seems to have been of sufficient substance to exert a reasonable measure of political influence within the Diocese of Worms. As a young boy he was sent to the town of

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman military post by Drusus around 8 B.C. Its nam ...

where he entered the monastic school of either St. Florin or St. Kastor to be raised as a canon. Under the tutelage of

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

Willigis of Mainz, Burchard was diligently instructed in "noble behaviour" while swiftly being groomed "through each step of the clerical grade" until he became the provost of a "very poor place", i. e. the old collegiate church of St. Victor in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

. There, Burchard transformed its fortune by founding an "outstanding monastery along with a cloister of canons" which Willigis funded and eventually consecrated in ''c''. 994–995. He was later

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

as a

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deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

by Willigis and eventually elevated as

Primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter includin ...

Episcopacy

Upon the death of Burchard's brother Franco in 999, Emperor Otto III appointed Burchard as Bishop of Worms in 1000. Willigis confirmed his elevation within days at Kirchberg in

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...

. The ''Vita Burchardi'' relates that the Emperor initially intended to elevate one of his two chaplains, Herpo of Halberstadt or Rako of Bremen, to this see, going so far as to give his intended appointee "the pastoral staff as elay in bed gravely ill." However, both of them died before either could be so ordained. The Emperor had also offered the see of Worms to a renowned pastor named Erpho. Within three days of becoming bishop, Erpho died from unknown causes and a certain Razo was quickly appointed to fill the resulting vacancy, who killed himself at Chur,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, shortly thereafter. The same narrative indicates that Worms was in disrepair, urgently needing an administrator after regular attacks from robbers and

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

. After he was appointed as Bishop of Worms, Burchard led the rebuilding of the walls of the city, the institution of many monasteries and churches, and the destruction of the fortifications of Otto I, Duke of Carinthia. Duke Otto was believed to house criminals and he was an enemy of Burchard. According to Burchard's biographer, "many limbs were hacked off and many murders occurred on both sides" of the conflict between them. Burchard adopted a child from the enemy household, who grew to become Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II (''c''. 990–1034). After gaining the aid of Emperor Henry II and negotiating on the basis of documents created by Burchard's predecessor Bishop Hildebald, the castle of Duke Otto was dismantled and rebuilt as a monastery dedicated in honour of

Paul of Tarsus Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

. In 1016, Burchard rebuilt the Cathedral of St. Peter in Worms. He also educated students in the attached cathedral school.

Death

Burchard died in 1025, leaving his sister a hair shirt and an iron chain as a '' memento mori''.

Works

''Decretum''

Burchard is most renowned as the compiler of a collection of 20 books of

in collaboration with his contemporaries, Bishop

Walter of Speyer Walter of Speyer (Walt(h)er von Speyer, Gualterus Spirensis) (967–1027) was a German bishop of Speyer and poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A p ...

(963–1027), Alpert of Metz (d. 1024), and at least 3 other prominent regional

Catholic clergy The sacrament of holy orders in the Catholic Church includes three orders: bishops, priests, and deacons, in decreasing order of rank, collectively comprising the clergy. In the phrase "holy orders", the word "holy" means "set apart for a sacre ...

. Beginning in ''c''. 1012, he worked through his material for approximately 9 years to complete the compilation, while living in a small structure atop a hill in the forest outside Worms, after his defeat of Duke Otto, while raising the latter's orphaned grandson, Conrad. The compilation, which he titled the ''Decretorum Libri Viginti'' or simply ''Decretum'', became a very influential and popular source of canonical material. It came to be named the ''Brocardus'' (his name in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

), from which the later legal word " brocard" originated. The ''Decretum'' cites a variety of

biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of ...

, patristic, and early medieval works, including the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

, Gregory the Great,

Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville ( la, Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of ...

, Hrabanus Maurus, and

Julian of Toledo Julian of Toledo (642–690) was born in Toledo, Hispania. He was well educated at the cathedral school, was a monk and later abbot at Agali, a spiritual student of Saint Eugene II, and archbishop of Toledo. He was the first bishop to have prim ...

. Burchard probably completed the ''Decretum'' no later than 1023. The Decretum was much copied in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, with over 77 complete manuscripts still surviving. The earliest manuscripts, made in Worms before 1023 under Burchard's own supervision, are Vatican Pal. lat. 585 and 586 (once a single book), and Frankfurt Stadt- und Universitatsbibliothek Barth. 50. The 20 books of the ''Decretum'' are: :1. De primatu ecclesiae ("On the Primacy of the Church") :2. De sacris ordinibus ("On Holy Orders") :3. De aeclesiis ("On Congregations") :4. De baptismo ("On Baptism") :5. De eucharistia ("On the Eucharist") :6. De homicidiis ("On Homicides") :7. De consanguinitate ("On Consanguinity") :8. De viris et feminis Deo dicatis ("On Men and Women Dedicated to God") :9. De virginibus et viduis non velatis ("On Virgins and Widows Who Are Not Veiled") :10. De incantatoribus et auguribus ("On Enchanters and Augurs"; see also

Canon Episcopi The title canon ''Episcopi'' (or ''capitulum Episcopi'') is conventionally given to a certain passage found in medieval canon law. The text possibly originates in an early 10th-century penitential, recorded by Regino of Prüm; it was included ...

) :11. De excommunicandis ("On Those To Be Excommunicated") :12. De periurio ("On Perjury") :13. De ieiunio ("On Fasting") :14. De crapula et ebrietate ("On Over-Eating and Inebriety") :15. De laicis ("On Laity") :16. De accusatoribus ("On Accusers") :17. De fornicatione ("On Fornication") :18. De visitatione infirmorum ("On the Visitation of the Infirm") :19. De paenitentia ("On Penitence" or "Corrector Burchardi"

Henry Charles Lea Henry Charles Lea (September 19, 1825 – October 24, 1909) was an American publisher, civic activist, philanthropist and historian from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He took over the family publishing business from his father, Isaac Lea, and imp ...

, ''Materials Toward a History of Witchcraft'', p. 182(see below)) :20. De speculationum liber ("Book on Speculations") Book 19 is sometimes titled the "Corrector Burchardi", being a penitential or confessor's guide. It is probably a work of the tenth century that Burchard added to the ''Decretum'' as a kind of appendix. Book 20, ''Speculationum Liber'', expounds answers to technical

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...

questions, especially questions of

eschatology Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that nega ...

, hamartiology, soteriology, demonology, angelology,

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

, and

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. As a source of

, the ''Decretum'' was supplanted by the ''Panormia'' (''c''. 1094–95) of Ivo of Chartres, which used and augmented large sections of the ''Decretum'', and, a little later, by the ''Concordia Discordantium Canonum'' (1139–40) of

Gratian Gratian (; la, Gratianus; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and w ...

(''

Decretum Gratiani 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 b ...

''), which was a much larger compilation that attempted to further reconcile contradictory canons.

''Lex Familiae''

From 1023–25 Burchard promulgated the ''Leges et Statuta Familiae S. Petri Wormatiensis'', also denominated the ''Lex Familiae Wormatiensis Ecclesiae'', a compilation of customary laws that were instituted for the members of the ''familia'' of Worms, this being various free and non-free laborers of the episcopal estate in Worms. In a similar fashion, though considerably more condensed than the ''Decretum'', the ''Lex'' delineated in 31 chapters a variety of the common, secular problems of the people of Worms during the final years of his episcopacy, including marriage, abduction, murder, theft, and perjury.

Translations

* (Pt-Br) Bragança Júnior, Álvaro & Birro, Renan M. (2016). O Corrector sive Medicus (ou Corrector Burchardi, ou Da poenitentia, c. 1000–1025) por Burcardo de Worms (c. 965–1025): apresentação e tradução latim-português dos capítulos 1–4, além das "instruções" de penitência 001 a 095,
Revista Signum
' 17 (1), pp. 266–309. * (Fr) Gagnon, François (2010)
Le Corrector sive Medicus de Burchard de Worms (1000–1025): présentation, traduction et commentaire ethno-historique
Dissertação. Montréal: Université de Montréal, 2010. * (En) Shiners, John (2009). Burchard of Worms's Corrector and Doctor (c. 1008-12) ''In'': Shiners, John (ed.). ''Medieval Popular Religion, 1000–1500'': A reader. 2. ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 459–470. * (It) Picasso, Giorgio; Piana, Giannino; Motta, Giuseppe (1998). ''A pane e acqua'': peccati e penitenze nel Medioevo – Il «Penitenziale» di Bucardo di Worms. Novara: Europia. * (En) McNeill, John & Garner, Helena (1965). ''Medieval Handbooks of Penance''. New York: Octagon Books, pp. 321–345.

Notes

References

*Austin, G., ‘Jurisprudence in the Service of Pastoral Care: The “Decretum” of Burchard of Worms’, in ''Speculum'', Vol. 79, No. 4 (Oct., 2004), pp. 929–959. *Austin, G., ‘Review: Autour de Burchard de Worms: L'église allemande et les interdits de parenté (IXème-XIIème siècle) by Corbet, P.,’, in ''Speculum'', Vol. 80, No. 3 (July, 2005), pp. 859–861. * Austin, G., ''Shaping Church Law Around the Year 1000: The Decretum of Burchard of Worms'' (Ashgate, 2009). * Bacharach, David S,''The Histories of a Medieval German City, Worms c. 1000 – c. 1300'' (Routledge, 2008). * Corbet, Patrick, ''Autour de Burchard de Worms. L'Église allemande et les interdits de parenté (IXe-XIIe)'' (Klostermann, Francfort-sur-le-Main, 2001) . * Harmann, H., ‘Burchards Dekret: Stand der Forschung und offene Fragen’, in ''Bischof Burchard von Worms, 1000–1025'', (ed.). Hartmann, W., (Quellen und Abhandlungen zur mittelrheinischen Kirchengeschichte, 100), (Mainz, 2000), pp. 161–166. * Hartmann, Wilfried., ed., ''Bischof Burchard von Worms 1000–1025'' (Mainz: Selbsverlag der Gesellschaft für mittelrheinische Kirchengeschichte, 2000). * Hoffmann, H. and R. Pokorny, ''Das Dekret des Bischofs Burchard von Worms. Textstufen – Frühe Verbreitung – Vorlagen'' (Munich, 1991). * Kynast, Birgit, ''Tradition und Innovation im kirchlichen Recht. Das Bußbuch im Dekret des Bischofs Burchard von Worms'' (Patmos, 2020). * Schmitz, H. J., ''Die Bußbücher und das kanonische Bußverfahren'', vol. 2 (1898; repr. Graz, 1958). * Wasserschleben, Friedrich, ed. ''Die Bussordnungen der abendländischen Kirche'' (Halle, 1851, reprint Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1958).

External links

Biography in the Catholic Encyclopedia
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20121026005824/http://www.bogoslov.ru/persons/2613941/index.html Biography in the Bogoslov.rubr>Burchard's Lex Familie WormatiensisDom Hs. 119
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burchard of Worms 10th-century births 1025 deaths Year of birth uncertain Roman Catholic bishops of Worms 11th-century German bishops Medieval German theologians 11th-century Roman Catholic theologians Canon law jurists German male non-fiction writers 11th-century jurists 11th-century Latin writers 11th-century German writers