The scholars of the 11th- and 12th-century legal schools in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
are identified as glossators in a specific sense. They studied
Roman law
Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...
based on the ''
Digesta'', the ''
Codex
The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...
'' of
Justinian
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
, the ''Authenticum'' (an abridged Latin translation of selected constitutions of Justinian, promulgated in Greek after the enactment of the ''Codex'' and therefore called ''
Novellae In Roman law, a novel ( la, novella constitutio, "new decree"; gr, νεαρά, neara) is a new decree or edict, in other words a new law. The term was used from the fourth century AD onwards and was specifically used for laws issued after the publi ...
''), and his law manual, the ''
Institutiones Iustiniani'', compiled together in the ''
Corpus Iuris Civilis
The ''Corpus Juris'' (or ''Iuris'') ''Civilis'' ("Body of Civil Law") is the modern name for a collection of fundamental works in jurisprudence, issued from 529 to 534 by order of Justinian I, Byzantine Emperor. It is also sometimes referred ...
''. (This title is itself only a sixteenth-century printers' invention.) Their work transformed the inherited ancient texts into a living tradition of
medieval Roman law Medieval Roman law is the continuation and development of ancient Roman law that developed in the European Late Middle Ages. Based on the ancient text of Roman law, ''Corpus iuris civilis'', it added many new concepts, and formed the basis of the la ...
.
The glossators conducted detailed text studies that resulted in collections of explanations. For their work they used a method of study unknown to the Romans themselves, insisting that contradictions in the legal material were only apparent. They tried to harmonize the sources in the conviction that for every legal question only one binding rule exists. Thus they approached these legal sources in a
dialectic
Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing ...
al way, which is a characteristic of medieval
scholasticism
Scholasticism was a medieval school of philosophy that employed a critical organic method of philosophical analysis predicated upon the Aristotelian 10 Categories. Christian scholasticism emerged within the monastic schools that translate ...
. They sometimes needed to invent new concepts not found in Roman law, such as
half-proof Half-proof ''(semiplena probatio)'' was a concept of medieval Roman law, describing a level of evidence between mere suspicion and the full proof (''plena probatio'') needed to convict someone of a crime. The concept was introduced by the Glossators ...
(evidence short of full proof but of some force, such as a single witness). In other medieval disciplines, for example
theology
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 ...
and
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
, glosses were also made on the main authoritative texts.
In the
Greek language
Greek ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy (Calabria and Salento), southern Al ...
, γλῶσσα (''glossa'') means "tongue" or "language." Originally, the word was used to denote an explanation of an unfamiliar word, but its scope gradually expanded to the more general sense of "commentary". The glossators used to write in the margins of the old texts (''glosa marginalis'') or between the lines (''glosa interlinearis'' - interlinear glosses). Later these were gathered into large collections, first copied as separate books, but also quickly written in the margins of the legal texts. The medieval copyists at
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
developed a typical script to enhance the legibility of both the main text and the glosses. The typically Bolognese script is called the
Littera Bononiensis.
Accursius
__NOTOC__
Accursius (in Italian ''Accursio'' or ''Accorso di Bagnolo''; c. 11821263) was a Roman jurist. He is notable for his organization of the glosses, the medieval comments on Justinian's codification of Roman law, the ''Corpus Juris Civili ...
's ''
Glossa ordinaria
The ''Glossa Ordinaria'', which is Latin for "Ordinary .e. in a standard formGloss", is a collection of biblical commentaries in the form of glosses. The glosses are drawn mostly from the Church Fathers, but the text was arranged by scholars du ...
'', the final standard redaction of these glosses, contains around 100,000 glosses. Accursius worked for decades on this task. There exists no critical edition of his glosses.
In the older historiography of the medieval ''learned law'', the view developed that after the standard gloss had become fixed a generation of so-called ''
commentators
Commentator or commentators may refer to:
* Commentator (historical) or Postglossator, a member of a European legal school that arose in France in the fourteenth century
* Commentator (horse) (foaled 2001), American Thoroughbred racehorse
* The Co ...
'' started to take over from the glossators. In fact, the early medieval legal scholars, too, wrote commentaries and lectures, but their main effort was indeed creating glosses.
Most of the older glosses are accessible only in medieval manuscripts: modern editions of only a few manuscripts exist. The main microfilm collections of glossed legal manuscripts are at the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History in Frankfurt am Main, at the universities of Munich, Würzburg, Milan, Leyden and Berkeley.
People
*
Irnerius
Irnerius (– after 1125), sometimes referred to as ''lucerna juris'' ("lantern of the law"), was an Italian jurist, and founder of the School of Glossators and thus of the tradition of Medieval Roman Law.
He taught the newly recovered Roman la ...
*
Four Doctors of Bologna
The Four Doctors of Bologna (Latin: ''Quatuor Doctores'') were Italian jurists and glossators of the 12th century, based in the University of Bologna: Bulgarus, Martinus Gosia, Jacobus de Boragine and Hugo de Porta Ravennate.
Their teachings in th ...
**
Bulgarus
Bulgarus was a twelfth-century Italian jurist, born in Bologna. He has been confused with Bulgarinus, a 15th-century jurist.
He was the most celebrated of the famous Four Doctors of the law school of the University of Bologna and was regarded as ...
**
Martinus Gosia
Martinus Gosia was one of the glossators and a 12th-century Italian jurist, counted among the Four Doctors of Bologna, the others being Bulgarus, Hugo de Porta Ravennate and Jacobus de Boragine.
Martinus Gosia and Bulgarus were the chiefs of two ...
**
Jacobus de Boragine
Jacobus de Boragine was one of the Glossators, and Four Doctors of Bologna.
Also known as Jacobus, he was born in the early 12th century and was an Italian lawyer, one of four students of Irnerius called the ''Quattuor Doctores'', although Savig ...
**
Hugo de Porta Ravennate
Hugo de Porta Ravennate was an Italian jurist, and member of the Glossators of Bologna.
He came from a noble family who had residence in the city of Bologna, but whose family name meant "the gate of Ravenna".
Study and teaching at the Universit ...
*
Placentinus
Placentinus (died 1192) was an Italian jurist and glossator. Originally from Piacenza, he taught at the University of Bologna. From there he founded the law school of the University of Montpellier
The University of Montpellier (french: Unive ...
*
Azo of Bologna
Azo of Bologna or Azzo or Azolenus ( 1150–1230) was an influential Italian jurist and a member of the school of the so-called glossators. Born circa 1150 in Bologna, Azo studied under Joannes Bassianus and became professor of civil law at Bologna ...
*
Accursius
__NOTOC__
Accursius (in Italian ''Accursio'' or ''Accorso di Bagnolo''; c. 11821263) was a Roman jurist. He is notable for his organization of the glosses, the medieval comments on Justinian's codification of Roman law, the ''Corpus Juris Civili ...
*
Franciscus Accursius
Franciscus Accursius ( it, Francesco d'Accorso) (1225–1293) was an Italian lawyer, the son of the celebrated jurist and glossator Accursius. The two are often confused.
Born in Bologna, Franciscus was more distinguished for his tact than for h ...
*
Joannes Bassianus Joannes Bassianus was an Italian jurist of the 12th century.
Life
Little is known of his origin, but he is said by his jurist contemporary Carolus de Tocco (Carlo di Tocco) to have been a native of Cremona. He was a professor in the law school of ...
*
Tancred of Bologna Tancred of Bologna or of Germany (c. 1185 – 1230/1236), commonly just Tancredus, was a Dominican preacher and canonist. He is easily conflated with a contemporary Dominican, Tancred Tancredi, and the two are sometimes indistinguishable in the ...
*
Bernard of Botone Bernard of Botone (date of birth unknown; d. 1263, or, according to Hurter, 24 March 1266) was a noted Italian canonist of the thirteenth century. He is generally called Bern(h)ardus Parmensis or Bernard of Parma, from his birthplace Parma.
He st ...
See also
*
Decretalist
In the history of canon law, the decretalists of the thirteenth century formed a school of interpretation that emphasised the decretals, those letters issued by the Popes ruling on matters of church discipline (''epistolae decretales''), in prefere ...
*
Decretist
In the history of canon law, a decretist was a student and interpreter of the ''Decretum Gratiani''. Like Gratian, the decretists sought to provide "a harmony of discordant canons" (''concordia discordantium canonum''), and they worked towards this ...
*
Postglossator
The postglossators or commentators formed a European legal school which arose in Italy and France in the fourteenth century. They form the highest point of development of medieval Roman law.
The school of the '' glossators'' in Bologna lost its v ...
References
External links
Max-Planck-Institut für europäische Rechtsgeschichte, Frankfurt am MainStephan Kuttner Institute for Medieval Canon Law, MunichRobbins Collection, School of Law, Boalt Hall, University of California at Berkeley''The Roman Law Library'' by Professor Yves Lassard and Alexandr KoptevGlossator: Practice and Theory of the Commentary* Gabor Hamza: Accursius és az európai jogtudomány kezdetei. /Accursius and the Beginnings of the European Jurisprudence/ Jogtudomanyi közlöny 54 /1999/ 171-175. p.
Glossators' works at ParalipomenaIuris__NOTOC__
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glossator
Legal history
Roman law
Medieval law
Canon law history