decretalists
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In the history of
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 ...
, the decretalists of the thirteenth century formed a school of interpretation that emphasised the
decretals Decretals ( la, litterae decretales) are letters of a pope that formulate decisions in ecclesiastical law of the Catholic Church.McGurk. ''Dictionary of Medieval Terms''. p. 10 They are generally given in answer to consultations but are sometim ...
, those letters issued by the
Popes The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
ruling on matters of church discipline (''epistolae decretales''), in preference to the ''
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 ...
'' (1141), which their rivals, the decretists, favoured.Rhidian Jones, ''The Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England: A Handbook'' (T&T Clark, 2000), 45–46. The decretalists were early compilers of the papal decretals, and their work, such as that of Simon of Bisignano (''c''. 1177), was used by the dominant decretist school."Decretalist", ''
New Catholic Encyclopedia The ''New Catholic Encyclopedia'' (NCE) is a multi-volume reference work on Roman Catholic history and belief edited by the faculty of The Catholic University of America. The NCE was originally published by McGraw-Hill in 1967. A second edition, ...
'' (Gale, 2002).
The decretalist practice can be divided into three periods. The first (''c''. 1160–1200) is characterised by the collection of decretals; the second (''c''. 1200–1234) by the organisation of the collections and the first signs of decretal exegesis; and the final (1234–1348) by extensive exegesis and analysis. Important early decretalists include Bernard of Pavia, who wrote the ''Summa Decretalium'', the ''Summa de Matrimonio'' and the ''Brevarium Extravagantium'', and Henry of Susa, whose ''Summa Copiosa'' melded canon law with
Roman law Roman law is the 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 ...
and was influential into modern times. File:Bernardus Papiensis – Breviarium extravagantium, 1779 – BEIC 13873566.jpg, Bernardus Papiensis, ''Breviarium extravagantium'', 1779


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