DECRE7ALS
672
DECRETALS
Quotations from this collection are made by indi-
cating the number of the chapter, the name the work
goes by (X), the number of the book, and that of the
title. Usually the heading of the title and sometimes
the first words of the chapter are quoted; for instance,
"c. 3, X, III, 23", or "c. Odoardus, X, De solutioni-
bus, III, 23", refers to the third chapter, commencing
with the word Odoardus, in the Decretals of Gregory
IX, book III, title 23, which is entitled " De solutioni-
bus". If the number of the chapter or of the title is
not indicated it will easily be learned on consulting
the alphabetical indexes of the rubrics and of the
introductory words of the chapters, which are to be
found in all editions of the "Corpus Juris Canonici".
Gregory IX sent this new collection to the Universities
of Bologna and Paris, and, as already stated, declared,
by the Bull "Rex pacificus" of 5 September, 1234,
that this compilation was the ofRcial code of the canon
law. All its decisions have the force of law, whether
they be authentic or not, whatever the j uridical value
of the texts considered in themselves, and whatsoever
the original text. It is a unique (unica) collection;
all its decisions were simultaneously promulgated, and
are equally obligatory, even if they appear to contain,
or if in fact they do contain, antinomies, i. e. contra-
dictions. In this peculiar case it is not possible to
overcome the difficulty by recourse to the principle
that a law of later date abrogates that of an earlier
period. Finally, it is an exclusive collection, that is
to say, it abrogates all the collections, even the official
ones, of a later date than the " Decretum " of Gratian.
Some authors (Schulte, Laurin) maintain that Greg-
ory IX abrogated even those laws prior to Gratian 's
time which the latter had not included in his " Decre-
tum", but this opinion Ls contested by several others
(von Scherer, Schneider, Wernz, etc.). The contro-
versy is no longer of practical interest.
The Decretals of Gregory IX differ widely from our modern codes. Instead of containing in one concise statement a legislative decision, they generally con- tain, in the beginning, an account of a controversy, the allegations of the parties in dispute, and a demand for the solution of the question. This is the species jacti or the pars historica and has no juridical value whatever. The enacting part of the chapter (pars dispositiva) alone has the force of law. It is this part which contains the solution of the case or the state- ment of the rule of conduct. The rubrics of the titles have the force of law when their sense is complete, as for instance, Ne sede vacante aliquid innoveiur (Let there be no innovation while the see is vacant). This is because the headings form an integral part of the official code of the laws. However, they ought always to be interpreted according to the decisions contained in the chapters. The historical indications concern- ing each chapter are often far from being exact, even since they were corrected in the Roman edition of 1582. It may be regretted that St. Rajmiond did not have recourse to the original documents themselves, of which a large number must have been at his dis- posal. The summaries (summaria) which precede the chapters are the work of the canonists and may assist in the elucidation of the text. The partes decisa^ are sometimes of like use, but never when these parts were designedly omitted from a desire to extinguish their legal force or because they contain decisions irrecon- cilable with the actual text of the law.
As in the case of the former canonical collections, the Decretals of Gregory IX were soon glossed. It was customary to add to the manuscript copies tex- tual explanations written between the lines (glossa interlinearis) and on the margin of the page {glossa marginalis). Explanations of the subject-matter were also added. The most ancient glossarist of the Decretals of Gregory IX is Vincent of Spain; then follow Godefridus de Trano (d. 1245), Bonaguida Aretinus (thirteenth century), and Bernard of Botonu
or Parmensis (d. 1263), the author of the "Glossa
ordinaria", i. e. of that gloss to which authoritative
credence was generally given. At a later date some
extracts were added to the "Glossa ordinaria" from
the " Novella sive commentarius in decretales epistolas
Gregorii IX" by Giovanni d'Andrea (Johannes
Andrea;). After the invention of printing, the Decre-
tals of Gregory IX were first published at Strasburg
from the press of Heinrich Eggesteyn. Among the
numerous editions which followed s]5ecial mention
must be made of that published in 1582, in cedibus
populi romani, by order of Gregory XIII. The text
of this edition, revised by the Correctores Romani, a
pontifical commission established for the revision of
the text of the "Corpus Juris", has the force of law,
even when it differs from that of St. Raymond. It is
forbidden to introduce any change into that text
(Brief "Cum pro munere", 1 July, 1580). Among
the other editions, mention may be made of that by
Le Conte (.Antwerp, 1570), of prior date to the Roman
edition and containing the partes decisa; that of the
brothers Pithou (Paris, 1687) ; that of Bohmer (Halle,
1747), which did not reproduce the text of the Roman
edition and was in its textual criticism more audacious
than happy; the edition of Richter (Leipzig, 1839);
and that of Friedberg (Leipzig, 1879-1881). All these
authors added critical notes and the partes decisce.
To indicate the principal commentators on the Decretals would necessitate the writing of a history of canon law in the Middle Ages. Mere mention will be made of Innocent IV (d. 1254), Enrico de Segusio or Hostiensis (d. 1271), the "Abbas antiquus" (thir- teenth century), Johannes Andreee, already men- tioned, Baldus de Ubaldis (d. 1400), Petrus de Aneha- rano (d. 1416), Franciscus de Zabarellis (d. 1417), Dominicus a Sancto Geminiano (fifteenth century), Joannes de Imola (d. 1436), Nicolo Tudesco, also called the "Abbas Siculus", or "Modernus", or " Panormitanus" (d. 1453). Among the modern com- mentators, Manuel Gonzalez Tellez and Fagnanus may be consulted advantageously for the inter- pretation of the text of the Decretals. The Decretals of Gregory IX still form the basis of canon law so far as it has not been modified by subsequent collections and by the general laws of the Church (see Corpus Juris Canonici).
IV. Later Collections of Decretals. — The decretals of the successors of Gregory IX were also arranged in collections, of which several were official, notably those of Innocent IV, Gregory X, and Nich- olas III, who ordered their decretals to be inserted among those of Gregory IX. In addition to these, several unofficial collections were drawn up. The inconveniences which Gregory IX had wished to remedy presented themselves again. For this reason Boniface VIII made a new collection of decretals which he promulgated by the Bull " SacrosanctiE " of 3 March, 1298. This is the "Sextus Liber Decre- talium " ; it has a value similar to that of the Decre- tals of Gregory IX. Boniface VIII abrogated all the decretals of the popes subsequent to the appearance of the Decretals of Gregory IX which were not in- cluded or maintained in force by the new collection; but as this collection is of later date than that of Gregory I X, it modifies those decisions of the latter col- lection which are irreconcilable with its own. Clement V, also, undertook to make an official collection, but death prevented him from perfecting this work. His collection was published by John XXlI on 25 October, 1317, under the title of " Liber Septimus Decretalium", but it is better known under the name of "Constitu- tiones dementis V" or " Clementinie ". This is the last official collection of decretals. The two following collections, the last in the "Corpus Juris Canonici", are the work of private individuals. They are called " Extra vagantes , because they are not included in the official collections. The first contains twenty
