The Cambridge History of Medieval Canon Law

2022 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Positive Law ◽  
Political Events ◽  
University Life ◽  
Comprehensive Survey ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Europe ◽  
The Church ◽  
Medieval Canon Law

Canon law touched nearly every aspect of medieval society, including many issues we now think of as purely secular. It regulated marriages, oaths, usury, sorcery, heresy, university life, penance, just war, court procedure, and Christian relations with religious minorities. Canon law also regulated the clergy and the Church, one of the most important institutions in the Middle Ages. This Cambridge History offers a comprehensive survey of canon law, both chronologically and thematically. Written by an international team of scholars, it explores, in non-technical language, how it operated in the daily life of people and in the great political events of the time. The volume demonstrates that medieval canon law holds a unique position in the legal history of Europe. Indeed, the influence of medieval canon law, which was at the forefront of introducing and defining concepts such as 'equity,' 'rationality,' 'office,' and 'positive law,' has been enormous, long-lasting, and remarkably diverse.

Il giuramento di innocenza nel processo canonico medievale

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonia Fiori
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Legal Culture ◽  
Criminal Offence ◽  
Legal Procedure ◽  
Canonical Theory ◽  
History Of ◽  
Short Space ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Middle Ages

The oath of innocence, or purgation, constituted a part of canon law for almost a millennium. It has nevertheless been largely neglected by studies on medieval canonical procedure. This book seeks to reconstruct the history of the oath of purgation specifically from the perspective of canon law. Over the centuries, the function of the so-called "purgatio canonica" never changed: priests of the Church were required to swear their innocence when charged with any criminal offence for which evidence of guilt was lacking. It is while dealing with the canonical purgation that the canonists also developed the notion of infamia facti, a concept of social disrepute with real legal significance. Within a short space of time this inspired the most significant innovations in medieval legal procedure: the introduction of the inquisitorial process alongside the accusatorial model, the elaboration of a canonical theory of legal presumptions, and the justification of judicial torture. The history of the oath of purgation thus provides a unique perspective from which to observe the transformations which occurred in canon law procedure and wider legal culture throughout the course of the Middle Ages.

Die Stellung der Juden im Merowingerreich nach dem Zeugnis der Synodalakten

Aschkenas ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-216
Author(s):  
Lotter Friedrich
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
Early Medieval Period ◽  
Systematic Overview ◽  
High Middle Ages ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Church

Abstract In research into the history of the Jews in the Merovingian kingdom, relevant Council decrees have so far played a very subsidiary role compared to information gleaned from narrative sources. Yet besides facilitating discoveries of importance not only for the Merovingian period, and scarcely to be found in other sources, a number of these decrees also found their way into the canon law of the High Middle Ages and acquired long-term significance as a result. The compilation presented here systematically investigates this source material according to perspectives important for the synods: Christian-Jewish intermarriages; Christian slaves owned by Jews, and the danger, as the Church saw it, of proselytism; Jews as holders of public offices; Judaizing tendencies amongst Christians; attempts to limit contact between Christians and Jews. From this it becomes apparent that the position of the Jews in the Merovingian kingdom was not as perilous as is often assumed based on the narrative sources. On the contrary, during this era the foundations were laid for a later autonomous Jewry in Europe. The essay also elaborates on the importance of the synodal decrees as source material for investigating the history of Jewry in the early medieval period. The concluding tables provide a systematic overview and also demonstrate which of the decrees were incorporated again into the medieval canonical collections.

Schmoeckel, Mathias, Vom „gerechten” zum „heiligen Krieg”? Rechtfertigung der ersten Kreuzzüge im kanonischen Recht

2019 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-43
Author(s):  
Mathias Schmoeckel
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Just War ◽  
Holy War ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
First Crusade ◽  
History Of ◽  
Religious Reasons ◽  
The Church ◽  
Medieval Canon Law

Abstract From "just war" to the "holy war"? Justification of the first crusades in medieval Canon law. The European history of public international law has often dealt with the concept of "just war", almost never with the "holy war". This seems to be rather an Islamic phenomenon. But ever since Urban II called for the first crusade in 1095, Europe too knew the idea of justifying war with religious reasons. Until now this phenomenon has been used to denounce the cruelty of Christianity. We need, therefore, a new critical access to this topic. The origin of the idea in 1095 has to be linked with the development of penancy and indulgencies in their terms and concepts. We will see how skeptically the canonists of the age reacted and how little representative this immediately afterwards abandoned idea was of its time. Because Europe, in the end, rejected the idea of a "holy war", this topic is an important facette of the European evolution of public international law and does not prove the cruelty of the church. This article is part of a greater research project on the influence of medieval Canon law on public international law.

The Development of the Canon Law Since 1500 A. D.

1940 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivan A. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Canon Law ◽  
The Body ◽  
Moral Sense ◽  
Original Meaning ◽  
Ecclesiastical Authority ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Church ◽  
Straight Rod

The body of law dealing with discipline, polity, and sacramental administration which has grown up in the history of the church is ordinarily styled Canon Law (jus canonicum), because it is a collection of canons. Canon (derived from the Greek kanon) means a rule, in a material and moral sense. Its original meaning was a straight rod. In apostolic times it signified the truth of Christianity as an authoritative standard of life and a statement of doctrine in general. It is, therefore, easy to understand how the word kanon later came to mean the ecclesiastical legislation which governed the conduct of the faithful. The excellent definition given by Archbishop Cicognani. states that “The Canon Law may be denned as ‘the body of laws made by the lawful ecclesiastical authority for the government of the Church’.”

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