The contribution of bishops to the development of canon law by the middle of the 12th century
Final Report Abstract
The bishops made an important contribution to the development of canon law in the period from the beginning of the 9th to the middle of the 10th century with their bishop's capitularies, which were modelled on the ruler's capitularies. These instructions, which were addressed to the clergy as well as to the faithful of their diocese and probably also to fellow bishops, basically served pastoral purposes, but also contain a large number of general canonical provisions together with detailed regulations for the practice of religious life, which were reformulated by their authors, both anonymous and known by name, using templates from collections of canons, alleged collections of capitularies or other episcopal capitularies, usually without referring specifically to templates such as statements by popes or canons of late antique councils. Chapters from the bishop's capitularies were in turn also received in canonical collections and other bishop's capitularies, whereby those bishop's capitularies were favoured for reception whose authors identified themselves by name, for example in a praefatio. Nevertheless, the canonical authority of the Capitula episcoporum or the bishops who promulgated them was low, as can be deduced from the fact that their chapters were never included in canon collections under the name of their authors, but exclusively with invented inscriptions. Based on three examples in particular, the treatise ‘Theodulf II’ (before 850?), which can only be counted among the bishop's capitularies with some reservations, and the capitularies of Archbishop Herard of Tours (856-871) and Bishop Atto of Vercelli (924-960/1 ), but also including parallels in other bishops' capitularies and, in the case of Atto, also his letters, it can be demonstrated that, despite all their differences and special characteristics, these sources of canon law, which are comparatively closely orientated towards practice, reflect the efforts of the bishops to involve the clergy in the parishes in the detection and prosecution of serious offences (crimina) in order to bring the offenders to the episcopal penitential jurisdiction, the modalities of which are laid down in detail, whereby Herard even conveys general procedural principles from the collection of Benedictus Levita to his diocesans. In addition, regulations on church organisation in the broader sense and, in the case of Atto, also on the position of women in ecclesiastical law, were apparently intended to eliminate possible causes of conflict through clear demarcations. To summarise, the contribution of bishops' capitularies to the development of canon law can be seen less in their reception in collections of canon law than in the efforts of individual bishops to issue provisions that were formulated as memorably as possible for practical application in order to administer and manage their dioceses using the rules of traditional canon law.
Publications
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Congress of Medieval Canon Law in Canterbury UK (Juli 2024), „Oath and perjury in Burchard’s Decretum and in the Capitula episcoporum“
Lotte Kéry
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"Antwort auf die Krise oder Ausdruck der Krise? Zum Einsatz des Kirchenrechts in der Auseinandersetzung Hinkmars von Reims (845-882) mit seinem Neffen Bischof Hinkmar von Laon (858-871, †879)“ in: „Kirche in der Krise“, hg. von David VON MAYENBURG und Silvia DI PAOLO, im Klostermann Verlag
Lotte Kéry
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'Alte Traditionen und unerhörte Neuerungen' - Die Krise des gregorianischen Papsttums, Ivo von Chartres und der Streit um die Rechtsstellung des Primas von Lyon“ erscheint 2024 in dem Sammelband „Kirche in der Krise“, hg. von David VON MAYENBURG und Silvia DI PAOLO, im Klostermann Verlag
Lotte Kéry
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„Burchards Dekret und seine Quellen. Eine Analyse an Beispielen aus Buch XII „De periurio“, in: Burchard von Worms und die vorgratianischen Sammlungen, Tagung 11.-12. Oktober 2021 (Quellen und Forschungen zum Recht im Mittelalter) [im Druck]
Lotte Kéry
