This includes tithe-collectors, whom one may easily imagine were greatly disliked by most people; but anyone who injured them, or in any way interfered with tithe-collecting (by physical violence, or by refusing to grant access to their farmlands), was liable to excommunication. It is noteworthy that the first Anglo-Saxon law code was issued by England’s first Christian monarch, Æthelberht, King of Kent (c. 580-616) not long after the arrival of St Augustine (597-604).4. And care was taken to ensure that no legal form of redress would be available to the recalcitrant. 11 For details Brandeis relied on David Wilkins, Concilia Magnae Britanniae et Hiberniae, London: Gosling et al., 1737 (first mentioned by Brandeis at 13, this work covers Church councils held in Britain and Ireland from 446 to 1717). Florence Bourgne, Paris: AMAES no. 83, no. He does not hesitate, in the section on robbery, to point a finger at prelates who oblige the faithful to pay outrageous taxes, and deans who encourage extortion by the chapter of their cathedral, “for þei haue more affecyoun to gadere syluer þan to don correccyoun” (129/24). Citation by page/line refers to this edition; folio quotations in the present article are taken from the unedited part of the unique manuscript. Gratian, who died c.1160, appears to have been a monk and a papal lawyer who was gifted with a clear and methodical mind. appears to promote a hierarchical society and a rigid legal system, he nevertheless demonstrates his awareness of the serious abuses to which it could give rise; indeed, as the examples cited have shown, he is highly critical of the law and its agents, whether of the canonical or the civil variety, because of the way they could be corrupted. In England, both William II (1087-1100) and his brother Henry I (1100-35) clashed with the Archbishop of Canterbury over this issue. It is easy to picture the devastating effect of this dire curse on the medieval congregation. I, ed. , vol. Working off-campus? Then he develops the allegory in the person of a convicted murderer (= a sinner, guilty of murdering his own soul and that of others), who is condemned by the civil courts (Justice, Truth and Peace) but appeals to the ecclesiastical court (Mercy) and is sent to the bishop’s prison (Purgatory). It gradually began to slow, between about 1200 and 1275, and then it finally leve… Unjust litigation by dishonest plaintiffs is criticised as much as lying defendants who try to delay the judgement; perjury, or bearing false witness after swearing on the Bible, is naturally condemned. On the other hand, two of the fourteen divisions concern married persons (160/23 adultery, 161/19 lechery within marriage), and as these two are rather longer than the other sections on sexuality, they may. Use the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. The following is a brief summary. Florence Bourgne, Paris: AMAES no. Canon law is not limited, of course, to excommunication, and there is much else that could be said about the subject. By the time of the Middle Ages, the Church had an established hierarchy: 1. Just as the medieval Church was ubiquitous in daily life, canon law too played an important role in society—a role bearing little comparison to the modern situation, even within the Roman Catholic Church which remains heavily regulated by canon law. Adapted by New Visions from Excommunication on New World Encyclopedia which is published under the CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported license. In the second case the author also insists that this should be preceded by a yearly confession, preferably made during Lent to one’s own parish priest, i.e. The birth of canon law was thus an attempt to codify the Church’s rules going back to the earliest ecumenical councils, in order to make it clear in what areas of social and religious life the Church considered its authority to be independent of that of kings, and furthermore, to define what was binding on Christians in the Church’s own terms. He frequently quotes the. , Lund: Gleerup, 1974 (Lund Studies in English, 49). 11The reading is to be done with appropriate liturgical solemnity, “wyth cros standyng, wyth bellys ryngynge, wyth candelys brennynge, & after-ward quenchyd” (13/21-23). It is not known if Gratian acted on his own initiative or if the work was undertaken at the request of Pope Innocent II (1130-43), though the latter’s involvement seems highly likely in view of his interest in reform and legal clarification (he was responsible for calling the Lateran Council of 1139).8. The author is certainly not fooled by the cleverness of those who use the law for their own ends; the people mentioned are mainly of good education and social standing. 14An important aspect of Jacob’s Well lies in its criticism of social abuses at all levels, in particular social injustice involving the misuse of power and position. Jean-Paul Débax provides a modern English translation in Everyman: lectures critiques et documents, ed. Church and state in medieval Europe includes the relationship between the Catholic Church and the various monarchies and other states in Europe, between the end of Roman authority in the West in the fifth century and the beginnings of the Reformation in the early sixteenth century. The articles of excommunication, far from being relegated to arcane spiritual matters, are firmly rooted in down-to-earth social and legal affairs. Right through chapters 3 to 9 (pages 13-64, or 50 pages of the printed text), the author gives an exhaustive list of sins and canonically unacceptable situations liable to excommunication. in the present case explains how a sinful student from Bologna dreams that he is caught in a storm; he seeks refuge in three successive houses, but is turned away by the occupants, three ladies who are Justice, Truth and Peace; the latter advises him to try Mercy, her kind sister, who does indeed help him providing he will serve her in future by being merciful to his enemies. Possibly entertaining if heard on rare occasions, especially by those above reproach, it could hardly make for pleasant listening four times a year. All of this indicates a radical separation of civil and religious authority, with the medieval Church placing itself outside and above, the civil courts as far as possible. And from the literary point of view, passages like these reinforce the impression of a “live” text, one written for public use in church rather than for private reading or as a teaching manual, though of course it could also be used in each of those ways as was the case with many medieval treatises.16. 4The credit for attempting to tidy up the confusion goes to one man, Gratian, author of the Decretum (c. 1140), who became known as the “father” of canon law. 9The first chapter of Jacob’s Well traces the outlines of the work’s overall allegorical structure: the cleaning out of a dirty well which is to be transformed into a spring of pure water, each detail of the allegory being applied to some aspect of Christian doctrine, faith and morals. Edward Peacock, London, 1868, rev. 13It is easy to picture the devastating effect of this dire curse on the medieval congregation. the debate between Justice, Truth, Peace and. 16 For an example of a short treatise giving an outline of the basic points of doctrine which the Church required the faithful to know and practise, see The Lay Folks’ Catechism, also known as Dan John Gaytryge’s Sermon, dating from 1357 but still popular in the fifteenth century. Beyond this problem there are several others. ffiat! In this respect, he says, ecclesiastical officers are no better than the civil authorities, to whom criminals or defaulters are handed over for punishment when the bishop’s court has done its job. And care was taken to ensure that no legal form of redress would be available to the recalcitrant. In the, (731), the Venerable Bede gives a detailed account of the local ruler’s involvement in the Synod of Whitby in 664, which. His book, the Decretum, is the first systematic compilation of ecclesiastical rules and regulations; the precise date of composition is uncertain, but it is thought to be c. 1140 as it includes the decisions of the second Lateran Council of April 1139.7 The original title of his work was the Concordantia Discordantium Canonum, which contains nearly four thousand canonical texts going back to the Patristic Age and all the early ecumenical councils, organised in a framework designed to clarify what was obscure and to resolve contradictions, real or apparent. Also in a new edition by Gillis Kristensson, Lund: Gleerup, 1974 (Lund Studies in English, 49). Excommunication. 167-9, credits Innocent II with having steered the Church away from arid juridical conflicts with the secular authorities. Other articles of the great curse apply to people who hinder Church representatives or their employees in the pursuit of their lawful duties. It must be remembered that canon law applied to many aspects of daily life and family matters that in the modern secular State are mainly handled by the civil authorities, from marriage and childbirth to death and the proving of wills. Then follows the allegorical development which extends to over three pages, much longer than the, on which it is based. 5One way or the other, it is clear that Gratian’s book was quickly recognised as an authority. Peter was therefore regarded as the first Pope, the head of the church, and all others as his successors endowed with the same divine authority. 19It is clear that the author of Jacob’s Well is very familiar with the legal system, and that he is in no doubt as to the forms of corruption that it can generate. Also in a new edition by Gillis Kristensson, Lund: Gleerup, 1974 (Lund Studies in English, 49). 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