Foundations of the Conciliar Theory: The Contribution of the Medieval Canonists from Gratian to the Great Schism

292 Pages·1968·39.575 MB·English

by  Brian Tierney

FOUNDATIONS OF THE
CONCIUAR THEORY
FOUNDATIONS OF THE
CONCILIAR THEORY
The Contribution ofthe Medieval Canonists
from Gratian to the Great Schism
BY
BRIAN TIERNEY
CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA,
WASHINGTON, D.C.
CAMBRIDGE
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1955
REPRINTED
1968
Published by the Syndics ofthe Cambridge University Press
Bentley House, 200 Euston Road, London, N.W.i
American Branch: 32 East 57th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022
publisher's note
Cambridge UniversityPressLibraryEditionsarere-issuesofout-of-
print standard works from the Cambridge catalogue.Thetextsare
unrevised and, apart from minor corrections, reproduce the latest
published edition.
Standard Book Number: 521 07399 5
Library ofCongress Catalogue Card Number: A56-1738
First published 1955
Reprinted 1968
PUBUC LIBRARY
fcOSTON
First printed in Great Britain at the University Press, Cambridge
Reprinted in Great BritainbyJohnDickens & Cq. Ltd, Northampton
PATRI MATRIQUE

CONTENTS
Preface page ix
List ofAbbreviations xi
Introductory: The Conciliar Theory and the Canonists i
PART
I
DECRETIST THEORIES OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT
(iI40-I220)
I Pope and Church 23
(i) Tu es Petrus 25
(ii) Romana Ecclesia 36
II Pope and General Council 47
III Pope and Cardinals 68
PART
II
ASPECTS OF THIRTEENTH-CENTURY ECCLESIOLOGY
I Changing Views on Church Government 87
(i) Papal Monarchy 87
(ii) Decretalist Corporation Concepts 96
II The Structure ofa Medieval Ecclesiastical
Corporation 106
(i) Head and Members 108
(ii) The Prelate as Proctor 117
(iii) Episcopal Vacancies 127
III The Whole Church as a Corporation 132
(i) Corpus Mysticum 132
(ii) Plenitudo Potestatis 141
(iii) Hostiensis and the Roman Church 149
CONTENTS
Vlll
PART
III
CONCILIAR IDEAS IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY
I John ofParis page 157
II Conflicting Criticisms ofPapal Monarchy 179
III The Attitude ofthe Academic Canonists 199
IV Franciscus Zabarella 220
Conclusion 238
Appendix I Huguccio's gloss on the words nisi depre-
hendatur afide devius 248
II Passages of Joannes Teutonicus on the
Authority ofPope, Church and Council 250
III Notes on Canonists and Anonymous Works
mentioned in the Text 254
List of Works Cited 264
Index 275
PREFACE
I have tried, in the title and subtitle of this book, to describe
accurately its scope and nature. It is not a complete account of
medievalcanonlstictheoriesonChurchgovernment,foritempha-
sizes only those elements in canonistic thought that contributed to
the growth ofthe ConciliarTheory; itisnot, on the otherhand, a
complete history of conciliar thought down to the time of the
Great Schism, forit does not dealwith the well-known publicistic
literature ofthe fourteenth century. There is, inevitably, a certain
artificiality in studying the development ofa group ofideas with
such far-reaching ramifications in medieval life and thought
through the medium of one selected class of sources. Yet the
limitationsinvolvedarelessinevidencewhenonestudiestheworks
ofthejurists than when one turns to the other relevant types of
medieval source material, the publicistic treatises on Church
governmentandtherecords ofpapalandepiscopaladministration.
Themedievalcanonistwasoftenactivelyengagedintheoperations
ofthesystemofChurchgovernmentwhosebasisandorganization
he sought to explain; his works reflected an intimate familiarity
with the practical realities ofmedieval ecclesiasticallife as well as a
capacityforabstractreasoningaboutthem. AsMaitlandobserved,
'Law was the point where life and logic met'. It is necessary,
therefore, that the rich canonistic material should be explored and
assimilated before any broader synthesis can profitably be
attempted; and this may be true, not only for the study of the
Conciliar Movement in the Church, but for the history of
medieval representative institutions in general.
My thanks are due, above all, to Dr Walter Ullmann. Itwashe
who, several years ago, called attention to the importance ofthe
canonistic sources for the investigation ofconciliar ideas, and he
has helped me with advice and criticism at all stagesin the writing
ofthis book. Only Dr Ullmann's students can appreciate to the
fullthat generous enthusiasmwhich gives significanceandlife to a
X PREFACE
field ofstudy that, in the teaching ofa less sympathetic exponent,
might seem marked by a certain aridity. All workers in the field
ofmedieval canon law owe a debt to Dr Stephan Kuttner, but,
again, mineisanunusuallypersonalone. DrKuttnerhasbeenvery
patient in discussing with me various problems raised in the
followingpages, andinhelpingmeinthosematterswherehisown
learning is unexcelled. I am grateful too to Professor E. F.Jacob
who read an early draft of the manuscript and made valuable
criticisms; and it is through the interest and encouragement of
Professor Knowles that publication of the work in the present
series has been made possible. When one has received so much
—
generous help it seems necessary to add as something more than
—
a mere formality that the writer alone is responsible for the
opinions expressed in his work, and for the errors that remain.
It is a pleasant duty to express my thanks to Mr H. M. Adams,
Librarian ofTrinity College, Cambridge, andhis staff, and to the
staffoftheAndersonRoomintheUniversityLibrary, Cambridge,
for their unfailing courtesyandhelpfulness during thepreparation
of this work. I am also grateful to the Librarians ofPembroke
College, Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge,
Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and the Fitzwilliam Museum for
permission to consult books and manuscripts in their care; to
Canon W. H. Kynaston for making available a manuscript of
Lincoln Cathedral Chapter Library; and to Mgr A. Pelzer for
supplying photostats ofa manuscript in the Biblioteca Vaticana.
Finally, I would like to express my thanks to the editors of the
Catholic Historical Review and oftheJournal ofthe History ofIdeas
for permission to include in the present work material that was
originally published in thosejournals.
B.T.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
7 April 1954
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS1
A.K.K.R. Archivfur Katholisches Kirchenrecht.
Kuttner, Repertorium Repertorium der Kanonistik (1140-1234),
(Citta del Vaticano, 1937).
MS. C.17 MS. 17 of Gonville and Caius College,
Cambridge.
MS. C.676 MS. 676 of Gonville and Caius College,
Cambridge.
MS. F.XI.605 MS. xi.605 ofSankt Florian, Stiftsbibliothek.
MS. LC.2 MS. 2 ofLincoln Cathedral Chapter Library.
MS. P.72 MS. 72 ofPembroke College, Cambridge.
MS. Pal.Lat.658 MS. Pal.Lat.658 ofthe Biblioteca Vaticana.
MS. T.O.5. 17 MS. 0.5.17 ofTrinity College, Cambridge.
MS. T.O.10.2 MS. O.10.2 ofTrinity College, Cambridge.
Schulte, Zur Geschichte, 1Zur GeschichtederLiteratur iiberdas Dekret
I, II, III Gratians', I, Sitzungsberichte der kaiserlichen
Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien (Phil.-
Hist. ICl.), lxiii (Wien, 1869); II, idem,
lxtv, 1870; III, idem, lxv, 1870.
Schulte, Die Glosse 'Die Glosse zum Dekret Gratians von ihren
zum Dekret Anfangen bis auf die jungsten Ausgaben',
Denkschriften der kaiserlichen Akademie der
Wissenschaften (Phil.-Hist. Kl.), xxi (Wien,
1872).
Schulte, Quellen Die Geschichte der Quellen und Literatur des
canonischen Rechts von Gratian his auf die
Gegenwart (Stuttgart, 1875-1880).
Van Hove, Prolegomena (Gommentarium Lovaniense in
Prolegomena Codicem Iuris Canonici, 1, i) (Mechliniae-
Romae, 1945).
Z.S.S.R. Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung fiir Rechts-
geschichte [Kanonistische Ahteilung).
1 Abbreviations not listed are considered self-explanatory. Full titles are
given in the 'List ofWorks Cited', pp. 264ff.