Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- 1 Literacy, books and readers
- TECHNIQUE AND TRADE
- COLLECTIONS AND OWNERSHIP
- READING AND USE OF BOOKS
- I BOOKS FOR SCHOLARS
- II PROFESSIONS
- 18 The canon law
- 19 The civil law
- 20 The books of the common law
- 21 Medicine and science
- III THE LAY READER
- Appendix
- List of abbreviations
- Bibliography
- Photo credits
- General index
- Index of manuscripts
- Bibliographic index of printed books
- Plate Section"
- References
18 - The canon law
from II - PROFESSIONS
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- 1 Literacy, books and readers
- TECHNIQUE AND TRADE
- COLLECTIONS AND OWNERSHIP
- READING AND USE OF BOOKS
- I BOOKS FOR SCHOLARS
- II PROFESSIONS
- 18 The canon law
- 19 The civil law
- 20 The books of the common law
- 21 Medicine and science
- III THE LAY READER
- Appendix
- List of abbreviations
- Bibliography
- Photo credits
- General index
- Index of manuscripts
- Bibliographic index of printed books
- Plate Section"
- References
Summary
This chapter describes what is known about the existence and the use of canon law books in Britain. It may be admitted at the outset that segregation of the literature of the canon law from that of the civil law, covered in the chapter by Alain Wijffels, is somewhat artificial. The two learned laws were combined for many purposes in the European ius commune. Nonetheless, the canon law always maintained a distinct identity. Many books dealt primarily with canonical problems or texts, and the canon law was in a real sense the dominant partner in the ius commune. It is not inappropriate to treat it as a distinct entity.
The canon law’s importance
Together with rules drawn from the Roman law, the canon law provided the principal source of the jurisprudence in the English ecclesiastical courts. These courts, held by every bishop and archdeacon, as well as by many lesser clerics, played a wide and important role in the legal life of medieval England. Indeed, they held significant jurisdiction over the law of marriage, wills and probate, and part of the law of defamation, well into the nineteenth century. In addition, they long exercised a ‘criminal’ jurisdiction over both the clergy and the laity, extending from the sins of the flesh, such as adultery and fornication, to more properly religious offences such as absenting oneself from the parish church or doctrinal dissent.
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- The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain , pp. 387 - 398Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1999