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18 - The canon law

from II - PROFESSIONS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

By
R. H. Helmholz
Edited by
Lotte Hellinga  and
J. B. Trapp
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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.

Keywords

Gregorian DecretalsEnglish workscanon law bookscanon law's importanceparochial clergyGuido de Monte RochenManipulus curatorumimported treatises
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Chapter
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The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain , pp. 387 - 398
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1999

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