ex-imperial physicians, grammarians and other professors of
letters, together with their wives and sons, and whatever
property they possess in their own cities, be immune from all
payment of taxes and from all civil or public duties, and that in
the provinces they shall not have strangers quartered on them, or
perform any official duties, or be brought into court, or be
subject to legal process, or suffer injustice; and if any one
harass them he shall be punished at the discretion of the Judge.
We also command that their salaries and fees be paid, so that
they may more readily instruct many in liberal studies and the
above mentioned Arts.
Proclaimed on the fifth day before the Kalends of October (Sept.
27) at Constantinople, in the Consulship of Dalmatius and
Zenophilas.[30]
(c) _Canon Law_
About 1142 (the year of Abelard's death) Gratian, a monk of Bologna,
doubtless influenced by the school of Roman Law in that city, made a
compilation of the Canon Law, which included the canons or rules
governing the Church in its manifold activities,--"its relations with
the secular power, its own internal administration, or the conduct of
its members." Hitherto Canon Law had been regarded as merely a
subdivision of Theology, just as Roman Law had been considered a branch
of Rhetoric. It now became an independent subject,--further addition to
the body of higher studies. As an influence upon the development of
universities it was not less important than the _Corpus Juris Civilis_.
The compilation made by Gratian was added to in later generations, and
the whole body of church law was known in the fifteenth century as the
_Corpus Juris Canonici_ (Body of Canon Law). Its main divisions are:
1. The Decree of Gratian _(Decretum Gratiani)_ in three parts,
published c. 1142. Part I contains one hundred and one
distinctions (_distinctiones_) or divisions, which treat of
matters relating to ecclesiastical persons and offices. Dist.
XXXVII is translated below. Part II contains thirty-six cases
(_causae_) each of which is divided into questions
(_quaestiones_). These questions deal with problems which may
arise in the administration of the canon law. Part III contains
five distinctions which deal with the ritual and the sacraments
of the church. Under each distinction, or question, are arranged
the canons--the views of ecclesiastical authorities--on the
matter under discussion.
2. The Decretals (_Decretales_), in five books, published by Pope
Gregory IX in 1234.
3. The Sixth Book (_Liber Sextus_), a supplement to the Decretals
by Pope Boniface VIII, 1298.
4. The Constitutions of Clementine (_Constitutiones
Clementinae_), 1317.
5. Several collections of papal laws not included in those above,
known by the general title of _Extravagantes_, i.e., laws _extra
vagantes_, or outside of, the four compilations just mentioned.
Among all these the _Decretum_ of Gratian was the great innovation
which first marked out Canon Law as a distinct field of learning,
separate from both Theology and Roman Law. It was written as a
text-book; "it was one of those great text-books which take the world by
storm." It created an entirely new class of students, separate from
those devoted to Arts, Theology, Roman Law, and Medicine,--just as the
development of Engineering and other new professional studies have
created new groups of university students to-day,--and thereby increased
the resort to the universities.
The selection following illustrates numerous characteristics of
mediaeval university study. (1) The question itself is a very ancient
subject of debate; the controversy, on religious grounds, concerning the
study of the classics, had already continued for nearly a thousand
years, and was destined to continue for centuries after the appearance
of the _Decretum_. Many such questions were debated in the universities
for generations. The debate on the classics still rages, though the
arguments pro and con no longer raise the point of their influence on
religious belief. (2) The selection is one among many examples of the
powerful influence of Abelard's method in mediaeval writing and
teaching. The reader will at once see in it the form of the "Yes and
No." (3) It gives a very good idea of the substance of a university
lecture, which would ordinarily consist in reading the actual text and
comments here set down (see p. 111). (4) It shows how the mass of
comments came to overshadow the original text, and by consequence to
absorb the greater part of the attention of teachers and students. One
object of university reform in all studies at the end of the fifteenth
and the beginning of the sixteenth century was to sweep away this
burdensome and often useless material, and to return to the study of the
text itself (see p. 48). (5) It illustrates a common mode of
interpreting in a figurative sense passages from the Bible which to the
modern reader seem to have no figurative meaning. Thus (pp. 64, 66) the
plagues of frogs and flies which Moses brought upon Egypt typify "the
empty garrulousness of dialecticians, and their sophistical arguments ";
the gifts of the three Magi to the infant Jesus signify "the three parts
of philosophy," etc. Mediaeval literature contains a great mass of such
interpretations.
The text and the "gloss," or commentary, are here placed on opposing
pages for the sake of clearness. The text is a compilation, chiefly from
earlier compilations; Gratian did not as a rule consult the sources
themselves. His pupil, Paucapalea, made many additions to the text, one
of which appears in this selection. The gloss here translated is the
standard commentary (_glossa ordinaria_) which was used for centuries in
the regular university lectures (see p. 108). Like the text, it is a
compilation from many sources. It was first made (c. 1212) by John the
German (Joannes Teutonicus), who added his own notes--usually signed
"John"--to his selections from earlier glossators. The names or titles,
often abbreviated, of commentators whom he quotes are frequently
appended to their notes, e.g. John of Fa[ënza], Hugo [of Pisa],
C[ardinalis], Lau[rentius Hispanus]; many notes are unsigned. About
1238 the compilation of John the German was revised and enlarged by
Bartholomew of Brescia, who also added comments from other writers, e.g.
Arc [hidiaconus]. This revision forms the greater part, if not the
whole, of the gloss which appears below.
The cross-references, in the comments below, are left untranslated. They
are mainly citations of other passages in the _Decretum_ itself. Such
references as XVI. quaest III. nemo are to be read, Case XVI, question
III, in the section beginning _Nemo_; XLVIII dist. sit rector means
Distinction XLVIII, in the section beginning _Sit rector_. Several of
the references in this selection are incorrect.
The gloss on this page belongs to the first line of text on page 60. It
forms, with the Summaries on later pages, a complete analysis of the
text. It indicates, first, the five subdivisions of the _distinctio_;
second, its general purport. Later summaries analyze small portions of
the text. (Cf. the description of the lecture by Odofredus, p. 111.)
This division is divided into five sections; the second begins: "Then
why ..." (p. 68); the third begins: "The report has come to as" (p. 74);
the fourth begins: "Christians are forbidden" (p. 75); the fifth begins:
"As therefore is evident" (p. 75). John of Fa.[A]
Summary. Here follows the thirty-seventh division in which the question
is asked whether it is fitting that the clergy be made acquainted with
profane literature, that is, the books of the heathen. And first he
proves that they should not be read (as far as "But on the other hand,"
p. 64). Then he proves the opposite and afterwards gives the solution
(to "Then why," p. 68). The first two chapters are plain.
[SHALL PRIESTS BE ACQUAINTED WITH PROFANE LITERATURE, OR NO?]
=But the question (_h_) is asked whether these men should be made
acquainted with profane literature.=
Here is what is written upon the matter in the fourth
Carthaginian Council:
=A Bishop should not read the books of the (_i_) heathen.=
A bishop should not read the books of the heathen: those of
heretics he may read carefully, either of necessity (_k_) or for
some special reason.
So Jerome to Pope Damasus on the prodigal son:
=Priests are blameworthy who, to the neglect of the Gospels, read
comedies.=
We see priests of God, to the neglect of the Gospels and the
Prophets, reading comedies, singing the Amatory words of bucolic
verses, keeping Vergil in their hands, and making that which
occurs with boys as a necessity (_k_) ground for accusation
against themselves because they do it for pleasure.
Idem:
=They walk in the vanity and darkness of the senses who occupy
themselves with profane learning.[B]=
Does he not seem to you to be walking in the vanity of the
senses, and in darkness of mind, who day and night torments
himself with the dialectic art; who, as an investigator of
nature, raises his eyes athwart the heavens and, beyond the
depths of lands and the abyss, is plunged into the so-called
void; who grows warm over iambics, who, in his over zealous mind,
analyses and combines the great jungle of metres; and, (to pass
to another phase of the matter), who seeks riches by fair means
and foul means, who fawns upon kings, grasps at the inheritances
of others, and amasses wealth though he knows not at the time to
whom he is going to leave it?
(_h_) In this thirty-seventh division Gratian asks[C] whether one who
is to be ordained ought to be acquainted with profane literature. First,
however, he shows that the clergy ought not to give attention to the
books of the heathen.[D] Then he gives the argument on the other side
and offers this solution, that some read the books of the heathen for
amusement and pleasure, and this is forbidden, while some read for
instruction, and this is lawful, in order that, through these books they
may know how to speak correctly and to distinguish the true from the
false. John, as far as "Then why" (p. 68). And notice that in all the
chapters up to "But on the other hand" (p. 64) pleasure alone seems to
be forbidden.
(_i_) Therefore they ought not to hear the laws, for it is a disgrace to
them if they wish to be versed in forensic training. C. de testa
consulta divalia. But, on the other hand, the laws are divinely
promulgated through the mouths of princes as XVI. quaest. III, nemo.[E]
Some say that it is lawful to hear the laws in order that through them
the canons may be better understood. He argues in favor of this division
in the section beginning "Some read profane literature" (p. 70). John.
(_k_) In order that they may know how to speak correctly.
Likewise [Jerome] on Isaiah:
He who misunderstands the sacred scriptures, or makes a wrong use
of profane wisdom, is drunken with wine[F] and with strong drink.
They are drunken with wine who (_l_) misunderstand the sacred
scriptures and pervert them, and through strong drink they make a
wrong use of profane wisdom and the wiles of the dialecticians,
which are to be called, not so much wiles as figures, that is,
symbols, so-called, and images, which quickly pass away and are
destroyed. Likewise, in accordance with tropology (_m_), we ought
to regard as false prophets those who interpret the words of the
scriptures otherwise than as the Holy Spirit utters them, and as
divine those who from the inferences of their own minds and apart
from the authority of divine words, proclaim as true the
uncertain events of the future. Likewise, those who do not
understand the Scriptures according to the actual truth eat sour
grapes.
Likewise [Jerome] in the Epistle to the Ephesians:
Bishops are blamed who train their own sons in profane
literature.[G]
Let those bishops and priests read [this] who train their own
sons in profane literature, and have them read those well-known
comedies and sing the base writings of the actors of farces,
having educated them perhaps on the money of the church.(_a_) And
that which a virgin, or a widow, or any poor person whatever had
offered, pouring out her whole substance as an offering for sin,
this [is devoted] to a gift (_b_) of the calendar, and a
saturnalian offering, (_c_) and, on the part of the grammarian
and orator, to a thank-offering to Minerva, or else it is turned
over for domestic expenses, or as a temple donation, or for base
gain. Eli, the priest, was himself holy, but because ...
(_l_) The ears of those who misunderstand the words of the Master should
be cut off: as XXIV. quaest. I. si Petrus.[H]
(_m_) That is, in accordance with the moral[I] meaning, from trope, i.e.
a turning[J] or application, when we apply our words to the shaping of
character.
XLIII. distinct. sit rector.
Additio. They did the opposite and he writes of penitence, distinct. I.
super tribus. Archi.
(_a_) He argues contrariwise in dist. XXXI. omnino.
(_b_) Strena,--the first gift which is given at the beginning of the
Calendar[K]. It is given for a good omen. XXV. quaest. ulti. non
observetis.
It is called Strena as if from sine threna, i.e. without lamentation.
(_c_) Sportula (a gift) which is given for fables of Saturn, or for
celebrating the festival of Saturn, or for games of Saturn,--for good
luck.
...he trained not his sons (_d_) in every form of improving
discipline, he fell prostrate and died.
(Also from the replies of Pope Urban to Charles, Chapt. 48).
Palea [Paucapalea, a pupil of Gratian]:
Heretics, when disputing,[L] place the whole strength of their
wits upon the dialectic art, which, in the judgment of
philosophers, is defined as having the power not of aiding but of
destroying study. But the dialectic art was not pleasing[M] to
God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for the Kingdom of God is
in the simplicity of faith, not in contentious speech.
Also Rabanus on the Afflictions of the Church:
The blessed Jerome is beaten by an angel because he was reading
the works of Cicero.
We read about the blessed Jerome that when he was reading the
works (_e_) of Cicero he was chidden by an angel because, being a
Christian man, he was devoting himself to the productions of the
pagans.
[The discussion which follows, to "Hence Bede," etc., p. 66, is
attributed, in modern editions, to Gratian.]
Hence, too, the prodigal son in the Gospel is blamed because he
would fain have filled his belly with the husks (_f_) which the
swine did eat.
Hence, too, Origen understands by the flies and frogs with which
the Egyptians were smitten, the empty garrulousness of the
dialecticians and their sophistical arguments.
From all which instances it is gathered that knowledge of profane
literature is not to be sought after by churchmen.
But, on the other hand[N] one reads that Moses and Daniel were
learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and Chaldeans.
One reads also that God ordered the sons of Israel to spoil (_g_)
the Egyptians of their gold and silver; the moral interpretation
of this teaches that should we find in the poets either the gold
of wisdom or the silver of eloquence, we should turn it to the
profit of useful learning. In Leviticus also we are ordered to
...
(_d_) Such a one is rejected by the evidence, as VI. quaest. I. qui
crimen. Also, he cannot be a bishop. As XLVIII. dist. § necesse. Nay he
is called a dog rather than a bishop. As II. quaest. VII. qui nee. John.
(_e_) Because he read them for pleasure not for instruction, as de
conse. dist. V. non mediocriter.
(_f_) That is, with profane wisdom which fills but does not satisfy,[O]
(_g_) XIIII. quaest V. dixit.[P]
...offer up to God the first fruits of honey, that is, the
sweetness of human eloquence. The Magi, too, offered three gifts,
by which some would have us understand the three parts _(h)_ of
philosophy.
[The reader will note that the two paragraphs following belong
more properly to the first part of the argument; they may be
inserted just before the third paragraph above,--"From all which
instances," etc.]
Finally in his exposition of the Psalms, Cassiodorus bears
witness that all the splendor of rhetorical eloquence, all the
melody of poetic speech, whatever variety there may be of
pleasing pronunciation, have their origin in divine Scriptures.
Hence also Ambrose says concerning the Epistle to the Colossians:
The sum total of celestial knowledge or of earthly creation is in
Him who is their Fountain-head and Author, so that he who knows
Him should not seek anything beyond, because He is goodness and
wisdom in their completeness; whatever is sought elsewhere, in
Him is found in its completeness. In Daniel and Solomon he shows
that He is for infidels the source of all their eloquence and
wisdom. Infidels do not so think, because they do not, in the
Gospels and the prophets, read about astrology and other such
like things, which are of slight _(i)_ worth because they avail
not for salvation, but lead to error; and whoever devotes himself
to these has no care for his soul; while he who knows Christ
finds a treasure house of wisdom and knowledge, because he knows
that which is of avail.
Hence Bede says in the Book of Kings:
=The clergy should not be prevented from reading profane
literature.[Q]=
He harms the mental acumen of readers, and causes it to wane, who
thinks that they should in every way be prevented from reading
profane books; for whatever useful things _(k)_ are found in them
it is lawful to adopt as one's own. Otherwise Moses and Daniel
would not have been allowed to become learned in the wisdom and
literature of the Egyptians and ...
(_h_) I.e. Ethics, natural philosophy, rational philosophy.
(_i_) Compared with other knowledge. John.
(_k_) He argues that the useful is not vitiated by the useless as XVII.
q. IV. questi s. dist. IX. si ad scripturas. Contra Joan.
...Chaldeans, whose superstitions and wantonness nevertheless
they shuddered at. And the teacher _(l)_ of the gentiles himself
would not have introduced _(m)_ some verses of the poets into his
own writings or sayings.
[On this Gratian comments:]
Then why[R] are those [writings] forbidden to be read which, it
...
(_l_) For we read that when Paul had come to Athens he saw an altar of
the Unknown God on which it was written: "This is an altar of[S] the
Unknown God in whom we live and move and have our being." And with this
inscription the Apostle began his exhortation and made known to those
Athenians the meaning of this inscription,--continuing about our God and
saying: "Whom you pronounce Unknown, Him declare I unto you and
worship." Then Dionysius,[T] the Areopagite, seeing a blind man passing
by said to him (i.e. Paul), "If you will give sight to that blind man I
will believe you." Immediately, when the name of Christ had been
invoked, he was restored to sight and Dionysius believed.
(_m_) E.g. In the Epistle of Paul to Titus,[U] the quotation from
Epimenides the poet: "The Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, slow
bellies." I. quaest, i. dominus declaravit.
Also he introduced in the first Epistle to the Corinthians this from
Menander: "Evil communications often corrupt good manners." XXVIII.
quaestio I. saepe.
He used also this verse: "I shall hate if I can: if not, I shall love
against my will." But Jerome in his fifth division on Consecration often
used verses from Virgil and Augustine, this of Lucan's: "Mens hausti
nulla" &c. XXVI. quaestio V. nee mirum. And, as a lawyer, he uses the
authority of Vergil, ff. de rerum divisione, intantrum § cenotaphium;
and also, of Homer, insti. de Dontrahen. emp. § pretium.
...is shown so reasonably, should be read? Some (_n_) read
profane literature for their pleasure, being delighted with the
productions of the poets and the charm of their words; while
others learn them to add to their knowledge, in order that
through reading the errors, of the heathen they may denounce
them, and that they may turn to the service of sacred and devout
learning the useful things they find therein. Such are
praiseworthy in adding to their learning profane literature.
Whence blessed Gregory did not blame a certain bishop for
learning it but because, contrary to his episcopal obligation, he
read grammar to the people in place of the Gospel lesson.
Hence also Ambrose writes concerning Luke:
=Profane writings should be read that they may not be unknown.=
Some we read (_o_) that we may not neglect (_a_) them; we read
that we may not be ignorant of them; we read not that we may
embrace them but that we may reject them.(_b_)
So Jerome on the Epistle to Titus:
=Grammar should be read in order that through it the Sacred
Scriptures may be understood.=
If anyone[V] has learned grammar or dialectics in order to have
the ability to speak correctly and to discriminate between the
true and the false, we do not blame them. Geometry (_c_) and
Arithmetic and Music contain truth in their own range of
knowledge, but that knowledge is not the knowledge of piety. The
knowledge of piety is,--to know the law, to understand the
prophets, to believe the Gospel, (and) not to be ignorant of the
Apostles. Moreover the teaching of the grammarians can contribute
to life, provided it has been applied to its higher uses.
Idem:
=From the example of Daniel it is established that it is not a
sin to be learned in profane literature.=[W]
(_n_) Whence Saint Gregory in his LXXXVI Division, and in many places.
(_o_) This entire section should be read with regard to profane
knowledge according to Jerome, and the threefold reason why it should be
acquired is shown: namely that it be not neglected, that it be not
unknown, that it may be refuted[X]. So we read some, as the Old and New
Testament, that we may not neglect them. Some we read (as the Arts) that
we may not be ignorant of them. Some, as the writings of the heretics,
that we may refute them. Some (we read) that they be not neglected, as
the Old Testament.
(_a_) For although of no use yet knowledge of them is necessary, as in
dist. VII. cap. ult.
(_b_) As the books of heretics. As XXIV. quaestio III. cap. ult.
(_c_) Geometry. He does not mention Astronomy because this subject has
fallen into disuse as XXVJ. quaest. II. § his ita.
Those who are unwilling to partake of the table (_d_) [i.e. meat]
and wine of the king, that they may not be defiled, surely would
never consent to learn that which was unlawful if they knew that
(_e_) the wisdom and learning of the Babylonians was sinful. They
learn, however, not that they may conform thereto, but that they
may judge and convict. For example, if any one ignorant of
mathematics should wish to write against the mathematicians, he
would expose himself to ridicule; also in contending against the
philosophers, if he should be ignorant of the dogmas of the
philosophers. With this intent therefore they would learn the
wisdom of the Chaldeans just as Moses had learned all the wisdom
of the Egyptians. So too: If ever we are compelled to call to
mind profane literature, and from it to learn things we before
had omitted, it is not a matter of our personal desire, but, so
to speak, of the weightiest necessity,--in order that we may
prove that those events which were foretold (_f_) many ages ago
by the holy prophets are contained (_g_) in the writings of the
Greeks, as well as in those of the Latins and other Gentiles.
So, too, from the synod of Pope Eugene:
=Bishops should appoint teachers and instructors in suitable
places.=[Y]
The report has come to us with regard to certain regions that
neither teachers, nor care for the pursuit of letters, is found.
Therefore, in every way, care and diligence should be used by all
the bishops among the peoples subject to them, and in other
places where the necessity may arise, that teachers and
instructors be appointed to teach assiduously the pursuit of
letters and the principles of the liberal arts, because in them
especially are the divine commands revealed and declared.
Likewise Augustine in his book against the Manichaeans:
=The vanity of the gentiles is repressed and refuted by the use
of their own authorities.=
If the Sibyl or Orpheus or other soothsayers of the gentiles,
(_d_) Daniel, Ananias, Misael[Z], Azarias.[AA] For it is disgraceful
for one who is in a discussion not to know the law in question.