History of Canon Law

Final Essay     Due: December 14, 2002.

1. As canon law took its place besides Roman law in the  Ius commune canonistic jurisprudence became central to European legal thought.   Using the first twenty distinctions of his Decretum describe Gratian=s first attempt to formulate a doctrine of law and legislative authority in canon law and in the Ius commune. Outline the progress of legislative doctrine from "all law is custom" to "all law resides in legislative institutions."   Describe how Gratian's conception of law differed from that of the compilers of canonical collections in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

 2. Discuss the establishment of canonical procedure, the ordo iudiciarius, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.  Trace its importance in the period from 1300 to 1700.   

3. Discuss how jurists in the medieval and early modern periods created legal norms and individual rights. Give at least four examples of the norms that they created.   Pennington's essays on rights are necessary reading for this question!

4.  Describe the role of the canonists in medieval society from ca. 1200 to 1500. 

5. Why did the papacy stop producing official collections of their decretal legislation after ca. 1330?  What role did the papacy have in shaping canon law from ca. 1330 to 1917? 

6.  Compare and contrast the role of councils in the church from Apostolic Times to Vatican II. 

Write an essay covering each of these points. It should be typed, double-spaced, and proofread. The margins of the esaay should be one inch on each side and the font size should be 12 point. Be sure to paginate the final typescript. In the essay, each new section should have a number corresponding to the above sections.