The Decretals, then, which we so often meet with in public libraries
under various names, are the canons which mainly constitute the Canon
Law. Strictly speaking they are the papal epistolary decrees (decreta),
said to have existed from very early times. In the ninth century a
collection of them was formed, or manufactured, in the name of the
celebrated Isidore of Seville. But with the donation of Constantine to
Pope Sylvester and many others in the later compilation of Gratian,
these are usually looked upon as spurious and false. The great and
authorised collection was completed by a simple Benedictine monk of St.
Felix, in Bologna, a native of Chiusi, the ancient Clusium, in Tuscany,
a man so learned in the law as to have earned the title of "Magister."
This is the work often richly illuminated which goes by the name of the
"Decretum Gratiani."[43] When glancing over the lovely initials and
beautiful foliages or resplendent ornaments, we are apt to overlook the
work itself which is truly monumental; being a summary of the papal
epistolary decrees, the synodal canons of 150 councils, selections from
various regal codes, extracts from the Fathers, and comments of
Schoolmen; all methodically arranged and digested so as to facilitate
its use as a manual for the schools.
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