What impact did the False Decretals have on Gratian's collection of Canon law?

Upvote:0

I don't know if a copy of the False Decretals is available in English, but I do know that the 'Decretum' falsely ascribes 9 latin words of pseudo-Ambrose (Contumelia creatoris solvit jus matrimonii circa eum qui relinquitur) to Pope St. Gregory the Great. They were written by pseudo-Ambrose about 1st Corinthians 7:15 in a 4th century commentary, and they translate as follows:

"Contempt for the Creator dissolves the law of marriage for the one who is abandoned"

The source is: http://legalhistorysources.com/Canon%20Law/MARRIAGELAW.htm. The erroneous word above is "dissolves" (Latin: solvat), because it implies that Paul meant "no longer bound by law" (Greek: ouketi deo nomos) when he wrote "not in servitude" (Greek: ou douloo). Paul uses the words "deo nomos" when he refers to a wife being "bound by law" for as long as her husband lives (Rom 7:2, 1Cor 7:39). But in 1Cor 7:15, Paul was not referring to being no longer bound by law; he was only referring to not being in servitude.

The error of pseudo-Ambrose became the basis for the "Pauline Privilege", which Innocent III promulgated in 1199. But Innocent promulgated it based upon his belief that Pope St. Gregory the Great had promulgated the words of pseudo-Ambrose, as the 'Decretum' claims. If there is an exception to papal infallibility, then this would be it: a reigning pope building off of something that was falsely ascribed to a previous pope.

Damage control is defined as "action taken to limit the damaging effects of an accident or error"; and this is exactly what Innocent did when he decided to apply the "Pauline Privilege" only to the cases where the unbeliever is UNBAPTIZED. Since catholics baptize babies and do not marry anyone unbaptized, Innocent greatly limited the damaging effects of pseudo-Ambrose's error. This damage control held for 766 years, and then it was replaced with a different damage control (the annulment process) in 1965.

The annulment process made it possible to annul the marriage when the unbeliever was BAPTIZED. Even though the annulment process is cumbersome, the number of annulments skyrocketed. But even this damage control (the annulment process) was removed 51 years later, in 2016, in footnote 351 of 'Amoris Laetitia' (Google Dubia Amoris Laetitia for details). So, it appears that a false decretal in the 9th century may have led to the collapse of Christian marriage in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Upvote:1

I will try an answer based on the one source I found online with a quick search. My answer relies on the summary in the review [2] on the book [1]. The whole book [1] gives more details. If someone has special questions in the comments and I have time, I will search it in the library.


The Pseudoisodorian Decretals were important for Gratian. 400 out of 4000 chapters of the Decretum Gratiani were "pseudoisidoric" ("psedoisidorianisch"). 220 of them deal with processual matters. For the justification of the papal primate Gratian used Pseudoisidor "fewer" ("weniger"). The direct sources of Gratian for these cittations are less clear.


[1] Fuhrmann, Horst: Einfluß und Verbreitung der pseudoisidorischen Fälschungen. Von ihrem Auftauchen bis in die neuere Zeit. (Schriften der Monumenta Germania« histórica 24, I-IIΙ.) Anton Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1972—1974. (title in English: Influence and distribution of pseudoisidoric counterfeits. From their emergence to newer times; 3 Volumes, intersting is here esp. Vol. 2)

[2] Landau, Peter: Horst Fuhrmann, Einfluß und Verbreitung der pseudoisidorischen Fälschungen. Von ihrem Auftauchen bis in die neuere Zeit. In: Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte. Kanonistische Abteilung, 1975, Vol.61(1), pp.377-392 (388f.). (buyable online)

More post

Search Posts

Related post