Papal Immunity and Liability in the Writings of the Medieval Canonists

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The interest in the history of the development of canon law has been focused primarily on the writings of the large body of canonist who were active from the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries. Within this period, the writings of the canonist who lived in the century between Gratian and Gregory IX are of special importance. One result of the promulgation of the Gregorian Decretals was that it mad the formidable production of canonical literature of the preceding one hundred years largely obsolete for practical purposes. Points disputed in the earlier authors were often settled by subsequent legislation, and older interpretations were no longer compatible with the official text. The net result of it all was that the immense output of canonical exegesis in the form of Summae, Distinctiones, Notabilia, Generalia, and other literary forms - the work of an entire century - soon fell into oblivion. Until recently, studies in this field were the concern of a small group of scholars. Now a challenging project is underway to make available in printed editions the canonistic treasures of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Heretofore these works have been extant only in manuscript form, scattered throughout the libraries of Europe