Constitutiones Sirmondianae

Title	Constitutiones Sirmondianae
Key	CS
Alternative title	Sirmond’sche Constitutionensammlung
Size	Very small (less than 100 canons)
Terminus post quem	425
Terminus ante quem	438
Century	saec. V
Place of origin	Lyon
European region of origin	Southern France
General region of origin	Southern Europe and Mediterranean
Main author	Linda Fowler-Magerl

The Constitutiones Sirmondianae are a collection of Roman imperial constitutions assembled in southern Gaul, probably in the region of Lyon, between 425 and 438. All constitutions deal with ecclesiastical matters. The collection takes its name from Sirmond, who identified it in 1631. The recent supposition that the constitutions are forgeries made during the reign of Charles Martel and are contemporary with the forged Donation of Constantine is generally rejected for a number of reasons, one of which is the age of the manuscripts. Transmissions of the Constitutiones vary somewhat. The form containing 16 constitutions, which Theodor Mommsen edited, is the basis for the present analysis (CS). It is found in two 7th century Burgundian manuscripts: Sankt Petersburg, Russian National Library, F.v.II.3 / Berlin, SBPK, Phill. 1745 (= CLA 11 **1061) and in the 9th/10th century Burgundian Ms Paris, BnF, lat. 1452.

Literature

The Constitutiones Sirmondianae were edited by Theodor Mommsen and Paul M. Meyer, Theodosiani libri XVI cum constitutionibus Sirmondianis et leges novellae ad Theodosianum pertinentes, Berlin 1905 (reproduced 1970) 1.2, pp. 907–921. They were translated into English by Clyde Pharr, The Theodosian Code and Novels and the Sirmondian Constitutions, Princeton 1952, pp. 477–486. – Kéry, Collections p. 5–6.