Collectio XXX capitulorum (De ratione matrimonii)

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Title Collectio XXX capitulorum
Key
Alternative title De ratione matrimonii
Size very small (less than 100 canons)
Century saec. VIII
European region of origin Southern Germany?
Main author Sven Meeder
Main author Christof Rolker
Structure by topic
No. of manuscripts many (10 to 99)


The canonical tract known as the De ratione Matrimonii is an excerpt from book 45 of the Collectio Hibernensis on marriage. Its earliest manuscript witnesses date from the early ninth century, but it is plausible that the tract was excerpted from a full copy of the Collectio Hibernensis in the eighth century. De ratione Matrimonii enjoyed a wide circulation: at least 24 manuscripts witnesses survive, of which most contain excerpts. The collection has been edited by Kunstmann in 1861 from a single manuscript witness: München, BSB, Clm 6242.

Contents and character

The opening of De ratione Matrimonii (Collectio XXX capitulorum) in Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, MS lat. 1370, fol. 90r [[1]]

The collection has thirty chapters with—in total—about 59 canonical rules on various aspects of marriage. In many of the manuscript witnesses, the chapters are numbered, and the title De ratione matrimonii occurs in most copies. Most of the tract's individual canons are introduced by an explicit attribution. As for named authorities, Jerome tops the list with 10 attributions, followed closely by Augustine with 9 attributions. Paul with 8 references (including one 'item'), while other biblical references include Isaias, Moses, Tobias, or ‘Lex’ and ‘in Euangelio’. In total 20 canons are explicitly linked to the Bible, with more biblical verses featured within some of the patristic canons.

The work is likely to have been one of these canonical works that functioned on a local level. It is a brief and practical tract on ‘legitimate marriage’ that stays away from the complex rules on consanguinity, inheritance, or doctrinal discussions. Instead, it offers moral guidelines on continence and chastity within marriage. The focus is very much on the prerequisites of 'legitimate' marriage and on preserving sexual continence within marriage. It emphasizes the spiritual danger of adultery and explains the grounds of divorce and the intricacies of remarriage. It appears to be a particularly useful work for practical advice on married life, with a lay audience in mind.

Manuscripts and transmission

There are at least 23 extant manuscripts which contain the De ratione Matrimonii, dating from as early as the early ninth century to as late as the twelfth, ranging geographically from northern France to Italy. Its earliest and most complete witnesses all seem to originate from southern Germany, which may be where the tract was first compiled. The sigla in the following table are those used by the editors of the critical edition-in-progress.

Sigla Manuscript Chapters
A Avranches, BM, 146 (saec. xi-xii) I-VIII
B Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek, Msc.Can.9, fols 203vff (saec. x-xii?) I-II, X-XI, XIIII, XVII, XVIII, XXII, XXVIII
B2 Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek, Msc.Can.9, fol 211r (saec. x-xii?) II
F Firenze, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Plut. XX 48 (saec. xiiin) ...
Fr Freiburg, Universitätsbibliothek, 8 (saec. ix2/2) I-VIII
L London, British Library, Cotton Cleopatra C.viii (saec. xex-xi1/2) I-V, VII, IX
Mo Montecassino, Biblioteca statale del Monumento nazionale di Montecassino, 1 (saec. xi4/4) ...
Mp Montpellier, Bibliothèque Interuniversitaire. Section de Médecine, H 137, fol. 229-230 (saec. xi-xii?) I-VIII
M1 München, BSB, Clm 6241 (saec. xex) I-II, X-XI, XIIII, XVII, XVIII, XXII, XXVIII
M2 München, BSB, Clm 6242 (shortly after 810) I-XXX
M3 München, BSB, Clm 6245 (saec. ixex-xiin) I-II, X-XI, XIIII, XVII, XVIII, XXII, XXVIII
Pa Palermo, Archivio della Cattedrale, 14 (saec. xii) ...
P1 Paris, BnF, lat. 3839 (saec. xi?) I-VIII
P2 Paris, BnF, lat. 3839A (saec. xi?) I-VIII
P3 Paris, BnF, lat. 3852, fols 2v-3r (saec. xex-xiin) I-VIII
P4 Paris, BnF, lat. 1557, fols 27vb-28rb (saec. ix3/4) ...
R Rouen, BM, 702 (E.27) (saec. xi) I-V, VII-VIII
V1 Città del Vaticano, BAV, Pal. lat. 973 (saec. ix2/2) II, XI
V2 Città del Vaticano, BAV, Reg. lat. 407 (1430) II, XI
V3 Città del Vaticano, BAV, Reg. lat. 421 (saec. xv) II, XI
V4 Città del Vaticano, BAV, Vat. lat. 3791 (saec. xiex) I-VIII
W1 Wien, ÖNB, Cod. 1370 (saec. ix1/2) I-XXX
W2 Wien, ÖNB, Cod. 2198, fols 81v-86v? (saec. x) I-II, X-XI, XIIII, XVII, XVIII, XXII, XXVIII
W3 Wien, ÖNB, Cod. 424, fols 7r-9v (partial) (saec. ix2/4) I-XXVIII

For the manuscripts, see also the Category:Manuscript of Collectio XXX capitulorum (21).


Literature

Kunstmann, ‘Das Eherecht des Bischofs Bernhard von Pavia mit einer geschichtlichen Einleitung I’, Archiv für Katholisches Kirchenrecht 6 (1861), pp. 3–13, 217–262; Maassen, Geschichte p. 885; Kéry, Collections p. 26.

Categories

  • belongs to: Hibernensis group
  • very small (less than 100 canons)
  • saec. VIII
  • Collection

DEFAULTSORT Collectio 030 capitulorum