Liber decretorum Dionysii
| Title | Liber decretalium Dionysii |
|---|---|
| Key | DX |
| Alternative title | Sammlung der Decretalen (Maassen) |
| Alternative title | Dekretalensammlung des Dionysius (Wurm) |
| Alternative title | The Decretal Collection (Firey) |
| Alternative title | Collectio Decretorum (d'Avray) |
| Size | Very small (less than 100 canons) |
| Terminus post quem | 496 |
| Terminus ante quem | 523 |
| Century | saec. VI |
| Place of origin | Rome |
| European region of origin | Central Italy |
| General region of origin | Southern Europe and Mediterranean |
| Main author | User:Christof Rolker |
Dionysius compiled a collection of decretals, using previous collections (not papal registers). Importantly, he distinguished between different kinds of papal letters and selected only "legal" (as opposed to "dogmatic") letters, a distinction that had a profound impact on Western canon law (d'Avray).
The Liber decretalium began with a dedicatory letter to a certain priest Julian followed by a capitulatio in the form of a numbered list of all rubrics of the decretals (Wurm p. 62).
Contents
The Liber decretalium does not have an independent manuscript tradition; it has to be reconstructed from later collections. According to Wurm's analysis, it originally contained 38 decretals and one imperial rescript (see Wurms pp. 62-81):
- Siricius, JK 255
- Innocent I, JK 311
- Innocent I, JK 286
- Innocent I, JK 293
- Innocent I, JK 314
- Innocent I, JK 315
- Innocent I, JK 316
- Innocent I, JK 304
- Innocent I, JK 317
- Innocent I, JK 313
- Innocent I, JK 297
- Innocent I, JK 302
- Innocent I, JK 301
- Innocent I, JK 309
- Innocent I, JK 306
- Innocent I, JK 308
- Innocent I, JK 305
- Innocent I, JK 310
- Innocent I, JK 307
- Innocent I, JK 318
- Innocent I, JK 299
- Innocent I, JK 303
- Zosimus, JK 339
- Zosimus, JK 345
- Boniface, JK 353
- Honorius see Maassen 320 / Wurm p. 71
- Boniface, JK 349
- Boniface, JK 362
- Celestine, JK 381, followed by a short florilegium
- Celestine, JK 369
- Celestine, JK 371
- Leo I, JK 402
- Leo I, JK 405
- Leo I, JK 414
- Leo I, JK 416
- Leo I, JK 544
- Leo I, JK 411
- Leo I, JK 536
- Leo I, JK 410
- Gelasius I, JK 363
- Anastasius, JK 744
The latter three are additions not found in the "reine Dionysiana" according to Wurm p. 75:
The Collectio Dionysiana adaucta contains further additions from the letters of Leo I (Wurms p. 77)
The manuscripts
There are 2 manuscripts containing the Liber decretalium described in this Wiki. See Category:Manuscript of DX and the individual entries.
Maassen p. 431-432 lists Paris, BnF, lat. 3837 and Città del Vaticano, BAV, Vat. lat. 5845 as the only two complete manuscripts (decretal collection including praefatio).
Kéry p. 21 follows Maassen for Paris, BnF, lat. 3837 and Città del Vaticano, BAV, Vat. lat. 5845 plus two more containing "small collections of excerpts", namely Paris, BnF, lat. 3847 and Paris, BnF, lat. 10399.
Firey, Collection lists Paris, BnF, lat. 3837, Città del Vaticano, BAV, Vat. lat. 5845, but also Paris, BnF, lat. 3845 as containing the second version of the conciliar collection and the decretals.
Zechiel-Eckes, Erste Dekretale, pp. 50-51 assumes that the decretal collection was an integral part of the second version of the Dionysiana. He lists Paris, BnF, lat. 3837 (his Da), Città del Vaticano, BAV, Vat. lat. 5845 (his Db), and Modena, Biblioteca Capitolare, O.I.12 (his Dm) as "Codices der Dion. 2" (p. 50) containing JK 255.
d'Avray, Papal Jurisprudence p. 26, referring to the different lists in Kéry and Zechiel-Eckes, speaks of "two or three manuscripts" of Dionysius' decretal collection.
- Heith-Stade does not list manuscripts but suggests that the decretal collection was only known from the Dionysiana-Hadriana: "The Liber decretalium is known today from versions found in or retrieved from the Collectio Dionysiana-Hadriana" (p. 330).
Editions and Literature
For Justel's problematic edition, and scholarly literature, see Collectio Dionysiana II. In addition, see
Categories
- key is DX
- belongs to: Dionysiana group
- very small collection (i.e. 38 letters - not canons!)
- from Rome
- saec. VI
- entries based on Migne
