Pseudoisidore, False Decretals

The False Decretals (IS) are the most famous part of the Pseudo-Isidorian forgeries. Despite its name, the collection is actually a combination of decretals and conciliar canons, mixing genuine, forged, and interpolated materials. The material is largely arranged chronologically.

Versions

Since Hinschius' editions, scholarship refers to six versions of the forgeries which emerged very early in the tradition of the False Decretals: A1, A2, A/B, B, C, and the Cluny version. Versions A1, A/B, B and C contain all three major parts (decretals, councils, decretals). The A2 version contains only decretals; it contains the complete first decretal part but only part of the second (ending with some, not all, of the letters of Damasus).

Contents (A1 version)

The most complete version (Hinschius' "A1") contains:

• Preface
• Decretals from Clement I to Melchiades
  • Correspondence between Aurelius of Carthage and Damasus I
  • A conciliar ordo
  • table of contents
  • 50 Canones Apostolorum
  • 60 Decretals dfrom Clement/Anaclete to Meclhiades
• Councils
  • De primitiva ecclesia
  • Constitutum Constantini
  • Quo tempore actuum sit Nicenum concilium
  • Epistola vel praefatio Niceni concilii
  • Canons of 54 councils from the Greek councils up to and including Toledo XIII of 683
  • The Capitula of Martin of Braga are found in between the conciliar canons
• Decretals (and conciliar canons) from Silvester I to Gregory II
• Some 25 decretals and other pieces (pre-Pseudoisidorian forgeries, Pseudoisidorian forgeries, genuine materials)

Manuscripts

According to Fuhrmann, there are "at least" 115 manuscripts, not counting excerpts. 80 copies are listed in Schafer-Williams' guide.

The False Decretals in the Database

The present analysis (IS) includes only the forged decretals from Clement to Damasus. These decretals have the original rubrics of the forgers. The Clavis databse entries are based on the edition of Paul Hinschius, Decretales Pseudo-Isidorianae (Leipzig 1863); online.

Editions (Past and Future)

The False Decretals are commonly cited from Hinschius' edition, the shortcomings of which have often been commented upon. A new (online) edition

• Karl-Georg Schon from 2004 to 2006 published his findings on the MGH homepage: https://www.pseudoisidor.mgh.de
• Eric Knibbs reported on his findings on his blogs
  • from 2010 to 2016 https://pseudoisidore.blogspot.com/
  • from 2016 to 2020 (no longer online) https://web.archive.org/web/20220417022934/https://pseudo-isidore.com/

Literature

Kéry, Collections p. 100; Fuhrmann in Fuhrmann/Jasper pp. 137-195.

Categories

• Collection
• saec. IX
• this article lacks an infobox and categories
• belongs to: Pseudo-Isidorian Forgeries
• large (1000 to 2000 canons) collection