Folia Theologica 14. (2003)
Szabolcs Anzelm Szuromi: A Turning Point in the History of the General Councils of the West in the 13th Century (A Critical Summary on the Importance of the Constitutions of the Fourth Lateran Council [1215] According to its Theological, Canonical and Historical Aspect)
176 SZ. A. SZUROMI Prima.85 However, after the papal promulgation of the 70 (71) canons of Lateran Council IV, an independent collection (Constitutiones Concilii Lateranensis IV) was assembled which was disseminated throughout the universities.86 Later, in 1216, Johannes Teutonicus, a canonist at Bologna, compiled a new decretal collection. The name of this new compilation was the Compilatio Quarta. The Compilatio Quarta contained the canons of Lateran IV as well as the decrees of Pope Innocent III from the time before Lateran IV. Johannes Teutonicus wrote a commentary upon this the Compilatio Quarta which became the Glossa Ordinaria and was used as the standard commentary in university lectures.87 Due to the vast amount of canonical material which had been assembled by the pontificate of Gregory IX, Pope Gregory requested St. Raymond of Penafort, a Dominican friar and well known canonist, to organize and systematize a new collection of decretals from the previous five Compilationes.88 This compilation is called the Decretales Gregorii IX (or the Liber Extra), and was promulgated on September 5, 1234 by the Holy father. Moreover, it is very possible that it was sent to the University of Bologna and to the University of Paris as well. Upon reading the Liber Extra, one recognizes that the introduction to the whole volume is canon 1 of Lateran IV which, as you recall, contained a Creed of the Catholic Faith. In fact, the Liber Extra is comprised mainly from material of Lateran councils III and IV.89 Among canonical collections up to that time, the Liber Extra was the most widespread, and for quite some time its contents provided the foundation for canonical theory, as well as for the day-to-day juridical decisions made by ecclesiastical magistrates. It was typical for canonical collections to have attached commentaries and glosses, and the text of Lateran IV was no exception. Among the more famous glosses upon the constitutiones Concilii Lateranensis90 we find those written by Vincentius Hispanus,91 Joannes Teutonicus,92 and 85 ERDŐ, P., Die Quellen, 116. 86 GARCIA Y GARCÍA, A., Constitutiones Concilii quarti Lateranensis una cum Commentariis glossatorum (Monumenta iuris canonici A/2), Città del Vaticano 1981. cf. GARCÍA Y GARCÍA, A., The Fourth Lateran Council and the Canonists, Washington 1996. 8-12. 87 ERDŐ, P., Die Quellen, 118-119. ERDŐ, P., Storia della scienza del diritto canonico. Una introduzione, Roma 1999. 64, 68.
