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Glossa ordinaria (Accursius)

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This article is about the collection of glossatorial annotations to the Corpus Iuris Civilis. For other uses, see Glossa ordinaria (disambiguation).

Glossa ordinaria
A page of a 13th century manuscript of the Codex Iustinianus with the Glossa ordinaria by Accursius
AuthorAccursius
LanguageLatin
SubjectCorpus Iuris Civilis
Publishedc. 1250 (as a manuscript), 1476 (as a book [an incunable])
Media typeGloss

The Glossa ordinaria (also known as Glossa magna, Glossa magistralis and Glossa accursiana) is a collection of 96,940 marginal annotations (glossa marginalis) in Latin by the Italian jurist Accursius (c. 1181/1185–1259/1263) on the Corpus Iuris Civilis, a collection of Roman law by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565).

Modern scholarship contends that the Glossa ordinaria maintained its authoritative status as leading commentary on the Corpus Iuris Civilis in Europe up to the 17th century, which is signified by the adage "Quidquid non agnoscit Glossa, non agnoscit curia" ('Whatever the Gloss does not recognize, the court does not recognize').

Name

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The name Glossa ordinaria refers to fact that the gloss by Accursius was the "ordinary" or "standard" gloss on the Corpus Iuris Civilis.[1]

Author, development and usage

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Author

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Portrait of Accursius by Cristofano dell'Altissimo

Accursius (c. 1181/1185 – c. 1259/1263)[2] was an Italian jurist born near Florence who studied at the University of Bologna under Azo and Jacobus Balduinus.[2] Some time before 1220, he started teaching law at this university.[2] He was highly regarded for his teaching and became rich – his large palace in Bologna is now part of the Palazzo d'Accursio. Some scholars contend that he participated in extortionate transactions with students and accepted gifts during examination procedures.[2]

Accursius was part of the school of glossators in Bologna, who annotated the Corpus Iuris Civilis with glossa interlinearis ('interlinear gloss') or glossa marginalis ('marginal gloss') and made this Byzantine law collection of the 6th century practical and useful for the circumstances and needs of Europe in the 13th century.[3]

Development

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Work on the Glossa ordinaria probably started in the 1220s and modern scholarship contends that it continued for several decades and was probably completed around 1250.[4] The material for the Glossa ordinaria was gathered from earlier commentary by Azo, Hugolianus and Johannes Bassianus; Accursius did likely also use Odofredus, Symon Vincentius and Jacobus Balduinus.[4]

The Glossa ordinaria was the last of the glosses by the glossators. In the view of the legal scholar Robert Figueira, it "provide[s] an unsurpassed and exact reference to parallel and contrary texts within Corpus Iuris Civilis, and it absorbed, summarized, and perpetuated the work of many important earlier glossators for posterity".[3]

Usage

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The Glossa ordinaria was used in teaching and legal practise from the second half of the 13th century in Italy.[3] In Northern Italy, it held a dominant position in legal practise and during the 15th century it was still the starting point for Italian legal inquiry.[3] In France, it was not as well received, but still known.[3] In Germany, the Glossa ordinaria was known since the end of the 13th century. Its enduring influence is signified by the adage "Quidquid non agnoscit Glossa, non agnoscit curia" ('Whatever the Gloss does not recognize, the court does not recognize'), which was coined in 17th century Germany.[3] In Spain, it heavily influenced the Siete Partidas, while it even held formal legal value under the Portuguese Alfonsine Ordinances.[3] Modern scholarship argues that the Glossa ordinaria maintained its authoritative status in Europe up to the 17th century.[1]

Content

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Overview

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The Glossa ordinaria differs from earlier glossatorial work only in its completeness and its size;[4] it is the largest of the glosses.[5] It consists of 96,940 separate marginal annotations (glossae)[4] to all parts of the Corpus Iuris Civilis and the Libri Feudorum, which were compiled by the glossators.[4][6] The Glossa ordinaria contains about 2,000,000 words.[6]

The Glossa ordinaria uses various sigla to clarify which author is used as the authority for a specific marginal annotation. The referenced authorities are Azo (3,879 references), Johannes Bassianus (1,850 references), Hugolinus (1,030 references), Rogerius [Wikidata] (920 references), Martinus (590 references), Placentinus (520 references), Irnerius (330 references), Bulgarus (315 references), Albericus (230 references), Pillius (165 references), Jacobus (30 references) and Hugo (10 references).[6] Unusually for legal glosses, the Glossa ordinaria also references Canon law, if sparsely: The Decretum Gratiani is cited 260 times, while Papal decretals are cited 125 times.[6]

The popularity and usefulness of the Glossa ordinaria rests on the completeness of its analysis of the Corpus Iuris Civilis and Accursius' ability to avoid contradictions within the Corpus Iuris Civilis. He stated that all contradictions could be resolved ("omnia contraria possunt solvi").[3]

Example

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To illustrate what a gloss of the Glossa ordinaria is, the following example is provided – being the gloss to Dig. 47.11.4.[a]

'that is, to have an abortion'; and v. exilium: "before the fortieth day [from conception, the woman cannot be held liable for homicide], since beforehand the [fetus] was not yet a human being, while afterwards she can be held liable for homicide according to Mosaic Law or according to the lex Lege Pompeia on parricide, as in Dig. 48. 9. 1, Cod. 9. 16. 7(8), and Dig. 48. 8. 8. – Accursius

— Accursius[7]

Modern recognition

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The modern recognition of the Glossa ordinaria differs: In the 19th century, the leading German jurist Friedrich Carl von Savigny, was critical of the work.[8] He argued that Accursius was a "collector without judgment" ("urtheilsloser Sammler"),[9] nevertheless acknowledging that the Glossa ordinaria was of similar value for later centuries as the Corpus Iuris Civilis itself ("[...] muss der Glosse des Accursius ein ähnliches Verdienst für spätere Zeitalter zugeschrieben werden, wie den Rechtssammlungen Justinians").[10] Afterwards, a more positive reception prevailed.[11] Otto von Gierke, an acclaimed German jurist and historian of the 19th and 20th century, noted that the Glossa ordinaria "remains the starting point of modern jurisprudence".[12]

The most recent evaluation of the work by the German legal scholar Horst Heinrich Jakobs [de] in 2017 is glowing:

Zu dessen und seiner Arbeit Charakter – zu Accursius wird hier kaum noch etwas zu sagen sein. Er war ein Mann, den 'fleißig' zu nennen lächerlich wäre. Er war ein Mann von schier unerschöpflicher Arbeitskraft, von umfassender Kenntnis des Details aller libri legales, ausgestattet mit einem Ordnungssinn, der seinesgleichen schwerlich finden wird, mit einem, was die in seinen Vorlagen vorhandene Qualität betrifft, fast untrüglichen Urteilsvermögen, ein Redaktor der Glosse von höchster Perfektion.

To his and his work's character – there will hardly be anything more to say about Accursius here. He was a man whom it would be ridiculous to call 'industrious'. He was a man of almost inexhaustible productivity, of comprehensive knowledge of the details of all libri legales, endowed with a sense of order that is hard to match, with an almost unerring judgement of the quality of former glosses, an editor of glosses of the highest perfection.

— Horst Heinrich Jakobs[13]

Editions

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A page of a 1495 print the Digestum infortiatum[b] with the Glossa ordinaria of Accursius and the Summaria of Hieronymus Clarius

Around 1,200 manuscripts of the Glossa ordinaria are known.[3] The first print of the work was done in Mainz in 1476.[4] Additionally, it was, inter alia, printed in Venice in five parts in 1487–1489. This edition was reprinted in Turin by Ex Officina Erasmiana as part of the Corpus Glossatorum Iuris Civilis series (volumes 7–11) in 1968 and 1969.[4] The individual volumes are:

  • Accursii Glossa in Digestum vetus. Corpus Glossatorum Iuris Civilis (in Latin). Vol. 7. Turin: Ex Officina Erasmiana. 1969. OCLC 123217764.[c]
  • Accursii Glossa in Digestum infortiatum. Corpus Glossatorum Iuris Civilis (in Latin). Vol. 8. Turin: Ex Officina Erasmiana. 1968. OCLC 4458578.[b]
  • Accursii Glossa in Digestum novum. Corpus Glossatorum Iuris Civilis (in Latin). Vol. 9. Turin: Ex Officina Erasmiana. 1969.[d]
  • Accursii Glossa in Codicem. Corpus Glossatorum Iuris Civilis (in Latin). Vol. 10. Turin: Ex Officina Erasmiana. 1968.[e]
  • Accursii Glossa in Volumen. Corpus Glossatorum Iuris Civilis (in Latin). Vol. 11. Turin: Ex Officina Erasmiana. 1969.[f]

No modern critical edition of the Glossa ordinaria exists.[15]

See also

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References

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Notes

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  1. ^ Dig. 47.11.4 Marcianus libro primo regularum. Divus Severus et Antoninus rescripserunt eam, quae data opera abegit, a praeside in temporale exilium dandam: indignum enim videri potest impune eam maritum liberis fraudasse. ('Marcianus, Rules, Book I. The Divine Severus and Antoninus stated in a Rescript that a woman who purposely produces an abortion on herself should be sentenced to temporary exile by the Governor; for it may be considered dishonorable for a woman to deprive her husband of children with impunity.')
  2. ^ a b The Digestum Infortiatum contains book 24 title 3 to book 38 of the Digesta.[14]
  3. ^ The Digestum vetus contains books 1 to 24 title 2 of the Digesta.[14]
  4. ^ The Digestum novum contains books 39 to 50 of the Digesta.[14]
  5. ^ Codicem contains books 1 to 11 of the Codex Justinianus.[14]
  6. ^ Volumen contains parts of the Novellae Constitutiones, the Codex Justinianus and the Institutiones Iustiniani.[14]

Citations

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  1. ^ a b Hatzimihail 2024, p. 80.
  2. ^ a b c d Dorn 2017, p. 13.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Figueira 2004, p. 438.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Dorn 2017, p. 16.
  5. ^ Dorn 2017, p. 14.
  6. ^ a b c d Figueira 2004, p. 437.
  7. ^ Cavallar & Kirshner 2020, p. 454.
  8. ^ Kästle-Lamparter 2020, p. 179.
  9. ^ von Savigny 1829, p. 259.
  10. ^ von Savigny 1829, p. 267.
  11. ^ Dorn 2017, p. 15.
  12. ^ Kästle-Lamparter 2020, p. 106.
  13. ^ Jakobs 2017, p. 443.
  14. ^ a b c d e Gesamtkatalog 2024.
  15. ^ Figueira 2004, p. 439.
  16. ^ Klein 1959, p. 242.

Sources

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Further reading

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