Canon Law

A body of ecclesiastical law, which originated in the church of Rome, relating to matters of which that church has or claims jurisdiction. A canon is a rule of doctrine or of discipline, and is the term generally applied to designate the ordinances of councils and decrees of popes. The position which the canon law obtains beyond the papal dominions depends on the extent to which It is sanctioned or permitted by the government of each country; and hence the system of canon law as it is administered in different countries varies somewhat. Though this system of law is of primary importance in Catholic countries alone, it still maintains great influence and transmits many of its peculiar regulations down through the jurisprudence of Protestant countries which were formerly Catholic. Thus, the canon law has been a distinct branch of the profession in the ecclesiastical courts of England for several centuries; but the recent modifications of the jurisdiction of those courts have done much to reduce its independent importance. The Corpus Juris Canonici is drawn from various sources,— the opinions of the ancient fathers of the church, the decrees of councils, and the decretal epistles and bulls of the holy see, together with the maxims of the civil law and the teachings of the Scriptures. These sources were first drawn upon for a regular ecclesiastical system about the time of Pope Alexander III., in the discovery of Justinian's Pandects, collected the ecclesiastical constitutions also into some method in three books, which he entitled Concordia Discordantium Canonum. These are generally known as Decretvm, Gratiani. The subsequent papal decrees to the time of the pontificate of Gregory IX. were collected in much the same method, under the auspices of that pope, about the year 1230, in five books, entitled Decretalia Gregorii Noni. A sixth book was added by Boniface

A body of ecclesiastical law, which originated in the church of Rome, relating to matters of which that church has or claims jurisdiction. A canon is a rule of doctrine or of discipline, and is the term generally applied to designate the ordinances of councils and decrees of popes. The position 'which the canon law obtains beyond the papal dominions depends on the extent to -which it Is sanctioned or permitted by the government of each country; and hence the system of canon law as It is administered in different countries varies somewhat. In the wording of a canon it is not enough to admonish or to express disapprobation; its wording must be explicitly permissive or prohibitory, backed by the provision, expressed or admittedly understood, that its infringement will be visited with punishment. Cent Diet. Though this system of law is of primary importance in Roman Catholic countries alone, it still maintains great influence and transmits many of its peculiar regulations down through the jurisprudence of Protestant countries which were formerly Roman Catholic. Thus, the canon law has been a distinct branch of the profession in the ecclesiastical courts of England for several centuries; but the recent modifications of the jurisdiction of those courts have done much to reduce its independent Importance. The Corpus Juris Canonici is drawn from various sources — the opinions of the ancient fathers of the church, the decrees of councils, and the decretal maxims of the civil law and the teachings of the Scriptures. These sources were first drawn upon for a regular ecclesiastical system about the of Pope Alexander III. (1139), when one Gratian, an Italian monk, animated by the discovtry of Justinian's Pandects, collected the ecclesiastical constitutions also into some method in tbr^e books, which he entitled Concordia Discordantium These are generally known as Decrtti They were never promulgated as a code, like the preceding. The subsequent papal decrees to the time of the pontificate of Gregory IX. were collected in much the same method, under the auspices of that pope, about the year 1234, in five books, entitled. talia Gregorii Nonii. A sixth book was adikd by Boniface VIII., about the year 1298, which is called Scxtus Decretaliutn, or Liber Sextus. The Clementine Constitution, or decrees of Clement V., were in like manner authenticated in 1313 by his successor, John XXII., who also published twenty constitutions of his own, called the extravagantes Joannis, so called because they were in addition to, or beyond the boundary of, the former collections, as the additions to the civil law were called Novels. To these have since been added some decrees of later popes, down to the time of Sixtus IV., in five books, called Extravagantes communes. And all t' gether — Gratian's Decrees, Gregory's Decretals, the Sixth Decretals, the Clementine Constitutions, and the Extravagants of John and his successors— form the Corpus Juris Canonici, or body of the Roman canon law; 1 Bla. Com. 82; Encyclopedic, Droit Canonique, Droit Public Ecclisiastique; Diet, de Jur. Droit Canonique; Erskine, Inst. b. 1, t. 1, s. 10. This body of canon law was the jus commune of the church in England. The English provincial constitutions merely formed a supplement to it and were valid only as interpreting or enforcing the papal decrees; 1 Holdsw. H. E. L. 355. It forms no part of the law of England, unless it has been brought into use and acted on there; 11 Q. B. 649. See generally Encycl. Br., sub voce, Canon Law; Maitland, Canon Law; Jenks' Teutonic Law; 1 Sel. Essays on Anglo-Amer. Leg. Hist. 46. See, in general, Ayliffe, Par. Jur. Can. Ang.; Shelford, Marr. & D. 19; Preface to Burn, Eccl. Law, Tyrwhitt ed. 22; Hale, Civ. L. 26; Bell's Case of a Putative Marriage, 203; Diet, du Droit Canonique; Stair, Inst. b. 1, t. 1, 7; 1 Poll. & Maitl. 90; 2 Sel. Essays on Anglo-Amer. Leg. Hist 258. See Extravagantes. CAN0NRY. An ecclesiastical benefice attaching to the office of canon. Holthouse, Diet.

A body of ecclesiastical jurisprudence which, in countries where the Roman Catholic church is established, is composed of maxims and rules drawn from patristic sources, oniinances and decrees of general councils, and the decretals and bulls of the popes. In England, according to Blackstone, there is a kind of national canon law, composed of legatine and provincial constitutions enacted in England pnor to the reformation, and adapted to the exigencies of the English church and kingdom. 1 Bl. Comm. 82. The canon law consists partly of certain rules taken out of the Scripture, partly of the writings of the ancient fathers of the church, partly of the ordinances of general and provincial councils, and partly of the decrees of the popes in former ages; and it is contained in two principal parts,
—the decrees and the decretals. The decrees are ecclesiastical constitutions made by the popes and cardinals. The decretals are canonical epistles written by the pope, or by the pope and cardinals, at the suit of one or more persons, for the ordering and determining of some matter of controversy, and have the authority of a law. As the decrees set out the origin of the canon law, and the rights, dignities, and decrees of ecclesiastical persons, with their manner of election, ordination, etc., so the decretals contain the law to be used in the ecclesiastical courts. Jacob.

Defined under Canon in Black's Law Dictionary.

[Lat. Jus canonicum, or Corpus juris canonici.] A collection of ecclesiastical constitutions for the regulation of the polity and disciptine of the church of Rome, consisting for the most part of ordinances of general and provincial councils, decrees promulgated by the popes with the sanction of the cardinals, and decretal epistles and bulls of the popes. 1 BL Com. 82. P. Cyclopcedia. The Corpus Juris Canonici consists, in particular, of the collections called Gratian's decree, (Decretum Oratiani, q. v.); Gregory's decretals, {Decretalia Chegorii Noni, q. V.); the sixth decretal, or Sext, {Sezttis Decretalium, q. v.); the Clementine constitutions, (Clem>entincB,(\^Y.); and the Extravagants of John, {Extravagantes Joannis,) and his successors, {Extravagantes communes, qq. v.) 1 BL Com. 82. It was at first only a private collection, and was confirmed by Pqpe Gregory XIII. in the year 1680. 1 Mackeld. Civ. Law, 81, § 93, Kaufmar Cs note. Canon Law of England. A kind of national canon law, composed of legatine and provincial constitutions enacted in England prior to the reformation, and adapted to the exigencies of the English church and kingdom.* 1 Bl. Com. 82. See Lega Hne constitutions y Provincial constitutions. At the time of the Reformation it was provided bjr statute 25 Henry VIII. c. 19, that a review should be had of the canon law; and till such review should be made, all canons, constitutions, ordinances and synodals provincial, being then already made, and not repugnant to the law of the land, or the kuig's prerogative, should still be used and executed. As no such review, however, was ever perfected, the authority of the canon law in England now depends upon this statute. 1 BL Com, 83. See 4 Reeves' Hist. Eng. Law, ch. xxiv. xxv. 6 Co. Caudrey's case. Lord Thurlow, C, 2 Dick. 716. 1 Story's Eq. Jur. § 279, note.

see Law, Canon.