This book presents the first full-scale study of the Tractatus de
penitentia (C.33 q.3) in Gratian's Decretum, which became the
textbook for canon law and served as the basis of the church's
developing jurisprudence, in theory and in practice. The treatise on
penance stands out as a distinct, overtly theological section of
Gratian's work and was long suspected of being a later addition to the
Decretum. As a result, the treatise has not received thorough
treatment and has often not been included in scholars' general
discussions of Gratian's work, its nature, and its purpose. Manuscript
discoveries in the 1990s proved the treatise to be authentic and to be
part of Gratian's early drafting of his text. This study examines the
treatise in its entirety, providing a commentary on the content of the
treatise (which extends beyond questions of penance) and an
examination
of its relationship to the early twelfth-century schools, positing above
all a connection to the school of Anselm of Laon. The study also
re-examines the question of the nature and purpose of Gratian's
Decretum in light of the original inclusion of De penitentia and of
Gratian's role as a teacher, or master.
The second half of the book traces the influence of De penitentia in
the second half of the twelfth century and through the pontificate of
Innocent, culminating in the Fourth Lateran Council (1215). That period
was crucial for the development of systematic theology and
ecclesiastical jurisprudence. Nevertheless, the period was also one in
which boundaries between academic fields were far from solidified, which
the treatment of De penitentia by various intellectuals demonstrates.
The period witnessed as well the development of new kinds of penitential
literature and an increase of business at the papal curia. Gratian's De
penitentia exercised influence in both realms. In brief, Gratian's De
penitentia constituted the fundamental text on penance in the period.
