The Poetical Sermon of a Mediæval Jurist: Placentinus and His 'Sermo de Legibus'Author(s): Hermann KantorowiczReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of the Warburg Institute, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Jul., 1938), pp. 22-41Published by: The Warburg InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/750022 .Accessed: 22/04/2012 04:44

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THE POETICAL SERMON OF A MEDIEVAL JURIST Placentinus and his 'Sermo de Legibus'

By Hermann Kantorowicz

I

Placentinus was one of the most influential and renowned jurists of the

I2th century; and his fame, unlike the reputation of most of the other glossators, has continuously grown since. It was kept alive during the Middle Ages by the extensive use made of his Glosses and other works in the most important books of mediaeval legal science, the Summa Codicis of Azo and the Glossa ordinaria of Accursius; both quote him constantly under P., the siglum of his glosses. In the I6th century his three chief works, the Libellus de actionum varietatibus, the Summa Institutionum, and the Summa Codicis, were printed at Mainz by a certain Nicolaus Rhodius; his Summa Trium Librorum had already been printed repeatedly with the Summa Azonis. In the last hundred years several of his Glosses and many other minor writings have by the industry of German, French and Italian scholars been edited for the first time. His fame would have been still greater had it been recognized that the Quaestiones de iuris subtilitatibus, edited as a work of Irnerius, are in all probability by Placentinus, who was a pupil of one of Irnerius' pupils.

One writing, on which he seems to have prided himself particularly, has hitherto remained undiscovered : his Sermo de legibus. I propose to demonstrate in the following pages that it is identical with the writing here published (p. 36.) His four biographers believed it to be lost.' As for the anonymous Sermo contra Pseudolegistas 'Interroga iumenta', the editor says that the authorship of Placentinus and the identity with the Sermo de legibus are neither provable nor probable, though possible.2 Even this mere possibility must be denied : the editor himself, a most competent critic, calls the sermon a legal tract of the less ingenious kind and written in a jejune style. But there is general agreement among the few experts that Placentinus was, though not the soundest, the most brilliant and independent of the glossators, that he was a classical scholar and poet as well as a jurist, that his style was of a rare vigour and elegance, and that his character,

1 Sarti, De claris archigymnasii Bononiensis professoribus, I (1769), 2nd ed. (I896), p. 79; v. Savigny, Gesch. d. Rom. Rechts im Mittelalter, IV (1826), 2nd ed. (I85o), p. 284; Castelnau, MeAmoires de la soc. arche'ol. de Montpellier, I, 1840, pp. 490, 504; de Tourtoulon, Placentin, I, 1896, p. 276f.

2 Seckel, "Zwei Reden aus mittelalter- lichen Rechtshandschriften", Philotesia fiir P. Kleinert, 1907, pp. I6, I7, n. 70; cf. also p. 14. The edition of the sermo is the only one among Seckel's many editions which is not beyond praise. Correct e.g. p. 4

(three times) for 'scientie scolares' : 'scientie seculares'; p. 4 n. n) for 'honorando' : '(h)onerando' (as in the MS); p. 4 n. q) for 'interrogata et': 'inter quas (as in the MS, supplying perhaps 'et civilis sapientia connumeratur') et'; p. 5 n. s) for 'quod' : 'que' (as in the MS, sc. 'sapientia'); p. 6 n. 13 : the quotation is from Eph. 4,8; p. 7 n. t) : add 'uidetur' ('ii' the MS); p. 7 n. w) for 'nullum' : 'actum'; p. 8 n. x) for 'uel.' : 'sil.'; p. 8 n. 24 : the quotation is from C. 6, 35, I I, 3

22

THE POETICAL SERMON OF A MEDIEVAL JURIST 23

as revealed in his works, was vehement, satirical, conceited and polemical in the extreme. He had as much of the mentality of the fifteenth-century humanist as of the I2th century scholastic, and this is demonstrated by his restless life, for which there is no parallel among the other glossators. The history of his life provides the argument for the identification of the Sermo de legibus, and as the existing biographies are out of date, it must here be sketched.

II

Placentinus was a citizen of Piacenza, and proud of the fact.' The family seems to have come from a distant small fortified place high up in the mountains, for in a Bolognese document of the early I3th century his grandson is called 'Savinus nepos magistri Placentini, filius Alberti Vallis Tari de Placentia.'2 This locality is Valdetarium or Burgum de Valle Tarii,3 the present Borgo Val di Taro in the contado of Piacenza. Its oldest name was Torresana, the 'Strong Tower'.

Under the social conditions of the I2th century a layman of the wide culture of Placentinus cannot have sprung from a family of peasants and shepherds : his family may have been the lords of the village. This is confirmed by the fact that, as he himself tells us, his 'consanguinei' urged him to lecture at Piacenza.4 Both facts exclude the usual theory which explains his name on the grounds that he was of obscure origin.5 If none but the topographical name is ever mentioned, the reason may be that his real name was an unusual one. The baptismal name of a Placentine can hardly have been Placentinus; it was perhaps Savinus, for grandsons were often called after their grandfathers. If our jurist's name were Savinus de Valle Tari de Placentia it would be only natural and quite in keeping with Italian habits to call him El Piacentino.

He seems to have studied at Bologna, for he never calls Bulgarus, the great Bolognese glossator by any other name than his honorary title 'Os aureum,'6 probably because he had been his apprentice and therefore tied to him by bonds of reverent allegiance. The additions he wrote to Bulgarus' comment on the title of the Digest, De regulis iuris, may well have been his first work.7 But the teacher who influenced him more than any other was certainly Rogerius, probably also from Piacenza but then teaching at Bologna, the only jurist Placentinus ever cites by name in all his writings.8 This period of study must have fallen within the fifties

1 Placentinus, Summa Codicis, VI, p. 49 : 'Civitas Placentina, unde mihi origo est nomenque accepi" (quoted from the MSS; cf. D. 50, 15, I, pr.)

2 Sarti, op. cit., p. 77 n. 6. 3 Cf. Joh. Codagnelli, Annales Placentini,

ed. Holder-Egger, SS.RG., 1901, pp. 18, 23, 92 f. I have to thank the Capo dell' Archivio of Piacenza for informations on this point.

4 Summa Trium librorum, prooem. (quoted from * Cod. Leiden d'Ablaing 3).

5 Savigny, op. cit., IV, p. 249; Tourtoulon, op. cit., p. 63; Wahrmund, Quellen, IV, 3 (I925), p. X.

6 Savigny, p. 82 n. b, p. Io9 n. g; Tour- toulon, p. 72 n. I.

SEd. (with the additions) by Beckhaus, 1856.

S Kantorowicz (with the collaboration of W. W. Buckland), Studies in the Glossators of the Roman Law, 1938, p. 126. (henceforth Studies).

24 HERMANN KANTOROWICZ

of the 12th century. Whether he supplemented his studies at Bologna by some elementary teaching as was usual in later times and perhaps even then, we do not know; the first place in which we know him to have taught is Mantua. It is certain that here he wrote, in addition to several small summulae,' his tract on actions, the Libellus de actionum varietatibus, for it begins 'Cum essem Mantue ibique iuris scientie precepta pluribus auditoribus traderem'.2 In the preface to this famous tract, which was probably written in the early sixties, he calls himself a 'juvenis'. The work is partly based on one still more famous, the Quaestiones de iuris subtilitatibus, and it is highly probable that this too is by Placentinus, who seems to have written it c. I I6o at Mantua.3 The model for both these treatises was a work of Rogerius, the Enodationes Quaestionum.4 All three works have a trait in common which is foreign to the strictly Bolognese school, but characteristic of the school of Rogerius : they pretend to voice the opinions of the goddess Jurisprudentia herself. The Enodationes of Rogerius is (like other works of his) a dialogue between 'Rogerius' and 'Jurisprudentia'; the Quaestiones de iuris subtilitatibus of his pupil Placentinus is a dialogue between 'Auditor' and 'Iuris Interpres'; the preface to his Libellus de actionum varietatibus describes how Jurisprudentia actually presented him with this book; and finally, the goddess appears in most of the works of Placentinus' pupil Pillius.5

Where Placentinus went after leaving Mantua is not certain; there is no reason to believe that he returned to Bologna,6 and no reason for doubting that he went immediately to Montpellier. He is generally credited with having founded the law-school of this Provengal town, but it is more probable that he succeeded his teacher Rogerius there after the death of the latter,7 which must have occurred about I170. It is certain from his own often repeated words, and particularly from the autobiographical preface to his Summa Trium Librorum, that he wrote his greatest work, the Summa Codicis, in this town, first completing the Summa Codicis of Rogerius (roughly books V-IX) and then rewriting the first part (books I-IV). Placentinus' summa on the Code was used by Sicardus in his summa on the Decretum Gratiani,8 which he wrote between 1179 and I181;9 thus Placentinus must have written his own summa in the seventies. At the same time and place he wrote his other chief work, the Summa Institutionum-the two works quote and supplement each other-and probably many or most of his numerous glosses,'0 including several distinctiones." In the Summa Codicis as well as

1 Cf. Savigny, IV, p. 282 f.; Pescatore, Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung. Roman. Abtei- lung (henceforth : Z.) IX, I888, pp. I53, 157 f.; id., Beitrdge zur mittelalterlichen Rechtsge- schichte, II, 1889, p. 6 ff.; Seckel, Krit. Viertel- jahrschr., XXXVI, 1894, p. 365 f.

2 Ed. Pescatore, Beitrdge, V, 1897, p. i. 3 Studies, pp. 195 if. 4 Ed. Studies, opusc. VII, 2; cf. ibid.,

pp. 139 ff. 5 Cf. Studies, p. 203 n. 86 with the literature

on the subject (Savigny, Seckel, Acher, Torelli, Nicolini, Meijers).

6 Contra, Savigny, IV, p. 250 f.; Tour- toulon, pp. 64 f., 121.

7 Studies, pp. 125 ff- 8 Ott, Wiener Sitzungsberichte, CXXV, 1892,

p. 28 n. 6. 9 Kuttner, Repertorium, I, Vat. 1937, p. 151

n. 5- 10 Ed. partly by Savigny, IV p. 537 ff.;

Castelnau (supra p. i, n. i), p. 512 ff.; Chiappelli, "Glosse d'Irnerio e della sua scuola," Memorie d. Acc. de Lincei ser. 4, II, I, i886, p. 225 f.; Pescatore, II, p. 59 ff-

x Ed. partly by Pescatore, II, p. 50 ff.;

THE POETICAL SERMON OF A MEDIEVAL JURIST 25

in one of his Mantuan summulae he also quotes his verses, his 'carmina' as he calls them.' None of them justifies Placentinus' characteristic pride in being a Lombard and a fellow-countryman of Virgil,2 but it is equally characteristic of him that he rewrote in eight good hexameters a 'carmen' which his teacher Bulgarus had written in eight bad ones.3

'Longe postea' as he says in his autobiographical note, he returned from Montpellier to Piacenza, and after less than two months went to Bologna, where he had been called by the de Castello family. He lectured in their stronghold4 and had good reason to seek protection : the guild of the Bolognese doctors looked askance at foreign competitors, particularly if they were as attractive to the students and as disagreeable to their colleagues as Placentinus. He boasts, as often, in rhymed prose : 'Continuo biennio discipulis iura tradidi, Alios preceptores ad limen invidiae5 provocavi, Scholas eorum discipulis vacuavi, Iuris arcana pandidi, Legum contraria compescui, Occulta potentissime reseravi.' He does not explain why in these delightful circumstances he stayed only for two years at Bologna. A very likely explanation, however, is offered by Roffredus of Benevento, who counted among his many teachers two pupils of Placentinus : Otto of Pavia and Karolus de Tocco of Benevento.6 Placentinus, Roffredus tells us, had ridiculed a certain doctrine held by another Bolognese doctor, Henricus de Bayla, and this man, who was at the same time a powerful knight, made a nocturnal assault on Placentinus, who fled in terror.' Roffredus adds 'et ivit apud montem Pessulanum,' but he does not say that he went there directly and Placentinus himself says that he first returned to Piacenza. Whether he really made his entrance 'dancing with triumph and joy' may be doubted after what seems to have happened, but there is no ground to distrust his assertion that many pupils and other students followed him from Bologna, and that it was at their request as well as that of his relatives that he lectured for four years in his native town. It was probably here that Karolus became his pupil.8 From Piacenza he went for the second time to Montpellier. He tells us in the preface to his Summa Trium Librorum that he now decided to write not only this Summa but also one on the Digest. He died, however, before he could accomplish either. Apparently he did not even begin the latter work at all, and the former breaks off in the middle of the first book (C. Io, 38). His pupil Pillius, who tells us these facts, continued the work at the wish of his master, who, according to the new preface,9 had appeared to him in a vision.

Seckel, Distinctiones Glossatorum, Berlin 1911, p. 353; Pescatore, Z. XXXIII, 1912, p. 507 f.

1 Specimens in Savigny, IV, p. 283; Tourtoulon, p. 277 ff.; Patetta, Riv. ital. per le scienze giuridiche, XIV, 1892, p. 70 n. i; Seckel, Z. XXI, I900, p. 323 f.

2 Cf. Savigny, IV, p. 278. 3 Ed. Seckel, op. cit. (Bulgarus), Tour-

toulon, p. 279 (Placentinus), both on C. 4, 36, I.

4 See on this building Sarti, p. 78 n. 5;

Cavazza, Le scuole dell'antico studio Bolognese, 1896, p. 53 f-

5 'ad invidiam' Cod. Leid. (supra p. i, n. 6). 6 Cf. Savigny, IV, pp. 255, 378, V, p. 176. 7 Roffredus, Libelli iuris civilis, pars VII,

c. I, ? I, ed. Savigny, IV, p. 246 f. 8 Meijers, "Sommes, Lectures et Commen-

taires (I ioo a 1250)", Atti del Congr. Intern. di Dir. Rom., Bol. 1933, I, Pav. I934, P- 469 n. Io6; see Kantorowicz, Studi in onore di Enrico Besta II (1938) Io. 9 Ed. Savigny, IV, p. 314-

26 HERMANN KANTOROWICZ

Placentinus died at Montpellier on the 12th of February I 192. This date, the only precise one in his biography, allows us to fix some earlier teaching periods. The last one, the second at Montpellier, seems to have been quite short; it may have begun in I I9O, more probably 191, since the academic year began everywhere in October and ended in September. The previous teaching at Piacenza must therefore have begun in 1186 or 1187, and that at Bologna in 1184 or 1185. It is certainly safe to date his stay with the Castelli between October i 184 and September I I87.1

III

It is at this time that Placentinus wrote the Sermo de legibus with which we are here concerned. In his autobiographical preface he goes on to say, after having given the boastful account of his two years successful lecturing at Bologna : 'et, quod fuit mirabilius, etiam rogatus, ut de legibus sermonem facerem, rem non novam aggressus sum, cunctisque coram vocatis scolaribus morem gessi. Mox transacto biennio cum tripudio et gaudio repatriavi.' This is the text given by the old printed editions. It was reprinted by Savigny, who compared the preface with Cod. *Paris 4543 (without noting a variant reading to this passage), and it has become generally accepted. But the wording is suspect. Why should an innovator such as Placentinus boast that he tackled a matter which was not new? And why say 'mox' when he immediately added the more precise 'biennio'? The five surviving MSS give the answer. 'Mox' is in none of them; the second sentence begins everywhere with 'Transacto.' 'Rem non novam' on the other hand is confirmed by all except *Leiden Cod. d'Ablaing no. 3, which omits 'non.' Finally, this MS has 'contra morem gessi morem,' and this agrees with Paris 4543, f. 218b, Bern I8.8, f. 2o2b, N*irnberg Cent. II, f. 245 (now 2oo)r, and in part with Mainz 475 which has 'contra morem gessi.'2

Now the meaning is clear : There was nothing new about students desiring, and teachers delivering, a Sermo de legibus, but Placentinus complied with the wishes of the audience ('morem gessi') in an unusual form ('contra morem'). The correct text must read : 'rem non novam aggressus sum cunctisque coram vocatis scolaribus contra morem gessi morem.' Thus the sentence contains a double play upon words, not only at the end but also at the beginning, for 'Rem non novam . . . aggredimur' was the initium of the lex C. 3, I, 14. This initium was even better known than the hundreds of others which mediaeval jurists knew by heart, for it was the initium of the law which Bulgarus, the dominus of Placentinus, had happened to explain, to the delight of his students, the morning after his second wedding.3

If, therefore, Placentinus, who must have been known for his reckless

1 Other datings agree. Gross, Ordo iudi- ciarius, I870, p. 36 n. 3 : I 185-1187; Cavazza, op. cit.: c. i 185; Tourtoulon, pp. I 19, 121 : c. 1183-85; Seckel, op. cit. (supra p. 22, n. 2), p. 15 n. 63 : beginning of the eighties; Besta, Fonti, I, 1925, p. 8i0 : between 1183 and 89;

Seckel (J-), Z. LV, 1935, p. 330 : c. 1185-85- 2 All the libraries concerned have most

readily sent photostats and information on this and other readings.

S According to Johannes, Azo, Accursius, and Odofredus, see Savigny, IV, p. 94 n. c.

THE POETICAL SERMON OF A MEDIAEVAL JURIST 27

wit, announced a sermo on this text he was certain to draw an unusually numerous audience. It was customary for academical discourses to be addressed either to the whole studium or to the various universitates, i.e. the guilds of students within the same faculty, or to the classes of the single teachers. The statutes of the two 'universities' of Bolognese jurists, promulgated in 1317 but reflecting much older conditions, prescribe that at the beginning of the academic year, on the Ioth of October, 'finito sermone decretiste, rectores et conciliarii ex debito iuramenti et omnes alii scolares solum ex debito honestatis statim conveniant apud ecclesiam Predicatorum, et ibi audiant missam de Sancto Spiritu cum commemoratione Virginis gloriose.' 1 The date of the discourse varied, but was always in October; the most probable date of Placentinus' sermo would therefore be October i 186. As to the person of the orator, in later times the sermo could be delivered by a Professor of the Faculty of Arts or any other scholar,2 but even in the age of Placentinus, as his own words prove, it was not necessarily delivered by the Professor of the Decretum. As to the place of delivery, there were, of course, no preaching friars at his time; in the 12th century the jurists seem to have assembled at S. Procolo.3 Other sermons, for instance those delivered at the end of the lectures on each law-book, were also connected with a mass of the Holy Ghost, as we learn from Odofredus (ob. 1265) who speaks of them as a custom of long standing.4

We now know the necessary conditions, or at least the reasonable expectations, which a writing, claiming to be the lost speech of Placentinus, would have to fulfil : it ought to begin with 'Rem non novam' or be otherwise connected with this well known initium; it must be an academic sermon, and should comply with the mediaeval rules for this type of literature; it must deal with the leges, i.e. the Roman law but ought to be somehow connected with the cult of the Holy Ghost; it must be quite unusual-a 'mirabile'-in form; it ought to show the stylistical characteristics of Placentinus, the lawyer, poet, and scholar, particularly those he would have acquired during his long stay in France, and it must fit into the Bologna of the eighties of the I2th century. If we should find any writing satisfying so many and so varied postulates it would be hypercritical to doubt that we had found what we were looking for.

IV The Basel MS C. I. 7, written in the early I3th century, contains a

Digestum novum with pre-Accursian glosses and the apparatus of Azo to the title de regulis iuris; among the glosses there are many of Martinus and a few of an unknown glossator signing 'c'. The verso of the front leaf contains in two columns a sermon.5 The hand, which seems to be French, is of

1 Ed. Malagola, Statuti delle Universita e dei Collegi dello Studio Bolognese, I888, lib. II, rub. 43, P- 40; see Ehrle, I pi' antichi statuti della Facolt& Teologica, 1932, p. LVII.

2 Savigny, III, p. 250 f.; Ehrle, op. cit., p. LVIII n. 2.

3 Cavazza (supra, p. 25, n. 4), p. 211I. 4 Ed. Savigny, III, p. 263 n. d. 5 I found it in 1909 and mentioned it

in "A Medieval Grammarian on the Sources of the Law," Revue d'Histoire du Droit, XV, 1937, P- 45.

28 HERMANN KANTOROWICZ

the early I4th century, and very hard to read. The sermon begins with the words 'Rem non novam aggredior Cum hoc opus exordior'; it ends 'per infinita secula seculorum amen Regnaturus,' but 'Regnaturus' is doubtful and in any case ought to come before 'amen.' The two columns are written as one coherent piece of prose, but contain many verses which are not marked as such, except that against one of them the same hand has noted 'versus' in the margin. There follows directly, again in the same hand, a gloss on the first words of the Digestum novum,' copied from another MS of this law book, the rubrics of which fill the rest of the page.

The beginning and the end of the text show that it is a sermon. The first short section contains three or four invocations of God, and the last is a prayer. It is an academic speech, for in the prayer, which expresses strong religious emotions in forcible language, the author implores God to bestow on him all the gifts of the spirit that a scholar and orator needs first for his own advantage, secondly for the glory of God, and last for the instruction of his hearers. The author must therefore have been a teacher and the sermon seems to have been delivered at the beginning of the academic year, shortly after the end of September (line 39). The rhetorical prescriptions for speakers in general are observed. The Rhetorica novissima of Boncompagno, which was delivered as lectures at Bologna in 1235, says : 'Tres sunt partes (sc. orationis) principales, videlicet exordium, narratio et petitio.' 2 Actually our oration, which for the purpose of this edition I have divided into eight sections, begins with an exordium: the word 'exordior' occurs, as we have seen, in the verses of the initium, and, as these verses are repeated at the end of the first section, it closes with this very word. The last section is a petitio, for like most medieval prayers, it is addressed to the King of Heaven. Finally, the body of the oration is made up of a narratio. It first describes the author taking a walk which leads him unexpectedly to a hitherto undiscovered idyllic spot, an 'ager vetus,' surrounded by vineyards, meadows and woods, with a limpid river flowing through it (? 2). His astonishment increases at seeing 'domina Ignorantia' coming out of the wood, 'Legalis scientia' out of a rude cottage on the 'ager vetus'; the first is described as a bouncing girl, in high spirits and very dicolletie (according to mediaeval standards), the latter as an old woman disfigured by every imaginable deformity and ugliness. As soon as they notice each other they begin to quarrel (? 3). 'Ignorantia' declares the ascetic life of the other to be foolish, sinful, and inconsistent (? 4). 'Legalis scientia' retorts by warning her 'amica' humbly against her useless and reckless life (? 5)- After a further exchange of words 'Legalis scientia' explains the idealistic reasons for which she has chosen the 'ager vetus' for her home (? 6). Its chief glory is that it symbolizes the science of the law, which is now shown to be the teacher of virtue, the nursery of good morals, and the fountain of justice (? 7).

The structure of the sermo shows that the author did not bind himself to the rules for the religious sermon proper, that is to say, the praedicatio.

1 Edited ibidem. 2 Ed. Gaudenzi in Bibl. iur. med. aevi, II, 1892, p. 256.

THE POETICAL SERMON OF A MEDI1EVAL JURIST 29

Alanus ab Insulis, the well-known French philosopher, theologian and poet, a contemporary of Placentinus (ob. 1202), demands that the sermon must begin with the explanation of a biblical text (thema), must end with an elaboration of examples, and must abstain from using a flowery, rhetorical style, still more from breaking into poetry, which he particularly condemns.' These rules were scrupulously observed in the homilies of this time, whereas our sermon reads like an open defiance of them. What pretends to be the 'text' is taken from the Justinian Code, but no attempt is made to explain the law beginning with 'Rem non novam'; the connection of these words with the rest of the sermon is quite artificial. One is almost inclined to suspect that this text was a mere pretext, destined to draw a larger audience hoping for some equivocal jokes in the nature of those told about Bulgarus' wedding. The sermon is far from containing edifying examples; on the contrary, the words of Ignorantia are one long taunt against the foolishness of assiduous study (? 4), and she does not even shrink from blasphemy, when she interprets Christ's words to Martha as rejecting the vita activa in favour not of the vita contemplativa but of ignorance and laziness (? 6). And this is done in rhetorical language, with constant changes from prose to verse, and from verse to prose. Our sermon is indeed a prosi- metrum, i.e. a medley of prose and verse in various metres, perhaps a genre of oriental origin,2 which was introduced into Greek literature by the Palestinian Menippos of Gadara (280 B.c.) and therefore usually called Satura Menippea. Among the Latin works in this style (by Varro, Petronius and later poets) are two which the Middle Ages admired above all : the Nuptiae Philologiae et Mercurii by Martianus Capella (c. A.D. 430) and the dialogue Consolatio Philosophiae by Boethius (A.D. 525). No wonder then that this style was also cultivated throughout the I2th century renaissance. One of the most widely read works was the long allegory De planctu Naturae by the above mentioned Alanus ab Insulis; it is worth noticing that this celebrated French poet was connected with Montpellier3 and seems to have taught there.4 The sermon here printed would appear, however, to be even more closely connected with a satura of another French scholar and poet, Walter of Chitillon, the author of the celebrated Alexandreis. The satura describes in prose and verse an ideal university, including the ideal teaching of the law; this work, beginning 'In domino confido,' the author claims to have read to the Faculties of Law and Arts at Bologna at their invitation.5 If this were true and if the date of this sermo, as Walter calls it,6 were really c. I 174, as the latest editor tries to prove,7 Placentinus

1 De arte praedicatoria, cap. I, ed. Migne, vol. CCX, col. III, cf. Davy, Les sermons universitaires Parisiens de 1230-1231, 1931, pp. 29ff, 32 n. 3.

2 Dornseiff, "Antikes zum Alten Testa- ment", Zeitschr. f. d. alttestamtl. Wissenschaft, XI, 1934, p. 74. 3 Ed. T. Wright, The Anglo-Latin Satirical Poets and Epigrammatists of the I2th Century, II, 1872, p. 429 ff.

* Manitius, Gesch. d. lat. Lit. d. Mittelalters, III, 1931, pp. 794ff., 8oo n. 1.

5 Cf. K. Strecker's admirable edition Moralisch-Satirische Gedichte Walters von Chad- tillon, 1929, p. 38 1. 12, p. 39 1. 14, p. 40 1. 3-

6 Ibid., p. 52 1. 3- 7 Strecker, pp. 37, 54. His argument that

Walter could not have called Stephen of Orleans 'flos Aurelianensium' (p. 41) after 1176, the year he went to Paris (p. 53) is

30 HERMANN KANTOROWICZ

would have claimed too much in calling his own sermo a 'mirabile.' But there is good reason to believe that it was Walter who bragged," and no good reason to believe that his work is as old as that. It is true that some verses in Walter's sermo are identical with some of the Alexandreis, but it is again uncertain which of the two works draws on the other2 and when precisely the Alexandreis was written.3 Certain passages lead me to think that for the legal part 'In domino confido' draws on 'Rem non novam'; e.g. both use the expression 'Legalis scientia'4 which is not in the legal sources and which I cannot find in any other mediaeval writing.

However that may be, among the jurists we know only of one who was in the habit of breaking not only into rhymed prose, but also into rhymed verse, namely Placentinus. Thus the prologue to his Summa Codicis ends with the spirited verses6 :

His succincte peroratis Set et manibus ablutis

Sacra verba principum Referam in medium.

Novum opus promulgabo Summas Codicis dictabo Illas cunctis propinabo Nichil utile celabo.

Placentinus may have acquired this habit of inserting verses into his legal writings in France. In one of his Quaestiones disputatae (c. 1200) his great opponent Azo chaffs his own pupil and friend, the Provengal Bernardus Dorna : 'premissis ex more Francigenarum rismis questionem talem proposuit.' Then he adds more seriously : 'Alienum est a studio nostro dinumerando pedes et syllabas cantare in tympano' and 'legistis non licet allegare nisi Justiniani leges.'6

The Saturae were often satires and dialogues, and our sermo is both. Dialogues in prose and in verse were of course quite usual, and if jurists wrote them, as was the case with the Rogerius-Placentinus school, it would not be surprising that Jurisprudentia herself should be one of the allegorical interlocutors. The mediaeval jurists were aware that the dialogues of Antiquity, which they knew e.g. from Cicero de oratore and de legibus, had

unconvincing in itself and positively refuted lay the fact that Stephen was called 'Aure- lianensis' even after he had become Bishop of Tournay in 1192 (see Manitius, op. cit., III, p. 941, who, however, sides with Strecker, p. 930).

1 Cf. e.g. the gross satire on the dissensions between B and M, p. 46, lines 15, 16, which Strecker failed to refer to Bulgarus and Martinus, and the many contradictory sta- tements of the MSS as to the audience (Strecker, p. 35).

2 The priority of the Alexandreis has been rightly affirmed by several scholars, as the sermo has a reference to 'Alexander' (Strek- ker, p. 41); the opposite view is held by

H. Christensen, Das Alexanderlied W. v. Chd- tillon, 1905, p. 832 without any, and by Strecker, p. 37 without convincing grounds. 3 The assertion of Christensen, p. 0o, Manitius, p. 923 n. 3 that it was used in 1189 for the epitaph of Henry II is unfounded.

4 Walter, p. 46 1. 2, p. 39 1. 16; our sermo lines, 77, 83, 85, 92, 126, 16o, 175, 206.

5 Apparently not recognised as such by the two editors (Savigny, IV, p. 543; Pes- catore, II, p. 13 f.) 8 Ed. Landsberg, Die Quaestiones des Azo, 1888, pp. 71, 74, but 'eligisti' must be emended to 'non legistis'. See on date and authorship my "Quaestiones disputatae," Revue d'Histoire du Droit, XVI, 1938, pp. 14, 48.

THE POETICAL SERMON OF A MEDIiEVAL JURIST 31

been between historical persons, but the mediaeval dialogue, in accordance with the 'realist' mentality of that age, preferred general types, mostly allegorical personifications.' A particularly popular form of the dialogue was the altercatio, the Streitgedicht, in which human types or allegorical figures (besides historical or mythological persons) disputed about their respective merits, e.g. Water and Wine, Summer and Winter, ladies preferring knights and others preferring clerks, the poor and the rich scholar, Husband and Wife, Death and the Rich Man, Virtues and Vices, the seven Liberal Arts, etc.2 A German authority on mediaeval dialogues in general has declared them a manifestation of the Teutonic, i.e. German and English spirit : 'Gemiith, Phantasie, gewaltiger Kampfesmuth.'3 But it is a fact that even the Streit- gedicht, which one would expect to be German as a matter of course, is usually of French origin.4 The author of our sermo was therefore probably connected with one of the French schools, and this view is confirmed by the Gallicism 'plantula' which he uses twice for nursery garden instead of the classical 'plantarium.' 5 None of the poets, however, though they were anything but timid or respectful, still less any of the verse-making jurists, had ventured to match Jurisprudentia with Ignorantia as equal partners, and even to treat Ignorantia with obvious preference, Jurisprudentia with equally obvious disgust, at least as regards appearance. This part of the description is made in the usual close anatomical style of the mediaeval poets, and reads like a caricature of the conventional and equally anatomical descriptions of the beauty of domina Jurisprudentia: "mulier omnis generis specie redimita," as Placentinus had said in the preface of his Libellus de actionum varietatibus.6 Such a dialogue could not fail to take on a satirical character, like so many dialogues of the Middle Ages. The 12th century was particularly rich in satirical poetry, but most of its jests and witticisms would seem stale to modern readers.' Our sermo, however, is quite enjoyable even now. It was certainly a brilliant idea to argue that Legalis scientia, by 'killing' herself with too much study, was committing the grave sin of suicide :

Tu es homicida! Dum sic amittis seculum Te ponis in periculum

De perenni vita!

It was equally witty to make Ignorantia base her attack on a series of quotations from the Digest and even from the Tres Libri such as only a very learned jurist could have found (lines I23 ff-).

1 Cf. Hirzel, Der Dialog, 1895, I, p. 459 ff., II, pp. 347 f., 381 ff., and on the artistic expression of scholastic realism, Huizinga, The Dawn of the Middle Ages, 1919, ch. XVI.

2 Cf. H. Walther, Das Streitgedicht in der latein. Liter. d. Mittelalters, 1920; Manitius, III, p. 944 ff.

3 Hirzel, II, pp. 381 ff. 4 Cf. e.g. Manitius, III, pp. 945, 947 n. 4;

P-. 948, n. 4; P. 950 n. 2; pp. 956, 958, 959, 960 n. 7; p. 962. Measurement of the skulls

(if extant) would probably show that the authors (if known), though mere Frenchmen by language, were Nordic by race.

5 See infra lines I64, 212 of the text. 6 Supra, p. 24, n. 2. The disgusting detail

'illius os preterea velut cinnamomum ructuabat et balsamum' is perhaps due to a confusion with 'exhalabat.' At least, let us hope so.

7 Compare e.g. the texts in Wright (supra, p. 29, n. 3).

32 HERMANN KANTOROWICZ

Our Streitgedicht can also be called original in its metre. At first it would not seem so, for the author begins with a continuation of the hymn

Veni sancte spiritus Et emitte celitus

Lucis tui radium

which, as he reminds his audience, they had sung to-day (line 23). This happily confirms the expectation that our sermo, if identical with that of Placentinus, would be connected with a mass of the Holy Ghost. The verses quoted are the beginning of a famous Whitsuntide hymn, the Sequens aurea, to which we shall presently return, and its metre was a very familiar one : six-line stanzas with seven syllables to the line, all of them dimeters rhyming aabccb, the b rhyme being throughout on the syllable -um. But this regular measure is retained only in the next three lines; the rest of the poem is almost chaotic. Stanzas of different numbers of lines, lines of different numbers of feet, many dimeters, a few monometers, trimeters and hexameters (one classical, one leonine), feet of almost any kind, lines rhyming in many different schemes, and even some lines of rhymed prose (lines 2I1-2) alternate in a medley without any traceable pattern. The only rule that the sermo follows seems to be that it is composed of rythmi in the mediaeval sense of the word. This means roughly that within the same stanza lines ending with the same rhyme (rythmus) must have the same number of syllables, which retain their prose accent, accented syllables being always followed by one or two unaccented ones. Still, many lines are lively and pretty, and the rhymes often ingenious; hiatuses are rare. Certain metrical irregularities (lines 53, 142) seem to be due to corruption of the text, but no critical effort could turn the lines into an orderly poem or sequence of poems.

V

Mediocre as the poetical quality of our sermo may be, compared with the songs of the Archipoeta or the glorious hymns of that age, it is by far the best of the poetical achievements of the mediaeval legists, among whom the author has no doubt to be sought. Among his numerous references, quotations and definite allusions only a few are extra-legal : he is familiar with the Ethica vetus by Aristotle, the Periermenias attributed to him, and Boethius' de divisione; with the New Testament; with the Epodes of Horace and the Eclogues of Virgil; with the Missale Romanum, the Sequentia aurea, and a mediaeval proverb.' This would be sufficient to prove that the author was a man of some classical scholarship, but it is negligible compared with the juristic learning revealed by more than fifty references to the sources of the Roman law, the leges. The selection of these references is very unusual. On the one hand they disdain the best known parts of the law, since the Code contributes only six references and the Institutes only one; on the other hand, the Novels-not the Authenticae in the Code-are represented by thirteen references, and the still more neglected part of the sources, the Tres

1 See the notes to the text.

THE POETICAL SERMON OF A MEDIAEVAL JURIST 33

Libri, by five. This calls to mind the fact that Placentinus was the first to write a book on the Tres Libri, the fragmentary Summa, and that he also wrote many glosses on them as shown by the quotations in Hugolinus' Lectura1 on the same law-book. One of the references to the Code is to a law which was not read in the school of Bologna as not being of practical use, but which was nevertheless explained by Placentinus in his writings.2 This extensive use of the leges would not in itself be enough to justify our calling the writing a Sermo de legibus, as Placentinus calls his speech in his autobiographical preface to his Summa. But it deserves such a name perhaps on account of its constantly repeated praise of justice and legal science,3 certainly on account of its setting, which is the 'ager vetus.' This expression occurs no less than seven times,4 but is not used quite consistently, since it means sometimes civilis sapientia-Ulpian's expression for legal science (D. 50, 13, I, 5)-sometimes its subject matter, the Roman law itself. The simile ager is not based on the sources nor have I found it in any juristic writing except in Placentinus' preface to his Summa Codicis. Here he speaks of the 'pinguis ager domini Justiniani,' the 'ager et vinea sacratissimi principis,' and in describing it he uses terms similar to those in our sermo which in part are taken from Cicero's dialogue de legibus (I. 21). I cannot avoid the suspicion that 'ager' was meant as a hint that the Roman law teaches agere, for the glossators, and particularly Placentinus, delighted in more or less serious etymological extravagances. The expression 'vetus' seems to refer to the antiquity of Roman law, for Legalis scientia says at the beginning of ? 7 : 'Ex hoc agro veteri civilis scientia ('sapientia' scr.?) seu legalis scientia vetus pullulat, cum lex cupiat valde efficere virtuosos.' The last words indicate the topic of this section which is in itself a small Sermo de legibus. The author attempts to show that the sources of Roman law contain the same Ethics as the 'Ethica vetus' of Aristotle, since they proclaim the virtues to be a mean between two extremes. This is proved elaborately and by many quotations from the sources which refer to the three virtues mentioned by Aristotle : chastity, courage, liberality. It was, of course, extremely difficult to find the arguments for this philosophical thesis-in an age which had no legal dictionaries at its disposal-in Justinian's codification, and this alone would prove that a jurist of great learning must have been the author.

We have still to determine the date of the sermo. It must be older than the beginning of the I4th century, for this is the age of the MS. It can- not be earlier than the middle of the 12th century, for it quotes extensively the Tres Libri.5 It cannot be earlier than the seventies or eighties of that century, for one would not meet such a number of references to the sources, all uniformly couched in the so-called 'Bolognese' form, at an earlier period.6 We are led to the same terminus post quem by two historically important references to non-legal works, namely: the Ethica vetus and the hymn 'Veni sancte spiritus.'

1 Compare Savigny, V, 25 with Tour- toulon, 271.

2 Cf. Studies, p. 22 n. 20. 3 Infra, ? 7 n. 8 of the edition.

4 See lines 6I, 76, 162-4, 195- 5 See Studies, p. I97 n. 65. 6 See Studies, p. 165 n. 76.

34 HERMANN KANTOROWICZ

Ethica vetus is the name of a Latin translation from the Greek (not the Arabic) text of Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics books II and III. Its date is unknown; it may be by Boethius,l though this seems unlikely. It is contained in a MS of the late I2th century,2 but no certain example of its use in other writings has been found before the following century. The first quotation from it is alleged to be in the tract De motu cordis by Alfredus Anglicus (Alfred of Sarechel), the date of which is not certain. It must have been written at the latest in I217, and has in fact been attributed to the last years of the 12th century;3 but the modern editor dated it first 1215 and finally 12Io.4 These dates are sufficiently close to the time of our sermo to exclude the objection that a quotation from the Ethica vetus could not have been made in the eighties of the 12th century. A man like Placentinus, who was so desirous to show his superiority in every field, even those outside the law, particularly in the artes, who moreover had lived a long time in France, the home of Aristotelian studies, may well have been among the first to study that part of philosophy to which the Middle Ages assigned the law, namely Ethics. The attempt to introduce one of Aristotle's basic ethical theories into Jurisprudence secures for our sermon a memorable place in the history of the Aristotelian revival. The only suspicious detail is that the translation in question is already called 'vetus,' for this presupposes an 'Ethica nova,' which was actually the title of a later translation, viz. of the first book of the Nichomachean Ethics. It has been assumed that the Ethica nova dates from about I220 or even as late as about I235,5 but these dates are again quite uncertain, since they are based on the absence of quotations from the Ethica nova in works which cannot themselves be dated with certainty. Moreover, it is quite possible that the author of the sermo had simply said 'in Ethica' as did Alfredus Anglicus, and that 'vetus' was added by the man who copied our MS and who was, as the handwriting shows, a scholar. It was usual in legal MSS to modernize the references as soon as they became out of date or ambiguous.

The quotation of 'Veni sancte Spiritus' raises similar problems. The many endeavours to determine the date and hence the author, or the author and hence the date of this famous hymn have as yet yielded no definite results. It must be later than the first half of the 12th century, since the collections of hymns made in this epoch do not contain the Sequentia aurea, as it afterwards came to be called. The earliest manuscripts in which it has been found are ascribed to the end of the I2th century.6 Several

1 Thus A. Jourdain, Recherches critiques sur l'dge et l'origine des traductions latines d'Aristote, 2nd ed. I843, P. 77; Concetto Marchesi, L'Etica Nicomachea nella tradizione latina Me- dievale, 1904, p. 32; Pelzer, "Les versions latines des ouvrages de morale conserves sous le nom d'Aristote," Rev. Nioscholastique, XXIII, 1921, p. 325.

2Cod. Avranches 232, see GRABMANN, Forschungen fiber die lateinischen Aristoteles- Uebersetzungen des XIII. Jh., 19I6, p. 215.

3 Haureau, Me'moires de l'Acadimie des Ins- criptions, XXVIII, 1876, p. 326.

4 Baeumker, "Die Stellung des Alfred v. Sareshel." Miinchner Sitzungsberichte, 1913, p. 9. Abh. 48; id., Des Alfred v. Sareshel (Alfredus Anglicus) Schrift De Motu Cordis, I923, p. VII n. 4; cf. the edition, p. 90,

L. I3- 5 Grabmann, op. cit., pp. 212, 217. 6J. Julian, A Dictionary of Hymnology,

2nd ed., I907, p. 172.

THE POETICAL SERMON OF A MEDIAEVAL JURIST 35

writers in this century, as well as in those preceding and following, have been proclaimed to be the author, but there is no evidence worth speaking of for the earliest of these men. The prevailing opinion is in favour of Stephen Langton, the great Archbishop of Canterbury (1207-1228), or of his even greater friend, Pope Innocent III (I198-1216). The evidence for the Englishman is weak : the only witness is a contemporary anonymous English monk of unknown reliability; but at least we know that Stephen had poetical leanings.' The evidence for the Italian-whose personality was certainly anything but that of a poet-is still weaker, the only witness being a contemporary German monk of notorious unreliability, who, moreover, seems to have misunderstood his source. The value of these testimonials is certainly not enhanced by the fact that they exclude each other. It is true that several authors on mediaeval Latin poetry have tried to reconcile the two attributions by suggesting that Stephen, after having composed the hymn, might have given it to his friend in Paris where they both studied theology.2 This suggestion has the advantage that it defies refutation. The tradition of the manuscripts,3 and perhaps also that of the music4 seem to point to Paris as the place of origin. But there were many students, and therefore many poets, in Paris; and in the Middle Ages the fathering of any anonymous work on any famous name was of course a daily occurrence. As a rule, wherever a writing is attributed to several famous men on poor evidence, the probability is that it was written by some unknown author, for if it had been written by one of the celebrities there would be more and better evidence. Fortunately, either of the two attributions would allow us to date the hymn as far back as the early seventies of the I2th century. Langton must have begun his studies in Paris about I I7o.5 Innocent, who was born in i 6o or I 161, must have studied there at a very early age, for afterwards he was a student of Canon law at Bologna,6 then went to the Curia and was created a Cardinal in I187.1 The hymn, as we see from the manuscripts, immediately became well known in France and Germany,s and thus may have been sung also in the Bologna of the eighties of the 12th century. It may have been introduced by one of the many 'Ultramontani' at the University, or, possibly, by Placentinus himself on his return from Montpellier.

1 Pitra, Spicilegium Solesmense, III, 1855, p. 130; W. F. (Dean) Hook, Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, II, 2nd ed., 1862, p. 657 f.; M. Dulong, "Etienne Langton Versificateur," Bibl. Thomiste, XIV, 1930; Me'langes Mandonnet, II, p. 185 f.

2 P. H. Thurston, The Month, 1913, pp. 602-16, quoted by A. Wilmart, Auteurs spirituels et textes ddvots du moyen dge latin, 1932, p. 39 f. (first published 1924); J. E. Raby, A History of Christian Latin Poetry, 1927, p. 343 with the older literature on the question of the authorship.

3 Wilmart, 1. c. 4 M. Powicke, Stephen Langton, 1928,

p. 48. 5 Id., English Historical Review, XLVIII,

1933, P-. 554- 6 Schulte, Gesch. d. Quellen u. Lit. des

Canon. Rechts, I, 1875, p. 156. " E. F. Jacob, Cambridge Medieval History, VI, 1929, p. 2.

8 Cl. Blume and H. M. Bannister, Analecta Hymnica, vol. LIV, 1915, p. 237 (with a critical edition of the text).

36 HERMANN KANTOROWICZ

VI

The first edition of what we thus have shown to be Placentinus' Sermo de legibus can now be undertaken. The edition is as accurate as the execrable handwriting allows, the conjectures not more numerous than the mediocre text seemed to make necessary. Some trivial slips have been tacitly emended, a rational form has been given to the arbitrary punctuation; the style of the references has been normalized by dropping unnecessary 'l's before the initia of the laws referred to; the spelling has been modernized in those points in which the later Middle Ages had not reached consistent principles. The edition seems to be justified-and every edition of an unpublished writing needs justification-by the interesting personality of the author and by the historical value of his work, which not only sheds light on several problems of Mediaeval Latin poetry, secular and religious, but also represents the oldest attempt to unite Aristotle and Justinian and thus to combine the two richest legacies of Antiquity, Greek Philosophy and Roman Law*.

[PLACENTINI 'SERMO DE LEGIBUS']

[I] 'Rem non novam aggredior,' 1 Cum hoc opus exordior

In vero Christi nomine. Set agens more solito

5 Monitum sequor merito Legis fretus conamine,

dicentis, quod ea, que sunt moris et consuetudinis, sunt sequenda, ut f. de edilicio edicto, Quod si nolit ? quia assidua,2 et de legibus et senatus consultis, De quibus,3 C. de auro coronario 1. L lib. X. in fine.4 Preterea non tantuma mos et consuetudo me provocant ad Christi

10 auxilium invocandum, set etiam Justiniani exemplum, quod, cum sit bonum, sequendum est, ut per contrarium mala exempla sunt ab omnibus evitanda, f. de penis, Si quid aliqui ? qui abortionis5 et in Aut. de mandatis principum ? titulos coll. III.b,6 unde versus

'Felix, quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum; Casus dementis correctio fit sapientis.'1

15 Itaque legum peritia atque mentis sollertia non confidens, me sentiens obtusume ingenio, rarum scientie, avidum facundied, exemplo Justiniani in Aut. de armis in princ. coll. VI.8 magnume Deum salvatorem nostrum et eius auxilium invoco, sine cuius auxilio nichil facimus providenter, ut, quod in me paulatim labitur, festinem per sui gratiam reparare,9

[I] a lectio dubia b 'VI.' C. c scr.? 'obetatis' C, sed vide infra lin. I9 'acuendo

ingenium.'

d 'facundia' C. e ita Just., 'magistrum' C.

[1] 1 Cf. C. 3, I, 14, pr. 2 D. 21, I, 31, 20. 3D. I, 3, 32. 4 C. 10, 76, I. SD. 48, I9, 38, 5.

* I am greatly indebted to Professor W. W. Buckland for his valuable criticism and help throughout the preparation of this article, and to Sir Stephen Gaselee,

6 N. 17, 5- SEidem versus citantur in gl. ord. ad locum praeallegatum v. 'titulos'.

8 N. 85, pr. 9 Cf. Missale romanum ad dominicam primam post Pentecostes, in 'oratione.'

Mr. G. Barraclough and Miss K. L. Wood- Legh for advice on special points of metrics, paleography and style respectively.

THE POETICAL SERMON OF A MEDIEVAL JURIST 37

ut in Aut. de questore in princ. coll. VI.,10 videlicet acuendo ingenium, augmentando scientiam atque facundiam illustrando. 20

Quod enim tam salubriter derivatur, Nullatenus ad irritum revocatur,

ut C. de expensis ludorum 1. Lf lib. XI." Quod ergo hodie cantavimus, proferendog sic recito : 'Veni sancte spiritus, Et emitte celitus 25

Lucis tui radium' ;l2 Augmenta scientiam, Illustra facundiam,

Acuas ingenium. Sic ergo 30

'Rem non novam aggredior,' Cum hoc opus exordior.

[2] a In nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti. Amen. Ut ex paucis litteris una continuatio ad sequentem perveniat dicionem, ut in Aut. apud quos oportet causam dicere et monachos et assisteriasa ? hec autem etiamb tua et cetera coll. VI.,1 breviter continuoc, periculose 35 multis interesse cupiens evitare, ut in Aut. de tabellionibus ? si vero indignusd coll. IV.,2 cum etiam numerosae multitudo careat honestate, ut in Aut. de referendario coll. II.*

Exutusf a febribus In septembris finibus

Volens recreari, 40 In aurora mane surgens Me affectus cogit urgens

Ire spatiari. Ivi solus extra villam, Eligendo vitamg illam, 45

Que est solitaria; Pallidus macer debilis, Virgula delebilish,

Optans refrigeria. Extra villam positus, 50 Pergens, ut eram solitus,

Ad locum optatum, Me centum voluptatibus,i In cogitationibus

Vidi deviatum. 55 Aura levisk naribus Cum florum lenitatibus Per quedam loca devia Valde 1visu harmonica1 Permutato itinere s6 Ad quendam agrum veterem

Me duxerunt.

f 'II.' C. g 'profendo' C, 'prosequendo' scr.? [2] 'ascetrias' Just. b ita Just., om. C. C 'periole' ins. C1, del. C2. d ita Just., 'dignus' C. e ita Just., 'honorosa' C.

10 N. 80, pr. x C. II, 42, un. 12 Initium 'sequentiae aureae' quam dicunt, vide

in praef. p. 32.

f 'exutis' C. g 'viam' scr.? h 'delectabilis' C. S''voluptationibus' C. k scr.? 'lenis' C, sed vide 'lenitatibus' in versu

sequenti. 1-1 scr.? 'usu armonia' C.

[2] 1 N. 79, 2. 2 N. 44, 1, 2 (cf. ? 3 in fine). SN. Io, pr. ? i in fine.

38 HERMANN KANTOROWICZ

Circum cunctam respiciens, Admirando multotiens,

65 Pratan4 vidi virentia Cum uvarum copia Et nemora amena; Stupefactum hec omnia

Me fecerunt. 70 Cum his, que sunt memorata,

Fluit flumen iuxta prata Cristallo nitidius,

Nec inventus inter mille Esset locus, quam sit ille

75 Situatus melius.

[3] In illo agro veteri, hiis predictis circumdatoa, remoto ab hominibus valdeque secretissimo, ad studium congruentissime deputato, Legalis scientia, que nisi fallor philosophia verissima nuncupatur, ut f. de iustitia et iure 1. L in princ.,1 elegerat mansionem, ut sic nullus sibi posset obstrepereb nec linguarum confusio mentem eius a studio posset avertere litterarum,

80 ut C. de studiis liberalibus urbis Rome et Constantinopolis 1. un. infinec lib. XI.2 Et cum stetissem diutius, volens ad domum regredi, vidi dominam Ignorantiam exeuntem de nemore, vestitam veste debili, cesad videlicet, extracto caputio, flores habens in manibus et capellum in capite, cantantem pleno gutture cantionem. Que, pergens parvis passibus, Legalis scientie paulatim habitaculum appropinquat. Que Legalis scientia, audita Ignorantia,

85 hirsutae domuncula est egressa. Erat autem hec predicta in aspectu terribilis, habens capillos in capite nigros, canicie intermixtos, infossos in capite nigros habens oculos, macra,f turpis et pallida, cuius ruga faciem exarabatg,3 atque solum in dentibus candor sibi supererat; omnibus autem aliis deformitatibus erath deformis. De qua potest dici, quod aspectus eius erat sicut fulgur, capilli ut carbo fulgidi, rugata eius facies, colore arida,

90 sanguine desolata, cuius turpem effigiem numquam mors superveniens immutaret. Que sese videntes sibi ad invicem verba dicebant turpia, de vita sua ad invicem disputantes.

[4] Sed primo Ignorantia Legalem scientiam de vita sua redarguit isto modo :

O tu stulta scientia, Quid prodesta diligentia

95 Quam tu ponis in studio? Tu es macrab et pallida, Morieris vili vita Sine ullo gaudio! Tu morieris in vivendo

100 Atque vivis moriendo, Hec in te nichil differunt. Languor est in te vivere Et vivere sic est languere, Hec tibi mortem afferunt.

105 Dum corpus tuum afficis, Tu te ipsam interficis,

Tu es homicida! Dum sic amittis seculum

m scr.? 'C'ta' i.e. 'certa' C. n 'parata' C. 131 a 'circumtato' (?) C. b 'obtrepere' C. c 'princ.' C. d 'ceso' C.

2 3 IID. 1, I, , 2 C. I I, I9, 1, 4.-

e 'irsuta' C. f'macer' C. g 'exharabat' C. h 'est' C. 14] a 'prodet' C. b 'macer' C.

3 Cf. Hor. Epod. 8, 3 : 'rugis vetus frontem senectus exarat.'

4 Cf. C. i, 17, I, 9 : in tali prato'.

THE POETICAL SERMON OF A MEDIEVAL JURIST 39

Te ponis in periculum De perennic vita. 110

Affectare scientiam, Que inflat et superbiam

Parit, est peccare! Latet anguis sic in herba!1 Fuge, miser, hec superba 115

Noli inculcare! Mundum fugis et mundanum Discis, cum sit hoc humanum.

Quod tu semper desideras, Sint tibi contraria; 120 Nil lucraris, set omnia

Perdis, que semper feceras, C.d de furtis . 1,'2 f. quando appellandum sit I. II. ? sed si alius3, f. de legatis II, Cum filius ? variis4, f. de condicionibus et demonstrationibus, Titie5, C. de muneribus patrimoniorum, Professio lib. X.6 125

[5] Ex diverso Legalis scientia moderata, pauca verba emittens de sua pharetra, attendens, quod verbis opus non est, que nullus rerum effectus sequitur, ut C. de donationibus, Verbal, verbis suis suspiria de corde prodeuntia ob errorem alterius immiscendo, lachrymis compassibilibusa irrigata-ut sic appareat eam vereb dicere, quod mente agitat, ut Jf. de supellectile legata, Labeo2, sicut ea, que sunt in voce, sunt note earum passionum, que sunt 130 in anima, utC Aristoteles in libro Periermeniasd in princ. attestatur 3-eam redarguit corrigendo :

'O amica, compatior Atque facta sum tristior

Quod es excecata! De mundanis otiis 135 Plenae multis vitiis

Es tu subfocata. O amica, cur non discis? Tu vis esse sicut piscis

Petendo delicias! 140 Cur hec vana concupiscis, Cum mentem tuf mori scis

Cum nil boni facias? Optas vana, vera fugis, Tempus expendis in nugis, 145

Tu carebis fructu! Disce disce gverbum verumg Visus tuush in posterum Vertetur in luctum!

Scire debes etenim, quod civilis sapientia est1 res sanctissima nec pretio numerario 150

C 'perhenni' C. d 'ff.' C. e sequitur spatium fere quindecim litterarum. [51 a 'compassilibus' C. b 'eie' (?) C. C 'dicit' ins. C.

[4] 1 Virg. Ecl. 3, 93. 2 C. 6, 2, I.

3 D. 49, 4, 2, I. 4 D. 31, 76, 8. 6 D. 35, I, Ioo. Cf. gl. ord. v. 'admitti' : 'non

audiatur contraria petens.' 6 C. 10, 42, 6 : 'Professio et desiderium tuum inter

se discrepant.'

d 'perias' C, sed vide variam lectionem in ed. Meiser, I, p. 3, II, p. 3- e 'plenis' C.

f 'te' C. g-g propter maculam certe legi non possunt. h 'cuius' C. 1 'sit' C.

151] C. 8, 53, 37. 2 D. 33, Io, 7 (? 2). 3 In princ. libri Aristoteli tributi (I6a Bekker)

quem-graeco nomine rrept Alplrpcilas conservato- Boethius in latinum transtulit (ed. Meiser, I, p. 36, 1. 22; II, p. 25, 1. 6).

40 HERMANN KANTOROWICZ

155 deturpanda est, ut f. de variis et extraordinariis cognitionibus 1. I ? est quidem4, que etiam hominem in anxietate mori non sinitk nec vivere in paupertate, ut in Aut. de heredibus et Falcidia in fine coll. L'5

[6] Quibus explicitis statim Ignorantia itinere retrogrado in nemoraa est reversa, verba hec prius proferens : 'Marta, Marta, sollicita es et turbaris erga plurima, partem michi non

160 auferas, quam elegi !'1 Quo audito Legalis scientia cepit in animo de errore alterius miserabiliter contristari. Videns eam excitatamb dixit sibi : 'O0 amica, cum tot loca sint circa agrum veterem, cur in hoc agro veteri, omissis amenibus, mansionem potius elegisti? Que respondens : 'Non mireris d cur tamend istam pretuli. Ex agro veteri virtutum scientia, morum plantula, iustitie pullulat ampla seges; per hunc agrum veterem recte civilis

165 sapientia designatur. Nam sicut ex agro fructus percipitur, sic est civilis sapientia valde studentibus fructuosa. Nam virtutes amplectitur et expellit vitia; bonos mores assequitur et pravos mirabiliter detestatur. In hoc prima ampla seges iustitie reperitur, ut in sequentibus apparebit.2 Non loquiture de fructu pecunie, cum vere philosophantes pecuniam contemnere debent, utff. de variis et extraordinariis cognitionibus 1. I ? an et philosophi,3

170 et de vacatione munerum, In honoribus ? philosophis,4 et de excusationibus tutorum, Set etf reprobari ? de philosophis,5 C. de muneribus patrimoniorum, Professio lib. X.,6 quamvis vulgariter dicatur 'lex lucrum ministrat,'7 et alibi dicatur,g quod 'magnos studiosis afferrat fructus scientia dividendi, docet Andronici diligentissimi senis de divisione liber editus, et hoc idem a Plotino gravissimo philosopho comprobatur,' ut ait Boethius in libro divisionum in princ.8

175 [7] Ex hoc agro veteri virtutuma scientia seu legalis scientia vetus pullulat, cum lex cupiat valde efficere virtuosos. Quod in virtute triplici sic ostendo : Primo in castitate, que valdeb in legibus approbatur, ut in Aut. de monachis ? cogitandum coll. I.,1 nam non luxuriantibus set caste viventibus legem damus, ut in Aut. de triente et semisse ? sin autem.2 Nam lex precipit, ut tantum castus episcopus nostris temporibus eligatur, ut, quocumque locorum perveniat,

180 omnia sua purificet castitate, C. de episcopis et clericis, Si quemquem.3 Que quidem castitas cum hominumd fiducia sola est possibilis Deo animas presentare, ut in Aut. de lenonibus ? sancimus coll. IIIe,4 et quarum animarum saluti magis quam corporum nostra est provi- dentia sollicitudinis adhibenda, ut in Aut. utf cum de appellationibus cognoscitur ? sin vero liberi coll. VIII.5 Nec mirum, cum primo oporteat animas, postea linguas fieri eruditas, ut in

185 proemio if. ? illud.6 Secundo in largitate, que legibus est amica, cuius extremitates, sc. avaritia et prodigalitas, a legibus reprobantur. In prodigalitate apparet, cum bonis prodigi propter sui vitium interdicatur, ut ff. de curatore furiosi 1. I cum suis concordantiis. In avaritia sequitur, cum in prelato cessare debeat ardor profanus avaritie imminere,g ut C. de episcopis et clericis, si quemquem3 et de officio pretorish l. I circa finem.8 Nec mirum, cum radix

190 omnium malorum avaritia iudicetur,9 ut in Aut. ut iudices sine quoquo suffragio ? cogitatio coll. II.0 Largitas, que est virtus inter duo vitia media, valde a legibus comprobatur, ut in Aut. ut

k 'desinit' C, 'permittit' Just. [6] a scr.? 'nemore' C. b scr.? 'excecatam' C, vide supra 1. 134. C inc. col. II. d-d scr.? 'camen' C. e sc. Justinianus. i ita Dig., om. C. g scr.? 'dicit' C.

'D. 50, 13, 1, 5. 5N. I, ep. [6] 1 Luc. 10, 41. 2Vide infra lin. 21o. 3 D. 50, 13, I, 4. 4 D. 50, 5, 8, 4. 5 D. 27, I, 6, 6-7. 6 C. 10, 41, 6. 7 Cf. gloss. ord. ad Const. Omnem ? 2 v. 'ditissimi' :

'Dat Galienus opes et sanctio Justiniana.' 'Lex lucra ministrat' in cod. London. quodam citatum inv. Strecker in Zeitschrift fir deutsches Altertum LXIV (1927), 181, n. x.

[7] a 'civilis' C, sed vide supra lin. 162. b 'est' ins. C. c 'coll. III. est' alia manus in marg. add. d haec vox in Auth. aptius post 'animas' ponitur. e 'I.' C, 'III. est' alia manus in marg. notavisse

videtur. f ita Just., om. C. g ita Cod. Just. 'in munere' C. h rectius 'prefecti pretorio Africe.'

8 L. c., ubi Andronicus et Plotinus laudantur (De divisione, ed. Migne, Patrol. lat., LXIV, col. 875).

[7] 1 N. 5, 3- 2 N. 18, 5 in fine. 3 C. I, 3, 30, I. 4 N. 14, I. 5 N. I15, 3, 14 in fine. 1 Const. Omnem ? 9. 7 D. 27, Io, I; cf. gl. ord. v. 'lege'. " C. I, 27, I, 16, ad cuius legis initium gl. ord.

notat : 'non leguntur iste due leges.' 9 Cf. I, Tim. 6, Io. 10 N. 8, pr. ? I.

THE POETICAL SERMON OF A MEDI.EVAL JURIST 41

determinatus sit numerus clericorum ? investigantes illudi."1 Nec mirum, quia laus plerumquek est donantium, ff. de verborum significatione, Munus ? I1.12 Que largitas a legibus pulchriore nomine, sc. munificentia et liberalitas-quasi ab avaritia et aliis vitiis liber-appellatur, ut ff. de donationibus 1. I in princ. et 1. donari,13 et de regulis iuris, Donari.14 Tertio timor et audacia 195 superflua reprobantur, set audacia, que est medium, id est fortitudo, a legibus approbatur. Nam qui nimis est timidus, non habet actionem 'quod metus causa' nec sufficit suspicio futuri periculi, set oportet metum esse talem, qui cadit 'in constantem,1 if. quod metus causa, Metum autem non vani et 1. metum autem presentem in princ.,15 et C. de transactionibus, Interpositas in princ.16 Alias qui verbo simplici novum opus nunciat, amittit possessionem, quia tamquam 200 meticulosus videtur habere animum desinendi, ut ff. de novi operis nuntiatione 1. I ? in operis et 1. de pupillo ? Sextus et ? meminisse.17 Set nimia audacia reprobatur, ut C. unde vi, Si quis in tantam,l ff. de publicanis, Quante.19 Media autem audacia approbatur, cum dicat lex, quod nullus propter metum ius suum debeat relinquere indiscussum, ut ff. de petitione hereditatis, Illud ? L in fine.20 Tres etenim predicte existentes in medio sunt virtutes, ut in veteri Ethica 205 Philosophus attestatur.21 Preteream ex hac legali scientia mores prodeunt, ut apparet in tutore, in quo lex magis bonos mores quam amplasn desiderat facultates, utff. de tutoribus et curatoribus datis ab hiis, Scire oportet ? fin.,22 et ff. de iustitia et iure, Justitia ? iuris precepta,23 et in Inst. de iustitia et iure ? iuris precepta,24 et ff. de ritu nuptiarum, Semper,25 et de regulis iuris, Semper in coniunctionibus.26 Ex hoc tertioo ampla seges iustitie pullulat, cum legislator cultorem iustitie 210 se appellet, ut ft. de iustitia et iure 1. I in princ.,27 et qui et a quibus, Prospexit.28 Que tria per agrum circumeuntiap designantur : per prata virtutum scientia, per nemus morum plantula, per flumen iustitie ampla seges.'

[8] aNunc tuisa nos Domine tuere presidiis et quanto fragiliores sumus, tanto validiores eiusb precibus efficiamur. Deus, tu nos perducas ad gaudia et scientiam beate vite,c 215 qui vivis et regnas cum Deo patre in universa secula seculorum.1 Domine Deus omnipotens, qui consubstantialem filium2 tuum emisistid, qui vera est sapientia, cui nil difficile nil impossibile,3 set cum vis muta animalia loqui, facis : depolle ab anima mea noctem ignorantie, illumina me scintilla sapientie, aufere a spiritu meo fdesidiam libidinisf ac stulti loquacitatem. Dona servo tuo cor docibile, intelligendi acumen, scientie discendi facili- 220 tatem, retinendi tenacitatem, quod possim et in disciplinarum studiis erudiri et sacre scripture grimari secretag et michi verborum tribueh facundiam, ut, quicquid ifacies cumi servo tuo, largitus valeam ad aliorum eruditionem patienter et humiliter proferre, ita quod michi famulo tuo cedat ad profectum et tibi, Domine, ad gloriam et honorem, et auditoribus ad eruditionem. Quod michi prestarek dignetur, qui vivit cum Deo patre 225 per infinita secula seculorum regnaturus . Amen.4

I ita Just., incerte C. k ita Dig., incerte C. 1-1 'in constantissimum' C1, del. C2. m scr.? 'prima' C. n 'ampliores' C1, del. C2. o scr.? 'g' = ergo pro '3' librarius scripsisse videtur,

vide infra 1. 20o v. 'tria.' P 'circui encia' C. [8] a-a lectio dubia. b sc. 'Legalis scientie'? Ad vocem 'eius' referre

videntur quae mox post 'Deus' librarius inseruit postea cancellavit, videlicet 'per cuius sanctissimi nominis' Cf. D. 50, 13, I, 5 : 'est quidem res sanctissima civilis sapientia'.

11 N. 3, pr. 12 D. 50, 16, 214. 13 D. 39, 5, 1. I, pr. 1. 29. 14 D. 50, 17, 82. 15 D. 4, 2, 1. 6. 1. 9, pr. 16 C. 2, 4, 13, pr. 17 D. 39 , I, , , 6, cf. gl.ord. v. 'quasi sibi deserere';

1. 5, ? 9, ? Io. s18 C. 8, 4, 7. 19 D. 39, 4, I2. 20 D. 5, 3, 40, pr. 21 Ethica vetus lib. II, ed. Concetto Marchesi,

C lectio dubia C. d 'emisti' C. e 'me' ins. C1, del. C2. f-f 'desidie libidinem' scr.? g-g scr.? 'rima serere' clare C. h scr.? 'tribuere' C. I scr.? 'fueris' C. Cf. Missale Romanum ad dome-

nicam XVII, post Pentecostes, in 'introitu' : 'fac cum servo tuo secundum misericordiam tuam.'

k 'petare' C. I scr.? 'Regtarum' (?) C post 'amen.'Vide supra 1.2 I6.

L'Ethica Nicomachea nella tradizione latina Medie- vale (Messina 1904), p. VII, cf. Eth. Nic. II, 8 (I io8b Bekker).

22 D. 26, 5, 21, 5- 23 D. I, I, Io, I.

24J. I, I, 3. 25 D. 23, 2, 42. 26 D. 50, 17, 197. 27 D. I, I, I, I. 28 D. 40, 9, 12, cp. ? I. [8] 1 Cf. e.g. Apoc. XI, 15. 2 Cf. Symbolum apostolorum in C. I, 1, 8, ?? 12-18. 3 Cf. Math. 19, 26. 4 Similiter explicit 'materia ad Pandectas' Job.

Bassiani.