Cresconius Africanus (Crisconius) was a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

canon lawyer Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

, of uncertain date and place. He flourished, probably, in the latter half of the 7th century. He was probably a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the African Church.

Concordia canonum

Cresconius made a collection of canons, known as ''Concordia canonum'', inclusive of the

Apostolic Canons The Apostolic Canons, also called Apostolic canons (Latin: ''Canones apostolorum'', "Canons of the Apostles"), Ecclesiastical Canons of the Same Holy Apostles, or Canons of the Holy Apostles, is a 4th-century Syrian Christian text. It is an Anc ...

, nearly all the canons of the fourth- and fifth-century councils, and many

papal decretal Decretals () are letters of a pope that formulate decisions in ecclesiastical law of the Catholic Church.McGurk. ''Dictionary of Medieval Terms''. p. 10 They are generally given in answer to consultations but are sometimes given due to the initia ...

s from the end of the fourth to the end of the fifth century. It was much used as a handy manual of ecclesiastical legislation by the churches of Africa and

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

as late as the tenth century. Few of its manuscripts postdate that period. The content is taken from the collection of

Dionysius Exiguus Dionysius Exiguus (Latin for "Dionysius the Humble"; Greek: Διονύσιος; – ) was a 6th-century Eastern Roman monk born in Scythia Minor. He was a member of a community of Scythian monks concentrated in Tomis (present-day Constanț ...

, but the division into titles (301) is copied from the ''Breviatio canonum'' of

Fulgentius Ferrandus Fulgentius Ferrandus or Ferrand of Carthage (died 546/547) was a Christian theologian of the Roman province of Africa, modern day Tunisia. Biography Little is known of his early life. At the end of his life, he was a deacon of the Church of Cart ...

, a sixth-century deacon of Carthage. In many manuscripts the text of Cresconius is preceded by an index or table of contents (''breviarium'') of the titles, first edited in 1588 by Pithou. In its entirety the work was first published by Voellus and

Justellus Justellus, Justel is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Ana Justel, Spanish statistician and Antarctic scientist * Christophe Justel (1580–1649), French scholar * Henri Justel Henri Justel (1619–1693) was a French scholar ...

.In the appendix (33-112) to their "bibliotheca Juris canonici" (Paris, 1661). It is in ''

Patrologia Latina The ''Patrologia Latina'' (Latin for ''The Latin Patrology'') is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques Paul Migne between 1841 and 1855, with indices published betwe ...

'', LXXXVIII, 829 sqq. One of its best manuscripts, the tenth-century ''Vallicellianus'' (Rome), has a note in which Cresconius is declared the author of a metrical poem called "Bella et victorias" by the "Patricius" Johannes in Africa about the Saracens. This was formerly interpreted to mean the African victory of the Byzantine Patricius Johannes in 697, hence the usual date of Cresconius. Some, however, hold that the poem in question is the ''Johannis'' of

Flavius Cresconius Corippus Flavius Cresconius Corippus (floruit 565) was a Roman African epic poet who flourished under East Roman emperors Justinian I and Justin II. His major works are the epic poem '' Iohannis'', a panegyric called "Panegyric of Anastasius", and a poem ...

, a Latin poet of about 550, and on this basis identify him with the canonist, thus placing the latter in the sixth century. Others (with Maassen, p. 810) while admitting that the poem in question can be none other than the ''Johannis'' of the aforesaid Latin poet (unknown to

Fabricius Fabricius (, ) is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *people from the Ancient Roman Fabricia gens, gens Fabricia: **Gaius Fabricius Luscinus, the first of the Fabricii to move to Rome * Johann Goldsmid (1587–1616), known by his ...

, and first edited by

Samuel Mazzuchelli Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli, Order of Preachers, OP (November 4, 1806 – February 23, 1864) was a pioneer Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic missionary priest who helped bring the Church to the Iowa-Illinois-Wisconsin tri-stat ...

, Milan, 1820), maintain that it has been wrongly attributed to this Cresconius, and that it cannot therefore aid in fixing his date.

Sources

{{Authority control Canon law jurists 7th-century writers in Latin 7th-century Byzantine writers Byzantine jurists 7th-century poets Byzantine poets 7th-century jurists