In the history of

canon law 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 ...

, a decretist was a student and interpreter of the . Like Gratian, the decretists sought to provide "a harmony of discordant canons" (''concordia discordantium canonum''), and they worked towards this through glosses (''glossae'') and summaries (''summae'') on Gratian.Rhidian Jones, ''The Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England: A Handbook'' (T&T Clark, 2000), 45–46. They are contrasted with the decretalists, whose work primarily focused on papal decretals. Early decretists of the Italian school include Paucapalea, a pupil of Gratian's; Rufinus, who wrote the ''Summa Decretorum''; and Huguccio, who wrote the ''Summa super Decreta'', the most extensive decretist work. There was also a French school of decretists starting with Stephen of Tournai.Weigand, Rudolf. "The Transmontane Decretists." In ''The History of Medieval Canon Law in the Classical period,1140-1234: From Gratian to the Decretals of Pope GregoryIX'', edited by Wilfried Hartmann and Kenneth Pennington, 174–210. History of Medieval Canon Law. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2008.

References

{{Reflist Medieval law Canon law history Canon law jurists Canon law codifications