The ''Liber Septimus'' (Latin for "Seventh

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

") may refer to one of three

Catholic canon law The canon law of the Catholic Church () is "how the Church organizes and governs herself". It is the system of religious laws and ecclesiastical legal principles made and enforced by the hierarchical authorities of the Catholic Church to regul ...

collections of quite different value from a legal standpoint which are known by this title.

''Constitutiones Clementinae'', 1314

The ''Constitutiones Clementis V'' or ''Constitutiones Clementinæ'' are not officially known as "Liber Septimus". However, they were so designated by historians and

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

of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, and even on one occasion by

pope John XXII Pope John XXII (, , ; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death, in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Papacy, Avignon Pope, elected by ...

in a 1321 letter to the Bishop of Strasburg. This collection was not even considered a "Liber" (book). It was officially promulgated by

Clement V Pope Clement V (; – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his death, in April 1314. He is reme ...

in a

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

held at Monteaux, near

Carpentras Carpentras (, formerly ; Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''Carpentràs'' in classical norm or ''Carpentras'' in Mistralian norm; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the ...

(southern France) on 21 March 1314, and sent to the

University of Orléans The University of Orléans () is a French university, in the Academy of Orléans and Tours. As of July 2015 it is a member of the regional university association Leonardo da Vinci consolidated University. History In 1230, when for a time the ...

and the Sorbonne in Paris. The death of Clement V, occurring on 20 April following, gave rise to certain doubts as to the legal force of the compilation. Consequently, John XXII by his

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not Castration, castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e. cows proper), bulls have long been an important symbol cattle in r ...

''Quoniam nulla'', of 25 October 1317, promulgated it again as obligatory, without making any changes in it. Johannes Andreæ compiled its commentary, or ''glossa ordinaria''. It was not an exclusive collection, and did not abrogate the previously existing laws not incorporated in it (see '' Corpus Juris Canonici'' and Papal Decretals).

''Decretales Clementis Papæ VIII'', 1598

The name has also been given to a canonical collection officially known as ''Decretales Clementis Papæ VIII''. It owes the name of "Liber Septimus" to Cardinal Pinelli,

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

(president) of the special

congregation Congregation may refer to: Religion *Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church *Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...

appointed by

Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V (; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death, in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order, where h ...

to draw up a new ecclesiastical code, who applied this title to it in his manuscript notes; Prospero Fagnani and Benedict XIV imitated him in this, and it has retained the name. The ''Decretales Clementis Papæ VIII'' is divided into five books, subdivided into titles and chapters, and contains disciplinary and

dogmatic Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Catholic Church, Roman Catholicism, Protes ...

canons of the

Council of Florence The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1445. It was convened in territories under the Holy Roman Empire. Italy became a venue of a Catholic ecumenical council aft ...

, First Lateran Council and that of Trent, and

apostolic constitution An apostolic constitution () is the most solemn form of legislation issued by the Pope.New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, pg. 57, footnote 36. By their nature, apostolic constitutions are addressed to the public. Generic constitutions use ...

s of twenty-eight popes from

Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX (; born Ugolino di Conti; 1145 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and the ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decretales'' and instituting the P ...

to Clement VIII. It was to supply the defect of an official codification of the canon law from the date of the publication of the ''Constitutiones Clementinæ'' (1317), that

Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII (, , born Ugo Boncompagni; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake ...

appointed about the year 1580 a body of cardinals to undertake the work. In 1587, Sixtus V established the special congregation to draw up a new ecclesiastical code. The printed work was submitted to Clement VIII in 1598 for his approbation, which was refused. A new revision undertaken in 1607-08 had a similar fate, the reigning

pope Paul V Pope Paul V (; ) (17 September 1552 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death, in January 1621. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a mem ...

declining to approve the ''Liber Septimus'' as the obligatory legal code of the Church. The refusals of approbation by Clement VIII and Paul V are to be attributed not to the fear of seeing the canons of the Council of Trent glossed by canonists (which was forbidden by the bull of

Pius IV Pope Pius IV (; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death, in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered itself a b ...

, '' Benedictus Deus'', confirming the Council of Trent), but to the political situation of the day. Indeed, several states had refused to admit some of the constitutions inserted in the new collection, and the Council of Trent had not yet been accepted by the

French government The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...

; it was therefore feared that the Governments would refuse to recognize the new code. It also seems a mistake to have included in the work decisions that were purely and exclusively dogmatic and as such entirely foreign to the domain of canon law. This collection, which appeared about the end of the sixteenth century, was edited by François Sentis ("Clementis Papæ VIII Decretales", Freiburg, 1870).

Seventh Book of Decretals, 1590

Pierre Mathieu (Petrus Matthæus), a

canonist 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 the sixteenth century, published in 1590, under the title of "Septimus Liber Decretalium" ('Seventh Book of

Decretals 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 ...

'), a collection of canons arranged according to the order of the papal Decretals of Gregory IX, containing some decretals of preceding popes, especially of those from the reign of

Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV, ; born Francesco della Rovere; (21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included ...

(1464–71) to that of

, in 1590. It was an entirely private collection and devoid of scientific value. Some editions of the '' Corpus Juris Canonici'' (Frankfort, 1590; Lyons 1621 and 1671; Justus Henning Boehmer's edition, Halle, 1747) contained the text of this "Liber septimus" as an appendix.

References

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