- For other figures with this name, see Gratian .
Gratian, was a 12th century
canon law from
Bologna. He is sometimes incorrectly referred to as Franciscus Gratianus, Johannes Gratianus, or Giovanni Graziano. The dates of his birth and death are unknown.
Since the 11th century, Bologna had been the centre of the study of
canon law, as well as of
civil law, after the
Corpus Juris Civilis was rediscovered in western Europe. Little is known about Gratian's life. For a long time he was believed to have been born at the end of the 11th century, at
Chiusi in
Tuscany. He was said to have become a monk at
Camaldoli and then he taught at the
monastery of
St. Felix in Bologna and devoted his life to studying canon law. Recent research has found no foundation for this view.
His compilation, the
Concordia discordantium canonum (
Concord of Discordant Canons), later simply named the
Decretum, was an attempt, using early
scholastic method, to solve seemingly contradictory canons from previous centuries. Gratian quoted a great number of authorities, including the
Bible, papal and conciliar legislation, church fathers such as
Augustine of Hippo, and secular law in his efforts to reconcile the canons. The vulgate version of Gratian's collection was completed at some point after the
Second Lateran Council, which it quotes. Research by
Anders Winroth established that some manuscripts of an early version of Gratian's text, which differs...
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