Canon Law is a collection of ecclesiastical constitutions for the regulation of the Church of Rome, consisting for the most part of ordinances of general and provincial councils, decrees promulgated by the popes with the sanction of the cardinals, and decretal epistles and bulls of the popes. There is also a canon law for the regulation of the Church of England, which under certain restrictions is used in ecclesiastical courts and in the courts of the two universities.
In the Roman Church these collections came into use in the 5th and 6th centuries. The chief basis of them was a translation of the decrees of the four first general councils, to which other decrees of particular synods and decretals of the popes were added. In the time of Charlemagne the collection of Dionysius the Little acquired almost the authority of laws. Equal authority, also, was allowed to the spurious 9th-century collection of decretals falsely ascribed to Isidore, Bishop of Seville. After the 10th century systematical compendiums of ecclesiastical law began to be drawn from these canons, the most important being that of the BenedictineGratian of Chiusi, finished in 1151. Within ten years after its appearance the Universities of Bologna and Paris had their professors of canon law, who taught from Gratian's work, which superseded all former chronological collections. After the appearance of the Decretum Gratiani, new decrees of councils and new decretals were promulgated, which were collected by Raymond of Pennaforte under the name of Decretales Gregorii Noni (1234); and the later decretals, etc, collected by Boniface VIII, were published as the sixth book of the Gregorian Decretals in 1298, all these having the authority of laws.
Pope Clement V published a collection of his decrees in 1313. About the year 1340 the decretals of John XXII were published (Extravagantes Johannis XXII); and at a later period the subsequent decretals, to the time of Sextus IV. (Extravagantes Communes) appeared. These Extravagantes have not altogether the authority of law. Under Pope Pius IV a commission was appointed to revise the Decretum Gratiani, the work being completed under Gregory XIII, and sanctioned by bull in 1580. The authority of the canon law in England, since the Reformation, depends upon the statute 25th Henry VIII, according to which such ecclesiastical laws as were not repugnant to the laws of the realm and the king's prerogative were to remain in force until revised. This revision was never made. A body of 141 canons was drawn up for the English church in 1603-4, and these are still partially in force, so far as concerns the clergy. Research Canon Law
The Chair of St Peter at Rome is a wooden chair overlaid with ivory work and gold, first mentioned by Ennodius in 500, and in honour of which a feast was instituted by Paul IV in 1558. Research Chair of St Peter
The Council of Trent was a general Council of the Roman Catholic Church held at Trent between 1545 and 1563. Its origins have historical significance. A comprehensive definition of dogma and strong internal reforms were needed to enable the Roman Church to show an undivided front against the growing strength of the Reformed doctrines. The popes generally had resisted appeals for general councils, e.g. that made by the university of Paris in 1518. In 1530 the Protestant estates demanded a 'council of Christendom' and the emperor, Charles V, was strongly convinced of the necessity of reform. After various delays and postponements between 1537 and 1544, a council was summoned to Trent by pope Paul III, in 1545. Over 200 fathers attended, and the sittings continued, broken partly by political developments, under Popes Julius III and Pius IV, the last of the 25 sessions being held in December 1563.
Among the matters dealt with by the council (the Tridentine decrees), the most important were: the joint value of Scripture and the tradition of the Church as standards of Divine revelation; the interpretative authority of the Church Fathers; original sin; the authority of the Vulgate, 1546; the Divine origin and forms of the sacraments of baptism and confirmation, 1547; the Eucharist and penance, 1551; communion in both kinds and the sacrifice of the Mass, 1562; orders and the regulation of the hierarchy; the sacrament of matrimony; veneration of saints, indulgences, index of prohibited books, 1563. The decrees were confirmed by Pius IV in 1564.
The Council of Trent was of great importance as guiding the main lines of Roman Catholic development in Post-Reformation times. The catechism of the council, summarising its decrees and definitions, was edited by the Dominican scholars, and in 1564 the Roman Congregation of the Council was established to safeguard its decisions and facilitate their practice. Research Council Of Trent
The Inquisition was the name of two historic Roman Catholic tribunals. The first, mediaeval Inquisition was established in 1233 by Pope Gregory X in response to the spread of heretical sects, such as the Albigenses and Waldenses in northern Italy, southern France, and Germany. Judges of the Inquisition were chosen from among the Dominicans to try and judge cases of heresy, then considered intolerable by civil and ecclesiastical authorities alike. If found guilty of heresy, the heretic was turned over to secular authorities for punishment. Though burning at the stake was the ultimate penalty for unrecanted heresy, this penalty was uncommon in mediaeval times. The usual punishment was penance, fine, or imprisonment. Torture was used in the civil courts of the time and was also admitted in trials for heresy by Innocent IV in 1252, despite earlier papal denunciations of torture.
During the Catholic Reformation, the functions of the mediaeval Inquisition were assigned to the Holy Office in 1542. Called the Roman Inquisition, it was active against Protestantism and heard charges of heresy against Galileo in what became a famous trial. Its typical function in modern times was the examination of theological writings. The Holy Office was replaced by the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1965. The Spanish Inquisition was a quasi- ecclesiastical tribunal established in 1478 by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella primarily to examine converted Jews, and later converted Muslims, and punish those who were insincere in the conversion.
Pope Sixtus IV reluctantly approved the Spanish Inquisition, which was largely controlled by the Spanish monarchs. The Grand Inquisitor was always a Dominican, however, and the first and most notorious was T. de Torquemada. The Spanish Inquisition was much harsher than the mediaeval Inquisition and the death penalty was more often exacted, sometimes in mass autos-da-fe. It judged cases of bigamy, seduction, usury, and other crimes, and was active in Spain and her colonies. Estimates of its victims vary widely, ranging from less than 4,000 to more than 30,000 during its existence. By the 17th century the harshness of the Inquisition was greatly reduced and it was abolished altogether in 1834. Research Inquisition
The Order of St George was a military order instituted in Russia in 1769 by the Empress Catharine II as a reward of military achievements. It consisted of four classes to which a fifth, intended for non-commissioned officers and privates, was added in 1807.
The Oredr of St George is an order instituted in Bavaria by the Emperor Charles VII. (Charles Albert) in 1729, and reorganized by King Louis II in 1871. Since the re-organisation the order, which had previously been a mere decoration for the nobility, it devoted itself to such services as the care of the wounded on battlefields, etc.
The Order of St George is a Sicilian military order, instituted by Joseph Napoleon on the 24th of February, 1808, and remodelled by King Ferdinand IV in 1819. Research Order of St George
Adrian IV was the only ever English born pope. He was born in 1100 and died in 1159. He was born Nicholas Breakspear and entered the monastery of SaintRufus near Avignon in France. He was successively appointed abbot of the monastery in 1137, cardinal bishop of Albano in 1150, and papal legate to Scandinavia in 1152, holding the post until 1154. When he returned to Rome, he was unanimously elected pope upon the death of Anastasius IV in 1154, and held the post until his death in 1159. Research Adrian IV
Agis IV was a king of Sparta. He succeeded to the throne in 244 BC, and reigned for four years. He attempted a reform of the abuses which had crept into the state - his plan comprehending a redistribution of the land, a division of wealth, and the cancelling of all debts. Opposed by his colleague Leonidas, advantage was taken of his absence in an expedition against the Aetolians, to depose him. Agis at first took sanctuary in a temple, but he was entrapped and hurriedly executed by his rival. Research Agis IV
Albertus Magnus (Albert the Great) was Count of Bollstadt and a distinguished German scholar of the thirteenth century. He was born in 1193 and died in 1280. He studied at Padua, became a monk of the Dominican order, teaching in the schools of Hildeslioini, Ratisbon, and Cologne, where Thomas Aquinas became his pupil. In 1245 he went to Paris and publicly expounded the doctrines of Aristotle, notwithstanding the prohibition of the church. He became rector of the school of Cologne in 1249; in 1254 he was made provincial of his order in Germany; and in 1260 he received from Pope Alexander IV the appointment of Bishop of Ratisbon. In 1263 he retired to his convent at Cologne, where he composed many works, especially commentaries on Aristotle. Owing to his profound knowledge he did not escape the imputation of using magical arts and trafficking with the 'Evil One'. Research Albertus Magnus
Bela IV was king of Hungary. He succeeded his father Andrew II in 1235 and was shortly after defeated by the Tartars and detained prisoner for some time in Austria, where he had sought refuge. In 1244 he regained his throne, with the aid of the knights of Rhodes, and defeated the Austrians, but was in turn beaten by the Bohemians. He died in 1270. Research Bela IV
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