Skip to content

Margaritae

Free World Class Education
FREE Catholic Classes

(DECRETI DECRETORUM DECRETALIUM).

The canonists of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries who taught canon law by commenting on the Decretum of Gratian and on the various collections of the Decretals, gave the most varied forms and diverse names to their treatises. The "Margaritae" are collections specially intended to help the memory. In them are arranged, either in alphabetical order or according to the subject matter, the more important propositions, résumés, and axioms; some of them consisted of more or less felicitous mnemonic verses. A number of these "Margaritae" have been preserved, but not all the authors are known with certainty. Some of the treatises have been printed with the Decretum or the Decretals. Thus several editions of the Decretum contain the "Modus legendi" in verse, beginning:

Collige versibus quid vult distinctio quævis,
Ut videat quisquis divinum jus hominisque.

Another, as yet unpublished, which may be the "Breviarium pauperum metrice compilatum", contains in verse the five books of the Decretals and ends thus:

"Hos quinque libros metrice conscribere tempto."

We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.

Help Now >

Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.

Prayer of the Day logo
Saint of the Day logo

We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.

Help Now >

Catholic Online Logo

Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.

Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.