Editing Decretal (section)

===''Quinque Compilationes Antiquae Decretalium''===
[[File:Bernardus Papiensis – Breviarium extravagantium, 1779 – BEIC 13873566.jpg|thumb|''Breviarium extravagantium'' by [[Bernardus Papiensis]], the first of the five collections called ''Compilationes Antiquae''.]]

The [[Decretum of Gratian|''Decretum'' of Gratian]] was considered in the middle of the 12th century as a ''[[corpus juris canonici]],'' i. e. a code of the ecclesiastical laws then in force. As such however, it was incomplete and many new laws were made by succeeding popes; hence the necessity of new collections. Five of these collections exhibited pontifical legislation from the "Decretum" of Gratian to the pontificate of [[Gregory IX]] (1150–1227). These are known as the "Quinque compilationes antiquæ". On account of their importance they were made the text of canonical instruction at the [[University of Bologna]] and, like the "Decretum" of Gratian, were glossed (notes bearing on the explanation and interpretation of the text were added to the manuscripts).<ref name=":0" />
 
The first collection, the "Breviarium extravagantium" or summary of the decretals not contained in the "Decretum" of Gratian (''vagantes extra Decretum''), was compiled by [[Bernardus Papiensis]] in 1187–1191. It contains papal decretals to the pontificate of [[Clement III]] inclusive (1187–1191). The compilation known as the third (''Compilatio tertia''), written however prior to the second collection (''Compilatio secunda''), contains the documents of the first twelve years of the pontificate of [[Pope Innocent III|Innocent III]] (8 January 1198—7 January 1210), which are of a later date than those of the second compilation, the latter containing especially the decretals of [[Clement III]] and [[Celestine III]] (1191–1198). The "Compilatio tertia" is the oldest official collection of the legislation of the Roman Church; for it was composed by Cardinal [[Petrus Collivacinus of Benevento]] by order of Innocent III (1198–1216), by whom it was approved in the Bull "Devotioni vestræ" of 28 December 1210.<ref name=":0" />

The second compilation, also called "Decretales mediæ" or "Decretales intermediæ", was the work of a private individual, the Englishman [[John of Wales (canon lawyer)|John of Wales]] (Johannes de Walesio, Walensis or Galensis). Around 1216, an unknown writer formed the "Compilatio quarta", the fourth collection, containing the decretals of the pontificate of Innocent III which are of a later date than 7 January 1210 and the canons of the [[Fourth Lateran Council]] held in 1215. Finally, the fifth compilation is, like the third, an official code, compiled by order of [[Honorius III]] (1216–1227) and approved by this pope in the Bull "Novæ causarum" (1226 or 1227).<ref name=":0" />
 
Several of these collections contain decretals anterior to the time of Gratian, but not inserted by him in the "Decretum". Bernard of Pavia divided his collection into five books arranged in titles and chapters. The first book treats of persons possessing jurisdiction (''judex''), the second of the civil legal processes (''judicium''), the third of clerics and regulars (''clerus''), the fourth of marriage (''connubium''), the fifth of delinquencies and of criminal procedure (crimen). In the four other collections the same logical division of the subject-matter was adopted.<ref name=":0" />