This chapter sketches the philological and codicological work on Gratian’s Decretum and how that work is being employed in new ways. It begins by briefly touching on the collection’s wider dissemination as a way of placing it within an overall context of the Corpus iuris canonici. It then sketches the contributions of Stephan Kuttner and Peter Landau followed by the Redaktionsgeschichte of the text. The role the Decretum played in the transmission and fluidity of legal knowledge is analyzed through the lens of two case studies: Gratian’s balancing of the spiritual and secular roles of the feudal bishop, first, and, second, a unique case found only in one manuscript.

In large part the role of the papacy as a legislative institution and a court system was its most significant contribution to Western jurisprudence. This chapter traces the long evolution of the papacy’s legal and legislative development from the late antique to the sixteenth century. It outlines the papacy’s influence over the first law schools in Europe, and the importance of the law schools in cultivating, teaching, and interpreting papal law.

While Chapter 2 examines the direct relationship between the papacy and local problems, Chapter 3 investigates the surviving writings of the canon law schools, and their contribution to the debates and ideas present in the 1179 conciliar canons. Using the commentaries written by and for scholars, this chapter attempts to draw links between the opinions of certain canonists and the legal points put forward in the 1179 canons. It assesses the legal learning of Alexander’s curia and cardinals, using that analysis to gauge how far canonists present as part of the papal entourage influenced the contents and direction of the canons compared to those who arrived only for the council itself. It also aims to show that while the 1179 decrees relied on recent canonists’ commentaries and opinions, at times they diverged from those approaches, providing important evidence for the role of papal decision–making. Overall, despite the clear imprint of the curia’s role in shaping the canons, they mostly represent ideas that were current, and in some cases achieved, through the communication and innovation of the legal schools.