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The Medieval Church · c. 1139–1150
The Concord of Discordant Canons
Decretum Gratiani
Gratian · 12th century
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What it is
Nearly four thousand canons arranged as cases and questions, with the contradictions between them argued out and reconciled rather than merely listed.
Why it lasted
It turned canon law into a science and a university subject, and remained the foundation of church law until 1917.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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