Počátky kanonistiky jako samostatné právní vědy

The article deals with the beginnings of a separate science of Canon law in the Middle Ages. The situation favourable for the development of science occurred in Europe in the late 11th and 12th century. The main centre of study of the legal science was Italian Bologna. Irnerio has reconstructed the collections of Roman law created by Emperor Justinian. Few decades later, in the same city was born the separated science of Canon law. As the origin of Canon law is considered the publication of the voluminous writings consisted of three parts entitled Concordia discordantium canonum, also called by the author Decretum Gratiani, that was published in the years 1140–1142. This writing has been widely studied and glossed by lawyers, who called themselves Decretists, and became a text that has been used for teaching the Canon law. Article lists the names and brief information about the most important lawyers of the period called Decretists. Another evolutional phase of the Canon Law in the Middle Ages was the period of so-called period of Decretalists in which the main legal document becoming pope’s decision, called papal edicts, although they ware originally the pope’s decision for the individual case, but gradually became binding law for other similar cases. Papal edicts were published in larger collections (the most important of them was Liber Extra published by Gregory IX. in the year 1234). Liber Extra with the Decretum Gratiani created the applicable law of the Catholic Church under the name Corpus Juris Canonici, that was valid until 1917. The article gives an overview of the various collections of papal edicts and the names and writings of individual Decretalists, that studied Papal edicts, commented and wrote about them often very detailed explanations. The article describes in detail the most important medieval lawyer of the Canon law, which was John Andreae (†1348). In the 14th century also culminates the process of mutual approaching of the schools involved in the Roman law and Canon law, which process was expressed by the title “doctor of law” – Canon law and Roman law. Prominent leaders of schools of Commentators of Roman law, of which the most important were Bartolus of Saxoferrato and Baldus de Ubaldis, have to be apart from Roman law also excellent Canon law experts. The article at its end deals with one of the most critical events of the Middle Ages, when knowledge of canonists was significantly put into practice – in the effort of resolving the Papal Schism of the late 14th and 15th centuries.