POPE INNOCENTIUS IV'S COMMENTARY ON DECRETALS: A MILESTONE IN THE HISTORY OF CANON LAW

INNOCENTIUS IV, Pope. Innocentii IIII pont. max. In quinque libros decretalium, necnon in decretales per eundem Innocentium editas, quae modo in sexto earundem volumine sunt insertae, & in huius operis elencho, vt cunctis pateant adnotatae, commentaria doctissima. Cum Pauli Roselli, adnotationibus, et loco indicis, Baldi Margarita. Nunc vero diligentiori quam antea studio recognita, ab innumerisque erroribus, ex omnibus quae inueniri statuere, voluminibus hactenus excusis integritati suae restituta. Summas etiam rerum notabilium quam plurimis in locis vbi deerant adijci curauimus. Additis insuper vita eiusdem auctoris, ac nouo indice ita locupleti, vt nil amplius desiderari posse, certo sciant omnes. Venetiis, apud Iuntas, 1578.

Large folio volume, contemporary stiff vellum, handwritten titles on spine, ff. [24], 236, [32].
Title page with large-size printer’s device, woodcut head-letters, text on two columns.

Pope Innocentius IV’s famous commentary to the Gregorius IX’s decretals —here in a gorgeous edition of late 16th century: a milestone in the history of medieval canon law.

Sinibaldo Fieschi, later pope Innocentius IV (1243-1254), was born in Genoa before 1200. Brilliant scholar in Bologna, of renowned canonists as Laurentius Hispanus, Johannes Teutonicus, Jacobus de Albenga and Vincentius Hispanus as well as civil lawyers as Azo, Jacobus Balduinus and Accursius., after teaching canon law in the same university, soon became one of the most respected jurists in the Roman curia. Appointed, since 1226 Auditor of Audientia litterarum contradictarum, was created cardinal by Pope Gregory IX in 1127, and then elected pope in 1243, after the death of Celestine IV. His pontificate was not easy, marked, among other things, by the deposition of the Emperor Frederick II at the Council of Lyons in 1254.

References: CNCE 28474. OCLC 797733908.

A fine and wide-margined copy.