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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Influence of the Church on Civil Law</title><script src="https://dtyry4ejybx0.cloudfront.net/js/cmp/cleanmediacmp.js?ver=0104" async="true"></script><script defer data-domain="newadvent.org" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script><link rel="canonical" href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09066a.htm"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="description" content="Christianity is essentially an ethical religion; and, although its moral principles were meant directly for the elevation of the individual, still they could not fail to exercise a powerful influence on such a public institution as law, the crystallized rule of human conduct"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://feeds.newadvent.org/bestoftheweb?format=xml"><link rel="icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><link rel="shortcut icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><meta name="robots" content="noodp"><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="../utility/screen6.css" media="screen"></head> <body class="cathen" id="09066a.htm">  <br/> <div id="capitalcity"><table summary="Logo" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="100%"><tr valign="bottom"><td align="left"><a href="../"><img height=36 width=153 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></td><td align="right"> <form id="searchbox_000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0" action="../utility/search.htm">  <input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active"> <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0"/> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:9"/>  <label for="searchQuery" id="searchQueryLabel">Search:</label> <input id="searchQuery" name="q" type="text" size="25" aria-labelledby="searchQueryLabel"/>  <label for="submitButton" id="submitButtonLabel" class="visually-hidden">Submit Search</label> <input id="submitButton" type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" aria-labelledby="submitButtonLabel"/> </form> <table summary="Spacer" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td height="2"></td></tr></table> <table summary="Tabs" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../"> Home </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_white_on_color" href="../cathen/index.html"> Encyclopedia </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../summa/index.html"> Summa </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../fathers/index.html"> Fathers </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../bible/gen001.htm"> Bible </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../library/index.html"> Library </a></td> </tr></table> </td> </tr></table><table summary="Alphabetical index" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"> <a href="../cathen/a.htm"> A </a><a href="../cathen/b.htm"> B </a><a href="../cathen/c.htm"> C </a><a href="../cathen/d.htm"> D </a><a href="../cathen/e.htm"> E </a><a href="../cathen/f.htm"> F </a><a href="../cathen/g.htm"> G </a><a href="../cathen/h.htm"> H </a><a href="../cathen/i.htm"> I </a><a href="../cathen/j.htm"> J </a><a href="../cathen/k.htm"> K </a><a href="../cathen/l.htm"> L </a><a href="../cathen/m.htm"> M </a><a href="../cathen/n.htm"> N </a><a href="../cathen/o.htm"> O </a><a href="../cathen/p.htm"> P </a><a href="../cathen/q.htm"> Q </a><a href="../cathen/r.htm"> R </a><a href="../cathen/s.htm"> S </a><a href="../cathen/t.htm"> T </a><a href="../cathen/u.htm"> U </a><a href="../cathen/v.htm"> V </a><a href="../cathen/w.htm"> W </a><a href="../cathen/x.htm"> X </a><a href="../cathen/y.htm"> Y </a><a href="../cathen/z.htm"> Z </a> </td></tr></table></div> <div id="mobilecity" style="text-align: center; "><a href="../"><img height=24 width=102 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></div>  <div id="mi5"><span class="breadcrumbs"><a href="../">Home</a> > <a href="../cathen">Catholic Encyclopedia</a> > <a href="../cathen/l.htm">L</a> > Influence of the Church on Civil Law</span></div> <div id="springfield2"> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-top' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <h1>Influence of the Church on Civil Law</h1> <p><em><a href="https://gumroad.com/l/na2"><strong>Please help support the mission of New Advent</strong> and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more  all for only $19.99...</a></em></p> <p><a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christianity</a> is essentially an <a href="../cathen/05556a.htm">ethical</a> religion; and, although its moral principles were meant directly for the elevation of the individual, still they could not fail to exercise a powerful influence on such a public institution as law, the crystallized rule of human conduct. The <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">law</a> of <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> escaped this influence to a large extent, because much of it was compiled before <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christianity</a> was recognized by the public authorities. But the <em>leges barbarorum</em> were more completely interpenetrated, as it were, by <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> influences; they received their definite form only after the several nations had submitted to the gentle yoke of <a href="../cathen/08374c.htm">Christ</a>. This influence of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> is particularly noticeable in the following matters:</p> <h2 id="section1">Slavery</h2> <p>The condition of the slaves was most pitiable in the ages of antiquity. According to <a href="../cathen/09079a.htm">Roman law</a> and usage a slave was considered, not as a human being, but as a chattel, over which the master had the most absolute control, up to the point of inflicting death. Gradually, the spirit of <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christianity</a> restricted these inhuman <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">rights</a>. From the time of the <a href="../cathen/01586a.htm">Emperor Antoninus Pius</a> (138-61) a master was punished if he killed his slave without reason, or even practiced on him excessive cruelty (Instit. Just., lib. I, tit. 8; Dig., lib. I, tit. 6, leges 1, 2). The emperor Constantine (306-37) made it <a href="../cathen/07441a.htm">homicide</a> to kill a slave with malice aforethought, and described certain modes of barbarous punishment by which, if death followed, the guilt of <a href="../cathen/07441a.htm">homicide</a> was incurred (Cod. Just., lib. IV, tit. 14). A further relief consisted in facilitating the manumission or liberation of slaves. According to several <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">laws</a> of Constantine the ordinary formalities could be dispensed with if the manumission took place in the church, before the people and the sacred <a href="../cathen/10326a.htm">ministers</a>. The <a href="../cathen/04049b.htm">clergy</a> were permitted to bestow freedom on their slaves in their last will, or even by simple word of mouth (Cod. Just., lib. I, tit. 13, leges 1, 2). The Emperor Justinian I (527-65) gave to freed <a href="../cathen/11726a.htm">persons</a> the full rank and <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">rights</a> of Roman citizens, and abolished the penalty of condemnation to servitude (Cod. Just., lib. VII, tit. 6; Nov., VII, cap. viii; Nov. LVIII, praef. capp. i, iu). Similar provisions were found in the Barbarian codes. According to the <a href="../cathen/03068a.htm">Burgundian</a> and <a href="../cathen/15476b.htm">Visigothic</a> <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">laws</a> the <a href="../cathen/07441a.htm">murder</a> of a slave was punished; emancipation in the church and before the <a href="../cathen/12406a.htm">priest</a> was permitted and encouraged. In one point they were ahead of the <a href="../cathen/09079a.htm">Roman law</a>; they recognized the legality of the marriage between slaves. in the Lombardic law, on the authority of the Scriptural sentence: "Whom <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> hath joined together, let no man put asunder." The <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> could not directly abolish slavery; she was satisfied with admitting the slaves within her pale on a footing of equality with others, with counselling patience and submission on the part of the slave, forbearance and moderation on that of the master. Otherwise she concurred in the civil legislation, or even went beyond it in some cases. Thus, the killing of a slave was severely punished (Counc. of Elvira, D. 300, Can. v; Counc. of Epaon, A.D. 517, Can. xxviv); a fugitive slave who had taken refuge in the church was to be restored to his master only on the latter's promise of remitting the punishment (Counc. of <a href="../cathen/11318b.htm">Orléans</a>, A.D. 511, Can. iii, c. vi, X, lib. III, tit. 49); marriage between slaves was recognized as valid (Counc. of <a href="../cathen/03566a.htm">Châlons</a>, A.D. 813; Can. xxx; c. i, X, lib. IV, tit. 9); and even the marriage between a free <a href="../cathen/11726a.htm">person</a> and a slave was ratified, provided it had been contracted with full <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a> (Counc. of Compiegne, A.D. 757, Can. viii).</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <h2 id="section2">Paternal authority (<em>potestas paterna</em>)</h2> <p>According to the <a href="../cathen/09079a.htm">Roman law</a> the power of the father over his children was as absolute as that of the master over his slaves: it extended to their freedom and life. The harsher features of this usage were gradually eliminated. Thus, according to the <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">laws</a> of different emperors, the killing of a child either by the father or by the mother was declared to be one of the greatest crimes (Cod. Theod., lib. IX, tit. 14, 15; Cod. Just., lib. IX, tit. 17; Dig., lib. XLVIII, tit. 9, lex 1). Cruel treatment of children was forbidden, such as the <em>jus liberos notice dandi</em>, i.e., the right of handing children over to the power of someone injured by them (Instit. Just., lib. IV, tit. 8); children could not be sold or given away to the power of others (Cod. Just., lib. IV, tit. 43, lex 1); children that were sold by their father on account of poverty were to be set free (Cod. Theod., lib. III, tit. 3, lex 1); finally, all children exposed by their <a href="../cathen/11478c.htm">parents</a> and fallen into servitude were to become free without exception (Cod. Just., lib. VIII, tit. 52, lex 3). The son of a <a href="../cathen/05782a.htm">family</a> was entitled to dispose in his last will of the possessions acquired either in military service (<em>peculium castrense</em>), or in the exercise of an office (<em>peculium quasi castrense</em>), or in any other way (Instit. Just., Jib. II, tit. 11; c. iv, VI, lib. III, tit. 12). The children could not be disinherited at the simple wish of the father, but only for certain specified reasons based on ingratitude (Nov. CXV. cc. iii sqq.).</p> <h2 id="section3">Marriage</h2> <p>In the ancient law of <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> the wife was, like the rest of the <a href="../cathen/05782a.htm">family</a>, the <a href="../cathen/12462a.htm">property</a> of the husband, who could dispose of her at will. <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christianity</a> rescued <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">woman</a> from this degrading condition by attributing to her equal <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">rights</a>, and by making her the companion of the husband. This equality was in part recognized by imperial <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">laws</a> which gave to <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">women</a> the right of controlling their <a href="../cathen/12462a.htm">property</a>, and to mothers the right of guardianship (Cod. Theod., lib. II, tit. 17, lex 1; lib. III, tit. 17, lex 4). The boundless liberty of <a href="../cathen/05054c.htm">divorce</a>, which had obtained since the time of <a href="../cathen/02107a.htm">Augustus</a>, was restricted to a certain number of cases. The legislation of the Emperors Constantine and Justinian on this subject did not come up to the standard of <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christianity</a>, but it approached it and imposed a salutary check on the free desire of husband or wife for separation (Cod. Theod., lib. III, tit. 16, lex 1; Cod. Just., lib. V, tit. 17, leg. 8, 10, 11). Woman was highly respected among the barbarian nations; and with some, like the <a href="../cathen/15476b.htm">Visigoths</a>, <a href="../cathen/05054c.htm">divorce</a> was forbidden except for <a href="../cathen/01163a.htm">adultery</a>.</p> <h2 id="section4">Wills and testaments</h2> <p>The canon law introduced various modifications in the regulations of the civil law concerning last wills and testaments; among them there is one which enforced a particular fairness in favour of the <a href="../cathen/10733a.htm">necessary</a> heirs, such as children. According to the <a href="../cathen/09079a.htm">Roman law</a>, one who became heir or <a href="../cathen/09118a.htm">legates</a> with the condition of a <em>fideicommissum</em> (i.e., of transmitting his inheritance or legacy to another after his death) had the right of deducting the fourth part from the inheritance or legacy, which was not transmitted; this fourth part being known as the Trebellian quarter. Again, the <a href="../cathen/10733a.htm">necessary</a> heirs, such as children, had a claim on a certain part of the inheritance. If it happened that the share of the <a href="../cathen/10733a.htm">necessary</a> heir was burdened with a <em>fideicommissum</em>, then the <a href="../cathen/10733a.htm">necessary</a> heir was entitled only to deduct the part coming to him as a <a href="../cathen/10733a.htm">necessary</a> heir, but not the Trebellian quarter (Cod. Just., lib. VI, tit. 49, lex 6). The canon law modified this provision by enjoining that the <a href="../cathen/10733a.htm">necessary</a> heir in such a case was entitled first to the deduction of his natural share and then also to the deduction of the Trebellian quarter from the rest of the inheritance (cc. 16, 18, X, lib. III, tit. 26).</p> <h2 id="section5">Property rights</h2> <p>According to a provision in the <a href="../cathen/09079a.htm">Roman law</a>, a man who was forcibly ejected from his <a href="../cathen/12462a.htm">property</a> could, in order to recover it, apply the process known as the <em>interdictum under vi</em> against the one who ejected him directly or indirectly, i.e., against him who perpetrated the act of ejection or who counselled it. But he could take action against the heirs of those who ejected him only in so far as they were enriched by the spoliation, and none against a third owner, who meanwhile had obtained possession of his former <a href="../cathen/12462a.htm">property</a> (Dig., lib., XLVIII, tit. 16, lex 1. tit. 17, lex 3). The canon law modified this unfair measure by decreeing that he who was despoiled of his <a href="../cathen/12462a.htm">property</a> could insist first on being reinstated; if the matter were brought to the courts, he could allege the <em>exceptio spolii</em>, or the fact of spoliation; and, finally, he was permitted to have recourse to the <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">law</a> against a third owner who had acquired the <a href="../cathen/12462a.htm">property</a> with the <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a> of its <a href="../cathen/08010c.htm">unjust</a> origin (c. 18, X, lib. II, tit. 13; c. 1, VI, lib. II, tit. 5).</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <h2 id="section6">Contracts</h2> <p>The <a href="../cathen/09079a.htm">Roman law</a> distinguished between pacts (<em>pacta nuda</em>) and contracts. The former could not be enforced by law or a civil action, while the latter, being clothed in special judicial solemnities, were binding before the <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">law</a> and the civil courts. Against this distinction the canon law insists on the <a href="../cathen/11189a.htm">obligation</a> incurred by any agreement of whatever form, or in whatever manner it may have been contracted (c. 1, 3, X, lib. I, tit. 35).</p> <h2 id="section7">Prescriptions</h2> <p>The <a href="../cathen/09079a.htm">Roman law</a> admitted the right of prescription in favour of him who had been in <a href="../cathen/06642a.htm">good faith</a> only at the beginning of his possession, and it abstracted altogether from the good or bad <a href="../cathen/05752c.htm">faith</a> in either party to a civil action, if it were terminated by prescription. The canon law required the <a href="../cathen/06642a.htm">good faith</a> in him who prescribed for all the time of his possession; and it refused to acknowledge prescription in the case of a civil action against a possessor of bad <a href="../cathen/05752c.htm">faith</a> (cc. 5, 20, X, lib. II, tit. 26: c. 2, VI, lib. V, tit. 12, De Reg. Jur.). (See <a href="../cathen/12395b.htm">PRESCRIPTION</a>.)</p> <h2 id="section8">Legal procedure</h2> <p>The spirit of <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christianity</a> made itself felt in the treatment of criminals and <a href="../cathen/12430a.htm">prisoners</a>. Thus <a href="../cathen/12430a.htm">prisoners</a> were not to be subjected to in human maltreatment before their trial (Cod. Theod., lib. IX, tit. 3, lex 1); criminals already sentenced were not to be branded on the forehead (Cod. Theod. lib. IX, tit. 40, lex 2); the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> received the right of interceding for <a href="../cathen/12430a.htm">prisoners</a> detained for lighter offenses, and to obtain their freedom on the <a href="../cathen/05224d.htm">feast of Easter</a>; they were likewise empowered to visit the <a href="../cathen/12430a.htm">prisons</a> on Wednesdays or Fridays in order to see that the magistrates heaped no extra afflictions on the <a href="../cathen/12430a.htm">prisoners</a> (Cod. Theod., lib. IX, tit. 38, leges 3,4,6-8; Cod. Just., lib. I, tit. 4, leges 3,9,22,23). To all this may be added the recognition of the right of asylum in the churches, which prevented a hasty and vindictive administration of <a href="../cathen/08571c.htm">justice</a> (Cod. Theod., lib. IX, tit. 15, lex 4). A great <a href="../cathen/05649a.htm">evil</a> among the Germanic nations was the trial by ordeals, or <a href="../cathen/08549a.htm">judgments of God</a>. The <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> was unable for some time to suppress them, but at least she tried to control them, placed them under the direction of the <a href="../cathen/12406a.htm">priests</a>, and gave to them a <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> appearance by prescribing special <a href="../cathen/02599b.htm">blessings</a> and ceremonies for such occasions. The <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">popes</a>, however were always opposed to the ordeals as implying a tempting of <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a>; decrees to that effect were enacted by <a href="../cathen/11054a.htm">Nicholas I</a> (858-67), <a href="../cathen/14289c.htm">Stephen V</a> (885-91), <a href="../cathen/01286a.htm">Alexander II</a> (1061-73), <a href="../cathen/03478b.htm">Celestine III</a> (1191-98), <a href="../cathen/08013a.htm">Innocent III</a> (1198-1216), and <a href="../cathen/07457a.htm">Honorius III</a> (1216-27) (cc. 22, 20, 7, C. II, q. 5; cc. 1, 3, X, lib. V, tit. 35; c. 9, X, lib. III, tit. 50). Another <a href="../cathen/05649a.htm">evil</a> consisted in the feuds or sanguinary conflicts between private <a href="../cathen/11726a.htm">persons</a> in revenge for injuries or <a href="../cathen/07441a.htm">murders</a>. The <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> could not stop them altogether, owing to the conditions of <a href="../cathen/01452a.htm">anarchy</a> and barbarism prevailing among the nations in the <a href="../cathen/10285c.htm">Middle Ages</a>; but she succeeded at least in restricting them to certain periods of the year, and certain days of the week, by what is known as the <em>treuga Dei</em> or <a href="../cathen/15068a.htm">"Truce of God"</a>. By this institution private feuds were forbidden from <a href="../cathen/01165a.htm">Advent</a> to the Octave of Epiphany, from <a href="../cathen/13721b.htm">Septuagesima Sunday</a> until the Octave of Pentecost, and from sunset of Wednesday until sunrise of Monday. Laws to that effect were enacted as early as the middle of the eleventh century in nearly all countries of Western <a href="../cathen/05607b.htm">Europe</a>  in <a href="../cathen/06166a.htm">France</a>, <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">Germany</a>, <a href="../cathen/08208a.htm">Italy</a>, <a href="../cathen/14169b.htm">Spain</a>, <a href="../cathen/05445a.htm">England</a>. The canon law insisted on certain principles of fairness: thus, it acknowledged that a civil action might extend sometimes over three years, against the ordinary rule (c. 20, X, lib. II, tit. 1); connected questions, such as disputes about possessions and the right of <a href="../cathen/12462a.htm">property</a>, were to be submitted to the same court (c. 1, X, lib. II, tit. 12; c. 1, X, lib. II, tit. 17); a suspected judge could not be refused, unless the reasons were manifested and <a href="../cathen/12454c.htm">proved</a> (c. 61, X, lib. II, tit. 28); of two contradictory sentences rendered by different judges the one favouring the accused was to prevail (c. 26, X, lib. II, tit. 27); the intention of appealing could be manifested outside of the court in the presence of good men, if anyone entertained fear of the judge (c. 73, X, lib. II, tit. 28).</p> <h2 id="section9">Legislation, government, and administration of justice</h2> <p>The <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> was allowed to exercise a wide influence on civil law by the fact that her <a href="../cathen/10326a.htm">ministers</a>, chiefly the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> and <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">abbots</a>, had a large share in framing the <em>leges barbarorum</em>. Practically all the <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">laws</a> of the barbarian nations were written under <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> influences; and the illiterate barbarians willingly accepted the aid of the literate <a href="../cathen/04049b.htm">clergy</a> to reduce to writing the institutes of their forefathers. The cooperation of the <a href="../cathen/04049b.htm">clergy</a> is not expressly mentioned in all the codes of this kind: in some only the learned in the <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">law</a>, or, again, the <em>proceres</em>, or nobles, are spoken of; but the <a href="../cathen/04049b.htm">ecclesiastics</a> were, as a rule, the only learned men, and the higher <a href="../cathen/04049b.htm">clergy</a>, <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> and <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">abbots</a>, belonged to the class of the nobles. Ecclesiastics  <a href="../cathen/12406a.htm">priests</a> or <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a>  were certainly employed in the composition of the "Lex Romana Visigothorum" or "Breviarium Alarici", the "Lex Visigothorum" of <a href="../cathen/14169b.htm">Spain</a>, the "Lex Alamannorum", the "Lex Bajuwariorurn", the Anglo-Saxon <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">laws</a> and the capitularies of the <a href="../cathen/06238a.htm">Frankish</a> kings. The <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> and <a href="../cathen/01015c.htm">abbots</a> also had a great share in the government of states in the <a href="../cathen/10285c.htm">Middle Ages</a>. They took a leading part in the great assemblies common to most of the Germanic nations; they had a voice in the election of the kings; they performed the <a href="../cathen/04380a.htm">coronation</a> of the kings; they lived much at the Court, and were the chief advisors of the kings. The office of chancellor in <a href="../cathen/05445a.htm">England</a> and in the <a href="../cathen/10285c.htm">medieval</a> <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">German Empire</a> was the highest in the State (for the chancellor was the prime minister of the king or emperor, and responsible for all his public acts, it was the chancellor who annulled iniquitous decrees of the king or emperor, and righted all that was wrong); and this office was usually entrusted to an ecclesiastic, in <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">Germany</a> generally to a distinguished <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a>. The <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> also had a great share in the administration of <a href="../cathen/08571c.htm">justice</a>. As in the East so also in the West, they had a general superintendence over the courts of <a href="../cathen/08571c.htm">justice</a>. They always had a seat in the highest tribunal; to them the injured parties could appeal in default of <a href="../cathen/08571c.htm">justice</a>; and they had the power to punish subordinate judges for <a href="../cathen/08010c.htm">injustice</a> in the absence of the king. In <a href="../cathen/14169b.htm">Spain</a> they had a special charge to keep continual watch over the administration of <a href="../cathen/08571c.htm">justice</a>, and were summoned on all great occasions to instruct the judges to act with <a href="../cathen/12748a.htm">piety</a> and <a href="../cathen/08571c.htm">justice</a>. What is more, they often acted directly as judges in temporal matters. By a law of the <a href="../cathen/04295c.htm">Emperor Constantine</a> (321) the parties to a litigation could, by mutual consent, appeal to the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a> in any stage of their judicial controversy, and by a further enactment (331) either party could do so even without the consent of the other. This second part, however, was again abrogated by subsequent legislation.</p> <p>In the <a href="../cathen/10285c.htm">Middle Ages</a> the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> acted likewise as judges, both in civil and in criminal matters. In civil matters the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> drew to its <a href="../cathen/08567a.htm">jurisdiction</a> all things of a mixed character  the <em>causae spirituali annexae</em>, which were partly temporal and partly <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">ecclesiastical</a>. Criminal matters were brought before the bishap's court, which was held usually in connection with the episcopal visitation throughout the diocese. The methods employed by the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">ecclesiastical</a> or episcopal courts in a judicial process were such that they served as a model for secular courts. At the beginning the proceedings were very simple; the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a> decided the case presented to him with the advice of the body of <a href="../cathen/12406a.htm">presbyters</a>, but without any definite formalities. After the twelfth century the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> elaborated her own method of procedure, with such comparative perfection that it was imitated to a large extent by modern courts. Several principles prevailed in this regard: first, all essential parts of a trial were to be recorded in writing  such as the presentation of the complaint, the citation of the defendant, the <a href="../cathen/12454c.htm">proofs</a>, the deposition of witnesses, the defence, and the sentence; secondly, both parties were entitled to a full opportunity of presenting all material relating to the accusation or to the defence; thirdly, the parties in a litigation had the right of appealing to a higher court after the lapse of the ordinary term for a trial (which was two years), the party dissatisfied with the decision was permitted to appeal within ten days after the rendering of the sentence.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <h2 id="section10">Sacred Scripture in legislation</h2> <p>A last instance of the influence of <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christianity</a> on legislation is found in the appeal to the books of <a href="../bible">Sacred Scripture</a> in support of civil <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">laws</a>. In the <a href="../cathen/09079a.htm">Roman law</a> there is hardly any reference to Scripture. And that is not surprising, since the spirit of Roman legislation, even under the <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> emperors, was <a href="../cathen/11388a.htm">heathen</a>, and the emperor  the <em>principle voluntas</em>  was conceived of as the supreme and ultimate source of legislation. On the contrary, the codes of the barbarian nations are replete with quotations from Scripture. In the prologue to several of them reference is made to the leftist ration given by Moses to the Jewish people. Mention has been made above of a Lombardic law which recognizes the legality of marriages among slaves on the authority of the Scriptural text: "whom <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> hath joined together, let no man put asunder" (<a href="../bible/mat019.htm#vrs6">Matthew 19:6</a>; <a href="../bible/mar010.htm#vrs9">Mark 10:9</a>). Many other examples may be found, e.g., in the "Leges Visigothorum" and in the Capitularies of the <a href="../cathen/06238a.htm">Frankish</a> kings, where almost every book of the Old and <a href="../cathen/14530a.htm">New Testament</a> is resorted to for argument or illustration.</p> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-bottom' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <div class="pub"><h2>About this page</h2><p id="apa"><strong>APA citation.</strong> <span id="apaauthor">Schaefer, F.</span> <span id="apayear">(1910).</span> <span id="apaarticle">Influence of the Church on Civil Law.</span> In <span id="apawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="apapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company.</span> <span id="apaurl">http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09066a.htm</span></p><p id="mla"><strong>MLA citation.</strong> <span id="mlaauthor">Schaefer, Francis.</span> <span id="mlaarticle">"Influence of the Church on Civil Law."</span> <span id="mlawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="mlavolume">Vol. 9.</span> <span id="mlapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company,</span> <span id="mlayear">1910.</span> <span id="mlaurl"><http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09066a.htm>.</span></p><p id="transcription"><strong>Transcription.</strong> <span id="transcriber">This article was transcribed for New Advent by David K. DeWolf.</span> <span id="dedication"></span></p><p id="approbation"><strong>Ecclesiastical approbation.</strong> <span id="nihil"><em>Nihil Obstat.</em> October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, Censor.</span> <span id="imprimatur"><em>Imprimatur.</em> +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.</span></p><p id="contactus"><strong>Contact information.</strong> The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster <em>at</em> newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.</p></div> </div> <div id="ogdenville"><table summary="Bottom bar" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"><center><strong>Copyright © 2023 by <a href="../utility/contactus.htm">New Advent LLC</a>. 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