overcome by presenting an encyclopedic, and suppos-
edly consistent, picture of the law. The collectors had
searched the Scriptures, the Christian laws available
to them—from both Greek (mainly synods) and Latin
(synods and decretals from popes) worlds—and all the
major Latin (and some Greek) theological authors, and
had abstracted any material that was relevant to their
topics. Then by retaining all these items within a sys-
tem they effectively created the belief that all these
sources were in harmony—for every “judgment” (be
it a verse of Scripture or an injunction from one of the
Fathers) had its place—and agreed with their own insu-
lar legislative agenda.
TheCollectioalso reveals the insular situation, in
that there are elements drawn from Irish law in such
matters as inheritance and marriage, rules of evidence,
and property. Since it takes from Irish law, and in other
places outlines how Canon Law can function alongside
native law (e.g., on divorce), it was necessary to
develop a theory of the origins of legal systems and
their respective competencies. The Collectiodid this
by developing a notion of a “natural law” from Paul
(Romans 2:14), which could function alongside a
“revealed [Christian] law.” This notion of related, yet
distinct, systems allowed Christian law to accommo-
date itself within social structures other than those of
the world in which Christianity arose and where it
forged its basic legal structures. It is this systematic
and comprehensive arrangement, combined with the
possibility of being integrated with other systems, that
explains the popularity of the Collectioas a legal text-
book and a model of imitation and excerption, from
the eighth to the twelfth centuries, on the Continent.
We know that the Collectiowas being used in the
Rhineland as a textbook in the first half of the eighth
century, and that the Carolingians used it as a legal
resource. Later it formed a base for many other legal
collections, and some of its material and jurisprudence
eventually found its way into the Decretumof Gratian
(prior to 1159).
THOMASO’LOUGHLIN
References and Further Reading
Brundage, James A. Medieval Canon Law. London: Longman,
1995.
Kuttner, Stephan G. Harmony from Dissonance: An Interpreta-
tion of Medieval Canon Law. Latrobe, Pennsylvania: The
Archabbey Press, 1960.
O’Loughlin, Thomas. Celtic Theology: Humanity, World and
God in Early Irish Writings. London: Continuum, 2000.
O’Loughlin, Thomas. Adomnán at Birr, A.D. 697: Essays in
Commemoration of the Law of the Innocents. Dublin, Four
Courts Press, 2001.
[Five articles on the Collectio canonum hibernensis].Peritia:
Journal of the Medieval Academy of Ireland14 (2000):
1–110.
See alsoAdomnán; Biblical and Church Fathers;
Brehon Law; Christianity, Conversion to;
Ecclesiastical Organization; PenitentialsCAROLINGIAN (LINKS WITH
IRELAND)
The Carolingian dynasty, named for its most famous
son, Charles (Latin Carolus) the Great, or Charlemagne
(c. 742–814), which ruled the greater part of Christian
western Europe between 751 and 887, gave its name
to a major cultural phase, the impact of which extended
to Ireland.
The dynasty rose to prominence in the early seventh
century and gradually reduced their titular Merovingian
kings to figureheads. Pippin III (d. 768) deposed the
last Merovingian ruler and, in 751, was proclaimed
king of the Franks. Twenty years later the kingdom
passed to Charlemagne, who embarked on a series of
conquests that made him the undisputed master of the
Christian West except for Britain, Ireland, parts of
southern Italy, and northern Spain. On Christmas day
800, he was crowned emperor of the restored Roman
Empire by Pope Leo III. Central to the maintenance
of the empire was the education of an administrative
elite, and some of the greatest scholars in Europe,
including a number of Irish, were brought to the impe-
rial capital at Aachen. The liberal arts were promoted,
classical texts were copied and preserved, and a new
script was devised—Carolingian minuscule—which
was adopted in Ireland. Charlemagne was succeeded
by his son Louis the Pious, on whose death in 840 the
empire was divided into three, with the western sec-
tion, including most of Gaul, going to Charles the Bald
(823–877). Carolingian authority was further weak-
ened by subsequent partitions and, although members
of the dynasty ruled in France until 987, the last holder
of the imperial title was Charlemagne’s great-grandson,
Charles the Fat, who was deposed in 887.
The Carolingian monastery of Echternach, which
became a royal monastery in 751, was one likelymeans
of access to the court for eighth-century Irishmen. In
767, Vergilius (d. 784) was appointed bishop of
Salzburg, after successfully completing a diplomatic
mission for Peppin III. Einhard, Charlemagne’s bio-
grapher, commented that letters existed in which Irish
kings praised the emperor and addressed him as “lord;”
these probably related to the security of the pilgrim
routes and the maintenance of hostels. In 772–774,
Charlemagne directed that goods plundered from pil-
grims be restored to the Irish church on the island of
Honau, near Strasbourg. Irish scholars at the court of
Charlemagne and Louis the Pious included Josephus
Scottus (fl. 782–796), Dúngal (fl. 804–827), Clemens
Scottus (fl. 815–831), and Dícuil. Irish influenceCANON LAW