ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the official compendium of canon law in ninth-century Constantinople: the Nomokanon in XIV Titles. In the ninth century a new edition of the Nomokanon in XIV Titles was produced in Constantinople about the year 882. The False Decretals presuppose a centralized monarchical government, with the Bishop of Rome as the central point of reference for all matters of importance. In ninth-century Constantinople the Nomokanon shows an emphasis on a more synodal/collegial form of government by the patriarch and the bishops, while the emperor is recognized as having an important role in the life and administration of the Church. Fully to understand the meaning and importance of the Isidorian Decretals it is necessary to have some knowledge of the state of the Church in Western Europe in the ninth century and the circumstances of the Frankish kingdoms in which they were produced.
