ABSTRACT
This chapter examines canon law in the ninth century and discusses the life and work of a Greek canonist from Constantinople, St Methodios, who died in 885. There are several reasons for including Methodios in a canonical survey of developments in Rome and in Constantinople. Some Catholic authors have argued that Methodios chose his canons according to a well-conceived plan and that this plan was to omit canons that would be unacceptable to Rome. In opposition to these authors, Professor Sergei Troickij argues that Methodios in fact included canons opposed by Rome, while rejecting all the ancient canons that could be interpreted as favouring Roman primatial claims. In Rome, absolved of all the accusations, he obtained from Pope John VIII the publication of the bull Industriae Tuae which restored some of the prerogatives granted to the liturgy in Slavonic by Pope John’s predecessor, Hadrian II.
