ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a brief work on forms of proof, the Ordo ‘Pro utraque parte’. Linda Fowler-Magerl has dated it to the middle of the twelfth century and argued for composition in Italy. Its early date makes it an interesting witness to the theory and practice of romano-canonical process. Equally important is its provenance, which permits an examination in the light of Chris Wickham’s work on the legal culture of twelfth-century Tuscany. The Ordo’s citation of the Collectio Polycarpus also demonstrates the continuing influence of this early twelfth-century canonical collection even after the appearance of Gratian’s Decretum. The Ordo ‘Pro utraque parte’ reveals not only the development of canonistic procedure during the course of the twelfth century but also something of the complicated realities that confronted ecclesiastical judges.
