ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the evolving nature of ‘authority’ in Church law by comparing the most important canonical collection of the eleventh century, the Decretum of Burchard, bishop of Worms, to the Ivonian Decretum, which work Ivo’s own collection. Both Burchard and Ivo referred to the nature of authority in the prefaces which accompany their Decreta. Burchard apparently concerned himself more with the theoretical nature of authority, and he defined it in a more restricted manner. In the Decretum as a whole, Burchard’s inscriptions correspond directly to the narrow list of authorities, with only a handful of exceptions. In order to accomplish the goal of making the canons appear authoritative, Burchard regularly altered their attributions. To consider Ivo and Burchard’s treatment of authority raises interesting questions about the views of the reforms of the eleventh and early twelfth centuries.
