Church Law in the Sources of Roman Law of the Postclassical Period

Abstract

The paper analyzes the relationship between Church (or Canon) law and Roman law in the period of the Dominate, in particular from the issue of the Edict of Milan to the Justinian codification. The imperial decrees, which were the only newly issued source of law in the period of the Dominate, contained the terms „Catholica Lex“, which undoubtedly pointed to the existence of the Church own norms, and „Christiana Lex“, which in turn appeared in the imperial decrees concerning the delegation of jurisdiction in civil matters by the bishop (episcopalis audientia). At first, the Roman emperors did not accept the norms of Canon law into Roman legal order, but created the conditions for the Church to be able to fulfill its mission without interruption. After 380, when Emperor Theodosius I declared Christianity to be the state religion, the interconnection and mutual influence of Roman law and Church law can be observed. At the beginning of the fifth century, a set of norms governing church matters was introduced into Roman law, some of which were derived from state law and some were accepted from Church law. The term „ius ecclesiasticum“ was introduced for all such provisions as a whole originating from both sources.