In the works of the Glossators and the Commentators, it can be noticed a strong presence of poetic citations embedded in the legal reasoning. This paper addresses this practice by using the Summa super decretalibus of Hostiensis (c.1253) as a case study. After a brief overview of the relationship between law, history, and poetry, the present essay will sketch the common habit of thirteenth-century jurists to resort to poetic verses in their writings. Subsequently, the poetic citations in Hostiensis’s Summa that can be attributed to a specific author will be analysed. Finally, I will try to suggest some possible explanations for the choice of certain authors by Hostiensis and more generally for the use of poetry in the legal discourse of the time.
Teaching Canon Law with Verses. Poetic Quotes in Hostiensis’s Summa Aurea (c.1253)
David De Concilio
2023
Abstract
In the works of the Glossators and the Commentators, it can be noticed a strong presence of poetic citations embedded in the legal reasoning. This paper addresses this practice by using the Summa super decretalibus of Hostiensis (c.1253) as a case study. After a brief overview of the relationship between law, history, and poetry, the present essay will sketch the common habit of thirteenth-century jurists to resort to poetic verses in their writings. Subsequently, the poetic citations in Hostiensis’s Summa that can be attributed to a specific author will be analysed. Finally, I will try to suggest some possible explanations for the choice of certain authors by Hostiensis and more generally for the use of poetry in the legal discourse of the time.Pubblicazioni consigliate
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