‘Cloistered’ Gratians: Early Illuminated Manuscripts of the Decretum Gratiani within Communities of Regulars

Abstract

The Decretum Gratiani was probably composed in Bologna, Italy, prior to the mid-twelfth century and rapidly became one of the most widely utilised textbooks in medieval Western Europe. The text began to be illuminated shortly thereafter. Professional lay craftsmen, presumably working in collaboration with the nascent urban law schools, likely played a role in devising this novel illuminated book. Nevertheless, since Gratian’s work encompassed Church legislation, the scriptoria of ecclesiastical institutions must have been involved. This article examines the illuminated copies clearly associated with specific monastic or canonical communities to ascertain any common features that distinguish them as ‘cloistered’ Gratians.