Ivo of Chartres was one of the most learned scholars of his time, a powerful bishop and a major figure in the so-called 'Investiture Contest'. Christof Rolker here offers a major new study of Ivo, his works and the role he played in the intellectual, religious and political culture of medieval Europe around 1100 AD. Comparing Ivo's extensive correspondence to the contemporary canon law collections attributed to him, Dr Rolker provides a new interpretation of their authorship. Contrary to current assumptions, he reveals that Ivo did not compile the Panormia, showing that its compiler worked in a distinctly different mental framework from Ivo. These findings call for a reassessment of the relationship between Church reform and scholasticism and shed new light on Ivo as both a scholar and bishop.

The essays in this volume in honour of Martin Brett address issues relating to the compilation and transmission of canon law collections, the role of bishops in their dissemination, as well as the interpretation and use of law in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The studies are grouped thematically under the headings 'Bishops and Their Texts', and 'Texts and the Use of Canon Law'. These reflect important areas of contention in the historiographical literature and hence will further the debates regarding not simply the compilation and dissemination of canonical collections in the earlier middle ages, but also the development of the practical application of canon law within Europe, especially after c.1080. Individually, the contributors offer new viewpoints on key issues and questions relating to the creation of canonical texts, their transmission and use on both sides of the English Channel in the decades either side of the year 1100. Collectively, the essays explore the methods and motives of compilers, assess the use of law, find readers both in the compilation of texts and within their margins, and - perhaps most importantly - speculate where possible about the living communities in which these texts were compiled, copied and used.

An examination of the transmission and spread of papal documents in the Latin West between the 4th and 9th centuries. These documents, which were collected from the 5th century onwards, became the basis of canon law. The second part of the volume discusses the prevalence of forged decress which were attributed to the earliest popes.

The contributions in New Discourses in Medieval Canon Law Research present new research on medieval church law, and propose a new model of how to write the history of canon law in the Middle Ages.

This anthology offers a selection of key prefaces to ecclesiastical law collections from late antiquity to the mid-13th century, during which time the Western church was wrestling with the complexities and ambiguities of its legal traditions.