BALBI, Bernardo (Bernardus Papiensis). - Italian decretalist, d. 18 Sept. 1216. He studied law at Bologna and at that time also resided in Rome; he then held the office of provost of the cathedral of Pavia and was professor of canon law at Bologna; then bishop of Faenza (1191), and finally of Pavia (1198).

He first wrote glosses on Gratian's Decretum, which he distinguished with his own sigla: B. Ber. and Ber. Pa.

He is also the author of the Breviarium extravagantium, which was called Compilatio prima, when the Breviarium constituted the first (private, but of great authority) of the Quinque compilationes antiquae. The expression Breviarium extravagantium was meant to indicate that the decretals collected therein were outside ("extra vagantes") Gratian's Decretum. The Breviarium embraces above all the decretals issued from 1187 to 1191 up to the pontificate of Pope Clement III and was compiled by B. when he was provost of the cathedral of Pavia. In reality, however, B. also wished to include in his work the Chapters that had been omitted by Gratian; of these and of the decretals subsequent to the Decretum, B. intended to create a systematic collection by arranging the various Chapters in the Breviarium, under special titles, and gathering these into 5 books with the following distribution of material, which later became standard in the compilations of decretals: Index, iudicium, clerus, connubia (or sponsalia), crimen.

Before 1198 B. composed an apparatus of glosses on his Breviarium. This work originated in the school, inasmuch as he gave lectura on his text and gathered into the glosses of the apparatus the explanations he gave as a master. B., moreover, compiled a Summa Decretalium and other particular works of systematic exposition such as the Summa de matrimonio and the Summa de electione, published by Laspeyres in the appendix to his edition of B.'s Summa Decretalium. In the Summa Decretalium, B. also made use of the Casus on the canonical texts, written by Richardus Anglicus.

While he was bishop of Pavia he wrote the life of his predecessor St. Lanfranc (Acta SS. Iunii, IV, Paris 1867, pp. 620-30) and a commentary on Eccli. and Cant.

Bibliography5 works

BIBL.: E. A. T. Laspeyres, Bernardi Papiensis Summa Decretalium, Ratisbon 1806-61; J. F. Schulte, Die Geschichte der Quellen, I, Stuttgart 1875, pp. 78-82, 175-82; id., Literaturgeschichte der Compilationes Antiquae, in Sitzungsber. der K. Ab. der Wiss. Phil. hist. Kl., 66 (1871), pp. 78-79; S. Kuttner, Repertorium der Kanonistik, Vatican City 1937, p. 322 ff.; D. Beltrami, Un decretalista vescovo di Faenza: B. da Pavia, Faenza 1939.

Antonio Rota

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Balbi, Bernardo (Bernardus Papiensis)

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