¶ Long cases on the five books of the

Decretals, usefully compiled by the lord

Bernard, their preeminent glossator

The King of Peace. After the initial greeting, place the case thus. In this opening statement, "The King of Peace," that is, our Lord Jesus Christ, in his pious mercy from the beginning of the world, ordained or provided that his subjects should be chaste, peaceful, and modest. But on the contrary, unbridled greed arose, prodigal of itself, the rival of peace, the mother of lawsuits, and the mistress of quarrels, which daily generates so many disputes that, unless justice repressed its efforts by its power and explained its manifold questions, the abuse of litigants would extinguish the lineage of the human race, and concord would depart, having been given a writ of divorce beyond the borders of the world. And therefore, all this greed has been tempered, so that its harmful appetite might be restricted under the rule of laws, by which the human race is instructed to live honestly, to harm no one, and to render to each his own. Secondly, in that verse:

¶ "Indeed." The Lord Pope Gregory sets the case of this compilation, saying that through Master Raymund, his chaplain, for the common utility of students, he caused various statements and decretal letters of his predecessors, which were scattered through many volumes and diffuse, to be reduced into one volume. Some of these, because of their excessive similarity, others because of their contrariety, and others because of their length, seemed to induce confusion. Others were wandering outside the aforementioned volumes, concerning which, as if they were uncertain, there was frequent doubt in judgments. He adds, moreover, certain statements and his own decretal letters, by which certain things that were doubtful in the previous ones are declared.

¶ In the end, the Lord Pope Gregory commands that all should use this compilation alone in judgments and in schools, strictly prohibiting anyone from presuming to make another compilation without the special license of the Apostolic See.

¶ Note the form of the greeting here, which the Pope makes generally to all.

¶ Note that subjects and prelates of churches ought to live chastely, honestly, soberly, and modestly.

¶ Note that greed is the mother of lawsuits and the mistress of quarrels.

¶ Note that through justice, the attempts of greed are repressed.

¶ Note that through justice, complex questions are terminated.

¶ Note that the effect of justice is to remove lawsuits, and thus consequently it takes away greed.

¶ Note that there are three precepts of justice.

¶ Note that laws are corrected for three reasons, namely on account of excessive similarity, contrariety, and length; and thus one law corrects another, and the reason why it is corrected must be given.

¶ Note that a prince can establish laws not only by himself but through another.

¶ Note that the common utility ought to be heeded, yet it should be heeded more diligently for students.

¶ Note that although an equal does not have authority over an equal, nevertheless a successor can correct and declare the statute of his predecessor; and thus note that through later things, earlier ones are declared.

¶ Note that this compilation is canonical and approved in this preface, and therefore it carries authority in judgments.

A large red decorative Lombardic initial 'R' marks the beginning of the first paragraph. At the bottom center of the page, there is an oval library stamp containing the text "BIBL. PUBL. BASILEENSIS." (Public Library of Basel).