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Benedict the Levite: Collectio Capitularium

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This is the collection of capitularies presented by a compiler who calls himself Benedict, a deacon or levite of Mainz, as a continuation of the collection of Frankish royal capitularies made by Ansegis. It is preceded here by a note from its nineteenth-century editor on the manuscripts. Benedict’s preface explains the origin of his work, and the collection follows in three books with several additions, consisting of hundreds of short chapters on church order and discipline: ordinations, excommunication, the property of churches, the rights of bishops, marriage, penance and the relations of clergy and laity.

The collection is one of the great forgeries of the Carolingian age. Alongside genuine capitularies, it contains many texts drawn from councils, papal letters, the Bible and other sources, and many invented decrees, presented as royal legislation. It was produced in the mid ninth century in the same circle that created the Pseudo-Isidorian decretals, with the aim of strengthening the position of bishops against lay and metropolitan interference. It circulated widely and influenced later canon law, and it is a key text for the study of Carolingian church politics and forgery.

About this edition. The Latin text comes from Corpus Corporum, the Latin text repository of the University of Zurich (edition: Jacques-Paul Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 97, Parisiis 1851), reused with attribution for non-commercial purposes (CC BY-NC-SA). Every word has been analyzed with LatinCy, a neural language model for Latin — click or tap any word for its dictionary form, part of speech, and complete morphology, together with the full entry from Lewis & Short’s A Latin Dictionary.

Latin · Law
Collectio Capitularium
Benedict the Levite · Pertz monitum · every word parsed
BookPertz monitumIncipit Sequentium Capitulorum PraefatioLiber Primus, part 1Liber Primus, part 2Liber Secundus, part 1Liber Secundus, part 2Liber Tertius, part 1Liber Tertius, part 2Additio PrimaAdditio SecundaIncipiunt CapitulaAdditio Tertia. Haec capitula proprie sunt ad episcopos vel ad ordines…Additio Quarta. Sequentia quaedam capitula ex sanctorum patrum decretis et…
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Opus hoc editionibus Ansegisi, de quibus in praefatione Collectioni eius praeposita monuimus, praeter tamen Heroldinam, adiunctum, in Codicibus ibidem recensitis, Gothano, Bellouacensi, Camberonensi, Riuipullensi, Normannico, Trecensi, Sangallensi n. 727, Colbertino, altero Uaticano, Tiliano, Pithoeano, Parisiensi, et regiis Parisiensibus 4636, 4634, 3839 et 3839 A, reperitur. Quorum plurimos, exceptis scilicet Gothano et Parisiensibus 4636 et 4634, cum Stephanus Baluzius editioni suae adhibuisset, nos ope codicis Gothani, qui hucusque nunquam in rem uocatus fuerat, textum Baluzianum leuiter tantum recognoscendum statuimus, eaque in re iuuenis doctissimi D. Bethmanni praecipue opera usi sumus. Codex Gothanus Ansegiso Benedictum pro libris U, UI, UII, habitum statim subiungit, ita ut post Ansegisum legantur uerba De Conglutinatione istorum, etc., minio scripta. Hic illic manus secunda correxit, notas margini ascripsit, litteris i i coniunctis duas lineas transuersas imposuit, sed raro, duobus tribusue in locis uoces perperam collocatas, litteris a et b impositis in iustum ordinem redegit; saepissime, ubi leguntur quae clero utilia sunt, margini signum uocis NOTA apposuit, addens nonnunquam: Nota diligenter; Nota caput pro episcopis utillimum; nota perutilis de immunitate; similia. Ubi quod transcripsit exemplar non potuit legere, in margine hoc indicauit scriptor Codicis littera r adiecta.
E reliquis Codicibus integros tres libros cum additione II, III, IU exhibent tantum Bellouacensis atque Uaticanus alter, Gothani eo quoque similes, quod primae additionis loco rubra tantum capitum exhibent in fine libri tertii, tum omissis tantum hisce rubris regii Parisienses 4634, 4636 et 4635, sed hic ualde imperfectus atque mancus. Libros tres cum additione prima, secunda, tertia habet regius Paris. 4637; cum secunda tantum et quarta Parisiens. 4635.–Riuipullensis atque Camberonensis exhibent tantum librum primum Benedicti; Sangallensis n. 727, librum I et II, c. 1-100; Normannicus I, II 1-363; Colbertinus l. I et excerpta e II et III; S. Arnulfi Mettensis excerpta tantum librorum I–III. Thuaneus (olim Pithoei) et Claromontanus libris tribus carentes, quatuor tantum additiones exhibent.
Qui quidem Codices, quantum Baluzii ex annotationibus coniici potest, non admodum inter se discrepant. Nostra igitur editio maxime Codicem Gothanum sequitur, lectionum praestantia Baluzianae editioni in uniuersum praeferendum; cuius quae non erant recipiendae lectiones diligenter annotauimus in margine, apposita etiam potiore Baluziani textus uarietate, et si quas addiderat Baluzius aliorum Codicum lectiones scitu dignas.
Codicem regium Parisiensem n. 4761, olim Diuionensem, capitula Benedicto decerpta et a Baluzio pro Capitularibus Caroli Magni incerti anni secundo et tertio habita, praebere, iam monuimus; eadem fere ratione Cod. regius Parisiensis n. 1455, membr., in fol., saec IX, ex bibliotheca Iacobi Tauelli Senonensis, postea Colbertinus 3368, regius 3887, 1, 1, A., in pagina Codici praeposita caput libri I, 35, 36, ita signatum: De presbiteris criminatis quomodo purgentur. Cap. XLU habet, a Baluzio itidem pro singulari Capitulari perperam habitum; et in Codice regio Parisiensi n. 4376 in fine collectionis canonum sub titulo: Ex concilio regum Karoli Ludouici Lotharii cui interfuit Bonefacius romane sedis legatus, Benedicti l. II, caput 291, inuenire licet.
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Text: Perseus Digital Library, licensed CC BY-SA. Dictionary: Lewis & Short (Perseus, CC BY-SA). Morphology: LatinCy — machine parsing, corrected against the AGDT & PROIEL treebanks and Morpheus.
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