DACHERIANA COLLECTIO

The Dacheriana collectio is a systematic Gallic canonical collection dating from the Carolingian Reform at the end of the 8th century. Originally entitled Excerpta de canonibus or canonum, it was later named Dacheriania, after Jean Luc d'Achéry, who published it in 1672 on the basis of two manuscripts. Except in a few manuscripts, it is preceded by a preface consisting first of a treatise "de utilitate paenitentiae," and then a brief explanation of the grouping into three books of authentic excerpts from the councils and decretals.

The success of the collection resulted from its divisions and choice of materials. The first book is a treatment "de paenitentia et paenitentibus, criminibus atque iudiciis"; the second, "de accusatis et de accusatoribus, iudicibus atque iudiciis"; the third, "de sacris ordinibus." Four manuscripts contain also a dogmatic table of 36 titles, only nine of which were transcribed, without numbering, in a fifth manuscript. There is no fourth book in the collection.

The Dacheriana is one of the principal sources of the material to be found in collections of the 9th and 10th centuries. It contributed to the regulation of ecclesiastical discipline from the reign of Charlemagne until the time of the Decree of Gratian. The 40 extant manuscripts bear witness to the authority it enjoyed until the 12th century.

It was subjected to modifications whose extreme forms are described as: Form A, the most widely disseminated, free from extraneous additions; and Form B, influenced by the false decretals (Pseudo–Isidorian forgeries). The B form is represented by five manuscripts and by the corrections of three others. D'Achéry's edition makes use of Form B. A comparison of the two forms shows several textual revisions, as well as additions or omissions that justify the classification of the manuscripts into several distinct families. The Dacheriana derives from the hadriana collectio and from the hispana collectio, but the absence of critical editions does not permit its identification with a specific stage in their evolution. However, in the case of the Hispana, the textual criticism demonstrates the dependence of the Dacheriana upon the systematic nature of its form, and beyond this, the dependence of its composition upon that of the Excerpta hispanica.

Bibliography: a. van hove, Commentarium Lovaniense in Codicem iuris canonici 1, v. 1–5 (Mechlin 1928–); v. 1, Prolegomena (2d ed. 1945) 1:293–294. f. maassen, Geschichte der Quellen und der Literatur des canonischen Rechts im Abendlande bis dem Ausgang des Mittelalters (Graz 1870; repr. Graz 1956) 848–852. g. haenni, "La Dacheriana mérite–t–elle une réédition?" Revue historique de droit français et étranger 33 (1956) 376–390.

[g. haenni]