JOANNES TEUTONICUS (ZEMECKE)

Glossator; b. second half of 12th century; d. Halberstadt, April 25, 1245 or 1246. He was provost of the Collegiate Chapter of St. Maria. He studied civil law (under Azo) and Canon Law in Bologna and taught there probably until 1220. He is one of the most important glossators of his day and from 1210 to 1220 was among the outstanding scholars of Bologna.

His works include the Apparatus for the constitutions of the Fourth Lateran Council, written immediately after the publication of these constitutions; the Compilatio IV antiqua, composed in 1215–16 and presented to Pope Innocent III but not approved by him, thus slow to win recognition; the Apparatus for the Compilatio IV antiqua, which was composed at the same time as the collection itself, and which became in practice the glossa ordinaria on Compilatio IV antiqua, Apparatus for Compilatio III antiqua, composed about 1217 and making thorough use of the preceding; glosses on Compilatio V antiqua, which, however, are scattered and do not amount to an apparatus; glosses on the Arbor consanguinitatis et affinitatis; and Quaestiones contained in various collections, notably, as QQ. dominicales, in the Klosterneuburg Collection.

But there is no doubt that his chief work is the Glossa ordinaria on the Decretum of gratian. This glossary was elaborated between 1212 and 1215 but was certainly not published until after the conclusion of the Fourth Lateran Council; between 1216 and 1217 it was again revised, especially in respect of certain allegations against the Compilatio IV antiqua. The apparatus begins with the words Tractaturus Gratianus de iure canonico primo incipit a simplicioribus … In it Joannes collates the basic doctrines of the Decretum and the decretals, relying mainly on the Apparatus Ordinaturus Magister, on the Summa of huguccio, on the Apparatus of alanus an glicus, and on the Apparatus of Laurentius Hispanus. These must be regarded as his chief sources and are sometimes even cited verbatim. His own glosses played a significant role; in them he often expressed his own doctrine in a polemical form. However, he is not generous in his credits (i.e., in ascribing the individual glosses to the original authors) and many glosses appear as his own, although they have been taken over, often literally, from others. This basic and not unduly prolix commentary on the Decretum was soon adopted by the school of Bologna and by juridical practice as the standard apparatus and was used as such.

The only threat to its dissemination and importance was the appearance of the decretals of gregory ix (1234; however, it is a point to Joannes's merit that no new apparatus was composed; his was taken over and merely revised by bartholomew of brescia and brought up to date in form and content. In this revision it survived, was disseminated, and entered into the later printed editions. The Glossa ordinaria of Joannes is even today a basic source for research on the history of Canon Law in the field of classical Canon Law. What Joannes has failed to include, especially from Huguccio and Laurentius, but from others as well, was added later in repeated essays, among which the Apparatus of Johannes de Phintona and the Rosarium of guido de baysio deserve special mention.

Bibliography: j. f. v. schulte, Die Geschichte der Quellen und der Literatur des kanonischen Rechts, 3 v. in 4 pts. (Stuttgart 1875–80) 1:172–175. s. kuttner, Repertorium der Kanonistik (Rome 1937), passim. s. kuttner, "Bernardus Compostellanus antiquus, " Traditio, 1 (1943) 291–292, 305 n.82, 323 n.16; "Joannes Teutonicus, das vierte Laterankonzil und die Compilatio Quarta, " Miscellanca Giovanni Mercati, 6 v. (Rome 1946) 5:608–634. a. garcÍa, "El Concilio IV de Letrán y sus commentarios, " Traditio, 14 (1958) 493–498. s. stelling-michaud, Dictionnaire de droit canonique, ed. r. naz, 7 v. (Paris 1935–65) 6:120–122.

[a. m. stickler]