Burchard's Decree Digital (BDD)

Ecclesiastical law had a lasting influence on Western and Central Europe until the 20th century and contributed fundamentally to the emergence of common European legal foundations. The channels through which these influences were transmitted are diverse and date back a long way. It was not only from the 12th century onwards, as is often claimed, that Europe developed into a unified space in many respects as a result of the development of ecclesiastical and Roman law. Rather, the efforts to collect, systematise and further develop ecclesiastical law, which were undertaken in the often underestimated period between the Carolingian reforms and the scientific awakening of scholasticism and canon law in the 12th century, are of great importance.

By far the most influential collection of this period is that of Bishop Burchard of Worms (1000–1025). His work, known as the “Decretum Burchardi”, was regarded as the ecclesiastical law book par excellence in the 11th and 12th centuries and could be cited with the simple reference "ex Burchardo, ex Bruchardo, ex Brocardo" – not only scholars of ecclesiastical law, but also practitioners of diocesan administration knew immediately what was meant. This practical legal significance was probably also responsible for the fact that Buchard’s collection was able to assert itself as a standard work in the face of more recent collections. Even the “Decretum Gratiani”, written around 1140, which formed the basis for all further developments in ecclesiastical law and scientific canon law, was supplemented and annotated with his work.

The project places the “Decretum Burchardi” at the centre of fundamental, multi-perspective research: it will catalogue the significant manuscripts, compile a reliable critical edition and research its reception in Germany, Italy, France and Spain. Innovation lies both in the digital edition and its focus on the history of reception, which together illustrate the tremendous dynamics of European legal cultures. 

Because the sources on the transmission and reception of the “Decretum” are distributed all over Europe, the project requires the involvement of international cooperation partners. Central to the work is, therefore, the development of a digital platform that will serve as a resource for the preparation, internal and external dissemination of the various materials (manuscripts, catalogues, source editions, etc.) as well as for the publication of an expanded digital edition. In addition, the platform will enable the exchange and integration of the active international research on sources and reception of medieval ecclesiastical law and its digital services.