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Report No. c013

Placentinus

early 12th c. – c.1182

 

Alternative Names

Placentin; Placentino; Piacentino

 

Biography/Description

Glossator of great quality. Birth name unknown; birthplace Piacenza. A contemporary of Johannes Bassianus who studied in Bologna under Bulgarus, whom he referred to in his works simply as the ‘Os aureum’. Influenced heavily by Rogerius. Was active first in Mantua, where he wrote his Libellus de actionum varietatibus. He may have returned to Bologna before moving to Montpellier, but Cortese considers it more likely that P. moved directly from Mantua to Montpellier, probably by 1165. P. is the first glossator to write about himself (in the Proemium to his commentary on the Tres libri), so it is known that he established an informal school in Montpellier and spent many years (10-17) there. He also completed the Summa Codicis of Rogerius and wrote his own Summa Codicis and Summa Institutionum there. Later, after a brief, two-month stay home in Piacenza, he moved to Bologna at the request of the Castello family, who served as his patrons and let him lecture on their property. Though loved by his students, P. did not remain long in Bologna. A heated dispute with Henricus de Baila caused P. to leave Bologna and return home to Piacenza, where he lured former and new students for the next four years. Finally he returned to Montpellier, in late 1179 or early 1180, where he began a Summa on the Tres Libri. It was left unfinished upon his death. The date of his death used to be viewed as firmly established on the basis of a tombstone (dated 12 February 1192), but Gouron questioned the verity of the date on good grounds and placed the date of death in the early 1180s.

Placentinus was one of the greatest jurists of his age. His work remained relevant and influential long after his death because of its influence on Azo and Accursius. The latter’s Glossa ordinaria cites him some 520 times by name, and his influence is indirectly present in many other places. The success of his work rests on many elements, including the breadth of his knowledge (both of the law and of classical literature), the depth of his ideas, and a poetic style. P. is also unique for his frequent references to himself and sharp criticisms of others, especially those who supported imperial power in Italy.

 

Entry by: AL viii.2016

 

Text(s)

 
No. 01

Summa Codicis. Most extensive Summa to date Composed in two stages: (1) P expanded the unfinished Summa Codicis of Rogerius and wrote an Exordium for it; (2) P re-worked the entire Summa and added a new Exordium, a Materia Codicis, and commentary on Justinian’s three introductory constitutions ‘Haec’, ‘Summa’, and ‘Cordis’.

 
No. 02

Summa Institutionum. Preceded by its own materia or proemium, which is notable for its attack on the current weakness of the liberal arts and for its combining of notions from Greek philosophy and classical Latin literature with Roman law.

 
No. 03

Summa Trium librorum. First attempt at a Summa on Books 10–12 of the Codex (the Tres libri) Left unfinished, breaking off at Cod 1038; later continued by Pillius (to Cod 1162).

 
No. 04

Libellus de actionum varietatibus, c.1160. Also known by its incipit as the Summa ‘Quam feci [composui] Mantuae (Gouron) or the Summa ‘Cum essem Mantuae’ (ed Wahrmund) Earliest work by Placentinus Often published in early editions in 16 books, but only the first two were written by P.

 
No. 05

Sermo de Legibus, c.1173–75. Didactic poem written to inaugurate P’s academic year in Bologna.

 
No. 06

Additiones ad Bulgari De regulis iuris. Perhaps P’s earliest work and begun in Mantua Consists of additions to Bulgarus’s commentary on Dig 5017.

 
No. 07

Summula ad Cod. 2.3.14. Deals with conventional penalties, or penalties stipulated in contracts.

 
No. 08

Summula ‘Placuit’. On Cod 318; discusses aequitas v ius strictum Possibly penned in P’s early years in Mantua.

 
No. 09

Glossae. On various parts of the Corpus iuris ciuilis existing separate from his other Summae.

 
No. 10

Distinctiones. 21 known and listed by Pescatore.

 
No. 11

De expediendis iudiciis.

 
No. 12

De iudiciis et de traditione eorum in quovis iudico estimantur.

 
No. 13

De senatusconsultis tractatus.

 

Text(s) – Early Printed Editions

No. 02

Summa Institutionum.

 
Early Printed Editions

Placentini Summa Institutionum. Mainz, 1535.

 
No. 03

Summa Trium librorum.

 
Early Printed Editions

Placentini Summa trium librorum. Pavia, 1506, 412–15. Reprint Torino 1966.

 
No. 04

Libellus de actionum varietatibus, c.1160.

 
Early Printed Editions

Tractatus universi iuris: De personalibus actionibus. Venezia: F. Ziletti, 1584, 3.2.39rb.

 
 

Tractatus universi iuris: De varietate actionum: De rerum vendicationibus. Venezia: F. Ziletti, 1584, 3.2.35vb.

 
No. 11

De expediendis iudiciis.

 
Early Printed Editions

Tractatus universi iuris. Venezia: F. Ziletti, 1584, 3.1.94rb.

 
No. 12

De iudiciis et de traditione eorum in quovis iudico estimantur.

 
Early Printed Editions

Tractatus universi iuris. Venezia: F. Ziletti, 1584, 3.1.92vb.

 
No. 13

De senatusconsultis tractatus.

 
Early Printed Editions

Tractatus universi iuris. Venezia: F. Ziletti, 1584, 1.135rb.

 

Text(s) – Modern Editions

No. 01

Summa Codicis.

 
Modern Editions

Placentini Summa Codicis (Torino 1962) (reprint of Mainz 1536 edition with an introduction and edition of the formerly missing parts by Francesco Calasso).

 
 

Ed. F. Patetta in ‘La summa Codicis de Placentino’, Studi senesi, 13 (1896) 157–60 (first Exordium). Reprinted in: F. Patteta, Studi sulle fonti giuridiche medievali, presentazione di G. Astuti (Torino 1967), 557–560.

 
 

Placentin, La vie, les oeuvres, ed. P. de Tourtoulon (Paris 1896) 1.293–94 (first Exordium).

 
 

Ed. F. von Savigny in Geschichte 4.542–43 (second Exordium).

 
 

Beiträge zur mittelalterlichen Rechtsgeschichte II: Miscellen, ed. G. Pescatore (Berlin 1889) 12–28 (second Exordium, the Materia, and the commentary on the three introductory constitutions).

 
No. 02

Summa Institutionum.

 
Modern Editions

Juristische Schriften des früheren Mittelalters. Aus handschriften meist zum ersten Male herausgegeben und erörtert, ed. H. Fitting (Halle 1876; repr. Aalen 1965) 217–23 (prologue and Materia to the Summa).

 
 

Corpus glossatorum iuris civilis, I, A. Converso, ed. (Torino 1973) (reprint of Mainz 1535 edition).

 
No. 03

Summa Trium librorum.

 
Modern Editions

Ed. F. von Savigny in Geschichte 4.245–46 (prologue only).

 
 

Placentin, La vie, les oeuvres, ed. P. de Tourtoulon (Paris 1896) 1.65–66 (prologue only).

 
No. 04

Libellus de actionum varietatibus.

 
Modern Editions

Ed. F. von Savigny in Geschichte 4.540–41 (prologue only).

 
 

Beiträge zur mittelalterlichen Rechtsgeschichte V: Placentini Summa ‘Cum essem Mantuae’ sive de actionum varietatibus, ed. G. Pescatore (Greifswald 1897; repr. Torino 1967).

 
 

Quellen zur Geschichte des römisch–kanonischen Prozesses im Mittelalter, ed. L. Wahrmund, vol. 4.3 (Innsbruck 1925; repr. Aalen 1962).

 
No. 05

Sermo de Legibus.

 
Modern Editions

Ed. H. Kantorowicz in ‘The Poetical Sermon of a Medieval Jurist: Placentinus and his “Sermo de legibus’, Journal of the Warburg Institute, 2 (1938) 22–41. Reprinted in: H. Kantorowicz, Rechtshistorische Schriften von Dr. Hermann Kantorowicz (Karlsruhe 1970) 111–35.

 
No. 08

Summula ‘Placuit’.

 
Modern Editions

Beiträge zur mittelalterlichen Rechtsgeschichte II: Miscellen, ed. G. Pescatore (Berlin 1889) 6–11.

 

Literature

E. Cortese, ‘Piacentino’, in DGI (2013) 2.1568–71.

A. Pérez Martín, ‘Placentino’, in Juristas universales (2004) 1.348–50.

A. Gouron, ‘Placentin: une hypothèse d’identification’, Initium, 5 (2000) 133–45.

H. Lange, Glossatoren (1997) 207–214.

A. Gouron, ‘La date de la mort de Placentin: une fausse certitude’, TRG, 61 (1993) 481–92.

A. Gouron, ‘Placentin et la somme “Cum essem Mantuae”’, in Papers in European Legal History, M. Peláez, ed. (Barcelona 1992) 1335–51. Reprinted in: idem, Droit et coutume en France aux XIIe siècles (Hampshire 1993) no. II.

E. Conte, Tres Libri Codicis: La ricomparsa del testo e l’esegesi scolastica prima di Accursio (Ius commune Sonderheft 46; Frankfurt a.M. 1990) 46–48, 71–91.

E. Conte, Tres Libri Codicis: la ricomparsa del testo e l’esegesi scolastica prima di Accursio (Studien zur Europäischen Rechtsgeschichte 46; Frankfurt a.M. 1990) 46–48, 71–91.

A. Gouron, ‘Comment dater la venue de Placentin à Montpellier’, in Études d’histoire du droit médiéval en souvenir de Josette Metman (Mémoires de la sociéte pour l’histoire du droit et des institutions des ancien pays bourguignons, comtois et romands 45; Dijon 1988) 187–94. Reprinted in: idem, Droit et coutume en France aux XIIe siècles (Hampshire 1993) no. IV.

L. Fowler-Magerl, Ordo iudiciorum vel ordo iudiciarius: Begriff und Literaturgattung (Ius commune: Sonderhefte 19; Frankfurt a.M. 1984) 172–74.

G. Santini, Università e società nel XII secolo: Pillio da Medicina e lo Studio di Modena. Tradizione e innovazione nella scuola dei Glossatori. Chartularium Studii Mutinensis (Regesta) (Specimen 1069–1200) (Pubblicazioni della Facoltà di Giurisprudenza dell Università di Modena 143, n.s. 78; Modena 1979) 197–201.

A. Gouron, ‘Autour de Placentin à Montpellier, maître Gui et Pierre de Cardona’, in Mélanges G. Fransen, S. Kuttner, ed. (SG 19; Roma 1976) 1.339–54. Reprinted in: idem, La science du droit dans le midi de la France au Moyen Arge (London, 1984) noVII.

S. Kuttner, ‘A Forgotten Definition of Justice’, SG, 20 (1976) 75–109. Reprinted in: idem, The History of Ideas and Doctrines of Canon Law in the Middle Ages (London 1980) no. V.

J. Fried, Die Entstehung des Juristenstandes im 12. Jahrhundert (Köln 1974) passim.

P. Weimar, ‘Die legistische Literatur der Glossatorenzeit’, in Handbuch der Quellen und Literatur der neueren europäischen Privatrechtsgeschichte, H. Coing, ed. (München 1973) 1.passim.

C. Mor, ‘A l’origine de l’école de Montpellier: Rogerius ou Placentin?’, in Album J. Balon (Namur 1968) 145–55.

R. Feenstra, ‘A propos d’un nouveau manuscrit de la version latine du Codi’, SG, 20 (1967) 69–70. Reprinted in: idem, Fata iuris romani: Études d’histoire du droit (Leiden 1974) 160–61.

C. Lefebvre, ‘Placentin’, in DDC (1965) 7.2–10.

E. Cortese, ‘La Summula “Placuit” piacentiniana e le aggiunte di Giovanni nel ms. parigino 4546’, Studi economico-giuridici della Facoltà di Giurisprudenza di Cagliari, 44 (1965) 339–55. Reprinted in: idem, Scritti, I. Birocchi and U. Petronio, ed. (Spoleto 1999), 1.233–47.

P. Tisset, ‘Placentin et son enseignement à Montpellier: Droit romain et coutume dans l’ancien pays de Septimanie’, Recueil de mémoires et travaux de la Société d’histoire du droit des pays de droit écrit, 2 (1951) 67–95.

H. Kantorowicz, ‘The Poetical Sermon of a Medieval Jurist: Placentinus and his “Sermo de legibus”’, Journal of the Warburg Institute, 2 (1938) 22–41. Reprinted in: idem, Rechtshistorische Schriften von Dr. Hermann Kantorowicz (Karlsruhe 1970) 111–35.

H. Kantorowicz, Studies in the Glossators of the Roman Law: Newly Discovered Writings of the Twelfth Century (Cambridge 1938; repr. Aalen 1969) 11–135.

P. de Tourtoulon, Placentin: La vie, les oeuvres (Paris 1896; repr. Glashütten 1972).

F. von Savigny, Geschichte 4.244–85.