work. Of this paraphrase several editions have been printed; the most complete is by William Otto Reitz, printed at the Hague in 1751, in two volumes, 4to. In the opinion of Haubold, professor of law at Leipsic, this is unequalled by any similar publication, except Ritter's edition of the Theodosian Code. The Pandects and Code were likewise

translated into Greek.

The BASILICA is a body of law chiefly compiled from that of Justinian for the government of the eastern empire. Its name is derived, either from the emperor Basilius, or from its containing imperial constitutions (Βασιλικας διατάξεις). The work was undertaken by Basilius, but the death of that emperor occurring in 886, before its completion, the task was effected by his son Leo, surnamed the philosopher; and the work received a final revision under Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the son of Leo. A portion of this work was first published in 1557 at Paris, by Gentian Hervet; other portions appeared at various times; but the most complete edition, till the recent publication of Heimbach, was that by Charles Annibal Fabrot, professor of law in the university of Aix, printed at Paris in 1647, in six volumes, folio. A supplement to this edition, by W. O. Reitz, containing Books XLIX.-LII., was printed in Meerman's Thesaurus, and reprinted, with additions, by David Ruhn

kenius at Leyden in 1765. A new edition, in six volumes, 4to., has lately been completed by Charles William Ernest Heimbach. The first volume was printed at Leipsic in 1833, and the last in 1870.

The most distinguished of the French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, as well as the German and Dutch writers on the Roman Law, have their place in the Library.

In England the Civil Law was publicly taught at a very early period. The first professor was Vacarius, a native of Lombardy, who had studied under Irnerius at Bologna, and who read lectures in the university of Oxford in the reign of Stephen A.D. 1150, and composed for the use of his pupils a compendious treatise, extracted from the Code and Pandects. His history has been illustrated by Dr. Wenck, professor in the university of Leipsic, who has inserted the Prologue and copious extracts from the work in the volume he has published on the subject, in which he has corrected the errors of previous writers respecting Vacarius. Several manuscripts of the epitome of Vacarius are in existence. The works of Aldric, an English lawyer who taught at Oxford in the reign of Henry II., are cited by Accursius in his Gloss.

The Canon Law (from κavwv, a rule), a term used to denote the ecclesiastical law sanctioned by the church of Rome, is contained in the CORPUS

JURIS CANONICI. The laws of the ancient Greek church are contained in the Bibliotheca Juris Canonici Veteris edited by William Voel and Henry Justel, printed at Paris in 1661, in two volumes, folio; and in the publication of Bishop Beveridge entitled, Pandectæ Canonum SS. Apostolorum, et Conciliorum ab Ecclesia Græca receptorum &c., two vols. folio, Oxford, 1672.

The contents of the Corpus Juris Canonici are: I. Gratiani Decretum, originally entitled Concordia discordantium Canonum. Gratian was a native of Clusium, or Chiusi, near Florence, and a Benedictine monk of S. Felice at Bologna. The work was completed in 1151. The principal sources from which it is derived are the Scriptures, the Apostolical Canons, the decisions of councils, the decretal epistles of pontiffs, the works of the Greek and Latin Fathers, the Theodosian Code, Corpus Juris Civilis, &c. 2. Decretalium D. Gregorii Papæ IX. Compilatio.* This was framed under the direction of Gregory IX. who filled the papal chair from 1227 to 1241. In the execution

*This compilation had been preceded by those of Dionysius Exiguus, an abbot in the sixth century, and Fulgentius Ferrandus, who flourished soon afterwards; Isidorus Hispalensis, Bishop of Seville from 595 to 636; Cresconius, about 690; Isidorus Mercator, otherwise called Peccator, about 830, and described as impostor nequissimus; and Ivo, Bishop of Chartres from 1092 to 1115.

of the work he employed Raymundo de Peñafort, a learned Spaniard, afterwards canonised. These decretals are rescripts of the popes, in answer to prelates and other persons by whom they have been consulted. 3. Liber Sextus Decretalium D. Bonifacii Papæ VIII. This is supplementary to the former collection, and was compiled under the authority of Boniface, pontiff from 1294 to 1303. 4. Clementis Papæ V. Constitutiones in Concilio Vienensi editæ. Clement, whose residence was at Avignon, presided in the council of Vienne in the year 1312; and in addition to the constitutions there enacted, his collection comprises some other constitutions and decretals divulged by himself. These Clementinæ were promulgated in 1317 by his successor, John XXII. 5. Extravagantes D. Joannis Papæ XXII. This collection consists of twenty constitutions of John XXII., and was so named because they wandered beyond the limits of the collection which contained the works already enumerated as belonging to the body of the canon law. 6. Extravagantes Communes. This collection comprehends the constitutions of various popes from Urban VI. to Sixtus IV.

Many editions of the Corpus Juris Canonici have been published; that by the brothers P. and F. Pithou, printed at Paris in 1687, 2 vols. folio, is much esteemed, but the edition printed at Lyons in

1671, 3 vols. folio, is regarded as the best ; another is also worthy of notice, as being edited by a Protestant professor of law, J. H. Boehmer,* printed at Halle in 1747, 2 vols. 4to. The last edition was by Æ. L. Richter, professor of law in the academy of Marburg, printed at Leipsic in 1839, 4to. This contains likewise the Canons and Decrees of the council of Trent.

The Institutions of Jo. Paulus Lancelottus, inserted in some of the editions of the Corpus Juris Canonici, do not form an essential part of the authorised collection, never having received the papal sanction, though undertaken with the approbation of Paul IV. They are the production of a lawyer, are closely modelled upon the Institutes of Justinian, and were first published in 1563, shortly before the dissolution of the council of Trent.

Besides the general body of canon law, every nation in Christendom has its own national canon law, composed of Legatine, Provincial, and other Ecclesiastical Constitutions.

The Legatine Constitutions of England are the ecclesiastical laws enacted in national synods, held under the cardinals Otho and Othobon, legates

* Such was the reputation enjoyed by this professor, that, according to the Baron de Bielfeld, difficult and intricate processes were frequently transmitted from Italy, to be decided by the law faculty of the Protestant university of Halle, during the period when Boehmer was dean.