Huguccio: The Life, Works, and Thought of a Twelfth-Century Jurist by Wolfgang P. Müller (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 543 here translated. Indeed, the decision to publish the translations serially renders the whole enterprise more problematical than might appear at first sight. The reason lies in the particular arrangement of the letters in the source edition— an edition which as yet only consists of two of the projected four volumes (and whose ultimate appearance will be further delayed due to the death last year of their editor, LievenVan Acker). Basing their work on the incomplete edition, the translators have had to follow its eccentric ordering (albeit one with manuscript authority) where the letters are arranged not chronologically, nor thematically but according to the official status of the recipient. (But not always, as St. Bernard of Clairvaux takes pride ofplace even before the Popes.) This means that a series of letters on the same subject—for example, the removal of Richardis von Stade to Bassum—involving correspondents of different status,will be scattered throughout the several volumes. Tracing the development of Hildegard's thought, her activities, or even the extent of her network at any one time is at present impossible and will remain laborious even when all volumes are complete. How might such inbuilt structural problems be overcome? Short of suggesting that further publication be postponed until the Latin edition has been completed , I believe the best course would be to ensure that subsequent volumes of the translation include a detailed cumulative index to help readers find their way around this very important correspondence. Sabina Flanagan University ofAdelaide, Australia Huguccio: The Life, Works, and Thought of a Twelfth-CenturyJurist. By Wolfgang P. Müller. [Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Canon Law,Volume 3.] (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press. 1994. Pp. ix, 220. $59.95.) Wolfgang Miiller's study of Huguccio (d. 1210), the most important legal thinker in the decretist tradition, is a major contribution to the ongoing task of publishing the foundations of canon law. It also underscores the problems involved in that effort. Huguccio's commentary on the Decretum, one of the longest ever written, provided a synthesis of the first half-century of decretist thought. The volume contains four tightly focused chapters, each dealing with a fundamental issue. The first chapter deals with identifying Huguccio. Various writers have identified Huguccio the canonist as the bishop of Ferrara, as the author of the Derivationes, a widely read etymological dictionary, and as the teacher of Innocent III. After reviewing the literature, Müller concludes that Huguccio the canonist was indeed the bishop of Ferrara, but that it is not clear that he was also the noted grammarian. Furthermore, Müller con- 544 BOOK REVIEWS eludes that there is not much evidence that Huguccio was the teacher of Innocent III. The second chapter deals with Huguccio's as yet unpublished Summa Decretorum . The lack of a published edition of this commentary has two causes: it is "among the longest works of canonistic literature ever written" even though it was never completed (p. 67); furthermore, there are forty-two manuscripts , including nine complete texts. Müller provides a survey of the manuscripts , indicating what is missing from the incomplete texts. The third chapter deals with Huguccio's use of Roman law. The canonists debated the relationship between secular and ecclesiastical law, a struggle that was at the heart of the medieval Church-State conflict. Were the two laws equals, each supreme in its own jurisdiction, or was the canon law superior to the secular law? Furthermore, to what degree should the canonists employ Roman law? Would its use undermine the autonomy of the Church? Müller concludes that Huguccio was a dualist, that is, he recognized the autonomy of secular law in purely secular matters, but he also "did not hesitate to make Christian equity the basic guideline for everyone, including secular judges" f. 129). This conclusion is a sensible solution to the occasionally sterile debate about whether a particular canonist was a dualist or a hierocrat. As for Roman law as a subject of study, Huguccio used Roman law instrumentally, citing it where it supplemented the canon law, but otherwise had no particular interest in it. The final chapter deals with what...