II. Texts, Law, and Church Reform: The Anti-Simoniac Dossier of BM Reims Ms. 15 and the Collectio Sinemuriensis

Abstract

Abstract This paper explores a little-known florilegium of 36 canons found in Reims, Bibliothèque municipale Ms. 15. The canons form one part of a dossier against simoniac prelates, assembled in 1078–1079 by reform-minded clergy in Reims to bring down the archbishop, Manasses I (ca. 1069–1080). Taken nearly whole-cloth from the Tuscan Collectio Barberiniana, the canons of Reims 15 shed light on the transmission of legal material from northern Italy to northern France, and offer precious insight into how this material was assembled for use. Moreover, substantial elements of the florilegium were incorporated into the eleventh-century legal collection known as Sinemuriensis. Using the canonical material of Reims 15, this paper offers a new hypothesis concerning the various recensions of Sinemuriensis and their dating, and concludes with an edition of the canons from the Reims florilegium.