Guillaume Durand - Important Works

Important Works

Durandus' principal work is the Speculum iudiciale, which was compiled in 1271, and revised in 1286 and 1291. It is a general explanation of civil, criminal and canonical procedure, and also includes a survey of the subject of contracts. It is a remarkable encyclopedical synthesis of Roman and ecclesiastical law, distinguished by its clarity, its method, and especially its practical sense, and its repute was as great and lasting in the courts as in the schools. It won Durandus the nickname of "The Speculator." It was commented upon by Giovanni Andrea (in 1346), and by Baldus. In 1306 Cardinal Béranger drew up an alphabetical table of its contents (Inventorium). There are many manuscripts of the Speculum, and several editions, of which the most usual is that of Turin in 1578 in 2 volumes, containing all additions -among them those by Giovanni d'Andrea and tables. This edition was reproduced at Frankfurt in 1612 and 1668.

Another important work by Durandus was the Rationale divinorum officiorum, a liturgical treatise written in Italy before 1286, on the origin and symbolic sense of the Christian ritual. It presents a picture of the liturgy of the 13th century in the West, studied in its various forms, its traditional sources, and its relation to the church buildings and furniture. With Martène's De antiquis Ecclesiae ritibus it is the main authority on the medieval Western liturgies. It has run through various editions since its first publication in 1459. The other important works of Durandus comprise:

• Repertorium iuris canonici (Breviarium aureum), a collection of citations from canonists on questions of controversy, often published along with the Speculum
• Commentarius in sacrosanctum Lugdunense concilium (ed. Fano, 1569), of especial value owing to the share of Durandus in the elaboration of the constitutions of this council (1274), and inserted by Boniface VIII in the Sextus.

His nephew, also called Guillaume Durand, was also a canonist. Guillaume Durand the Younger, a later bishop of Mende, was an advocate of ecclesiastical reform at the Council of Vienne.