False Decretals

False Decretals, a 9th-century collection of ecclesiastical legislation containing some forged documents. The principal aim of the forgers was to free the Roman Catholic church from interference by the state and to maintain the independence of the bishops against the encroachments of the archbishops, who were attempting to extend their power.

A party had been formed in the Carolingian Empire to combat the subjection of the church to the state. Within this party was a group that became convinced that the use of legitimate means would never accomplish this purpose and determined to try to achieve it by illegitimate means. They conceived that positive legislation of their demands could be projected into the past by attributing it to popes and kings long dead. Thus, they produced a number of falsifications of church law, of which the best known was the False Decretals.

The False Decretals—also called the Decretals of Pseudo-Isidore because their compilers passed as Saint Isidore of Sevilla, a Spanish encyclopaedist and historian, and sometimes the Collection of Isidore Mercator because they usually begin with the words Isidorus Mercator, servus Christi lectori salutem (“Isidore the merchant, a servant of Christ, salutes the reader”)—purports to be a collection of decrees of councils and decretals of popes (written replies on questions of ecclesiastical discipline) from the first seven centuries. The collection contains (1) the letters of the popes preceding the Council of Nicaea (325) from Clement I to Miltiades, all of which are forgeries; (2) a collection of the decrees of councils, most of which are genuine, though the forged Donation of Constantine is included; (3) a large collection of letters of the popes from Sylvester I (died 335) to Gregory II (died 731), among which there are more than 40 falsifications.

As a collection, the False Decretals seems to have been used first at the Council of Soissons in 853. They were known at the end of the 9th century in Italy but had little influence there until the end of the 10th century. For the next few centuries, they were generally accepted by canonists, theologians, and councils as authentic. Beginning in the 12th century, their authenticity was doubted by some critics, but it was not until the 17th century that David Blondel, a Reformed theologian, clearly refuted their defenders. Since that time, research has concentrated on the origin, extent, and purpose of the falsification.

It is untrue to say that the False Decretals revolutionized canon law, but the forgers did have a considerable influence. They seem to have helped eliminate chorepiscopi (bishops in full orders, who, at this time, were auxiliaries of diocesan bishops or of administrators of dioceses), limit the power of archbishops, revive dormant privileges of the clergy, and revive the right of appeal of local bishops to the pope.