Marriage.- Fredoli (Berenger) Summula in foro poenitentiali, ?Germany, [end of the 14th century].

Marriage.- [Fredoli (Berenger), attributed to] Summula in foro poenitentiali, fragment from a manuscript on vellum, in Latin, single column, 19-20 visible lines on both sides, written in brown ink in a cursive gothic hand, featuring the two-compartment 'a', rubrics and chapter headings in red, chapter numbering in the margins in the same hand, three 3-line initials painted in red, a line of stab holes to upper edge, a few stains and some marginal soiling, darkening and creasing from its use as a pastedown, last lines of text cropped, 111 x 168mm., ?Germany, [end of the 14th century].

⁂ This partial leaf, recovered from a binding, originally formed part of a manuscript of the Summula in foro poenitentiali, a guide for the instruction of confessors generally attributed to the French canonist Berengarius Fredoli (Bérenger Frédol, c.1250-1323), cardinal of Tusculum and penitentiary at the papal court at Avignon, where he was involved in the proceedings against the Templars.

The Summula is a substantial abridgment of the Summa de casibus poenitentiae written in 1224-1226 by the Catalan Dominican Raymond de Peñafort. Owing to its clarity, it circulated widely, and its text is known in two different redactions, both of which are still unpublished. The first one, of which c.50 manuscripts are listed, is divided into 110 chapters; the second and shorter redaction is recorded in only about 10 manuscripts. The present fragment belongs to the longer redaction, and includes a portion of the chapters devoted to marriage, a central concern in western canon law norms: more specifically, it comprises the complete text of chapters 'De foro matrimonii et sponsalium' on the original recto, and 'Quod sponsalia semel contracta de futuro semper tenant preterquam in octo casibus' on the reverse side. Of the chapters 'Qua etate sponsalia possunt contrahi' and 'Quod sit matrimonius' only the headings in red or a few lines have survived.

Literature: A. Teetaert "La Summa de paenitentia: Quoniam circa confessiones du cardinal Béranger Frédol Senior", Miscellanea moralia Arthur Janssen, I-II, Louvain 1948, pp. 567-600; P. Michaud-Quantin, Sommes de casuistique et manuels de confession au moyen âge (XII-XVI siècles), Louvain 1962, pp. 50-51; Id., "La 'Summula in foro poenitentiali' attribué à Bérenger Frédol", G. Forchielli, A.M. Stickler (eds.), Collectanea Stephan Kuttner, I, Bologna 1967, pp. 145-167; P. Biller, "Confessors' Manuals and the Avoiding of Offspring", P. Biller, A.J. Minnis (eds.), Handling Sin. Confession in the Middle Ages, York-Woodbridge 1998, pp. 173-183.