GRATIAN (d. by c.1160), Decretum, in Latin, SIX FRAMED MINIATURES CUT FROM AN ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM

GRATIAN (d. by c.1160), Decretum, in Latin, SIX FRAMED MINIATURES CUT FROM AN ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
[Bologna, 1280s-90s]
The miniatures depict: 1) an ailing priest lying in a bed surrounded by a crowd, the verso text from Causa XI, Quaestio III, C. CVIII; 2) an excommunicated man and a fourteen-year-old boy accuse a bishop who refuses to respond to charges brought improperly (Causa IV), the verso text from Quaestio II-III, C.III; 3) on the left, a bishop and clergy, on the right a king facing his court, the verso text from Distinctio III, C.III-IV; 4) the scene depicts Causa XVI, concerning the conflict between an abbot's church to which he has appointed a monk as parish priest and the local baptismal church subject to the bishop: a kneeling priest celebrates Mass at an altar, the verso text from Quaestio I, C.III; 5) a group of clerics likely illustrating Causa XIV, which deals with the involvement of canons in commerce and lawsuits to recover debts, the verso text from Causa XIII, Quaestio II, C.XXVIII-XXIX; 6) a bishop conferring with a cleric and laymen appealing to a judge, likely illustrating Causa VI, the verso text from Quaestio I, C.IV-V. (Some fading to text on verso).