
Canon law | Definition, Significance, & History | Britannica
Feb 19, 2025 · Canon law is the body of laws made within certain Christian churches by lawful ecclesiastical authority for the government both of the whole church and parts thereof and of the behavior and actions of individuals. In a wider sense the term includes precepts of divine law incorporated into the canonical codes.
Common law | Definition, Origins, Development, & Examples
Mar 28, 2025 · Common law, the body of customary law, based on judicial decisions and embodied in reports of decided cases, that has been administered by the courts of England since the Middle Ages. From it has evolved the legal systems found in the United States and most of the Commonwealth countries as well.
Canon law Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary
a marriage valid under Catholic canon law [+] more examples [-] hide examples [+] Example sentences [-] Hide examples. ASK THE EDITOR What are the plural forms of check-in, passerby, and spoonful?
Canon law - Church, Medieval, Reformation | Britannica
Feb 19, 2025 · The edition of the Nomocanon 14 titulorum (“Canon Law of 14 Titles”) was completed in 883 and accepted in 920 as law for the entire Eastern church. The science of canon law was pursued together with the study of secular law, especially in the schools in Constantinople and Beirut.
canon law summary | Britannica
canon law, Body of laws established within Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, independent churches of Eastern Christianity, and the Anglican Communion for church governance. Canon law concerns the constitution of the church, relations between it and other bodies, and matters of internal discipline.
Canon law - Second Vatican, Postconciliar, Reforms | Britannica
Feb 19, 2025 · Canon law - Second Vatican, Postconciliar, Reforms: Fundamental to the development of canon law in the Roman Catholic Church is the Second Vatican Council’s (October 11, 1962–December 8, 1965) vision of the church as the people of God.
Canon law - Church, Medieval, Reformation | Britannica
Feb 19, 2025 · Elements of German law found their way into Roman canon law. The Collectio Avellana (“Avellan Collection”), written in Rome about 555, which was a Western nomocanon; the Collectio Novariensis (“Novarien Collection”); and the Epitome Hispanica (“Spanish Abridgment”) entered Italy from Spain.
canon law - Students | Britannica Kids | Homework Help
The body of laws for the government of certain churches is called canon law. The Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican Communion churches, as well as independent churches of Eastern Christianity, are all governed in whole or in part by canon law.
Church History, Ecclesiastical Law, Papal Decrees - Britannica
The first legislation on the point was the second canon of the Council of Chalcedon (451). From that time prohibitions and penalties were reiterated against buying or selling promotions to the episcopate, priesthood, and diaconate.
Definition, Law, Examples, Elements, Types, & Facts - agency
Additional impetus for change came from Roman Catholic Church canon law. Although manifestly structured after Roman civil law, canon law had its own special development, influenced by Hebraic theological concepts.