Gratian was a twelfth-century monk and jurist, probably active at the Camaldolese monastery of Saints Felix and Nabor in Bologna, where he compiled the Concordia Discordantium Canonum (later called the Decretum) around 1140. The work reconciled contradictory statements from patristic writings, papal decretals, and conciliar canons using the scholastic method, creating the first systematic synthesis of canon law. It became the foundational text of the Corpus Iuris Canonici and remained the basis of Catholic canonical studies until the promulgation of the 1917 Code of Canon Law. Gratian's biography is largely unknown; his dates, origin, and even his status as a historical individual have been subjects of scholarly debate.
