Angelic Summa on Cases of Conscience

Summa angelica de casibus conscientiae

1486·Latin·730 pages PDF (823.7MB) Source

Angelus de Clavasio's Summa angelica de casibus conscientiae, an alphabetically arranged confessor's manual of cases of conscience first compiled in the 1480s. It treats moral and canonical questions — including a substantial entry on simony — in 659 articles ordered A–Z, drawing on the canon-law and theological tradition. This editio princeps was printed at Chivasso by Jacobino Suigo, 13 May 1486. This copy is from the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma.

Author

Angelo Carletti di Chivasso

Angelus de Clavasio

1411–1495

Readings

Simony

Simonia

The article on simony from Angelus de Clavasio's Summa angelica de casibus conscientiae, the alphabetically arranged confessor's manual first printed in 1486. Opening on folio 313v with a decorated initial immediately after the brief Sigillum article, the entry treats simony across twenty-six numbered sections: its definition as the deliberate buying or selling of something spiritual or annexed to the spiritual; the three modes by which it is committed — a manu, a lingua, ab obsequio; simoniacal ordination, promotion, and the conferral of benefices; the standing of sacraments received from simoniacs; penalties, irregularity, and the conditions for dispensation. Throughout, Angelus digests the canon-law tradition — the Decretum, the Decretals, and the major glossators and doctors — into practical cases of conscience for the confessor.

Angelo Carletti di Chivasso·1486·Latin·Littera S, s.v. Simonia·fol. 313vb–320ra