INTRODUCTION

The study of the textual relation between Ivo's correspondence and the Ivonian collections reveals something about the formal sources by which canon law was known to Ivo, and shows with which sources he became familiar in the course of time. The question remains of how he dealt with these authorities. How did he understand the law, what were his preoccupations with canon law, and which views did Ivo hold on different questions? Two preparatory considerations seem necessary before addressing these questions. First, if the following chapter is devoted to Ivo's understanding of ‘canon law’, one has constantly to bear in mind that ‘the law’ had a very broad meaning in Ivo's time. Ivo's Decretum and his letters remind one that there was no clear distinction between theology and law. Canon law included many areas which are theological as well as legal in character, e.g. marriage and penance, and some issues which modern readers would often not see as legal at all, e.g. the understanding of the Eucharist. And of course even ‘canon law’ in the narrow sense is based on biblical precepts, patristic theology and certain exegetical traditions as well as ‘proper’ legal sources such as secular legislation, synodal decrees and papal decretals. The second caveat concerns the sources for Ivo's thought. Given that Ivo's acknowledged works are so extensive, and that several more have been attributed to him, the question of how to select one's sources demands some thought.