Pope Honorius II, Decretal on Clerics taking the Calumny Oath, 1125 CE

Pope Honorius II, Decretal on Clerics taking the Calumny Oath, 1125 CE [Epistle 110; PL 166:1311-1312]

Source: Brasington, Bruce. Order in the Court: Medieval Procedural Treatises in Translation. Brill, 2016. [p. 59-60]

Standing firmly in the footsteps of our predecessors who say that the supreme pontiff must decide more serious questions we, having diligently sought the counsel of our brethren and with God's help, firmly decided the point of this case. We found that it is thus stipulated by the laws that 'no cleric should presume to swear an oath: However, elsewhere one finds it written that all principal parties in the beginning of the trial ought to swear the oath concerning calumny. On account of this, many have come to doubt whether a cleric should offer an oath or be allowed to delegate this duty to another person. Since it appears, however, that the constitutional edict prohibiting clerics from swearing was promulgated by Augustus to Constantine, the praetorian prefect, concerning the clergy of Constantinople, thus one believes it does not apply to other clerics. We desire that all doubt concerning this be removed concerning the decision made by our son Henry, former emperor, which states:

We confirm thus his interpretation and decree that the constitution of the emperor Marcus ought to be thus understood as pertaining to all the clergy of the churches. For, since the emperor Justinian decreed by law that the canons of the Fathers ought to have the force of law, and it is found in many canons that clerics should not dare to swear an oath, it is fitting that the whole clerical order be free from swearing the oath concerning calumny. Moreover, according to Us, the tenor of the imperial statute is understood accordingly: preserving the intention of both divine and human law, we decree and establish by unbreakable imperial authority, that no bishop, priest, or cleric of any order, no abbot, monk or religious woman be compelled for any reason to swear an oath in any legal dispute, whether criminal or civil. Instead, if he knows (that swearing an oath) would benefit his church, he may delegate this duty to other, suitable, defenders.

Yet, we add this regulation: a bishop who has not consulted the Roman pontiff or a cleric, his superior, may not dare to swear an oath. To all bishops and, generally, priests and clergy, We order that this be so observed: if anyone should go against this constitution, he shall know that he is denied mercy, not taking as an example or practice from us what we recently Judged in the case of our brothers and fellow bishops of the churches of Arezzo and Siena, when we assented to their will and request.