Deposition in the twelfth century: a life sentence?

Abstract

This paper focuses on the perpetual nature of the deposition and the possibility of dispensing with it. Can a deposed cleric be restored to his office? Under what conditions? Distinction 50 of Gratian’s Decree does not allow clear principles to be identified. This is why the decretists sought to reconstruct the logic underlying the application of deposition, between rigor iuris and leniency. We will especially study the interpretations of Rufin and the Summa Lipsiensis.