Excerpt from Magistri Vacarii Summa De Matrimonio

F late years a good deal has been written about Vacarius. Very recently Dr. Liebermann 1, to whom the students of English legal history already owed a heavy debt of gratitude, has summed up what is known of the life of this Italian legist and has added to the sum by calling attention to two works of his which are lying in manuscript at Cambridge. The one of these is theological, the other is devoted to the law of marriage. The latter is here printed with a few notes. Unfortunately I have not that knowledge of the canon law which would enable me to edit this treatise scientifically; but I believe that I can give a fairly correct copy of it, and that it will be of some interest to a few Englishmen and to a few foreigners.

Of Vacarius himself I will say but very little, since I have nothing to add to what has been written by Dr. Liebermann and others in accessible places 3. Only let us remember, first, that in all probability he came to England as early as 1 148, and was living here as late as 1198 secondly, that in the meanwhile he had dwelt under the patronage of Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury and afterwards of Archbishop Roger of York; thirdly, that we have some reason for supposing that his great book, the Summa of Justinian's Code, was finished in 1 149 and fourthly, that we have fairly good evidence of his having taught Roman law in Oxford at some time in his long career.

The manuscript in question is preserved in the University Library at Cambridge (i i. 3. And its contents are described at some length in the printed catalogue (vol. Iii. Pp. 412 For the more part they consist of various works of St. Augustin. Better judges of handwriting than I am have said that this volume was compiled near, but rather before than after, the year 1200. At the beginning there is a table of contents which seems to be coeval with the body of the book. The portion of this which is most interesting to us runs as follows z - Augustinus de agone c/zristiauo.

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