Collectio Quesnelliana

canon law

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June 24, 2026

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The Collectio Quesnelliana is an early 6th-century canonical collection named after its publisher, Pasquier Quesnel. Canon law refers to the codified laws that govern a church.12

The Collectio Quesnelliana circulated in Gaul and was one of several collections that contributed to the development of canon law in the West. During this period, Western churches sought unity through accepted councils and papal decretal law. Other significant collections from this era include the Hispana, Statuta ecclesiae antiqua, and the works of Dionysius Exiguus, such as the Dionysiana and Liber decretorum. These collections formed the basis of the Corpus or Codex canonum.1

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canon law
Development of canon law in the West
…Spain, and Rome, including the Collectio Quesnelliana (an early 6th-century canonical collection named for its publisher, the 17th-century Jansenist scholar Pasquier Quesnel), circulated there. In about 480 Gennadius, a priest from Marseille, wrote the Statuta ecclesiae antiqua (“Ancient Statutes of the Church”), principally inspired by the Constitutiones Apostolicae
Read More
…Spain, and Rome, including the Collectio Quesnelliana (an early 6th-century canonical collection named for its publisher, the 17th-century Jansenist scholar Pasquier Quesnel), circulated there. In about 480 Gennadius, a priest from Marseille, wrote the Statuta ecclesiae antiqua (“Ancient Statutes of the Church”), principally inspired by the Constitutiones Apostolicae
Read More