Constitutiones Sirmondianae

1. Introduction

This collection was named after its first editor, the Jesuit Jacques Sirmond (1559-1651). It was published in 1631 and compiles 16 (sometimes 18) imperial constitutions from the years 333 to 425 (Constantine I. to Valentinian III.) that are mostly concerned with issues regarding ecclesiastical law. The Constitutiones Sirmondianae were first published under the delusive title “Appendix Codicis Theodosiani novis constitutionibus cumulatior”. It is a private collection that never attained the force of law. Only Berlin, Staatsbibliothek – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Phill. 1745 (with St. Petersburg, Gosudarstvennaja Publičnaja Biblioteka im. M. E. Saltykova-Ščedrina, F.v.II.3, the so-called Codex Lugdunensis) carries the complete text.

2. Edition

Theodor Mommsen / Paul Martin Meyer (Eds.), Theodosiani libri XVI cum constitutionibus Sirmondianis et leges novellae ad Theodosianum pertinentes. 2 vols., Berlin 1905.

3. Reading recommendations (2000 onwards)

A.J.B. Sirks, The Theodosian Code. A Study (Studia Amstelodamensia 39), Friedrichsdorf 2007.
Mark Vessey, The Origins of the Collectio Sirmondiana: a new look at the evidence, in: Jill Harries / Ian Wood (Eds.), The Theodosian Code. Studies in the Imperial Law of Late Antiquity, London ²2010, 178-199.
Stefan Esders / Helmut Reimitz, After Gundovald, before Pseudo-Isidore: episcopal jurisdiction, clerical privilege and the uses of Roman law in the Frankish kingdoms, in: Early Medieval Europe 27 (2019), 85-111.

4. Further resources

5. Manuscripts [10]

[VIAF entry]