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International Juridical Congress Issue Scott 41-46 (1935) The 1934 meeting of the International Juridical Congress in Rome is commemorated in a set of six stamps containing two designs (Scott 41-46), issued on February 1, 1935. The Congress met to champion civil rights, labor law, and immigration issues. This set might be viewed as the first "commemorative" stamp issue from Vatican City. The six stamps in the set consist of three stamps each based on two frescoes by the Renaissance master Raphael which are located in the Vatican's Stanza della Segnatura. The image presented on the first three stamps (Scott 41-43) come from the fresco "Justinian Presenting the Pandects". It depicts the historical event where the legal scholar Trebonianus (sometimes spelled Tribonian) presented the compiled "Pandects" (or "Digest") to Emperor Justinian I. The Pandects have been described as a monumental 6th-century compilation of Roman legal jurist writings, published in 533 AD, and arranged into 50 books forming a cornerstone of civil law. Tribonian headed up the group of jurists who complied these documents. The development of Roman Law Code is an important development in European history because it created a common point of reference for the entire empire. The design for the high-value stamps of the set (Scott 44-46) is based on Raphael's "Pope Gregory IX approving the Decretals". In an example of Renaissance artistic license, Raphael used the image of his patron, Pope Julius II, to depict Pope Gregory IX in the fresco. The fresco shows Pope Gregory IX (1227-1241) promulgating the decretals, a formalization of canon law that governed the Church. The accumulation of canon law codes was first developed by Gratianus, a Camaldolese monk at the University of Bologna, the most important center for the study of law in the medieval era. Gratianus (late 11th century to circa the 1150s) is known as the "father of canon law" and his work was the foundation for the compendium by Raymond of Penyafort, OP, (1185-1275), who is depicted on the stamp along with Gregory IX. A detailed look at Saint Raymond was presented in a Daily Email on his feast day (January 7) and can be accessed by clicking on the link in the References. The work is known as the "Decretals of Gregory IX", issued on 5 September 1224, became the standard canon law document for close to 700 years until the code was revised in 1917. This compendium of canon law was a development of equal importance to the Corpus Juris Civilis since it governed the affairs of the universal Church throughout not only Europe but also the world. 
Franciscus Gratianus: Publication of the 'Decretum' Scott C20-C21 (1951) Article Links: |
