School of Niccolo da Bologna, Bologna, Italy, late 14th century. University of Sydney Library, MS Nicholson 32, fol 1 (cat no 74).
Collections of papal pronouncements, or decretals, with commentaries formed the textbooks for the teaching of canon, or Church, law in medieval universities such as Bologna. Here, Pope Boniface VIII hands down his decretals (issued in 1298). The collection is called volume VI, as it builds on the five volumes of Gregory IX. Members of the Roman curia attend the pope and a notary copies the text. The hierarchical composition stresses the authority of the law-giver, and details expand the legal references, such as the purse held by the figure on the right. This is an allusion to simony, the sale of benefices to relations, which was forbidden by canon law.