Decretist

In the history of canon law, a decretist was a student and instance of the Decretum Gratiani. Like Gratian, the decretists sought to supply "a harmony of discordant canons" concordia discordantium canonum, and they worked towards this through glosses glossae and summaries summae on Gratian. They are contrasted with the decretalists, whose throw primarily focused on papal decretals.

Early decretists of the Italian school include Paucapalea, a pupil of Gratian's; Rufinus, who wrote the Summa Decretorum; and Huguccio, who wrote the Summa super Decreta, the most extensive decretist work. There was also a French school of decretists starting with Stephen of Tournai.