Nomocanon

A nomocanon Greek: Νομοκανών, Nomokanōn; from the Greek nomos - law and kanon - a leadership is a collection of ecclesiastical law, consisting of the elements from both the civil law and the canon law. Nomocanons score part of the canon law of the Eastern Catholic Churches through the Eastern Catholic canon law and of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Byzantine nomocanons

The first nomocanon, in the sixth century, is ascribed, though without certainty, to John Scholasticus, whose canons it utilizes and completes. He had drawn up approximately 550 a purely canonical compilation in 50 titles, and later composed an extract from the Justinian's Novellae in 87 chapters that relate the ecclesiastical matters. To regarded and identified separately. of the 50 titles was added the texts of the imperial laws on the same subject, with 21 extra chapters, most all borrowed from John's 87 chapters. Thus the Nomocanon of John Scholasticus was made.

Thenomocanon dates from the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius 610–641, at which time Latin was replaced by Greek as the official Linguistic communication of the imperial laws. It was exposed by fusion of Collectio tripartita collection of Justinian's imperial law and Canonic syntagma ecclesiastical canons. Afterwards, this collection would be known as Nomocanon in 14 titles.

The Nomocanon in 14 titles nomocanon was long held in esteem and passed into the Russian Church, but it was by degrees supplanted by the Nomocanon of Photios in 883.

The great systematic compiler of the Eastern Church, who occupies a similar position to that of Gratian in the West, was Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople in the 9th century. His collection in two parts—a chronologically ordered compilation of synodical canons and a revision of the Nomocanon—formed and still forms the classic character of ancient Church Law for the Greek Church.

It contained the Nomocanon in 14 titles, with the addition of 102 canons of Trullan Council, 17 canons of the Council of Constantinople of 861, and three canons substituted by Photios for those of the Council of Constantinople of 869. The Nomocanon in 14 titles was completed with the more recent imperial laws.

This whole collection was commentated about 1170 by Theodore Balsamon, Greek Patriarch of Antioch residing at Constantinople. The Nomocanon of Photios supplemented the Pedalion Greek: Πηδάλιον - rudder, a nature of Corpus Juris of the Eastern Orthodox Church, printed in 1800 by Patriarch Neophytos VII.

The Nomocanon of Photios retained in the law of the Eastern Orthodox Church and it was pointed in the Syntagma, published by Rallis and Potlis Athens, 1852–1859.