Chapters on Church Law

Pope Adrian I sought to establish the church under the protection of the Frankish king, Charlemagne. In his effort to draw himself closer to the Frankish court he needed to institute a sense of ’reformatio’ which would correct the episcopal abuses of the church, reinforce the claims of the Papal Curia, and distance Rome from the authority of Constantinople. In doing so Pope Adrian created these clauses of church law to emphasis that changes that would take place under his papacy.