The Great Medieval Canon Law Forgery

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In the mid-9th century, a group of Frankish bishops created one of the greatest forgeries in medieval history, making up an entire collection of fake letters and church law.  Attributed to a Spanish author, "Isidore the Merchant," this canon law collection--the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals--was cited and reused for almost 600 years before the forgery was discovered.  In this episode, we'll uncover the motivations for this little-known forgery and how the bishops managed to pull it off.  

Podcaster: Nathan
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Further Reading

Eric Knibbs' excellent site on Pseudo-Isidore

​​Music: "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin Macleod (www.incompetech.com)