glossators

Glossators were medieval jurists who studied and annotated Roman law by producing glosses—marginal notes and commentary—on authoritative texts, especially Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis. Their activity began in the 11th century and flourished in Italy, with the University of Bologna as the focal center. They sought to explain, reconcile, and apply ancient law to contemporary legal questions through close readings of the text, often organizing scattered interpretations into coherent lectures and handbooks. Irnerius is traditionally regarded as the initiator of the school; his method and teaching attracted students who formed the early glossing tradition.

In the 13th century, Accursius of Bologna compiled the Glossa Ordinaria, a comprehensive collection of glosses on the Digest, Code, and Institutes that became the standard reference for legal education across Europe. The gloss provided a shared basis for interpreting the Roman law texts and served as a bridge between ancient sources and medieval practice.

The glossators’ work laid the foundations of the civil law tradition in continental Europe, influencing how law was taught, cited, and adjudicated for centuries. From the 14th century onward, the tradition evolved into the postglossators or commentators—figures such as Bartolus de Saxoferrato and Baldus de Ubaldis—who refined, criticized, and extended the glosses, further integrating Roman law into medieval and early modern European jurisprudence.