A scholar of medieval church governance, Arnaud Fossier explored a pivotal theme in ecclesiastical history during his April 2026 fellowship at the Robbins Collection Research Center. Examining the evolution of “merit” in medieval canon law, from Gratian’s Decretum (circa 1140) to the Liber Sextus (1296), he investigated how closely canon lawyers tied this concept to dispensations—formal exemptions from religious law—that were granted to illegitimate children, particularly the sons of priests.
Tracking this information led him through the breadth of the Robbins Collection. In addition to published editions of the Summae on the Decretum—early commentaries by canonists like Paucapalea, Rufinus, and Simon of Bisignano—Fossier analyzed rare manuscripts and incunabula of foundational works, including the Glossa ordinaria on the Decretum, Innocent IV’s Apparatus, and Bernardus Papiensis’s Summa Decretalium.
While medieval canonists did not address merit systematically, Fossier observes that its scattered uses converged on a shared idea: merit as “the sign of a life worthy of reward in this world.” This understanding, he argues, justified why thirteenth-century popes grew increasingly willing to grant dispensations to petitioning clerics, effectively casting the pope as the first sovereign to administer a “bank” of merits, circulating its sanctions and rewards.
This insight aligns with a career spent mapping the institutional operations of the medieval Catholic Church, from its courts to its systems of exemptions. Currently an associate professor of medieval history at the Université Bourgogne Europe, Fossier naturally bridges legal history and Italian studies. A former member of the École française de Rome (2010–13) and fellow at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study (2019–20), he brings a broad international scope to his premodern studies. His dissertation on the Apostolic Penitentiary—the Church’s late-medieval tribunal for conscience and absolution—was published in 2018 as Le bureau des âmes: Écritures et practiques administratives de la Pénitencerie apostolique (XIIIe–XIVe siècle). He has since traced the rise of European administrative practices and ecclesiastical courts, recently earning his Habilitation à diriger des recherches (HDR), France’s highest academic diploma and the credential required to supervise doctoral candidates. This achievement resulted in his 2026 book on a Tuscan ecclesiastical court, La réputation au village: Enquête sur des procès d’Église (XIIIe siècle).
Fossier’s focus on church structures also shapes a research project he has directed since January 2025. Funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), France’s national research agency, the project examines dispensation across three monotheistic traditions from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. Looking ahead, Fossier plans to apply for a European Research Council (ERC) grant to investigate the “medieval roots of modern meritocracy.” This proposed study will weigh legal sources against other evidence to evaluate merit’s role in medieval society.
Reflecting on his time at the Robbins Center, Fossier notes, “It was obviously a wonderful experience. I strongly believe that scholars greatly benefit from this kind of academic freedom.” To enhance the academic community, he also sees value in inviting future fellows to present their evolving research through a seminar or public lecture.