What is “Roman law” and “canon law” an example of in medieval learning?

The story behind the answer

They refer to comprehensive bodies of rules and legal reasoning that were systematically taught and applied. Roman law drew on Justinian’s 6th‑century Corpus Iuris Civilis, revived in 11th‑century Bologna; canon law governed the Church’s courts and discipline, crystallizing with Gratian’s Decretum around 1140. Students learned statutes, procedures, and interpretive techniques to advise rulers, judge disputes, and draft contracts.

Together they formed the ius commune—the shared legal culture of much of medieval Europe—shaping property, marriage, inheritance, and commercial practices. Specialized scholars (glossators, decretists, and later commentators) produced layered commentaries that circulated across universities from Bologna to Paris, giving Europe a relatively uniform legal vocabulary. An intriguing contrast is England, where the royal courts maintained a distinct common law, even as canon law still influenced ecclesiastical matters.