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This essay questions the designation of Causa 23-Causa 26 of Gratian’s Decretum as the Causae hereticorum, a “tract” on heresy. It first explores the historiographical discrepancy between the designation and the varied analysis of scholars. Then it moves to a reassessment of the three textual features, which - if taken out of context - could lead to the conclusion that heresy was the principal element of the cases: the hypotheticals, the introductory summary to the causae known as “In secunda parte”, and finally the placing of the cross-reference to “in prima causa” on equal footing with the reference to a tractatus. Rather than the Causae hereticorum, the essay argues that it might prove more fruitful to consider Causae 23-26, along with the preceding case (Causa 22) on the oath and perjury, as a thematic unit addressing obedience and the execution of one’s office. Using the topics of heresy and magic as a means to an end, a springboard to address larger issues, the early textual tradition of the first recension illustrates that Gratian applied the juridical aspects of oath-taking, laid out in Causa 22, to assess how bonds structured the different interpersonal relationships analyzed in Causae 23-26. Thinking about Causae 22-26 as cases concerned with relationships and the associated duties offers an opportunity to think more about how the law conceived of and transmitted ideas about right order: an order that would extend from the pope down to the laity.

III. Rethinking Causae 23–26 as the Causae hereticorum