Patrick Nold seeks to reconsider the intellectual reputation of Pope John xxii (d. 1334), a law professor who became a cardinal in 1312 and was elected pope four years later. Early in his pontificate John earned the bitter enmity of the Spiritual Franciscans when he overturned a ruling of his predecessor, Clement v (1305–14), who had formally approved their claim that Christ and the Apostles had possessed absolutely no property, either individually or collectively, a teaching that the Spirituals relied upon to justify their way of life. In two decretals John xxii rejected that position, relying upon scriptural passages that in his view disproved it. The Fraticelli, in response, denounced the pope as a heretic and stirred up a fusillade of condemnation, mainly from supporters at the court of Louis of Bavaria. John xxii, they maintained, was utterly unqualified to rule on theological issues. They even aspired to assemble a general council to sit in judgement upon him and, they hoped, depose him as heretic. Nold argues that, contrary to those assertions, John xxii took great care to ensure that his theological pronouncements were solidly founded. Because he lacked advanced training in theology the pope took care to seek advice from experts in the field. Accordingly, when he had to deal with a thorny problem concerning matrimonial law in 1322, John xxii summoned a panel of cardinals and other prelates, together with masters of theology (including three Franciscans), to meet with him at Avignon to advise him on the matter. A century-and-a-half earlier, Pope Alexander iii (1159–81) had dealt with the case of a couple who exchanged marital promises in the present tense, but failed to consummate their marriage. The husband then entered a monastery and took a vow of continence. This raised two issues: could the husband remain in the monastery or was he obliged to return to his wife? Further, if he stayed in the monastery could his wife marry someone else? Pope Alexander ruled that the husband's monastic profession trumped his marriage vows and that his abandoned wife was free to marry whom she pleased. The problem that John xxii explored with his fifteen consultants was whether, following the principle in Pope Alexander's decretal, a husband whose marriage was unconsummated was free to take holy orders, which also involved an implicit vow of continence, and if so, whether his abandoned wife could remarry. Nold's extensive introduction analyses the process that led to John xxii's decision on this case. This forms the background for his edition of an exceptionally interesting document from a manuscript now held by the Biblioteca Alessandrina in Rome. That manuscript contains the written opinions that the pope's fifteen experts submitted at the time of their meeting. This revealing study of papal decision-making in the early fourteenth century makes a valuable contribution to the history of marriage law and papal decision-making in the early fourteenth century.