The Corpus Juris Civilis is the modern name for a collection of fundamental works in jurisprudence, enacted from 529 to 534 by order of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. It is also sometimes referred to metonymically after one of its parts, the Code of Justinian.
Corpus Iuris Civilis, 1583
Justinian I depicted on a mosaic in the church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy
Jurisprudence is the philosophy and theory of law. It is concerned primarily with both what the law is and what it ought to be. That includes questions of how persons and social relations are understood in legal terms, and of the values in and of law. Work that is counted as jurisprudence is mostly philosophical, but it includes work that also belongs to other disciplines, such as sociology, history, politics and economics.
Philosophers of law ask "what is law, and what should it be?"
Aristotle, by Francesco Hayez
Thomas Aquinas was the most influential Western medieval legal scholar.
Bentham's utilitarian theories remained dominant in law until the twentieth century.