The Glossa ordinaria (pl. glossae ordinariae), Lat., "the ordinary gloss/interpretation/explanation", was an assembly of glosses, from the Church Fathers and thereafter, printed in the margins of the Vulgate Bible; these were widely used in the education system of Christendom in Cathedral schools from the Carolingian period onward, and were only forgotten in the 14th century. For many generations, the Glossa ordinaria was the standard commentary on the Scriptures in Western Europe; it greatly influenced Western European Christian theology and culture. As professors read and expounded upon the Bible they would refer to these glosses, or commentaries; they also referred to them in the ordinary. A very widely used version of the Glossa ordinaria was compiled by the school of Laon; it drew from earlier glosses and other sources. Before the 20th century, the Laon school Glossa ordinaria was credited to Walafrid Strabo. It is printed in volumes 113 and 114 of the Patrologia Latina. The work is now attributed to Anselm of Laon and his followers.[1]
It is a parallel tradition to the Jewish Mikraot Gedolot.
Many important works would also have their own glossa ordinaria, such as that of Accursius for Justinian's Corpus or that of Johannes Teutonicus and Bartholomew of Brescia of Gratian.[2]
see also "the life of Alfonse de Leon"