Conventions on referencing collections
The Clavis Wiki refers to canon law collections by their conventional names. However, at the same time we try to be consistent and to avoid giving the same name to two collections. The three goals are sometimes difficult to reconcile.
"Consistency" means that we almost always use the Latin form where one exists, that we use Roman (not Arab) numbers for collections named after the books etc. they are divided into, and use Roman numbers to distinguish several collections found in the same manuscript (see below).
Where two or more collections have been given the same name in previous scholarship (all the Collectiones Sangermanenses, the various collections in nine books, and so on), the more established name is retained, and the other collection(s) are given new names, often referring to a manuscript they are found in.
In practice, all collections fall into one of the following categories:
- Collections compiled by known compilers, e.g. Burchard of Worms, Liber decretorum.
- Anonymous collections with a proper title (whether medieval or not), e.g. the Panormia.
- Anonymous collections with a descriptive title based on certain properties, e.g. Collectio III librorum.
- Collections which fall in none of the above categories, or collections that cannot be otherwise distinguished from another one. Such collections in this Wiki are referred to by the most important manuscript they are found in; e.g. Collectio canonum in München, BSB, Clm 13109. If more than one collection in any given manuscript has to be designated this way, Roman numbers in sequence of the current state of the manuscript are used, e.g. Collectio canonum III in Berlin, SBPK, Phill. 1764.
Generally, if two or more collections can be confused, this should be mentioned in the respective articles. In some cases, a separate page explaining the different meanings of individual names are useful (e.g. Collectio Vaticana). Vice versa, if a collection is known under several names, this can and should be mentioned in the article and/or the infobox (see e.g. Collectio Dionysiana adaucta). Redirects can also be useful (e.g. Diversorum patrum sententiae).
