The history and normative significance of summaria in Liber extra.

Summary: The printed editions of the Liber extra usually contain summaria , which are short summaries added to the source text providing the encapsulated ratio of each chapter. These short additions were mostly overlooked by the canonists and legal historians, and for this reason their history and relevance are not satisfactorily assessed. The study of incunabula shows that summaria were taken mostly from the Commentaria of Niccolò de Tudeschi, however his summaries were usually founded on the earlier commentaries to the Liber extra. Summaria were first introduced to the printed Liber extra in 1489 by Girolamo Chiari in the edition of the Venetian printer Battista Torti. This innovation was immediately adopted by other printers who expressly signalled the addition of summaria to attract the attention of students and other potential purchasers. The other redaction of summaria was prepared by Jean Chappuis for the edition of the Liber extra in 1501, and both redactions were inserted in the editio Romana of 1582, either in the centre or in the margins. Summaria were reiterated in almost all editions starting from the edition of Torti from 1489 up to the edition of Friedberg in 1881. The scarce scholarly accounts on the significance of summaria claim only that they were lacking authoritative value but should be treated as interpretative, didactic or epistemic tools for a better understanding of the Liber extra and accompanying the history of canon law jurisprudence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]