ABSTRACT

Burchard edited his collection to ensure that his canons appeared to come from authoritative sources. Yet he did not, apparently, believe that all canons attributed to authoritative sources should be included in his collection. Even though he utilized the Libri duo extensively, he did not include absolutely every canon from it. So it is important to identify criteria other than authority which may have shaped his selections among canons. Like other compilers before him, Burchard realized that many existing collections of canon law contained conflicting canons. This chapter examines in detail how Burchard edited canons in order to eliminate conflicts. It first discusses his selections among Libri duo canons. The chapter then looks at what he chose to add to these canons from other formal sources. It also focuses on how Burchard modified the texts of canons to make them consistent with each other.