It may be that either, both, or neither of these two concluding lines belong to the original poem. The subheads that appear sporadically in the body of the text in the manuscripts indicate a change of speaker, or in a few cases serve to set off sections of one speech. Before line 215, where T has Excommunicatio Rebellarum, R has simply Excommunicatio . The most interesting textual question in the Concilium Romarici Montis has to do with the division of the poem into three-line stanzas. Every three-line group constitutes an independent sense unit, ending in a full stop.
Individual speeches are in multiples of three lines.
The very few apparent exceptions stand out in such a manner as to invite critical intervention. The pattern can be made perfectly regular by moving one line, and by assuming four lacunas totaling five lines. Previous editors have suggested various specific remedies to implement this. The Concilium Romarici Montis was forgotten for centuries until 1849 when it was first edited by Georg Waitz, who knew only the Trier manuscript. It would be easy to compile from it a long list of grammatical and stylistic infelicities.