Corollarium

Corollarium (Latin for “corollary”) is a historical scholarly term denoting a proposition that follows readily from a previously established statement, theorem, or principle. Emerging in medieval Latin texts, the word was used to label brief, self‑evident deductions that required little or no further proof beyond the original argument. In the context of medieval philosophy and theology, a corollarium often appeared as a marginal note or a concluding remark that illustrated an implication of a larger doctrinal exposition.

During the Renaissance, the term was adopted by mathematicians and natural philosophers to organize their works. A corollarium would typically be placed after a theorem, providing a concise consequence or an example that clarified the main result. Notable early uses include the writings of Euclid’s commentators and the algebraic treatises of Luca Pacioli, where corollaria served both pedagogical and rhetorical purposes.

In legal scholarship, especially in the formulation of canonical law and later civil law codes, corollaria were used to enumerate subsidiary rules that derived logically from principal statutes. These supplemental clauses helped jurists and legislators to address specific cases without amending the primary legislation.

The usage of corollarium declined with the rise of modern scientific publishing, where the term “corollary” (derived from the same Latin root) became standard in English and other languages. Nevertheless, the concept remains relevant in contemporary academic writing as a recognized logical device for highlighting immediate consequences of a proposition. Today, references to corollaria are chiefly found in historical analyses of medieval and early modern scholarly practices.