those decreal epistles which were published after the Clementines.

They were so called, because, at first, they were not digested, or ranged, with the other papal constitutions, but seemed to be, as it were, detached from the canon law. They continued to be called by the same name when they were afterwards inserted in the body of the canon law. The first extravagantes are those of John XXII, successor of Clement V. The last collection was brought down to the year 1483, and was called the common extravagantes, notwithstanding that they were likewise incorporated with the rest of the canon law.