The article points out at the discrepancy between the different Mss. of the Roman Justinianic text: Littera Pisana and Littera Bononiensis. The discrepancy entailed that the doctrine of medieval Ius Commune offered stronger protection of the collective rights of the creditors, in comparison with the Classical Roman law. The Roman Dutch “Elegant School”, despite its general reliance on the original Roman sources, already in the writings of Grotius demonstrated allegiance to the medieval doctrine on the issue of bankruptcy. The authors of the “Elegant School” continued to prefer the medieval interpretation of the creditors’ rights and bankruptcy, although Dutch practice was, in many respects, drastically different from the Ius Commune doctrine. This ensured a strong protection of creditors in bankruptcy in Dutch law.