The base text for the edition is made up of a transcription of the two best-known manuscripts (E1 and E2, from the Escorial, collectively known as E). Although these provide the full text of the Estoria they are a composite text comprised of sections drawn from three different (but still royal) recensions of the Estoria de Espanna. In places, especially towards the end of the chronicle, this means that the base text will vary quite dramatically from the other variants.
Bárbara and I are currently involved in numbering the base text for the purposes of permitting collation of the manuscripts. I have put in consecutive <div> tags for all of E. This is relatively unproblematic, as the rubrics are quite clear in the manuscripts and I discovered that the numbering in the Menéndez Pidal edition (Primera crónica general) is quite consistent. We are using the <ab> tag at present as the next level down (though I suspect <p> will make an appearance at one stage. Choosing when to use the <ab> tag is not so straightforward. Since its primary function is for the purposes of collation, in one sense it make no difference what principles we employ; we could just divide the text up in sections of relatively even length. However, I have taken the approach that we should try, where possible to respect the semantic divisions of the medieval text. Since there seems to be no Castilian equivalent of Parkes, Pause and Effect, trying to establish a semantic basis for division which at least casts a nod in the direction of medieval punctuation is rather difficult. It seems clear to me that in the manuscript text from 1270 (ish) and 1289 (that is, the Alfonsine scribes, more or less) there is a relatively standard usage of punctuation, although this in practice may mean solely the use of litterae notabiliores and/or pilcrow/paragraphus/calderón to mark the beginning of a sense division. However, not all of our material is Alfonsine, and different scribes seem to have taken rather different approaches at times. Also, although the calderón does seem to have a significant role in sense division, it is not used only for what one might call sentence divisions, since on occasions it is used to separate list items.
We will persist in attempting to mirror sense divisions with the <ab> tag, but perhaps we are being too ambitious in using a tag designed for the purposes of one system (that is, C21st collation) to indicate something quite different. Nonetheless, I would like to indicate, in as systematic a fashion as possible, the sense divisions which the scribes/compilers/chroniclers seemed to be indicating in their manuscripts. Perhaps the time has come for a detailed study of Alfonsine practice with regard to the relationship between punctuation and semantic division.