Repeated in-footnote citation call-outs: Problem with Capitalisation

Question

When I put \cite{} within two consecutive footnotes, the second footnote begins with a lowercase letter instead of with a capital.

So the problem is here:

Just like in the third footnote "Ebd." should begin with the capital letter "E"

Here is my MWE:

\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{scrartcl}
\usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}
\usepackage{csquotes}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\usepackage{filecontents}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\hypersetup{
    colorlinks,
     citecolor=black,
     filecolor=black,
     linkcolor=black,
     urlcolor=black
}
\usepackage{chngcntr}
\counterwithin*{footnote}{section}
\begin{filecontents}{\jobname.bib} 
@book{grillmeier1989,
    Address = {Freiburg/{\,}Basel/{\,}Wien},
    Author = {Alois Grillmeier},
    Call-Number = {TH: Dq1.175 2/3},
    Date-Added = {2014-07-24 15:28:40 +0000},
    Date-Modified = {2017-12-08 08:50:39 +0000},
    Keywords = {secondary},
    Publisher = {Herder},
    Title = {Jesus der Christus im Glauben der Kirche},
    Volume = {2: Die Kirche von Konstantinopel im 6. Jahrhundert},
    Year = {1989}}
\end{filecontents}
\usepackage[ngerman]{babel}
\usepackage[style=historische-zeitschrift, maxnames=2, hyperref=true, backref=true, backrefstyle=none, backend=bibtex,idemtracker=true]{biblatex}
\bibliography{\jobname}
%
\begin{document}
\blindtext\footnote{Here comes some text: \cite[See][S. 56]{grillmeier1989}}
\blindtext\footnote{\cite[][S. 56]{grillmeier1989}}
\blindtext\footcite[][S. 56]{grillmeier1989}
\printbibliography
\end{document}

Off-topic: The \bibliography{\jobname} instruction is deprecated. Use \addbibresource{\jobname.bib} instead. — Mico, Mar 25 '18 at 06:23
The problem occurs when you write \footnote{\cite...}, but not when you write \footcite.... Just out of curiosity: Is there a reason for not using \footcite? — Mico, Mar 25 '18 at 06:30
You should use \footcite whenever possible. If you for some reason can not use \footcite, but must call \cite at the beginning of a \footnote, you should use \Cite (with a capital "C") instead. https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/171572/35864 and https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/258212/35864 — moewe, Mar 25 '18 at 07:01
Thank you Moewe! That solved it. Can you post it as an answer please so that I can accept it? @Mico, yes there is: Inside footnote I have \index commands and some other things. — stx932, Mar 25 '18 at 10:46

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 25 '18 at 10:39

We've had two similar questions before Biblatex Printing "ibid" Lowercase at Beginning of Footnote and How to ensure the first letter of a footnote is always uppercase?, since in these two questions the advice was only implicit let it make me explicit here.

You should if at all possible use \footcite{sigfridsson} instead of \footnote{\cite{sigfrdisson}}.

There are legitimate reasons why one would not want to use \footcite, though. Especially if a lot of text follows the citation, it might feel wrong to put all of that into the postnote. In that case you should use

\footnote{\Cite{sigfridsson} lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.}

This is a general rule. If you start a new sentence with a citation command, use the capitalised form (\Cite instead of \cite, \Textcite instead of \textcite, ...). While biblatex can keep track of capitalisation in text it has produced itself, it is much harder to keep track of capitalisation and sentence structure in the text around citations that biblatex has no influence on. So you need to help biblatex along by telling it that you are at the beginning of a sentence. The difference between \Cite and \cite rarely surfaces, so it can be easy to forget about that.

If you always want to see the "S." for page numbers, you should change the postnote field format accordingly. Then you can drop the "S." in the postnote. You also do not need the empty prenote argument, biblatex already knows you want a postnote. Have a look at my changes to your example .bib entry as well.

\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{scrartcl}
\usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}
\usepackage{csquotes}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\usepackage{filecontents}

\begin{filecontents}{\jobname.bib} 
@book{grillmeier1989,
    Address = {Freiburg and Basel and Wien},
    Author = {Alois Grillmeier},
    Call-Number = {TH: Dq1.175 2/3},
    Keywords = {secondary},
    Publisher = {Herder},
    mainTitle = {Jesus der Christus im Glauben der Kirche},
    Volume = {2},
    title = {Die Kirche von Konstantinopel im 6. Jahrhundert},
    Year = {1989}}
\end{filecontents}
\usepackage[ngerman]{babel}
\usepackage[style=historische-zeitschrift, maxnames=2, hyperref=true, backref=true, backrefstyle=none, backend=bibtex,idemtracker=true]{biblatex}
\bibliography{\jobname}

\DeclareFieldFormat{postnote}{\mkpageprefix[pagination][\mknormrange]{#1}}

\begin{document}
\blindtext\footnote{Here comes some text: \cite[See][56]{grillmeier1989}}
\blindtext\footnote{\Cite[56]{grillmeier1989}}
\blindtext\footcite[56]{grillmeier1989}
\printbibliography
\end{document}

Regarding "S." I am aware of the possibility to change postnote field format. But the thing is I don't always need an "S.". Sometimes its "Col." and sometimes something completely different. Thanks though! — stx932, Mar 25 '18 at 12:44
@eklisiarh biblatex can do that for you as well, you just need to tell it about that. Have a look at the pagination and bookpagination fields. — moewe, Mar 25 '18 at 12:46

Repeated in-footnote citation call-outs: Problem with Capitalisation

1 Answers1