16th CUJAS Iacobi CUIACII praeclarissimi observationum et emendationum 1591

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Iacobi CUIACII praeclarissimi observationum et emendationum libri XXIIII Quibus multa in iure corrupta & non intellecta restituuntur, eiusdem de origine iuris ad Pomponium commentarius, accesserunt praeterea indices duo copiosi, legum unus, alter verborum & rerum, sententiarum insignium Coloniae Agrippinae, Apud viduam Ioannis Gymnici sub Monocerote, 115 x 175 x 100 mm., full contemporary calf binding (lacking, corners bumped), 48 ff., 1231 pp., some faint marginal dampstains in upper margins, small wormholes in upper margins from page 100 to page 350.Jacques Cujas, born Cujeus, also known by his Latinised name Jacobus Cujacius, was a French jurist born in Toulouse in 1522 and died in Bourges on 4 October 1590. He is one of the leading figures of legal humanism.Jacques Cujas was born in 1522. He was the son of a Pyrenean cloth shearer from Oloron-Sainte-Marie settled in Toulouse. His well-to-do family enabled him to pursue his humanities studies and then study law. He notably attended the lectures of Arnaud Du Ferrier, a professor of Roman law trained in Padua with Michel de L'Hospital. He completed most of his law studies between 1537 and 1544.Between 1547 and 1554, he taught an introductory course on Justinian’s Institutes at the Faculty of Toulouse as a ‘hallebardier’.He received the support of prominent parliamentary families in Toulouse and accepted the tutorship of the two eldest sons of Michel Du Faur, judge-mage in Toulouse; one of the sons became the renowned jurist Pierre du Faur de Saint-Jory.In 1554, he sought the chair of Roman law at Toulouse but the competition resulted in the appointment of Étienne Forcadel, who became professor in 1557. Therefore, he preferred to accept a chair at the University of Cahors, a small satellite university where many jurists from Toulouse had begun their careers. Antoine de Govea, brother of the founder of the Collège de Guyenne in Bordeaux (1534), held a chair there until 1554 and his work reinforced Cujas’s efforts to restore authentic Roman law by returning to the sources. It was in Cahors that he published his course taught in Toulouse: Notes on Ulpian’s Rules (1554). His career was then marked by numerous peregrinations.He remained only briefly in Cahors and moved to the University of Bourges (1554–1555), which was then the centre of legal humanism in Europe, to succeed François Baudouin. His patrons Michel de L’Hospital, Arnaud Du Ferrier and Barthélemy Faye recommended him to Marguerite de France, Duchess of Berry. However, Cujas’s appointment in Bourges offended local candidates, leading to student unrest that forced him to withdraw to Paris in 1557. After three months, he joined the University of Valence in November 1557, attracted by an annual salary of 600 livres. During this first stay in the city, he married Madeleine Du Roure, daughter of a Jewish physician from Avignon, and befriended Bishop Jean de Monluc.Upon the death of Dean Le Douaren, Marguerite de France recalled him to Bourges, where he enjoyed a second calm and productive period and published from 1560 to 1566.In 1566, at the request of Marguerite de France, then Duchess of Savoy and Berry, he crossed the Alps to teach at the University of Turin (1566–1567), replacing the recently deceased Antoine de Govea. He returned to Valence the following year. From 1567 to 1575, Cujas enjoyed great renown at the Faculty of Valence, newly merged with that of Grenoble. He held the first chair and undisputed authority over all law teaching. He was also honorary counsellor to the Parlement of Grenoble.In 1575, the Wars of Religion devastated the country. Cujas, who had certainly adhered to the Calvinist faith during his second stay in Bourges, took refuge with Antoine de Crussol