Bartolus de Saxoferrato

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Bartolus de Saxoferrato it. Bartolo da Sassoferrato (1313 – July 13, 1357) was an Italian law professor and one of the most prominient continental jurists of the Middle Ages. He belonged to the school known as the commentators (or postglossators). The admiration of later generations of civil lawyers is shown by the adage nemo bonus íurista nisi bartolista -- no one is a good jurist unless he is a bartolist (i.e. a follower of Bartolus).

[edit] Life and Works

Bartolus was born in the village of Venatura near Sassoferrato in the Italian region of Marche. He read civil law at the universities of Perugia and Bologna and graduated to doctor of law in 1334. In 1339 he started teaching himself first in Pisa, then in Perugia. This city made him an honorary citizen in 1348. In 1355, Emperor Charles IV appointed him as his consiliarius. In Perugia Baldus de Ubaldis and his brothers Angelus and Petrus became pupils of Bartolus. At the early age of 43, Bartolus died.

Despite his short life, Bartolus left an extraordinary number of works. He wrote commentaries on all parts of the Corpus Iuris Civilis (except Justinian's Institutes). He is also the author of a large number of treatises on specific subjects. Among these treatises is his famous book on the law relating to rivers (De fluminibus seu Tyberiadis). There are also almost 400 legal opinions (consilia) written at the request of private parties seeking legal advice.

Bartolus developed many novel legal concepts, which became part of the civil law tradition. Among his most important contributions were those to the area of conflict of laws -- a field of great importance in 14th century Italy, where every city state had its own statutes and customs. Bartolus also dealt with a variety of constitutional law issues. In his treatise De insigniis et armis he discussed not only the law of arms but also some problems of trademark law.

[edit] Legacy

Already famous at his lifetime, Bartolus was later regarded the greatest jurist after the renaissance of Roman law. This is not only evident from the above-quoted saying, but also from the fact that statutes in Spain 1427/1433 and Portugal 1446 provided that his opinions should be followed where the Roman source texts and the Accursian gloss were silent. Even in England, where the civil law he had worked on was not applicable, Bartolus was held in high esteem. He influenced civilian writers such as Alberico Gentili and Richard Zouche.

Due to Bartolus' fame, his name was used for the character of a (usually stiff and pedantic) lawyer in many Italian plays. A well-known example is Dr. Bartolo in Gioacchino Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville and in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro.

[edit] References

  • Maria Ada Benedetto (1958). Bartolo da Sassoferrato. In Novissimo Digesto Italiano. Vol 2. ISBN 88-02-01797-2. pp. 279-280.
  • Walter Ullmann (1962). Bartolus and English Jurisprudence. In Bartolo da Sassoferrato. Studi e Documenti per il VI centenario. Vol. 1. pp. 47-73.
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