Giulio Pace

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Giulio Pace of Beriga (also known by his Latin name Julius Pacius of Beriga) (1550-1631), born in Vicenza, Italy, studied law and philosophy in Padua, becoming a well-known Aristotelian and legal theorist.

He was deeply moved by the Reformation. Unsurprisingly, the Catholic Church considered him immorral and a lover of heretical writings and he soon found himself put on trial by the Inquisition. Fleeing first to Geneva to escape their wrath, he soon converted to Protestantism while in Heidelberg.

His academic career was wide and varied. In Geneva, he was elected to be a public professor. Studious and having a deep knowledge of Greek, he translated Aristotle. He taught law at the University of Heidelberg. (Incidentally, while at the University of Heidelberg, his quarrels with compatriot Scipione Gentili ultimately compelled the latter to leave for Altdorf). He was provost and prefect of studies at the University of Nimes, taught philosophy in Hungary, Leiden in the Netherlands, Grenoble in France, and in other places. He also taught at the universities of Geneva and Valencia.

Pace's edition of the Organon became standard during its shelf-life of 11 editions between 1584 and 1623, and even longer in the north. He also wrote a great amount of legal titles.

Pace wrote a pocket summary of Ramon Llull's art, first in Latin in 1618 and then in French in 1619. This work is seen as exceptional among its contemporaries as it does not digress into alchemy, cabalism, or magic, and in fact stays true to Llull's traditional interests. Pace wrote a similar work for Ramus as well. Despite being a protestant, and thus not trusted in his native Venetian Republic, in 1619 he published "De dominio maris Hadriatici dissertatio", defending the claims of Venice over the Adriatic Sea against the opposite claims of the Empire and the kingdom of Naples.^[1]

A book was written on the life of Giulio Pace in the early 20th century, focusing on his work as a jurist.