Ulrich Zasius

Ulrich Zasius.

Ulrich Zasius (1461 – 24 November 1536) was a German jurist.

Biography

Zasius born at Konstanz (current Baden-Württemberg) in 1461.

After studying at Tübingen he first became episcopal notary at Constance, then town clerk at Baden in Aargau in 1489, and at Freiburg in 1493. From 1496-9 he directed the Latin school at Freiburg.

In 1499 he studied law at the University of Freiburg, was appointed lecturer of rhetoric and poetry there in 1500 and professor of jurisprudence in 1506. In 1502 he was also clerk of court at Freiburg; in 1503, legal adviser to the university; and in 1508, imperial councillor. Applying the tendencies of the Humanists to jurisprudence, he scouted the strained and barbarous comments of the glossators and endeavoured to restore the genuine text. It was probably due to the literary controversies which he had with Eck, that he at first favoured the doctrines of Martin Luther. After 1521 he was a zealous opponent of Luther and died a firm adherent of the Roman Catholic faith.

He died at Freiburg in 1536. His juridical works were published posthumously (Lyon, 1548, 1550-1; 3 vols., Frankfurt, 1590).

Wikisource has the text of the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article Ulric Zasius.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 

Further reading

• Steven Rowen: Ulrich Zasius. A Jurist in the German Renaissance, Frankfurt am Main 1987