Aymar du Rivail

Aymar du Rivail Seigneur de la Rivallière (also Aymarus Rivallius or Rivalius ; born between 1489 and 1491 in Saint-Marcellin (Isère) ; died between 1557 and 1560) was a French legal historian and historian from the Dauphiné . He is considered the founder of legal history and was the first to write an investigation into the Roman Twelve Tables law .

Life

Aymar du Rivail was the third son of Guigo or Guy I. du Revail, who was Vibailli in Saint-Marcellin from 1486 to 1493 . Aymar du Rivail referred to him as praeses Marcellinopolitanus , although it is unclear whether this meant an official position held after 1493 and what function the term praeses could mean. Friedrich Karl von Savigny interpreted it as an unspecified presidential position. The year of his birth is uncertain, was between 1489 and 1491, with the result that Alfred de Terrebasse, who published a manuscript by Aymar du Rivail, is often assumed to be 1491.

Aymar du Rivail attended school in Romans-sur-Isère and was taught grammar , rhetoric and logic . Following the family tradition - both his grandfather and his father were lawyers, his father even a Legum Doctor - he studied law first at the University of Avignon , then with Iason Mainus and Philippus Decius at the University of Pavia . In 1512 he was still present in Pavia and heard the thunder of the guns in the war of the Holy League during the siege of Milan .

In 1513 he was intended to be the tutor of Princess Renée de France , daughter of Queen Anne de Bretagne , but the implementation failed on Anne's death on January 9, 1514. So Aymar du Rivail began a journey through Italy that lasted until 1515. Its result was his Historia juris , which was printed in 1515 under the title Aymari Rivallii Allobrogis Juris consulti ac Oratoris Libri de historia Juris civilis et pontificii at the bookseller Olivelli, who had received the privilege for this from du Rivail , in Valence . The work became better known under the title with which it was printed in Mainz in 1527: Civilis Historiae Iuris, sive in duodecim Tabul. Leges Commentariorum libri quinque. Historiae item Juris pontificii liber Singularis.

With this work, which for the first time was dedicated to the recovery of the Roman law of the twelve tables, Aymar du Rivail established the new scientific field of history, not only of Roman law , but of law in general. Divided into five books, it dealt with the history of the Roman kings , the popular resolutions , the senate consuls and praetoric edicts , the decrees and responses of the Roman imperial era , as well as canon law . The work was suitable for the Chancellor of France , Antoine Duprat .

As in 1521, four new council positions in the Parlement of Grenoble were created, one ordered Aymar du Rivail as conseiller du roi , also au parlement or en Dauphiné , for advice. He seems to have held this position until his death. The exact year of his death is not known; according to his will, he was still alive on April 16, 1557. In 1560 one of his sons was from a second marriage, a first marriage remained childless, council in Grenoble. It is therefore assumed that Aymar du Rivail had already passed away at this point.

From his estate comes the manuscript of a nine-volume history of the "Allobroger", which was published in 1844 by Alfred de Terrebasse under the title De Allobrogibus libri novem . In the nine books du Rivail deals with the history and monuments of the Dauphiné, Savoy , the Comtat Venaissin , the Bresse as well as parts of Provence , Switzerland and Piedmont . Among other things, this work contains the first description of the Roman Arch of Orange . In addition, he is said to have written a comment on the Bologna Concordat that has not survived in 1516 .

plant

• Civilis Historiae Iuris, sive in duodecim Tabul. Leges Commentariorum libri quinque. Historiae item Juris pontificii liber Singularis. Valence 1515 ( digitized ).
• De Allobrogibus libri novem, ex autographo codice Bibliothecae Regis editi, cura et sumptibus Alfredi de Terrebasse. Girard, Vienne 1844 ( digitized version ).

literature

• Friedrich Karl von Savigny : History of Roman Law in the Middle Ages. Volume 6. Mohr, Heidelberg 1831, pp. 387-389
• Paul-Emile Giraud: Aymar du Rivail et sa famille. Imprimerie Louis Perrin, Lyon 1849, pp. 15-29.
• Ernst von Moeller: Aymar du Rivail, the first legal historian (= historical studies. Issue 56). E. Ebering, Berlin 1907 ( digitized version ).

Web links

• Rivail, Aymar du. In: Enciclopedie on line. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome. Retrieved February 19, 2016.