Jean Petit (lawyer)

Jean Petit (* around 1364; † July 15, 1411 in Hesdin ) was a French lawyer and theologian.

He came from the Pays de Caux , was Maître des Arts in 1385 and then studied law in Paris and Orléans , then theology. He completed this course in 1402 with a master's degree .

Jean Petit was one of the most important voices at the Sorbonne when it came to the consequences of the Western Schima ; he participated in the unsuccessful negotiations with Benedict XIII. took part, and stood out in the clergy's meeting of 1406 with a vehement statement against the policy of beneficence and the papal tax system.

As a member of the court of Johanns Ohnefurcht , Duke of Burgundy , he was commissioned to defend the murder of Duke Ludwig von Orléans in court in 1408 . This plea became known as the Apologie du Tyrannicide ( Apologie des Tyrannicide ) and earned him the office of Maître des requêtes , but also the opposition of moderate circles and the supporters of Orléans, the later Armagnacs . He was fought above all by Jean Gerson , who had his theses on the legitimacy of tyrannicide condemned at the Council of Constance in 1414, i.e. after Jean Petit's death .

In addition to his legal and theological work, Jean Petit emerged as an author of poems and stories.

literature

• Ansgar Frenken: Johannes Parvus (Jean Petit). In: LThK ³ Vol. 5, sp. 956.
• Françoise Autrand: Petit, Jean . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 6, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-7608-8906-9 , Sp. 1943 f.
• Susanne Stracke:  JOHANNES Parvus (Jean Petit). In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 3, Bautz, Herzberg 1992, ISBN 3-88309-035-2 , Sp. 515-516.