Jean Pithou
Jean Pithou (* 1524 ; † 1602 ) was a French lawyer and author.
He was born in Troyes. From childhood he was fond of literature, and his father Pierre encouraged this interest. The young Pithou was appointed to the Paris bar in 1560. After the outbreak of the Second Religious War in 1567, Pithou, who was a Calvinist, retired to Sedan, France and then to Basel, returning after the publication of the Edict of Pacification. Soon afterwards he accompanied the Duke of Montmorency on his embassy to England, and returned shortly before the massacre of St. Bartholomew, from which he had narrowly escaped. The next year he followed the example of the future Henry IV of France by giving up the Protestant faith.
Shortly after his accession to the throne, Henry IV recognized Pithou's talents and services by giving him various legal appointments. He collaborated in the publication of the satire Ménippée (1593), which did much to damage the cause of the Catholic League; The address of Sieur d'Aubray is usually attributed to Pithou.
Pithou wrote many legal and historical books in addition to preparing editions of several ancient writers. Its earliest publication was Adversariorum subsectorum lib. II. (1565). In 1569 he was the first to publish the Historia Romana by Landolfus Sagax and under the name "Historia Miscella". Perhaps his edition of the Leges Visigothorum (1579) was his most valuable contribution to the study of history; in the same line in 1588 he edited the capitula of Charlemagne, Louis the Pious and Charles the Bald; he helped his brother François to prepare the Corpus juris canonici (1687).
Pierres Libertés de l'église gallicane (1594) is reprinted in his Opera sacra juridica in his orica miscella collecta (1609). In classical literature he was the first to introduce the world to the Fables of Phaedrus (1596).
He was the brother of Pierre Pithou and François Pithou and twin brother of Nicolas Pithou , with whom he wrote Institution du manage chrétien . His most famous work is Traite de police et du gouvernement des républiques .
He died in Nogent-sur-Seine. His valuable library, particularly rich in manuscripts, was largely moved to what is now the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.
Individual evidence
- ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). " Pierre Pithou ". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pithou, Jean |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French lawyer and author |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1524 |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1602 |