![Bildnis des Accursius](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Bildnis_des_Accursius.jpg)
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Accursius (in Italian ''Accursio'' or ''Accorso di Bagnolo''; c. 11821263) was a
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...
. He is notable for his organization of the
glosses
A gloss is a brief notation, especially a marginal one or an interlinear one, of the meaning of a word or wording in a text. It may be in the language of the text or in the reader's language if that is different.
A collection of glosses is a ''g ...
, the medieval comments on
Justinian
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
's codification of
Roman law
Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...
, the ''
Corpus Juris Civilis
The ''Corpus Juris'' (or ''Iuris'') ''Civilis'' ("Body of Civil Law") is the modern name for a collection of fundamental works in jurisprudence, issued from 529 to 534 by order of Justinian I, Byzantine Emperor. It is also sometimes referred ...
''. He was not proficient in the classics, but he was called "the Idol of the Jurisconsults".
Biography
Accursius was born at
Impruneta
Impruneta is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany. The population is about 15,000.
Name and production
The name Impruneta is derived from ''inprunetis'' meaning "within the pine woods", and is ...
, near
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
. A pupil of
Azo, he first practised law in his native city, and was afterwards appointed professor at
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
, where he had great success as a teacher. He undertook to arrange into one body the tens of thousands of comments and remarks upon the ''Code'', the ''
Institutes
An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body.
In some countries, institutes can ...
'' and ''
Digests
Digest may refer to:
Biology
*Digestion of food
*Restriction digest
Literature and publications
*'' The Digest'', formerly the English and Empire Digest
*Digest size magazine format
* ''Digest'' (Roman law), also known as ''Pandects'', a digest ...
''.
Accursius assembled from the various earlier glosses for each of these texts a coherent and consistent body of glosses. This compilation, soon given the title
''Glossa ordinaria'' or ''magistralis'', and usually known as the ''Great Gloss'',
[ was essentially complete at about 1230. While Accursius was employed in this work, legend has it that, hearing of a similar one proposed and begun by ]Odofred
Odofredus (died 3 December 1265) was an Italian jurist. He was born in Ostia and moved to Bologna, studying law under Jacobus Balduinus and Franciscus Accursius. After working as an advocate in Italy and France, he became a law professor in Bolog ...
, another lawyer of Bologna, he feigned indisposition, interrupted his public lectures, and shut himself up, till with the utmost expedition he had accomplished his design.[
After the middle of the 13th century, the ''Gloss'' had grown to be the starting point for every exegesis of the Corpus Iuris, and was even given force of law in some jurisdictions. The authority of the ''Gloss'' is probably due to Accursius' very exhaustive coverage of the civil law, in the course of which he not only pointed out its problems but unlike his predecessors also offered solutions for them. Indeed, modern research has shown that Accursius' work contains nearly 100,000 glosses. The best edition is that of ]Denis Godefroy
Denis Godefroy (Dionysius Gothofredus; 17 October 1549 – 7 September 1622) was a French jurist, a member of the noted Godefroy family. He worked in France and Germany.
Biography
He was born in Paris, the son of Léon Godefroy, lord of Gu ...
, published at Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
in 1589, in six folio volumes.[
Apart from his work as a glossator, Accursius was also engaged very profitably as a legal consultant.
He lived and taught during the later years of his life at Bologna where he died in 1263. It was acknowledged that after his death the legal science in Italy suffered a decline.
]
Family
Three of his four sons were also jurists: Cervottus, Guilelmus and the noted Franciscus
Franciscus is a Latin given name, originally an epithet meaning "the Franks, Frank, the Frenchman".
It was applied to Saint Francis of Assisi (1181/82–1226).
Francis had been baptized Giovanni (John); his father was Duchy of Spoleto, Italia ...
. The latter is buried with his father in one of the arcs lining the street near the Basilica of San Francesco, Bologna
The Basilica of Saint Francis ( it, Basilica San Francesco) is a historic church in the city of Bologna in northern Italy. Founded in the 13th century, it has been the property of the Conventual Franciscan friars since then. The church has been r ...
.[
]
Recognition
For his ''magnum opus'', Accursius was extolled by the lawyers of his own and the immediately succeeding age as the greatest glossator
The scholars of the 11th- and 12th-century legal schools in Italy, France and Germany are identified as glossators in a specific sense. They studied Roman law based on the '' Digesta'', the ''Codex'' of Justinian, the ''Authenticum'' (an abridged ...
, and he was even called the idol of jurisconsults, but those of later times formed a lower estimate of his merits.[ Eventually, 16th century ]humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
s, including Rabelais in his ''Gargantua and Pantagruel
''The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel'' (french: La vie de Gargantua et de Pantagruel) is a pentalogy of novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais, telling the adventures of two giants, Gargantua ( , ) and his son Pantagruel ...
'', polemically criticised Accursius' ''Gloss''.
Accursius' majestic residence on the Piazza Maggiore
Piazza Maggiore (''Piâza Mażåur'' in the Bolognese language) is a central square in Bologna, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The appearance in the 21st century, generally reflects the layout from the 15th century. The Northwest corner opens i ...
was later expanded into the Palazzo Comunale, or the town hall.
File:Libri feudorum (with the Glossa ordinaria of Accursius)--German- Das b-uch des kaiserlichen Lehenrecht. - Lower cover (IB6739).jpg , ''Glossa ordinaria'' of Accursius
File:Digesta Justiniani Infortiatum 1997304.jpg, Corpus iuris civilis(Digesta Justiniani) with ''Glossa ordinaria'' by Accursius
File:Libri feudorum (with the Glossa ordinaria of Accursius)--German- Das b-uch des kaiserlichen Lehenrecht. - Upper cover (IB6739).jpg , libre Fedorum by Accursius
File:Digesta Justiniani Infortiatum 1997653.jpg, Digesta Justiniani Infortiatum by Accursius
File:Digesta Justiniani Infortiatum 1997751.jpg, Digesta Justiniani Infortiatum with ''Glossa ordinaria'' by Accursius
File:Digesta Justiniani Infortiatum 1997577.jpg, Digesta Justiniani with 1495 ''Gloss'' by Accursius
File:Digesta Justiniani Infortiatum 1997549.jpg, Digesta Justiniani with 1495 ''Gloss'' by Accursius
File:Digesta Justiniani Infortiatum 1997748.jpg, Corpus iuris civilis (Digesta Justiniani) with 1495 ''Gloss'' by Accursius
See also
*''Cuius est solum eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos
''Cuius est solum, eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos'' (Latin for "whoever's is the soil, it is theirs all the way to Heaven and all the way to Hell") is a principle of property law, stating that property holders have rights not only to the ...
'' – credited to Accursius[Harvard Legal Essays, Written in Honor of and Presented to John Henry Beale and Samuel Williston, 1977, Ayer Company Publishers, Incorporated]
p. 522
note 8: "He who owns the soil owns it up to the sky." The maxim had no place in the Roman law during its classical period, but is said to have been first used by Accursius of Bologna, a commentator, who flourished in the thirteenth century. It has been suggested that the maxim was introduced into England by the son of Accursius whom Edward I brought with him on his return from the Holy Land and who for many years held high office under the Crown and also was connected with Oxford University. Bouvé, Private Ownership of Airspace, 1 Air Law Rev. 232, 246–248. At any rate, nearly three centuries later the reporter's note to Bury ''v.'' Pope, Cro. Eliz. 118 8 Eng. Rep. 375
8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9.
In mathematics
8 is:
* a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2.
* a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...
(1587) ascribes the maxim to the time of Edward I."[ Clement Lincoln Bouvé, "Private Ownership of Airspace", 1 Air Law Rev. 232, 376 (1930), 246–248][Wilkie, Malcolm & Luxton: Q&A: Land Law 2011 and 2012, Oxford University Press]
Chapter 2: Definition of Land
, p. 5, "Question 1:''Cuius est solum, eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos'' (the owner of the land owns everything up to the sky and down to the centre of the earth). … Suggested Answer: This maxim, which was coined by Accursius in the thirteenth century, relates to the extent of the ownership enjoyed by the fee simple owner."
*Henry de Bracton
Henry of Bracton, also Henry de Bracton, also Henricus Bracton, or Henry Bratton also Henry Bretton (c. 1210 – c. 1268) was an English cleric and jurist.
He is famous now for his writings on law, particularly ''De legibus et consuetudinibus ...
References
;Attribution
*
Further reading
*
*Text of the ''Glossa ordinaria'' of Accursius is availabl
online
archived version
in an edition Lyon (Prost, Iullieron) 1627.
External links
*
Works of Accursius at ParalipomenaIuris
{{DEFAULTSORT:Accursius
Accursius, Franciscus
Accursius, Franciscus
Accursius, Franciscus
Accursius, Franciscus
13th-century Latin writers
Burials at San Francesco (Bologna)
Accursius, Franciscus