Joachim von Beust (1522–1597) was a 16th-century German lawyer and legal author. His most important contribution was in 1586 when he wrote the Saxon Protestant Marriage Law.

Life

He was born in Mockern near

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

on 19 April 1522 the eldest son of Captain Joachim (Achim) von Beust. The family had major estates in the

stendal The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the Stendal District and the unofficial capital of the Altmark region. Geography Situated west of the Elbe valley, the Stendal town centre is located s ...

district. From 1539 he began studying Law and the Liberal Arts at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

. In

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

he first encountered

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

and came under his influence. In 1544 he went to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

at the invitation of Modestinus Pistoris. In 1547 he did further studies in Law at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

. In 1550 Elector Moritz appointed him a councillor in

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...

also creating him a Professor of Law at Wittenberg University. From 1553 Elector August also used him for diplomatic purposes. In 1580 he bought a manor at Planitz near

Zwickau Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ' ...

. In the 1590s he was involved in various ecclesiastical disputes. He died in Planitz on 4 February 1597.

Family

In 1556 at

Wiesenburg Wiesenburg ( official name: ''Wiesenburg/Mark'') is a municipality in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 10 km west of Bad Belzig, and 34 km southwest of Brandenburg. It is located in the High Flä ...

he married Barbara Brandt of

Lindau Lindau (german: Lindau (Bodensee), ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Ge ...

. Only one son is known, Heinrich von Beust (b.1559).

Publications

*''Tractatus de Spons et matrim''

References

16th-century German lawyers 1522 births 1597 deaths People from Wittenberg {{Germany-law-bio-stub