Petrus Peckius the Elder (born Pieter Peck, also known as Pierre Peckius; 16 July 1529 in Zierikzee – 16 July 1589 in

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

), was an eminent Netherlandish jurist, one of the first to write about international

maritime law Admiralty law or maritime law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between priva ...

,David M. Walker (ed.), ''The Oxford Companion to Law'' (Clarendon Press, 1980), p. 940. and the father of

Petrus Peckius the Younger Petrus Peckius the Younger, also known as Petrus Pecquius or Pierre Peckius (born Pieter Peck; 1562 – 28 July 1625), was a diplomat and chancellor of Brabant for the Sovereign Archdukes Albert and Isabella. He is best known for a failed at ...

. He was an orthodox Catholic and remained loyal to the Crown during the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

. In 1582 he was appointed a justice in the Great Council, the supreme law court of the

Seventeen Provinces The Seventeen Provinces were the Imperial states of the Habsburg Netherlands in the 16th century. They roughly covered the Low Countries, i.e., what is now the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and most of the French departments of Nord (Fre ...

, which normally sat in

but due to the

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) (Historiography of the Eighty Years' War#Name and periodisation, c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and t ...

was then meeting in the city of

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namu ...

. He was married to Catharina Gillis (sister of a secretary of Margaret of Parma, and of a governor of

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

) with whom he had several children.

Academic career

Peck studied

Civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

and

Canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

at the University of Leuven with

Gabriel Mudaeus Gabriel Mudaeus ( c. 1500, Brecht – 21 April 1560, Leuven), born Gabriël van der Muyden, was a Flemish jurist and humanist who revived the study of law in Belgium. As a professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Louvain, Mudaeus int ...

. He received his doctorate on 27 August 1553. As usual in this era for academic scholars he Latinized his name to ''Peckius''. He was appointed to the new chair in introductory law (''Paratitles'') that

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

endowed at the university in 1555. Was made ''ordinarius'' in

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 ...

at the university in 1562. In the same year he succeeded

Jean Vendeville Jean Vendeville (24 June 1527 – 15 October 1592) was a law professor and a bishop of Tournai. Life Vendeville was possibly born in Lille, the son of Guillaume Vendeville and Marie Des Barbieux.Alexis Possoz, ''Mgr Jean Vendeville, évêque de T ...

, who had left for the University of Douai, as professor of Canon law.

Publications

* ''De continentia clericorum sive de concubinatu tollendo'' (Leuven, 1544) * ''Paraphrasis in universam legatorum materiam'' (Leuven, 1553) * ''De testamentis Conjugum libr. V'' (Leuven, 1564), reprinted in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

and elsewhere * ''De ecclesiis catholicis aedificandis et reparandis'' (Leuven, 1573; Cologne, 1608; etc.) * ''Commentarium ad regulas Juris canonici libri VI decretalium'' (Leuven, 1564; Douai, 1574;

Helmstedt Helmstedt (; Eastphalian: ''Helmstidde'') is a town on the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. The historic university and Hanseatic city conserves an important monumental heritage of ...

, 1588; etc.) * ''De amortizatione bonorum a principe impetranda'' (Cologne, 1582, etc.) * ''Commentaria in omnes pene Juris Civilis titulos ad rem nauticam pertinentes'' (Leuven, 1556;

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 ...

, 1647;

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, 1668) In 1647 an edition of his collected works was produced by

Hieronymus Verdussen Verdussen was a dynasty of printers in Antwerp, starting with Hieronymus Verdussen I in the late sixteenth century, and ending around 1800. Many other printers in Antwerp were also related to the Verdussens through marriage. They specialized in reli ...

in Antwerp, under the title ''Cl. Viri Petri Peckii Ziricaei olim acad. Lov. Jur. Professoris in magno senatu Belgico consiliarii opera omnia''. It was reprinted in 1666 and 1679.

Notes

Sources

*BRANTS (V.). “Pierre Peckius”. In: “Biographie Nationale”, XVI, pp. 784–792. *JACOBS, Joannes. (1775) "Petrus Peck" in:''Wekelijks nieuws uit Loven, mede beschrijvinge diër stad'', vol. 6, pp. 161–16

External links

Peckius, Petrus in ''Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peckius, Petrus, The Elder 1529 births 1589 deaths Dutch jurists Dutch people of the Eighty Years' War (Spanish Empire) People from Zierikzee Old University of Leuven alumni Academic staff of the Old University of Leuven