Christopher St. Germain (1460–1540) was an English lawyer, legal writer, and

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

polemicist.

Biography

Christopher St. Germain was born in 1460 to Sir Henry and Anne St. Germain of

Shilton Shilton may refer to: Places *Shilton, Oxfordshire, England *Shilton, Warwickshire, England **Shilton railway station, a former station Other *Shilton (surname) *Earl Shilton, a town in Leicestershire, England *Chilton (disambiguation) *Shelton ( ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

. In 1528, St. Germain published his first book, ''Dialogus de fundamentis legum Anglie et de conscientia'', known as '' The Doctor and Student'' after the titles of the two interlocutors, a doctor of divinity and a student of the laws of England, a barrister. The book is a study of the relationship between the English

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...

and conscience. It was the first study of the role of equity in English law, and set the terms for later discussions. An English translation, probably done by St. Germain himself, appeared in 1530 or 1531. A second dialogue appeared in English in 1530, along with additional chapters referred to as the ''New Addicions''. Although ''Doctor and Student'' was written as a discussion of conscience and law, its enduring popularity into the 19th century was a result of its clear introduction to common law concepts. Until Blackstone published his '' Commentaries on the Laws of England'' in 1765-69, it was used as a student primer. In 1532, St. Germain published the ''Treatise Concerning the Division between the Spiritualty and Temporalty'', a pamphlet purporting to mediate between the laity and the clergy, but, as

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...

argued in a response, his ''Apology'', actually interested in increasing the divide. St. Germain responded to More's ''Apology'' with the dialogue ''Salem and Bizance'', to which More responded with his ''Debellation of Salem and Bizance'' in 1533. The following year St Germain published his ''Additions of Salem and Bizance'', the final text in the dispute between St. Germain and More. A number of anonymous pamphlets, very likely written by St. Germain, appeared in the 1530s, before his death at the age of eighty in 1540.

References

* Baker, J. H. “St German, Christopher (c.1460–1540/41)” In ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., edited by Lawrence Goldman, January 2008. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/24493 (accessed 28 March 2008). * * *

External links

''Doctor and Student''
ed. William Muchall 1874, from Lonang Institute {{DEFAULTSORT:Stgermain, Christopher 1460 births 1540 deaths English lawyers English legal writers People from Warwickshire 15th-century English people 16th-century Protestants 16th-century English lawyers