Barnabé Brisson (Latinised: Barnabas Brissonius; 1531 – 15 November 1591) was a French jurist and politician.

Biography

Born as the son of the king's lieutenant in

Fontenay-le-Comte Fontenay-le-Comte (; Poitevin dialect, Poitevin: ''Funtenaes'' or ''Fintenè'') is a Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Vendée Departments of France, department in the Pays de la Loire Regions of France ...

, Vendée, Brisson studied law in

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Bourges Bourges ( ; ; ''Borges'' in Berrichon) is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre (Cher), Yèvre. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Cher (department), Cher, and also was the capital city of the former provin ...

and finally

Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...

, where he stayed on as an advocate. Between 1553 and 1556, he moved on to Paris, where he swiftly gained repute for his learning and rhetorical skills. Charles IX named him Advocate General of the

Parlement Under the French Ancien Régime, a ''parlement'' () was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 ''parlements'', the original and most important of which was the ''Parlement'' of Paris. Though both th ...

in 1573. His successor, Henry III, put particular trust in Brisson, who was made first Fiscal in 1573, promoted to

Président à mortier President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsidente ...

in 1580, appointed Sixth President of the Parlement in 1588 and entrusted with several diplomatical missions. As the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease di ...

flamed up again, Brisson remained in Paris after the royalist judges on the Parlement fled the city on 16 January 1589, following the King, who had fled on May 13, 1588. Next day, the ''Seize'' ("sixteen"), a group of League notables that now ruled Paris, installed Brisson as First President of the Parlement in replacement of Achille de Harlay. As a '' politique'', Brisson sought to mediate between the warring factions. The Seize, however, soon began to mistrust him, because they considered him to remain loyal to Henry. Consequently, they had him sentenced to death by a special court and executed by

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

in 1591.

Scholarly work

Brisson never held academic office. Despite this, he is – with Contius, Balduinus, Cujacius, Hotmannus and Donellus – among the group of 16th century French jurists that brought

Humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

jurisprudence to its peak. His principal work is ''De Verborum Quae ad Jus Civile Pertinent Significatione'' (1559), a two-

folio The term "folio" () has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging Paper size, sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for ...

dictionary of

Justinian Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

legal terminology that saw 17 reeditions (often much amended) up until 1805. ''De Verborum'' was the standard legal dictionary of the time, and for centuries remained an authoritative source for

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries. * The ...

s. Among his other works, the following warrant particular mention. The ''Code Henri III'' was an influential 1587 compilation of the laws of France. It saw numerous reeditions, as did Brisson's works on pre-Justinian

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 (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

. These include ''De formulis et solennibus populi Romani verbis'', a comprehensive compilation of Roman legal terminology.

External links

Le Code du Roy Henri III Roy de France et de Pologne
PDF scan online *

References

* * Tarlton Law Library, Jamail Center for Legal Research,

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Texas at Austin, a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas. According to Texas Law’s American Bar ...

Brisson, Barnabé
(accessed March 2007) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brisson, Barnabe 1531 births 1591 deaths People from Poitou People from Fontenay-le-Comte 16th-century French lawyers 16th-century French politicians French Renaissance humanists People executed by France by hanging Executed French people 16th-century executions by France French male non-fiction writers