Lenaert Leys, better known as Leonardus Lessius (1 October 1554 in Brecht - 15 January 1623, in

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

) was a Brabant jurist, theologian, economist from the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

order. Nicknamed the "oracle of the

Low Countries The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...

", figurehead of the

School of Salamanca The School of Salamanca () was an intellectual movement of 16th-century and 17th-century Iberian Scholasticism, Scholastic theology, theologians rooted in the intellectual and pedagogical work of Francisco de Vitoria. From the beginning of the ...

, he was a great source of inspiration for later jurists like

Grotius Hugo Grotius ( ; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Hugo de Groot () or Huig de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, statesman, poet and playwright. A teenage prodigy, he was born in Delft an ...

, Juan de Lugo or .

Life

Born to a farmer father, Lessius grew up in a family of four children of which he was the only boy. After primary studies in his village, his uncle encouraged him to continue his studies in the of

. Receiving a scholarship, he studied after in the , an arts department, where he was merited in 1572 the title of ''primus'' among all philosophy students. The same year, instead of pursuing his studies in Law of Theologye at the university of Leuven, het decided to take orders in the Company of Jesus. After his

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

in the Jesuit college of

Saint-Omer Saint-Omer (; ; Picard: ''Saint-Onmé'') is a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department in France. It is west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais, and is located in the Artois province. The town is named after Sa ...

in 1574, he taught philosophy in the college d'Anchin of

Douai Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...

, where Robert Southwell was one of his students.

Autodidact Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning, self-study and self-teaching) is the practice of education without the guidance of schoolmasters (i.e., teachers, professors, institutions). Overview Autodi ...

, he learned by himself

ancient greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

biblical studies Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

patristic Patristics, also known as Patrology, is a branch of theological studies focused on the writings and teachings of the Church Fathers, between the 1st to 8th centuries CE. Scholars analyze texts from both orthodox and heretical authors. Patristics em ...

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

, canon and civil laws. After a year of study in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

, he was sent in 1583 in the

Roman College The Roman College (, ) was a school established by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1551, just 11 years after he founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). It quickly grew to include classes from elementary school through university level and moved to seve ...

to pursue his theological learning under

Robert Bellarmine Robert Bellarmine (; ; 4 October 1542 – 17 September 1621) was an Italian Jesuit and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was canonized a saint in 1930 and named Doctor of the Church, one of only 37. He was one of the most important figure ...

and Francisco Suarez, who thought him the renewal of scholastic by the

. He met also Maffeo Barberini, future

pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII (; ; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal terri ...

. Back in Leuven in 1585, he became teacher of theology in the

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, where he was involved in the

predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby Go ...

theological debate that was raging in Leuven in 1587–88 against Baianism. Despite significant persecution and censorship that he received as a result, Lessius supported the view of free will and predestination developed by

Luis de Molina Luis de Molina (29 September 1535 – 12 October 1600) was a Spanish Jesuit Catholic priest, jurist, economist and theologian renowned for his contributions to philosophy and economics within the framework of the second scholasticism. A ...

, which was seen by many theologians at the time as too little conservative position.Leonardus Lessius,
On Sales, Securities, and Insurance
''. CLP Academic, 2016, p.xxviii He pursued his academic career until 1600, when due to illness he was released from his teaching tasks. Then he used his time to inspects colleges of the Jesuit order with and to write his doctrinal opus.

Work

Contract law

Following the path of Domingo de Soto in the systematisation of law, Lessius played a great role in the development of obligation and contract law, and was one of the main reference of Grotius. He systematised the concept vice of consent for error and made the contract voidable in aid of the intimidated party, putting an end to the roman distinction ''stricti iuris'' contracts and ''bonae fidei'' contracts. He also possible, with

the distinction between contract law and testament law. Fervent supporter of contractual consensualism, he conceded however the possibility for the authorities to restrain it in order to protect vulnerable population, guarantee public interest or assure

salvation Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

. He even formulated principles of contractual freedom, later reused and assumed by . He also accepted the theory of improvision as a general principle of contract law. Lessius renewed the concept of just price based on

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

' works, and perceived it like the other members of the

as a result of human estimation : it then depends on multiple factors like offer and demand, monetary market, type of transaction,...

Ethic and economic science

Recognized as a "master of economic analysis" for his reflexions, namely for his prefiguration of liquidity preference, Lessius was one of the most supportive thinkers about new merchant's practices, sometimes against traditional moral and theological thoughts. For example, he clearly stated the dependence of the price of an

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

contract on the

risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environ ...

of the event insured against, supported the establishment of

mount of piety A mount of piety is an institutional pawnbroker run as a charity in Europe from Renaissance times until today. Similar institutions were established in the colonies of Catholic countries; the Mexican Nacional Monte de Piedad is still in operation ...

and the utilisation of contractum trinius. Based on

thomism Thomism is the philosophical and theological school which arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the Dominican philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, Thomas's disputed ques ...

, roman law and empirical observations on markets, he provided a lot of arguments in the defense of nascent capitalism. In the same way, he was also interested in reflexions about ethical and deontological responsibilities of counsellors and lawyers.

Tomb

Lessius is buried in St. Michael Church, the historic Jesuit church in Leuven. His simple tomb is located in the

baptistry In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptist ...

, just to the north of the

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

. Previously, he was interred at the nearby Jesuit college.

Works

*''De Iustitia et Iure'', Lovania, 1605. The first full English translation of the sections in this work on sales, legal securities, and insurance was recently published by Christian's Library Press as ''On Sales, Securities, and Insurance'' (2016) *''De Bono Statu eorum qui vovent...'', Colonia, 1615. *''De perfectionibus moribusque divinis'', Amberes, 1620.

Notes

References

*Decock, Wim, Lessius and the Breakdown of the Scholastic Paradigm, Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 31 (2009), 57–78. * * * *Franklin, James, ''The Science of Conjecture: Evidence and Probability Before Pascal'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001). *Gordon, B.T., ''Economic Analysis Before Adam Smith: Hesiod to Lessius'' (Macmillan, 1975). *Van Houdt, T. and Decock, W., ''Leonardus Lessius: traditie en vernieuwing'' (Antwerpen, Lessius Hogeschool, 2005) * * Lessius, Leonardus,
On Sales, Securities, and Insurance
''. CLP Academic, 2016.

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lessius, Leonardus 1554 births 1623 deaths Jesuits from the Spanish Netherlands 17th-century writers in Latin Flemish Jesuits Roman Catholic theologians from the Spanish Netherlands Catholic casuists People from Brecht, Belgium Sapienza University of Rome alumni Academic staff of the Old University of Leuven Old University of Leuven alumni Catholic philosophers Jesuit theologians Jesuit philosophers