age in which he lived, was son of Tristan Decio, and was born at Milan in 1453. While engaged in the study of polite literature at home, the plague in Milan compelled him at the age of seventeen to retire to Pavia, where his eldest brother Lancelot, was a professor of law. On his brother's recommendation, he commenced the same study in which he made such progress as to excite his jealousy. Lancelot being invited to Pisa, Philip followed him, and at that university excited the attention of all the celebrated professors, by his great readiness and acuteness in disputation. He obtained a doctor's degree in 1476, and was immediately appointed to read on the Institutions. He was next made lecturer extraordinary in the civil law, in which capacity he accompanied the university on its removal to Pistoia, in 1479. There are few examples in literary history, of more pertinacious disputations than were carried on between Decio and his rival Soxini and his scholars. Decio at length became so formidable, than none of the professors chose to be his competitor or opponent; and Sandeo, professor of canon law, left the university abruptly, rather than answer a challenge which he had accepted from him. These squabbles were at length the cause of his removal to Siena, but he was soon invited to Rome, where Innocent VIII., nominated him auditor of the rota. This post, however, he refused, because he did not choose to become an ecclesiastic; he therefore resumed his chair at Siena. He soon after accepted a proposal of returning to Pisa on a stipend of 450 florins; but so much were his talents for dispute dreaded, that it was necessary several times to change his chair from civil to canon law, and back again, on the account of refusals of other professors to be his antagonists. In 1501, when the war had reduced the university of Pisa to a low condition, Decio accepted an invitation to the chair of canon law at Padua; and such was the public eagerness to hear him, that the other schools were almost deserted, and many persons of respectability were proud to become his auditors. Milan having fallen under the power of Lewis XII., of France, that prince recalled him thither as a subject, on the promise of the same stipend which he enjoyed at Padua, which was 600 gold florins. The republic refused to part with him, and Rucellai, who was then at Venice, observed that he might tell at Florence, that he had seen the king of France and the state of Venice in warm contention for Philip Decio alone. Such was then the consequence of a man of letters! This at length terminated in his removal to Pavia in 1505, where, for seven years, he explained the canon law to a numerous audience. Lewis having at this time assembled a synod at Pisa, in opposition to pope Julius II., Decio was constrained to attend upon it, in his professional capacity; on which the fiery Julius excommunicated him. Soon after, the French being driven from Italy, Decio was 9

obliged to retire to Asti, and thence to Alba, whence he in vain applied to the pope for pardon. He had the further mortification of hearing that the Swiss troops had pillaged his house at Pavia of his books and furniture, and had even gone to the monastery where he had a natural daughter for education, and had stripped her of every thing, and taken away the money he had left for her maintenance. Such was the rapacity of those mercenaries, so long the scourge of Europe! Decio took refuge in France, where in every town he was welcomed by a crowd of scholars all eager to hear him. The king created him a member of the parliament of Grenoble. While he was in that city he received a letter from the pope, offering him pardon on condition of coming to Rome, but this he thought fit to decline. He then accepted the chair of civil law at Valence in Dauphine, with the hitherto unprecedented salary of 1000 franks. When he went thither, there were scarcely twenty-five scholars, but a hundred soon joined him from Avignon, and in his second year the number amounted to 400. At this time, on the request of the cardinals assembled at Lyons, he wrote a refutation of an attack made upon them by cardinal Cajetan, but the death of Julius prevented it from being published. His successor Leo X., who had been a disciple of Decio at Pisa, sent him a release from ecclesiastical censures, and invited him to Rome, but he did not then choose to leave France. On the accession of Francis I., however, he was desirous of accepting a very pressing invitation to return to Pisa; but the city of Valence applied to the king to prevent his departure. It was at length agreed, that when the Milanese should return to the power of the French, Decio should again open his school at Pavia. This took place in 1515, but the supervening wars rendered his situation at Pavia so uncomfortable, that he retired to Florence, and there agreed to resume his professorship at Pisa. He recommenced his lectures there with vast applause; and notwithstanding the attempts which were made to draw him to Milan, Avignon, and Padua, he finished his days at Pisa. His salary there at length rose to 1500 gold florins, a very ample sum in those days. He died in 1535, at the age of eighty-two. His Consilia were published at Venice, in 1581, 2 vols. fol., and his De Regulis Juris, in folio, at the same time and place.

PETER ACCOLTI, the son of Benedict, was born at Arezzo about the year 1455, and died at Kome December 12, 1532. He was professor of law, and taught with great applause. He was employed by the popes, and raised successively to several bishoprics, and became a cardinal in 1511. He wrote several historical tracts. He was the author of the famous papal bull against Luther. Benedict Accolti, his natural son, was executed, in 1564, for a conspiracy against Pope Pius IV.

ULRIC ZAZIUS, of Constance, is known for his abilities as professor of law. He died at Friburg in 1539, aged 74. He was the author of an Epitome in usus Feudales, &c.

JAMES ALVAROTTO, an eminent lawyer at Padua. His family was originally of Hungary, and related to the Speroni, both of which have produced very eminent men. James Alvarotti was very learned both in the civil and canon law, which he had studied under Barthelemi Saliceti and Francis Zabarella, who was afterwards cardinal. He wrote "Commentaria in Libros Feudorum," Frankfort, 1537, folio. He died in 1542, aged 68. There were several other famous men of this family.

BERNARD ANTONINE, a French lawyer, was advocate of the parliament of Bourdeaux. He was author of several works.

BARTHELEMY BAVATHIER, an Italian lawyer. He was born at Placentia, and became professor of Pavia and Ferrara. He wrote a New Digest of the Feudal Law, printed at Paris, in 1611.

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ALEXANDER AB ALEXANDRO, a Neapolitan lawof great learning, was born at Naples in 1461. He followed the profession of the law first at Naples, and afterwards at Rome; but he devoted all the time he could spare to literature. The particulars of his life are to be gathered from his work entitled" Genialium Dierum;" where he says, that when he was very young, he went to the lectures of Philadelphus, who explained at Rome the Tusculan questions of Cicero; he was there also when Nicholas Perot and Domitius Calderinus read their lectures upon Martial. Tiraquea wrote a learned commentary upon his work, which was printed at Lyons in 1587, and reprinted at Leyden in 1673, with the notes of Dennis Godfrey, Christopher Colenis, and Nicholas Mercerus. The author died at Rome about 1523.

NICHOLAS EVERARD, a celebrated lawyer and magistrate of strict integrity, was born at Gripskerque, in the island of Walcheren, in 1462. In 1493 he took his doctor's degree, and acquired so much reputation, that Erasmus pronounced him a man born for the good and service of his country. He was first appointed judge at Brussels, and afterwards became president of the supreme council of Holland and Zealand. He was a man totally uninfluenced by any self-interest, and administered strict justice, both to the rich and the poor. He died at Mechlin, Aug. 9, 1532, in his seventieth year. By his wife Elissa Bladella of Mechlin, he left three daughters, one of whom, Isabella, a nun, was celebrated for her knowledge of the Latin language, and five sons, all of considerable eminence in the literary world. His works are-1. Topica Juris, folio. 2. Consilia, sive responsa juris, folio.

JOHN NEVIZAN, an Italian civilian, a native of Asti, was disciple of Francis Curtius, professor in the university of Padua. He published among other works, a treatise entitled, "Sylva Nuptialis," in which he interwove large collections of slanders against the fair sex. He was never married, but he kept a mistress, and had a son by her, who became an advocate; and being deprived of his estate, and reduced to extreme poverty, he became insane. John Nevizan died in 1540.

JOHN BOUCHET, a French lawyer, was born at Poictiers in 1576, and died in 1550. His "Annals of Aquitaine," were printed at Paris in 1644, folio. He was also author of some poems.

SIR ANTHONY FITZHERBERT, a very learned lawyer in the reign of Henry VIII., descended of an ancient family, and born at Norbury in Derbyshire. He was made a judge of the court of Common Pleas in 1523; and distinguished himself by many valuable works, as well as by such an honourable discharge of the duties of his office, as made him esteemed an oracle of the law. His writings are, "The Grand Abridgment; The Office and Authority of Justice of Peace; The Office of Sheriffs, Bailiffs of Liberties, Escheators, Coroners, &c.; Of the Diversity of Courts; The New Natura Brevium; Of the Surveying of Lands; and The Book of Husbandry." Sir Anthony died at an advanced age in 1538, leaving a numerous posterity, who became the founders of considerable families in Derbyshire, and the adjacent counties and who, in general, adhered to the Roman Catholic religion.

BARTHOLOMEW CHASSENEUZ, was born at Issy l'Eveque, in Burgundy, in 1480. He was king's advocate, at Autun, till 1522, when Francis I. made him counsellor to the parliament of Paris, then president to that of Provence. Chasseneuz was in the latter office when that court issued their bloody decree against the Vaudois of Merindol and Cabrieres. These poor people, condemned as pestilential heretics, appear, from the account of them sent to the court by William de Bellay, to have been industrious cultivators of the soil, frugal and temperate, exact in the payment of their dues to the king and the lords; who did not kneel before images, make the sign of the cross, use holy water, say mass, or pray for the dead, but practised ceremonies of their own, and said prayers in the vulgar tongue; who acknowledged neither pope nor bishop, but had ministers of their own choosing for performing the office of religion. This dreadful heresy it was resolved to extirpate by fire and sword. Chasseneuz prevented the execution of the decree during his life, and died in 1542, leaving several works, among the rest, a "Commentary on the Custom of Burgundy," of which there were five editions in his life time, and above fifteen since.

The last edition is by the president Bouhier, 1717, 4to. new modelled in that which he has since published in 2 vols. folio. CHRISTOPHER ST. GERMAN, a lawyer, was born at Shilton in Warwickshire, and educated at Oxford, from whence he removed to the Inner Temple, where he died September 28, 1540. What he got by honourable practice, and some paternal estates, he expended in purchasing books, and gathering a very fine library, which was all the property he left to his heirs. He wrote "The Doctor and Student," printed first in Latin, 1523; and many times afterwards in English.

CORNELIO CASTALDI, a native of Feltri, born of a noble family, about 1480. He was brought up to the bar, but enlivened his severer studies by the cultivation of poetry and elegant literature. He was employed by his native city in negociating their concerns at Venice, and obtaining from the republic all he requested. On his marriage he settled at Padua, where he was universally esteemed, and at which city he founded a college. He died in 1536. His poems, being long lost in oblivion, were published at Venice in 4to. 1757, by the abbé Conti, with a life of the author prefixed by signor Farretti. They are both Italian and Latin. The former contain ingenious elevated sentiments, but are defective in sweetness and elegance of style. The latter are a happy imitation of the ancients.

JOHN PARKINS, a writer in the department of law, was born of a respectable family, educated at Oxford, and afterwards became student of the Inner Temple, where he made astonishing proficiency in the common law. Being called to the bar, he became eminent as a chamber counsel. He died about 1544.

MARIANO SOXINI, or SOCCINI, denominated the Younger, grandson of the first Mariano, was born at Siena, in 1482. He studied the law under his uncle Bartolomeo, and after taking his degree, taught alternately the civil and canon law at his native city, till he removed to Paris in 1517. Returning to Siena in 1524, he was employed as ambassador to the republic of Florence, and also to pope Leo X. He was engaged in the following year by the republic of Venice, to occupy a professorship at Padua. He remained at that university till the year 1542, when the offer of a higher salary drew him to Bologna. Here he continued till his death, though he received the most flattering invitations, with the promise of large salaries, from Cosmo, duke of Florence, the king of Portugal, and other princes and states. He died in 1556, and his German scholars in Bologna, showed their respect for his virtues and talents, by carrying his body on their own shoulders to the tomb. He was author of many works, which were once in considerable estimation, though they are now forgotten.