ABSTRACT
The lasting reputation of Andrea Alciato (1492–1550) in historiography is that of an early legal humanist. He strove to renew legal studies through a historical and philological restoration of the ancient Roman law texts, especially Justinian’s compilations. For most of his career (which included teaching posts in Avignon, Bourges, Pavia, Bologna, and Ferrara), Alciato depended on ecclesiastical preferment and papal patronage, and his positions were supportive of the Church’s official teaching and condemnation of Protestantism. Alciato published mainly on Roman law. His work also includes lectures on canon law and legal opinions (consilia) on behalf of private clients and public authorities. His reputation rests primarily on his (more or less independent) emendations of Roman law texts, in particular fragments of the Digest, which later paved the way towards a complete overhaul of the compilations of Roman law and legal scholarship. Alciato was nonetheless a transitional figure, who still adhered by and large to the legal tradition inherited from the late Middle Ages, which more radical legal humanists were poised to replace altogether. Alciato’s more moderate approach towards a renewal of legal scholarship as an instrument of public governance resulted in strengthening, rather than suppressing, much of the legal tradition established during the late Middle Ages.
