Jacques Cujas

Jacques Cujas (born 1522, Toulouse, France—died Oct. 4, 1590, Bourges) was a French jurist and classical scholar whose work on Roman law was part of the humanist revival of classical culture.

A teacher at the universities of Valence and Bourges, Cujas attracted outstanding students from all over Europe, among them the Dutch classical scholar Joseph Justus Scaliger. In jurisprudence Cujas specialized in Justinian; his Paratitla, or summaries of Justinian’s Digest and Codex, expresses in short, clear axioms the elementary principles of Roman law. He also edited the Codex Theodosianus. A complete edition of Cujas’s works, in 10 volumes (1658), was prepared by Charles Annibal Fabrot.