Alberico Gentili

Alberico Gentili lat. Albericus Gentilis (January 14, 1552—June 19, 1608), was an Italian jurist. He later became regius professor of civil law at the university of Oxford and is one of the first writers on public international law.

Life

Alberico Gentili was born into a noble familiy in the town of San Ginesio in the region Marche in Italy. He studied law at the university of Perugia and graduated doctor of law in 1572. He was commissioned to prepare a revised version of the statutory laws of his home town, a task which he completed in 1577. Two years later, together with his father Matteo Gentili (1517—1602), a renowned medical doctor, and one of his brothers, Scipione Gentili, he had to flee from Italy because of their protestant beliefs. The three first went to Ljubljana, Slovenia, the capital of the duchy of Carniola. From there, Alberico went on to the German university towns of Tübingen and Heidelberg. In 1580 he arrived in England. He was able to get a letter of recommendation from Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester and began to teach in Oxford in the following year. After a short stay in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1586, he was appointed in 1587 to the regius professorship of civil law.

Related Topics:
San Ginesio - Marche - Perugia - 1572 - 1517 - 1602 - Scipione Gentili - Ljubljana - Carniola - Tübingen - Heidelberg - 1580 - Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester - Wittenberg - 1586 - 1587

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Gentili held the regius professorship until his death, but he turned more and more to practical work in London from about 1590. He practised in the High Court of Admiralty, where the continental civil law rather than the English common law was applied. In 1600 Gentili was honorifically admitted to Gray's Inn. From 1605 to 1608 he served as a standing advocate to the Spanish embassy. He died in London and was buried in the Church of St. Helen Bishopsgate in the City of London.

Related Topics:
High Court of Admiralty - Civil law - Common law - Gray's Inn - London

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