Great Christian Jurists in French History

This book aims to illustrate the fertile interactions and lasting synergies between Christianity and law in French history by exploring the contributions that brilliant legal figures have made over the centuries to juridical ideas and institutions. The volume is part of a larger project on Christian jurists in world history led by John Witte, Jr., director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University. The first two volumes, on English and Spanish Christian jurists, have already been published. This volume on French Christian jurists is thus the third in a series projected to include at least seven more. Like the other volumes in the collection, this one is biographical, juridical, ecumenical, and global in character. The biographical dimension emphasizes not only the great legal contributions of each jurist but also his or her links to Christianity. The juridical dimension highlights the impact of each jurist on public and private law and justice, whether from inside the legal profession or from a broader philosophical, theological, or intellectual tradition. The ecumenical dimension shows Christianity as a unity, taking into consideration the way different churches and denominations are part of a whole. Finally, the global dimension emphasizes that each volume in this series on great Christian jurists illustrates the distinctive contributions of different nations to the global conversation about law and Christianity. This volume on French Christian jurists examines the lives of twenty-seven key legal thinkers in French history, particularly the ways their Christian faith and ideals were a factor in framing the evolution of law and justice. All chapters have been written by distinguished legal scholars and historians, mainly from France but also from Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The collaboration among French and non-French scholars, and the diversity of international and methodological perspectives, gives the volume its unique character and value.