J. studied law in Padua under Franciscus Capodilista, Bartholomaeus Caepolla, Antonius de Rosellis, Johannes Bovachiesibus, and Johannes de Porto de Viceta, graduating in utroque iure in 1465. His career spanned different public and municipal offices throughout central Italy: an assistant to the city judge in Siena, a judge in Tolentino, a captain in Florence in 1470, and municipal offices in Fano and Cesena. J. moved to Rome under Pope Sixtus IV, who appointed him a consistorial advocate. He seems to have died around the end of the 15th or the beginning of the 16th century.

J’s diverse work experience seems to have impacted his juridical works. He does not generally offer original, theoretical readings of legal problems, but collects the best known interpretations of earlier doctrine in order to aid legal practitioners. His works, then, are characterized by an erudite ability to present a systematic, understandable synthesis of complex materials.

His best-known work is his Repertorium iuris, which he composed after 1471 and dedicated to Sixtus IV. It is a lalrge encyclopedia of the law, published for the first time in three volumes in Roma in 1481. The Repertorium presents the rich Italian juridical tradition in alphabetical order. J’s theoretical approach is rounded off by an analysis of the specific problems of this topic informed by both the canonical and civil traditions, though he gives preference to the former. The Repertorium seems to have started a literary genre which proved popular in the early modern period, a response to the need for an organized approach to the on-going scholarship of the commentators. The Repertorium’s clear and accessible style, the number and complexity of the topics covered, and the deep knowledge of jurisprudence made J’s work the model of this literary genre. It was widely published. We know of 15 editions up to 1521; Caravale in DGI particularly recommends those of Venezia 1488/89 and 1494. The work continued to be published in the 16th century with additions by Jean Thierry of Langres and others (WorldCat).

J. also left behind two practical treatises, De Episcopis and De Gabellis, tributis et vectigalibus. The first was published in in various editions beginning with Milano 1485 and ending with TUI 1584. It provides an orderly and systematic guide to the many doctrines which concern the office and function of bishops. It is divided into four books: the first deals with questions about the place and time of episcopal elections and the role of electors; the second treats the eligibility requirements for election; the third examines the ceremony itself; the fourth analyzes the nature of consecration and the powers of the bishop.

De Gabellis was published fairly frequently, beginning with Milano 1485 and ending with TUI 1584. After an introductory chapter, the treatise is divided into nine parts which examine issues such as the ownership of a taxing authority, the iusta causa for exercising it, the moral foundation of taxes, and the cases in which it may be legitimate to violate fiscal obligations. The work is characterized by a combination of canonical and statutory doctrines.

The spread of J’s works made him quite famous. He was described as a ‘iuris utriusque doctor preclarus’ by Diplovatazius, and François Rabelais included him in Gargantua e Pantagruel (I, 10) among the leading exponents of the mos italicus, alongside Bartolus de Saxoferrato, Baldus de Ubaldis, Paulus de Castro, and other great masters.

Source: M. Caravale, in DGI 1.233–234

Entry by: KP rev BP 2015