Born in Montpellier, N. seems to have received his formation as a jurist at Bourges before it fell under the influence of Alciatus. N. taught at Bourges briefly, but was also a practicing lawyer. At the request of Louis XII he made extensive additiones to Jean Montaigne’s (q.v.) De auctoritate Magni Consilii (TUI 1584, t. 16), additiones that were more favorable to the Grand Conseil. He served as councillor of the Grand Conseil from 1507 to 1517. Beginning in 1511 he began a career as a parlementaire of Bordeaux, becoming its third president in 1518. He is mentioned as active in the parlement until at least 1536. His best-known work is a collection of decisions of the parlement of Bordeaux, which was published posthumously and many times. The editions sometimes include the De auctoritate with N’s additiones, a collection of N’s consilia, and a number of short tracts, including the De seditiosis (TUI 1584, t. 11.1) and De statu et vita eremitarum (TUI 1584, 13.2). The De potestate legatis a latere (TUI 1584, 13.2) was originally published in ?Lyon in 1509 as an occasional piece dealing specifically with Georges d’Amboise (cardinal legate from 1503, d. 1510). So far as we can tell, it was reprinted only in Tractatus 1549 and TUI 1584. N’s work was frequently cited by later jurists. Guyon characterizes it as giving primacy to the customary law without losing sight of the secondary authority of the ius commune.

Source: G. D. Guyon, in DHJF.

Entry by: CD 23.iv.2019

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