The second element in C’s name, which gave 16th-century printers fits, seems to be of Celtic origin, and unrelated to Cuneo in Italy, which is of Romance origin. There is an area in Pleyber-Christ (dép. Finistère) that has that name. Despite what is found in the authority file of the Bibliothèque nationale, it seems clear that C. taught at Toulouse and not at Orléans and that he died in 1336 not 1348. He obtained a doctorate in ‘laws’ at Toulouse, and is found lecturing there on Digestum vetus in 1315–16 and on the Codex in 1316–17. Those lectures seem to have resulted in commentaries on their respective books. The one on the Digest is known to be in six manuscripts; that on the Code is also in six manuscripts and in a printing of 1512, which has been reprinted in our times (Opera iurdica rariora, 8). J. Krynen has argued, both in DHJF and in ‘L’Église dans la Lectura super Codice de Guillaume de Cunh’, 101–16, that C. had a quite original mind and that his views on the force of local law and custom were influential among the Italian commentators, such as Cinus and Bartolus. C. peppered his lectures with what in another academic environment would be called repetitiones. That on C.1.12.5 (De securitate [TUI 1584, t. 12]) is an example. C. taught at Toulouse only briefly. After 1316 he entered into an ecclesiastical career. He was named bishop of Bazas in 1319, bishop of Comminges in 1325. He was at the assembly of Vincennes in 1329 and at the meeting with the king that dealt with the question of the beatific vision in 1334.

Source: J. Krynen, in DHJF.

Entry by: CD 23.iv.2019

TUI database