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Baldus de Ubaldis (Italian:Baldo degli Ubaldi; 1327 – 28 April 1400) was an Italian jurist, and a leading figure inMedieval Roman Law and the school ofPostglossators.
A member of the noble family of the Ubaldi (Baldeschi), Baldus was born atPerugia in 1327, and studied civil law there underBartolus de Saxoferrato, being admitted to the degree of doctor of civil law at the early age of seventeen.Federicus Petrucius ofSiena is said to have been the master under whom he studiedcanon law.
Baldus had two brothers, Angelus (1328–1400) and Petrus (1335–1400). It is probably due to confusion between Baldus and his brother Petrus that the famous jurist's name is sometimes given as Petrus Baldus de Ubaldis.
On his promotion to the doctorate he went toBologna, where he taught law for three years, after which he was advanced to a professorship atPerugia, where he remained for thirty-three years, and he had among his studentsFrancesco Albergotti.[1] He subsequently taught law atPisa,Florence,Padua andPavia, the rivals toBologna. During his period at Pavia he sometimes also taught atPiacenza. He died atPavia on 28 April 1400[2] and was buried in thechurch of San Francesco.[3]
Baldus was the master of Pierre Roger de Beaufort, who became pope under the title ofGregory XI, and whose immediate successor,Urban VI, summoned Baldus toRome to assist him by his consultations in 1380 against the anti-popeClement VII. Baldus' view on the legal issues relating to the schism are laid down in the so-calledQuestio de schismate. CardinalFrancesco Zabarella andPaulus Castrensis were also among his pupils.
Many of Baldus' works are incomplete. He left voluminous commentaries on thePandects and on theCodex Justinianus. His Commentary on theLibri Feudorum, a twelfth-century compilation offeudal law provisions, is considered to be one of his best works. He also commented on the canon law compilations ofdecretals, theLiber Extra and theLiber Sextus. In addition to these commentaries, Baldus wrote a number of treatises on specialised legal topics. His major effort, however, went into the writing of some 3,000consilia (legal opinions). No other medieval lawyer has so many consilia preserved.
Baldus's work on the law of evidence and the gradations of proof was a high point of medieval thought in the discipline and remained the standard treatment of the subject for centuries.[4]
The juristFlavio Torti (died 1622) wrote annotated observations on his work.
