Barnabé Brisson

Born as the son of the king's lieutenant in Fontenay-le-Comte, Vendée, Brisson studied law in Orléans, Bourges and finally Poitiers, where he stayed on as an advocate.

His successor, Henry III, put particular trust in Brisson, who was made first Fiscal in 1573, promoted to Président à mortier in 1580, appointed Sixth President of the Parlement in 1588 and entrusted with several diplomatical missions.

Next day, the Seize ("sixteen"), a group of League notables that now ruled Paris, installed Brisson as First President of the Parlement in replacement of Achille de Harlay.

Despite this, he is – with Contius, Balduinus, Cujacius, Hotmannus and Donellus – among the group of 16th century French jurists that brought Humanist jurisprudence to its peak.

His principal work is De Verborum Quae ad Jus Civile Pertinent Significatione (1559), a two-folio dictionary of Justinian legal terminology that saw 17 reeditions (often much amended) up until 1805.