| Bio-Bibliographical Guide to Medieval and Early Modern Jurists |
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Report No. a255 |
Guillelmus de Ferrariis |
b. c. 1250 – d. ?7 Sep. 1295 |
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| Alternative Names |
Guillaume de Ferrières; Guillelmus de Ferreriis; Guillelmus de Fornariis |
Biography/Description |
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G. was a jurist from Languedoc, educated at Orléans, where his teacher is said to have been the Lombard Pietro da Pegrosso (Petrus de Grossis Petris). He taught at Toulouse between 1284 and 1289, where his students included Pierre de Mortemart, later professor at Toulouse around 1314, and perhaps Bertrandus Embrunensis. G. later left teaching for an administrative career in the service of the house of Anjou. In 1289, he served as provost of Marseille Cathedral, and the following year entered the service of Charles II, king of Naples (1285–1309), as vice-chancellor of the kingdom of Sicily (1290–1291). In September of 1294, at the instance of Charles II, Celestine V made G. a cardinal and later assigned him the title of cardinal-priest of San Clemente. G. participated in the conclave of December 1294 that elected Boniface VIII pope. The last months of G’s life were spent in a whirlwind of diplomatic activity directed by Boniface VIII. G. died, probably on 7 September, at Perpignan, while he was traveling to celebrate the marriage of James II of Aragon (1291–1327) with Blanche, daughter of Charles II. Pierre de Ferrières, a relative of G’s, though it is unclear how he was related, succeeded G. in the service of Charles II, becoming chancellor of Sicily late in 1295. Teaching was only one phase of G’s career; but he left behind a substantial body of legal writings that circulated widely among students and practitioners in southern France. His writings show how strongly he was shaped by the Orléans tradition. His repetitio on custom closely follows the teaching of his master Pietro da Pegrosso, and his commentary on De actionibus reflects one of the central specialties of the Orléans school. G. thus played an important role in bringing the legal culture of Orléans to Toulouse and to the courts of southern France. |
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Source: G. Giordanengo, in DHJF 425–426 |
Entry by: AKR fall 2025; rev. CD spring 2026 |
Text(s) |
| No. 00 | All Texts. We have made the list in DHJF more specific, but follow its order. |
| No. 01 | Glossae. Dolezalek calls these additiones That is probably the better term because the vast majority, perhps all, of them are in manuscripts that also contain the Accursian gloss. |
| No. 01a | Ad Digestum vetus. |
| No. 01b | Ad Infortiatum. |
| No. 01c | Ad Digestum novum. |
| No. 01d | Ad Codicem. |
| No. 01e | Ad Volumen. |
| No. 01e_1 | Ad Authenticum. |
| No. 01e_2 | Ad Tres libros. |
| No. 01e_3 | Ad Institutiones. |
| No. 02 | Repetitiones, c. 1280. P. Maffei, ‘Collectio’ has recently argued that the collection of 13 repetitions from the university of Toulouse found in ms. Seu d’Urgell, Bibl. Cap. 2042 fol. 105ra–123va, is by G. The fact that he collected them does not mean that he wrote them, but there is no attribution, and it is certainly possible that he wrote some or all of them. They are listed in García, Catálogo, at 102–103. |
| No. 02a | Ad JI.1.2.9 (Ex non scripto). Called ‘De materia consuetudinis’ in the one manuscript heretofore discovered. |
| No. 02b | Ad C.10.1.3. |
| No. 02c | Ad C.10.1.5. |
| No. 02d | Ad C.10.32.30. |
| No. 02e | Ad C.10.32.45. |
| No. 02f | Ad X 3.23.4 (Is qui conqueritur). Miscited as c. 5 in DHJF, which also says that it evidences G’s interest in canon law. The topic of the decretal is solutio indebiti, eminently a topic about which a civilian might write. G. Fransen, ‘Guillaume de Ferrières’ says that this repetition was given at Orléans; if that is correct, it probably antedates 1284. |
| No. 03 | Tractatus de actionibus, 1285. Also known as Lectura de actionibus and as Summa conceptionis libellorum. The work is based on lectures on JI.4 given by G. in 1285. It was used by practitioners in the south of France, including the official of Mende. |
| No. 04 | Consultatio on behalf of the city of Limoux. G. is a co-signatory with Pierre de Ferrières. G. Fransen, ‘Guillaume de Ferrières’dates this consultation to 1288. |
Text(s) – Manuscripts |
| No. 00 |
All Texts. |
| Manuscript | The listing of manscripts in DHJF does not pretend to be complete. Sometimes it refers generally to, or counts, surviving manuscripts without more; sometimes it describes one or two wtihout shelfmarks; sometimes it gives the shelfmark of selected manuscripts. We have substituted the list in Dolezalek, noting where they also appear in DHJF. Like Dolezalek, we have marked as ‘multiplex’ manuscripts in which G. is cited along with (sometimes many) others. Manuscripts that cite both G. and Petrus de Ferrariis are also noted. |
| No. 01a |
Ad Digestum vetus. |
| Manuscript | Firenze, Bibl. Laurenz. Acquisti e doni 158.1 (multiplex) |
Fulda, Landesbibl. D.23 a (multiplex) |
Paris, BN lat. 4462 (multiplex) |
Paris, BN lat. 4463 (G. and Petrus de Ferrariis) |
Paris, BN lat. 4469 (multiplex, including Petrus de Ferrariis) |
Roma, Bibl. Casanatense 227 (multiplex, including Petrus de Ferrariis) |
Saint-Omer, BM 451 (multiplex) |
Wien, ÖNB Cvpl. 2249 (multiplex) |
| No. 01b |
Ad Infortiatum. |
| Manuscript | Milano, Bibl. Ambrosiana E.47 inf. (Multiplex. The shelf-mark expands to `scaffali infra`.) |
Paris, BN lat. 4471 (G. and one other) |
Paris, BN lat. 4472 (G. and one other) |
Paris, BN lat. 4477 (multiplex) |
| No. 01c |
Ad Digestum novum. |
| Manuscript | Bologna, Coll. Spagna 283 (multiplex) |
Bruxelles/Brussel, Bibl. Royale 9141 (multiplex) |
Cambrai, BM 633 (G. only) |
Cambridge, Univ. Libr. Dd.7.13 (multiplex; additio of G. on fol. 7ra) |
Carpentras, BM 200 (multiplex; additio of G. on fol. 15rb) |
Firenze, Bibl. Laurenz. Gaddi 43 (Not listed in Dolezalek as a manuscript containing G`s additions, but is so listed in DHJF, with a note, confirmed by Dolezalek, that it was purchased by a student at Toulouse in 1340.) |
Frankfurt am Main, Stadt- und Universitätsbibl. Barthol. 15 (multiplex; additio of G. on fol. 296v) |
Paris, BN lat. 4480 (multiplex) |
Paris, BN lat. 4481 (multiplex) |
Paris, BN lat. 4485 (multiplex) |
Paris, BN lat. 4486 (G. only) |
Città del Vaticano, BAV Urb. lat. 163 (multiplex) |
Wien, ÖNB Cvpl. 2258 (multiplex) |
| No. 01d |
Ad Codicem. |
| Manuscript | Bruxelles/Brussel, Bibl. Royale 9241 (multiplex) |
Gent, Universiteitsbibl. 21 (multiplex) |
Paris, BN lat. 4522 (multiplex, including Petrus de Ferrariis) |
Paris, BN nouv. acq. lat. 2436 (multiplex) |
Saint-Omer, BM 465 (multiplex, including Petrus de Ferrariis) |
Wien, ÖNB Cvpl. 2098 (multiplex) |
| No. 01e_1 |
Ad Authenticum. |
| Manuscript | Paris, BN lat. 4437 (multiplex) |
Paris, BN lat. 4521 A (multiplex) |
Paris, BN lat. 4537 (multiplex) |
| No. 01e_2 |
Ad Tres libros. |
| Manuscript | El Escorial, Bibl. Monasterio V.I.1 (multiplex) |
| No. 01e_3 |
Ad Institutiones. |
| Manuscript | El Escorial, Bibl. Monasterio V.I.1 (multiplex) |
Paris, BN lat. 4437 (multiplex) |
Bologna, Coll. Spagna 282 (multiplex) |
| No. 02a |
Ad JI.1.2.9 (Ex non scripto). |
| Manuscript | Città del Vaticano, BAV Vat. lat. 2642, fol.157–162 (Online. Recte fol. 159v-163r per DHJF. That it was copied by a student at Avignon, as DHGF says, may be correct, but that is not immediately apparent.) |
| No. 02b |
Ad C.10.1.3. |
| Manuscript | Paris, BN lat. 4437, no. 18 (edited by H. Gilles, in Atti accursiani 3.1048–1050) |
| No. 02c |
Ad C.10.1.5. |
| Manuscript | Paris, BN lat. 4437, no. 20 (edited by H. Gilles, in Atti accursiani 3.1048–1050) |
| No. 02d |
Ad C.10.32.30. |
| Manuscript | Paris, BN lat. 4437, no. 21 (edited by H. Gilles, in Atti accursiani 3.1048–1050) |
| No. 02e |
Ad C.10.32.45. |
| Manuscript | Paris, BN lat. 4437, no. 19 (edited by H. Gilles, in Atti accursiani 3.1048–1050) |
| No. 03 |
Tractatus de actionibus, 1285. |
| Manuscript | Edinburgh, Natrional Libr. Scotland Adv.MS.28.4.10, fol. 88vc–90vb (Fragment; fullly catalogued:; online. The script is informal and difficult to read. (That it is too faded to read, as is said in numerous catalogues, seems extreme, now that it has been digitized.) The incipit matches that found in other copies of the De actionibus; the explicit does not. How much is missing at the end can only be determined when one of the full copies is transcribed.) |
Kaliningrad, Universitätsbibl. 16, fol. 4r–15r (Dolezalek, who lists this manuscript under the pre-1946 name Königsberg, queries whether this manuscript may now be in Toruń, Biblioteka Uniwersytecka.) |
Kaliningrad, Universitätsbibl. 169, fol. 371r–379v (Dolezalek, who lists this manuscript under the pre-1946 name Königsberg, queries whether this manuscript may now be in Toruń, Biblioteka Uniwersytecka.) |
Paris, BN lat. 4603, fol. 149ra–166rb |
Paris, BN lat. 4604, fol. 150ra–159ra |
Paris, BN lat. 4604, fol. 162ra–172vb (same work as that on fol. 150) |
Seu d’Urgell, Bibl. Cabildo 2042, fol. 125ra–135va (Foliation corrected from García et al, Catálago, at 103. Id., at 106 clarifies what DHJF and Dolezalek say about the possessor of this part of the manuscript. He was Petrus de Podio Alto, who was a first-year law student at Toulouse in 1378.) |
Madrid, BN 397, fol. 68r–80vb (misascribed to Johannes Petrus de Ferrariis [Papiensis]) |
Literature |
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‘Guillaume de Ferrières (cardinal)’, in English Wikipedia (last visited 23.v. 2026) (online). (Extensive detail on his diplomatic missions, supported by old but seemingly reliable sources.) |
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J. P. Adams, ‘Sede vacante 1294’, in Notes on Papal Elections and Conclaves from the 11th to the 21st Centuries (last visited 24.v. 2026) (online). |
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A. García y García and others, Catálogo de los manuscritos jurídicos de la Biblioteca Capitular de la Seu d’Urgell (La Seu d’Urgell 2009). |
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G. Giordanengo, ‘Guillaume de Ferrières’, in DHJF 425–426. |
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G. Giordanengo, ‘Pierre de Ferrières’, in DHJF 426. |
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P. Maffei, ‘Collectio repetitionum tholosana (circa 1280)’, in Manoscritti, editoria e biblioteche dal medioevo ail’età contemporanea. Studi offerte a Domenico Maffei per il suo ottantesimo compleano, M. Ascheri, G. Colli, and P. Maffei, ed. (Roma 2006) 561–599. Reprinted in: TRG, 74 (2006) 1–30. |
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F. Soetermeer, ‘Guillaume de Ferrières’, in BBKL (2004) 23.col. 477–481 (BBKL online by subscription). |
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A. Kiesewetter, Die Anfänge der Regierung König Karls II. von Anjou (1278-1295) : das Königreich Neapel, die Grafschaft Provence und der Mittelmeerraum zu Ausgang des 13. Jahrhunderts (Historische studien, 451; Hussum 1999). |
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H. Gilles, ‘Le Traité des actions de Guillaume de Ferrières’, in Droit romain, jus civile et droit français, J. Krynen, ed. (Études d’histoire du droit et des idées politiques, 3; Toulouse 1999). |
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A. Kiesewetter, ‘La cancelleria angioina’, in L’État angevin. Pouvoir, culture et société entre XII et XIVsiècle, Actes du colloque international, Rome-Naples, 1995 (Roma-Paris 1998) 361–415. |
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G. Speciale, La memoria del diritto comune: Sulle tracce d’uso del Codex di Giustiniano (secoli XII–XV) (Roma 1994) 52–54, 119. |
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M.–H. Jullien de Pommerol and J. Monfrin, La Bibliothèque pontificale à Avignon et à Peñiscola pendant le Grand Schisme d’Occident et sa dispersion. Inventaires et concordances, 2 vols. (Publications de l’École française de Rome, 141.1–2; Roma 1991) no. 177, p. 650 (online). (Cited in DHJF as ‘Inv. bibl. Benoît XIII’, but both the item and page numbers match. The attribution to G. is solid, but the title (‘Libelli’) and the incipit (‘Continuare tractatum’) does not correpsond to those of G’s De actionibus. It is possible that these are sample libels appended to De actionibus by G. or another author.) |
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G. Fransen, ‘Guillaume de Ferrières ou de Ferrier’, in DHGE (1988) 22.col. 899 (Brepols online by subscription). (See also R. Aubert, ‘Ferrières (Guillaume de)’.) |
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L. Waelkens, La théorie de la coutume chez Jacques de Révigny (Leiden 1984) 35-42. |
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G. Dolezalek and L. Mayali, Repertorium manuscriptorum veterum Codicis Justiniani, 2 vols. (Frankfurt 1984) 2.92. (As Manuscripts shows, the list of manuscripts of G’s additiones to the Codex and the Tres libri given here could be considerably expanded.) |
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H. Gilles, ‘Le traité de la coutume de Guillaume de Ferrières’, in Mélanges G. Marty (1978) 587–599. Reprinted in: H. Gilles, |
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M. Bellomo, ‘Notarius in suo officio delinquens. Ricerca su un testo inedito de Guillaume de Ferrières e Bertrand de Deaux’, Siculorum gymnasium, n.s 31/1 (1978) 213–223. |
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H. Gilles, ‘Guillaume de Ferrières, problèmes d’édition’, Annales de l’Universitè des sciences sociales de Toulouse, 24 (1976) 329–341
. Reprinted in: H. Gilles, |
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R. Darricau, ‘Guillaume de Ferrières’, in Dictionnaire de biographie française (1975) 13.col. 1132. (Not seen; title may be inaccurate.) |
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G. Giordanengo, ‘Note sur un manuscrit juridique du Midi de la France (Vat. lat. 2642)’, RHD, 49 (1971) 103 (online). Reprinted in: G. Giordanango, Fèodalitès et droits savants dans le Midi mèdièval (Aldershot 1992), IV. |
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H. Gilles, ‘Accurse et les Universités du Midi de la France’, in Atti del convegno internazionale di studi Accursiani: Bologna, 21–26 ottobre 1963, G. Rossi, ed., 3 vols. (Milano 1968) 3.1026–1052. |
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R. Aubert, ‘Ferrières (Guillaume de)’, in DHGE (1967) 16.col. 1284–1285 (Brepols online by subscription). (See also G. Fransen, ‘Guillaume de Ferrières’.) |
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E. Meijers, ‘L’universitè d’Orlèans au XIIIe siècle’, in Études d’histoire de droit (Leiden 1959) 3.94. |
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E. Meijers, ‘La première époque d’épanouissement de l’enseignement du droit à l’université de Toulouse (1280-1330)’, in Études d’histoire de droit (Leiden 1959) 3.175–176. |
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E. Meijers, Responsa doctorum tholosanorum (Haarlem 1938) p. xi–xii. |
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L. Cadier, Essai sur l’administration du royaume de Sicile sous Charles 1er et Charles II d’Anjou (Bibliothèque des Écoles françaises d’Athènes et de Rome , fasc. 59; Paris 1891) (online). |
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F. Ehrle, Historia bibliothecae Romanorum pontificum (Roma 1890) no. 1330, p. 386. (Copy of G’s De actionibus in the papal library in 1369.) |
