PIERRE BOAISTUAU - eTheses Repository - University of Birmingham

introducing him to the literary circles of sixteenth-century France and perhaps
supplying him with ideas for the compilation of his works.
Regarding Boaistuau’s years as a student, another important issue apart from
chronology which needs to be addressed, is that of the universities he attended, and
the two professors mentioned who surely influenced the shaping of his values and
ideas. All three universities Boaistuau attended had a reputation of being amongst the
leading institutions for the study of law.
Fig. 2: French Medieval Universities. The universities of Poitiers, Valence and Avignon were amongst
the best-known universities in the French kingdom and Europe at the time. 123
The universities of Avignon and Valence in particular, belonged to a group of
institutions in the south of France where, due to the influence of Bologna, there was
the same demand for law as in Italy at the time. 124 Since an education in Roman and
123 This is a small part taken from the original map ‘Medieval Universities’, found in the Historical
Atlas by William R. Shepherd, 1923. Accessed via the online Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection,
University of Texas: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/shepherd/mediaeval_universities.jpg
(10/07/2011).
124 On the significance of the University of Bologna for the revival of Roman law and its influence on
law studies in general see Cobban, A. B., The Medieval Universities: Their Development and
Organization (London, 1975), Chapter III.
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