Exhibition Commemorating the 500th Anniversary of the Birth of Martin Pegius (1523–1592)

In honour of the 500th anniversary of the birth of Martin Pegius, an exhibition of originals and facsimiles of his most important works is currently being held in the library of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ljubljana. The exhibition is curated by assistant Vid Žepič.

Martin Pegius was born around 1523 in Polhov Gradec (Duchy of Carniola). He is mentioned in 1552 as a doctor utriusque iuris in Ingolstadt, in 1552 as a town clerk in Mühldorf am Inn, and in 1553 as a chapter and land registry clerk in Salzburg. From 1558 he was also a member of the Salzburg consistory and a lawyer for the Salzburg chapter. From 1557 to 1566 he wrote a series of legal works and later devoted himself to mathematics, rhetoric and astrology. Recognising the linguistic barriers posed by legal discussions in Latin, Pegius chose to address critical legal issues in German rather than the dominant Latin. He was the first to translate part of Justinian's Code into German, contributing to the development of German legal terminology. His legal treatises went through several editions until the first half of the 18th century. Martin Pegius, known as "Carniolan Baldus", was the first learned jurist from the Duchy of Carniola to gain international recognition for his extensive scientific contributions.



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