Alberico Gentili

Alberico Gentili (San Ginesio 1552 – London 1608) is the most famous son of San Ginesio. His major work, De lure Belli (1598), represents the first systematic treatise on the law of nations and laid the foundations for the emergence of International Law. Descendant of one of the most important families of San San Ginesio, after earning his doctorate in Civil Law at the Studio of Perugia, Alberico Gentili returned to San Ginesio with a mandate to change the municipal statutes. Forced to flee for reasons of religion (that was the time of the Protestant Reformation), he took refuge at the reformed Courts of the Empire, where he was praised for the high genius and profound doctrine. In 1580 he settled in England, where from 1581 he began to teach civil law at Oxford. Six years later he was appointed Regius Professor of Civil Law, the chair established by Henry VIII at the All Souls College. The positions of Gentili in fact of religious tolerance and cultural diversity, its political pragmatism and his aversion to any form of ideological fundamentalism are still food for thought for scholars around the world. The Centro Internazionale Studi Gentiliani, founded in San Ginesio in 1981, honor the memory of Alberico Gentili and promote the study of his thought and his works, and over time become a reference point for academic research on Gentili.