Alberico Gentili

Alberico Gentili is the most famous and greatest son of San Ginesio. His major work, the De Iure Belli (1598), it represents the first systematic treaty of the law of nations and it laid the foundations for the birth of international law. After earning a doctorate in law at the University of Perugia, Alberico Gentili returned to San Ginesio with the task of changing the municipal statutes. Forced to flee for reasons of religion (that was the time of the Protestant Reformation), repaired the reformed courts of the Empire, where he was appreciated for his high ingenuity and profound doctrine. In 1580 he settled permanently in England, where from 1581 began teaching civil law at the University of Oxford. Six years later he was appointed Regius Professor of Civil Law, chair established by Henry VIII at the same University. The positions of Gentili in terms of religious tolerance and cultural diversity, his political pragmatism and his aversion to any form of ideological fundamentalism are still today a matter and food for thought for scholars from all over the world. To honor the memory of Alberico Gentili and to promote the study of his thought and works is the Centro Internazionale Studi Gentili, founded in San Ginesio in 1981. The Cisg, also thanks to the driving force of the 14 illustrious names, Italians and foreigners, which make up the Scientific Committee, over time it has become a reference point for academic research on Gentiles at an international level.