La Riforma, il diritto canonico e i giuristi protestanti: qualche spunto di riflessione

On December 10, 1520 Martin Luther publicly burned the Corpus iuris canonici in Wittenberg: it was an extraordinary gesture that signaled his definitive break with the Church of Rome. In the space of about ten years the verbal attacks of the Reformers and their initial opinions about canon law were partially changed. After briefly revisiting these events, the work aims to focus on the experience in England of a great Italian jurist and religious reformer, Alberico Gentili. This paper intends to highlight the Gentili’s thought about the competences of the jurists and the theologians and analyze the role he recognized to the canon law sources during the late 16th and early 17th century