Baldwin I (Baldwin the Iron Arm) 85financial management, and limited administration of
justice. This Norman model was adopted in the 12th
century by the kings of France. It departed from the feu-
dal custom of giving land to a vassal or official in return
for services. These bailiffs were royal agents and became
the virtual governors of territories. They represented the
king and resided in one of the towns of a baillage.Their
power was derived entirely from royal authority. As
their agents bailiffs were exacting in the exercise of the
rights of the king, even more than the monarchs them-
selves. By the 13th century the PARLEMENTof PARIScon-
trolled their judicial functions and their financial
activities.
ENGLAND AND ELSEWHEREIn England the office of sheriff was similar to that
of French bailiffs. An English bailiff was a local feudal
officer on the great manors. In the royal administration
he was one of the assistants of a sheriff, commonly tied to
the functioning of the courts of the Crown. In the
Mediterranean countries the office, called bayle,was also
used by urban and royal administrations. The Italian and
Provencal cities were represented in the LATINkingdom
of JERUSALEMby bayles,who governed their transplanted
citizens and looked after their interests.
Further reading:John W. Baldwin, The Government
of Philip Augustus (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1986); Theodore Frank Thomas Plucknett, The
Mediaeval Bailiff(London: University of London, Athlone
Press, 1954); George Henry Tupling, The Royal and
Seignorial Bailiffs of Lancashire in the Thirteenth and Four-
teenth Centuries (Manchester: The Chetham Society,
1945).
Baldo degli Ubaldi de Perugia(Baldus de Ubaldis)
(ca. 1320–1400)teacher of civil and canon law
From a prominent Perugian family, he was born about
- His father, Francesco, was a professor of medicine,
and his brothers, Angelo and Piero, were also outstanding
jurists. His son Francesco later earned an excellent repu-
tation for his commentaries on the CORPUS IURIS CIVILIS.
SCHOLARSHIP AND CAREERAn unlikely legend has it that at age 24 he received his
doctorate from the University of Perugia in 1344 and
engaged BARTOLO DASASSOFERRATOin a public disputa-
tion. According to Baldo’s own writing, his teachers were
Federico Petrucci, Francesco Tigrini, and Bartolo da Sas-
soferrato. He moved around considerably among Italian
universities, perhaps the Universities of Perugia and PISA
in the 1350s, certainly the University of FLORENCE
between 1358 and 1364, Perugia during most of the
period between 1364 and 1376, the University of Bologna
in 1370, the University of Padua between 1376 and 1379,
the University of Perugia between 1380 and 1390, and
finally the University of Pavia from 1390 until his death
in 1400. Among his students were Giovanni da Imola,
Pietro d’Ancarano, Paolo da Castro, Cardinal Francesco
ZABARELLA, and Pierre Roger, later Pope GREGORYXI.WORKS AND IMPORTANCE
Baldo’s writings were in the three major branches of
medieval legal science, the civil, the canon, and the feu-
dal law, specifically commentaries on the CORPUS IURIS
CIVILIS, on the first three books of the Decretals of Gregory
IX,and on the Book of Fiefs.In these studies he discussed
specific laws or topics, such as the fiscal syndication of
officials, particular statutes and jurisdictions, and the
politically fundamental for founding of the communes of
Italy, the Peace of Constance. He held ecclesiastical and
civil offices, serving, for example, as a vicar-general for
the bishop of Todi and as a judge, ambassador, and coun-
cil member for the guilds of Perugia. Ecclesiastical insti-
tutions, town councils, corporate bodies, and individuals
paid Baldo for his opinions or particular topics. These
thousands of legal opinions or consiliawere on the ideals
and practices of private, public, and criminal law. His
works have not had modern editions but clearly could
hold great potential for a better understanding of the law
and constitutions of 14th-century Italy.
Further reading: Joseph Canning, The Political
Thought of Baldus de Ubaldis (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1987); Julius Kirshner, “Baldus,” DMA,
2.57–58; R. N. Swanson, Universities, Academics and the
Great Schism(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1979); Brian Tierney, Foundations of the Conciliar Theory:
The Contribution of the Medieval Canonists from Gratian to
the Great Schism (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1955).Baldwin I (Baldwin the Iron Arm)(ca. 840–879)first
known count of Flanders
Baldwin was born about 840, perhaps in Lotharingia, and
was related to the counts of Laon. Soon after his appoint-
ment Baldwin, the count of Ghent and known as Iron
Arm, eloped and married Judith, a daughter of CHARLES
THEBALDin 860. Infuriated, Charles got his bishops to
excommunicate the couple, who had fled to Rome. Pope
Nicholas I (r. 858–67) recognized the marriage and per-
suaded Charles to forgive them. By 864, the excommuni-
cation had been lifted, and the couple formally married at
Auxerre. Baldwin was then confirmed by Charles as count.
In the same year the Vikings attacked FLANDERS,
Baldwin, who had earlier threatened to ally with them,
defended it, driving them from the county. Successful in
repulsing later raids, he died in 879, just as Flanders was
to receive another invasion. Baldwin’s son and successor,
Baldwin II (r. 879–918), triumphed against this threat
and consolidated his control over the new county of
Flanders.