Petrus or Pieter van der Aa, (1530 – 1594) also called Vanderanus was a
Brabantine jurist.
Biography
Petrus van der Aa was born in
Leuven. His father, Johan van der Aa, was a descendant of a well-known Brabantine family of
patricians
The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after ...
, which had settled in Leuven,
Mechelen and
Antwerp.
While his biographers disagree on some events in his life, it is considered that Petrus studied in
Leuven and achieved his ''Doctor iuris utriusque'' in 1559. Three years later he was given a professorship in the same town, when his predecessor, Johannes Tack, moved to
Douai
Douai (, , ,; pcd, Doï; nl, Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some from Lille and from Arras, Dou ...
in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.
In 1565 or 1569 he became a member of the Sovereign Council of
Duchy of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries, part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg Neth ...
. In 1574, he became president of the Higher Regional Court of
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
and
Chiny
Chiny (; wa, Tchini) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium.
On 1 January 2018 the municipality, which covers , had 5,175 inhabitants, giving a population density of 46 inhabitants per km2.
The m ...
. He continued in this office until his death in 1594. Petrus van der Aa acquired the title ''Knight of the Golden Spur (Holy Roman Empire), eques auratus (Knight of the Golden Spur)'' on 30 October 1583.
Publications
* ''Prochiron sive Enchiridon Judiciarum'', 1558, includes a preface ''De ordine judiciario apud veteres usitato''.
* ''De privilegiis creditorum commentarius, ad Joachimum Hopperum'', 1560, reprinted in ''Tractatus Tractatuum, Vol. XVIII'' and ''Nov. Thesaurus II''.
Sources
* Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie - s:de:ADB:Aa, Petrus van der, online version at Wikisource
Winkler Prins' Geïllustreerde encyclopaedie, 1905, page 2
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aa, Petrus van der
1530 births
1594 deaths
People from Leuven
16th-century Dutch people
Dutch jurists
16th-century jurists