Samuel L. Bray, Notre Dame Law School, and D. N. Keane, Georgia Southern University, have posted James Ussher (1581-1656):
In the seventeenth century, James Ussher was the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of the Church of Ireland. Now remembered for his risible dating of creation, in his lifetime he was widely regarded as one of the most learned persons in the British Isles if not in Europe. This chapter explores Archbishop Ussher's ideas that have significance for law. In particular, it considers his commitment to absolute monarchy, even as the tide was flowing toward a more assertive Parliament; his proposal for "reduced episcopacy," a form of conciliar ecclesiastical government; and his insistence that each national church have its own canon law. This chapter takes the measure of these contributions and also of their contributor. Ussher was a Janus-like figure of contradictions—staggering in how much he knew, and now remembered mostly for what he did not know; widely renowned in his time for his moderation, yet repressive to Irish Catholics; a royalist bishop who was deeply admired by both King Charles I and the rebels who beheaded him.
James Ussher (wiki)
--Dan Ernst
