Bachovius, Reiner

, a very able lawyer of the seventeenth century, was the son of the preceding, and was born at Heidelberg, and probably educated there. He was, however, celebrated for his knowledge of the civil law, when Heidelberg was taken by count Tilly in 1622, and the university dissolved. This obliged him to leave the place, but he appears to have returned soon after, and to have endeavoured to support himself for some time by giving private lessons to the few pupils whom the siege had not driven away. In 1624, he published his " Exercitationes ad partem posteriorem Chiliados Antonii Fabri, de erroribus interpretum, et de interpretibus juris,' 7 fol. The same year he entered into a correspondence with the learned Cuueus of Leyden, to whom he communicated his intention of leaving Heidelberg, as the university, then about to be restored, was to be composed of catholics, while he was disposed towards the principles of the reformed religion. He intimated also to Cuneus that he had no higher ambition, should he come to Leyden, than to give private lessons. During this correspondence an offer was made to Cuneus of a professorship in the academy of Franeker, and as he could not accept it, he took this opportunity of recommending Bachovius, but the latter had rendered himself obnoxious there by writing against Mark Lycklama, formerly one of the professors, and still one of the curators of the academy.

In 1627, Bachovius published his treatise “De Pignoribus et Hypothecis” and about the same time, Otto Tabor, a young Lutheran, and a student at Strasburgh, sent him a treatise on law which he had written, and requested his advice concerning it. Bachovius, on reading the manuscript, conceived a very high opinion of the author, and imparted to him his wish to come to Strasburgh, provided he could gain a subsistence by private teaching, and at the same time assj^red him that although he was of the reformed religion, he should give no person any reason to complain on that head, as his opinions were rather of the Lutheran than the Calvinistic system. The academy having heard of his intentions, desired Tabor to assure him that | he should meet with a kind reception, but they afterwards so entirely changed their sentiments, that when he arrived, the law professors forbid his private teaching, much to the disappointment of many of the students. He then returned to Spires, and afterwards to Heidelberg, where he professed his return to the Catholic religion, and the university being restored, was again appointed to a professor’s chair. What became of him afterwards is not known. Besides the works already mentioned, he published “DisputationUm Miscellanearum de variis Juris Givilis materiis, Jiber unus,” Heid. 1604, 8vo “Notae in Paratitla Wesembecii super Pandectas,” Cologne, 1611, 4to “Examen rationalium Antonii Fabri,” 1612, 8vo; “Notre et animadversioncs ad disputationes Hieronymi Trentleni,” Francfort, 1617, 4to the fourth edition of this work, printed at Cologne in 1688, was enlarged to 3 vols. 4to “Observationes ad Joannis Papon is arresta” Francf. 1628, fol. “In Institutionum Justiniani jus Libros IV. Commentarii Theorici et Practici,” Francf. 1628, 4to. Four of his letters to Cuneus are in Barman’s edition of Cuneus’s Letters, published at Leyden in 1725, 8vo. ¹