- Anne du Bourg
Anne du Bourg (1521,
Riom - 1559,Paris ) was a French magistrat, nephew of the chancellorAntoine du Bourg .Educated at the
university of Orléans , he became professor and hadÉtienne de la Boétie as a student. He became counsellor of theParliament of Paris in 1557. In 1559, during a "mercurial" (session of parliament), Du Bourg attacked the royal policy of repression against "those called heretics". He didn't make a secret of hisCalvinist convictions. Henry II arrested him; after his death, the Guise monopolized power to the detriment of François II. After a trial, during which Du Bourg utilized all recourses of law, he was convicted as a heretic, to be hanged on the place de Grève and his body burned.The
Palatine of the Rhine pleaded mercy to the king, to name him professor of law atHeidelberg , but in vain. He died on December 23rd, after having declared at the gallows "My friends, I am not here as a thief or a martyr, but for theevangelium ."
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.