Francois Hotman (1524-1590) was a French legal scholar and political theorist born in Paris, active during the Renaissance and Reformation. Trained as a lawyer, he became associated with the legal humanists and with the monarchomaques, writers who opposed absolute monarchy, and has been described as one of the first modern revolutionaries for his political thought. He advanced sixteenth century jurisprudence through critical study of Roman legal sources and argued for a French legal code grounded in national rather than purely Roman principles. His best known work, Franco-Gallia (1573), argued for representative government and an elective monarchy, and over his career he moved from practicing law to an academic life as a professor and political theorist.
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Francois Hotman (Wikipedia)
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François Hotman was a French lawyer and writer, associated with the legal humanists and with the monarchomaques, who struggled against absolute monarchy. His first name is often written 'Francis' in English. His surname is Latinized by himself as Hotomanus, by others as Hotomannus and Hottomannus. He has been called "one of the first modern revolutionaries".
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