Caption: "The Justinian Code, 'A powerful impulse to the later development of representative government' - Barnes, printed by Thielman Kerver, Paris, 1512. Justinian's greatest accomplishment was the codification of the Roman law now known as 'The Justinian Code.' This was done under the direction of Justinian by his principal law officer, Tribonian, assisted by ten learned civilians, between the years 529 and 533 A.D. The formulation of Roman law has often been acclaimed the greatest triumph of the ancient world. Its reorganization and transmission in the Justinian Code was one of the greatest gifts of the Middle Ages to the western world. Roman law established man's rights in regard to his labor and property. It was a useful tool in the struggle between the secular rulers and the potentates of the church. The code stresses the principle of representative government. This, together with the ideas of justice and equality which it embodies, is now part of our American government. Meynial summarizes well the force of the Corpus Juris of Justinian when he writes, 'Fourteen hundred years old in its latest recension, eighteen hundred years in the majority of its fragments, it has continued to rule the world through the greatest political and social upheavals ever known, and has outlived by all these long centuries the civilization which gave it birth.' Thielman Kerver started printing in Paris in 1497. He was one of the few French printers who continued to print in the Gothic manuscript tradition well into the sixteenth century. Kerver was famous for his excellent work in red and black as well as for his beautifully designed Books of Hours. After his death in 1522, the press was continued for a quarter of a century longer by his widow, Yolande Bonhomme."
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