A Roman Catholic canonist of Germany, was born Nov. 30, 1794, at Wetzlar; and studied law at Heidelberg, where he was promoted in 1818 as doctor utriusquejuris. Here he also commenced his lectures, when in 1819 he was called to Bonn as professor of Roman and canon law, where he died, Dec. 12, 1879. He published Lehrbuch des Kirchenrechts (Bonn, 1822; 14th ed. 1871, ed. Gerlach). This is his main work, which was translated into French, Spanish, and Italian. Besides, he published, Corpus Juris Germanici (1824, 3 vols.): — Geschichte des romischen Rechts (1834-40, 2 vols.; 2nd ed. 1845; 3rd ed. 1860; also translated into French and Italian): — Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte (1853, 2 vols.; 2nd ed. 1857): — Das alte Wales (1859): — Fontes Juris Ecclesiastici (1862): — Naturr echt und Politik (1863; 2nd ed. 1871): — Das alte Erzstift und die Reichsstadt Koln (1866): — Erinnerungen aus meinem Leben (1865). See Theolog. Universal-Lexicon, s.v.; Zuchold, Bibl. Theolog. 2, 1414; Literarischer Handweiserfü r das kathol. Deutschland, 1880, p. 3 sq. (B.P.)