CARPZOV, BENEDIKT. - Protestant jurist, b. at Wittenberg on 25 May 1595, d. at Leipzig on 30 May 1666. He pursued his studies in his homeland, at Leipzig and Jena, and completed them with travels in Rome, England, and the Low Countries. Appointed assessor at Leipzig in 1620, he devoted himself to the study of criminal law, leaving noteworthy works on the subject; in 1636 he was elected assessor of the Supreme Provincial Court; in 1645 professor at Leipzig. He may be considered one of the founders of scientific jurisprudence in Germany.
He wrote: Practica nova imperialis saxonica rerum criminalium (Wittenberg 1635, placed on the Index in 1655); Jurisdictio forensis (Leipzig 1638); Jurisprudentia ecclesiastica seu consistorialis (ibid. 1649, placed on the Index in 1714), which is a systematic exposition of canon law according to the episcopal system.