FRIEDBERG, Emil Albert. - Canonist, Protestant, one of the most eminent representatives of the historical school. B. at Konitz on 22 Dec. 1837, d. at Leipzig on 7 Sept. 1910. He taught ecclesiastical law at Berlin (1862) as Privatdozent, at Halle (1865) as associate professor, and then as full professor at Freiburg (1868) and at Leipzig (1869–1910).
From his doctoral thesis onward, Friedberg accepted the regalist-Febronian postulates, defining the relationship between State and Church on the basis of the jurisdictionalist principle of the superiority of the former over the latter. His writings exerted considerable influence on the attitude of the Prussian government and Parliament during the period of the *Kulturkampf*, particularly regarding the introduction of the ecclesiastical laws of 1873 (the May Laws) under Bismarck.
Friedberg devoted the greater part of his work to topics in ecclesiastical law and the history of ancient and modern canon law. Among his principal works are: *Ehe und Eheschliessung im deutschen Mittelalter* (Berlin 1864); *Das Recht der Eheschliessung in seiner geschichtlichen Entwicklung* (ibid. 1865); *Die evangelische und katholische Kirche der neu einverleibten Länder in ihren Beziehungen zur preuss. Landeskirche und zum Staat* (Halle 1867); *Der Staat und die katholische Kirche im Grossherzogtum Baden seit 1860* (Berlin 1871); *Die Geschichte der Christenvolker in Italien* (ibid. 1871); *Die Grenzen zwischen Kirche und Staat und die Garantien gegen deren Verletzung* (3 vols., Tübingen 1872); *Sammlung der Aktenstücke zum ersten katholischen Concil* (ibid. 1873); *Der Staat und die Bischöfe, die altkatholischen Bewegungen betreffend* (ibid. 1876); *Verlobung und Trauung* (ibid. 1876). Also well known is his *Lehrbuch des katholischen und evangelischen Kirchenrechts* (Leipzig 1880, Italian ed. Turin 1893). He further wrote on the constitutions of the various German Evangelical churches: *Die geltenden Verfassungsgesetze der evangelischen deutschen Landeskirche* (4 vols. of supplements, Freiburg 1885); *Das geltende Verfassungsrecht der evangelischen deutschen Kirchen* (Leipzig 1888). Of great importance is his critical edition of the *Corpus Juris Canonici* (2 vols., ibid. 1879–91) and of the *Quinque compilationes antiques* (ibid. 1882). He was editor, first with R. Dove and later with E. Schling, of the *Zeitschrift für Kirchenrecht* (from 1 July 1891; *Deutsche Zeitschrift für Kirchenrecht*).