GODEFROY (GOTOFREDO), JACQUES. - Jurist, son of Denis, born in Geneva on 13 October 1578, died there on 22 June 1652.
He held various public offices and was entrusted with missions in Germany, France, and Savoy. From 1619 he was professor of law at Geneva. He is the author of a Manuale iuris (Geneva 1676) and Fontes IV iuris civilis (ibid. 1638), in which he also attempted a reconstruction of the Twelve Tables (v.). But his major work is Codex Theodosianus (v.), published posthumously by Antoine Merville (Lyons 1665) and reprinted in Leipzig between 1736 and 1745; the accompanying commentary is a rich source of historical and legal doctrine, indispensable for understanding the legal organization of the late Roman Empire.
BIBL.: D. C. Godefroy-Ménilgaise, Les savants G., Paris 1873.