LAYMANN, PAUL. - Jesuit, moralist, born at Arzl near Innsbruck in 1574, died at Constance on 13 November 1635. He taught philosophy at Ingolstadt (1603–1609), moral theology at Munich (1609–1625), and canon law at Dillingen (1625–1632). He was constantly consulted on the most difficult and complex cases, and his responses were considered decisive. He was confessor to Ferdinand II.
Of his 34 works, the most important is the *Theologia moralis in quinque partes partita* (5 vols., Munich 1625; numerous editions up to the mid-18th century; the best are those reproducing the 3rd edition [Munich 1630], revised by the author). It is distinguished by a new method of addressing, classifying, and discussing questions with clarity and rigor, without stinting on erudition. Other works include: *Pacis compositio inter Principes et Ordines Imperii Romani* (Dillingen 1629), in which he defends the validity of the Peace of Augsburg, signed by Ferdinand I in 1555, against Protestant accusations of harshness and duplicity; *Asta defensiva, in causa monasteriorum extinctorum* (ibid. 1631), where he argues, in response to Ferdinand II’s Edict of Restitution (1629), that the property of suppressed monasteries should not be returned to the orders to which they belonged, since each monastery had become corrupt in its own right. His *Jus Canonicum* (3 vols., 1666–1698) appeared posthumously but remained incomplete.
Laymann was also credited with the rigorous *Processus juridicus contra sagas et veneficos* (Cologne 1629), which was accused of defending the cruelties then practiced in witch trials. However, it is certain that this work is not his (cf. B. Duhr, *P. L. und Processus juridicus contra sagas*, in *Zeitschrift für kath. Theol.*, 23 [1899], pp. 773 ff.; 24 [1900], pp. 585 ff.; 25 [1901], pp. 166 ff.), and moreover it stands in sharp contrast to his own stated views, especially in the 3rd edition of the *Theologia moralis*, where he condemns the harshness of judges and advises gentleness and understanding toward the accused, so much so that the influence of his teaching contributed in part to the eventual cessation of such trials.