Hippolytus de Marsiliis

Hippolytus de Marsiliis (b. 1451 Bologna, Italy d. Unknown) was known as a lawyer and doctor utriusque iuris (lit. "doctor of either law" - a Latin term used to describe those who studied civil as well as canon law). He received his doctorate in 1480 but the date at which he became a lawyer is unknown. Throughout his life, he wrote many repetitiones and notabilia on many canons and decretals. In addition, he taught Roman law beginning in the year 1482. He is most known for inventing the Chinese Water Torture method in which drops of water would constantly fall on a victim's forehead at an inconsistent pace, causing the victim to go insane. He also was the first person to use sleep deprivation as a means of torture, where the interrogators would ask the same questions many, many times, and the interrogators would shake the person at random intervals or prick him with a sharp pin and force him to march down the hallways endlessly, if the interrogators grew weary they would switch out with another group, who then would ask the same basic questions (today police use this method, but it is known as the third degree).

Written texts

Singularia seu notabilia - earliest recorded print published in Milan in 1512
Repetitiones in uniuersas fere iuris canonici III - earliest recorded print published in Venice in 1587.
Tractatus de questionibus, in quo materie maleficiorum pertractant(ur) - published 1524

De Marsiliis was probably well known among jurists all over Europe. In a book printed in 1762 over the history of Icelandic procedural law the Icelandic jurist, Jón Árnason, made references to de Marsiliis. See: «Historisk Indledning til den gamle og nye Islandske Rettergang»,i.e. «An Historical Introduction to the History of Icelandic Procedural Law». The reference is made under «Fortalen», i.e. «Introduction».

References

¹ "Hippolytus de Marsiliis", [1]