Zasius was born at
Konstanz (current
Baden-Württemberg) in 1461. After studying at
Tübingen he first became episcopal notary at Constance, then town clerk at
Baden in
Aargau in 1489, and at
Freiburg in 1493. From 1496 to 1499 he directed the
Latin school at Freiburg. In 1499 he studied
law at the
University of Freiburg, was appointed lecturer of
rhetoric and
poetry there in 1500 and professor of
jurisprudence in 1506. In 1502 he was also clerk of court at Freiburg. On April 2 of that year, he joined in with an alliance of
burghers and scholars to attempt to expel the Jews of Waldkirch. In 1503, he was appointed legal adviser to the university. In 1505 he authored a treatise assaulting Jewish parental rights which was published in Strasbourg in 1508. In 1508, he was appointed imperial counselor. Applying the tendencies of the
Humanists to jurisprudence, he scouted the strained and barbarous comments of the glossators and endeavoured to restore the genuine text. It was probably due to the literary controversies which he had with
Eck, that he at first favoured the doctrines of
Martin Luther. After 1521 he was a zealous opponent of Luther and died a firm adherent of the
Roman Catholic faith. He died at Freiburg in 1535 or 1536. His juridical works were published posthumously (
Lyon, 1548, 1550–1; 3 vols.,
Frankfurt, 1590). == Works ==