armour. At the same time that the disuse of the surcoat became general, small plates of various forms and sizss (and not always made in pairs, the plate for the right or sword-arm often being smaller and lighter than its com panion), were attached to the armour in front of the shoulders, to defend the otherwise vulnerable points where the plate defences of the upper-arms and the cuirass left a gap on each side. About the middle of the century, instead of being formed of a single plate, the breast-plate of the cuirass was made in two parts, the lower adjusted to overlap the upper, and contrived by means of a strap or sliding rivet to give flexibility to this defence. In the second half of this 15th century the cuirass occasionally was superseded by the " brigandine jacket," a defence formed of some textile fabric, generally of rich material, lined throughout with overlapping scales of metal, which were at tached to the jacket by rivets, having their heads, like studs, visible on the outside. In the 16th century, when occasionally, and by personages of exalted rank, splendid surcoats were worn over the armour, the cuirass its breast- piece during the first half of the century globular in form 5 was constantly reinforced by strong additional plates attached to it by rivets or screws. About 1550 the breast-piece of tho cuirass was characterized by a central ridge, called the " tapul," having near its centre a projecting point ; this projection, somewhat later, was brought lower down, and eventually the profile of the plate, the projection having been carried to its base, assumed the singular form which led to this fashion of the cuirass being distinguished as the " peascod cuirass." Corslets provided with both breast and back pieces were worn by foot-soldiers in the 17th century, while their mounted comrades were equipped in heavier and stronger cuirasses ; and these defences continued in use after the other pieces of armour, one by one, had gradually been laid aside. The cuirass and the corslet also at last ceased to be worn, until their revival in modern armies, in which mounted cuirassiers, armed as in earlier days with breast and back plates, in some degree have emulated the martial splendour of the body-armour of the era of mediaeval chivalry. Cuirasses had been worn for some years by the modern soldiers of France before they were introduced into thf British army. It was after the era of Waterloo that certain historical cuirasses were taken from their repose in the Tower of London, and adapted for service by the Life Guards and
the Horse Guards.CUJAS, or Cujacius, Jacques, or, as he called himself, Jacques de Cujas (1520-1590), one of the greatest of jurisconsults, vras born at Toulouse, where his father, whose name was Cujaus- was a fuller. Having taught himself Latin and Greek, he studied law under Arnoul Ferrier, then professor at Toulouse, and rapidly gained a great reputation as a lecturer on Justinian. He was an imsuccessful candidate for the chair of law at his native place in 1554, but in the same year he was appointed to a similar position atCahors, and about a year after L Hopital called him to Bourges. Duaren, however, who also held a professorship at Bourges, stirred up the students against the new professor, and such was the disorder produced in consequence that Cujas was glad to yield to the storm, and accept an invitation ho had received to the university of Valence. Recalled to Bourges at the death of Duaren in 1559, he remained there till 1567, when he returned to Yilence, whore he gained a European reputation, and collected students from all parts of the Continent, among whom may bo mentioned Joseph Scaliger and De Thou. In 1573 Charles IX. appointed Cujas counsellor to the Parliament of Grenoble, and in the following year a pension was bestowed on him by Henry III. Margaret of Savoy induced him to remove to Turin ; but after a few months (1575) he once mors took his old place at Bourges. But the religious wars drove him thence. He was called by the king to Paris, and permission was granted him by the Parliament to lecture on civil law in the university of the capital. A year after, however, he finally took up his residence at Bourges, where he remained till his death in 1590, in spite of a handsome offer made him by Gregory XIII. in 1584 to attract him to Bologna.
The life of Cujas was altogether that of a scholar and teacher. In the religious wars which filled all the thoughts of his contemporaries he steadily refused to take any part. Nihil hoc ad edictum prcetoris, " this has nothing to do with the edict of the pra3tor," was his usual answer to those who spoke to him on the subject. His merit as a, jurisconsult, which has been surpassed by none, arose from the fact that he turned from the ignorant commentators on Roman law to the Roman law itself. He consulted a ve.ry large number of manuscripts, of which he had collected more than 500 in his own library ; but, unfortunately, he left orders in his will that his library should be divided among a number of purchasers, and his collection was thus scattered, and in great part lost. His emendations, of which a large number were published under the title of Observations and Corrections, were not confined to law- books, but extended to many of the Latin and Greek classical authors. In jurisprudence his study was far frt.m being devoted solely to Justinian ; he recovered and gave to the world a part of the Theodosian Code, with explana tions ; and he procured the manuscript of the Jlasilica, a Greek abridgment of Justinian, afterwards published by Fabrot (see Basilica). He also composed a commentary on the Consuetudines Fcudoriim, and on some books of the Decretals. In the Paratitla, or summaries which he made of the Digest, and particularly of the Code of Justinian, he condensed into short axioms the elementary principles of law, and gave definitions remarkable for their admirable clearness and precision. His lessons, which he never dictated, were continuous discourses, for which he made no other preparation than that of profound meditation on the subjects to be discussed. He was irr patient of interrup tion, and upon the least noise he would ii.stantly quit the chair and retire. He was strongly attached to his pupils, and Scaliger affirms that he lost more than 4COO livres by lending money to such of them as were in want.
In his lifetime Cujas published an edition of his works (Neville, 1577). It is beautiful and exact, but incomplete ; it is now very scarce. The edition of Colombet (1634) is al?o incomplete. Fabrot, however, collected the whole in the edition which he published at Paris (1658), in 10 vols. folio, and which was re printed at Naples (1722, 1727), in 11 vols. folio, and at Naples and at Venice (1758), in 10 vols. folio, with an index forming an eleventh volume. In the editions of Naples and Venice there are some additions not to be found in that of Fabrot, particularly a general table, which will be found very useful, and interpretations of all the Greek words used by Cujas. See Papire-Masson, Viede Cujas (Paris, ISOO^TYrra^son, Histvire de la Jurisprudence Komaine, and Melanges d H info-ire, de Lilte- rature, et de Jurisprudence; Bernardi, Eloge de Cvjas (Lyons, 1775); Hugo, Civilistisches Magazin ; Berriat Saint Prit, Mi-moires de, Cujas, appended to his Histoire du Droit Itomain ; Biographic. Univcrselle ; Graviua, De Ortu et Progressu Juris Civilis.
CULDEES. On no subject connected with the early ecclesiastical history of the British Islands has there been more discussion than on thab of the Culdees. Their very name has furnished matter for dissertations, and their doctrines, mode of life, and peculiar institutions have been the fruitful source of controversy. There is still room for doubt as to details, but in all-important points the truth has been sufficiently ascertained by the learned Scottish and Irish antiquaries who have devoted their attention to the question. The discussion may now be held as practically settled in Britain, though Continental scholars of some mark are still disposed to carry it on.
