Three years of legal studies and other experiences in Bordeaux and then Paris under the name of Secondat de Montesquieu, in Louis XIV’s twilight years. His pursuit of intellectual interests: literature, theatre, Asia; the kindling of a new spirit.

It has long been known that undergraduate research can also be beneficial in legal studies, not least for underrepresented students (cf. Hathaway et al., 2002). However, legal education has a special and – in contrast to most other disciplines – a country-specific relationship to research-based learning at undergraduate as well as at postgraduate level. The modalities and space for designing research-based learning courses depend largely on the respective subjects and methods of research. In jurisprudence, however, these vary considerably depending on the characteristics of the respective jurisdiction and its legal system.

The reign of Francis I (1515–1547) created a cultural shift in France, caused by the importation and adaptation of the humanist tradition, a tradition of Italian origin. The reasons for this were political.1 The French monarchy aimed to claim for itself the prestige associated with Italian Renaissance culture (in the artistic realm, but also in the scholarly and literary realms) and to strengthen its ties with Italy, a region in which France had important interests. These priorities complemented the concordat between the monarchy and the papacy (1516), which granted the king the right to name bishops and abbots and thus negated any political or financial gains the Protestant Reformation might have offered France. This milieu also produced the social context in which the young Calvin evolved. We will first examine a few stages of his education before offering an assessment of the years 1530–1534, centered around King Francis I’s creation of the first royal chairs.