Hotman, François

Hotman, François fräNswäˈ ôtmäN [key], 1524–90, French jurist. Converted (1547) to Protestantism and implicated (1560) in the conspiracy of Amboise (see Amboise, conspiracy of), he spent large parts of his life in Switzerland. In his most influential work, Franco-Gallia (1573), he was among the first to point out the Germanic origin of the early Frankish institutions, and on that basis he advocated an elective monarchy for France.

See studies by B. Reynolds (1931, repr. 1968) and D. R. Kelley (1973).

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