Anne Dubourg

1520/21-1559. French Protestant martyr. Born at Riom and trained as a lawyer, he became professor of law at Orleans (1547), received his doctorate (1550), and held important posts at the university. In 1558 he became a member of the Parlement de Paris, but in 1559 fell into disfavor with Henry II because, having become a Protestant, he made a violent attack upon the Roman Catholic Church and advocated reform. Arrested for his bold declaration of his position, he was tried for heresy, but used every legal means of escaping punishment through appeals to different courts. Finally his appeal was rejected, and he was condemned, strangled, and burned. His martyrdom caused widespread horror, particularly among university students, some of whom had been responsible for his conversion.