Elbertus Leoninus  Elbertus Leoninus was the Latinized name of Elbert de Leeuw (Zaltbommel, 1519 or 1520 – Arnhem, December 16, 1598), Dutch jurist and statesman, who helped negotiate the Pacification of Ghent. Leoninus was born into a non-aristocratic, but well-to-do family, who were able to give him a very good education. He had a tall stature, which later earned him the Latin nickname "Longolinus". At first he studied "humaniora" under Macropedius at Utrecht, and next in Emmerich am Rhein under Matthias Bredenbach. He entered the University of Leuven to study at the "Collegium Trilingue" for further grounding in the classical languages, and then obtained a "licentiate" in Law at the same university in 1547. To improve his fluency in French he then studied for a year in Arras. On June 7, 1548, in Leuven he married Barbara de Haze, the daughter of a renowned Leuven law professor, Johannes Hasius. Two days after the marriage he was appointed professor in canon law at the university of Leuven. He got his doctor's degree in law on May 20, 1550 under Gabriel Mudaeus, and succeeded that luminary as "professor primarius legum" in 1560 (a chair he would hold till 1580). Together with Viglius van Aytta, another influential jurist, he managed to persuade the government of the Habsburg Netherlands to endow three more chairs at the Leuven law faculty in these years. This illustrates the influence he exerted at the court of the Regent, Margaret of Parma. He advised all the grandees of the time on both sides of the political divide that was forming in these years, which explains his later acceptability to both sides during the early years of the Dutch Revolt that would soon break out. During the initial stages of the Revolt he remained loyal to Philip II of Spain and the first two governors-general the king sent to quell the Rebellion. In 1575 he led the delegation of the Brussels government of Luis de Zúñiga y Requesens to the abortive peace negotiations with William the Silent and the rebellious provinces at Breda. When Requesens died in 1576, and the States-General of the Netherlands briefly took over command of the loyalist government, he was appointed the head of the delegation of the States-General that negotiated the Pacification of Ghent with Orange.