Fermat et l’affaire Delpoy

Abstract

Sir Kenelm Digby, when living in Paris, served as mediator for the correspondence between the mathematicians John Wallis (Oxford) and Pierre de Fermat (Toulouse). In a letter of February 6, 1658 to Wallis, Digby claimed that Fermat as »supreme Judge in the sovereign Court of Parliament« of Toulouse had condemned a priest, who had abused his position, to be burned alive. What actually happened has remained in dispute until now. In this paper, I describe how I managed to solve the case, an important event in Fermat’s life, in the archives and libraries of Toulouse.