provision for scholars in the Code of Justinian (see p. 54). The
_Authentic Habita_ as a whole is important as the fundamental charter of
university privileges in Italy, if not in other countries. It was not
granted to a university,--indeed, no university was apparently then in
existence,--nor to the scholars of any special town; it was "of general
effect." But "this pre-university charter was usually recognized as the
basis of all the special privileges conferred on particular (Italian)
universities by the States in which they were situated."[39] Probably it
suggested, directly or indirectly, the granting of similar privileges to
universities in other countries. It certainly affected those
universities which were founded "with all the privileges of any other
university." Two further illustrations follow.
2. In 1245 Pope Innocent IV exempted students at Paris from citation to
ecclesiastical courts outside of Paris, in order that their studies
might not be interrupted:
To the masters and scholars at Paris. In order that you may carry
on your studies more freely and be less occupied with other
business, we grant your petitions, and by the authority of this
present letter bestow upon you the privilege of not being haled
by apostolic letters beyond the limits of the city of Paris upon
questions that have arisen within its limits, unless [these
letters] make express mention of this privilege.[40]
3. The same privilege was granted as regards civil courts by Philip IV
in 1340/41:
... The Masters and Scholars studying at Paris, if summoned by
any secular judges of our realm, shall not be haled and cited to
their courts outside of Paris; nor shall laymen who are subject
to our rule attempt to bring this about.[41]
This right was known at Paris as the _jus non trahi extra_ (right of not
being haled outside). "It became henceforth _the_ characteristic
university privilege, not only of Paris but of all universities which
were in any degree influenced by Parisian usage."[42]
(c) _Exemption from Taxation_
One of the most important privileges enjoyed by modern universities (in
common with other educational institutions, and with churches) is
exemption from taxation. This privilege is directly traceable to those
of the mediaeval universities, and possibly through them to Roman laws
on the subject. In the early history of universities the privilege was
held, not by the corporations as such, but by masters and scholars as
individuals.
1. One example of such exemption is found in the charter of Philip IV,
1340/41, already quoted:
To the aforesaid Masters and Scholars [of Paris], now in
attendance at the University, and to those who are hereafter to
come to the same University, or who are actually preparing in
sincerity so to come, also while [they are] staying at the
University, or returning to their own homes, _we grant_ ... that
no layman, of whatever condition or prominence he may be, whether
he be a private person, prefect, or bailiff, shall disturb,
molest, or presume otherwise in any way whatsoever to seek to
extort anything from the aforesaid Masters and Scholars, in
person, family or property, under pretext of toll, _tallia_
[special form of feudal tax], tax, customs, or other such
personal taxes, or other personal exaction of any kind, while
they are either coming to the University itself, or actually
preparing in sincerity to come, or returning to their own homes;
and whose status as scholars shall be established by the proper
oath.
2. The charter of the University of Leipzig, in 1409, exempts certain
property of the corporation, as such, from taxes:
Likewise in said town, in behalf of the aforesaid University, and
for the increase of the same, we have instituted and founded two
Colleges, ... and for these we have given and assigned two houses
... and these same houses of the said Colleges we have made free
from all _losunge_, exactions, contributions, _steura_, laws,
taxes, and from the control of the citizens of the
beforementioned town; and of our sure knowledge we incorporate
them and make them free for the advantage of the aforesaid
University.[43]
The words _steura_ and _losunge_ refer to special forms of taxes whose
exact nature is not known.
3. Not only were Masters, students, and corporate property exempt from
taxation, but also persons connected with the universities in
subordinate capacities. There was much dispute in some places as to the
number and occupations of those who might be thus exempted. The
following letter of Henry VI of England to the University of Caen,
Normandy, settles one of these disputes.
On January 22, 1450, the King refused to free the dependents of the
university from taxation. The Masters and Scholars thereupon made formal
complaint to him that this refusal hindered the free and peaceful
pursuit of their studies as guaranteed by his charter of 1432 (see p.
103). In reply (February 13, 1450), the King recognized the justice of
the complaint and granted the desired privilege. Compare the similar
exemption in the Harvard Charter of 1650 (p. 101). The letter is
apparently addressed to the Bailiff of Caen and other royal officials.
Nevertheless since those letters of ours [of January 22] were
sent, proper and true objection has been made to us as to those
privileges, whereby we have well understood that the Doctors,
Masters, Scholars, dependents, officers, households and servitors
should not be subject to or obliged to contribute to such
villein-taxes, aides, and octrois.
Therefore is it, that we--wishing our letters, gifts of
privileges, and commands to be guarded and supported without any
diminution or loss in any manner whatever, but to be increased,
augmented and maintained--have regarded and also considered the
fact that said members of our said daughter [i.e. the University]
could not well carry out the requirements of study, or continue
therein, if their servitors and households did not enjoy and use
such and similar privileges as said members. Desiring, with all
our heart the maintenance, continuation and increase of our said
University which (not without good reason) we have under our
special favor, considering these things, with the advice and
counsel of our very dear and very beloved Cousin Edmond, Duke of
Somerset, Lieutenant-General and Governor in our stead of our
realms of France, the country and Duchy of Normandy, we command
and strictly enjoin you all and each one of you so far as he
shall be concerned, that you make or cause to be made free and
exempt from said villein-taxes, aides, and octrois, one advocate,
one purveyor, one bell-ringer, two booksellers, two parchment
makers, two illuminators, two bookbinders, six beadles, five
bailiffs, (one for each of the five Faculties) and seven
messengers (understanding that there shall be one for each
diocese in our said Duchy), and this you shall do up to this
number of attendants and servitors of this our University, and at
the same time, uphold, maintain and continue them in their
rights, franchises, and liberties, of which by our said command,
foundation, and augmentation, you find them to be and to have
been duly possessed, without suffering anything to disturb or
interfere with this.
And, although in our other letters devoted to the regulation of
this University the said five bailiffs and seven messengers were
not in any way included, yet by special grace through these
present letters, to the end that our said University may be able
to have the servitors necessary to it, without whom the
requirements of study could not be continued and maintained, we
wish the said five bailiffs and seven messengers to enjoy such
and similar privileges as the rest who are named in our other
said letters of regulation, notwithstanding that the said letters
and any others whatever may require, or seem to require, the
contrary to this.
And that the aforesaid suppliants may be able to have, at their
need, these present letters in various and diverse places, we
wish that copies of these, made under the royal seal, be in good
faith made like the original.[44]
(d) _The Privilege of suspending Lectures_ (Cessatio)
One of the most effective privileges of mediaeval universities was the
right of suspending lectures. This was used again and again in cases of
unredressed grievances against civil or ecclesiastical
authorities,--more particularly against the former. A _cessatio_ was
usually followed by a migration of masters and scholars to some other
university, unless satisfaction was promptly forthcoming. Such a
migration was a serious blow to the commercial prosperity of any town;
consequently the "cessation" was an instrument of great power for the
extraction of all sorts of local concessions. It was often exercised
without express authorization by civil or ecclesiastical powers, but the
privilege was distinctly conferred by a bull of Pope Gregory IX for
Paris in 1231:
And if, perchance, the assessment [right to fix the prices] of
lodgings is taken from you, or anything else is lacking, or an
injury or outrageous damage, such as death or the mutilation of a
limb, is inflicted on one of you, unless through a suitable
admonition satisfaction is rendered within fifteen days, you may
suspend your lectures until you have received full satisfaction.
And if it happens that any one of you is unlawfully imprisoned,
unless the injury ceases on a remonstrance from you, you may, if
you judge it expedient, suspend your lectures immediately.[45]
The events leading up to the granting of this privilege are worth
recounting as an illustration of the way in which such rights were
frequently secured. The "clerks" referred to were of course scholars.
The cessation of lectures was followed by a migration to other cities
until satisfaction was given. The exact nature of the satisfaction given
by the king is not known. One important result, however, was the great
charter of papal privileges just referred to,--"the _Magna Charta_ of
the University" of Paris.[46]
"Concerning the discord that arose at Paris between the whole body of
clergy and the citizens, and concerning the withdrawal of the clergy"
[1229]:
In that same year, on the second and third holidays before Ash
Wednesday, days when the clerks of the university have leisure
for games, certain of the clerks went out of the City of Paris in
the direction of Saint Marcel's, for a change of air and to have
contests in their usual games. When they had reached the place
and had amused themselves for some time in carrying on their
games, they chanced to find in a certain tavern some excellent
wine, pleasant to drink. And then, in the dispute that arose
between the clerks who were drinking and the shop keepers, they
began to exchange blows and to tear each other's hair, until some
townsmen ran in and freed the shop keepers from the hands of the
clerks; but when the clerks resisted they inflicted blows upon
them and put them to flight, well and thoroughly pommelled. The
latter, however, when they came back much battered into the city,
roused their comrades to avenge them. So on the next day they
came with swords and clubs to Saint Marcel's, and entering
forcibly the house of a certain shop keeper, broke up all his
wine casks and poured the wine out on the floor of the house.
And, proceeding through the open squares, they attacked sharply
whatever man or woman they came upon and left them half dead from
the blows given them.
But the Prior of Saint Marcel's, as soon as he learned of this
great injury done to his men, whom he was bound to defend,
lodged a complaint with the Roman legate and the Bishop of
Paris. And they went together in haste to the Queen, to whom the
management of the realm had been committed at that time, and
asked her to take measures for the punishment of such a wrong.
But she, with a woman's forwardness, and impelled by mental
excitement, immediately gave orders to the prefects of the city
and to certain of her own ruffians [mercenary body-guard] with
all speed to go out of the city, under arms, and to punish the
authors of the violence, sparing no one. Now as these armed men,
who were prone to act cruelly at every opportunity, left the
gates of the city, they came upon a number of clerks busy just
outside the city walls with games,--men who were entirely without
fault in connection with the aforesaid violence, since those who
had begun the riotous strife were men from the regions adjoining
Flanders, whom we commonly call Picards. But, notwithstanding
this, the police, rushing upon these men who they saw were
unarmed and innocent, killed some, wounded others, and handled
others mercilessly, battering them with the blows they inflicted
on them. But some of them escaping by flight lay hid in dens and
caverns. And among the wounded it was found that there were two
clerks, rich and of great influence, who died, one of them being
by race a man of Flanders, and the other of the Norman Nation.
But when the enormity of this transgression reached the ears of
the Masters of the University they came together in the presence
of the Queen and Legate, having first suspended entirely all
lectures and debates, and strenuously demanded that justice be
shown them for such a wrong. For it seemed to them disgraceful
that so light an occasion as the transgression of certain
contemptible little clerks should be taken to create prejudice
against the whole university; but let him who was to blame in the
transgression be the one to suffer the penalty.
But when finally every sort of justice had been refused them by
the King and the Legate, as well as by the Bishop, there took
place a universal withdrawal of the Masters and a scattering of
the Scholars, the instruction of the Masters and the training of
the pupils coming to an end, so that not one person of note out
of them all remained in the city. And the city which was wont to
boast of her clerks now remained bereft of them.... Thus
withdrawing, the clerks betook themselves practically in a body
to the larger cities in various districts. But the largest part
of them chose the metropolitan city of Angers for their
university instruction. Thus, then, withdrawing from the City of
Paris, the nurse of Philosophy and the foster mother of Wisdom,
the clerks execrated the Roman Legate and cursed the womanish
arrogance of the Queen, nay, also, their infamous unanimity [in
the matter]....
At length, through the efforts of discreet persons, it was worked
out that, certain things being done to meet the situation as
required by the faults on both sides, peace was made up between
the clerks and citizens and the whole body of scholars was
recalled.[47]
Not infrequently a university which had decreed a cessation was invited
to establish itself elsewhere. The cessation at Paris in 1229 was
followed by an urgent invitation from the King of England:
The King; Greeting to the Masters and the whole body of scholars
at Paris. Humbly sympathizing with the exceeding tribulations and
distresses which you have suffered at Paris under an unjust law,
we wish by our pious aid, with reverence to God and His holy
church, to restore your status to its proper condition of
liberty. Wherefore we have concluded to make known to your entire
body that if it shall be your pleasure to transfer yourselves to
our kingdom of England and to remain there to study we will for
this purpose assign to you cities, boroughs, towns, whatsoever
you may wish to select, and in every fitting way will cause you
to rejoice in a state of liberty and tranquillity which should
please God and fully meet your needs.
In testimony of which &c. Witnessed by the King at Reading, July
16. [1229].[48]
(e) _The Right of Teaching everywhere_ (Jus ubique docendi)
Masters and Doctors of the three leading universities, Paris, Bologna,
and Oxford, were early recognized as qualified to teach anywhere without
further examination, by virtue of the superior instruction given at
those institutions. Their degrees were in strictness merely licenses to
teach within the dioceses in which they were granted. The recognition of
these licenses elsewhere grew up as a matter of custom, not by any
express authorization. At least one other university (Padua, founded
1222) acquired the privilege in the same way. Later universities,--or
the cities in which they were established,--desiring to gain equal
prestige for their graduates, obtained from the Pope or from the Emperor
of the Holy Roman Empire bulls conferring upon them the same privilege.
Even Paris and Bologna formally received it from the Pope in 1292. "From
this time the notion gradually gained ground that _the jus ubique
docendi_ was of the essence of a Studium Generale, and that no school
which did not possess it could obtain it without a Bull from Emperor or
Pope." "It was usually but not quite invariably, conferred in express
terms by the original foundation-bulls; and was apparently understood to
be involved in the mere act of erection even in the rare cases where it
is not expressly conceded."[49] In practice, the graduates of almost
all universities where subject to further examination in one Studium or
another before being admitted to teach there, although the graduates of
the leading universities may have been very generally received without
such test. The privilege is more important in officially marking the
rank of a school as a Studium Generale, i.e. a place of higher
education, in which instruction was given, by a considerable number of
masters, in at least one of the Faculties of Arts, Theology, Law, and
Medicine, and to which students were attracted, or at least invited,
from all countries.
The Bull granting the _jus ubique docendi_ to Paris (Pope Nicholas IV,
1292) is here printed, although it is not the earliest example; a
similar Bull was issued for Toulouse as early as 1233. The rhetorical
introduction is omitted, as in most instances above.
Desiring, therefore, that the students in the field of knowledge
in the city of Paris, may be stimulated to strive for the reward
of a Mastership, and may be able to instruct, in the Faculties in
which they have deserved to be adorned with a Master's chair, all
those who come from all sides,--we decree, by this present
letter, that whoever of our University in the aforesaid city
shall have been examined and approved by those through whom,
under Apostolic authority, the right to lecture is customarily
bestowed on licentiates in said faculties, according to the
custom heretofore observed there,--and who shall have from them
license in the Faculty of Theology, or Canon Law, or Medicine, or
the Liberal Arts,--shall thenceforward have authority to teach
everywhere outside of the aforesaid city, free from examination
or test, either public or private, or any other new regulation as
to lecturing or teaching. Nor shall he be prohibited by anyone,
all other customs and statutes to the contrary notwithstanding;
and whether he wishes to lecture or not in the Faculties
referred to, he shall nevertheless be regarded as a Doctor.[50]
(f) _Privileges granted by a Municipality_
Not infrequently mediaeval cities granted special privileges to
universities and their members. These cities recognized the commercial
and other advantages resulting from the presence of a large body of
students within their gates, and made substantial concessions to retain
them, or to secure the settlement of a university which might be
migrating from some other city. Instances of the latter kind are
numerous in the free cities of Italy. These privileges included very
ample legal jurisdiction by the Rector of the university in cases
affecting scholars, payment of professors' salaries by the city,
exemption from taxes, loans to scholars at a low rate of interest, and
guarantees against extortionate prices for food and other necessaries.
1. The following examples are cited, among many others in the statutes
of the city of Padua:
The town of Padua binds itself to make loans to scholars,
according to the quality of the scholars, upon good and
sufficient securities or bonds worth a third more than the loan,
and upon the oath and promise of the scholars that they accept
the loan on their own account and for their own use in meeting
their personal expenses and not for any other person or persons
or for the use of others. (1260 A.D.)
Every six months the Chief Magistrate of Padua shall appoint two
money lenders for the scholars,--judges or laymen at the will of
the Rector of the scholars--who shall have charge of the town's
money that is to be loaned to the scholars. And they shall, in
the name of the town, make loans to the scholars in accordance
with the statutes and the agreement of the scholars, and at their
own risk entirely, so that the town of Padua shall not incur
loss. And the money lenders shall themselves deposit in the town
treasury good and sufficient security as to this. (1268.)
Scholars shall be regarded as citizens with regard to matters
advantageous, but not with regard to matters disadvantageous to
them. (1261.)
Scholars shall not be required to pay the _tolloneum_ (i.e. taxes
on imports, collected at the city gates). (1262.)[51]
2. A generation preceding the date of these statutes a large part of the
university, dissatisfied with its treatment at Padua, migrated to
Vercelli, more than one hundred and fifty miles away. The contract (1228
A.D.) between the rectors of the university and the proctors
representing the town contains numerous privileges, among which are the
following:
Likewise the aforesaid proctors have promised in the name of the
town of Vercelli that the town will loan to the scholars, and to
the university of scholars, the sum of ten thousand pounds, papal
money, at the rate of two pence for two years, and thereafter
three pence for six years [under proper security. The customary
rate seems to have been four pence.] ... Likewise, when a scholar
shall have paid the money loaned to him, the town of Vercelli
will retain that amount in the common treasury as principal, and
from it will help some other needy scholar under the same
agreement and similar conditions. ... Likewise, the town of
Vercelli will not allow provisions within the town limits to be
withdrawn from their markets [in order to raise the price?] but
will cause them to be delivered in the city in good faith, and
will cause them to be put on sale twice a week.... [Also one
thousand bushels of grain shall be put in the city granary and
sold to scholars at cost in time of need.] ... Likewise the town
of Vercelli shall provide salaries [for professors] which shall
be deemed competent by two scholars and two townsmen, and if they
disagree the Bishop shall decide the matter ... and said salaries
shall be for one Theologian, three Masters of Laws, two
Decretists, two Decretalists, two teachers of Natural Philosophy,
two Logicians, and two Grammarians. [These professors shall be
chosen by the rectors of the university. The town will send out
at its own expense] trustworthy messengers under oath, who shall
in good faith, and in the interests of the university of
Vercelli, seek out the chosen Masters and Teachers, and shall use
their best endeavors to bind them to lecture in the city of
Vercelli. [The town will preserve peace within its borders, will
consider scholars and their messengers neutral in time of war,
will grant them the rights of citizens, and will respect the
legal jurisdiction of the rectors, except in criminal and other
specially mentioned cases.]
Likewise, the town of Vercelli will provide two copyists, through
whom it will undertake to furnish men able to supply to the
scholars copies in both kinds of Law [Civil and Canon] and in
Theology, which shall be satisfactory and accurate both in text
and in glosses, and the students shall pay for their copies [no
extortionate prices but] a rate based on the estimate of the
rectors [of the university].
... Likewise, the scholars or their representatives shall not pay
the tributes in the district of Vercelli which belong and accrue
to the town of Vercelli.... The Podesta [Chief Magistrate] and
the town itself shall be bound to send, throughout the cities of
Italy and elsewhere, (as shall seem expedient to them) notice
that a university has been established at Vercelli, and to invite
scholars to come to the University of Vercelli.[52]
The whole contract was made a part of the city statutes and was to be
in force for eight years.
(g) _The Influence of Mediaeval Privileges on Modern Universities._