mediaeval universities influences the university life of to-day. Out of
many illustrations of this fact two are here cited as affecting American
higher education. The reader will observe in these paragraphs from the
charters of Harvard College and Brown University the familiar exemption
of corporate property from taxation, and the exemption of persons
connected with these institutions not only from taxes, but also from
other public duties. The charter of Brown University refers explicitly
to European university privileges. Both of these charters, with some
amendments, are still in force.
And, further, be it ordered by this Court and the authority
thereof, that all the lands, tenements, or hereditaments, houses,
or revenues, within this jurisdiction, to the aforesaid President
or College appertaining, not exceeding the value of five hundred
pounds per annum, shall from henceforth be freed from all civil
impositions, taxes, and rates; all goods to the said Corporation,
or to any scholars thereof, appertaining, shall be exempted from
all manner of toll, customs, and excise whatsoever; and that the
said President, Fellows, and scholars, together with the
servants, and other necessary officers to the said President or
College appertaining, not exceeding ten,--viz. three to the
President and seven to the College belonging,--shall be exempted
from all personal civil offices, military exercises or services,
watchings and wardings; and such of their estates, not exceeding
one hundred pounds a man, shall be free from all country taxes or
rates whatsoever, and none others.[53]
And furthermore, for the greater encouragement of the Seminary of
learning, and that the same may be amply endowed and enfranchised
with the same privileges, dignities, and immunities enjoyed by
the American colleges, and European universities, We do grant,
enact, ordain, and declare, and it is hereby granted, enacted,
ordained, and declared, That the College estate, the estates,
persons, and families of the President and Professors, for the
time being, lying, and being within the Colony, with the persons
of the Tutors and students, during their residence at the
College, shall be freed and exempted from all taxes, serving on
juries, and menial services: And that the persons aforesaid shall
be exempted from bearing arms, impresses, and military services,
except in case of an invasion.[54]
Exemption from "watchings and wardings," and from "military
services, except in case of an invasion," is not included in the
list of privileges cited in the preceding sections, but it was
often conferred on mediaeval universities in almost the exact
terms of these charters.
5. THE INITIATIVE OF CIVIL OR ECCLESIASTICAL POWERS
Many universities originated without the express initiative of any civil
or ecclesiastical power. They either grew up slowly, as in the cases of
Bologna and Paris, or established themselves quickly through a migration
of students from some other university, as in the cases of Padua,
Vercelli, and Leipzig; but in either event the charters which gave them
standing as _Studia Generalia_, and the privileges emanating from
imperial, royal, princely, or papal authorities, were granted after,
rather than before, masters and students had gathered for their work.
The cases in which municipalities granted privileges to migrating bodies
of students, before their coming, are not included in the above
statement.
In some instances, however, civil and ecclesiastical authorities took
the initiative. Among other examples of universities established
directly by them may be cited Naples, founded by Emperor Frederick II,
1224; Toulouse, by Pope Gregory IX, 1230, 1233; Prague, by Emperor
Charles IV, 1348; Caen, by Henry VI of England, 1432. The motives which
led to this action were, on the one hand, the desire of political powers
for the support of learned men, especially lawyers; and, on the other,
the desire of the papacy for the more effective propagation of the
Catholic faith.[55]
The political motive appears in the Letters-patent of Henry VI for Caen,
1432:
It befits Royal Highness to govern with due magnificence the
peoples subject to him in times of wars and of peace, to the end
that they may be defended valorously and constantly from the
violence of enemies, and from wrongs offered them; and that they
may be rendered tranquil and quiet through laws and active
justice, by securing to each man his rights, with due regard to
the common interests. For we think that this sort of justice, so
excellent and advantageous, can never be practiced without the
industry of men of great learning, steeped in laws, divine and
human. And formerly our kingdom of France happily abounded in
such men; but many kinds of evil men swarmed in, by whom, in the
long process of time, the aforesaid kingdom, at one time through
the disturbances of civil war, and again through deadly
pestilence, and finally through the various butcheries of men,
and mighty famine--Alas! the pity of it!--has now been so shaken
that scarcely can a sufficient number of sound justices be found
in modern times, nor can others succeed, without great difficulty
and personal peril, in acquiring securely knowledge and
advancement, particularly in Civil Law; whence the aforesaid
kingdom, once governed with commendable justice, is subjected to
greater inconveniences unless a wholesome remedy be shortly
provided....
We therefore, by our special favor, royal authority and plenary
power, with the advice and consent of our distinguished Uncle
John, governor and regent of our aforesaid kingdom of France and
Duke of Bedford, and other nobles of our race, and of many wise
men of our great council, do constitute, place, establish, found,
and ordain forever by these present letters, a Studium Generale
in our city of Caen, in the Diocese of Bayeux [Normandy].
The king does this for the better government of the kingdom, for the
reason that no university exists within his jurisdiction in France, and
for the preservation of the study of law:
We therefore, who with extreme longing desire to have our
already-mentioned kingdom governed with justice and equity, and
restored so far as we shall be able with God's help [to restore
it] to its pristine glory, [establish this university]
attentively considering the fact that no Studium in Civil Law has
been established in our jurisdictions in France, and in the
duchies of Normandy, Burgundy, and Brittany, the counties of
Champagne and Flanders, the county of Picardy, and some other
parts of the kingdom itself that are united in loyalty and
obedience to us. [We do this] in order that the study of Civil
Laws may not disappear in the aforesaid places, to the
disadvantage of the State, but [that it] may become, under God's
guidance, vigorous to His glory, and the glory of our aforesaid
Kingdom, and may flourish as an ornament and an advantage to
future times.
The city of Caen is selected for the location of the university because
of its favorable position, character, and surroundings. It is
A city, forsooth, suitable, quiet, and safe, becomingly adorned
with noted monasteries, fraternities, cloisters, and homes of the
Mendicant Friars and other devout religious bodies; with an
overflowing population of mild-dispositioned, obedient, and
devout people; [a city] fit also because of its varied supply of
food and other things adapted to the needs of the human race;
prosperous and well-disposed, situated on fertile soil, and near
the sea, so that students, and merchants as well, can more
readily and easily come together there from almost all parts of
the world.
The King grants to the university--in order to establish its
prestige--all the privileges granted by royal authority to any other
university in France:
And, that the Doctors, Licentiates, Bachelors, students, and
dependents of the aforesaid university, and their households and
domestic servants, may be able the more freely and quietly to
devote themselves to letters and scholastic deeds, we will, by
our royal authority and plenary power, bestow upon these same
Doctors, Licentiates, Bachelors, students, dependents,
households, and domestic servitors, such and similar privileges,
franchises, and liberties as have been granted, given, and
bestowed by our predecessors the kings of France upon the rest of
the universities of our kingdom.
The king grants in particular the usual privilege of a special judge for
cases affecting members of the university:
And as Conservator of these [privileges] henceforth, we depute
and appoint our Bailiff of Caen now in office, and his successors
or whoever may hold that office; and to him we commit and consign
by these present letters the hearing, determination, and final
decision of cases and real actions [cases relating to conveyances
of property] relating to persons and property, against all
persons whatsoever who may be staying in our said Duchy of
Normandy, or who may possess property there, either
ecclesiastical or secular, if any action arises with regard to
them, whether of offence or defence.
We command our justiciaries and officers, or those holding their
places, one and all, to obey and to support efficiently the said
Bailiff, the Conservator, or whoever holds his place, in the
matters prescribed above, and such as are connected therewith.
And that the foregoing regulations may acquire strength and
firmness we have caused the present letters to be secured by the
affixing of our seal.[56]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 4: History of my Calamities, _l.c._ p. 4.]
[Footnote 5: McCabe, _Abelard_, pp. 75, 76, 78.]
[Footnote 6: _l.c._. p. 82.]
[Footnote 7: _l.c._ p. 89.]
[Footnote 8: _Ouvrages Inédits d' Abélard_, ed. V. Cousin, p. 16.]
[Footnote 9: _Sic et Non_, CLVI. The Latin text of this book is printed
in _Ouvrages Inédits d' Abélard_, ed. V. Cousin.]
[Footnote 10: _Metalogicus_, ed. Giles, I, 2, 3.]
[Footnote 11: _Metalogicus_, II, 10.]
[Footnote 12: Poole, pp. 119,114.]
[Footnote 13: _Metalogicus_, I, 24.]
[Footnote 14: _Metalogicus_, II, 10. The translation of this chapteris
adapted from Giles, _Works of John of Salisbury_, I, p. xiii, and R.L.
Poole, _Illustrations of the History of Mediaeval Thought_, pp. 210,
212.]
[Footnote 15: _Metalogicus_, II, 9.]
[Footnote 16: Denifle: _Die Entstehung der Universitäten des
Mittelalters_, I, 45, 46.]
[Footnote 17: See p. 115. The example given shows also an obvious
weakness of the method.]
[Footnote 18: John of Salisbury, _Metalogicus_, IV, 24.]
[Footnote 19: Document printed by Rashdall, Vol. II, Pt. II, p. 754.]
[Footnote 20: Chart. Univ. Paris., I, No. 11, p. 73.]
[Footnote 21: _l.c._ No. 20, p. 78.]
[Footnote 22: _l.c._ No. 79.]
[Footnote 23: _l.c._ No. 246.]
[Footnote 24: Zarncke, _Statutenbücher der Universität Leipzig_, p. 39.]
[Footnote 25: _Digest_, translated by C.H. Monro, p. xiii (preface to
_Code_).]
[Footnote 26: _l.c._ pp. xxv, xxvi.]
[Footnote 27: Rashdall, I, 208.]
[Footnote 28: Preface to the _Institutes_; translated by T.C. Sandars,
published by Longmans, Green & Co.]
[Footnote 29: _Code_, Bk. 12; 29, 2.]
[Footnote 30: A.D. 333, _Code_, Bk. 10; 53, 6.]
[Footnote A: Exodus, XVII. C.]
[Footnote B: Summary. Four classes of men are blamed under this caption,
i.e. dialecticians, who wrestle daily with the dialectic art; and
physicists, who raise their eyes athwart the heavens; and versifiers;
and the avaricious, who acquire wealth by fair means and foul, though at
the time they know not to whom they are going to leave it.]
[Footnote C: I.e., incidentally Hugo. Whether the clergy can give
attention to the books of the heathen.]
[Footnote D: And he does this as far as the paragraph, "But on the other
hand," (p. 66).]
[Footnote E: To the same effect C. de long. tem, praescript 1. fin. XXV.
quaest. I. ideo. Arc.]
[Footnote F: Summary. Under this caption Jerome set forth five cases.
For he says that they are drunken with wine who misunderstand and
pervert the sacred scriptures. Secondly, they are drunken with strong
drink who make a wrong use of profane wisdom. Thirdly, he sets forth who
should be called false prophets. Fourthly, who are divine. Fifthly, that
he eats sour grapes who expounds the scriptures otherwise than according
to the truth, even though it be not contrary to the faith.]
[Footnote G: Summary. In this section those priests are blamed by
Jerome, who cause their sons and nephews to read comedies and the verses
of the poets; because also to this purpose and to other base purposes
they divert the money of the church. Wherefore he says that such priest
should be punished as was Eli who fell prostrate from his seat and died
because he did not correct his sons. The statements which follow are
clear as far as paragraph "But on the other hand" (p. 64).]
[Footnote H: The ears of those who misunderstand should be torn off.]
[Footnote I: Tropology.]
[Footnote J: And _logos_, speech, whence, _tropologia_, i.e. the [moral]
application of the language. Hugo. As to this see 76 dist. jejunium. in
fin.]
[Footnote K: I King. II. C.]
[Footnote L: Another reading: in their disputations.]
[Footnote M: Another reading: "It pleased God to save his people for his
Kingdom" &c.]
[Footnote N: Summary. From now on, Gratian shows that the clergy ought
to be learned in profane knowledge. And this is shown from six
considerations. The first is stated at the beginning. The second begins:
"One reads also." The third begins: "In Leviticus." The fourth begins:
"The Magi, too." The fifth begins: "Finally." The sixth begins: "Hence
also Ambrose."]
[Footnote O: For as husks load the belly and fill it but do not satisfy,
so also this wisdom does not free from spiritual hunger nor banish
blindness. But it oppresses with the weight of sins and with the guilt
of hell. Whoever therefore, for the removing of the blindness of
ignorance seeks to learn other arts and knowledge desires to fill his
belly, as it were, with husks. According to Hugo.]
[Footnote P: Dan. I. a. Exodi III. & XI.]
[Footnote Q: Summary. Certain men forbade Christians to read the books
of the gentiles but Bede blames them, saying that they can well be read
without sin because profit may be derived from them, as in the cases of
Moses and Daniel, and also of Paul, who incorporated in his Epistles
verses of the poets, e.g. "The Cretans &c. &c."]
[Footnote R: Summary. Gratian solves the contradiction by saying that
one ought to learn profane knowledge in addition, not for pleasure but
for instruction, in order that the useful things, found therein may be
turned to the use of sacred learning. Hence Gregory blamed a certain
bishop, not for acquiring profane knowledge but because, for his
pleasure, he expounded grammar instead of the Gospel.]
[Footnote S: Another reading to the Unknown God, i.e. dative case.]
[Footnote T: Dionysius was converted by the preaching of Paul.]
[Footnote U: The Apostle used sentences from the poets.]
[Footnote V: Summary. This section is divided into two parts. In the
first part it is set down that it is not blameworthy if one learns
grammar and logic in order to distinguish the true and the false. In the
second part which begins with "Geometry and Arithmetic" it is set down
that the knowledges of the quadrivium have a truth of their own. But
they are not the knowledges of piety, and are not to be so applied. But
the Old and the New Testaments are knowledges of piety, and are to be
applied. And grammar, if applied to good uses may be made profitable.]
[Footnote W: Summary. Two questions were propounded by Jerome. The first
was whether it is a sin to learn the learning and knowledge of the
pagans, and Jerome answers that it is not, and proves this by the
example of four youths, Daniel, Ananias, Azarias, Misael, and by the
example of Moses. For these, had they known it to be a sin would not
have acquired the learning. For they did so in order to convince
unbelievers. Otherwise they would have been exposed to ridicule if, when
they were disputing with these unbelievers about their dogmas, they were
found to know nothing about them. The second question was, whether it is
a sin to cite secular laws in preaching or in discussion. And he replies
that it is not, because it is necessary to prove that those things which
the sacred writers have said are contained in the books of the heathen.]
[Footnote X: Dan. I.]
[Footnote Y: Summary. It was reported to Eugene at his Synod that in
certain regions there were no teachers to instruct others in the liberal
arts, and therefore he enjoined it upon all the bishops to establish
teachers in suitable places to teach others daily in liberal doctrines.]
[Footnote Z: Daniel and his companions.]
[Footnote AA: These were called under other names, Balthasar, Sidrac,
Misac, and Abednago. According to Hugo and Lau.]
[Footnote AB: as for example XX dist. ca. fina.]
[Footnote AC: Recourse is had at times from similars to similars.]
[Footnote AD: Virgil.]
[Footnote AE: Ovid.]
[Footnote 31: _Decretum Gratiani, Distinctio_ XXXVII. ed. Lyons, 1580.]
[Footnote 32: Denifle, I, 46.]
[Footnote 33: _Compendium Studii Theologiae;_ translated by J.S. Brewer
in R. Bacon, _Opera Inedita,_ p. lvi.]
[Footnote 34: One sentence of no importance is omitted from the
translation. The rest of the document is given below, p. 90. For a
slightly different version see D.C. Munro, "Translations and Reprints
from the Original Sources of European History," Vol. II, Pt. III, p. 2.]
[Footnote 35: Roger de Hoveden, _Chronica_, ed. Stubbs, IV, 120, 121.]
[Footnote 36: _Chart. Univ. Paris._, Vol. II, No. 657.]
[Footnote 37: Quoted from D.C. Munro, _Translations and Reprints_, Vol.
II, Pt. III.]
[Footnote 38: _Chart. Univ. Paris._, II, No. 1044.]
[Footnote 39: Rashdall, I, p. 147.]
[Footnote 40: _Chart. Univ. Paris._, I, No. 142.]
[Footnote 41: _l.c._, II, No. 1044.]
[Footnote 42: Rashdall, I, p. 343.]
[Footnote 43: F. Zarncke, _Statutenbücher der Universität Leipzig,_ p.
4.]
[Footnote 44: Fournier, _Statuts et Priv. des Univ. franç._, III, No.
1673.]
[Footnote 45: _Chart. Univ. Paris._, Vol. I, p. 59. Quoted from D.C.
Munro, _l.c._ p. 9.]
[Footnote 46: For the text of this charter in full, see D.C. Munro,
_l.c._ p. 7.]
[Footnote 47: Matthew Paris, _Chronica Majora_, III, 166-169.]
[Footnote 48: _Chart. Univ. Paris._, I, p. 119.]
[Footnote 49: Kashdall, I, pp. 11, 12.]
[Footnote 50: _Chart. Univ. Paris._, II, No. 578.]
[Footnote 51: Documents printed by Denifle, _Die Universitäten, _etc.,
pp. 801-803.]
[Footnote 52: Document printed by Rashdall, II, Pt. II, p. 746.]
[Footnote 53: Charter of Harvard College, 1650.]
[Footnote 54: Charter of Brown University, 1764.]
[Footnote 55: See Compayré, "Abelard," pp. 41-45, and 35-41.]
[Footnote 56: Fournier, _Statuts_, etc., III, No. 1644.]
IV
UNIVERSITY EXERCISES
The ways and means of teaching in mediaeval universities were few and
simple in comparison with those of our own times. The task of the
student was merely to become acquainted with a few books and to acquire
some facility in debate. The university exercises were shaped to secure
this result. They consisted in the Lecture, the Disputation or Debate,
the Repetition, the Conference, the Quiz, and the Examination.
Of these the first two and the last were by far the most important; they
are described in detail below. The Repetition, given in the afternoon or
evening, was either a detailed discussion of some point which could not
be treated in full in the "ordinary" lecture, or a simple re-reading of
the lecture, sometimes accompanied by catechism of the students upon its
substance. The Conference was an informal discussion between professor
and students at the close of a lecture, or a discussion of some portion
of the day's work by students alone. The Quiz was often held in the
afternoon at the student's hall or college, by the master in residence
there, as described on page 132.
(a) _The Lecture_
Lectures were of two kinds,--"ordinary," and "extraordinary" or
"cursory." The former were given in the morning, by professors; the
latter in the afternoon, either by professors or by students about to
take a bachelor's degree.
The purpose of the lecture was to read and explain the text of the book
or books of the course. The character of the lecture was largely
determined by the fact that all text-books, practically to the year
1500, were in manuscript, and by the further fact that many students
seem to have been unable or unwilling to purchase or hire copies. A
large part of the lecturer's time was thus consumed in the purely
mechanical process of reading aloud the standard text and comments. To
these he might add his own explanations; but the simple ability to "read
the book" intelligently was sufficient to qualify a properly licensed
Master, or a Bachelor preparing to take the Master's degree, to lecture
on a given subject. This accounts for the fact that youths of seventeen
or eighteen might be found giving occasional lectures, and that regular
courses were given by those not much over twenty-one.
The books thus read consisted of two parts,--the text, and the "glosses"
or comments. A glance at the selection on page 60 will reveal the nature
of the latter: they were summaries, explanations, controversial notes,
and cross-references, written by more or less learned scholars, in the
margin of the text. In the course of generations the mass of glosses
became so great as fairly to smother the original work. The selection
just referred to is not especially prolific in glosses; cases may be
found in which the text of a page occupies only three or four lines, the
rest of the space being completely filled with comments, and with
explanations of the comments. Instances of books explained to death are
not unknown in our own class-rooms!
The effect of this accumulation of comments was to draw the attention of
both teachers and students more and more away from the text. There is
evidence that in some instances the text was almost wholly neglected in
the attempt to master the glosses. University reforms at the end of the
fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century sometimes involved
the exclusion of this mass of "frivolous and obscure" comment from the
lectures, and a return to the study of the text itself. See the
introduction to the plan of studies for Leipzig, p. 48.
The selection from the Canon Law (p. 59 ff.) gives a good idea of the
substance of a dictated mediaeval lecture. Concerning the "original" and
more or less off-hand lecture we have the amusing account of Giraldus
Cambrensis (_c._ 1146-1220), in his "most flattering of all
autobiographies." After recounting--in the third person--his studies at
Paris in Civil and Canon Law, and Theology, he says:
He obtained so much favor in decretal cases, which were wont to
be handled Sundays, that, on the day on which it had become known
throughout the city that he would talk, there resulted such a
concourse of almost all the doctors with their scholars, to hear
his pleasing voice, that scarcely could the amplest house have
held the auditors.
And with reason, for he so supported with rhetorical
persuasiveness his original, wide-awake treatment of the Laws and
Canons, and so embellished his points both with figures and
flowers of speech and with pithy ideas, and so applied the
sayings of philosophers and authors, which he inserted in
fitting places with marvellous cleverness, that the more learned
and erudite the congregation, the more eagerly and attentively
did they apply ears and minds to listening and memorizing. Of a
truth they were led on and besmeared with words so sweet that,
hanging, as it were, in suspense on the lips of the
speaker,--though the address was long and involved, of a sort
that is wont to be tedious to many,--they found it impossible to
be fatigued, or even sated, with hearing the man.