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 UNIVERSITIES

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UNIVERSITIES

to such migrations, especially where some rival town offered inducements: hence the secessions from Bdlogna to Vicenza (1204), to Arozzo (1213), to Padua (1222), the "great dispersion" from Paris (1229), rind the migration (1209) from Oxford to Cambridge. But causes of a less tumultuous sort were also opera- tive. The privileges enjoyed by the hrst universities led other cities to seek similar advantages in order to keep their own scholars at home, and possibly attract outsiders, thereby adding to the local prosperity and prestige. Bologna and Paris served as patterns for the new organizations, and the desired privileges were sought from pope or civil ruler. It became, indeed, usual for the papal charter to include a set formula granting the new university "the same privileges, immunities, and liberties which are enjoyed by the masters and scholars of Paris" (or Bologna); thus Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, and Aberdeen were to a large extent modelled on Paris and Glasgow on Bologna. The Parisian type was also reproduced at the earhest German universities, Prague, Vienna, Erfurt, and Heidelberg; but these soon began to depart from the original. The Nations were of less importance; the rector might be chosen from any faculty; the authority was vested in permanent and endowed professors who predominated in the univer- sity council; and the colleges were under the control of the university, which kept the teaching in its own hands.

In Ireland the first step toward establishing a uni- versity was taken by John Lech, Archbishop of Dub- lin. At his instance, Clement V issued, 11 July, 1113, a Bull for the erection of a university near Dublin; Lech, however, died a year later, and nothing was accomplished until his successor, Alexander de Bicknor, in 1320 estabUshed a university at St. Patrick's Cathedral with the approval of Pope John XXII. The first chancellor was William Rodiart, Dean of St. Patrick's, and the first graduates WiUiam de Hardite, O.P., Edward of Karwarden, O.P., and Henry Cogry, O.F.M. Lectures were still given in 1358; in that year Edward II issued letters-patent protecting the members of the university on their travels, and in 1364, Lionel, Duke of Clarence, founded a lectureship. The university failed for want of endowment, as did also the one founded by the Irish Parliament at Drogheda in 1465.

The Founders: Popes and Civil Rulers. — In view of the importance of the universities for culture and progress, it is quite intelligible that there .should be considerable discussion and divergence of opinion regarding the authority which should receive credit for their foundation. It has, e. g., been maintained that only the pope could establish a university; con- trariwise, it has been held that such an establishment wa-s the exclusive prerogative of the civil rulers, i. e. emperor and king. These, however, are extreme positions, neither of which accords with the facts, while both are based on a study of a limited group of universities and, in large measure, on a failure to appreciate the relations of Church and State in the thirteenth century. From misunderstandings on the latter point erroneous conclusions have been drawn, not only regarding the origins of universities, but also the general attitude of the age towards the paiJaey antl vice versa. Once it is settled, e. g. that, according to the view prevalent in the thirteenth century, only the pope could found a university, it is easy to interpret any similar foundation by a monarch or any initiative takenby a municipality, as evidence of host ihty to the Holy See and as a first move towards that "emancipa- tion" which actually came to pass in the sixteenth century. By the same sort of reasoning the inference is drawn that the popes resented the action of the ci\nl power in granting charters, and repressed all attempts at freedom on the part of the universities themselves. To set thc.se conclusions in the proper

light, it is sufficient to glance at the various modes of foundation.

Previous to the Reformation SI universities were established. Of these 13 had no charter; they devel- oped .-iiiontaneously ex consueludine; 33 had only the pajial charter; 15 were foumleil liy imjjcrial or royal authority; 20 by both painil and imperial (or royal) charters. Once the oldest uui\ersities, especially Paris and Bologna, had gniwn to fame and influence so that their graduates ciLJijyed the licenlia ubique docendi, it was recognizrd that a new institution, in order to become a siudium generate, rec}uired the authorization of the supreme authority, i. e. of the pope as head of the Church or of the emperor as protector of all Christendom. Thus in "Las Siete Partidas" (1256-1263), Alfonso el Sabio declares that a " studium generale must be estabhshed by man- date of the pope, the emperor, or the king"; and St. Thomas (Op. contra impugn, relig., c. iii): "ordinarc de studio pertinet ad eum qui prteest reipublica?, et praecipue ad authoritatem apostolicae sedis qua uni- versalis ecclesia gubernatur, cui per generale studium providetur", i. e. in the matter of universities the authority belongs to the chief ruler of the common- wealth and especially to the Apostolic See, the head of the universal Church, "the interest of which is fur- thered by the university". These last words contain the essential reason for seeking authorization from the pope: the university was not to be a merely local or national institution; its teaching and its degrees were to be recognized throughout the Christian world. On the other hand, in the civil order, the emperor was supreme; hence he conferred on the imiversities founded by him, without any papal charter, the right to grant degrees in all the faculties, theology and canon law included. The imperial charters were recognized by the popes and, whenever necessary, additional privileges were granted. It cannot then be said that the action of MaximiUan I in founding (1502) the University of Wittenberg was an epo<-h- making event: Charles IV had long before done the same for Siena, Arezzo, and Orange, and the charters with which he founded Pavia and Lucca preceded by twenty years the papal grants.

The kings were not on the same plane as the em- peror. They could indeed found a university, appoint the chancellor, and authorize him to confer degrees; but they could not establish a sludiutn generale in the full sense of the term; what they founded was a uni- versity respedu regni, i. e. the degrees it granted were vahd only within the limits of the kingdom. To secure vmiversal recognition for them, papal action was necessary. This was the situation at Naples, founded (1224) by Frederick II, and especially in the Spanish universities. The kings themselves were aware of their limitations in this respect, and accord- ingly sought the papal authorization. The popes on their part recognized the royal charters;is valid, and added to these the character of universality required for a studium generale. In some cases the papal intervention was necessary and was sought, not simi)ly to confirm what the king had established, but to save or revive the university: such e. g. were the measun-s taken by Honorius III (1220) for Palencia, by Clement VII (1379) for Perpignan, and by Julius li (1464) for Huesca — all royal foundations which showed no vitality until the pope came to their assis- tance. The power of bishops and municipahties was, of course, still more restricted. They could take the initiative by calling profe,s,s(irs, establishing courses of study, and providing endowments; but sooner or later they were obliged to seek authoriza- tion from the pope. This wa-s notably the case in Italy where the free and enterprising cities (Tri'viso, Pisa, Florence, Siena), stimulated by Bologna's example, undertook the founding of their own uni- versities. At Siena, it seemed at first that the