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 UNIVERSITIES

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UNIVERSITIES

attempt to get on without either imperial or papal chai'ter would succeed; the studium, inaugurated in 127.5, had ample funds and a large body of professors and students which was considerably increased by an emigration from Bologna (1312) ; yet in 1325 it was on the verge of collapsing, and its existence was not secured until it obtained university privileges from Charles IV in 1357 and papal grants from Gregory XII in 1404. St. Andrews in Scotland was more for- tunate. It was founded by Bishop Henry Wardlaw in 1411; but shortly after its opening the bishop in a document addressed 27 Feb., 1412, to the masters and scholars speaks of the "universitas a nobis salva tamen sedis apostohce auctoritate de facto instituta et fundata". Six months later (28 Aug., 1412), Benedict XIII (Avignon) issued the charter of foim- dation, and appointed Wardlaw as chancellor.

There is no ground, then, for the inference that the founding of universities by the civil power and their organization by laymen for lay students was a symp- tom of antagonism to the Holy See or an attempt at emancipation from the authority of the Church. Such an interpretation of the facts merely projects modern ideas back into a period in which an entirely different spirit prevailed. That spirit was one of co-operation, even of emulation, in a common cause; and neither the spirit nor the cause would have been possible but for the unity of faith and of hierarchical jurisdiction which held the West together in one Church. Had this unity included all Christendom, the East would doubtless have had its share in the university movement; at any rate, it is significant that in Russia and the other countries dominated by the schismatic Cireek Church, no university was established during the Middle Ages.

Besides issuing charters the popes contributed in various ways to the development and prosperity of the universities. (1) Clerics who held benefices were dispensed from the obligation of residence, if they absented themselves in order to attend a university. Both lay and clerical students enjoyed certain exemp- tions, e. g. from taxation, from military service, from the jm'isdiction of the ordinary courts, and from cita- tion to courts at a distance from Paris (pririlegiuin fori). To safeguard these privileges was the special duty of the conservator Apostolic, usually a bishop or archbishop appointed by the pope for this purpose.

(2) By the Bull "Parens scientiarum" (1231), the Magna Charta of the university of Paris, Gregory IX authorized the masters, in the event of an outrage committed by any one on a master or a scholar and not redressed within fifteen days, to suspend their lectures. This right of cessation was frequently made use of in conflicts between town and gown.

(3) On various occasions the popes intervened to protect the scholars against the encroachments of the local civil authorities: Honorius III (1220) took the part of the scholars at Bologna when the pndestA drew up statutes that interfered with their liberties; Nicholas IV (1288) threatened to disrupt the studium at Padua unless the municipal authorities repealed within fifteen days the ordinances they had framed against the masters and scholars. Even the chancel- lor of Paris, when he demanded of the masters an oath of obedience to himself, was checked by Inno- cent III (1212), and his powers were greatly reduced by the action of later popes. It became in fact quite common for the university to lay its grievances before the Holy See, and its appeal was usually successful.

(4) In many instances, e.fpecially in Germany, the endowment of the universities was drawn, largely if not entirely, from the revenues of the monasteries and chapters. More than once the pope intervened to secure the payment of their salaries to the professors, e. g. Boniface VIII (1301) and Clement V (1313) at Salamanca; Clement VI (1346) at Valladohd; and Gregory IX (1236) at Toulouse, where Count Ray-

mond had refused to pay the salaries. The popes also set the example of endowing colleges, and these, founded by kings, bishops, priests, nobles, or private citizens, became not only residential halls for students but also the chief financial support of the university.

II. Academic Work akd Development. — The Academic Year. — In the earUer period lectures were given throughout the year, with short recesses at Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost and a longer vaca- tion in summer. At Paris this vacation was Umited by order of Gregory IX (1261) to one month, but by the end of the fourteenth century it had been extended for the arts faculty from 25 June to 25 Aug., for the- ology and canon law from 28 June to 15 Sept. The year really began on 1 Oct., and was divided into two periods; the grand ordinary, from 1 Oct. to Easter; and the little ordinary, from Easter to the end of June. At Bologna the vacation began 7 Sept., and the scho- lastic year opened again on 19 Oct.; this, however, was interrupted for ten days at Christmas, two weeks at Easter, and three weeks at carnival. In Germany, there was considerable difference between the calen- dars of the various universities and even between those of the faculties at the same university. In general, the year began about the middle of October and closed toward the end of June. But at Cologne, Heidelberg, and Vienna there was a httle ordinary from 25 Aug., to 9 Oct. The vacation, however, was not a complete suspension of academic work; the extraordinary lectures, given for the most part by bachelors, were continued, and credit was given to students who attended them. About the middle of the fifteenth century, the division of the year into two semesters, summer and winter, was introduced at Leipzig, and eventually was adopted by the other German universities.

Lectures. — Both the annual calendar and the daily schedule took into accoimt the distinction between ordinary and extraordinary or cursory lectures. This originated at Bologna where certain books of the civil law ("Digestum Vetus" and "Code") were ordinary, while others ("Infortiatum", "Digestum novum", and the smaller textbooks) were extraordinary. In canon law, the ordinary books were the Decretum and the five books of the Decretals (Gregory IX) ; the extraordinary were the Clementines and Exirava- gants. Ordinary lectures were reserved to doctors, and were given in the forenoon; extraordinarylec- tures, known at Paris as cursory, and given by masters or by bachelors, were assigned to the afternoon during the year; in the vacation they might be given at any time of the day, as the ordinary lectures were then suspended. Cursory meant either that the lecture was followed by the cursores, i. e. candidates for the license, or that it ran rapidly over the subject- matter, whereas the treatment in the ordinary lecture was more thorough.

In all the faculties the work of teaching centred about books, i. e. the texts, compilations, and glosses which were regarded as the chief authorities in each subject. At the beginning of the year (or semester) the books were distributed among the professors, who were obhged to use them in accordance with the regulations established by each faculty regarding the daily schedule, the length of the course, the hall to be used, the academic dress to be worn, and the method to be followed. The lecture was in the strict sense a pniiectio (whence the German Vorksung); the pro- fessor had to read the text; in the ordinary lectures, he was not allowed to dictate anything beyond the divisions and conclusions and such corrections of the text as he deemed necessary. The scholars were supposed to have their own copies of the text ; if they were too poor to procure the books, the professor might dictate the text to them, not in the regular lecture but at special classes or exercises (repetitions). The plan of the lecture was analytic: careful explana-