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SUPPLEMENTARY READING

Graves, During the Transition (Macmillan, 1910), chap. VI; Monroe, Text-book (Macmillan, 1905), pp. 292–313. For a good account of all The Great Schoolmen of the Middle Ages (Hodder, London, 1881), see the work of Townsend, W. J.; for the beginnings of scholasticism, Mullinger, J. B., The University of Cambridge (Longmans, Green, 1888), vol. I, pp. 47-64; for the life and influence of Abelard, Compayré, G., Abelard (Scribner, 1893), chap. I; McCabe, J., Abelard (Putnam, 1901); and Rashdall, H., The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1895), vol. I, chap. II.

CHAPTER IX

THE MEDIEVAL UNIVERSITIES

OUTLINE

Universities began to spring up toward the close of the Middle Ages. Through local conditions, a course in medicine arose at Salerno; in civil and canon law at Bologna; and in theology at Paris. Bologna became the pattern for numerous universities in the South; and Paris for many in the North.

Popes and sovereigns granted privileges by charter to the various universities. The term 'university' originally signified a 'corporation' of students and teachers, and the students were usually grouped according to 'nations.' The teaching body was divided into four or five 'faculties.'

The course in arts included the seven liberal arts and portions of Aristotle; in civil and canon law, the Corpus Juris Civilis of Justinian and the Decree of Gratian respectively; in medicine, the treatises of Greek and other medical writers; and in theology, mostly the Sententiæ of Peter the Lombard. The texts were read and explained by the lecturers, and a practical training in debate was furnished.

While the courses and methods were narrow and formal, the mediæval university contained the germ of modern inquiry and did much to foster independence of thought and action.

The Rise of Universities.-A most important effect upon subsequent education came through the foundation of the mediæval universities. These institutions grew out of the old cathedral and monastic schools, but found their models largely in the liberal and pro

fessional courses of the Moorish colleges. In general,

product of all

in the Middle

they came into existence through the many broadening In general a influences of the later Middle Ages. Their rise was in- that was best timately connected with the stimulus of the Moslem Ages. presentation of Greek philosophy and science, with the interest in dialectic and theological discussions, which led to the development of scholasticism, with the reaction from 'otherworldliness' resulting from the ideals of chivalry, and with the growth of cities and wealth, and the consequent emphasis upon secular interests and knowledge (see chap. xi). However, while they were all more or less the product of the same factors, no two sprang from exactly the same set of causes, and special conditions played a part in the evolution of each university.

medical school

The Foundation of Universities at Salerno, Bologna, and Paris. The oldest of these institutions, that at Salerno, near Naples, was simply a school of medicine, and originated through the survival of the old Greek Causes of the medical works in Southwestern Italy, and through the at Salerno. attraction of the mineral springs and salubrity of this particular place. By the middle of the eleventh century Salerno was well known as the leading place for medical study. It was, however, never chartered as a regular university, although in 1231 Frederick II recognized it as the school of medicine for the university he had created at Naples some seven years earlier.

On the other hand, Northern Italy became known as a center for the study of Roman law. The cities here, in order to defend their independence, were led to study this Origin of the subject, and endeavored to find some special charter, Bologna

grant, or edict from the old Roman emperors upon which to base their claims. Several northern centers were

courses at

in civil law

renowned for their investigation of the Roman civil law, but early in the twelfth century Bologna became preeminent through the lectures of Irnerius. By him the entire Corpus Juris Civilis, a compilation of Roman law made by eminent jurists in the sixth century at the command of the emperor Justinian, was collected and critically discussed. Influenced by this example, a monk of Bologna, named Gratian, undertook to codify all edicts and formulations of popes and councils in a convenient text-book. The Decree of Gratian, which resulted, was almost immediately recognized as the authority upon the subject, and canon law came to be studied and canon law. here with the same thoroughness as civil law. The university at Bologna was regularly chartered by Frederick Barbarossa in 1158, probably as a recognition of the services of its masters in support of his imperial claims, and faculties of arts, medicine, and theology were established at various times. It was thus the first real university, and its reputation soon became widespread.

of liberal arts

at Paris.

Next in order of foundation came the university at Paris, which was by far the most famous of all. The Development special interest here, as in this part of Europe generally, and theology was dialectic and scholasticism. The university grew out of the cathedral school at Notre Dame, which had acquired considerable reputation under the headship of William of Champeaux, Abelard, and Peter the Lombard, but it was not until 1200, after canon law and medicine had been added to the liberal arts and theology, that it received complete recognition by the charter of Philip Augustus.

Bologna and Paris as the Models for Other Universities.-Salerno, as we have seen, was not a real univer

sity, and it did not reproduce its type; but Bologna, and even more Paris, became the mother of universities, for many other institutions were organized after their general plans. At Bologna the students, who were usually mature men, had entire charge of the government of the university. They selected the masters and determined the fees, length of term, and time of beginning. But in Paris, where the students were younger, the government was in the hands of the masters. Consequently, new foundations in the North, where Paris was the type, usually became 'master-universities,' while those of the 'MasterSouth were 'student-universities.' During the thir- in the North, but 'studentteenth and fourteenth centuries it became fashionable for universities in the South. the authorities, civil and ecclesiastical, to charter existing organizations or to found new institutions on one of these two plans, and by the time the Renaissance was well started about eighty universities had been established in Europe. Not all of these foundations were permanent, however, for some thirty have, in the course of time, become extinct, and those which remain are much changed in character.

universities'

Privileges Granted to the Universities. From the time of the earliest official recognition of the universities, a large variety of exemptions, immunities, and other special privileges were conferred upon the organizations or upon their masters and students, by the charters of popes, emperors, kings, and municipalities. The students of the universities were in many instances taken under the immediate protection of the sovereign, and were al- Protection and lowed to be tried in special courts of their own, independent of civil jurisdiction, and to possess complete autonomy in all their internal affairs. Generally masters, students,

autonomy,

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