Chapter VIII: Introduction (4)

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withdrawn from their markets [in order to raise the price?]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._

There is no question that the long series of privileges granted to 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 Inedits d' Abelard_, ed. V. Cousin, p. 16.]

[Footnote 9: _Sic et Non_, CLVI. The Latin text of this book is printed in _Ouvrages Inedits d' Abelard_, 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 Universitaeten 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, _Statutenbuecher der Universitaet 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, _Statutenbuecher der Universitaet Leipzig,_ p. 4.]

[Footnote 44: Fournier, _Statuts et Priv. des Univ. franc._, 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 Universitaeten, _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 Compayre, "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.

And so the scholars strove to take down all his talks, word for
word, as they emanated from his lips, and to adopt them with
great eagerness. Moreover, on a certain day when the concourse
from all parts to hear him was great, when the lecture was over
and was followed by a murmur of favorable applause from all the
throng, a certain distinguished Doctor who both had lectured on
the Arts at Paris and long studied on the laws at Bologna, whose
name was Master Roger the Norman, ... broke out openly in
expressions of this sort: "There is not such knowledge under the
sun, and if it were by chance reported at Paris, it would, beyond
a doubt, carry incomparable weight there, far more so than
anywhere else." Now the opening--as it were, the proem--of that
talk I have not considered it inappropriate to introduce here; so
this is the way it began:

"I had proposed to hear before being heard, to learn before
speaking, to hesitate before debating. For to cultured ears and
to men of the highest eloquence my speech will appear to have
little marrow in its views, and its poverty of words will seem
jejune. For idle is it, and utterly superfluous, to offer that
which is arid to the eloquent, and that which is stale to men of
knowledge and wisdom. Whence our Moral Seneca, and, quoting from
him, Sidonius, says:

"'Until Nature has drunk in knowledge, it is not greater glory to
speak what you know than to be silent about what you do not
know.'

"And yet, since, on the testimony of Augustine, 'Every part out
of harmony with its whole is base,' that I may not seem the sole
anomaly among you, or, where others speak, be found by my silence
a disciple of Pythagoras surpassing the rest, I have chosen to be
found ridiculous for my speaking, rather than out of harmony for
my silence.

"What note then shall the noisy goose emit in the presence of the
clear-songed swans? Shall he offer new things, or things well
known? Things often considered and trite generate disgust; new
things lack authority. For, as Pliny says: 'It is an arduous task
to give novelty to old things, authority to new things,
brightness to things obsolete, charm to things disdained, light
to obscure things, credence to doubtful things, and to all things
naturalness!'

"The question which we have before us is old, but not
inveterate,--a question often argued, but whose decision is still
pending: Should a Judge decide according to the evidence, or
according to his conviction?"

Now he supported the second, but far less justifiable view, by
arguments taken from the Laws and the Canons, so forcible that,
while all were amazed, all were uncertain whether greater praise
should be given to the ornateness of the words or to the efficacy
of the arguments.[57]

The mode of lecturing on Roman Law at Bologna is thus described by Odofredus (_c._ 1200-1265), a distinguished teacher:

First, I shall give you summaries of each title [i.e., each
chapter into which the books are divided] before I proceed to the
text; second, I shall give you as clear and explicit a statement
as I can of the purport of each Law (included in the title);
thirdly, I shall read the text with a view to correcting it;
fourthly, I shall briefly repeat the contents of the Law;
fifthly, I shall solve apparent contradictions, adding any
general principles of Law (to be extracted from the passage),
commonly called "Brocardica," and any distinctions or subtle and
useful problems (_quaestiones_) arising out of the Law, with
their solutions, as far as the Divine Providence shall enable me.
And if any Law shall seem deserving, by reason of its celebrity
or difficulty, of a Repetition, I shall reserve it for an evening
Repetition.[58]

The varied statement and restatement of the passage, implied in the foregoing description, was doubtless necessary to make it intelligible to the not-too-keen minds of the auditors. As Rashdall points out, it "makes no mention of a very important feature of all mediaeval lectures,--the reading of the 'glosses.'" This is mentioned in the Bologna statutes now to be cited.

There are numerous statutes on the mode of lecturing. At Bologna, and doubtless elsewhere, professors seem to have experienced the difficulty, not unknown to modern teachers, of getting through the entire course within the prescribed time. The students, who regulated the conduct of their teachers, made stringent rules to prevent this, and punished violations of them by fines large enough to make professors take due caution:

We have decreed also that all Doctors actually lecturing must
read the glosses immediately after reading the chapter or the
law, unless the continuity of the chapters or of the laws
requires otherwise, taking the burden in this matter on their own
consciences in accordance with the oath they have taken. Nor,
with regard to those things that are not to be read, must they
yield to the clamor of the scholars. Furthermore we decree that
Doctors, lecturing ordinarily or extraordinarily, must come to
the sections assigned _de novo_, according to the regulations
below. And we decree, as to the close observance by them of the
passages, that any Doctor, in his ordinary lecturing in Canon or
Civil Law, must deposit, fifteen days before the Feast of Saint
Michael, twenty-five Bologna pounds with one of the treasurers
whom the rectors have appointed; which treasurer shall promise to
give said money to the rectors, or the general beadle in their
name, all at once or in separate amounts, as he shall be required
by them or by him.

The form, moreover, to be observed by the Doctors as to the
sections is this: Let the division of the book into sections
(_puncta_) be determined, and then let him be notified. [And if
any Doctor fails to reach any section on the specified date he
shall be fined three Bologna pounds, while for a second offense
he shall be fined five pounds, and for a third and each
succeeding violation of the rule, ten pounds.] And if the
twenty-five pounds are exhausted, he must deposit in said place a
second twenty-five pounds; and the second deposit must be made
within eight days from the time when the first was exhausted....

We decree also that no Doctor shall hereafter exceed one section
in one lecture. And if the contrary be done by any one he shall
be charged with perjury and punished to the extent of three
pounds, to be taken from the money deposited for the purpose; and
as often as the violation occurs, so often shall the penalty be
inflicted, so long as the statute is in force; and the Rector
also must exact it.

We add that at the end of a section the Doctors must announce to
the scholars at what section they are to begin afterwards, and
they shall be obliged to follow that section which they have
begun, even to the end of the section. But if by chance, after
due weight is given to the glosses or text, it seems useful to
transfer a part of the lecture to another section, he shall be
obliged in his preceding lecture to announce that to the
scholars, so that those who wish may make provision beforehand;
under penalty of five Bologna shillings for each occasion for the
Doctor who does to the contrary.

We order this statute to be published in each school at the
beginning of the term....

Since topics not read by the Doctors are completely neglected
and consequently are not known to the scholars, we have decreed
that no Doctor shall omit from his sections any chapter,
decretal, law, or paragraph. If he does this he shall be obliged
to read it within the following section. We have also decreed
that no decretal or decree or law or difficult paragraph shall be
reserved to be read at the end of the lecture if, through such
reservation, promptness of exit at the sound of the appointed
bell is likely to be prevented.[59]

A lecture might be either dictated or delivered rapidly, "to the minds rather than to the pens," of the auditors. For pedagogic and possibly other reasons, the latter method seems to have been preferred by the authorities; but lecturers, and students who desire to get full notes, seem to have insisted upon dictation. A statute of the Masters of Arts at Paris, 1355, is one of several unsuccessful attempts to enforce rapid delivery:

Two methods of reading the books of the Liberal Arts have been
tried: By the first, the Masters of Philosophy from their chairs
rapidly set forth their own words, so that the mind of the
listener can take them in, but his hand is not able to write them
down; by the second, they pronounce them slowly so that the
listeners are able to write them down in their presence with the
pen. By diligent examination and mutual comparison of these ways
the first method is found to be the better, because the
conceptual power of the ordinary mind warns us to imitate it in
our lectures. Therefore, we, one and all, Masters of Arts, both
lecturing and not lecturing, being especially convoked for this
purpose ... have made a statute to this effect: All lecturers,
Masters as well as Scholars, of the same Faculty, whenever and
wherever they happen to be reading any book in regular order or
course in the same Faculty, or to be discussing a question
according to this or any other method of exposition, shall follow
the former method of reading to the best of their ability, to
wit: presenting it as though no one were writing it in their
presence. It is in accordance with this method that discourses
and recommendations are made in the University, and it is
followed by Lecturers in the rest of the Faculties.

Transgressors of this Statute, whether Masters or Scholars, we
deprive thenceforth of their positions as lecturers, of honors,
offices, and the rest of their means of support under our
Faculty, for one year. But if any one repeats the offense, we
double the penalty for the first repetition; for the second, we
quadruple it, and so on. And auditors who interfere with the
execution of this our Statute by shouting or whistling or raising
a din, or by throwing stones, either personally or through their
attendants or accomplices, or in any other way, we deprive of and
cut off from our company for one year, and for each repetition we
increase the penalty to twice and four times the length as
above.[60]

(b) _The Disputation._

The disputation, or debate, one of the most important university exercises, "first became really established in the schools as a result of the new method." (Cf. page 35.) This exercise was sometimes carried on in the manner of a modern debate; to "respond" in the schools (i.e., to defend a thesis in public debate), and to "oppose" (i.e., to argue against the respondent), was a common requirement for all degrees. Scholars and masters frequently posted in public places theses to the argument of which they challenged all comers, just as a knight might challenge all comers at a tournament to combat. In such cases the respondent usually indicated the side of the question which he would defend. This practice, in a modified form, still exists in some European universities in the public examinations for the Doctor's degree.

In another mode, the disputation was carried on by a single person, who argued both sides of the question and drew the conclusion in favor of one side or the other. This was of course merely the oral use of the method of exposition commonly found in the works of scholastic philosophers and theologians. The lecture of Giraldus Cambrensis described above (page 109) was doubtless of this type. A complete example is to be found in Dante's "Quaestio de Aqua et Terra." The brief of the arguments on both sides of this question is here reproduced with some modifications. It illustrates not only the exercise itself, but also the ponderous complications which the scholastic method received at the hands of Abelard's successors, and the weakness of that method when applied to questions of natural science. The reader will note that the argument no longer proceeds by the simple citation of authorities pro and con; the reasonings of the debater are also introduced. Moreover, the argument is more complex. It involves first the statement of the affirmative position; second, the refutation of the affirmative by observation and by reasoning; third, objections to the refutation by reasoning; fourth, refutation of these objections; fifth, final refutation of the original arguments.

_Introduction_: Author's reasons for undertaking the discussion.

Let it be known to you all that, whilst I was in Mantua, a
certain Question arose, which, often argued according to
appearance rather than to truth remained undetermined.
Wherefore, since from boyhood I have ever been nurtured in love
of truth, I could not bear to leave the Question I have spoken of
undiscussed: rather I wished to demonstrate the truth concerning
it, and likewise, hating untruth as well as loving truth, to
refute contrary arguments. And lest the spleen of many, who, when
the objects of their envy are absent, are wont to fabricate lies,
should behind my back transform well-spoken words, I further
wished in these pages, traced by my own fingers, to set down the
conclusion I had reached and to sketch out, with my pen, the form
of the whole controversy.

THE QUESTION: IS WATER, OR THE SURFACE OF THE SEA, ANYWHERE
HIGHER THAN THE EARTH, OR HABITABLE DRY LAND?

AFFIRMATIVE ARGUMENT: Five affirmative arguments generally
accepted.

_Reason 1._ Geometrical Proof: Earth and Water are spheres with
different centers; the center of the Earth's sphere is the center
of the universe; consequently the surface of the Water is above
that of the Earth.

_Reason 2._ Ethical Proof: Water is a nobler element than Earth;
hence it deserves a nobler, or higher, place in the scheme of the
universe.

_Reason 3._ Experimental Proof: based on sailors seeing the land
disappear under their horizon when at sea.

_Reason 4._ Economical Proof: The supply of Water, namely, the
sea, must be higher than the Earth; otherwise, as Water flows
downwards, it could not reach, as it does, the fountains, lakes,
etc.

_Reason 5._ Astronomical Proof: Since Water follows the moon's
course, its sphere must be excentric, like the moon's excentric
orbit; and consequently in places be higher than the sphere of
Earth.

NEGATIVE ARGUMENT: These reasons unfounded.