Chapter II: Refutation by Reasoning

A. _Water cannot be higher than the dry land._
_Proof_: Water could only be higher than the Earth,
1. If it were excentric, or
2. If it were concentric, but had some excrescence.

But since

_x_. Water naturally moves downwards,
and
_y_. Water is naturally a fluid body:

1. Cannot be true, for three impossibilities would follow:
_a_. Water would move upwards as well as downwards;
_b_. Water and Earth would move downwards in different
directions;
_c_. Gravity would be taught ambiguously of the two bodies.

Proof of these impossibilities by a diagram.

2. Cannot be true, for
_a_. The Water of the excrescence would be diffused, and
consequently the excrescence could not exist:
_b_. It is unnecessary, and what is unnecessary is contrary
to the will of God and Nature.

B. _All land is higher than the sea._
_Proof_: It has been shown that Water is of one level, and
concentric with the Earth:
Therefore, since the shores are higher than the edges of the sea,
and since the shores are the lowest portions of the land,
It follows that all the land is higher than the sea.

C. _Objections to the foregoing reasoning, and their refutation._
1. _Possible affirmative argument_: Earth is the heaviest body;
hence it is drawn down to its own center, and lies beneath the
lighter body, Water.
2. _Objection to this argument_: Earth is the heaviest body only
by comparison with others; for Earth is itself of different
weights.
3. _Refutation of this objection_: On the contrary, Earth is a
simple body, and as such subject to be drawn equally in every part.
4. _Answer to the refutation, with minor objections and their
refutation._

Since the objection is in itself sound, and
Earth by its own Particular Nature, due to the
stubbornness of matter, would be lower than the
sea; and since Universal Nature requires that
the Earth project somewhere, in order that its
object, the mixture of the elements, may be
fulfilled:

It follows that there must be some final and efficient
cause, whereby this projection may be accomplished.

_a_. The final cause has been seen to be the purpose
of Universal Nature.
_b_. The efficient cause cannot be (i) the Earth,
(ii) the Water, (iii) the Air or Fire, (iv) the
heaven of the Moon, (v) the Planets, nor (vi)
the Primum Mobile:

Therefore it must be ascribed to the heaven of
the Fixed Stars (for this has variety hi efficiency,
as is seen in the various constellations),
and in particular to those Stars of the Northern
Hemisphere which overhang the dry land.

(_x_) _First objection_: Why is the projecting
continent then, not circular, since the
motion of these stars is circular?

_Answer_: Because the material did not
suffice for so great an elevation.

(_y_) _Second objection_: Why is this elevation
in this particular place?

_Answer_: Because God whose ways are
inscrutable, willed it so.

We should therefore desist from examining
too closely the reasons, which we
can never hope to fathom.

D. _Refutation of the original arguments_:
_Reason 1._ Invalid because Earth and Water are spheres
with the same center.
_Reason 2._ Invalid because of the external influence of
Universal Nature, counteracting the internal influence
of Particular Nature.
_Reason 3._ Invalid because it is sphericity of the sea and
not the lowness of the land which interferes with one's
view at sea.
_Reason 4._ Invalid because Water does not flow to the
tops of mountains, but ascends thither in the form of
vapors.
_Reason 5._ Invalid because Water imitating the moon in
one respect, need not imitate it in all.[61]

This brief obviously illustrates much more than the form of the mediaeval Disputation. It leaves one in no doubt as to the difference between the natural science of the Middle Ages and that of our own time. It also illustrates the weakness of the scholastic method when applied to questions which modern science would settle by experiment. The argument abounds in misstatements of fact, the conclusion is incorrect, and the "reasoning" by which it is reached can be described, from the modern point of view, only as grotesque. The weakness of the method was recognized by Roger Bacon so early as the thirteenth century. The growing recognition of its futility finds repeated expression in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, notably in the New Method (Novum Organum) of Francis Bacon.

Like the scholastic method and the worship of Aristotle, the Disputation fell into disrepute because of the extravagant lengths to which it was carried. The following sarcastic criticism by the Spanish scholar, Juan Luis Vives (1462-1540), is one illustration of the growing revolt of his times against it:

Disputations, also, to no slight degree have blinded judgment.
They were instituted originally (but only among young men) to
stimulate mental vigor, often torpid, and to make young men
keener in their studies, so that they might either conquer or not
be conquered, and also that the instruction received from their
teachers might be more deeply impressed upon them.

Among men, or older persons, there was a kind of comparison of
opinions and reasons, not aimed at victory but at unravelling the
truth. The very name testifies that they are called disputations
because by their means the truth is, as it were, pruned or purged
[dis = apart; puto = to prune, or to cleanse]. But after praise
and reward came from listeners to the one who seemed to have the
best ideas, and out of the praise often came wealth and
resources, a base greed of distinction or money took possession
of the minds of the disputants, and, just as in a battle, victory
only was the consideration, and not the elucidation of truth. So
that they defended strenuously whatever they once had said, and
overthrew and trampled upon their adversary.

Low and sordid minds such as with drooping heads look solely at
such trivial and ephemeral results, regarded as of small
consequence the great benefit that results from study:--namely
probity or knowledge of truth; and these two things they did not
regard with sufficient acuteness nor did they comprehend their
great value, but they sought the immediate reward of money or
popular favor.

And so, in order to get a greater return for their labor, they
admitted the populace to their contests like the spectators of a
play brought out at the theatre. Then, as one might expect when
the standard is lowered, the philosopher laid aside his
dignified, venerable character, and put on his stage dress that
he might dance more easily: the populace was made spectator,
umpire, and judge, and the philosopher did that which the flute
player does not do on the stage,--he suited his music, not to his
own ideas and to the Muses, as his old teacher advises, but
wholly to the circle of onlookers and the crowd whence
distinction and gain was likely to come back to the actors.

There was no need of real, solid teaching (at least, not in the
opinion of those who are going to learn); but pretence and dust
were thrown in the eyes of the crowd. So the one plain road of
obtaining the truth was abandoned; six hundred ways of pretending
were made, by which each strove for what suited himself,
especially since there is nothing made so ugly as to lack a
sponsor.

Not only did the populace flock to this opinion--that the object
of learning is to dispute, just as it is the object of military
life to fight--but the public unanimity swept away the veterans,
the _triarii_ [the more experienced soldiers who were placed in
the third line] as it were, of the scholastic campaign (but these
have no more ability and judgment than the dregs of the people),
so that they regard him as superfluous and foolish who would call
them back to mental activity and character and that quiet method
of investigation, philosophy. [They think that] there is no other
fruit of studies save to keep your wits about you and not give
way to your adversary, either to attack him boldly or to bear up
against him, and shrewdly to contrive by what vigor, by what
skill, by what method of supplanting, he may be overturned.
Therefore under this beautiful scheme, surpassing all others, it
was the plan to break in the boy immediately and train him
constantly; they began disputing as soon as they were born and
ceased only at death. The boy brought to school, is bidden to
dispute forthwith on the first day and is already taught to
quarrel, before he can yet speak at all. So also in Grammar, in
the Poets, in the Historians, in Logic, in Rhetoric, in
absolutely every branch. Would any one wonder what they can find
to do in matters that are perfectly open, very simple and
elementary? There is nothing so transparent, so limpid that they
do not cloud it over with some petty question as if ruffled by a
breeze. It is [thought] characteristic of the most helpless
stupidity, not to find something which you may make obscure by
most intricate measures and involve in very hard and rigid
conditions, which you may twist and twist again. For you may
simply say: "Write to me,"--here comes a question, if not from
Grammar then from Logic, if not from Logic then from
Physics,--"What motions are made in writing?" Or, from
Metaphysics, "Is it substance or quality?"

And these boys are hearing the first rudiments of Logic who were
only yesterday, or the day before, admitted to the school. So
they are to be trained never to be silent, but vigorously to
assert whatever comes uppermost lest they may seem at any time to
have given in. Nor is one dispute a day enough, nor two, like a
meal. At lunch they dispute, after lunch they dispute, at dinner
they dispute, after dinner they dispute. Do they do these things
to learn, or to cook a new dish? They dispute at home, they
dispute away from home. At a banquet, in the bath, in the
tepidarium, at church, in the city, in the fields, in public, in
private, in all places and at all times they dispute.

Courtesans in charge of a panderer do not wrangle so many times,
or gladiators in charge of a trainer do not fight so many times
for a prize as these do under their teacher of philosophy. The
populace, not self-restrained and serious, but fickle, barbarous,
pugnacious, is wonderfully tickled with all this as with a mock
battle. So there are very many exceedingly ignorant men, utterly
without knowledge of literature in any form, who take more
pleasure in this form of show than in all else; and the more
easily to win the fight, they employ a quick and prompt mode of
fighting and deliver a blow every second, as it were, in order
the more speedily to use up their foe. They neither assail their
adversary with uninterrupted argument nor can they endure
prolonged talk from him. If by way of explaining himself he
should begin to enlarge, they raise the cry: "To the point! To
the point! Answer categorically!" Showing how restless and
flippant _their_ minds are who cannot stand a few words....

To such a degree did they go that instead of a settlement based
on the strongest arguments, such as drove them into their
absurdities, they considered it sufficient to say: "I admit it,
for it follows from my own conclusion," and the next step is: "I
deny it. Prove it. I will defend it appropriately." For he who
"defends appropriately" (in their own words), no matter by what
incongruous admissions and concessions, is held to be a learned
man and best adapted to disputation, that is, to the apex of all
knowledge.

(c) _The Examination_

The examination, as an exercise leading to a degree, is one phase of modern educational practice which comes from mediaeval universities. The system of examinations grew up slowly. Generalization is difficult owing to the differences in practice in various universities, but broadly speaking the student who took a Master's or Doctor's degree in any Faculty passed through the three stages of Bachelor, Licentiate, and Doctor, and at each stage underwent some form of examination. The examination for the License (to teach anywhere) seems to have been the most formidable of the three; that for the Doctorate being mainly ceremonial. In general, the examination tested the candidate's knowledge of the books prescribed, and his power of public debate.

The statutes of Bourges (c. 1468-1480) thus describe the requirements and the manner of procedure of examinations for the License in Arts:

[In preparation for the A.B. degree, which preceded the License, the candidate had heard lectures on (1) The Isagoge (Introduction) of Porphyry to the Categories of Aristotle, (2) the following works of Aristotle: (a) Categories; (b) Peri Hermeneias (On Interpretation), the first (?) two books and a part of the fourth; (c) Topics, first book; (d) Physics, first three books.]

Likewise we have decreed that before any one comes to the grade
of License he must have heard four other books of Physics, three
books "On the Heavens," two of "On Generation," the first three
of "On Meteors," three "On the Soul," "On the Memory," "On the
Length and Brevity of Life," with the first six books of
"Metaphysics" and the first six on "Ethics" with a part of
Euclid, and with the book "On the Sphere" [by John Sacrobosco].

Likewise we have decreed that candidates must respond twice
openly and in public, and there may be five at most in one day
and in the same debate; yet four will be sufficient. And when
they respond they must pay, each his own chairman, a scudo of
gold.

Likewise we have determined that, when this has been done, the
Faculty shall appoint four Masters who have already been Masters
for three years and who do not have [the candidates] that year as
pupils under their own special direction; and they shall test the
sufficiency of all the candidates. And the said committee shall
take oath that they will accept those who are eligible and will
reject those who are ineligible.

Likewise we have decreed that, when this has been done, on the
report of said committee, over their seals manual faithfully
transmitted, the Chancellor shall arrange the candidates in the
order assigned to them by said committee, always putting the
better men and those who are eligible ahead of the others, in
order that the opportunity of studying well may be given to the
students and that no one may suffer harm from his position.

Likewise we have decreed that before proceeding to license the
candidates themselves, the assembled Faculty of Arts shall ordain
four Masters, other than the first, who shall examine in assigned
groups the said candidates in their own persons. And if they do
not find them to be such as the first examiners reported that
they found them, they shall report to the Faculty, pointing out
the deficiency that the Faculty may have knowledge of the mistake
of the first committee. If it finds that they made a mistake it
shall have authority to correct their errors by changing the
positions [of the names on the list] and by rejecting them
entirely if they seem ineligible.

Likewise we have decreed that when their approval or disapproval
has been settled by the said second examiners, they shall place
their candidates according to proper order in one list sealed
with their own seals, and shall deliver it, under enclosure, to
the Chancellor, and it shall not be lawful for him to change the
order but he shall license them in the order set down in the
list.[62]

The process of taking the Licentiate and the Doctorate in Laws at Bologna, in vogue at the end of the thirteenth century and later, is described at great length in the Statutes of 1432. The examination consisted of two parts; the first private, the second public. The first led to a License, which was, however, a license merely to proceed to the public examination. The Statute concerning the private examination is summarized by Rashdall:

The private Examination was the real test of competence, the
so-called public Examination being in practice a mere ceremony.
Before admission to each of these tests the candidate was
presented by the Consiliarius of his Nation to the Rector for
permission to enter it, and swore that he had complied with all
the statutable conditions, that he would give no more than the
statutable fees or entertainments to the Rector himself, the
Doctor or his fellow-students, and that he would obey the Rector.
Within a period of eight days before the Examination the
candidate was presented by "his own" Doctor or by some other
Doctor or by two Doctors to the Archdeacon, the presenting Doctor
being required to have satisfied himself by private examination
of his presentee's fitness. Early on the morning of the
examination, after attending a Mass of the Holy Ghost, the
candidate appeared before the assembled College and was assigned
by one of the Doctors present two passages (puncta) in the Civil
or Canon Law as the case might be. He then retired to his house
to study the passages, in doing which it would appear that he had
the assistance of the presenting Doctor. Later in the day the
Doctors were summoned to the Cathedral or some other public
building by the Archdeacon, who presided over but took no active
part in the ensuing examination. The candidate was then
introduced to the Archdeacon and Doctors by the presenting Doctor
or Promoter as he was styled. The Prior of the College then
administered a number of oaths in which the candidate promised
respect to that body and solemnly renounced all the rights of
which the College had succeeded in robbing all Doctors not
included in its ranks. The candidate then gave a lecture or
exposition of the two prepared passages; after which he was
examined upon them by two of the Doctors appointed by the
College. Other Doctors might ask supplementary questions of Law
(which they were required to swear that they had not previously
communicated to the candidate) arising more indirectly out of the
passages selected, or might suggest objections to the answers.
With a tender regard for the feelings of their comrades at this
"rigorous and tremendous Examination" (as they style it) the
students by their Statutes required the Examiner to treat the
examinee "as his own son." The Examination concluded, the votes
of the Doctors present were taken by ballot and the candidate's
fate determined by the majority, the decision being announced by
the Archdeacon.[63]

The successful candidate ordinarily proceeded within a short time to the public examination, which was held in the cathedral. At this examination he received both the formal license to teach and the Doctor's degree. Before the appointed day he went about inviting friends and public officials to the ceremony. Ostentation at this time was forbidden:

Those who are candidates for the Doctor's degree, when they give
their invitations to the public examination, should go without
trumpets or any instruments whatever; and the Beadle of the
Arch-deacon of Bologna, with the Beadles of the Doctors under
whom they are to have the public examination, should precede him
on horseback. At that late day they [the candidates] shall not
provide any feast, except among scholars from the same house or
among those related to the candidate in the first, second, third,
or even the fourth degree. Furthermore no one of the Rectors
shall presume to ride with him on that day.[64]

On the actual day of the examination, however, "the love of pageantry characteristic of the mediaeval and especially of the Italian mind was allowed the amplest gratification"; the candidate went to the cathedral, doubtless preceded by trumpeters, and escorted by a procession of his fellow-students. The statutes of the German Nation at Bologna describe as one object of that organization "the clustering about, attendance upon, and crowding around our Doctors-to-be, in season and out of season." Moreover, "the Scholars of our Nation shall individually accompany the one who is to be made Doctor, to the place where the insignia [of the degree] are usually bestowed, if he so wishes, or has so requested of the Proctor [of the Nation]. Also, they shall escort him with a large accompanying crowd from the aforesaid place to his own house, under penalty of one Bologna shilling."[65]

The University statutes are to the same effect, but they prohibit horse-play, and the extravagance of tournaments. "Ultramontane" scholars are those from north, "Cismontane," those from south, of the Alps.

Moreover, the ultramontane scholars shall accompany the
ultramontane candidate, and the cismontane, the cismontane, from
their dwelling places to Saint Peter's when they go there to take
the public examination, and at that time hay and straw shall not
be placed [on the floor of] the church. Furthermore all the
ultra-and cis-montanes shall be present at the public
examination, and all shall afterwards accompany the new Doctor
from the church to his house under penalty of ten Bologna
shillings, which it shall be the duty of the Rector to exact
within eight days. And no scholar at the public examination of
any citizen or foreign scholar shall be dressed for a dance or a
brawl or a tournament, nor shall he joust as a knight. If any
one disobey, he shall incur the penalty of perjury and ten
Bologna pounds, and if he does not pay this within ten days on
the demand of any Rector he shall be deprived of the advantage
and honor of our University. And we impose the penalty of perjury
also upon the Rector of the student who is to take the public
examination, and this penalty he shall incur from the very fact
that he should by all means exact from the candidate an oath that
on the day on which he rides about to give invitations for the
public examination which he is to take, he will not bring about
any jousting or brawling as some have done heretofore. And if the
candidate, when required, is unwilling to take the oath, or if he
takes the oath and breaks it, he [the Rector] shall utterly
forbid the public examination and direct the Doctors not to hold
their meeting and also stop the Beadle, so that he shall not dare
to announce his programme through the schools, under an arbitrary
penalty to be imposed.[66]

The ceremony at the cathedral included, first, the formal test of the candidate. After making a speech he held a disputation, in which he defended a thesis taken from the Laws against opponents chosen from the body of students, "thus playing for the first time the part of a Doctor in a University disputation." He was then presented by the Promoter to the Archdeacon, who conferred the final License to teach Civil or Canon Law or both, according to the student's training. This was done by a formula probably similar to the following, which is taken from a book published in 1710:

Inasmuch as you have been presented to me for examination in both
[Civil and Canon] Laws and for the customary approval, by the
Most Illustrious and Most Excellent D.D. (naming the Promoters),
golden Knights, Counts Palatine, Most Celebrated Doctors, and
inasmuch as you have since undergone an arduous and rigorous
examination, in which you bore yourself with so much learning and
distinction that that body of Most Illustrious and Excellent
Promoters without one dissenting voice,--I repeat, without one
dissenting voice,--have judged you worthy of the laurel,
therefore by the authority which I have as Archdeacon and senior
Chancellor, I create, publish, and name you, N.N., Doctor in the
aforesaid Faculties, giving to you every privilege of lecturing,
of ascending the Master's chair, of writing glosses, of
interpreting, of acting as Advocate, and of exercising also the
functions of a Doctor here and everywhere throughout the world;
furthermore, of enjoying all those privileges which those happy
individuals, who have been so deserving in these fostering
colleges, are accustomed to use and enjoy.

And I trust that all these things will forever result in the
increase of your fame and the honor of our Colleges, to the
praise and glory of Almighty God and of the ever blessed Virgin
Mary.[67]

"In pursuance of the license thus conferred, he was then invested by the Promoter with the _insignia_ of the teaching office, [the chair, the book, the ring, the cap,] each, no doubt, with some appropriate formula. He was seated in the Magisterial chair or _cathedra_. He was handed the open book--one of the Law texts which it was his function to expound. A gold ring was placed upon his finger, either in token of his espousal to Science or in indication of the Doctor's claim to be the equal of Knights; and the Magisterial _biretta_ placed upon his head: after which the Promotor left him with a paternal embrace, a kiss, and a benediction."[68] Then followed the triumphal procession homeward through the town, "preceded by the three University pipers and the four University trumpeters."

(d) _A Day's Work at Louvain in_ 1476

Documents which describe the day's work of a mediaeval student are not common. A Ducal ordinance for the University of Louvain in 1476 indicates the way in which the student was supposed to work at that institution.

The tutors shall see that the scholars rise in the morning at
five o'clock, and that then before lectures each one reads by
himself the laws which are to be read at the regular lecture,
together with the glosses.... But after the regular lecture,
having if they wish, quickly heard mass, the scholars shall come
to their rooms and revise the lectures that have been given, by
rehearsing and impressing on their memory whatever they have
brought away from the lectures either orally or in writing. And
next they shall come to lunch ...after lunch, each one having
brought to the table his books, all the scholars of the Faculty
together, in the presence of a tutor, shall review that regular
lecture; and in this review the tutor shall follow a method which
will enable him, by discreet questioning of every man, to gather
whether each of them listened well to the lecture and remembered
it, and which will recall the whole lecture by having its parts
recited by individuals. And if watchful care is used in this one
hour will suffice.[69]

(e) _Time-table of Lectures at Leipzig_, 1519

There must have been some orderly arrangement of each day's lectures as the requirements for the various degrees became fixed; but I have not found an early document on the subject. The Statutes of Leipzig for 1519 give "an accurate arrangement of the lectures of the Faculty of Fine Arts, hour by hour, adapted to a variety of intellects and to diverse interests." They do not always specify the semester in which the book is to be read; in such cases the title is placed in the center of the column. The list includes practically all the books required for the degrees of A.B. and A.M. Unless otherwise specified, they are the works of Aristotle; but the versions are, as noted on page 48, new translations from the Greek. These translations are praised in no uncertain terms in the Statutes. The Metaphysic is presented in Latin by Bessarion "so cleverly and with so good faith that he will seem to differ not even a nail's breadth from the Greek copies and sentiments of Aristotle." The Ethics and the Economics are "cleverly and charmingly put into Latin by Argyropulos;" the Politics and the Magna Moralia are "finely translated by Georgius Valla, that well-known man of great learning," etc. Lectures, it will be noted, began early. The following tabular view is compiled from Zarncke, _Statutenbuecher der Universitaet Leipzig_, pp. 39-42.

In addition to the "ordinary," or prescribed, books, "two books of Cicero's Letters will be read on festal days"; and "the Greek Grammar of Theodorus Gaza will be explained at the expense of the illustrious Prince George."

SUMMER | WINTER | SUMMER | WINTER
| | |
6 A.M. | 1 P.M.
|
Metaphysics. |Metaphysics. |Posterior |Topics (4 Bks.)
Introduction |On | Analytics. |Generation and
(Porphyry). | Interpretation |Sense and | Destruction.
Categories. |Logic (Aquinas). | Sensation. |Being and
| |Memory and | Essence
On Six Principles (Gilbert de la | Recollection. | (Aquinas).
Porree). |Sleep and Waking.|
Physics (Digest of Aristotle by |Longevity and |
Albertus Magnus). | Shortlivedness.|
-----------------------------------| |
8 A.M. |Institutes of Oratory
| (Quintilian).
Physical Hearing (sic.) Physics? |----------------------------------
Reading and Disputation by | 2 P.M.
candidates for A.B. and A.M. |
Grammar (Priscian). |On the Soul (3 |On the Heavens
-----------------------------------| Bks). | and the Earth.
11 A.M. |Common |On the Substance
| Arithmetic, and| of the World
Logic: Summulae (Petrus Hispanus). | On the Sphere | (Averroes).
| | (Sacrobosco). |Common
Rhetoric (Cicero |On the Orator | | Perspective,
to Herennius). | (Cicero). | | i.e., Optics
Physical |On the Vital | | (John of
Auscultation | Principle | | Pisa).
(Themistius). | (Themistius). |Theory of the Planets (Gerard of
| | Cremona).
| Ethics
| Politics.
| Economics.
|Magna Moralia, _i.e._,
| Ethics, abbreviated from
| Aristotle and Eudemus.
|----------------------------------
| 4 P.M.
|
|Theocritus.
|Herodotus.
|Virgil.
|Aristotle, Problems.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 57: Giraldus Cambrensis, ed. Brewer, I, pp. 45-47.]

[Footnote 58: Quoted by Rashdall, I, p. 219.]

[Footnote 59: Malagola, _Statuti delle Universita i dei Collegi dello Studio Bolognese._ Selections from pp. 41-43.]

[Footnote 60: Bulaeus, _Historia Universitatis Parisiensis_, IV, 332.]

[Footnote 61: Dante, _Quaestio de Aqua et Terra_, tr. A.C. White, pp. VII-IX.]

[Footnote 62: Document printed by Rashdall, II, Pt. II, pp. 742-3.]

[Footnote 63: Rashdall, I, p. 226.]

[Footnote 64: Malagola, _Statuti_, etc., p. 116.]

[Footnote 65: _Acta Nationis Germanicae_, pp. 4, 8.]

[Footnote 66: Malagola, _Statuti_, etc., p. 116.]

[Footnote 67: Document printed by Rashdall, II, Pt. II, p. 734.]

[Footnote 68: Rashdall, I, p. 229.]

[Footnote 69: Document printed by Rashdall, Vol. II, Pt. II, p. 766.]

V

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREES IN ARTS

In general, the candidate for the A.B. degree must have taken part as "respondent" or "opponent" (see p. 115) in a prescribed number of disputations, and must have "heard" the lectures on certain prescribed books before taking his examination for the degree. (This examination seems, in some cases, to have been little more than a certification by a committee of Masters that the student had fulfilled the foregoing requirements.) The candidate for the degree of A.M. must have completed further prescribed books and disputations, and must have "read," i.e., lectured upon, some book or books which he had previously "heard," before taking his examination for the License (to teach everywhere). No general statement can be given as to the required number of disputations; the practice differed at various times and places. The Statutes of Leipzig required during the fifteenth century six "ordinary" and six "extraordinary" responses from the prospective Bachelor. The prospective Master was required to declare that he had been present at thirty ordinary Bachelors' disputations, and had argued in each one "if he had been able to get the opportunity to argue." The candidate for the License at Paris, in 1366, must have attended disputations throughout one "grand Ordinary," and must have "responded" twice. At Oxford the youth must have taken part in disputations for a year as "general sophister," and must have "responded" at least once, before taking the A.B. or before "Determination," which was the equivalent of the A.B. Prospective masters must have responded at least twice.[70]

The following lists of prescribed books give a good idea of mediaeval requirements (aside from disputations) for the degrees of A.B. and A.M., at various times and places. The reader will note at once the predominance of Aristotle, and the variations in requirements for the degrees. Many similar lists might be cited from the records of other universities; but they would give little additional information as regards the degrees in Arts.

1. List of Books Prescribed for the Degrees of A.B. and A.M. at Paris, 1254.

The following list from the Statutes of 1254 does not separate the books into the groups required for each degree, but indicates the total requirement for both.

{Introduction to the Categories of Aristotle
{ (Isagoge), Porphyry.
(1) The "Old" Logic {Categories, and On Interpretation,
{ Aristotle.
{Divisions, and Topics except Bk. IV,
{ Boethius.

{Prior and Posterior Analytics, Aristotle.
(2) The "New" Logic {Sophistical Refutations, "
{Topics, "

(3) Moral Philosophy: Ethics, 4 Bks., "
{Physics, Aristotle.
{On the Heavens and the Earth, "
{Meteorics, "
{On Animals, "
{" the Soul, "
(4) Natural Philosophy {" Generation, "
{" Sense and Sensible Things, "
{" Sleep and Waking, "
{" Memory and Recollection, "
{" Life and Death, "
{" Plants, " (?)

(5) Metaphysics: Metaphysics, "

{On the Six Principles, Gilbert de la Porree
{Barbarismus (Bk. 3, Larger Grammar),
{ Donatus.
(6) Other Books {Grammar (Major and Minor), Priscian.
{On Causes, Costa Ben Luca.
{On the Differences of Spirit and Soul
{ (another translation of On Causes).[71]

An interesting part of the Statute of 1254 relates to the length of time to be given to the various books, or groups of books, prescribed. The entire Old Logic is to be read in about six months (October 1-March 25); the New Logic and Priscian's Grammar in the same length of time; the Physics, the Metaphysics and On Animals, together, in somewhat more than eight months (October 1-June 25); the four books of the Ethics, alone, in six weeks; On Life and Death is to be completed in one week, and several of the other treatises in the same group are to be read in periods varying from two to five weeks. Knowledge of these facts renders the list as a whole considerably less imposing than it might otherwise appear.

2. Books required at Paris in 1366. In this and all the following examples the books are by Aristotle unless otherwise specified.

For the A.B.:
(1) Grammar: Doctrinale, Alexander da Villa Dei.
(2) Logic: The Old and the New Logic, as above.
(3) Natural Philosophy: On the Soul.

For the License to teach everywhere:
(1) Natural Philosophy: Physics; On the Heavens and the
Earth; On Generation and Corruption; Parva Naturalia (see
p. 143); On Mechanics.
(2) Mathematics: "Some books"; probably the treatises required
at Leipzig in 1410. (See p. 140).
(3) Politics.
(4) Rhetoric.

For the A.M.:
(1) Ethics.
(2) Meteorics (3 Bks.).[72]

3. Books required at Oxford, 1267: For the A.B. (Determination):

(1) Logic: The Old and the New Logic (see p. 140), and On the Six Principles. (2) Either Grammar (selections from Donatus and Priscian), or Natural Philosophy (Physics, On the Soul, and On Generation and Corruption).[73]

For the A.B. in (?) 1408.
(1) Logic: The Old and the New Logic in "cursory," or extraordinary,
lectures, given by Bachelors; Introduction, Porphyry: On the
Six Principles, Gilbert de la Porree; Sophistical Refutations.
(2) Grammar; Barbarismus, Donatus.
(3) Mathematics: Arithmetic; Computus ecclesiasticus (Method
of finding Easter); On the Sphere, Sacrobosco.[74]

4. Books required at Leipzig for the Degree of A.B. in 1410.[75]

(1) Grammar; Priscian (the last two books). [2 months.] {Tractatus (Summulae), Petrus Hispanus. [2-1/2-3 months.] (2) Logic {The "Old" Logic (see Paris, 1254). [3-4 months.] {The "New" " except Topics. [6-1/2-7 months.] (3) Nat'l Philosophy {Physics. [6-9 months.] {On the Soul. [7 weeks-2 months.] (4) Mathematics; On the Material Sphere (Sacrobosco). [5-6 weeks.]

5. Books required at Leipzig for the Degree of A.M. in 1410.

(1) Logic {Logic of Heytisbury.
{Topics, Aristotle. [3-4 months.]
(2) Moral and {Ethics. [6-9 " ]
Practical {Politics. [4-9 " ]
Philosophy {Economics. [3 weeks.]
{On the Heavens and the Earth. [3-1/2-4
{ months.]
{On Generation and Destruction. [7
{ weeks-2 months.]
(3) Natural Philosophy {Meteorics. [3-1/2-4 months.]
{Parva Naturalia (i.e., the books on
{ Sense and Sensible Things, Sleep and
{ Waking, Memory and Recollection,
{ Longevity and Shortlivedness). [2-1/2-3
{ months.]
(4) Metaphysics: Metaphysics. [5-9 months.]
{Astronomy: Theory of the Planets
{ (Gerard of Cremona). [5-6 weeks.]
{Geometry: Euclid. [5-9 months.]
{Arithmetic: Common Arithmetic (Sacrobosco).
(5) Mathematics { [3 weeks-1 month.]
{Music: Music (John de Muris). [3
{ weeks-1 month.]
{Optics: Common Perspective (John
{ of Pisa). [3-3-1/2 months.][76]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 70: Statutes of 1431.]

[Footnote 71: _Chart. Univ. Paris._, I, No. 246.]

[Footnote 72: Rashdall, I, p. 436.]

[Footnote 73: _Munimenta Acad. Oxon.,_ I, pp. 35-36.]

[Footnote 74: _Munimenta Acad. Oxon._, I, pp. 242-243.]

[Footnote 75: The figures in brackets indicate the time to be given to each book, or group of books. The data are from Zarncke, _Statutenbuecher der Univ. Leipzig._, 311-312.]

[Footnote 76: For the requirements in 1519 see p. 134.]

VI

ACADEMIC LETTERS

1. LETTERS RELATING TO PARIS

(a) _A Twelfth-Century Critic_

The pessimist who laments the decay of education, and who feels that its golden age was the time in which he received his own training, or earlier, is a perennial figure in the history of education. The following letter has a surprisingly modern ring. Denifle (p. 747) thinks that Stephen was unable to reconcile himself to the new movement at Paris because of his monastic training. Stephen's view, however, "was not wholly wrong." Compare the letter of Peter de la Celle to John of Salisbury, page 144.

"Stephen [Bishop] of Tournai, in his letters directed to the Pope, laments the ruin of the study of sacred literature, of Canon Law and the Arts, and, blaming the professors, implores the hand of Apostolic correction." (1192-1203.)

To the Pope. Beseeching his pardon, we would speak to our
sovereign Pontiff, whose kindness stimulates our boldness, whose
knowledge supports our ignorance, whose patience assures
indulgence. The authority of our forefathers first impels us,
then the disease which is insinuating itself, and which will in
the end be irremediable if its evil influence be not checked at
the beginning. Nor do we say this, Father, as though we wish to
be either censors of morals, or judges of the doctors, or
debaters of doctrines. This burden requires stronger shoulders
and this fight calls for the vigorous arms of spiritual athletes.
We wish only to point out this distress to your sacred
Fatherhood, on whom God has conferred the power of checking error
and the knowledge of how to correct it.

The study of sacred letters among us has descended into the very
factory of confusion; the teachers are more watchful for glory
than for doctrine, and they write up new and modern summaries and
commentaries upon theological foundations, with which they
soothe, retain, and deceive their pupils; as though there were
not plenty of works of the holy fathers who, we read, put forth
their sacred writings inspired by that same spirit which we
believe inspired the apostles and prophets when they composed
theirs.... Public debates are carried on in violation of the
sacred constitutions concerning the incomprehensibility of the
Deity; a wordy, carnal strife on the incarnation of the Word goes
on irreverently. Even the indivisible Trinity is divided at the
street corners and quarrelled over, so that there are already as
many errors as there are teachers, as many scandals as lecture
rooms, as many blasphemies as public squares.

Furthermore, if recourse is had to the courts which are
established by Common Law, either those set up by us, or by the
regular judges which we are bound to recognize, there is
presented by venal men the tangled forest of the Decretals, under
the pretext, as it were, of the sacred memory of Pope Alexander,
and the more ancient sacred Canons are thrown away, rejected, and
spewed out.

This confusion being made in the very centre of the wholesome
regulations made by the Councils of the holy fathers, they impose
upon their councils no method and on their business no restraint,
those letters having prevailing weight, which, it may be, lawyers
have forged and engrossed for pay in their own offices or
chambers. A new volume, got together from these sources, is both
read regularly in the schools and is exposed for sale in the
market with the approval of the crowd of notaries, who rejoice
that both their labor is lessened and their pay increased in
engrossing these suspicious works.

Two woes have been set forth, and lo, a third woe remains! The
Faculties called liberal [i.e., free] have lost their old time
liberty, and are devoted to a slavery so complete that
long-haired youths shamelessly possess themselves of the offices
in these Faculties, and beardless boys sit in the seat of the
Elders, and those who do not yet know how to be pupils strive to
be named Doctors. And they themselves compile their own
summaries, reeking and wet with [their own] further drivellings,
and not even seasoned with the salt of the philosophers.
Neglecting the rules of the Arts and throwing away the standard
works of the Makers of the Arts, they catch in their sophisms, as
in spiders' webs, the midges of their empty trifling phrases.
Philosophy cries out that her garments are rent and torn asunder;
she modestly covers her nakedness with certain carefully prepared
remnants [but] she is neither consulted by the good man nor does
she console the good woman.

These things, O Father, demand the hand of Apostolic correction,
that the present unseemliness of teaching, learning, and debating
may by your authority be reduced to definite form, that the
Divine Word may not be cheapened by vulgar attrition; that it may
not be said on the corners, Lo! Here is Christ, or Lo! He is
there! that sacred things may not be cast before dogs or pearls
before swine to be trampled under their feet.[77]

(b) _The Monastic View_

To many of the monks of this period study and the search for truth through reason were repellent. In their view the way to spiritual truth was through retirement from the world, and the observance of religious exercises. This is the burden of a letter to John of Salisbury by Peter de la Celle, abbot of a monastery near Rheims, in 1164. Incidentally it gives his view concerning Paris.

"Peter de la Celle to John of Salisbury concerning the perils that encompass souls at Paris and concerning the true school of truth."

His own Abbot to his own clerk. You have, my well-beloved, chosen
a sufficiently delightful exile, where joys, though they be vain,
are in superabundance, where the supply of bread and wine exceeds
in richness that of your own land where there is the frequent
access of friends, where the dwelling together of comrades is
common. Who else besides you is there beneath the sky who has not
thought Paris the place of delights, the garden of plantations,
the field of first fruits?

Yet, though smiling [at these things], you have said truly that
where pleasure of the body is greater and fuller, there is the
exile of the soul; and where luxury reigns there the soul is a
wretched and afflicted hand-maid. O Paris! How well-suited art
thou to captivate and deceive souls! In thee are the nets of the
vices, in thee the arrow of Hell transfixes the hearts of the
foolish! This my John has felt and therefore he has named it an
exile. Would that you were leaving behind that exile of yours
just as it is, and were hastening to your native land not in word
and tongue only but in very deed and truth! There, in the book of
life would you be looking, not upon forms and elements, but upon
divinity itself, as it really is, as upon truth--eye to eye,
without labor of reading, without tediousness of seeing, without
fallacies and mistakes of understanding, without anxiety of
retaining, without fear of forgetting. O blessed school, where
Christ teaches our hearts with the words of his virtue, where
without study and lecture we learn how we should live happily to
eternity! There no book is bought, no teacher of things written
is hired, there is no circumventing in debate, no intricacy of
sophisms, [but] a plain settlement of all questions, a full
apprehension of universal reasons and arguments. There life
avails more than lecture; simplicity, more than cavilling. There
no one is shut in [i.e., limited in freedom] save he who is shut
out. In a word; there every reproach is done away with in the
answer given to him who evilly presents an evil life: "Depart
from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil
and his angels;" and to him who sets for a good life: "Come, ye
blessed" &c.

Would that the sons of men were as intent upon these better
studies as they are on idle talking, on vain and base buffoonery!
Certainly they would harvest richer fruits, more excellent
favors, certainly greater honors and beyond doubt would learn the
end of all perfection,--Christ,--whom they will never find in
these. Farewell.[78]

(c) _Letters from or to Students at Paris_

These letters belong to a period covering nearly four centuries. The first gives an opinion of William of Champeaux in marked contrast to that of Abelard.

(1) A CERTAIN D. WRITES TO A CERTAIN PRIOR CONCERNING HIS STUDIES AT PARIS. (1109-1112.)

I am now in Paris in the School of Master William of Champeaux,
the greatest of all the men of his time whom I have known, in
every branch of learning. When we hear his voice we think that no
man, but, as it were, an angel from heaven, is speaking; for the
melody of his words and the profundity of his ideas transcends,
as it were, human limitations....

Here, my revered friend, I am training my youth that I may not
utterly succumb to those vices which, unless conquered, are wont,
as a rule, to overturn this period of life. Here I am doing my
best to illumine by doctrine and study my untaught mind,
emancipated from the shades of ignorance and the sin of the first
man, so far as God, from whom alone comes every blessing of
wisdom, shall himself deign to permit. Because the blessing of
wisdom, when sought and acquired with pure interest, is rightly
believed and considered by all men of discernment as the surmnuni
[bonum]. For, as the Apostle says: Knowledge without charity
puffeth up but, with charity edifieth: for it uproots vices and
grafts in virtues; it instructs itself in its duty to itself, its
neighbor, and its Creator; finally, by its presence, it fortifies
and defends the mind, over which it presides in person, against
all the ills of this life that come to it from without.[79]

(2) PHILIP OF HARVENGT TO HERGALD, A STUDENT AT PARIS (DATE BETWEEN 1154 AND 1181)

Know that I have both read carefully and when read, accepted
gratefully the letters which your affection, with memorable
feeling, led you to send to me ...because in them I thought I saw
evidence of your progress in learning.... Just as the Queen of
Sheba is said to have come with a large retinue, that by the
sight of her own eyes she might have surer knowledge of those
things whose fame she had eagerly absorbed from afar, so you too,
drawn by love of knowledge, came to Paris and found a much
desired model of Jerusalem, sought for by many. For here David
strikes his harp of ten chords, here with mystic touch he
composes the psalms. Here Isaiah is read and in the reading his
prophecies are revealed; here the rest of the prophets present
their diverse strains of harmonious melody. Here the wisdom of
Solomon is open for the instruction of those who have gathered
from all parts of the world; here his treasure house is thrown
open to eager students. Here to stimulate so great a concourse of
students there is so great a throng of clerks that it vies with
the numerous multitude of the laity. Happy city! in which the
Sacred Codes are pored over with so much zeal and their involved
mysteries are solved by the gift of the outpoured Spirit, in
which there is so much diligence on the part of the readers,
and, in short, so much knowledge of Scriptures that it truly
deserves to be called Cariath Sepher, that is The City of
Letters. Therein would I have you instructed like Gothoniel, not
so much in letters as in the spirit, and so to grasp the
Scriptures that you may take delight in searching out their inner
sweetness.... Farewell.[80]

(3) DESCRIPTION OF PARIS ABOUT 1175 BY GUY DE BASOCHES

To a youth who is noble and so like himself as to be a second
self, Guy de Basoches [seeks] to match his nobility of birth by
high-bred manners....

My situation then is this: I am indeed in Paris, happy because of
soundness of both mind and body, happier were you enjoying it
too, and happiest had it but been my lot to have you with me. I
am indeed in Paris, in that City of Kings, which not only holds,
by the sweet delight of her natural dowry, those who are with
her, but also alluringly invites those who are far away. For as
the moon by the majesty of its more brilliant mirror overwhelms
the rays of the stars, not otherwise does said city raise its
imperial head with its diadem of royal dignity above the rest of
the cities. It is situated in the lap of a delightful valley,
surrounded by a coronet of mountains which Ceres and Bacchus
adorn with fervent zeal. The Seine, no humble stream amid the
army of rivers, superb in its channel, throwing its two arms
about the head, the heart, the very marrow of the city, forms an
island. Two suburbs reach out to right and left, the less
excellent, even, of which begets envy in envious cities. From the
two suburbs two stone bridges stretch over to the island and one
of them which has been named for its size, for it is Great, faces
the north and the English Sea, while the opposite one, which
opens towards the Loire, they call the Little Bridge....

On this island Philosophy, of old, placed a royal throne for
herself, Philosophy, who, despised in her solitude, with a sole
attendant, Study, now possesses an enduring citadel of light and
immortality, and under her victorious feet tramples the withered
flowers of a world already in its dotage.

On this island, the seven sisters, to wit, the Liberal Arts, have
secured an eternal abiding place for themselves, and, with the
ringing clarion of their nobler eloquence, decrees and laws are
proclaimed.

Here the healing fount of learning gushes forth, and as it were
evoking from itself three most limpid streams, it makes a
threefold division of the knowledge of the sacred page into
History, Allegory and Morals.[81]

(4) JOHANN VON JENZENSTEIN TO MASTER BENESCH OF HORSCHOWITZ, CONCERNING PARIS. (1375.)

Master Bennessius, dearest comrade and friend. If recent doings
at Paris are unknown to you, if the fecundity of pleasures, the
abundance of all things edible, the manners of the men, the
bountiful supply of all the sciences, even the clever teaching in
very many material crafts,--if you could but see the mere shadow
of all these, surely, overpowered by their arguments, you would
throw off your sluggishness and generously enter into the
aforesaid enjoyments; and your eyes, grown old in old sights
would renew their youth in these new sights....

For here (says the writer sarcastically) are distinguished
doctors of many faculties, some of whom by their crazy ways of
thinking, and still others by crazy ways of acting, others,
indeed, by inflicting wounds, and still others by abusive words,
furnish enjoyment that is exceeding pleasing; and (he adds more
seriously) there are other Masters subtly trained in the seven
liberal Arts, by whose example and teaching the entire earth,
like the heavens, is adorned with stars; and some of these
masters are illuminated by the three trivials and some by the
four quadrivials and some by both the trivials and the
quadrivials.

Now the three trivials are grammar, which teaches clearly the
agreement of speech; and starting from that, the youth who holds
on to his first teaching makes a beginning whereby he may obtain
a deeper taste of the profundities of other knowledge also; the
second is rhetoric, which by the charm of its colors adorns as
with pearls the subject matter, and ennobles grammar, and instils
acceptably into the ears of men that which is heard; the third is
logic by means of which the method of skilful deductive reasoning
is assigned to the individual sciences, without which the powers
of all the sciences are quiescent, and by whose addition all the
sciences are regularly organized. (The letter ends with a similar
description of the quadrivials.)[82]

2. TWO OXFORD LETTERS OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY

(1) OXFORD UNIVERSITY TO THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, ACKNOWLEDGING A GIFT OF BOOKS. (1439.)

Most illustrious, most cultured and magnificent Prince, the
enduring value of the benefits you have conferred on the English
nation, and the meritorious deeds of your most powerful Highness
in its behalf can never die, but, with distinguished fame
destined to endure, will flourish with ever-renewed praise and
happy remembrance. How delightful it certainly is for us to
reflect upon these again and again! Among the rest, however, that
deed itself redounds to the splendor of your most mighty
Highness, namely, that after having brought about the repression
of heretic plotting against the church of God, you have chosen to
reinvigorate the vineyard of the Lord, your hand-maid, the
University of Oxford, with books on all the sciences and virtues,
out of which the abundant wine of knowledge and truth may be
squeezed by the press of study. For this reason we set forth in
this humble letter our thanks, our praise, and our prayers, but
we cannot express ourselves adequately.

Which of the Universities has found a Prince so munificent, so
illustrious, so magnificent?--whose service in the field has ever
been successful, whose mind is most liberal, and who displays
charity to all, justice to each, and harm to none. What respecter
of the wise was ever so pious, what supporter of them so
efficient, what patron of the sciences, of virtues, and of books
so generous? And by these not only are the hearts of the living
enlightened to the glory of God and the advance of virtue, but
even more in coming ages will posterity be illumined. Can the
happy memory of deeds so great pass away? Nay, but it will be a
benediction forever.

A statute has been made in the words of your supplicant, and is
to be forever in force, which will never fail in prayers in your
behalf but will serve as an enduring memorial. Wherefore,
although the fame of others may ebb with the flow of time or
perish through being overshadowed by the rising of greater men,
yet your fame cannot perish under the cloud of oblivion nor can
it, of a truth, be obscured by the shadow of greater
benefactions.

If the great conquests of Alexander come to our ears, renewed day
by day through the devices of the wise Greeks who committed such
deeds to writing, how much more will this University, your
devoted supplicant, bear witness to your magnificent deeds to the
end of time, not only by her prayers but also in her writings?
Nay, were the tongues of all to be silent the fact itself would
bear witness more than speech, the fact, to wit, that one hundred
and thirty-nine most precious volumes of theology, medicine, and
the seven liberal sciences have been deposited in our library
from your own collection, as an eternal witness to your
surpassing virtues and munificence.

We pray therefore that you may be willing to look upon this
University as your vineyard and your handmaid and perpetual
supplicant. And may the Lord Himself most glorious, who chose
your serenity for the bestowing of such benefactions, grant to
you the fruits of the spirit and guide you to the University of
the saints. Written at Oxford in our congregation in the
twenty-fifth day of the month of January.

The most humble supplicant of your Serenity, the University of
learning at Oxford.[83]

(2) TESTIMONIAL LETTER FOR MR. JOHN KING OF OXFORD

To all the children of Holy Church, our Mother, to whom this
letter may come, the Chancellor of the University of Oxford and
the whole assembly of masters ruling in the same send greeting in
the arms of our Saviour. We believe that we present an offering
in the sight of the highest truth, as often as we furnish a
testimony of high praise to one excellent in virtue and in
knowledge. Therefore we,--wishing all whom it may concern to know
of the commendable life and the fragrance of honest conversation
of our beloved brother, Master John King, M.A. and student in
Sacred Theology, a prudent Procurator of our University who has
filled his office most efficiently; we therefore, as we have
said, wishing all to know, as we are bound to do,--and to prevent
so bright a light from being hid beneath the bushel of
silence,--do bear witness by this letter that, through the
commendable merits of our aforesaid brother and his study, he has
attained such proficiency that the fragrant fame of his
name--which the praise of his excellent action has exalted to the
pinnacle of glory with us--could not be concealed: but from the
height of its exalted pedestal it has furnished a living example
to all scholars for emulation, and a great light to all people
for profitable instruction. And so, while adorning our University
with his presence and outshining all in the maturity and dignity
of his character, he won the love of all by his spotless name. We
commend him therefore to your worshipful reverences, earnestly
praying that you will show yourselves favorable and kind to him,
both out of regard for our University and for his deserts. In
witness of which, and that all may know more fully about his
laudable character, we have caused this letter to be sealed for
said Master John with the seal of our University.

Given at Oxford in the Congregation-house, February 9th,
1434.[84]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 77: _Chart. Univ. Paris._, I, f. 47.]

[Footnote 78: _Chart. Univ. Paris.,_ I, No. 22, p. 24.]

[Footnote 79: Jaffe, _Bibliotheca_, V, pp. 285, ff.]

[Footnote 80: _Chart. Univ. Paris._, I, No. 51, p. 50.]

[Footnote 81: _Bulletin de la Societe de l'Histoire de Paris_, 1877, p. 37 f.]

[Footnote 82: _Archiv fuer oesterreichische Geschichte_, Vol. 55, p. 385.]

[Footnote 83: _Epistolae Academicae Oxon._, I, p. 177.]

[Footnote 84: _Epistolae Academicae Oxon._, I, p. 113.]

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

=1. Additional Readings from the Sources.=

MUNRO, D.C. _The Mediaeval Student_. (Translations and Reprints
from the Original Sources of European History,
Vol. II, No. 3.) The student should not fail to procure
this little pamphlet, which is a necessary supplement to
several of the readings in the present collection. It contains
useful explanatory notes as well as important documents.
Price, ten cents. Longmans, Green & Co., New
York City.

ROBINSON, J.H. _Readings in European History_. Vol. I, chap.
xix, and especially pp. 446-461. Readings on Abelard,
Aristotle in the Universities, Roger Bacon.

HENDERSON, E.F. _Select Historical Documents of the Middle
Ages_, pp. 262-266. Charter of the University of Heidelberg,
1386.

=2. General References on the History of Mediaeval Universities.=

RASHDALL, HASTINGS. _The Universities of Europe in the Middle
Ages_. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1895. 1273 pages,
2 vols. in three parts. Much the best work on the subject;
based on the sources. Indispensable for reference.

MULLINGER, J.B. _Encyclopedia Britannica_, Art. _Universities._
"The first tolerably correct (though very brief) account
which has appeared in English." Includes university
history to 1882.

_Encyclopedia Britannica_ and other encyclopedias. The student
who may not have access to works mentioned in this
list is reminded that brief accounts of the men and the
subjects here considered are often to be found in good
encyclopedias.

=3. Bibliographies.=

The best single collection of references to the extensive literature of the subject is in Rashdall's work, though this does not include books and articles published since 1895. Compayre (see below) includes a brief list. References to sources and secondary works on the Seven Liberal Arts are published by Abelson; references relating to university text-books of Greek origin by Loomis (see below).

=4. Text-books.=

COMPAYRE, G. _Abelard and the Origin and Early History of
Universities._ New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1892.
Still the best single text-book for class use. Contains
numerous errors, which should be corrected by comparison
with Rashdall.

WOODWARD, W.H., _editor_. _Mediaeval Schools and Universities._
Cambridge Contributions to Modern History, I. New
York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. This work, which is still
in preparation, will probably supersede Compayre.

5. References to Special Topics.

All of the topics treated in this collection of readings are discussed by Rashdall and Compayre. Page references may be found by use of the indexes appended to their books.

=Introduction=. On the historical point of view see J.H. ROBINSON,
_Readings in European History_, Vol. I, Chap. I;
on the place and use of documents, and other questions
relating to the study of history, LANGLOIS and SEIGNOBOS,
_Introduction to the Study of History_.

=Abelard=. MCCABE, JOSEPH. _Abelard_. A scholarly study, in
brilliant style. Chaps. I-IV deal with Abelard as a
teacher. The best biography in English.

=John of Salisbury=. POOLE, R.L. _Illustrations of the History
of Mediaeval Thought_, passim. National Dictionary of
Biography, Art. _John of Salisbury_.

=University Studies=. ABELSON, PAUL. _The Seven Liberal
Arts_. The best study in English. Contains much information
regarding university text-books in these subjects.
LOOMIS, LOUISE R. _Mediaeval Hellenism_. Valuable information
concerning the history and the translations of
the works of Aristotle, Galen, Hippocrates, and other
Greek writers. ZELLER, E. _Aristotle and the Earlier
Peripatetics_. The standard treatise on the works of
Aristotle, and their history.

The student is earnestly advised to spend a few hours in examining such copies of the mediaeval text-books as he may find in his college library. The time thus spent will do far more to clarify his ideas as to their character and extent than much talk about them. Old editions, often with the commentaries, may be available; some libraries possess MS. copies. Translations of the more important works of Aristotle may be found by reference to the library catalogue; among these may be mentioned _the Rhetoric_, by J.E.C. Welldon; the _Politics_, by B. Jowett; the _Ethics_ (Nicomachean), by F.H. Peters; the _Poetics_, by S.H. Butcher. Of the _Corpus Juris Civilis_, the _Institutes_ have been translated by T.C. Sandars; the first part of the _Digest_ by C.H. Monro. The _Corpus Juris Canonici_ as it was known in the middle ages has not been translated. This is true also of most books on the Seven Liberal Arts. Some works of Galen and Hippocrates have been done into English; but these translations are old, and probably inaccurate.

=Academic Letters=. HASKINS, C.H. _The Life of Mediaeval
Students as Illustrated by their Letters_. American Historical
Review, 1897-1898. A brief but important study,
from the sources; refers to several of the letters here
printed.