Baccalaureate, Baccalaureate Degree

BACCELLIERE, BACCELLIERATO. - The name probably derives from the militia and denoted a knight in light armour, obliged to render service (baccelleria) in return for the grant of a piece of land. From the lay militia it passed into the militia of Christ, where it denoted the lesser clergy; it was then transferred to denote an academic degree inferior both to the doctorate and to the licentiate, and from the University of Paris it probably spread to all the others. In theological universities, a baccalaureus biblicus was one whom his master judged capable of expounding Holy Scripture, and a baccalaureus sententiarius one who could lecture on the Sentences of Pietro Lombardo. The degree was obtained by public disputation. Bachelors also existed in the Faculties of Law and Arts. The name survives in France (bachelier ès lettres, bachelier ès sciences) and means a graduate of secondary schools eligible for admission to the university of letters or sciences. It remains fully in force in Anglo-Saxon universities. It has been retained in the ecclesiastical Faculties and, according to the Deus Scientiarum Dominus (24 May 1931, art. 8), the baccalaureate “is an academic degree by which it is recognized that the student has given such proof of his learning as to be deemed fit to continue the course toward the higher academic degrees”; it is conferred in theology, in utroque iure, and in philosophy after the second year of study; after the first year in biblical studies, canon law, Christian archaeology, Oriental studies, and Gregorian chant (art. 41). The title is obtained only after successfully passing the examinations required for that title.

Vittorio Bartoccetti