UNIVERSITÀ

UNIVERSITY. – In the exclusive sense in which the word is used today, it is the school of higher learning in which, according to current practice, the liberal arts and sciences, or at least the disciplines proper to certain faculties, are publicly taught in an advanced manner, and the entire education of youth receives its final completion. It originated and first developed within the doctrinal movement that began to take shape in the early Middle Ages (v. VI).

I. ORIGINS

In chronological order, the first university is without doubt that of Salerno (v. SALERNITANA, SCUOLA, SCHOOL), renowned for its medical school from the middle of the 11th century and for about two centuries the most distinguished centre of medical science in Europe. The abbey of Montecassino certainly played a part in its formation, but nothing is known of its organization until 1231, when Frederick II, who had founded the University of Naples in 1224, decreed that it should be the only faculty of medicine in the Kingdom. Thus it had its own origin and life, sharing little in common with the great university movement elsewhere in Europe, except insofar as it contributed to the development of medical science when it was introduced into the universities themselves.

The rise of these institutions was due on the one hand to the thirst for knowledge, which became more active in the 11th century, awakening fresh energies throughout the Christian West, and on the other to the development of social life, which, increasingly freeing itself from the bonds of feudalism, led in the cities to the establishment of universitates, that is, corporations that were practically recognized by public authorities and in which those who felt the need and interest gathered together, establishing common regulations for the defence of their rights and the expansion of their sphere of influence. Even ecclesiastics, from the 11th century onwards, in the most populous places, took care to form their own corporations outside the ecclesiastical institutions to which they belonged. It is therefore no wonder that masters and students, where they were most numerous, organized themselves to safeguard their class interests through mutual agreements among themselves and in their relations with seigneurial or communal authorities.

II. ORGANIZATION

Studium generale, the name that more properly and officially designates the medieval university as an institution of learning, is to be understood in the sense of “a place of study open to all” and that the public could attend without distinction of class or ecclesiastical status. It was therefore general with regard to persons, not with regard to the disciplines taught there, which might be restricted to a single faculty. The term universitas, on the other hand, designates rather the corporation (corpus, collegium, societas) and always implied the specification of magistrorum, or of scholarium, or of both together. And just as every artisan corporation, to protect its members from illicit competition, established rules for entry into the corporation itself and for remaining in it, and granted the faculty to practise that art according to the proper rules, so the universitas magistrorum, after a suitable examination, granted the licentia or facultas (whence the term faculty to designate a particular branch of teaching) ubique docendi, thereby guaranteeing the competence of the graduate.

The student thus became a member of the teaching class with the title of doctor or magister and as such could teach in the faculty; in reality only a few remained to teach in the studium; the majority, having obtained the doctoral degree, did not occupy the chair of their teachers nor establish new chairs or new universities, but went on to teach in non-university schools or pursued professions in which teaching was not an integral part. The first universities, which served as models for others, did not arise all at once, nor by the specific will of any single person; they grew gradually, determined by particular needs and favoured by circumstances. The heated controversies that preceded and accompanied the struggle for investitures, besides contributing to the

University – A hall in the Historical Museum of the University of Pavia.

859 UNIVERSITY 860

Scripture with its gloss was the basis of instruction, to which was added, in interpretation, the tradition of the Fathers and in particular of St. John Damascene, until about 1150 one of the doctors of Paris, Peter Lombard (v.), published the Liber sententiarum with the aim of systematizing dogmatic teaching, reconciling the expositions of the Fathers; this work became the object of numerous commentaries and served as a textbook in the schools even when the masters published their Summae (v. SUMMAE THEOLOGICAE). Towards the end of the 12th century, the masters of theology, canon law, arts (medicine and philosophy), who, independent of one another, had taught in different parts of Paris, spontaneously formed a single body: a consortium or universitas magistrorum. The chancellor of the church of Notre-Dame, with a mandate entrusted to him once and for all by the bishop, granted the masters the licence to hold lectures. Before 1260, these masters, without prejudice to the universitas, in order to promote the interests of studies within the individual faculties, established as many separate societies, each presided over by a dean. When in turn the students began to have disputes with the chancellor, Innocent III, about 1210, granted them the right to appoint a procurator to represent them legally in defending their interests, and thus the universitas scholarum originated, which before 1249 was subdivided into the four nations: Gallicorum, Picardorum, Normannorum, Anglicarum (with whom were the Germans and other northern nations); each nation had a procurator at its head, and all four met together for common interests in the universitas artistarum, because the artists formed the majority among the students and also had their own magistri. A rector universitatis represented the four united nations and was the executor of their decisions, until about 1341 he became the true representative of the Studium.

V. PRIVILEGES

In their first period of existence, universities were unchallenged as ecclesiastical institutions, and the popes exercised their jurisdiction over them by promulgating or modifying statutes, overseeing orthodoxy, and claiming as their own exclusive right to establish new faculties, particularly in theology, as they did at Bologna (1360) and Padua (1364), or in canon law.

Soon the civil authorities took a direct interest in the expanding school movement. At the Diet of Roncaglia in 1158, Frederick Barbarossa promulgated the so-called *Authentica Habita*, by which he intended to favor Italian schools and particularly benefited Bologna; scholars were placed under sovereign protection so that they could travel without hindrance, study undisturbed, and be judged either by the bishop’s tribunal or by the students themselves. This protection, initially limited to civil matters, was later extended to criminal cases. In 1200, Philip Augustus exempted the schools of Paris from secular jurisdiction, and the chancellor exercised authority over masters and students. Thus began those privileges of exemption which sovereigns granted or ratified with great liberality, rendering the university an autonomous institution with its own life, empowered to establish its own statutes, defend its privileges and members—both masters and scholars—against external interference, particularly from local authorities, and to proscribe dangerous doctrines by preventing their teaching or defense.

Around the university there also developed a complex of interested parties—copyists, stationers, booksellers, and various service providers—who in different ways profited from the university’s growth. On 16 November 1219, Honorius III granted that masters and theological scholars could enjoy the revenues of ecclesiastical benefices to which they were appointed for five years while pursuing their studies, while retaining the rights of residence (*Decret.*, V, 5, 5); this concession was later extended to all universities.

It was natural that university men should preferentially receive ecclesiastical offices and benefices. During the fourteenth century, the University of Paris proposed to the popes the names of those it deemed especially worthy of consideration in this regard. The degree of licentiate or doctor in theology or law was a title of preference in the conferral of bishoprics or canonries. The wealth, favor, and various advantages thus became incentives to increase the number of universities by augmenting their privileges and endowments; they were liberally endowed with ecclesiastical revenues and lay income. Eugenius IV, for example, assigned to the Studium Urbis the proceeds of the wine tax. The prevailing principle was that a *Studium generale* should be juridically established through the intervention of public authority—whether by the Pope, the sovereign, or the emperor. In many universities, both papal and imperial authority were involved, particularly when—as in Italy—free communes or minor lordships took the initiative in founding them; it was important that the privileges enjoyed by older universities should not be lacking.

An important element in university (or faculty) life, especially in theology, was composed of religious orders, particularly the mendicants. The Dominicans settled in Paris in 1217 and in Oxford in 1224; the Franciscans were in Paris by 1230 and in Oxford in 1224. Soon the Carmelites and Augustinians also had their convents near these studia. Members of these orders lived in community, which offered them various advantages: permanent lodging for years, hours for study and books, religious practices, and mutual support—all of which fostered diligence in study and enhanced the esteem of both scholars and masters. The friars could hold chairs, but they did not participate in the governance or offices of the university, being bound by the rules of their own institutes. Since they included distinguished and respected teachers, they provoked jealousy not only among the student body but also among the doctors; thus, in the great controversy of the mid-thirteenth century over limiting the privileges granted by the popes to the mendicant orders regarding the cura animarum, there was also an attempt to exclude them from teaching in the university. Yet they were defended by the popes in safeguarding their rights.

Secular clergy, by contrast, lived in isolation, either in private lodgings or in informal associations of disciples and masters, and were thus exposed to dissipation. Sometimes they formed communities under the direction of a bachelor or master who regulated the life of this freely constituted group. Special care was taken to provide for poor students through foundations or scholarships. These too were especially established in colleges that arose to facilitate students’ residence under stricter discipline and greater dedication to study. There was one such college in Paris as early as the time of Urban III, with its own chapel; the popes confirmed its rights in 1210 and 1248. Most famous was the college founded in 1257 by Robert de Sorbon, chaplain to St Louis IX, which later gave its name to the entire Faculty of Theology, the Sorbonne; it was joined in its renown by the college known as Navarre. By 1350, there were nineteen such colleges in Paris, offering 375 free places.

Similar provisions were made in Bologna, Padua, and later in Rome. These colleges were of particular importance at the two great English universities, where by the end of the fifteenth century no one paid board and all students were required to reside in one of them.

The academic career, which lasted several years, culminated in the degree of doctor (a title initially preferred by theologians), awarded after a solemn examination (*examinatio publica sive conventus*; *V. LAUREA*). Since this ceremony entailed great expense, a private examination (*examinatio privata*) was introduced, conferring the title of *licentiatus* or *prolyta* (*V. LICENZA*). A lower grade was that of bachelor (*v.*), who—at least in the Faculty of Theology—participated in teaching under the direction of the masters.

In the thirteenth century, there also appear *magistri* and *doctores* in medicine or physics, and in grammar, logic, philosophy, and the other arts.

VI. DISCUSSIONS

A characteristic feature of intellectual life within the university was the frequent use of theological and philosophical disputations held in the schools under the master’s direction. These followed precise rules: the *sollecitatio* and the form involved a debate between a defender of the proposed proposition and an objector, with the master himself drawing the conclusion (*cf. Dante, Paradiso*, XXIV, vv. 66–68). On more solemn occasions, the master would propose one or more theses, declaring himself ready to defend them against all comers. Any doctor could then come forward to object, while a jury of doctors specially appointed would oversee the discussion and award victory. There were also *quaestiones quodlibeticae* (*V. QUODLIBETI*) for resolving particularly pressing topics. These disputations formed a major part of examinations. The passion for disputation in its formalized style fostered meticulous argumentation, subtlety in reasoning, and a craze for abstruse, unexpected, and even extravagant theses. It was also a means of gaining reputation; yet one cannot deny that, in an age when books were few and costly, it contributed to deepening knowledge and training minds in quickness and clarity of argument.

VII. DIFFUSION

The university movement soon spread widely. Following the example of Paris, the University of Toulouse (v.) was founded in 1229 with the aim of combating the Albigensian heresy, and that of Orléans for the study of civil law, which was prohibited in Paris. From Paris also came the students who gave Oxford (v.) in England at the beginning of the 13th century, soon followed by that of Cambridge (v.), which remained the only universities in that country. From a secession from Bologna arose the University of Padua ([v.] 1222), which was constantly favored by the bishop and others. From Vercelli (v.). In the same 13th century, in Spain, with the favor of the king, the universities of Salamanca and Seville were founded; at the end of that century, that of Coimbra arose in Portugal. In Italy, Naples had a university by decree of Frederick II in 1224. Rome, by the will of Boniface VIII, had the Studium Urbis in 1303; but even earlier the Studium Curiae had been established, a kind of university for the study of theology and canon law for the benefit of those in the Curia, who therefore had to follow the Curia when it moved. In the following age, universities arose in Italy and France in many places. During the 14th century, they also appeared in regions distant from the original movement: in Prague in 1347 through the patronage of King Charles IV of Luxembourg; in Vienna in 1365 through the favor of the Habsburgs; in Cracow, Poland, in 1364; in Pécs, Hungary, in 1367; in Germany at Erfurt in 1379, at Heidelberg in 1385, and at Cologne in 1388.

From Prague, Leipzig split off in 1409 due to nationalist disputes. The University (v.) was founded in 1423 at the initiative of its prince; but during the 15th century, universities also arose in Scandinavian countries, not without complaint from the older universities, which saw ever new competitors emerging. These, however, served more to disseminate knowledge than to deepen II. Indeed, on the heels of the discovery of America, universities modeled on the University of Salamanca were founded in Mexico (1553) and Lima (1555).

VIII. THE RENAISSANCE

The university system reached its full maturity during the Renaissance, when its investigative vitality was already waning; it was then that a reactionary movement arose, culminating in contempt for the new currents of knowledge, while at the same time a sense of distrust was felt among university scholars attached to their traditions. It was especially in the Faculties of Arts that new philosophical concepts and methods could take root, such as studying Aristotle from original texts, expanding the role of mathematics (geometry), astronomy, and medicine, and gradually preparing the way for the age of great discoveries. The philological-literary field, long considered merely a prerequisite or necessary introduction to learning, remained alien to the university; most great humanists did not teach there. Critical research into new texts, historical and critical investigations, commentary and imitation of the classics, and political questions became the task of private scholars and were entrusted to the schools that were now multiplying through initiatives by municipalities or patrons—schools that seemed in some way to be a radical revival of the ancient schools of grammar and rhetoric.

At the university, disputations continued to be held *in viam Scoti* or *in viam Thomae*, and, for example, the chair of Controversies, so brilliantly held by Bellarmine in Rome, was allowed to lapse—perhaps under the assumption that it was no longer needed.

Nevertheless, the new problems raised by the new studies inevitably influenced teaching methods and the direction of research in the fields of law and philosophy, which became more autonomous from old schemas. In theology, the need to counter the upheavals of doctrines that completely disrupted traditional teaching led, if not to a complete overhaul of methods, at least to an adaptation to new exigencies. Jesuit colleges, which, following the example of the Roman College founded in 1553, arose in Catholic countries and attained particular importance in Germany as university institutions, played a significant role in this process.

Protestant universities, by their very nature opposed to traditional scholasticism, created a new system based on confessional authoritarianism, irrational and arbitrary, allied with and dominated by civil authority. They offered fierce resistance to free scientific inquiry until they were forced to react to the Enlightenment.

The first to become Protestant was the University of Wittenberg, founded in 1507; then came Marburg in 1527, using the assets of Catholic monasteries and benefices, followed by others in the same century. Geneva, through the efforts of Calvin and Theodore Beza, and without any official recognition, became the major intellectual center of the Reformed throughout Europe. These centers of learning, completely removed from the authority of the Church, fell under the authority of the civil authority of each locality. Moreover, absolutism, which in the 16th century increasingly dominated state governance even in Catholic countries, assumed a growing influence over universities, leading to the decline of corporate structures and limiting freedom in the organization of chairs, the appointment of teachers, and the discipline of students. Even the Church’s influence gradually waned, so that the university came to be regarded simply as an organ of the state.

IX. RECENT TIMES

This evolution was well underway by the end of the 18th century, when the reform movement was sweeping through all fields and the anti-social and anti-medieval spirit was fostering new orientations in studies. Emperor Joseph II was already taking steps to alter internal regulations and even to establish a kind of religious police.

The French Revolution, hostile to all privileges, abolished on September 5, 1793, the old universities and replaced them with special schools and institutes under direct state control for the training of professionals, especially doctors and lawyers. Napoleon, in 1806, created the Université de France, a body exclusively responsible for public instruction and education throughout the Empire; secular by nature, it encompassed all public teaching from elementary school to the Sorbonne, with the “Grand Maître” at its head. The University of Paris oversaw higher education in various locations and academies, each divided into five faculties: theology, law, medicine, sciences, and letters. Thus, universities lost all autonomy, and the state monopolized education. In 1850, the Ministry of Public Instruction replaced the Grand Maître, and in 1896 the academies regained their former name of universities.

Similar principles regarding the predominance of the State in the field of higher education and the complete secularity of instruction were adopted in other States of Europe and America. The faculties of theology and canon law were abolished or, more or less, removed from the authority of the Church (v. libertà di); while complete freedom to teach any doctrine was recognized. Apart from ecclesiastical universities, which were directed especially toward the doctrinal formation of the clergy and over which the Church claimed exclusive competence, thought was given to founding universities where instruction would be given according to the principles and doctrines of the Church in all branches of knowledge. This could not be achieved unless the freedom of instruction (v.) was first claimed with full authority to confer academic degrees valid for civil purposes as those of the State authority. A fully and truly free Catholic university was that of Louvain, reconstituted by the bishops of Belgium with the approval of Gregory XVI in 1833–35. With this system, universities were practically reduced to being institutes of a national character. For ecclesiastical universities, the new regulations are proposed in the apostolic constitution of Pius XI, *Deus Scientiarum Dominus* (v.).

At the initiative of Fr. A. Gemelli and Mons. J. Schrijnen, the Federation of Catholic Universities was established in 1924 with the approval of Pius XI, to which about twenty universities adhered. Only properly Catholic universities could be part of II. Having lapsed for various reasons, the Federation was reconstituted by Pius XII on 27 July 1940 (AAS, 42 [1950], pp. 385–87). — See plates LXXXII–LXXXIII.