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placed by the Germanic or German. The four nations
constituted the faculty of arts or letters. The expres-
sion faculty, though of ancient usage, did not have in
the beginning its present meaning; it then indicated a
branch of instruction. It is especially in a Bull of
Gregory IX that it is used to designate the professional
body, and it may have had the same meaning in a
university Act of 1221 (cf. "Hist. Universitatis Parisi-
ensis". III, 106).
If the natural division of the schools of Paris into nations arose from the native countries of the students, the classification of knowledge must quite as naturally have introduced the division into faculties. Profes.sors of the same science were brought into closer contact; community of rights and interests cemented the union and made of them distinct groups, which at the same time remained integral parts of the teaching body. Thus the faculties gradually arose and consequently no precise account of their origin can be given. The faculty of medicine would seem to be the last in point of time. But the four faculties were already formally designated in a letter addressed in Feb., 1254, by the university to the prelates of Christendom, wherein mention is made of "theology, jurisprudence, medi- cine, and rational, natural, and moral philosophy". In the celebrated Bull "Quasi Lignum" (April, 12.55), Alexander IV speaks of "the faculties of theology" of other "faculties", namely those of canonists, physi- cians, and artists. If the masters in theology set the example in this special organization, those in decretals and medicine hastened to follow it. This is proved by the seals which the last-named adopted some years later, as the masters in arts had already done.
The faculties of theology, or canon law, and medi- cine, were called "superior faculties". The title of "dean" as designating the head of a faculty, was not in use until the second half of the thirteenth century. In this matter the faculties of decretals and medicine seem to have taken the lead, which the faculty of theology followed, for in authentic acts of 1268 we read of the deans of decretals and medicine, while the dean of theology is not mentioned until 1296. It would seem that at first the deans were the oldest masters. The faculty of arts continued to have four procurators of its four nations and its head was the rector. As the faculties became more fully organized, the division into four nations partially disappeared for theology, decretals and medicine, while it continued in arts. Eventually the superior faculties were to include only doctors, leaving the bachelors to the nations. At this period, therefore, the university had two principal degrees, the baccalaureate and the doctorate. It was not until much later that the licen- tiate, while retaining its early character, became an intermediate degree. Besides, the university num- bered among its members beadles and messengers, who also performed the duties of clerks.
The scattered condition of the scholars in Paris often made the question of lodging difficult. Recourse was had to the townsfolk, who exacted high rates while the students demanded lower. Hence arose friction and quarrels, which, as the scholars were very numerous, would have developed into a sort of civil war if a remedy had not been found. The remedy sought was taxation. This right of taxation, included in the regulation of Robert de Courgon, had passed on to the university. It was upheld in the Bull of Greg- ory IX of 1231, but with an important modification, for its exercise was to be shared with the citizens. These circumstances had long shown the need of new arrangements. The aim was to offer the students a shelter where they would fear neither annoyance from the owners nor the dangers of the world. The result was the foundation of the colleges (coltigere, to assem- ble). This measure also furthered the progress of studies by a better employment of time, under the guidance sometimes of resident masters and out of the XI.— 32
way of dissipation. These colleges were not usually
centres of instruction, but simple boarding-houses for
the students, who went from them to the schools.
Each had a special object, being established for stu-
dents of the same nationality or the same science.
Four colleges appear in the twelfth century; they be-
came more numerous in the thirteenth, and among
them may be mentioned Harcourt and the Sorbonne.
Thus the University of Paris, which in general was the
type of the other universities, had already assumed
the form which it afterwards retained. It was com-
posed of seven groups, the four nations of the faculty
of arts, and the three superior faculties of theology,
law, and medicine. Ecclesiastical dignities, even
abroad, seemed reserved for the masters and students
of Paris. This preference became a general rule, and
eventually a right, that of eligibility to benefices.
Such was the origin and early organization of the
University of Paris which might even then, in virtue
of their protection, call itself the daughter of kings,
but which was in reality the daughter of the Church.
St. Louis, in the diploma which he granted to the
Carthusians for their establishment near Paris, speaks
of this city, where "flow the most abundant waters of
wholesome doctrine, so that they become a great river
which after refreshing the city itself irrigates the Uni-
versal Church". Clement IV uses a no less charming
comparison: "the noble and renowned city, the city
which is the source of learning and sheds over the
world a light which seems an image of the celestial
splendour; those who are taught there shine bril-
liantly, and those who teach there will shine with the
stars for all eternity" (cf. du Boulay, "Hist. Univers.
Paris", III, 360-71).
Later History . — Abuses crept in; to correct these and to introduce various needed modifications in the work of the university was the purpose of the reform carried out in the fifteenth century by Cardinal d'Es- touteville. Apostolic legate in France. As a whole it was less an innovation than a recall to the better ob- servance of the ancient statutes. The reform of 1600, undertaken by the royal government, was of the same character with regard to the three superior faculties. As to the faculty of arts, the study of Greek was added to that of Latin, only the best classical authors were recommended; the French poets and orators were used along with Hcsiod, Plato, Demosthenes, Cicero, Virgil, and Sallust. The prohibition to teach civil law was never well observed at Paris. But in 1679 Louis XIV authorized the teaching of civil law in the faculty of decretals. As a logical consequence the name "faculty of law"replaced that of "faculty of decretals". The colleges meantime had multiplied; those of Cardinal Le-Moine and Navarre were founded in the fourteenth century. The Hundred Years' War was fatal to these establishments, but the university set about remedying the injury.
Remarkable for its teaching, the University of Paris played an important part: in the Church, during the Great Schism; in the councils, in dealing with heresies and deplorable divisions; in the State, during national crises; and if under the domination of England it dis- honoured itself in the trial of Joan of Arc, it re- habilitated itself by rehabilitating the heroine herself. Proud of its rights and privileges, it fought energetic- ally to maintain them. Hence the long struggle against the mendicant orders on academic as well as on religious grounds. Hence also the conflict, shorter but also memorable, against the Jesuits, who claimed by word and action a share in its teaching. It made liberal use of its right to decide administratively ac- cording to occasion and necessity. In some instances it openly endorsed the censures of the faculty of the- ology and in its own name pronounced condemnation, as in the case of the Flagellants.
Its patriotism was especially manifested on two oc- casions. During the captivity of King John, when
