SORBONNE
149
SORBONNE
Emperor Leopold I appointed him official councillor
and chief supervisor of sanitary conditions in Vienna.
Soon after this he was ennobled. In 1681 he resigned
his professorship and founded a scholarship for medical students. During the siege of Vienna by the
Turks in 1683 he commanded the company formed of
students as chief sergeant-major. His tomb is in the
Cathedral of St. Stephen at Vienna. In 1909 the national association of the official doctors of Austria selected Sorbait's portrait as the insignia of the association. He gained a high reputation as a teacher at
Vienna by zealous encouragement of anatomy and
botany, as well as by firm adherence to the Hippocratic school. His prominent position in the year
1679 gave him the opportunity to organize sanitary
conditions in Vienna. His writings show a harmonious mixture of profound thinking, strong piety, and a
merry wit. His style frequently recalls that of the
Augustinian monk and Viennese preacher Abraham
a Santa Clara, but Sorbait was not an imitator of the
latter, as the orations delivered upon receiving a
higher position were delivered in part before 1666,
consequently before Father Abraham's appearance as
a speaker at Vienna.
Sorbait's works are the following: "Universa medicina tam theorica quam practica" etc. (Nuremberg, 1672, 1675) ; this is his chief work. It was issued in a revised and enlarged form under the title: "Praxios medicae tractatus VII" (Vienna, 1680 and 1701); "Commentaria et controversiae in omnes libros aphorismorum Hippocratis" (Vienna, 1660); "Nova et aucta institutionum isagoge" (Vienna, 1678); "Modus promovendi doctores in archilycaeo Viennensi" (Vienna, 1667), in "Praxios medicae tract.", 553–577; "Encomiastica neoprofessurae prolegomena", oration delivered on entrance to his professorship, 31 January, 1655; "Discursus academicus in renovatione magistratus civici", 7 Jan., 1669, in German; "Resignatio rectoratus", 25 Nov., 1669; "Exhortatio in honorem St. Barbarae", 25 Jan., 1664; all these are to be found in the "Prax. med. tract.", 578–90; "Die Johann Wilhelm Mannagellasche Pestordnung im Auftrag der Regierung von P. Sorbait herausgegeben und vermehrt" (1679); "Consilium medicum seu dialogus loimicus de peste Viennensi" (Vienna, 1679; also in German, 1679; 1713; Berlin, 1681), Sorbait's most popular book; "Catalogus rectorum" (Vienna, 1669 and 1670). He also wrote short articles which are to be found in the "Miscellanea curiosa academiae caesareae; Leopoldinae II, III".
Oesterreichischer Galenus, dass ist Lob- Leich- und Ehrenpredig Thro Magnificenz dess Wohl-Edel Gehohrnen und hochgelehrten Pauli de Sorbait von P. Emericus Pfendtner O.F.M., 10 Mai, 1691 (Vienna); Senfelder, Paul de Sorbait in Wiener klinische Rundschau (1906), nos. 21–27, 29–30.
Leopold Senfelder.
Sorbonne. — This name is frequently used in ordinary parlance as synonymous with the faculty of theology of Paris. Strictly speaking it means, as in this article, the celebrated theological college of the French capital. The title was adopted from the name of the university institute founded by Robert de Sorbon, a native of Le Réthelois, a distinguished professor and famous preacher who lived from 1201 till 1274. Sorbon found that there was a defect in the primitive organization of the University of Paris. The two principal mendicant orders — the Dominicans and the Franciscans — had each at Paris a college and delivered lectures at which extern students might attend without fee. In order that the university, which was already engaged in a struggle with the religious, might offer the same advantages, Robert de Sorbon decided that it also should provide gratuitous instruction and that this should be given by a society of professors following, except as regards the matter of vows, the rules of the cenobitic life. This important work was rendered possible by the high esteem in which Robert was held at Paris, together with his brilliant parts, his great generosity, and the assistance of his friends. The foundation dates from the year 1257 or the beginning of 1258. Nor was the aid he received merely pecuniary; Guillaume de Saint-Amour, Gérard d' Abbeville, Henry of Ghent, Guillaume des Grez, Odo or Eudes of Douai, Chrétien de Beauvais, Gérard de Reims, Nicolas de Bar are but a few of the most illustrious names inseparably connected either with the first chairs in the Sorbonne, or with the first association that constituted it. These savants were already attached to the university staff.
The constitution of the society as conceived by Robert was quite simple: an administrator (provisor), associates (socii), and guests (hospites). The provisor was the head; nothing could be done without consulting him; he installed the members selected by the society, and confirmed the statutes drawn up by it; in a word, as his title signifies, he had to provide for everything. The associates formed the body of the society. To be admitted to it, the candidate was required to have taught a course of philosophy. There were two kinds of associates, the bursaires and the pensionnaires. The latter paid forty (Paris) pounds a year, the former were provided for by the house, which expended a like sum from its revenues. The burse could be granted only to persons not having an income of forty (Paris) pounds. There was a primus inter pares, the prior, who presided over all internal affairs of the house. Doctors and bachelors were alike eligible, but, owing to the number of the latter, the custom rapidly grew up of selecting only bachelors. Other persons were candidates for admission to the society rather than members of it. From the material and intellectual point of view they enjoyed the same privileges as the members: board, lodging, books, spiritual and scholastic exercises; but they had no votes. When they had fulfilled the condition of teaching philosophy, they were admissible as members. The course of studies lasted ten years, during which time their burses continued; but, if at the end of ten years, they had not given proof of their ability, either as teachers or
