Page:EB1911 - Volume 27.djvu/795

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UNIVERSITIES

at the university, it is at the same time one of the most aristocratic schools in Europe. Of its five faculties, theology, jurisprudence, medicine, mathematics and philosophy, that of law is by far the most flourishing, the number of students in this faculty nearly equalling the aggregate of all the rest. In 1772 the university received new statutes and was to a great extent reorganized. There is a valuable library, largely composed of collections formerly belonging to suppressed convents. As a school of theology Coimbra has always been distinctly anti-ultramontane.

In Italy, as in Spain, education for the church has been relegated almost entirely to the numerous “seminaries,” where it Italy. is of an almost entirely elementary character. In 1875 a laudable effort was made by R. Bonghi, the minister of education, to introduce reforms and to assimilate the universities in their organization and methods to the German type. His plans were, however, to a great extent reversed by his successor, Coppino.

In Austria the universities, being modelled on the same system as those of the German Empire, present no especially Austria-Hungary.
Vienna.
noteworthy features, except that the sphere of the functions of a rector corresponds precisely with that of the rector in those German universities which have no curator, and the faculties are represented by the ordinary professors as a body along with two representatives of the “Privatdozents.” Vienna has long been chiefly distinguished for its school of medicine, which enjoyed in the last century a reputation almost unrivalled in Europe. The other faculties were, however, suffered to languish, and throughout the first half of the last century the whole university was in an extremely depressed state. From this condition it was in a great measure restored by the exertions of Count Thun. The university of Olmütz, founded in 1581, was formerly in possession of what is Olmütz. now the imperial library, and contained also a valuable collection of Slavonic works, which were carried off by the Swedes and ultimately dispersed. It was suppressed in 1853, and is now represented only by a theological faculty. The university of Graz, the capital of Styria, was founded in 1586, Graz.
Salzburg.
Lemberg.
and has long been one of the most flourishing centres, with nearly 2000 students, chiefly in law and philosophy. The university of Salzburg, founded in 1623, was suppressed in 1810; that of Lemberg, founded in 1784 by the Emperor Joseph II., was removed in 1805 to Cracow and united to that university. In 1816 it was opened on an independent basis. In the bombardment of the town in 1848 the university buildings were burnt down, and the site was changed to what was formerly a Jesuit convent. The fine library and natural history museum were at the same time almost entirely destroyed. The most recent foundation is that of Czernowitz. Czernowitz (1875), with faculties of theology (Greek Church), law and political economy, and philosophy. The universities of the Hungarian kingdom are three in number:—Budapest, originally founded at Tyrnau in 1635 Budapest. under the auspices of the Jesuits, now possessing four faculties—theology, jurisprudence, medicine and philosophy (number of professors in 1903, 180; students, 3223); Kolozsvar (Klausenburg), the chief Magyar centre, founded in 1872 and also comprising four faculties, but where Klausenburg.
Agram.
mathematics and natural science supply the place of theology; Zágráb (Agram), the Slovack university, in Croatia, originally founded by Maria Theresa in 1776 from some suppressed schools of the Jesuits, and reopened in 1874 with three faculties, viz. jurisprudence, theology and philosophy. The chief centre of Protestant Debreczen. education is the college at Debreczen, founded in 1531, which in past times was not infrequently subsidized from England. It has faculties of law and theology, courses of instruction in philosophy, and a school for teachers, and possesses a fine library.

In Japan there are two imperial universities—Tokyo (1868) and Kioto (1897)—the former representing the union of two pre-existing foundations, on which occasion it was placed under the control of the minister of instruction with yearly grants Japan. from the treasury. The ordinary course of studies was limited to three years, that of medicine being extended to four. Kioto was formed out of four previously existing colleges of law, medicine, science and engineering.

The “National University” of Athens (founded May 22, 1837) was modelled on the university systems of northern Athens. Germany, on a plan originally devised by Professor Brandis. It originally included only four faculties, viz. theology, jurisprudence, medicine and philosophy, to which one of applied mathematics was subsequently added.

In European Turkey the university of Jassy (1860) in Rumania was founded by its ruler, Prince Cuza, and together with the Turkey and Bulgaria. newly founded university of Bucharest received its completed organization in 1864. Both were constituted state institutions and were represented in the senate, although not receiving any fixed revenues from the government. Its students are instructed and examined gratuitously. In the university of Sophia (1888) in Bulgaria, faculties were established, in the course of the ensuing four years, of history, philology, physics, mathematics and jurisprudence, the main object in view being the training of competent teachers of schools and of lawyers, and affording them the means of gaining an intelligent insight into the real wants of the native population. The university of Constantinople was founded in 1900 at the jubilee festival in honour of the sultan's succession to the throne. It included five faculties and was placed under the control of a director and sub-director, the former being invested with authority over teachers and scholars alike.

The history of the two English universities during the 16th and following centuries has presented, for the most part, features The English universities since the medieval period. which contrast strongly with those of the continental seats of learning. Both suffered severely from confiscation of their lands and revenues during the period of the Reformation, but otherwise have generally enjoyed a remarkable immunity from the worst consequences of civil and political strife and actual warfare. Both long remained centres chiefly of theological teaching, but their intimate connexion at once with the state and with the Church of England, as “by law established,” and the modifications introduced into their constitutions, prevented their becoming arenas of fierce polemical contentions like those which distracted the Protestant universities of Germany.

The influence of the Renaissance, and the teaching of Erasmus, who resided for some time at both universities, exercised a Influence of the Renaissance. notable effect alike at Oxford and at Cambridge. The names of Colet, Grocyn and Linacre illustrate this influence at the former centre; those of Bishop Fisher, Sir John Cheke and Sir Thomas Smith at the latter. The labours of Erasmus at Cambridge, as the author of a new Latin version of the New Testament, with the design of placing in the hands of students a text free from the errors of the Vulgate, were productive of important effects, and the The Reformation at Cambridge. university became a centre of Reformation doctrine some years before the writings of Luther became known in England. The foundation of Christ's College (1505) tion at and St John's College (1511), through the influence of Fisher with the countess of Richmond, also materially aided the general progress of learning at Cambridge. The Royal Injunctions of 1535, embodying the views and designs of Thomas Cromwell, mark the downfall of the old scholastic methods of study at both universities; and the foundation of Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1547 (partly by an amalgamation of two older societies), represents the earliest conception of such an institution in England in complete independence of Roman Catholic traditions. Trinity (1554) and St John's (1555) at Oxford, on the other hand, founded during the reactionary reign of Mary, serve rather as examples of a transitional period.

In the reign of Elizabeth Cambridge became the centre of another great movement—that of the earlier Puritanism, St John's and Queens' being the strongholds of the party led