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UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
FROM THE EAELIEST TIMES
TO THE EOYAL INJUNCTIONS OF
1535.
'
DBIGHTON,
BEI/L,
AND
CO.
THE
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES
TO THE ROfAL INJUNCTIONS OF
1535
BY
M.A.
'
^%%
d
PBINTED BY
u. J. CLAY, M.A. AT THE TJUIVEKBITY FEESS.
,i
[al'l )\
.'J
Y'i
ir)i3V.IHU
4^
TO
Esq.,
M.A.,
fiis
Folume
IS
DEDICATED,
'"v
PREFACE.
The
large
amount
sufficiently to justify
It
may
not however be
method
nearly seven years, the author has chiefly kept before him.
A very
suffice to
same
field.
The volume
is
nor
is it
itself,
not
only in successive
at large
and
at the
same time
to point out in
how
great a
Vlll
PREFACE.
and have
in turn
reflected
the
and
social
home and
abroad.
To
those
who
best
understand
relations of
university culture to
people,
it
may
con-
how
with
respect to which
it
has been truly said that 'no other town in England has three
such records.'
To extraordinary powers
of minute investiga-
same
aim
Bat valuable
was
the
accurate investi-
he never
may be
questioned whether as
many
observa-
Cambridge, I
but
filled for
For the information of readers who may have no personal Imowledge of may state that Mr Cooper was not a member of the university,
many
and town
clerk.
PREFACE.
tions can
fact
IX
to the greater
movements
in progress
and
effects of
The
he did not
During the
to literature, both at
home and
he made so peculiarly
his own.
The
literatures
of both
richly productive of
works
of
mediaeval
thought and
mediaeval institutions
common with
all
and
to
Among
these it
is sufficient
name the works of Geiger, Huber, Kleutgen, Lechler, Prantl, Ranke, Von Raumer, Schaarschmidt, Ueberweg, and Ullmann Ln Germany; those of Victor Le Clerc, Cousin,
Haurdau, the
younger Jourdain,
;
R^musat,
Renan,
and
Thurot in France
histories
of single universities,
like
that
of Basel
by Vischer,
of
by Felix Nfeve
while at
hotfte,
to different
X
PREFACE.
Stubbs,
mission,
and professor
Com-
Cambridge Antiquarian
colleges,
Society,
and the
histories
of separate
especially Baker's
History of St. John's College in the exhaustive and admirable edition by professor Mayor,
less
But
literature of the
patient enquiry
conclusions;
and
careful
arriving
at
ance
.of
make
his design
to records,
and
for
much
helpful criticism.
Among those who have evinced a kindly interest in the work he may be permitted to name Henry Bradshaw, Esq., M.A.,
fellow of King's College
and university
librarian
William
and
and professor of
feUow and tutor
Esq.,
M.A.,
Latin
as gentlemen to
whom
he
iS
PEEFACE.
of large portions of the work, either in manuscript or
XI
when
volume much
less faulty
it
would other-
Fot
of
Pembroke, Corpus
W.
De Morgan
to
and
librarian of
to the
Rev. S. S. Lewis,
College,
M.A., fellow
;
and
librarian of
Corpus Christi
M.A., registrary
Cambridge
;
to the Rev.
to
H. R. Luard,
of the university
fellow
John's College
;
to
M. Paul
to the Rev.
W.
College
M.A.,
to professor Stubbs
;
to the Rev. C.
to
Wordsworth,
feUow of Peterhouse
bursar and ,late
and
W.
M.A., senior
liberally
extended in
In conclusion, the author cannot but express his sense that his work, notwithstanding these advantages, must still
appear very far from' being a complete and satisfactory treatof the subject, even within the period
all its
ment
it
comprises.
He
defects, it
may
;
yet bo
and at
Xll
PREFACE,
seem
be no small reward
slight
if
however
a degree, to a
history,
and a
livelier
most ancient,
insti-
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Introduction
i ib.
The
thirteenth century
.... ....
by subse-
2
ib.
3
ib.
4
5
6
Apparent confirmation of
by the circum7 8
Change in the aspect of affairs in Europe The empire of Charlemagne The episcopal and monastic schools Charlemagne and Alcuin
State of learning
.......
.
9
ib.
10
11
ib.
among the
clergy
12
13
14
literature forbidden
under a new
15
.....
18
ib.
and the
(Alati
19
magne
Bishop Lupus of FerriSres His letters and studies
State of learning in England
ib.
20
ib.
21
xiv
CONTENTS.
PAGE
21
Orosius
22
23
to
known
27 29
ib.
Oassiodorus
Isidorus
31
'
the Dark
Ages'
.32
33
ib.
ib.
-.
De
Officiis Ecclesiasticis
The False Decretals Dispute between Hincmar and Bbthrad The Decretum of Gratian
.....
.
.34
. .
ib.
35
....
. .
. .
36 37
ib.
Accursius
ib.
encountered Vacarius lectures at Oxford . The study extensively pursued at a later period by the
at
first
. . . . . .
38
ib-
clergy
39
.
Combination of the study with that of the canon law . Evidence of increasing activity of speculative thought Paschasius Radbertus and Ratramnus John Scotus Brigena The Pseudo-Dionysius Gerbert . The employment of the modern numeral notation
Gerbert's knowledge not derived from the Saracens
.
ib.
....
40
ib.
41
ib.
42 43
ib.
His teaching at Rheims Approach of the expiration of the millennium Panic throughout Christian Europe Belief in the approaching end of the world ceases after this
...
44 45
ib.
....
. .
ib.
Berengar
Maintains the rights of reason against mere traditional
belief
46 47
ih.
49
.... ...
.
ib.
50
ib.
CONTENTS.
This passage known tliroiigliout the Middle Ages through
XV
PAOE
two translations
Criticism of Boethiiis on the passage
in the version
:
51
(1)
as
it
appears
by Victorinus
(2) as it
appears in his
51
own
translation
53
to
The controversy concerning universals evidently familiar the Middle Ages long before the time of Roscellinus
Importance with which he invested the controversy Relevancy of his doctrines to Trinitarianism
.
54
55
ib.
John of Salisbury
His estimate of the logical disputations at Paris Bernard of Chartres
Character of the Latinity of this period
"William of
56
ib.
.
57
*.
.
Champeaux
of the age
Ab61ard
...
.
...
. .
ib.
58
ib.
Symptoms
ib.
Lombard
in
....
the treatment
subsequently exerted
58
59 60
61
ib.
it
62 63
ib.
64
Chap.
I.
Cambridge
The account given by Peter of Blois Norman influences prior and subsequent to the Conquest The university of Paris the model both for Oxford and Cambridge
.
....
ib.
6J.
^b.
68 69
The
70
71
72
XYl
CONTENTS.
PAGE
73
and constitution
....
.
. .
ib. ib.
74
ii>-
74
ib.
75
77
ib-
tion
78
ib.
The 'Nations'
Early theological activity of the university
Jealousy of
....
...
78 79
ib.
Rome
ib.
Other universities founded in the thirteenth century Probable origin of Oxford and Cambridge The first Danish invasion
Destruction of the Benedictine monasteries
80
ib.
....
....
...
. .
81
%b.
ib. ib.
82
ib.
83
ib.
^d the university of
i6.
The
ib.
Cambridge
84
xb.
Robert Grosseteste
Object professedly in view in the formation of the
orders
Degeneracy of the Benedictines Account of Giraldus Cambrensis Causes that favored monastic corruption Influence of the Crusades The orders of St. Dominic and St. Francis d'Assisi Conception of these orders contrasted with that of monasticism
Their rapid extension
.... ........
...
.
new monastic
85
86
ib.
87
ib.
88 89 90
ib.
The Franciscans
at Oxford
and
at
Cambridge
CONTENTS.
Testimony of Grosseteste to the good The New Abistotlb
First
xvii
PAGE
90
9j
Europe through Arabic sources Previous knowledge in Europe of Aristotle's writings Researches of M. Amable Jourdain Method which he employed in his investigations
to
.
.
known
ij).
92
93
ih.
94
sources
Superiority of the versions from the Greek to those from
the Arabic
95
ih.
M. Kenan's account of the latter Difficulties of the Church with respect to the new philosophy The traditional hostility to pagan literature not aimed at
the philosophers
Hostility
96
lb.
now
excited at
Rome
.
97
ib.
The scientific treatises the first there condemned The emperor Frederic 11 Anathemas pronounced by the Church The question which the schoolmen were called to decide The new literature appealed to the wants of the age A Norman and an English library of the twelfth century
.
....
.
98
ib.
99
ih.
100
ib.
' Comparison of their contents These libraries compared with that of Christchurch, Canter-
105
new
learning
.
.
ih.
The Dominicans
Conflict
at Paris
106
ib.
citizens in 1228
The university leaves Paris The opportunity seized by the Dominicans Albertus Magnus The Dominican interpretation of Aristotle TnoMAS Aquinas
.
.
107
.
ib. ib.
108
ib.
ib.
methods of Albertus and Aquinas as commentators The Pseudo-Dion ysius The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs Combination in Aquinas of Aristotelian and Christian phiDifferent
.
109
110
ih.
losophy
Influence of Aquinas on
modern theology
112 113
ib.
Varied character of the intellectual activity of this period Aquinas disclaims Averroes in order to save Aristotle
Failure of his
114 115
ih.
method
in relation to
psychology
.
Theory of
Aristotle's treatise
De Anima
ij\jrt I sua
La,
116 117
ib.
.
118
Bonaventura His comparative indifference to Aristotle Temporary success of Aquinas's mode of treatment Return of the university to Paris Rivalry betveeen the seculars and the Mendicants
.
*.
^^.
William
St.
Amour
His Perils of the Last Times Rivalry between the Dominicans and the Franciscans The philosophy of Aquinas attacked by the latter
.... ....
ib.
119
ib.
ib.
ib.
120
Temporary success of their attack Death of Thomas Aquinas His authority subsequently vindicated by the Church His canonisation Subsequent dissent from his teaching Difficulty of the position of the schoolmen of the period Technical method of Aquinas Translation of the Greek text of Aristotle The Collbqes of Pabis
.
...
*.
121
ib.
122
ib.
123
....
. .
124
125
ib.
126
ib.
127
ib.
128
.
....
.
129
ib.
130
ib.
131
Chap.
II.
Obscurity of the early history of Oxford and Cambridge Students from Paris at Oxford and Cambridge
....
.
133
ib.
Eminent Oxonians at Paris Anthony Wood's account Migrations from Cambridge and Oxford Migration from Cambridge to Northampton Migration from Oxford to Stamford
.
"
134
ib.
ib.
....
135
j&.
CONTENTS.
Difficulties
sity
XIX
PAGE
136 137
ib.
Incendiary
matter
.
Opportunities thus afiforded for the introduction of forgeries Disquiet occasioned by tournaments
Religious orders at Cambridge
ib.
138
ib.
ib.
The Franciscans The Dominicans, Carmelites, and Augustine Friars . The Priory at Barnwell OtJTLINE OF THE EARLY ORGANISATION OF THE ENGLISH UNI. .
139
ib.
VERSITIES
ib.
Cambridge
His powers ecclesiastical in their origin His powers distinguished from those of the regents and
non-regents
....... ....
a later period
.
.
140
141
ib.
142
in the
Important
distinction
latter bodies
Powers vested
.
The proctors The bedels Scrutators and taxors The working body formerly the sole legislative body The university recognised at Rome as a studium generale
.
.
144
ib.
145
.
ib.
ib.
146
ib.
The Mendicants
Increase of their power and decline of their popularity
.
ib.
Their conduct as described by Matthew ParisConflict with the old monastic orders
147
148
149
ib.
150
.
new
ib.
151
Rapid degeneracy of the friars Testimony of Roger Bacon to the general corruption of the religious orders in his day Death of Grosseteste His services to his generation Testimony of Matthew Paris to his merits His efforts on behalf of the new learning
152
ib.
...
153
ib.
ib.
ib.
62
SX
OXTEXTS.
PJ.C-Z
His translation of Aristotle's Ethics His opinicm of the existiiig translations of Aiistofle
.
13-*
. .
.
l.>4
ib.
15-5
RoGEs Bacos
His account of the contemporary translatois of Aristotle Difficnltie: of his career a.- a Franciic-in
Special ralne of his writings
155
'"-
His Opus Majiu, Opiu 3Iimu, and Opw> Tertium His coisares of the defects and Tices of his ge The remedies he proposes Utter want of grammatical knowledge of any language Yalne he attadies to the stadr of mathematics Foundation (fMerton College, A.D. 1264 Progress of the conception of foraidations for the secular ctegy . The notiijn borrowed from German j . . Cnut
.
.
157
i"^-
^^ib.
139 160
ib.
ib.
161
ib.
WaltUam
162
163 164
j5.
MEEToy CoLiSGr,
1270
The
from the f undation TarioTis pursuits of the scC"i!ar dergy in those times Contrast between the coQ^e and the monasiery CharactCTLof the edncation at Merton college Restrictions under which the st^dy of ihet.k-gy and the canon law was permittO'l . Only those actually prostcutiiig a course cf study to be maintained on the foundation .
religious orders excluded
. .
165
166
1>J7
;?..
16S
>?.
wide
conception
.
.
.
.
169
.
citiiry
171
Views of the schoolman and the modem schdar cmtiasted Difficulties that attend any account of this period . Progresare element in sdiolasticism . .
. .
172
(?.
Researches of recent writers . Influence of the Byzantine logic Learning at CoiKtantinopIe in the elerentfa craitury Treatise on IryAc ty Psellus .
173 I74
I75
...
ib.
i~g
176
ib.
j
Translaticm of Psellus's treatise by Petrus Hispanns Translation by William >hyreswood Superiority of the Oxford translation .
.
...
.
.
EitensiTe p<^ni]ari^ of the Tersion by Petrus Hispamis It partly neutralises the legitimate influence cf the Xew
Aristotle
7^
...
...
17(1
Sootus
SO
C'OXTKNTS.
XXI
PAGE
181
Duns Scotus
il. ib.
Theory of the Arabian commentators Counter theory of Duns Scotus Logic, a science as well as an art
Logic, the science of sciences
182
ih.
183
Duns Scotus and Roger Bacon compared Long duration of the influence of the former
sities
...
. .
.... ....
at the univer. ,
184
ib.
185
186
ib. ib.
WiLHAM
OF
Occam
187
in the schools
Ascendancy of nominalism
Criticism of Prantl
...
...
.
188
ib.
specting universals
Theory of the suppositio Occam the first to shew the true value of universals
....
.
.
189
lb.
189
191
He
theology
Consequent
tic
effect
controversy
... ...
....
.
192
The popes at Avignon opposed by the English Franciscans Eminent members of this fraternity in England Subserviency of the court at Avignon to French interests
Dissatisfaction in Italy
193
194
ib.
195
ib.
.
Indignation in England
The writings of Ocpam condemned by John xxn. Sympathy evinced with his doctrines in England Contrast between Oxford and Paris
Popularity of Occam's teaching at Oxford
Influence of nominalism on the scholastic
.
ib.
ib.
196
*. 197
ib.
method
198
.
ib.
199
.
200
ib.
BiCHAKD OP Burt
His early career and experiences His interview with Petrarch at Avignon
.
201
ib.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Real cliaracter of his attainments His library bequeathed to T)urhain College, Oxford Character of the culture of the fourteenth century Richard of Bury's description of the students of the time His testimony to the degeneracy of the mendicant orders
207
Lull in the intellectual activity of Oxford and Cambridge Anthony "Wood's criticism affords only a partial cxplana
tion
208
ib.
civil
law
ib.
.
Inaccuracy in Blackstone's account of the study Roger Bacon on its detrimental effects
209
ib.
The study
increases in importance
211
ib.
Testimony of Robert Holcot and of Richard of Bury Theology falls into comparative neglect Chap. III.
212
Part
The
intellectual supremacy of Paris passes over to Oxford Testimony of Richard of Bury Influence of the court at Avignon upon the university of
Paris
Professor Shirley's criticism
Scantiness of materials for early Cambridge history
...
216
217
Hostels
Early statute relating to the hire and tenure of hostels
218 220
221
Main object of this statute Its details compared with those of statute lxyiii. Hostels possessed of small attractions when compared with
the houses of the religious orders
ih.
ac-
the friars
St.
222
22:5
ib.
il>.
Hugh Balsham
His His His His
disputed election to the see of Ely merits compared with those of Adam do Marisco merits as an administrator
....
.
224 225
the
ib.
the
22(1
0.77
ib.
Hugh Balsham
Failure of
tliis
CONTENTS.
Sepaj-ation of the Seculars
xxiii
and Regulars
Foundation of Peterhousk, a.d. 1-284 The college eudowed with tlic site of a suppressed priory Simon Montacute surrenders his right of presenting
fellowships on the foundation
.... ....
.
FAQE
228
ib-
229
to
(circ.
133S)
....
.
.
230
ib.
ib.
231
.
.
Laxity at the universities with respect to dress Decree of archbishop Stratford on this subject
Statute of Peterhouse
232
.
233
ib.
ib.
The foundation in its relation to monastic foundations ForXDATIOX OP MlCHAELnOUSE, .V.D. 1324
FouxDATiox OP Pembroke College, Marie de St. Paul
a.d.
234
ib.
....>...
1347
. . . . . .
. .
236
ib.
ib.
The
original statutes
no longer extant
237
238
239
FouxDATioN OP GoxviiLE Hall, A.D. 134S Original statutes given by Edward Gonville His main object to promote the study of theology
.
240
.
ib. ib.
Study of the canon law permitted but not obligatory William Bateman, bishop of Norwich . The Great Plague of 1349 .
...
.
ib.
,
241
ib.
FoTJXDATiON OF Tkikity Hall, by bishop Bateman, a.d. 1350, to repair the losses sustained by deaths among the
clergy
Statutes of Trinity Hall
242
(7-.
The
and
civilians
.
ib.
243
ib.
The alteration in the name of the Hall Agreement De amieabililafe with the scholars of
Hall
Statutes given to Gonville Hall by bishop
....
. . .
. .
244 245
Trinity
.246
Bateman
ib.
ForXDATIOX OF CORPTTS ChMSTI COLLEGE, A.P. 1352 Jlr Tonlmin Smith's account of the eiirly Gilds Gilds at Cambridge Designs in view in foimdation of Corpus Christi College Its statutes apparently borrowed from tlio.so of Michacl.
.
247
248
ib.
24!)
hiHise
ib.
XXIV
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Requirements with respect to studies INUNDATION OF Clakb Hall, by Elizabeth dc Burgh, A.D. 1359 Design of the foundress Losses occasioned by the pestilence one of her motives Liberality of sentiment by which these statutes are charac
terised
250
lb.
ih.
251
ib.
252
lb.
Foundation of King's Hall by Edward ir., a.d. 1326 Mansion given to the King's scholars by Edward iii,
Statutes given by Richard
ir.
Other provisions
in the statutes
.... ....
.
253
i6.
?6.
for students
255
ib.
The
vital
Chap.
Part
He
aims at the suppression of Lollardism Fundamental importance of the question raised by William
of
....
.
258
m.
Occam
259
Direct relevancy of the question concerning the temporal power of the pope to the study of the canon law
260
261
ib.
John Wyclif
Occam
.
ib.
ib
The Dominicans
at Paris
....
.
262
ib.
.
ib.
...
.
.
263
ib-
Exclusive privileges which they succeed in obtaining Opposition to the theory of Walter de Merton
Efforts of Wyclif on behalf of the secular clergy at Papal bull in their favour
.
264
ib.
ib. ib.
Oxford
Wyclif leaves Oxford Archbishop Ishp attempts to combine the regulars and seculars at Canterbury Hall
.
265 266
ib.
ib.
He
....
.
expels the
seculars
CONTENTS.
Efforts of the laity to circumscribe the
XXV
PAGE
266 267
ih.
Real character of Wyclif's sympathies Wyclif the foremost schoolman of his day Not originally hostile to the Mendicants Fierceness of his subsequent denunciations of their vices The struggle against the pope chiefly carried on, at this
.
.... ....
. . . . . .
268
269
...
270
ib.
The
272 273
ih.
274
275
ib.
His statement of the facts erroneous His explanation Of the decline of the universities incomplete
... ....
. . .
276
ib.
The university of Paris regains her former preeminence Jeak Charlieb de Gerson His two treatises De Modis and De Concordia
scholastic metaphysics
277
,
278
ib.
280
ib.
Circumstances that led to the diminished influence of the university of Paris in the 15th century
....
.
.
281
....
at Basel
by the English
. .
ib.
ib.
France enacts the Pragmatic Sanction The popes avenge'themselves on the university of Paris Rise of new universities under the papal sanction The Teutonic element gradually withdrawn from Paris
.
282
ib.
The
Papal patronage
less injurious
than
home patronage
.
Similar experience of the university of Paris Huber's criticism gives a just appreciation of the facts
....
.
286 287
ib-
a.i>.
1430
...
ib.
Process
288
CONTENTS.
Reginald Pbcock
...
FAQE
.
.
290
291
He asserts the rights of reason against dogma Is not afraid to call in question the authority of the fathers
and the schoolmen
ib.
He He
....
Bromyard
292
the
temporal
293
ib.
Pecock and Bromyard contrasted The contrast perhaps a typical one Pecock disapproves of much preaching His eccentric defence of his order Pecock something more than a mere Ultramontanist He offends both parties
Possibly a victim to political feeling
.
294
ih. ib.
ib.
295
ib.
296
.
His doctrines forbidden at the universities Torpor of the universities after Pecock's time Oxford nearly deserted Testimony of Poggio Bracciolini Scantiness and poverty of the national literature Defective accommodation for instruction at both universities Superior advantages in this respect possessed by the religious
.
ib.
297
ib.
ib.
298
293
orders
300
.
Erection of the Divinity Schools at Cambridge, a.d. 1398 Erection of the Arts Schools and Civil Lavr Schools
ib.
ib.
301
ib.
ib.
"WiLLIAlI
OP Wtkeham
Foundation of Ifew College, Oxford, a.d. 1380 The college endowed with lands purchased from religious
houses
Statutes of the foundation
302
ib.
ib.
303
*. 304
ib.
Eton College
'
ad
305
ib.
306
ib.
CONTENTS.
Their resignation William Millington, the first provost Refuses his assent to the new statutes, and
XXVll
PAGE
....
is
306
ib-
ejected
ih.
The
statutes
New
College,
Oxford
.
307
308
lb.
Term
a-
fellowship
309
ib.
Special privileges
Object aimed at by the society Objections of William Millington Significance of Cardinal Beaufort's bequest Ineffectual efforts of the university to annul the exclusive
privileges of the college
....
ib.
310
ib.
ib.
311
...
. .
a.d. 1448
...
. . .
312
ib.
313
ib.
College of St.
Bernard
...
.
."
314
.
ib.
Charter of this college, of 1447 Foundation of Margaret of Anjou Views and motives of the foundress
31.5
ib.
....
. .
ib.
Andrew Doket
Studies prescribeid
...
.
316
ih.
Regulations with respect to fellowships Lectureships terminable at the expiration of three years
ib.
ib.
Study of the
civil
317
ib.
a. d.
14 "5
ib.
318
. .
ih.
civil
or
tlie
the hall
...
canon law at
ib. ib.
Evident desire of founders at this period to check the prevalent exclusive devotion to the study of the civ
and canon law Foundation of Jesus College, a. d. 1497 The nunnery of St. Rhadegund The nunnery under the protection of the bishops of Ely Its corrupt state and final dissolution at the close of the
.
319
320
ib. ih.
fifteenth century
ib.
XXVlll
CONTENTS.
PACiE
321
and West Study of the canon law forbidden Despondency in the tone of promoters of learning at
period
322
this
323
lb.
Two
early catalogues
....
St. Catherine's
ib. ib.
324
learning afforded by
these catalogues
325
ib.
.....
Hugo
of St. Cher,
Hugo
and Nicholas de Lyra, Absence of the Arabian commentators on Aristotle Fewer works than we should expect on logic and controof St. Victor,
versial theology
326
....
.
327
Age's.
Chap. IV.
"...
328 329
ib.
traversed
.
...
*
.
329
330
ib.
.'
ib.
Extent of the inundations in former times Gradual growth of the town of Cambridge
The
question,
^how
such
a university discussed
No
Why the
ib.
331
332
was not removed , Migration opposed on principle Drawbacks to modern eyes recommendations
university
334
ib.
in
mediaeval
ib.
times
The
ascetic theory
ib.
CONTENTS.
Results of monastic industry not to bo confounded with reasons
for the original selection of monastic sites
.
XXIX
335
lb.
The Fen Country as described by the chroniclers Change in the monastic practice in the selection of new sites The change shewn to be at variance with their professed
theory
336 337
ib.
Poggio Bracciolini and the Fratres Observantim The mediteval theory that on which Poggio insisted Sounder views held only by a few
ib.
.
....
.
339
ib.
The theory not without an element of truth The university originally only a Grammar School The Magister Glotnerice Course of study pursued by the student of grammar
340
*.
ib.
341
342
ib.
university
343
Inferior position of
that
ib.
ib.
held by students in arts Causes which conduced to this result The grammaticus at this time nothing more than a school-
master
344 345
.
The class as described by Erasmus Experiences and cottrsb op an arts student described
Average age at time of entry Master and scholar University aids to poor scholars Practice of mendicity by the scholars Restrictions imposed upon the practice
.
ib. ib.
346
.
347
ib.
....
to the
348
ib.
wear
it
ib.
Instruction in
grammar
to
arts course
349
ib.
made
in 1431
A.D.
H39
...
. . . .
ib..
ib.
Grammar
Logic
ib.
350
....
ib.
351
CONTENTS.
The quadrivium
...
in the
....
.
PAGE 351
ib.
352 352
ib.
ib.
The
sophister
.......
.
.
353
ib.
ib.
354 *.
ib.
355
ib.
The inceptor
.
.... ....
.
356
*.
ib.
Heavy expenses
357 358
The regent
Lectures
ib. ib.
ib.
...
359
ib.
Professional prospects of an ordinary master of arts Course of study in the faculty of theology Bachelors of theology permitted to lecture ordinarie Course of study in the faculty of the civil law Course of study in the faculty of the canon law The faculty of medicine
.
364
ib.
365
lb.
ib.
366
ib.
...
367
36S
ib.
Cm-
369
ib.
Extreme youth
mission
CONTENTS.
Their treatment
XXXI
Bachelors
...
.
...
John's in the
PAGE
369
ib.
i6.
Rooms
The
in college
college library
life
370
Description of student
by a master of
St.
year 1550
ib.
His description refers to an abnormal state of Other evidence, less open to exception Use of Latin and French in conversation Fellows required to be in residence
Colleges increasing in wealth to
371
ib.
ib.
372
ib.
ib.
add
to the
number
of their
The office frequently combined with other preferments Sports akd pastimes
Fishing
ib.
373
ib.
The The
town
....
ib.
374
Features of the ancient town and university The majority of mediaeval students actuated by the same motives as those of modem times
....
.
ib. ib.
375
377
ib.
A possible minority
Experiences of one of the latter number
Chap. V.
Petrarch
Effects of the revival of classical learning contrasted with
preceding influences
Extravagancies of the Averroists at this period
. .
.
380
381
ib
ib.
his
.His influence
on Latin scholarship ; (2) as a reviver of the study of Greek Change in the modem estimate of his genius from that of
(1)
383
ib.
ib.
his contemporaries
Reason of this change His services in relation to the works of Cicero His knowledge of Plato He initiates the struggle against the supremacy of Aristotle
.
384 385
386
xxxu
CONTENTS.
He attacks the style of the existing versions He rejects the ethical system of Aristotle
The
Italian
.
386 3S7
ih.
Humanists of later times Florence and Constantinople contrasted Florence in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Contrast between the culture of the two cities Causes of variance between the two cities
Italian scholars at Constantinople
ih.
388
ib.
389
390
ih. lb.
Philelphus
391
ib.
Emmanuel Chrtsoloras
His eminence as a teacher of Greek His Greek Grammar
392
ih.
His residence at
Rome
life
...
393
ib.
He He
empire becomes a convert to the western Church attends the council of Constance as a del^ate of Pope
394
ih.
John XXII
His death at Constance His funeral oration by Julianus
ih.
39.5
396
ib. ih.
GUABINO Eminent Englishmen among his pupils William Gray MSS. brought by Gray to England
His collection bequeathed to Balliol College Old age of Guarino
397
ih. ib.
Leonardo Bruni
....
. .
398 398
ih.
.....
.
at the request of
Humphrey, duke
ib.
399
ib.
The
flight to Italy
....
'
.
400
i6.
ih.
ih.
ib.
Lament
of Quirinus
401
ih.
His predictions falsified by the sequel Conduct of the Greek exiles in Italy
402
lb.
CONTEXTS.
Bessakion His patriotic zeal His efforts towards the union of the Churches His conversion to the western Church
XXXIU
PAOE
403
ib.
. .
.
t&.
His example productive of little result Greek becpmes associated with heresy Akgtropiilos Devotes himself to improving the knowledge of Aristotle Admitted excellence of his translations His depreciation of Cicero as a philosopher His other literary labours Keuchlin and Argyiopulos Leaknisg ls Gebjiant .neas Sylvius and Gregory Heimbuig The Italian scholar and German jurist contrasted Hegius His school at Deventer Rudolf von Lange His innovations on the traditional methods of instruction John Wessel He disputes the authority of Aquinas RuBOLPHrs Agkicola His De Foi-mando Studio
. . .
....
.
404
ib.
405
tJ.
ib. ib.
.... ....
.
406
i6_
407
ib.
....
.
408
ib. ib.
409 t&
.
ib.
t&. ib,
410
ib.
,
He r^;ards natural
Use
...
.
411
ib.
Acquired knowledge to be not only stored but assimilated Real novelty of thought in this treatise Eds De Inventione, a popular treatise on logic . GElfERAL COSCI-rSIOXS FBOM THE FOKEGOIXG OrTLIXE Italian and German scholarship compared . Their respective affinities to the Reformation The forebodings of Gregory and Alcuin partially verifieS by
.
.
.... ....
.
. .
ib.
412
ib.
4I3
t6.
414
415 41g
{b. fb.
the result
religious orders
universities
Progress of Nominalism at the universities Attitude of the universities with respect to the The Humanists attack the civilians
new
learning
417
41S
i5.
Valla at the iiniversity of Pavia Comparison instituted by an eminent jurist between Cicero and Bartolus Valla's attack on Bartolus
'
."
419
t7,.
4-20
XXIIY
The opposition
CONTENTS.
in
far
more per421
t6.
severing
Causes of this difference Difference in the constitution of the respective universities offers a further explanation of the fact
....
t6.
f 6.
Chap. V.
John Fisher
Mected master
Character and views of Fisher
Eminent men at Cambridge at this time Rotheram, John Barker, WiUiam Chubbes John Argentine His proposed Act in the schools Robert Hacomblene Henry Horneby
423
ih.
ib.
424
ib.
i6.
425
ib.
426
ib.
ib.
ib.
These, and other eminent men in the university, able workers but not reformers
ib.
of an inspiriting character
427
ib.
A covmter influence
CONTINITED progress OP THE Demetrius Chalcondyles
428
ib.
NEW LEARNING
DT ItALT
429
ib.
fj.
ib.
ij. ib.
ib.
Hermonymus
Early Greek Grammars Sentiments with which the progress of the regarded at Cambridge
new
learning was
431
,'j.
Progress of scepticism in Italy Testimony of Machiavelli and Savonarola to the depravity of the nation
.....
,7.
432
CONTENTS.
some attention Cambridge
to the writings of the
XXXV
PAQH
Earliest traces of
ists at
Human433
ib.
.
.
434
ib.
Fisher at court
He attracts
of
Richmond
434
ib.
435
ib.
Her
character
Foundation of the lady Makoaret peofessorship The revenues entrusted to the abbey of Westminster
Salary attached to the
office.
...
.
ib.
ib.
436
ib.
Other regulations
Fisher the
first
437
ib.
professor
His successors Neglect of the art and practice of preaching at this period Preaching discountenanced from fear of LoUardism Consequent rarity of sermons and extravagant character of the preaching in Artificial vogue Skelton's description of the young theologians of his day
.
.
ib.
ib.
438
ib.
439
ib.
ib.
Camib. ib.
Foundation of the lady Margaret prbachbrship Double purpose of Fisher Testimony of Erasmus to the character of his design
.
440
ib.
ib. ib.
Fisher's claims to be regarded as a reformer His election to the chancellorship and promotion to the bishopric
....
441
ib.
Motives of founders in these times Design of the countess in connexion with the abbey of Westminster
dissuade^by the arguments of Fisher Signal gain ofthe university History op God's House
She
is
....
c2
445
ib.
Design of Henry vi
XXXVl
CONTENTS.
FAQB
445
ih.
Fisher elected president of Queens' College Foundation of Chkist's College, a.d. 1505
Estates settled on the society by the lady Margaret
.
446
ib.
447
The countess
Other bequests to the college visits Cambridge in 1505 Her second visit with kino Henry in 1506
448
ib.
ib.
Henry
....
....
visit
449
ib.
ib.
450
ib.
received
town
451
ib. ib.
452
ib.
ib.
Great St. Mary's and to the university Erasmus is admitted B.D. and D.D. He becomes the friend and guest of Fisher ORIGINAJi STATUTES OF ChRIST'S COLLEGE, A.D. 1506 Numerous restrictions imposed upon the authority of the master
His
gifts, to
ib.
453
ib.
........
those
,
454
ib. ib.
The
imposed at Jesus
College
Eegidence
strictly enforced
....
.
ib.
455
ib.
ib.
at Jesus College
ib.
ib.
Precedent for this clause in statutes of King's College Question raised by dean Peacock in connexion with this clause
456
ib.
The
clause originally
Rome
.
457 458
ib.
Probable explanation of the retention of the clause in sub sequent revisions of the statutes The scholars to be sufficiently instructed in grammar and to be trained in arts and theology
.
.... ....
ib.
CONTENTS.
Provision for the admission of pensioners of approved character
IXXVU
PAOU
.... ....
.
458 459
460
ib.
His lecture to include readings from the poets and orators Lectures to be given in the long vacation Fisher appointed visitor for-life
Allowance for commons Object of these restrictions
ib. ib.
The same amount subsequently prescribed in the statutes of St. John's and maintained by Fisher throughout his
life
Fortunate result of this frugality Proposed pottndation of St. John's College, by the lady
....
.
461
ib.
Makgaret
The Hospital
of the Brethren of St.
ib.
John
ib.
commencement
462
ib.
Endowments
college
set apart
new
ib. ib.
King Henry gives his assent Death of king Henry and of the lady Margaret Fisher preaches her funeral sermon
....
.
.
463 464
ib.
ib.
Charter of the foundation of St. John's College, 1511 Robert Shorten first master Executors of .the lady Margaret
465
ib.
Hornby The burden devolves mainly on Fisher The revenues bequeathed by the lady Margaret lege become subject to the royal disposal Apparent contradiction in the royal licence
Lovell, Fox, Ashton,
ib.
to the
col.
466
^^.
ib.
Bishop Stanley opposes the dissolution of the hospital His character The executors obtain a bull from Rome for the dissolution
This proves defective second bull is obtained
467
ib.
.-
ib. ib.
The
college
still
in
embryo
468
ib.
....
.
ib.
ib.
ib.
Motives by which he was probably actuated The executors obtain the ospital at Ospringe as a partial
1
469
ib.
compensation
XXXVIU
CONTENTS.
PAGB
Baker's observations respecting the lost estates Formal opening of the College of St. John the Evangelist,
.
*!j?
* *
'
a;s
master
The
'
* *.
471
The
....
.
ib.
Eeasmtis His second visit to Cambridge, 1509J0 Object of his visit Circumstances that led to his selection of Cambridge in pre. . ference to Paris, Italy, Louvain, or Oxford Friends of Erasmus at Oxford Probable reasons why he did not return to Oxford Outline op the history of the intkobttction of Gkeek into
.
.
472
&
ib.
473-
476
477
Englaot) in the fifteenth cbntuby William Selling Studies Greek in Italy under Politian
....
ib.
ib.
ib.
478
at Christchurch and of ViteUi at
ib.
ib. ib.
He
Rome
.
479
ib.
Latimer
DilTerent candidates for the title of restorer of Greek learn-
ib.
ing in England Testimony of Erasmus to the merits of his Oxford friends Debt of Cambridge to Oxford
Gibbon's dictum
ib.
. .
480
ib.
H.
his
Where and when Erasmus acquired Chiefly indebted to his own efforts
Progress of Greek studies at Oxford
Linacre's translations
knowledge of Greek
481
i&. ib.
ift.
482
in the fourteenth century
by
ij.
in
CONTENTS.
The Greek
Vitrarius
fathers begin to be better
XXXIX
known
.... ...
. .
PAGE
483
ib.
ib. ib.
484
to the
Greek and the Latin theology contrasted Position assumed by the anti-Augustinian party Permanence of Augustine's influence Story from Busebius Greek studies begin to be regarded as heretical
of the
.
485
ib. ib.
486
ib.
487
Character of Erasmus
Indications of character afforded in his letters
....
.... .... ....
. .
ib.
488
ib.
Luther on Erasmus
Impidsiveness of Erasmus's character
Contradictory character of his criticisms on Rome, Italy, Holland
ib-
and England His portrait as analysed by Lavater His first lecture at Cambridge His previous career an example to the student Uncertain chronology of his Cambridge letters Ammonius of Lucca Erasmus appointed lady Margaret professor of divinity Failure of his hopes as a teacher of Greek His account of his disappointments and exaggerated sense of
failure
489 490
ib. ib.
492
ib.
493
ib.
ib.
His literary labours while resident Their vast importance No record of any collision on his part with the Cambridge
theologians
494
ib.
495
ib,
Forewarned by Colet protected by Fisher His admiration of Fisher's character His influence on Fisher His influence on other members of the imiversity
496
ib.
497 498
ib.
Henry Bullock
jWilliam Gonell
I
499
tj.
ib.
John Bryan
Robert Aldrich
John Watson
jHis letter to Erasmui
ib.
ib.
xl
CONTENTS.
FAOB
500
Gerard the bookseller Views of Bra'smuS conTpared with those prevalent in the uni"versity during his sttiy
*
^"^
His estiriiate Of different fathers St. Chrysostom, St. Jerome, and Origen
St.
*
'^"^
,
Hilary
Hugo
of St. Victor
ih.
The Hierarchy
of Dionysius
. .
.
503
ib.
His Cambridge experiences of a trying character Minor sources of dissatisfaction His pecuniary circumstances Erasmus's last Cambridge letter The last glimpse of Erasmus at Cambridge Counter testimony of Erasmus in favour of Cambridge
504
505
ib.
....
. .
506 507
ih.
ib.
V Progress of theology in the university His praise of three colleges His own language and that of his biographers implies a sense
of failure
508
ib.
His His
failure
Novum Instrumentum
work
in
ib.
The outcome
509
ib.
....
influ-
510 511
ib.
Novum
I-nstrum&ntum among
men
ib.
Leo X accepts the dedication Counter demonstrations at Cambridge Sarcastic allusions in the commentary of the Novum, Instrumentum,
512
ib.
ib.
He
and
ib.
the schoolmen
Erasmus's reply to Bullock, Aug. 31, 1516 He attacks his opponents with acrimony
Justifies himself
513 514
ib.
of Aristotle
Refers to the
distinguished
had
515
already obtained
Hopes
his
work may lead 'men to study the Scriptures more and to trouble themselves less with qucestiones
. .
ib.
CONTENTS,
Believes posterity .will do
Xli
him
moj'e justice
....
. .
PAOB
His prediction fulfilled The sulyect of Greek continues to excite the chief interest at Cambridge Bryan lectures in .the schools from the new versions of Aristotle Sir Robert Rede_ founds the Rede lectureships Sense of the importance of Greek induced by the controversy respecting the Novum Itistrumentum Erasmus again visits England His testimony to the change at Cambridge Fisher aspires to a knowledge of Greek Embarrassment of his friends
,
616 517
ib.
...........
ib.
518
ib. ib.
....
519
ib. ib.
ib.
office
of instructor
Cambridge also in want of a teacher of Greek Foundation OF Corpus Christi College, Oxford,
Bishop Fox's statutes
520
A. D.
1516
521
ib.
Boldness of his innovations on the customary studies Appearance of Erasmus's Novum Testamentum
.
522
523
ib.
ib.
He
State of feeling at Oxford \ The earlier teachers of Greek no longer resident Conduct of the Oxford students
Grecians versus Trojans
524
ib. ib.
525
He
A royal
_
from
526
ib.
further molestation
Oxford
Richard Croke
Befriended by Erasmus His career on the continent He returns to Cambridge and
versity
Is appointed
527
ib. ib.
lectures on
Greek to the
.
uni-
528
Greek reader
in 1519
ib.
fitted
disib.
arm
hostility
His inaugural
529
529-37
537
....
ib.
539
'
xiii
CONTENTS.
PAGB
539
&
ih.
*"&
Croke elected
for life
to. Greek at
John Skblton
on the attention now given Cambridge Thomas "Wolsey His relations to Cambridge
540
*"&
His
satirical verses
He
541
ib.
ib.
542
ib.
Wolsey
visits
543
Pisher and Wolsey at the council of 1518 Contrast presented between the two prelates on that occasion
....
ib.
ib.
544
545
546
ib.
547
ib.
and Pace
its statutes
548
to be altered at Wolsey's
Oxford surrenders
pleasure
649
ib.
.
ib.
....... ....
.
.
550
551
ib.
552
Chap. VI.
The Reformation in England began at Cambridge The Reformation not a developement of LoUardism but
traced to the influence of Erasmus's
Bihiey's testimony
...
A. D.
New Testament
.
*.
.
556
ib.
ib.
common
schools
557
1517
....
ib. ih.
CONTENTS.
'
Xliii
SAGE
558
ib.
at Cambridge
559
660
His eccentric character His account of his spiritual experiences Over importance attached to his description by Protestant
writers
Testament of Erasmus
.... ....
.
ih.
ib.
561
562
ih.
ih.
ib.
563
ih.
564
for its
ih.
RoBBKT Baenbs
Character of the Augustinian friars as a body
.
ib. ib.
John Tonnys
Barnes sent to study at Louvain
565
ih.
ib.
Jerome Busleiden
Foundation of the collegium trilingue
Jealousy of the conservatives Barnes returns to England with Paynell
. .
ib.
566
...
ih.
classics
Paul
George Stafford
567
.
He lectures
ib.
ib.
Becou's estimate of the value of his services Barnes and Stafford dispute iu the divinity schools
....
.
.
568
ib.
569
His
earlier treatises
amination
Rapid spread of Lutheran doctrines in the eastern counties Wolsey adverse to extreme measures Luther burns the papal bull at Wittenberg Wolsey convenes a conference in London Decisions of the Sorbonne and the London conference
.
ib.
ib.
....
.
ib.
571
ib.
ib.
ih. ih.
ib.
Wolsey authorises a general search for Luther's writings Luther's works burnt at Oxford and at Cambridge
.
'.
xliv
CONTENTS.
FAQS
King Henry and Jisher write against Luther Meetings of the Reformers at Cambridge The White House The inn becomes known as Germany Participators in the movement
.
572
'
573
all
young men
574
ib.
....
.
. .
675
ib.
ib.
Wolsey declines
to appoint a
commission of enquiry
vice-chancellor
576
ib.
He is confronted
677
is similarly
interrupted
678
ib. ib.
ib. ib.
ib.
He
Wolsey resolves on energetic measures Search made for Lutheran books at Cambridge Barnes is arrested and conveyed to London His trial before Fisher and other bishops at Westminster His narrative of the conclusion HuH Latimer His early career and character He attacks Melanchthon His position in the university He is converted by Bilney He becomes his intimate associate EfiFects of his example Bishop West attends Latimer's sermon He requests Latimer to preach against Luther West inhibits Latimer from preaching Latimer preaches at the church of the Augustinian friars Latimer is summoned before Wolsey in London Wolsey licenses Latimer to preach Sir Thomas More elected high steward
.
....
.
.
579 580
581
ib.
ib.
ib.
582
*.
583
ib.
584
ib.
ib.
....
ib. ib.
585
ib.
......
.
586
ib.
Predictions of the almanac makers Appearance of William Tyndale's New Testament His translation exactly what Erasmus had expressed the greatest desire to see
587
CONTENTS.
Reason of the dislike with which it was now regarded Erasmus writes i>eZi6ro ^rftiVoo against Luther His enemies denounce him as the cause of the Reformation
.
xlv
PAOB
588
ib. ib.
"William TrNDAiiE Probably a pupil of Croke but not of Erasmus His reminiscences of Oxford
589
ib.
590
591
ib.
ib.
He
His His His His His Tyndale
at Little iSodbury
CUTHBEET TUNSTAL
character
ib.
.
temporising policy
writings
.
592
ib.
De Arte Supputandi
and Tunstal
,
593
ib.
596
Canon Westcott's summary of the question Tyndale Lutheran in respect to doctrine Change in the theological tendencies of the Cambridge Reformers
597
598
ib.
....
Alarm
raised by archbishop
Tyndale'i
New
Testament
the work in England
at Paul's Cross
. . ' .
599
ib.
Demand for
ib.
Progress of Cardinal College Motives that possibly guided the selection of the Cambridge
students
601
ib.
602
ib.
603
at Cardinal College
....
...
604
ib.
605
ib.
606
ib.
ib.
His recantation
Articles against Bilney
.
ib.
He
607
ib.
Cambridge Reformers
Death of Stafford Latimer's Sermons on the Card Buckenham attempts to reply to Latimer
....
,
Spread ef the controversy in the university The contest stopped by royal intervention
*.
.
611
Xlvi
CONTENTS.
PAGE 612
ih. ib.
613
ih.
.
.
The
614
ib.
Croke in Italy His activity in bribing the Italian universities King Henry menaces-Oxford Mr. Proude's comparison of the conduct of Oxford and Cambridge His criticism tested by the documentary evidence King Henry's letter to the university of Cambridge Cranmer's treatise on the question Report of Gardiner and Fox to the king Grace proposed to the senate Important reservation in the decision arrived at by the
. .
... ...
.
616
ib.
616
ib.
617
ib.
....
. .
ib.
618
620
university
ib.
621
Mr
Fronde's eulogium
ib.
622
.
623
ib.
and 1530
details
....
. . .
ib.
The
624
admission of pensioners
statutes of 1545
....
.
j5.
625
ib.
^_
g2g
j-j
Sygar Nicholson
Singular phase of the relations between town and university Fisher is committed to prison Feeling of the university
627
628
^_
ij_
....
. . .
629
ib.
.....".
history
.
ib.
630 631
CONTENTS.
xlvii
APPENDIX.
(A) Lydgate's verses on the Foundation of the Universi ty of
Cambridge
(B) The University of Stamford
(C)
....
.
635 637
An ancient
The
638
640 645
(D)
ABBREVIATIONS, ETC.
Two names
the editor
:
Wood-Gutch, Baker-Mayor, denote respectively Wood's Annals of Oxford, edited by Gutch, and Baker's History of the College of St. John the Evangelist, edited by professor
e.
g.
Mayor.
to that of the
volume or page,
is
e,
g.
made.
EBEATUM.
p. 282,
note
2, for
Louvaiti.'
'
'
'
'
VOL.
EEBATA,
P. 12,
1.
I.
&c.
is suggestive.'
17, ^or
'
suggestion
'
read
'
that
P. 21,
P. 43,
1. 1.
read 'Aelfred.'
6.
1083
'
read
b.
1033.'
P. 67,
1.
P. 223,
1.
read 'Tours or Aachen.' exemption from taxation,' i.e. taxation by the chancellor
of the university.
P. 228, P. 235.
1.
5,
'John Hotham.' I have done Hotham some injustice in omitting to notice that it was he who (see p. 253) appropriated Hinton to
Peterhouse.
P. 236,
P. 255, P.
1.
1.
7,
7,
seven
'
read
'
eight.'
foundation of the collegium trilingim at Louvain,' for ' collegium trilingue at read university of.' Louvain, however, was created a faculty of theology in 1451, and may thus afford an illustration of Thurot's
282, n. 2,
' '
argument, though not at its first foundation. Greek instructions' read 'fresh instructions.' P. 394. 1. 9, for Pallas de' Strozzi.' P. 398, last line, fm- Pallas de Strozzi read P. 411, 1. 2, for is but read but is.'
'
'
'
'
'
'
'
'
'
right
'
read
'
sight.'
8,
for
'
1426
'
read
'
1418.'
'
P. 445, U. 11 P. 464,
P. 630,
'
12,
'
1. 1.
29, for
'
6,
P. 643, par.
for
'
competentur
'
'
read
'
'
oompetenter.
quo ad
'
read
after
'
comma
simpliciter.
Linaore,
Wm.'
INTEODUCTION.
The
thirteenth
its
It
intro-
'
y
and confusion,
strife of
and contention,
elements,
often difiScult to
is
onward progress of the current as he marks the agitations which trouble the surface of the waters. But that a great advance was then achieved it is impossible to deny. The social, the religious, and the intellectual life of Europe were roused by a common impulse from comparative stagnation. The Church, threatened by its own degeneracy, took to itself other and more potent weapons; scholasticism, enriched by the influx of new learning, entered on its most brilliant
phase
;
oi-iental influences,
stirred
men
and freedom. To this centUty the University of Cambridge traces back its first recorded recognition as a legally constituted body, and refers the foundation of its most ancient
college, and, in the absence of authentic records concerning
it
amve
at
a clear conception of the circumstances that belong to so important a commencement. It will accordingly be desirable,
in this introductory chapter, to pass under review the leading
features
those
ages which
1
preceded the university era: to trace out, as far as may be ^ J conducive to our main purpose, the habits of thought and
'
.
^,11
organisation
and
themselves;
and direction of those innovations which the universities inaugurated and in order to do this, however imperfectly, we shall find it necessary to go back to that yet earlier time which links the civilization of Paganism
to estimate the character
;
The
and
it
university age
is
commences
been the exclusive possession Ill the third and fourth centuries indeed the The Imperial of the Church. the.Roman traditions of Roman culture were still preserved in full vigour in Transalpine Gaul; Autun, Treves, Lyons, and Bordeaux
learning had
to that period
up
were distinguished as schools of rhetoric and their teaching was ennobled by many an illustrious name but with the invasion of the Franks the imperial schools were swept away, and
;
education
when
it
which, amid so
many
own
Commencement of the
Kenedictiue Era.
day.
The
four
centuries that
preceded
the
reign
of Philip
Augustus have
Benedictine era^.' In the monasteries of that great order, which rose in the sixth century, was preserved nearly all
that survived of ancient thought, and was imparted what-
ever
to
still
deserved the
name
of education.
It is important
remember to how great an extent the monasticism of the West was the result of the troubles and calamities that
ushered in the
fall
The
fierce ascetic-
ism of the anchorites of the East found no place in the earUer institutions associated with the names of the most
illustrious of the
Latin Fathers. The members of those humble communities which were found in Rome, Milan, and
Carthage,
were
men
'
et
MonasUques de V Occident,
p.
174.
'
THEORY OF MONASTICISM.
world and
its cares, so
intro-
conception of
and prayer. In precisely the same spirit St Benedict reared on Monte Cassino the first monastery of his order, and drew up those rules for its observance whereby self-mortification, isolation from mankind, the exelusion of all social and patriotic virtues in the cultivation of a lonely perfection, were indicated as the chief principles
fasting, meditation,
we.
...
Foundation
Monastery of
Monte
^'iJ'^si
of the religious
life.
monk renounced
^
^
the world,
influence of
was conceived
view upon
education.
The Benedictine's knowledge of music was given him only that he might chant the Gregorian antiphony; of arithmetic and astronomy, that he might rightly calculate the return of Easter; of Latin, that he might understand the Fathers and the Vulgate and these acquirements, together with a slender knowledge of geometry and versification, made up, for centuries, the ordinary culture That the education of those times was that of of his order. the monk, and consequently breathed only of the monastery, has indeed been the superficial criticism with which the subject has often been contemptuously dismissed, but a somewhat closer investigation would seem to reveal to us another element in the motives and sentiments then prevalent, which should not in justice be left unrecognized. The teaching of the Latin Church at the time when,
routine of duties.
;
under Gregory the Great, she laid the foundations of her temporal power, rested on the authority of three Fathers, From the first she st Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine^. from the <* iso. derived her conception of sacerdotal authority
dogmatic theology and to these three conceptions the most remarkable phenomena in European history may undoubtedly the be referred. In the writings of Augustine, especially,
'
veiojed by
MUman,
Book
ii o. 4.
12
ST AUGUSTINE.
DTTCTION.
'
^
INTRO-
His Be
civi-
is to be found the key to the and practice of the Church in the Middle Ages. The different treatises by the bishop of Hippo that have descended to us are voluminous, but his philosophy of history is set forth in a work of comparatively moderate compass, the De Civitate Dei. From the earliest times, a very solemn belief had prevailed with more or less intensity in the different sections of the Church that the day of judgement and the end
As the
and deepened alike in the It was held by Clemens eastern and western communities. and Tertullian, by Origen and Cyprian, by Athanasius and Lactantius, by Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Jerome, but it devolved on Augustine to develope it in its full significance
The age
of
^nd
logical
connexiou with
human
history.
The age
in
st Augustine,
^j^j^^jjj ^j^jg
go to pieces.
During
his lifetime
;
become the abode of the Goth was laying siege to the city of his own episcopate. Paganism, in its terror and despair at the fast thickening calamities,
their worship,
tianity, it
;
had thus manifested their displeasure Chriswas declared, was responsible for the sack of Rome and the defeat of the imperial armies. In reply to such accusations, Augustine put forth the De Civitate Dei. An
exposition
of the
but the leading sentiment may be stated in a few words. Rome had indeed fallen, replied the Christian Father, nor
.
Emp^"""
could
it
well be otherwise
an order
with
of
its
the earthly
city,
and
its
crimes,
its
New
Jerusalem.
of the Caesars.
No
hills, rose before his eyes the city he beheld wa,s that which he of the Apocalypse saw descending
FINIS MUNDI.
'
from heaven, whitlier should be brousrht the srlorv and the introDUCTION honour of the nations.' Time itself should cease to be when ~v
the true Eternal City had appeared.
''
Theappuoa-
were but the funeral knell of the Roman empire. But what imported the downfall of an empire, when all earthly things
question of far
men
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all
for a solution.
'
shall be dissolved,
shall
melt with
fervent heat'?'
The language
time
seenun? corroboration of
would certainly not tend to dispel the belief to which he thus JJ^oJ^I^'^y gave expression that as the Visigoth in Spain, the Frank |venS"' in Gaul, the Lombard in Italy, trampled on the remnants of
;
ancient civilization,
Africa,
that
while
Despair the
prevailing
feeling.
men's
.
them
^11
crisis
seemed yearly to draw nearer, heralded by each succesand that the religious or monastic life might thus come to be regarded as the only adequate expression of one profound conviction, the conviction, to use the forcible
sive disaster
;
language of Guizot,
of
'
et de tout paisible loisir.' The monastery indeed which St Benedict founded on Monte Cassino, and which the Lom-
bard soon after levelled to the ground, affords alike in its conception, its institution, and its fall, an illustration of the
1
2 Peter
iii
18.
In its conception, as an INTRO- characteristics of those times. mjcTioN. ^^^^ ^^^ disquiet of the age, and a renuncia^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^p^
tion of all hope
its
and
mankind
in
institution, supplanting as
where the pagan peasant still his vows, but where the monk now cut down the once sacred as particigrove, and broke in pieces the idol in its fall,
;
pating in the general devastation that marked the progress of the barbarian, hostile alike to the ancient civilization and
the
new faith. The terror and despair which the Lombard spread through Italy imparted new force to the prevalent conviction, and the
poHcy of Gregory the Great affords a remarkable illustration both of the hold which these forebodings had gained on the foremost minds of the period, and their collateral effects on learning and education. The activity and energy displayed by this ecclesiastic in consolidating the institutions and extending the authority of his see, might appear at variance with such a theory, were we not also to remember that his efforts were undoubtedly conceived in subordination to exclusively religious feelings. It was thus that whQe he laboured to raise his country from physical and moral degradation, to husband and augment the patrimony of the Church,
to convert the heathen, to bring about a unity of faith and
is still to be found anticipating, with an earnestness beyond suspicion, the approach of the final consummation. 'What,' he says, at the close of a long enumeration of the calamities that had befallen Italy, what may be taking place elsewhere I know not, but in this country, wherein we dwell, events plainly no longer foretell the end but exhibit it in actual process in a letter to the
'
Gregory the
|*|-
View held by
of forms of worship, he
;'
converted Ethelbert, the Bretwalda, he again declares that signs, such as those amid which St Benedict had foretold that Rome should be overthrown, fearful portents in the heavens and tumults in the air, war, famine, pestilence, and
earthquake,
1
'
all
elsewhere he
<
how
him
to watchfulness
intro-
with
value on merely secular learning becomes sufficiently intelli- SifytaiV" gible, and it might have served, perhaps, in many instances, his'character.
to diminish the asperity with
treated,
...
considerationa that
bad
this feature
with far
less to
loss of
plead in justification.
Whether we owe
it
to
him the
decades of Livy,
is
pagan learning
took
its
but imperfectly
rather in what
explained
if
and unlettered
the religious
It
rise
as
that
life
He
inherited in
all its
In education,
him
of
any
value, which
mended by
its
presumed
utility
in
promoting
What-
warmest advocacy. Thus, accordingly, while he is to be found on one occasion austerely condemning certain monks who had ventured to instruct their pupils in profane literature",
contra ordinem temporum tempestates, bella, fames, pestilentise, terrse motus per loca.' EjAst. xi 67. For the prophecy of St Benedict recorded by Gregory, see Dialog, n 15. 1 Dialogues, iv 41. ' ' Quod sine verecundia memorare
in tlie time of the Empire meant the elements of literature generally; it also included Philology. 'Et grammatice, quam in Latinum transferentes litteraturamvooavermit,
the
Romans
fines
suos norit.'
Quintil. vi 1 4.
8
time
'
;
LEARNING IN BEITAIN.
and, while he so largely encouraged the monastic his administration of the temporalities of his see was
spirit,
The
little
TheodoruB.
b. 602.
light
of faith
after the
death of Gregory,
this
ecclesiastic
d. 690.
to
monastery of Malmesbury, and afterwards also archbishop The talents and intense application of this of Canterbury, prelate enabled him to acquire a mastery of the Latin and
monk
Faricius, even
See also Suetonius de Grammaticis, c. 4, and remarks of Graf enhau in his Geschichte der Klassichen Philologie
In the Chapter entitled Ueberblick des grammatischen Studiwms (iv. 95 113) this vfriter has elaborately illustrated the extended functions of the Grammatici in the third and fourth centuries. It
iv
52,
im Alterthum,
53.
is
evident that they really included those of the Rhetores. Ozanam remarks that, in Gaul, grammar extended into the domain of rhetoric, comprising the humanities, and a critical reading of all the great orators and poets of antiquity.' History of Civilization in the Fifth Century, The term continued to bear I 204. this meaning throughout the Middle Ages. Cf. Du Gauge, s. v., and Dr Maitland's remarks in The Dark Ages,
'
vfhole criticism of Gregory in this treatise wiU be found eminently suggestive it may, however, be questioned whether, as Bede was bom seventy-six years after the landing of Augustine and his fellow-labourers, the learning of our earliest encyclopaedist is not rather attributable to the influence of Theodore. ^ For an interesting account of the instruction given in these schools, see Dean Hook's Lives of the Archbishops When of Canterbury, i 240 244. books were scarce, oral instruction, or instruction through the medium of lectures, was a necessity The proficiency of the scholars was tested,
:
'
each lesson.
The
p. 179.
1 Prof. Maurice adduces in proof of this the improvement in Britain
consequent upon the arrival of Gregory's missionaries: 'Schools seem to rise as by enchantment ; all classes, down to the poorest (Bede himself is the obvious example), are admitted to them the studies beginning from
;
instruction was catechetical. Of the mode of conducting these examinations some examples exist, and the questions put to the pupils of the arithmetic class are very similar to those with which the masters and scholars of National Schools are familiar as emanating fi-om Her Majesty's
theology embrace logic, rhetoric, music, and astronomy.' Philosophy of the First Six Centuries, p. 153. The
inspectors.' Eespecting the library which Theodorus is reported to have brought with him, see Ed-
101.
CHANGE
accredits
IN
EUROPEAN AFFAIRS.
of
Hebrew \
Aldhelm
intro-
to the text-
^'^''''-
Bede.
d. rS".
York
rose
into
celebrity,
its
scholars
of these,
treasures,
A'fS";,)
its literary
must undoubtedly be regarded as the most accomplished ' ^'f The culture to which our country scholar of his day. attained at this period cannot however be shown to have had much connexion with subsequent developements. The comparative immunity she then enjoyed from troubles like
those that agitated the Continent favoured her advance in
promise disappeared.
into
semi-
To
aiarie-
European thought we
shall consequently
EngUsh channeHTia.
of wai-fare, like
ill,
many
it
other
evils, is far
in that ^Ji^"
calls into
we may note
trial,
and
ideas
often reappear which seem to have well nigh passed from the memory of man amid the pursuits of a more tranquil
age.
and
its
men might
less
if
repreit
had
heroism not
than
its
despair
but when we
recall to
how
'
'MirodeniquemodogratisBpGraise] omnia idiomata sciebat, et quasi GraBCus natione scriptis et yerbis pronuntiabat Prophetarum exempla, Bavidis Psalmos, Salamouis
facnndise
:
10
INTRODUCTION.
.-
RISE OF
/~-
its
strenrtli
from
-,
I--
the
we
naturally turn to enquire, with some curiosity, how far such anticipations were found to consist with the spectacle
ot'chSfe-'*
magne.
^the formation of a new and must then be admitted that this theory appears well nigh lost to view amid the promise of the reign of Charlemagne, but it should be remembered that a specific
that
now
greeted Europe,
It
splendid empire.
our consideration.
Theory
respecting
It
ance^o?Anti-
chnst
beemhis
pSLr*
events.
and we accordingly find that, inasmuch as the empire had been supposed to be necessarily involved in his triumph and reign, it was customary among the earlier Christians to pray for the preservation and stability of the imperial power, as interposing a barrier between their own times and those of yet darker calamity. It was not until Rome had been taken by Alaric that Augustine composed the De Civitate Dei. But now, with the lapse of the two centuries that separated the age of Gregory from that of Charlemagne, a change had come over the aspect of li^^'^^n affairs. The empire of the Franks had, by successive conquests, been extended over the greater part of Europe; the Lombards, the great foes of all culture, acknowledged the superiority of a stronger arm the descendants of the Huns, thinned by a series of sanguinary conflicts, accepted Christianity at the point of the sword the long struggle between the emperor and the Saxons of the north had represented, from the first, an antagonism between the traditions of civilization and those of barbarism and idolatry while in the devotion of Charlemagne to the Church, a
thiugs,
f^Yl of
the
Roman
it
became
evident that the preponderance of strength was again ranged on the side of the new faith. The advent of Antichrist was
and with that belief the still more dread had so long filled the minds of men ceased to assert itself with the same intensity, and in the conception of Charlemagne, to which our attention must now be directed.
therefore not yet
;
anticipation which
11
jutroduction.
of Gregory.
We
in
under the Roman empire disappeared amid the havoc wrought by the Franks those by which they were succeeded were entirely under the control of the Church. The researches of Ampfere and other writers have ascertained that these schools were of two kinds, the TheEpiscopal and episcopal and the monastic. In the former an exclusively the Monastic religious training was imparted; in the latter a slight infusion of secular knowledge found a place'. A similar fate to that
schools established
;
T1P
7*1
these institutions
in the kingdom of Aquitaine, where they had flourished with most vigour, the destruction of the churches and monasteries by the Saracens well nigh extinguished education, and we can well understaad that the rule of Charles Martel and the Merovingian dynasty was little
;
We
statement of the
monk
of St Gall
letters
was
Different opinions respecting Cliarlemftgne '^^ Aicuin.
ing conclusions of eminent authorities, to o character of the parts played by Charlemagne and Alcuin as
'
^
of the
eighth century.
Some have
ecclesiastic
nality
' Devoting Bome attention h, dea connaissanees qui ne se rapportaient pas immediatement aux besoins journaKers de I'Eglise,' is the language of Ampfere. Histoire Litteraire de la .France avant le Douzieme SiMe, n
tique; Monnier, Alcuin et son Influence; L^on Maitre, Les Scales Bpiscopales et Monastiques de VOccident depuis Charlemagne jusqu'a PhilippeAuguste. Milman, Latin Christianity, Book v c. 1, and Professor Maurice, Mediaeval Philosophy, p. 38, incline to a far less favorable estimate of
278.
2
'
Among
the former
may
Guizot,
Civilisation en
the ecclesiastic. Alcuin has been least favorably judged by his own countrymen, a fact which may be explained by his sympathies with monasticism in its more ascetic phase.
12
Ti?^J52;T
Charlemagne,
ages.
From
that incubus
seems
would be the first to set himself free, as he- beheld athwart the wide territories of his extending empire the bow of hope
rising again to view.
Though
it
his
is
his Capitularies
owe much
of
men
like Theodulfus,
it must be allowed that many of them mere conception attest the presence of considerable In Alcuin, on the other hand, judging from his culture. whole career, there is little suggestion of a mind of very
uncommon
the period,
powers.
reflect
His
a
letters,
valuable as illustrations of
enough of a questioner to be able what others imparted, not enough of to understand for himself one to be embarrassed with any serious mental perplexities,'
large stores of information,
such
first
arrested his attention in the communications he received In a circular letter to Baugulfus, from the monasteries. abbot of Fulda, he calls attention to the grave scandal
then presented. The pious and loyal tone of the letters, be allows, is worthy of all praise, but their rude and careless diction is
of so
little
learning,
we forte
et
sicut
minor
esset,
esset in scribendo
multo minor
quam
recte esse
'
13
intbo-
Ampere
regards
them,
mettait
1-
is
Gregory would have approved. The emperor had already made the acquaintance of Alcuin
at
Theschooij
Parma; he now invited him over from England and placed magne. him at the head of the Palace school attached to his own court. Under Alcuin's directions a scheme of education was drawn up which became the model for the other great schools established at Tours, Fontenelle, Lyons, Osnaburg, and Metz institutions which ably sustained the tradition of education on the continent, until superseded by the new methods and the new learning which belong to the com;
characterised as one of
.
renovation
as regarded the
to other
been jealously confined by the Benedictines to their own order. By the efiforts of Charlemagne they were now thrown
open to the secular clergy. The monasteries, in the new movement, made common cause in the work of instruction with the cathedral or episcopal schools', and a new impulse was thus communicated to education. If we add to these
centres of activity the slight element of lay education that
Launoy, De Scholis Celebrioribns,
7.
et
etc, p.
'
ifeme Partie,
'
de
has been said that the manuscripts which Alcuin procured from England were the means of forming a special school of transcribers and
'It
illuminators at Aix-la-Chapelle, which for many generations preserved the traditionary style of the Anglo-Saxon artists.' Edwards' Memoirs of Libraries, I 106. ' fuU
Charlemagne, ii 87, speaks of them as ^coles que I'lmiversit^ de Paris peut regarder comme son berceau this, however, is a point with respect to which much diversity of opinion
;
prevails
ter
I.
and
; see commencement of ChapSavigny's judgement on the question is emphatic ' ist doch eine unmittelbare Verbindung derselben mit der spateren Universitat ganz nnerweislich.' Oeschichte des Siim. Rechts, c. xxi sec. 126, note.
:
14
developed
itself in
ALCUIN.
the Palace school, where the emperor
was
initiated.
Benedictine,
benefits
period'.
Retirement of Alcuin from the work.
Dom
thus extended to the whole student class of the a time at the English
It
for
least,
ecclesiastic heartily
but his zeal evidently declined with advancing age, and after fourteen years of service he was glad to seek refuge from the
splendour of the court in the retirement of the monastery at
Tours.
kept,
and the continual tension at which his mind was by the mental activity and insatiable curiosity of the emperor, urged him to this step, but there would appear to
energies,
sufficient reason for
be
His apparent
mistrust of
what deeper.
. .
Pagan
learning.
remember the frequent feuds between the Benedictines and the secular clergy, and it would seem
centuries, will
to the task of
tion to
pagan literature, which necessarily resulted from the mental activity thus aroused ^ The large designs and wide
^
cis
eruperunt, ut publico penitus evanuerint Soholfe, et curam privatarum ad eruditionem ClericoruBi in BpiBcopiis gesserint Episcopi, nt Abbates in Coenobiis ad Monachorum instrucUnde studia delitescebant tionem. in Bolis Episeopiorum Monasterio-
rumque
quoque
Sed quia tunc languebaut, eas pristine ^plendori restituere Carolus etiam sategit, directis Bpistolis, de quibus Bupra. Vemm cum privatarum hujuscemodi Scholarum aditiis Laicis liber non esset, Carolus publicas instituit, et in ipso regio Palatio alias erexit.
claustris.
eas
Regis exemphivi statim secuti sunt Abbates et Episcopi. Publicee per Episcopia, per Monasteria mox strepuerunt Schol<s, aliie Caenobitis, alia ScEculanbus edocendis destinatte.^ Bouquet, Rerum Gallicarum et Francicarum Scriptores, v 621. " A full account of the controversy with the Adoptionists will be found in the very able Life of Alcuin by Lorenz, Professor of History at the University of Halle, 1829. The Eoman CathoUo writers have generally sought to show that the paper found among the Carlovingian Docu,rnents against image-worship is spurious,
and
have
attributed
it
to
'
HIS RETIREMENT
AND DEATH,
15
DUCTION
,
somewhat
cold
and decorous
ecclesiastic.
Though an ardent
inteo-
admirer of the
De
Civitate Bei,
se'nSSta
peror.
and revision of that Egypt under Saracen occupation no longer furnished the papyrus One of the numerous letters of for the use of Europe.
were taken
for the collection
manuscripts,
now
Alcuin consists of a reply to two grammatical questions propounded by the emperor, the proper gender of ruhus,
or
dispexeris
be the preferable
to
The
;
letter attests
ported as
its
it is
decisions are
by references
Priscian
and
Donatus
contains seven
di,
compounds
by the
of the emperor, together with ^f,^' "' those interesting dialogues wherein Alcuin unfolded to the p^an^'"*
succeeded by
grammar, unmistakeably evidence the presence of a spirit very founded on different from that of Gregory and altogether in advance of morality, the ecclesiastical ideas of the time. It might seem indeed not unreasonable to suppose that when the dark forebodings that derived their strength from calamity and invasion drew off at the approach of a more hopeful age, and that as the horizon that bounded human life regained the charms that belong to the illimitable and the unknown, men might well again find leisure to draw delight and inspiration from the page of Grecian and Eoman genius. Such happiness how-
meut
the Eeformation.
1
Epist. 27.
The tone
of this let-
wherein Alcuin mildly expresses his surprise that the emperor should have summoned him from his retireter,
to act as arbiter in a literary controversy, and should be wilKng emeritce nomen militics in castra revocare pugnantia, plainly shows how he sought in his latter life to with-
16
The cour.se of weaken the belief which to Gregory had held^ but there had at the same time been growing up in the Church a subsidiary theory with respect to pagan literature, which equally served to discredit and discourage the study. From considerations which led to an estimate of pagan learning as a thing wherein the Christian had no longer part or lot, objectors now turned to consideraever the scholar was not yet destined to enjoy.
events,
it
is true,
had tended
tions derived
from the morality of the literature. The spirit of Tertullian and Amobius long survived in the Latin Church and the most learned ecclesiastics of these centuries are to be found ignoring that veiy culture which in a later age has
;
preferment, on grounds assumed by the most illiterate and bigoted zealots of more modern timesl Thus Alcuin himself, who had been wont as a boy to conceal in his bed his Virgil
to
ecclesiastical
vague
'
and indefinite
chaxafiter
Quffidam videlicet signa, quse ipse Dominus in Evangelio ante finem muudi futura esse prsedixit, transacta leguntur qusedam vero imminentia
;
monastery at Montier-en-Der, and written more than a century later, we find the following remarkable passage : ' Quicumque enim, sive laicus, sive canonicus, sive monachus contra justitiam vivit, et ordinis sui
quotidie sentiuntur. Qusedam itaque necdum acta sunt, sed futura esse certissime creduntur et regnum Antichristi et crudelitas ejus in sanctos ; htec enim erit novissima perse-
regulam impugnat, et quod bonnm est blasphemat, Antichristus et miThis brief tract, nister Satanae est.'
successively attributed to Augustine, Alcuin, and Babanus Maurus (see edition of the last named, published at Col. Agripp. vi 178, also Migne, CI 1291), while it specifies a definite period of persecution, assigns the East as the quarter from whence Antichrist would appear, and ranges against him the Western Powers. The whole has a marked resemblance to Lactantius, Institutiones, Bk. VII. " Herwerden, in his Commentatio De Caroli Magni, etc., one of his earliest productions, has very happily characterised this prejudice of the time : ' Veteribus Latinis Grsecisque litteris pestifera prsBsertim erat superstitiosissimi ejus sevi opinio, studium earum et exercitationem Chris-
novissimo imminente judicio, sancta Ecclesia toto terrarum orbepatietur; universa scilicet civitas Christi, ab universa diaboU civitate.' De Fide Sane. Trinitatis, Bk. iii Migne, ci 51. It is easy to c. 19. note in this passage, perhaps the
cutio,
quam
most
how the
definite in Alouin's writings, phraseolopy of Augustine continued to be repeated while the application of his theory was no longer insisted on with the same
In his brief commendistinctness. tary on the Apocalypse we observe a singular reticence in interpreting any portion of the prophecy by specific events ; and in the Libellus de Antichristo, once attributed to him, but
.
now proved
to be
by an Abbot
of the
tiana contumeliosa esse, eique notam impietatis inurere, quse cetemee ejus saluti ac beatitudini nociva sit.'
eloquence
'
bann upon the 'impure him to his pupil s\ The York, who had once so enthusiasemployed his later years in pagan learning. The difference of the emperor and the ecclesiastic
as far as
we have noted
is
in the spirit
close.
apparent to the
able,
he
was
to devote himself
;
cultivate
more
The one
;
cloister".
is
^
we pursue our enquiry beyond the time of Alcuin it long before we find this tradition materially impaired.
qu'un exil. Ce qui n'fitait alors qu'une sorte de reve 6tait imaiutenant
'Sufficiunt diyini poetse vobis, egetis luxuriosa sermouis Virgilii V03 pollui facuudia.' Alcuini Vita, Migne, c 90. * ' Illio invenies veteram vestigia
Dec
une
v^rit^.
desir ^tait
de mourir
jour de la Penteo6te. En ce jour oii les ap6tres regurent une nouvelle existence, la mort lui paraissait gtre le souffle divin qui
r^veillerait
Bomanus in orbe, Grfficiavel quidquid transmisit clara Latinis Hebraious vel quod populus bibit imbre supemo
Poema
Africa lucifluo, etc. de Pontijkibus et
Sanctis
ci 843.
Ecclesice EboraceTisis.
Migne,
Tbis description
is of
course exag-
la vie humaine. II avait choisi le lieu de sa sepulture non loin de r^glise de Saint Martin. Des que la nuit ^tait venue, il se rendait a la d^rob^e dans cet endroit solitaire, et aprfes avoir r^eit^ des priferes sur sa tombe en esp&auoe, il disait clef de David, sceptre de la maison
:
'
gerated; in tbe actual enumeration of authors the only Greek pagan writers mentioned by Alcuin are Aristotle and Aratus ; the only Greek Fathers, Clemens, Chrysostom, and Athanasius. The poem itself, it may be observed, is of httle historic value, as it is little more than a versification of the passages in Bede's history of
d'Israel, toi qui ouvres pour que personne ne ferme, toi qui fermes sans que personne puisse ouvrir, viens, prends celui qui est enchain^ dans la prison, qui est assis dans les t^nfebres et k I'ombre de la mort.' Les fgtes du Carme, de Pftques et de I'Ascensiou, ranim^rent ses forces. Mais la maladie augmenta dans la nuit de 1' Ascension. II tomba sur son lit, ^puise et sans mouvement. La connaissance et la parole lui revive-
il
r^oita sa
avait
sembM qu'une
prison, la vie
de David, viens.' Et ce fut le matin du jour de la PentecOte, qu'entour^ de ses ^l^ves en larmes, au moment meme oii il entrait ordinairement au choeui-, il rendit le dernier soupir." Monnier, Alcuin et son Influence, pp. 249-50.
clef
18
Rabanus Maurus, his most illustrious pupil, while distinguished by his ability and learning, still held it, as Trithemius
observes, the highest excellence of the scholar to render all
turesj
and,
up
tSradition
Church.
men
is
as Odo, abbot of
to
be found ranged
on the same
side.
Even
De
could
Eance, in his celebrated diatribe against secular learning, point triumphantly to the fact that the rule so
systematically violated
DrMaitians's
tradition.
by the honorable
activity
'
of the I grant,'
men
of
these ages, 'that they had not that extravagant and factitious
if
them
as
a necessary matter of
intellectual or
taste,
there were worse things in the world than false quantities, and preferred running the risk of them to some other risks
by individuals and it cannot be doubted that they might have been, and would have been, read by more, but for the prevalence of that feeling which I have described, and which, notwithstanding these exceptions, was very general. Modern and, as it is supposed, more enlightened "views of education have decided that this was all wrong; but let us not set down what was at most an error of judgement, as mere stupidity and a proof of total barbarism. If the modern ecclesiastic should ever meet with a crop-eared monk of the
tenth century, he may,
if
but
if
though a priest of Christ's catholic church, and nourished in the languages of Greece and Rome till they were almost as
familiar to
of
him
as his own, he
Basil, of
Chrysostom or
19
intro^r-^'
if
he should confess
this, I
am
of opinion that
off
the poor
monk would
cross himself,
and make
without
Charlemagne an
a.d.
sir.
The
seculars,
'
Chapelle, were no longer admitted to mingle with the o&Zaii '= J^ o and the monks, but received instruction in separate classes,
_
introduced in
une^cSo^fj".
This
down
and may be regarded as favorable to learning in so far that the most learned body of the period still continued to direct
the education of the secular clergy.
In the
clouded,
Distnrhed
became again
their their
empire after
and the scholars of the time are loud in laments over the palmy days of the past, and gloomy in
prognostications of the future.
chariemagne.
still
essayed to
impart to others something of learning and culture, found their eflForts useless while a barbarous soldiery plundered the monasteries, and the country resounded with the clang of
arms^
Florus,
disasters
Heu I
in
mt'sera dies
quam
infelicior
nox sequitur !
is
j;!>sdiasiu<i
The deacon
empire, *
the time
'
The
cultivation of letters
'
at
an
is
end,' writes
Lupus, bishop
Lupus,
Feri-iSres.
of Ferri^res, to Altwinus,
'
who
there
6.806.
d. 862. (?)
179.
'
'
Dr
Maitland,
Dark Ages,
pp. 177
these Councils the formal distinction of the seculai clergy from the religious orders,
' The school at Tours appears to have suffered under a special disadvantage owing to the careless
^ Ut schola in monasterio non haheatur nisi eorum qui oblati sunt.' Oblati Baluze, Cap. Regum, i 585. monasteriorum, qui se ac sua, vel
'
management
its celebrity
22
20
BISHOP LUPUS.
the unskilfulness of the teachers, the paucity of books, the want of leisTire'l' In a letter to Eginhard, he complains that
those
who
and seem raised to unenviable eminence, only to be marked out for the dislike of the crowd, who impute all their failings, not to the common infirmity of human nature, but to their
literary acquirements'.
indeed,
the
The letters of this prelate are, among the most interesting and valuable records of period. We prefer them greatly to the intensely edifying
and
is
activity they
reveal
writers
His literaiy
pursuits.
who would have us regard the period that followed on the reign of Charlemagne, as one wherein learning suffered a weU nigh total eclipse. At Ferriferes, at least, its lamp shone with no uncertain light. In a letter to one correspondent, we find the good bishop bulging for the loan of a copy of Cicero's treatise on Rhetoric, his own manuscript being faulty (mendoswm), and another, which he had compared with it, still more sol In a second letter he mentions that he intended to have forwarded a copy of Aulus Gellius, but his friend, the abbot, has detained it. Writing to another correspondent, he thanks him for the pains he has taken in correcting a copy of Macrobius*; to a third he promises to send a copy of Caesar's Commentaries, and enters into a lengthened explanation to show that a portion of that work must be regarded as written by Hirtius. In another letter we find him begging that a copy of the Institutes of Quintilian may be sent to Lantranmus to be copied under his
auspices ^
When we
most distinguished prelates of our English Church, it seems hard to withhold the meed of praise from a poor French
bishop of the ninth century; unless indeed such labours are to be regarded as creditable enough when associated with
Epist. 34, Migne, Vol. cxix. Epist. 1, Ibid.
'
Epht.
8, Ibid.
<52,
EpM.
Ibid.
Ibid.
THE SCHOOL BOOKS OF THE DARK AGES.
the dignity and luxury of a
21
modem
bishopric,
but quite
jjiNg-jj
"
another thing
amid the alarms of war and a constant struggle with poverty, and where the writer has every now and then to pause to tell of the cruelty of the soldiery, the scanty provision for his household, and the
carried on
when
In the
fierce
Decline of
learning.
we
The
light
the
Bald, died out in the tenth centurv^ or took refuge with the
alien race that ruled in Andalusia. Learning still revolved round the monastery and maintained its exclusively theological associations. How little it thus prospered in England X X o^ " is sufficiently attested by the evidence of our king Aelfrid, a monarch with strong points of resemblance to Charlemagne,
_
_
state of learning in
England.
who declared that he knew not a single monk south of the Thames capable of translating the Latin service. Having now however examined, sufficiently for our present purpose,
history of the
we
shall proceed to
The
is,
The
text'"
books chiefly
{|,'^^^"]f2
^"^'"y-
the traditions of
Koman
culture.
The ordinary
instruction
imparted in the Middle Ages, prior to the twelfth century, was almost entirely founded on the works of five authors,
Orosius, Martianus, Boethius, Cassiodorus,
and
Isidorus,
of
these Martianus and Boethius were pagan, the others Christian writers, but all for the most part slavish compilers from
Koman
treatises.
Let us be
We
were read\ but simply that these authors were the school1
The
late
22
undouttedly
far wider range of reading was Here and there a mind of superior energy aspired to overcome the diflSculties of the Greek tongue and gained an acquaintance with some of its master-
accessible.
pieces, as well as
The
the Vulgate of
Jerome was extensively in use; Aristotle, as a logician, survived both in Augustine and Boethius Priscian and Donatus are oft-quoted authorities in questions of grammar; but the limits within which such studies are to be regarded
;
especially necessary to
them
Orosius.
fl.
as forming
then imparted.
The
first
circ.
A.U.
416.
use.
Orosius,
the compiler,
the
Paoanos
Libi-i rlJ.
It was in the time when paganism was loudly reiterating its accusations against Christianity, in order to fasten upon the upholders of
the
new
were
Augustine's elaborate
was but half completed, and he called upon Orosius, who was his pupU, to prepare a briefer and less
dain's Dissertation sxiT I'Etat de Id Philosophie Xattirelle au Douzieme Siicle, p. 26. Among the most recent estimates of the learning of these ages that of JI. Victor Le Clere's is noticeable for its highly favorable character: 'Quant a la litt^rature latine, peu s'en faUait qu'on ne I'eiit dCji telle que nous I'avons aujourdhui. Ce mot trop 16gerement employe de renaissance des lettres ne sanrait s'appliquer aux lettres latines: elles n'ont point ressuscite,parce qa'elles n'etaient point inortes.' Histoire Littiraire de la France au Quatorzihne Siicle, i 355. 1 Ozanam, History of Civilization in tlie Fifth Century, i 57.
few will call in question, claims for these times a somewhat larger literature than is usually admitted : A toutes les fipoques du moyen fige on a lu les Questions Naturelles de S&eque, le poeme de Lnerece, les ou'vrages philosophiques de Ciceron, les livres d' Apulfie, ceux de Cassiodore, de Boece, etc.' Recherches Criliqufs sur L'Age et L'Origine des Traductions Latines D'Aristote, edit. 1843, Mr Lewes (Hist, of Philosop. 21. phy, II 65) doubts whether Lucretius >uld possibly have been tolerated c so exclusively theological an age
'
but both Eabanus Maurus and "William of Conches appear to have been familiar with portions, at least, of Ms great poem. See Chailes Jour-
'
oROsius.
circumstantial reply.
of abstract of the
23
The
'
De
Civiiate,
the
theory of Augustine
fertility of
ixtro-
Such was the origin of the volume which afterwards became the school history of the Middle Ages, and it must be owned that it is a decidedly sombre treatise. It was the object of the writer to shew, over and above the exposition of his main theory, that the times were by no means so
exceptional as to justify the hypothesis of paganism; that iu
purposes, tried
Supreme Ruler had, for His own inscrutable mankind by calamities even greater than those that the pestilence and barbaric invasion were then
all
ages the
His pages are consequently fiUed with famines, the tragic and the terrible make up the volume there is no place for the tranquil days of the old Republic or for the sunny age of the
iDflicting\
Antonines.
when generation
knowledge of history from such a book, the effect could scarcely have been otherwise than too much in assonance with ideas hke that which has alreadj' come so prominently before us.
after generation
left to
was
derive
its
The
et
treatise of
et
Martianus Capella,
De
Kuptiis Philohgice
is
Manianus
fl^circ'isi.
Mercurii
his
treatise
contemporary probably of Orosius. It is characterised by the usual mannerisms of the African rhetoricians, an obscure
and forced diction, a turgid rhetoric, and endless artifices of metaphor and expression, such as belong to the school of Appuleius and Amobius. The treatise, as the title implies, is and the first two books are The aiit^ory. cast in an allegorical form almost exclusively devoted to a somewhat tedious account of
:
the celebration of the marriage of Mercury with Philologia, the goddess of speech. Jupiter, warned by the oracles, conNactus enim sum prajteritos dies asqne ut hos graves, verum etiam tanto atrocins miseros, qnaDto longius a remedio vers reUgionis Frirfatio ad Aurelium Aualjenos. gtistinum, Migue, xxxi 667.
1
non solum
'
recent
editor
of
ilai-tianus
(Eyssenhardt, Lipsiff, 1866) considers that he lived before 439, and could not possibly have uritlcn subscquently to the Vandal occupation of Africa. He consequently places our author neaily half a century earlier than the usually assigned date.
24
venes a meeting of the gods and demands the rights of naturalization for one hitherto but a mortal virgin;
and Mercury
and
whom
is
by her name.
of the trivium
Such
is
and quadrivium^.
To modem readers
neither
The
of the
The humour, if not altogether spiritless, is often coarse ^ and when we recoUect not only that such allurements to learning were deemed admissible, but that the popularity of this treatise in the Middle Ages is probably mainly attributable to these imaginative accessories, we need
seek for no further evidence respecting the standard of literary
taste then prevalent.
The ClUTiculum.
Grammar,
it
Logic, Rhetoric,
is
only
when we
examine what was really represented imder each of these branches, that we become aware how inadequately they
corresponded to
lead us to
subject,
modem
The
definition, indeed,
anticipate
is
it
See Haurfiau, Be la Philosophie Scholastique, i 21. Brucker, Hist. CHt. Phil. Ill 957. This dmsion of the several liberal arts is to be found in Augustine, De Ordine, . 13. Haur^au would therefore seem to be in error when he attributes its first conception to Capella. See Dean Hansel's Introd. to Artis Logicte Eu-
dimenta, p. 28.
As specimens the following may The plaudits that follow upon the discourse delivered by
"
sufEce
Martianus
p. 211.
CapeUa.
Ecolts Episc.
MARTIANUS CAPELLA.
erudite intelligere prdbaregue.
25
information
is
The
actual
introDUCTIOX.
articulation, it is
have envied;
with a care that M. Jourdain's tutor might but the writer appears to confuse quantity
it
comparison
has no
of
adverbs, the
author
affirms
that
comparative.
Under
Dialectics
both
logic
impune and
Dialectics,
and
differentia, accidens
The
ni.ctonc.
from Cicero, and profusely Geometry consists of little more than geography, a short compend from Pliny with a
and
illustrated
ceomciry.
1 Kopp here observes, ' ea elegisse videtur, in quibus vel dissentiret a Buperioribua grammaticis, vel olarius se docere posse putaret,' an explanation hardly warranted, I think,
phical method, had diverted men from the right pursuit, had prejudiced them with wrong notions of the
science. studied,
If Aristotle, therefore,
it
when we compare
the treatment with that of similar writers like Cassiodorus and Isidore. C. F. Hermann, in his preface to Kopp's edition, expresses his belief that Martianus drew largely from Varro, quae si recte observavi, fieri poterit ut ex Martiano si nihil aliud tamen aliquas prinoipia
'
portions of his Logic as coincided, or seemed to coincide, most with the existing imperfect views. Hence the almost exclusive use among the Latins of his treatise entitled the Categories or the Predicaments. Though other treatises of his Logic were translated into Latin, these soon fell into
disuse.
eriiditionis
Eomanae
reliquias luore-
A compendium
of Dialectic,
mur.'
The causes that led to the singularly meagre treatment of Logic by these writers have been thus described by a very competent critic It was only indeed in the time of Cicero, that Aristotle's writings were brought to light from the long obscurity in which they were buried. And it is not asserting too much to say, that, even had the Eomans been disposed to encourage a speculative phOosophy there was then no one
2
: '
in use, the Dialectic of the Stoics, which so far from opening the mind to the reception of a truly philoso-
26
towards the
close.
Some
of the
Martianus, by
country of the Scythians and the Arctic regions, magno dehinc permenso ad Scythicam plagam ac rigentes undas usque
penetravit,
we can
here,
only account by
Other
have a certain interest as illustrative of the knowledge and nomenclature Egypt he refers to, in common with other of the times.
too
numerous
noticed
of a tradition
that
it
takes
its rise
of Mauretania.
In speaking of Syria he
fail
to
suggest
is
the
name
of
The
science of Arithmetic
discussed chiefly
properties
of
numbers, mystically
'
manner
of Pythagoras.
Music includes
'
and
Astronomy
is
treated
It
is,
that superficial as is his treatment of astronomjr, he yet appeoi-s to have to some extent antioipatej the Copernican theory. The passage deserves quotation Licet generaliter sciendum, ounotis orbibus planetarum ecoeutron esse tellurem, hoc est non tenere medium circulorum ; quoniam mundi oentron esse non dubium et illud generale septem omnibus advertendiim, quod quum mundus ejusdem ductus rotntione miimoda tor:
'
queatur, planeta; quotidie tarn loca quam diversitales arripiant circulorum. Nam ex his nullum sidus ex eolooo imde pridie ortum estelevatur. Quod si est, dubium non est, centum ootoginta tres ciroulos habere Solom, per quos aut ab solstitio in brumam redit, aut ab eadem in solstitialem hnoam sublevatur per
;
BOETHIUS.
If,
27
intro-
as has
De
--
drclwa.
the fact would alone point to a wide and early popularity gained by the latter writer,
upon a more
satisfactory ^
His p-rat
service to
which that distinguished statesman rendered to posterity have been suffered, to a great extent, to pass from recollection
ever since that infusion of learning which, in the thirteenth
century, superseded his philosophical treatises
their comparative neglect from that time''
;
'eamiuB.
and led
it is
to
but
only
just to
remember that
to Boethius
we owe
it
the transmission
down
Greek thought
we compare the treatise by Boethius with that ofMartianui * and BoetJiius Martianus, we shall probably incline to the conclusion that compar"!Boethius wrote for a different and a higher class. The
If
"^
tumus,
qui parallel! dicuntux eireumcurrens qui motus omnium cum mundo proveniunt, et terras ortibus occasibusque circum;
cumulatur Sa-
eunt.
licit
Nam
Venus
Mereuriusque
ortus oceasusque quotidianos ostendant, tamen eurum circuli terras omnino non ambiunt sed circa Solem laxiore ambitu circulantur ; denique circulorum suorum centron in Sole eonstituunt, ita ut supra ipsum ali-
quando, infra plerumque propinquiores terris ferantur, a quo quidem signo uno et parte dimidia Venus disparatur ted quum supra Solem sunt, propinquior est terris Mercurius, quum infra Solem, Venus, utpote qua orbe castiore
diffusioreque curvetur.' c. viii., p. 856, ' On dit,' says Delambre, ed. Kopp. 'qui c'est ce peu de lignes qui a 6t& pris par Copemic pour le sujet de ses
tianus aurait rendu k I'astronomie plus de serrices que des astronomes bien plus habileB, et nous devons lui pardonner son verbiage, ses b^vues et son galimathias.' ' See article by Dean Stanley, 'Boethius,' in Smith's Diet, of Greek and Bom. Biography and Mythologj-. * " Both of the great esteem in which the Consolation of Boethius was held by the Church of tLo Middle Ages, and of the great influence of the monastic schools, Dr Pauli finds evidence in the fact, that ' as soon as a newly formed language began to produce, we meet with a version of Boethius in it ; this is also the case with all the most ancient remains of the old High Germans, the Provencals, and the Northern
French; even Chaucer formed himself upon it when he gave England its language.'" Morley'sEnglishWritirs,
meditations, et qui
I'a
;
conduit 3 son
Bysteme du monde
en ce cas Mar-
Vol.
pt. 1, p. 399.
28
Nicomachus,
is
far
by numerous and
The educationaltrea-
useful additions ^
The
treatment by Boethius
t j l. ^^* gives to the whole curriculum a dignity and coherence piSnttat altogether wanting in the works of the other compilers. The ffifgenorai somewhat transcendental method which he adopts is, indeed,
uShma
conoLp
ion.
sciences, only
tended
still
modem
mathe-
much
harmony
;
number, and numbers proportional and the division of magnitudes nor in the similar method of treatment to be found in the five books on Music. The translation of Euclid,
however,
that
is
Boethius
writer.
and a few additional propositions on the properties of the rhombus, is of a more practical character. not The results of modern criticism would seem to have
with their figures,
by a
different hand.
In
^ Cassiodoriis (in tlie two pages in which he dismisses the same subject)
Weber's
A.
-
bears witness to its merits ' quam (arithmeticam) apud Grsecos Nico:
M.
Cassellis, 1817.
machus
diligenter exposuit.
Himc
primum Madaurensis
Apuleius, deinde magnificus vir Boetius Latino sermone translatum Eomauis oontuDe Artibus Liber, lit lectitandum.
'
Other followers Migne, Lxx 1207. of Boethius were Bede, Gerbert, and
John
of Salisbury.
For a succinct
fuisse multis ex rebus efficitur, the dictum of a recent editor, See De Consol. Phil. ed. Obbarius, 1843. The supposition that Boethius encountered his fate as a martyr in the cause of orthodoxy against the Arians, though sanctioned by Baehr and Heyne, has been completely
is
num
refuted by
Hand
see
Ersch and
CASSIODORUS.
'
29
./
1/
countrymen with the writings of Aristotle and Porphyry, and X to reconcile Aristotle with Plato, would at once suggest, to
those
DUCTION'.
v
intro-
who bore
in
mind the
The student
. ,
vicisBitudes
how
.
frequently
its
predominant
.
Aristoteimn philosophy.
but
it
was
The
oni.y the
and
even as a logician he was but imperfectly known. The ''""i'Q'Qt''" whole of the Organon had, indeed, been translated by Boethius, buun part'"' but even of this the greater part was unknown to Europe
prior to the twelfth century'.
Amtotie known to
The
De
and Posterior Analytics, the Tojnca, and the Elenchi Sophistici are never quoted. Such are the important limitations with which it is consequently necessary
in use, but the Prior
to
lengthened period;
method
survived,
but in
remained altogether unknown, their resuscitation forming, as we shall subsequently see, a separate and very important
chapter in the history of European thought.
The
but a distinguished colleague of the patriotic filled under the Gothic monarch
some
and
at length,
Die boethianisohe XJebersetzung der Hauptschriften des Organons, d. h. der beiden Analytiken und der Topik nebst Soph. El., vor dem 12.
''
80
monastery which he had founded at Scylacium, to enjoy, far heyond the ordinary term of life, its tranquil solitudes and studious repose. The Gothic History by this writer has
survived only in the abridgement of
Jomandes
but his
Epistles, a series of state documents prepared under the direction of Theodoric and Justinian, that may be compared to the Capitularies of Charlemagne, are a valuable illustration
of these times.
Hi3
treatise
the De
Artibus ac
all
is
The
Quadrivium, for instance, are each dismissed in two pages the object of the writer being apparently rather to give
a general notion of the subject than definite instruction
therein.
traditional division
In his general arrangement he observes the same that Martianus and Boethius foUow
and the example of the latter, whose genius Cassiodorus warmly admired, is to be discerned in the adoption of Aristotle and Porphyry as the chief guides in the book on Dialectics, the only portion of the work that presents what can be held to constitute a real study of the subject. As the production, then, of an aged monk, but of one who until long past his manhood's prime had mingled much with the world, borne high office in the state, and held intercourse with the foremost spirits of the age, this work sufficiently shews how the traditions of pagan culture were dwindling before the combined influences of a narrow theology and barbaric rule\ The wave of the Lombard invasion spent itself on the north of Italy, and while Gregory was predicting from the
sufferings of his
dissolution of all
things,
a contemporary
in
the
neighbouring
1 His Dialectic contains a brief analysis of the Isagoge of Poi-phyry and the Orgauon of Aristotle, with additions, a considerable portion
'
chapter
rangement
being borrowed from Apuleius and Boethius. His analysis of the Organon does not include the Sophistic Befutations, but contains a separate
matters are introducedwhich proprarly belong to Eietoric' Dean Mansel, Introd. to Artis Logica SudUncnta,
p. xxix.
ISIDORUS.
'
81
introv
1111-1
Though
invasion,
DUCJTION.
Middle Ages.
immunity from
a calmer eye
isidoms.
the time.
Descended from Theodoric the Great, son of a governor of Cartagena, and himself bishop of an important see, he appears to have passed a life of honourable activity in freedom from
political disquiet like that
pontificate.
discoverable
gloom hastening
tional
to yet
classification
of
retained,
Verbal explanations of
affectation of clearness
scientific
terms
still
knowledge.
'How
completely,'
Mr
Lewes, 'the
from the scene, how utterly their results and methods had passed away, may be estimated on finding Isidore, in his
chapter on the size of the sun and the moon, unable to give
more
earth,
is
and the moon less than the sun'.' Even the spark which had illumined the dark page of Martian us appears to have expired.
In one respect the Origines present a novel and noticeable
feature,
Novel
the incorporation
Lewes (G.H.),
Hist, of Philosopliy,
ii C8.
32
TNTRo-
composed of an extraordinary medley of medicine, theologj, natural philosophy and natural history, political history, The good bishop architecture, mineralogy, and husbandry. would seem, as though prescient of the future, to have sought to gather and link together whatever still remained of knowledge and learning before it should be irretrievably lost. Of the numerous historical and theological tractates of Isidorus, many of them mere reproductions in an abridged form of his larger works, we cannot here stop to speak but whoever will examine them for himself will have forcibly brought home to him, in the barbarisms, the solecisms and the poverty of thought whereby they are characterised, the
when such
productions could
most accomplished and erudite man of his age. The more elaborate researches of later writers have tended somewhat to qualify the representations of Robertson, Hallam, and others who have slightly exaggerated and severely criticised the ignorance of these times
General
with respect
to the culture
;
but there
still
remains
Sufficient evidence
amply
to warrant
.
oftheuiirk
that the literature of the seventh, eighth, ninth, and ""! ""^ O 2, that whatever
.
Nor
is
there
almost exclusively possessed by the any good reason for believing that
if
we
direction of
ofTem.?"'
what
discern,
with but
difficulty,
passing in succession from the hand of each solitary runner who maintained the race in that darksome night. In the authors who have just occupied our attention we can trace,
with tolerable distinctness, the transmission of the literary spirit. Orosius appears reproducing, under the teaching of Augustine, the theological interpretation of
for instance,
history; Martianus, as
sustaining the
traditions
allegorical
of pagan
culture;
Boethius,
as
imitating the
treatment
ISIDOEUS.
33
pursued by Mai-tianus, and, ia his turn, inspiring Cassiodorus, introv who, in his monastic solitude, feebly retraced the outlines of
learning
marked out by
his
more
brilliant
compeer
while in
Isidorus, the
grandson of Theodoric the Great, we seem to recognise the transmitted influence of both these illustrious
most enlightened of the Gothic conquerors. is associated, though in no true connexion, one of the most important movements of "the Middle Ages, the next prominent feature that ari-ests our
ministei-s of the
of Isidorus again,
Amid
it is
spirit
of unveracity
that,
prolific source of
and
we
ai-e
Rome
commencing
in deUberate fraud,
Among
the numerous
i?"''"^.
De
he had
i"'* "-*''''
offices. The work enjoyed a deserved reputation, and must still be regarded as of high value by all who seek to form an accurate estimate of the sanction afforded by the antiquities of the Church for the observances of the Romish ritual. In one respect however this treatise failed to satisfy the minds of a
it
contained
little
Romish
see
and,
more
unbroken
^ il
* Qnant an pTogramme des ^tades, n'a pas yari^ d'vine syllabe aTant
le xii sibole, il
est rest^ tel qu'il avait ^t^ trac^ pour les ^coles dea
premiers siScles da moyen age par Boece, Martianns Capella, Cassiodore et Isidore de Seville.' L^on Maitre,
etc. p. 300.
3i
its
who
the
Pretended
discovery of Mercator.
the bishops of
Eome were
altogether wanting.
Bnt suddenly
missing
Decretals were
forthcoming.
An unknown
individual,
who styled himself Mercator, brought forward what purported to be a completion of the work of Isidorus, inasmuch as it supplied what was necessary to constitute that woik an entire collection of the decrees of Eome from the earliest times. No traces of these documents were discoverable in the Koman archives, but they were nevertheless accepted as genuine by Nicholas, and also by Hincmar, the
eminent archbishop of Rheims. It so happened that at the time when this pretended discovery took place, Kothrad,
bishop of Soissons, had appealed to Nicholas against his
andKothiad.
Decision in favour of
2lome
founded on the False
Decretals.
by his metropolitan, Hincmar. It was however doubtful whether he was justified in such a step, and Hincmar loudly affirmed that no such right of appeal existed. It was now found that, among the newly discovered Decretals, was one that established the supremacy of Rome over all other metropolitans; Eothrad was reinstated in his episcopal chair by Nicholas ; and Hincmar was compelled reluctantly to bow to the authority he had so incautiously admitted. When too late, he endeavoured
deposition from his see
indeed to
call the genuineness of that authority in question, but in so doing he only incurred the inevitable imputation of having thus acted merely from a selfish regard to his per-
From
the recognition of
which
it
and the attainment of a position from never afterwards receded'. It was not until three
Chnrch property, on its usurpation and spoliation ; on ordinations on the sacraments, on baptism, confirmation, marriage, the Eucharist ; on fasts and festivals the discovery of
;
1 'The False Decretals do not merely assert the supremacT of the Popes the dignity and pri^-ileges of the Bishop of Borne. They comprehend the whole dogmatic system and discipline of the Church, the whole hierarchy from the highest to the lowest degree, their sanctity and im-
their persecntions, their disputes, their light of appeal to Kome. They are fuU and minnte on
mnnities,
the cross, the discovery of the reliques of the Apostles ; on the chrism, holy water, consecration of churches, blessing of the fruits of the field ; on the sacred vessels and habiliments. Personal incidents are not wanting
35
monk
of
DUCTION'
,
Bologna, published a
new Decretum
or Concordia Discor-
intho-
dantium Canonum, wherein he incorporated the collection m, ^^^j. """' by the Pseudo-Isidorus with numerous alterations and
additions.
in these labours,
It has
some
difference
Romish
to
augment the
difficult
and authority
of the Papacy*.
moreover to understand, how many of the canons could ever have been regarded as other than apocryphal for, in the sixteenth century. Pope Gregory xill deemed it expedient to expunge those parts which, however
seems
they might charitably have been supposed to have deceived
ferent school observes, ' The great difference between the use which Hincmar makes of these decretals and the advantage to which they are turned by Nicholas is that the latter builds entirely upon them doctrines
and reality to the fiction. is composed with an air of profound piety and reverence a specious purity and occasional beauty in the moral and religious tone. There are many axioms of seemingly sincere and vital religion. But for the
to give life
The whole
too manifest design, the aggrandisement of the See of Eome and the aggrandisement of the whole clergy in subordination to the See of Eome ; but for the monstrous ignorance of history, which betrays itself in glaring anachronisms, and in the utter confusion of the order of events and the lives of distinguished men the former awakening keen and jealous suspicion, the latter making the detection of the spuriousness of the whole easy, clear, irrefragable, the False Decretals might stiU have maintained their place in ecclesiastical history. They are now given up by all not a voice is raised in their favour; the utmost that is done by those who cannot suppress all regret at their explosion, is to palliate the guilt of the forger, to call in question or to weaken the influence which they had in their own day, and throughout the later history of Christianity.' Mihnan, Hist. Latin Christianity, III 192. A writer of a dif-
them only as furnishing an additional evidence to truths already granted, and even without them easily established or defended. In the latter case their genuineness could
quotes
be of
little
necessarily incumbent
for
such
a purpose as that for which they are advanced by Pope Nicholas, any deficiency in the fullest proof that they were both genuine and of authority, subjects the author to a graver charge than even that of the most culpable
negligence.' Life and Times of Hincmar, by the late Eev. James C. Prichard, M.A., p. 330. ' In one passage Gratian even goes so far as to assert that the Pope is not bound by the canons of his predecessors. See Fleury, Troisieme Discours sur VHistoire Ecclesiastique.
32
36
The Decretum,
law,
as it passed
:
the
first
and ceremonies of the Church. The Decretum was received throughout Europe with unquestioning submission Pope Eugenius lil marked his sense of its merits by raising Gratian to the bishopric of Chiusi; and Dante, a century later, assigned to the monk of Bologna a place in the
rites
celestial hierarchy,
study of which
known
which still survives in both Protestant and Catholic Germany; and continues to
universities prior to the Reformation;
demand the
who seek
to grasp intelli-
Other
Decretum since the time of Gratian, but it is to his labours and those of his predecessor that are undoubtedly to be referred the most unjustifiable pretensions and accordingly the greatest misfortunes of the Romish Church ^. It was on the foundation of the canon law that those claims to temporal power were built up, which gave rise to the Be Fotestate of Occam, to the Be Bominio Divino of Wyclif, and to the English Reformation.
to the
Revival of studv of the
made
oviflU'
Somewhat earlier in the same century that saw the c r^ completion of Gratian's labours, Irnerius began to lecture at Bologna on the Civil Law. From the time of the disruption
of the
Roman
would appear
^ "
empire, the codes of Theodosius and Justinian to have survived as the recognised law of the
3 the latter writer, though a staunch Catholic, admits and deplores the effects of the excessive pretensions of the Deci-etals on behalf of the Papal power
p.
.
Paradise,
the
'On
of Ecclesiastical
IRNEEIUS.
37
introv^'
very imperfect, and indeed almost valueless, save as representative of a great tradition and
to a
marking the path that led more systematised and comprehensive theory'. The school founded by Irnerius marks the commencement of an improved order of things. The states of Lombardy were,
at this time, advancing with rapid strides in populousness
demanded a more definite application of the admirable code they had inherited. Irnerius accordingly not only expounded
the
imerius im"""^
Eoman
first
fj"'^^*
terms or sentences, these annotations being known under the name of glosses. His example was followed in the next
century by, Accursius of Florence, whose labours may be regarded as constituting an era in the history of jurisprudence.
Accuraiua.
The
by these
glossers
it
is
they promoted a more careful and intelligent interpretation of the code, but some have regarded it as a serious evil that
their labours almost superseded the study of the text.
The
became
itself
1 .
Hapid spread
f "'^ Study
"ff'^civu
'
aber
diese Kenntnisz
nnd
Anwendung
desselben sehr
diirftig
wareiijimdnuralsUebergangzueiner besseren Zeit Werth haben komiten.' Savigny, Oeschichte des Romischen
Rechts, o. xviii. sec. 32. See the whole of the same chapter, entitled Wiederhentellung der Bechtswissenchaft.
38
disfavour at
Already, before the appearance of the Pandects of Amalfi, it had been forbidden to the religious orders, and the interdict was renewed in 1139 and again in
Eome.
In 1219 Honorius ill banished it from the university of Paris, and thirty-five years later Innocent ill reiterated the papal anathemas in France, England and Spain\ In our own country the superior clergy appear to have advocated its
1163.
Vacariug
lectures at
reception,
Oxford
1149.
circ.
and it is unquestionable that Vacarius lectured on the Pandects at Oxford^; he was silenced however by the mandate of king Stephen, and John of Salisbury informs us
that
many
of his
the
new learning
with so much animosity that they destroyed all the textbooks that came within their reach'. The opposition of Stephen is attributed by Selden to the monarch's personal
dislike of archbishop Theobald,
a^
disposition
Decretum.
Chez nous, au centre et an nord, se propageait en langue vulgaire la redaction des ooutumes, qui, non Moins varices que les divisions f^odales, conservaient presque la mdthode et souvent rnSme les dispositions des
romaines. Ces lois, dans les pays de coutumes, furent dtudi^es oomme raison ^crite, et, dans les pays de droit romain, adoptees comme lois. En Languedoc, elles ^taient le droit oommun du pays ; Toulouse et
lois
The
but the evidence appears sufficiently conclusive. Gervadse of Canterbury, a contemporary writer says Tune leges et causidici in Angliam prima vocati sunt, quorum primus erat ma:
Montpellier lea enseignaient, memo avant I'institution de leurs imiversit^s. L'^oole de Paris, qu'on avait voulu pr&errer de cette innovation, s'enhardit jusqu'S, reconnaitre ^ I'un et a I'autre droit une sorte d'ggaUt^ lorsqu'elle dut, en 1408, apr&s la declaration de neutrality entre les papautSs rivales, fixer les conditions necessaires pour posseder les benefices, elle exigea indifffiremment des evfiques et des chefs d'ordres le grade de docteur ou de licencie soit en theologie, soit en droit canonique, soit en droit civil.' 'V. Le Clerc
gister Vacarius. Sic in Oxonefordia legem docuit. , ^ Savigny's criticism throws additional Ugbt upon the circumstance Mehrere haben Anstosz daran gefnnden, dass bei einem Streit unter Geistlichen fiber geistHche Gegenstande
:
'
es sey
Etat des Lettres au li Siicle, p. 510. 2 Vacarius appears to have taught at Oxford about the year 1149, almost exactly the same time that
.
zugleich das canonische Eecht mit verpflanzt worden, ja Manche haben den Unterricht des Vacarius ledigUch auf das canonische Eecht beziehen woUen. Allein diese ganze Sohwierigkeit soheint mir ohne Grand. Das canonisohe Eecht war stets als Theil der Theologie von der Geistlichkeit erlernt worden, so dass weder die Abfassung des Decrets von Gratian, noch dessen Erklarung in der Schule von Bologna, hierin einen ganz neuen Zustand hervorbraohte. Anders verhielt es
sich mit
dem Bomischen
39
intro-
before the expiration of the twelfth century the attractions and direct importance of a science a knowledge of which had become essential to those concerned in
^^1-'
ex'temfvaij-
Fatorperiod*
bv
tliQ
clsrEV.
with which the clergy betook and a century later, as we shall hereafter see, the study had assumed such proportions as the path to emolument and high office, that it seemed likely to bring about an almost total neglect of theology and the canon ''??Jj^,'' law. In England indeed the canon law was mainly preserved La^w?" from the neglect into which it fell at a yet later period on the continent, by the fact that the canonist and civilian were often united in the same person, and did not, as in France and jGrermany, represent distinct and separate professions. It is to this combination that we owe the title, which still
of the ardour
its
themselves to
pursuit
we now turn
marked path
of
learning
of Charlemagne,
we
an awakening
activity of
How
far the
Eeoht, welches, in seiner Wiederherstellimg dureh die Glossatoren, der That etwas Neuea war. Zugleioh aber ist ea unverkennbar, dass der Prozess, auch in geiatlicheu Geriohten, groszentheila auf EomisSo erches Eeoht gegriindet war. klart es aich, daas die Engliaohe hohe Geistliohkeit duroh ihre Prozesse vor der Bomiachen Curie veranlaszt werdeii konnte, Legiaten imd Handschriften des Bomiachen Bechta aus England einzufiihren, Xtalien. in wahren kein ahnUches Bediirfnisa in Ansehung dea canonischen Bechts empfunden wurde.' C. xxxvi sec. 125. Boger Bacon, who was prejudiced againat the study by the abuse with which it had become aaaociated in his day, sought to found upon Stephen'a opposition an argument against ita claims 'Bex quidam An:
glise Stephanus, allatis legibus Itali89 in Angliam, publico edicto prohibuit, ne ab aUquo retinerentur. Si igitur laioua princepa laioi prinoipis alteriua leges respueret, igitur multo magis omnia clericua deberet reapuere leges laicorum. Addo etiam quod magis concordant jura Francise cum Anglia, et e converso, propter vicini-
tatem regnorum,
Italise
et
oommuuioatio-
40
speculation
certain
difficult
accurately to decide',
but
it
is'
that, before
there were
symptoms
Faschasius
l^adbertus, fl. drc. 850.
of returning vigour
how
men's minds were again essaying to grapple with the profoundest questions appertaining to the Christian faith; the solutions propounded, it is true, were, after the fashion of the
time, conceived in conformity to the requirements of a formal
than in unison with the wants of men's inner nature, but the controversies they were designed to set at
logic rather
were not the less the commencement of that great effort to bring about a reconciliation between reason and authority, belief and dogma, which underlies the whole history of the scholastic philosophy I It is impossible to look upon the
rest
natramnus,
Trrote circ
870.
arguments of Paschasius and his able opponent Ratramnus as a mere phase of bygone habits of thought when we remember that they inaugurated a controversy which has lasted to the present day which has exercised, perhaps more than any other, the learning of Rome and the intellect of protestantism; and in connexion with which these two writers long represented the armoury whence combatants on either side most frequently equipped themselves for the contest'. In John Scotus Erigena, on whom it devolved to uphold the less rigid interpretation against both Paschasius and*
;
Professor Maurice, speaking of the theological disputes of this time, does not hesitate to say, It was a war of logic, of formal proposition on this side and on that. This was the character which the schools of A Icuin and Charlemagne almost inevitably gave to it.' Mediaeval Philosophy, p.
'
'
41.
^
Hampden,
Scholastic Philosophy,
194.
'
Bellarmine has unfairly represented Eatramnus as the inaugurator of the controversy; but the doctrine of transubstautiatiou was a heresy in
the Church of the ninth century, and Paschasius was sharply rebuked by several contemporaries, among others by Eabanus Maurus, then archbishop of Mayence. At a subsequent period, Pope Gregory VII declared that the view of Paschasius, as expressed by Lanfranc, was rejected both by himself and Peter Damiani. It was seven centuries after the time of Eatramnus, that Eidley, when pleading before the commissioners at Oxford, said, This man was the first who pulled me by the ear, and forced me from the common error of the
'
Eoman
JOHN SCOTUS ERIGENA.
Glodesclialchus,
41
of the
school
appearing
Platonic
to the
intro,
contrast
'
In his
De
he maintains, in his theory of primordial causes, an essentially different conception from that put forth in the Ethics and the Metaphysics ana his mental affinities
;
to
the Platonism
of the
eastern Church
are sufficiently
indicated
by
With by Chalcidius of a portion of Plato's Timceus, Augustine was undoubtedly the source from whence John Scotus derived his philosophy; with
respecit to
jajmSfiflius
it is
the
cCsism.
inasmuch
as,
though he was
main theory of
method and his somewhat singular eclecticism and Platonic affinities became lost to view amid the vastly extended influence which yet awaited the authority of Aristotle. His most marked relation to posterity is to be traced in the attention
scholasticism^ his
adopted^,
he directed to the writings falsely attributed to Dionysius Legend, already busy in the Church, the Areopagite. though the time of its greatest activity was still distant, had ascribed to the Dionysius mentioned in the Acts ofThePaeudo,
Dionysius.
the Apostles",
and afterwards
first
and in the ninth century there was in circulation a manuscript, a forgery of the fifth century, sent by Michael the
See Belwriters on tMa question.' larmine, De Sac. Euch. Bk. i c. 1. Milman, Hist, of Latin Christianity, Bk.viii 0. 3. ^ Der friiheste namhafte Philosoph der soholastisohen Zeit,' says Ueberweg. See his Geschichte der Philosophie, ii' 103111. ^ It was 'exceedingly unlike the
'
.
equally unlike the pure Socratic Platonismofwhieli that was a corruption, different in most important respects from the Augustinian Platonism, or from that of the Greek Fathers with
stands in much closer afMaurice, Mediceval Philosophy, p. 68. See also Christlieb, Leben und Lehre des Joh. Scotus Erigena, Gotha, .1860. ' Acts xvii 34,
which
it
finity.'
42
INTRO-
'
Stammerer, emperor of Byzantium, to Louis le Ddbonnaire, which was asserted with equal truth to be the work of this same Dionysius. The production, from whatever pen it proceeded, is of small intrinsic value, being devoted to speculations respecting the celestial hierarchy and the exposition of a highly mystical
interpretation
of Scripture;
but
its
by John Scotus,
by rendering more
to
Estimation in
treatise
tile
their
national
Apostle,
is
an event of considerable
was
importance in the history of European studies. From this pcriod the Pseudo-Dlonyslus occupied a foremost place in the estimation of the theologian, and it is melancholy to
note
how long
it
contmued
of
...
to impose
some
of the
scholars of
successive generations*.
greatest intensity
Spain alone,
Pope syives'
Ommiades, offers to our notice any signs of general culture and refinement, the instances observable elsewhere presenting themselves as isolated and rare phenomena. Of these the most remarkable is unquestionably that of Gcrbert, afterwards pope Sylvester II, and the valuable, additions recently made to our knowledge respecting this eminent man may be deemed sufficient exciise for attempting
briefly to
embody them
It is
now
by his pupil Richerus, and the information therein contained, together with the Keaearchesof admirable life prefixed by M. Olleris to the more recently published magnificent edition of his works ^ has somewhat
light the long lost history of his times
1 Dean Milman truly otserves that the effect of this work on the whole ecclesiastic system, and on the popiilar faith, it is almost impossible justly Hist, of Latin Christo estimate.' tianity, Bk. viii c. 5. s (Euvres de Gcrbert, Pope sous le
'
nom
les
graphie, suivies de Notes Critiques et Historiques, par A. OUeris, doyen des Facult^s de Lettres, Clermont-Ferrand, 1867.
GEKBEET.
43
introDUCTION.
of transition
when the
tian dynasty.
Gerbert was identical with that of our modern era, and that,. "^ES"' ''^''"'' at the same time, his knowledge was not derived from the ^^
Saracens, would appear to be equally well ascertained facts.
dislike and dread with which the Mahometan race had been regarded ever since the Crescent and the Cross contended for the possession of France at Poitiers, and the
The
consequent rarity of their intercourse with Christian Europe', the entire absence of Arabic words and of everything
suggestive of Arabic influences in his writings, render
it
in
the highest degree improbable that Gerbert was indebted m. qiieris' ^ * conclusions That method, M. OUeris h J3J^'^ to such sources for his method.
considers,
writers
may have very well been derived from those fderiTCd whom we have already passed under review as ledge""'''
by whose name,
his
as the
'
new
Boethius,' Gerbert
admiring contemporaries\
Under
Eobert
le
Moine,
and Eaymond
d'AgUes, and the accounts of the later Crusades, belonging to the later half of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, by Guillaume de Tyr and Jaques de Vitry. By the former the Mahometans are spoken of only with contempt and hatred, the hatred and contemptof ignorance; in the writings of the later chroniclers they are no longer regarded as monsters; it is evident that a certain amount of intercourse had been going on between the Christian and the Saracen, and a corresponding amount of sympathy has been developed; the morals of the latter are even favourably contrasted with those of the countrymen of the writers. See Hist, de la Givilisation en Europe, iii 204 207. => With respect to the period of Gerbert's residence at Barcelona, M.
Olleris says: 'Le voile ^paia qui couvre oet ^poqne de sa vie, ses confort exag&^es en mathdnaissances matiquesetenastronomie.permirent, pr6s d'un si&ole aprSs sa mort, k Beusson, cardinal de I'antipape Guibert, ennemi de Saint- Silge, de profiter d'un mot ^ohapp^ k I'ignorance d'Adhgmar de Chabanais, qui avait dit que Gerbert fetait all^ t, Cordoue, pour affirmer qu'il avait appris dans cette ville les sciences et la magie.
Des moines credules, avides du merveilleux aooredit&rent ces bruits, y ajont^rent de nouveUes fables, que le moyen age accueiUit sans h^siter, les
temps modemes en out admis une Mais ces r^cits mensongers ne sont-ils pas complfetement r^fut^s par la faveur constante dont Gerbert
partie.
a joui aupr&s des ^vgques et des princes Chretiens du X siScle, par le silence absolu de tons ses contemporains, dont quelquesuns I'ont attaqud avec achamement, par son
aveu indirect
qu'il
ne oomprend pas
44
INTRO-
GEREEKT.
the patronage of the princes of the house of Saxe, Gerberfc ^.}^^^ taught with great success at Rheims, and the account given by Richerus of the system he employed and the authors
upon whom he commented, is deserving of quotation it must however be observed, that such instruction, at this period, can only be regarded, in its thoroughness and extent,
;
HisteMinug as
Dialecticam ergo
ordine
lihrorum percurrens,
dilucidis
sententiarum verbis
Imprimis enim Porphirii ysagogas, id est introductiones secundum Victorini rhetoris translationem, inde etiam easdem secundum Manlium^ explanavit; cathegoriarum,
enodavit.
id
prcedicamentorum librum Aristotelis consequenter enuPeri ermenias vero, id est de interpretatione librum, Inde etiam topica, id cujus laboris sit, aptissime monstravit.
est
cleans.
est
translata',
argumentorum sedes, a Tullio de Greco in Latinum et a Manlio consule sex commentariorum libris dilucidata, suis auditoribus intimavit. Nee non et quatv^r
libros,
de topicis differentiis
de ypotheticis
tres,
wque unum, utiliter legit et expressit. Post quorum laborem, cum ad rhetoricam suos provehere vellet, id sibi suspectum erat, quod sine locutionum modis, qui in poetis discendi sunt, ad oratoriam artem ante perveniri non queat Poetas igitur
adhibuit, quibus assuescendos- arbitrabatur.
Legit itaque ac
docuit
Maronem
et
Lucanum
etiam
II faut done reconnaltre I'arabe? que Gerbert n'a visits ni Seville ni Cordoue, que ses maitres ^taient Chretiens, que les auteurs places entre ses mams ^taient ceux que I'on
'
see
fitudiaitenFrance avantlesguerres ciTiles.entreautreslerh^teurViotorinus, Martiauus Capella, et surtout Bo6ce, dont Cassiodore fait un si pompeux C est chez lui qu'il puisa oes ^loge. notions Boientifiques tant admir^es par si6ole, qui lui donna les titres le flatteurs de philosophe de sayant, de nouveau Bo6oe.' Olleris, Vie de
observation had not Hock in his Histoire du Pape Sylvester 11, traduite par M. I'AhU J. M. Axinger, supposed a totaUy different person to be designated
2 M. OUeris con-ectly obserTes, Eioher se trompe quand il les prend pour une traduction 3 Rieheri (E.) HUtonamm Quatuor Libn, Lib. ui c. 46 & 47. Beims, 1855
'
'
XP
Gerbert, p. 21.
EECUERENCE OF THE OLD PANIC.
Pope Gerbert ^
be regarded as a
lived to see the
.
45
of the
fairly
DUCTIO.V.
'
commencement
.
may
intro-
gloomy
which
thedose'c)"'
nium.
which occupied our attention in the earlier part of our enquiry. The Millennium was drawing to its close and the monks, as they turnad with trembling hand the mystic page
;
.
things must
now be looked
The land was
for.
Panic
christian
the pursuits of
;
the churches
were thronged by terrified suppliants seeking to avert the Divine wrath. The paroxysm subsided indeed as the
_
use
to wiiicii
seasons revolved with their accustomed regulai-ity, but the impression ^ *^/ was conclergy skilfully converted the predominant feeling into chan- ^|^ ^y "
nels that well subserved the interests of the Church.
The Mundi
Intonante jam per universum appropinquante termino, glohum evangelica tuba, attests the widespread character and the reality of the conviction and from this time we
;
may
date the
commencement
of that
great architectural
movement which subsequently reared in the proudest cities of Europe the monuments of Christian art and of Christian
self-devotion.
In no subsequent age do we find this belief, though ever tiio anticipaendoftiio and anon recurrent, operating with an equal power. The world ceases r o theoiy has been revived by the student of prophecy and peri"a''{^ by the charlatan, but it has never since so far attracted maSel*''' popular attention as to paralyse the activities of a nation and to divert multitudes from the ordinary avocations of life.
'
XI
these that
we
realise
how
closely the
avowed
when we
and
46
iNTEo- of the ^ peasant, DUCTION.
FINIS MUNDI.
we begin
in
its
how
J.
importmce
of this bGlief
-was born.
We
fnt"edir"''^'id
meter of the
directed as
begin to discern how all o it was by those who upheld and inculcated
necessarily have reflected its influence
;
education, conceived
I'll
^]^jg belief,
must
and
conceding, as we well may, that in no other period in the known history of our race have events more emphatically seemed to favour the construction thus placed upon them,
we may
times.
it
something
of those
narrow culture
And
further, if
we add
recollection
how
that
difficulties
may
was regarded by the majority, and the under which it was studied and transmitted, it perhaps occur to us that the censure and the sarcasm
literature
to something
might well give place and gratitude towards the heroic few who tended the lamp amid the darkness and the
so often directed against these ages,
more
of reverence
storm'.
Berengar,
I. 1000,
d.1088.
The eleventh century saw the revival of the controversy which Paschasius had initiated. In contravention of the extreme theory which he had supported, Berengar, an
"^
"^
archdeacon of Tours and head of the great school founded by Charlemagne which still adorned that city, maintained the entirely opposed view which regarded the Lord's Supper
1 It is somewhat remarkable that so weU-informed a writer as Mr Lecky, in his ahle sketch of the belief of these centuries (see Hist, of Rationalism, Vol. i) should have left this theory almost altogether tmnoticed. M. Digot, Recherches sur
hommes, animus d'vme ardeur inacooutumde, sembl6rent apprdcier davantage le bienfait de I'existenee.
les
Ecoles Episcopales et Monast. de la province de Treves, has indeed inclined to the opinion that its influles
toutes parts les ^ooles sortirent on leur long assonpissement se mit a recoustruire les ^glises et ^^^ monasteres en ruine, enfin les lettres et les arts prirent subitement
De
de
un
ence has been exaggerated, but Lfiou Maitre quotes satisfactory evidence to show that the reconstruction of the ruined churches and monasteries in France was not attempted until after the year 1000; of the change that then took place he thus writes: 'Lorsque I'heure qui devait
before
prevalent
l
'
Personne
ne
songeait
s'instruire.
quoi bon
dans
cultiver son esprit ? Pourquoi transcrire des livres qui allaient perilla conflagration imiverseUe ?'
BERENGAR OF TOURS.
as purely emblematical.
47
This interpretation was as old as introDtJCTIOV r^' Clemens and Origen, but the principle which Berengar concurrently asserted startled and aroused the Church. While ^^StT *'"' *'""*"" familiar with the writings of the Fathers, for he was one of the most learned men of his time, he refused implicit deference to their authority, and declared that in the search for truth reason must be the guide. The sacred writings themselves attested, he urged, that the highest of all truth had been inculcated by the Divine Master in a form that recognised this fundamental law. Such was the commencement of a fresh controversy which, though familiar to modern ears, seemed strange and portentous to the eleventh century. Lanfranc, The position which Berengar was led finally to assume a. io89. aroused a host of antagonists. Foremost among them was Lanfranc, the archbishop of Canterbury, an ecclesiastic who having once contemplated the profession of the jurist, and studied the civil law at Bologna, had afterwards taken upon himself the religious life and uncompromisingly espoused its most rigid interpretation. From the vantage ground of
1 right
*-*
^'11 faith, he
latter.
The
n*
'
not exhaust
!/
itself
eiiorts
mysteries above
human
'God
forbid,'
human
holy Fathers.'
Ne
quam
veritate sancto-
technical sense,
we
are
reminded of that prevalent conception of proof, as essentially a dialectical achievement in compliance with certain rules, which perhaps more than anything else fettered the spirit of
enquiry in this age.
'
De Sacra
Gcena,
c. 7.
The reply
of Berengar in the long lost treatise discovered by Lessing is worthy of note: 'Maximi plane cordis est,
per omnia ad dialecticam confugere, quia confugere ad earn ad rationem est confugere, quo qui non confugit,
ed. Visoher,
48
D^oCTioN.
V
^^^'^^
*^ ^^^^ when Cameades and the disciples of the Later Academy proposed no longer to aspire to the possession of
cerSof
" Positive or absolute truth, but to rest contented in the hope It was one of the producedV that they had attained to the probable. sive attention effects, and Undoubtedly a very pernicious effect, of the
Logic.
men
of this
time were beginning to imagine that neither knowledge nor faith was of any assured value or certainty unless reducible to formal logical demonstration not merely that conformity
;
was deemed
syllogism
is
all belief
be susceptible of proof in a
like a
concatenated propositions
theorem in geometry.
It
compliance with the fashion of his time that Berengar thus moulded the form of his first treatise, and incurred the
ridicule of Lanfranc for his pedantry.
In method he
fol-
had
inherited.
which Lanfranc sought to defend the oppono advance upon the conventional treatment; and the whole tenor of his argument reveals rather the ecclesiastic alarmed for the authority of his order than the dispassionate enquirer after truth. It must, howSerisucrof s'^er, be admitted that the general tone of Berengar's treatise Berengar. ^^g ill-calculated to disarm hostility. If his mental characteristics may be inferred from thence, we should conclude that he was one in whom the purely logical faculty overwhelmed and silenced his emotional nature; one unable to comprehend that union of faith and reason which commends
spirit in
site interpretation indicates
'
The
itself to
its
those in
whom
power.'
The mind
some exteBt
resembled that of the archdeacon. Then came the inevitable The one sternly asserting the claims of authority; collision. the other contemptuously demonstrating the rigid conclusions
of logic.
At
first it
an easy triumph.
the
summons
seemed that the former would secure Berengar, to save his life, capitulated at of the second Lateran Council, and formally
;
he had revoked
OEIGIN OF THE SCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHY.
kis recantation,
49
intuo^<
opponents.
The
decisions
his tenets.
of
three
successive
Councils
vainly denounced
of Hildebrand,
arm
full
possession of his
Anselm.
Anseim.
d.
But before Anselm succeeded to the see of Canterbury, another controversy had arisen, which unmistakably attested how the chord somewhat roughly touched by Berengar had
found response in the growing thoughtfulness of the time.
Speculations once confined to solitary thinkers were
m.
now
beginning to be heard in the schools and to be discussed in the cloister. It was at the request of his fellow monks, as
Anselm himself
tells
enquiries wherein
we
But
it is
rather
appear to
mark the
true
commencement
and
here, before
it
we become
'
PrtBfatio
'
ad Monologion.
at first singular
It
may appear
that the thought which suggested itself to the mind of a monk at Bee should still be the problem of metaphysical theology; and theology must,
when'followed out, become metaphysical; metaphysics must become iiieoThis same thought seems, logical. with no knowledge of its medisBvalori-
have forced itself on Descartes, was reasserted by Leibnitz, if not rejeeted was ihought insufficient by Kant, revived in another form by Schelling and Hegel; latterly has been discussed with singular fulness and ingenuity hy M. de B^musat. Yet will it less surprise the more
gin, to
Tiuman thought;; how it cannot "but encounter this same question, which in .another form dimded in either avowed or imconsciouB antagonism, FUto and Aristotle, Anselm and his opponents, (for opponents he had of no conuuon subtlety), Leibnitz and Locke which Kant failed tojreconoilei; which his followers have perhaps bewildered by a new and intricate phraseology more than elucidated; which modem eclecticism harmonises
;
profoundly reflective, who cannot but perceive how soon and how inevitably the mind arrives at the verge Of
rather in seeming than in reaUty; the question of questions; our primary, elemental, it may be innate or instinotive, or acquired and traditional, idea, conception, notion, conviction of God, of the Immaterial, the Eternal, the Infinite.' MUman, HiiULaU
Christianity, Bk. viii
c. 5.
50
DUCTioN
origin ofthe'
Imioa^'ophy.
'
called
same
literature,
though
is
it
may
appear,
is
by Cousin in any contemptuous but it has been insisted on by a later writer in spirit another tone, and apparently under considerable misapprecertainly not conceived
;
its real
may
ascertain, in
what sense
influences
which so long
controlled
source.
passage from
The passago o
J.
in Porphyry, f j j>
which
is
torphyry.
passiug glauce at a question familiar to his age but not admitting of discussion in an introduction to a treatise on
and grammar, is to the following effect. Having premised that he must equally avoid questions of grave importance and those of a trifling character, he goes on to 'Thus, with respect to genera and species, whether say:
logic
The
roM a
sur cette phrase et antour d'elle que va peu a pen se reformer tme philoSophie nouvelle. Les commencements de cette philosophic seront bien
faibles,
il
monde
ancieu ddtruit, la philosophie anoieune cnBevehe avec la civilisation dont eUe faisait partxe, et la longue et
briUante pol^mique qui avait fait la vie meme de cette philosophie, r^dmte a la phrase de Porphyre dans la traduction latine de Boeoe. C'est
profonde barbaric du temps; mais une fois nfie, la puissance de IMtemal probleme la d^veloppera et lui ouvrira une carridre immense.'
la,
de
BOETHIUS ON PORPHYRY.
51
only as mere
to have
exist
intro'
a substantial existence, they are material or immaterial, and again whether they exist independently of sensible objects or in them and as part of them, I shall refrain from enquiring. For this is a question of the greatest profundity and demanding lengthened investigation^.' It is to be noted that of this passage two translations were familiar to the scholars of the Middle Ages the first that in the translation of Porphyry by Victorinus, to which Boethius appended a commentary in the form of a dialogue the second that in SoXtcTthe the translation made by Boethius himself and accompanied too^hluf by a second and fuller commentary, also from his pen. In h SSii^ the interval between the composition of these two commenr
taries it is evident, as
In the first he insists upon an ultra-Realistic interpretation, and would seem to have misapprehended Porphyry's meaning in the second, he inclines to a Nominalistic view, and pronounces that genus and species have no objective existence ^ Our concern however is with two important facts which appear beyond dispute: first, that the passage in Porphyry was known to the Middle Ages through the medium of two translations; secondly, that in both his commentaries Boethius recognises the question inchange.
;
volved as one of primai-y importance'. Of this the following ^ Hsee se igitur Porphyrins passages are conclusive evidence
, . .
.
cntidsmef
Boethius in
JJIn'J^^'on
t'on'ofvlc-
'
Non enim
in-
*'^-
ad quEe nobis
*
Sen^at
Dean
Boe-
KirUa
irepl yeviSv
re KoX elSSv, ri
fiivais
lard, pp.
Mansel
is
^iXois iwimlats Keirai, ehe xal v^ecrrriKdra (rd/MTd iariv ij iffci/MiTa, Kal
^"^^ alffBrjrdis irorepov x^P'"''''^ V Kal irepl ravra icpeaTiSra irapaiT'/iffoiuu
'Kiyeiv paevTa.Tijs oSaris rrjs toioutiji Trpayfrnrelas, Kal d'XXijs liel^ovoi Seo/iivijs
fferdo-ews.
Cousin,
Fragments
PhilosopMAb4-
thins in his second commentary is to be regarded as a conceptualist, see Artis Logicce Rudimenta, Appendix, p. 160. ' Cousin's remark that Boethius n'avait pas I'air d'y attacher xiiie grande importance, appears to be in no way warranted by the text oi Boethius himself.
42
52
igitur introductionis
modum
ut ingredientium viam ad obscurissimas reram caligines aliquo quasi doctrinse suae lumine temperaret. Dicit enim
apud antiques alta et magnifica quwstione disserta, quse ipse nunc parce breviterque composuit. Quid autem de his a
priscis philosophise tractatoribus
dissertum
sit,
breviter ipse
tangit et prseterit.
:
Quid illud, inquit, est 1 Et Turn Fabius ego Hoc, inquam, quod ait se omnino prsetermittere genera ipsa et species, utrum vere subsistant, an intellectu solo et mente teneantur, an corporalia ista sint an incorporalia et
:
De
his sese
autem
tan-
unumquodque
The
foregoing passage
:
is
from the
first
Dialogue on the
translation
by Victorinus the following are from the ComSunt autem mentary by Boethius on his own translation
:
'
reticere
promittit
et
perutiles;
et
viris
nee a pluribus
dissolutse
Criticism of
".'
Boethius in
his his
Com-
mentary on
alio
modo
own
version.
insensibilibus.
Intelliguntur
csBteraque non
universalia,
atque
prseter
subsistere
Aristoteles vero
intelligi
insensibilibus putat,
quorum
enim
dijudicare
sententias
aptum
esse
non
duxi.
Altioris
quorum Aristotelis auctor est'.' The view taken by Boethius of that which he thus
est,
Porphyrium a
ed. Basil, p. 54. 8 Ibid. p. 56.
se
Translatum, Lib.
BOETHIUS ON PORPHYRY.
is
53
clearly analysed
intro^'
and
regarded as possessing an independent though not in another; (2) that they are themselves incorporeal but exist only in corporeal objects of sense; (3) that though they have no real existence save in the individual and sensible object, they may be conceived, apart from the sensible and particular, as incorporeal and selfspecies
existence,
may be
and
the
is
work of
Aristotle himself
it is
From
to
this
statement, which
if
scrupulously accurate,
first
evident that
commentary would seem favour without reservation and wiUi. but little judgement
Boethius in his
;
upon the question of Universals that can be called his own, but solely in his capacity as translator and commentator on Aristotle, he adopts the Peripatetic theory, enunciates it
follows' it
devoting but a single line to the theory of Plato; and it was thus that, of the two great schools which had divided
antiquity, one only, that of Aristotle, was to any extent known, offering indeed with respect to the problem of Porphyry a doctrine not altogether satisfactory, but at least clear and well defined. Add to this that the Introduction by Porphyry and the two works of Aristotle translated by Boethius, are works on logic and grammar that these only were studied and commented on,. and this always in conformity
;
54
and
it is
study there could scarcely result anything but tendencies and intellectual habits entirely opposed to realism '.'
It will
scarcely be
main
featu!res of
known author
TTie gloss of
Maurus
shews that thecontroversy re-
attributed bv -^
classicus, as
him
to
Boethius,
locus
tFmvSfais
he has inferred,
the controversy,
th'entauf
cen ury.
hut
is
which Rabanus wrote to permit him by nothing more than a passing allusion^
Rabanus was a pupil of Alcuin at Tours and afterwards himself head of the school founded by Charlemagne at Fulda,
this gloss
may
those schools.
However
this
may be,
it is
sufficiently certain
it was to a certain extent familiar to the students of the ninth and tenth centuries, and that when
three
gues,
points: (1) in ascribing to Boetliius the foregoing passage, -which as Cousin expressly states is part of the gloss of Rabanus Maurus ; (2) in applying the comments of Cousin on the translation of Porphyry by Boethius in the sixth century, to the gloss of Eabanus Maurus in the ninth; (3) in leaTing it to be inferred that the above fragment of this gloss
-was the sole surviving passage -wheieia
valet
nem.^
the question of Universals was adverted to by Boethius. So erroneous a representation of the history of what Mr Lewes himself terms the 'Great Dispute' of these times. attests a very hasty consultation ot
his authority.
'
EOSCELLINUS.
5o
d'^ltion.
"
urge his philosophic arguments in contravention of the doctrine of the Trinity, he did little more, as regards the arena
of metaphysics, than add fresh fuel to a controversy already
frequently debated'.
But though
it is
it
nosceiimus.
with a
gi-eatly increased
importance by the new element he introduced. Hitherto the existence of Universals had probably been regarded as
more than an abstract question, and indistinguishable many numerous discussions that exercised the ingenuity of the dialectician. The new starting point associated with the name of Roscellinus, is that marked by the application, which he was the first to make, of the conclusions of the prevailing Nominalism to that great theolittle
his appucacontroversy
respecting
J^"'^J?.
xiMtyl**
logical doctrine
which one writer has ventured to characterise as the 'foundation of all the metaphysical thought and speculation of the ages after Gregory the Great,' the doctrine The seeming relevancy of his opinion to of the Trinity. If indeed it this doctrine scarcely requires to be indicated.
were possible to show that essences or qualities, over and had a separate entity, that this entity again was something apart from the concept in the mind, equally distinct from the sentient subject and the it might seem to many to follow that the sensible object, great mystery of a Triune Godhead, the Three in One, the One in Three, was in some degree brought nearer to human apprehension ". To such a conclusion however the Nomi-
'
En
taire [that of jiahaniis) on s'aperijoit que ce doute n'est pas particulier a I'auteur ; on apprend qu'il avait d6]si deux partis sur- cette question et conune deUx ecoles constitutes, et que I'une de ces Ecoles pr^tendait que Porphyre ne considdre dans cette Introduction le genre, l'esp6ce, la difi&ence, le propre, I'aocident, qa'abstractivement et comme des noms...
p4Hpat4ticienne rSpandue par Boece prSvalait ggneralement, mais quHl y avait pourtant a cotS de celle-la tine solution diffirente, qui, sans etre atissi accrdit(e, avait aussi scs partisans.'
FragirtentsPhilosophiqiies,Abilard,^. 106 and 119. For an exhaustive examination of the relation of Boethius to the whole controversy see B^musat,
Abglard, ii 37 64. " Such, at least, was certainly the view of Ariselm Qui enim nonditm intelligit quomodo plures homines in
: '
56
DDCTioN
"v-^
to Tritheism, offered
D^lism of Roscellinus which appeared inevitably to lead up an insuperable barrier, and hence the
origin of that great controversyi commencing between this philosopher and Anselm, which so long divided the learning and the intellect of these times. Into the details of this
long dispute
it is'
centuries
not within our province to enter'. For it formed the rallying point of
unwersalia cmte rem, and urdversalia in re. John of Salisbury, writing about the year 1152, relates how when he
returned to Oxford after his residence at Paris, whither he
had gone to study the canon law, he found the wordy warfare
raging with undiminished vigour.
The
science of sciences, as
likely altogether to
called
it,
seemed
The enthusiasm
puzzling to his cool, practical, English mind, and from him' expressions of unqualified contempt, the
'They bring foiith,' he saidi 'some new opinion concerning S'^^^ ^^^ species,, that had escaped Boethius, and of which Elato was ignorant, but whichthey by wonderful good fortune have extracted from, the mine of Aristotle; They are prepaiied to solve the old question; in working at which the worldi has grown old, and more time has been expended than the Caesars employed in winning and governing the universe, more money spent than' Crossus ever possessed. Long has this question exercised numbers throughout their whole lives;
this single discovery has-been the- sole object of their search;
to arrive at any result was that their curiosity was unsatisfied with that which alone could be discovered. For as in the shadow of any body the- substance of solidity is vainly
failed
The reason
I suppose
personcs, quarum singula qtiaque est perfectus Deus, sint Deus unmr De Fide Trinitatis sive Incamatione Verbi, contra blasphemia^ VerU, quoted by Cousin. > For an impartial account of the
modo plures
Seiw
lastique ; Hampden's Bamptcm Leetures, Lect.. ii; and,, for the im-
portant question of the relation of the Categories and the Isagoge of Porphyry to tha controversy, Dean Hansel's Artis Logicce. Budimenta^ Appendix, Note A,
JOHN
sought
for,
01"
SALISBURY.
57
J^J^'J^j;,
"
so in those things that belbng, to the intellect, as universais but cannot exist as
more
solid,
existence cannot be
is
To wear out a
life
;
to
fr these are
It is- an oft repeated reminder to which, he gives utterance: in. his. writings, that the dialectic art however admirable is- not the sura and end
of
human acqui^ement^
To
by Bernard of Chartres at the close of the eleventh q",*'*"' century offers an agreeable contrast. Grammar and rhetoric appear to have there been taught after a far less mechanical onnSmc"'' fashion an attention to correct Latinity was inculcated, and "'"' Cicero and. Qjaintilian were studied as models. The Roman poets were not neglected, and the whole system of instruction elicited the commendation of the writer above quoted. It is to be observed indeed, that Lanfranc, Anselm, John of compnrauvo
sided over
;
Cambrensis wrote
far
than is subsequently to be found among those whose taste was completely corrupted by the barbarous versions of Aristotle
that were studied by the later Schoolmen^
In.
it
in
which
William, of
Among,
school of logic at Paris. raamaui. his pupils was.Abelard,,and a few years later we see Abeiard.
sola.
' It
Champeaux opened a
^ Policrativui, Bk.. vii o; 12. His description, of the different! parties also deserves (luot'ation: -'Sunt qui,.
jnnctarum virtUtB
may
numerous
bury
of
quently second-hand. His knowledge Greek was scanty ; he had read with a learned Greek parts of the Organon and of the Tbpica, but 'he nowhere professes- to have read [for himself] a Greek book; we find in him no citation from a Greek author, not known to him. through the medium of Latin.' 0. Schaarsohmidt,
Johannes Saresberiensis nach Leben und Studien, Schriften und Philomphie, (Leipzig, 1862) 113. (Quoted by Eev. J. E. B. Mayor, Pref. to Bichard of Cirencester (Bolls Series),.
p. cxvii).
58
ABELARD.
vain, impetuous youth challenging his master DTOTioN *^ handsome, ' V to argument and completely discomfiting him amid the
We
see
him
and
head among men and asserting with far acumen than Berengar, the rights of reason against authority, essaying by an eclectic theory to reconcile to the intellect the mysteries of faith, and even
more
to
lift
his
daring to question whether Dionysius the Areopagite ever It is very evident, from the crowds which
his teaching, following
efforts
hung upon
.
him
of
Progress of
of enquiry,
new
^^g moving among men which the mere traditionalist riegarded with apprehension and alarm. Throughout Europe indeed a change was to be discerned. The preceding century, ushered in amid dire apprehension, had closed in splendour. The banner of the Gross had been seen floating from the battle-
ments of the Holy City; the second Crusade, already projected, was rekindling enthusiasm. The university of Paris was attracting numerous students; the teaching of Irnerius at Bologna was diffusing a knowledge of the Roman law the poets and orators of antiquity were beginning to be studied with a genuine admiration, and a less barbarous Latinity to
;
prevail
writer
among the scholars of the age. It whom we have already quoted, a very
' '
was,' observes
critical
moment
in the history of
European
life
one in individual
for
Sentences of Peter
In both there is the danger that what was vital and energetic, however immature, in the first stage, should be exchanged for formality in the second; the equal danger that there should be a reaction against this formality, and that a stormy life should take the place of a calm one'.' Sucli Were the tendencies of the age which saw the great ^
o
theological text-book of the next three centuries, the
'
Lombard,
Sen-
'
PETER LOMBARD.
tences' of Peter Lombard, launched
.
59
'
first
of
'
a long
series of
ij^troupon the world, the DUCTION. J^ attempts to obtain for the doctrines
'
of the
Church a scientific system'.' Little is known of the author of this important volume, though archbishop of Paris in 1159, and the originality of his performance has more
than once been called in question".
however,
is
with
its
character as an
time'..
The
Church,
the Latin
Augustine,
first
authority of the
Ambrose, Hilary, and Cassiodorus, the being evidently paramount. The first
the Church concerning this
entitled
book, entitled
De
dogma, and
its
De Rerum
et
Spiritualiwm Greatione
Formatiovie, Aliis-
the theory
may be anticipated,
treats of such
that
first
formulated
by Augustine.
natione
Verbi,
The
and
De
1.
Incar-
questions as
2.
Utrum
Si
Anima
The following passage happily illustrates the older usage; ' And you, that do read Plato, as ye should, do well perceive, that these be no questions asked by Socrates, as doutes, but they be sentences, first
pression.
affirmed by Socrates, as mere trothes, and after, given forth by Socrates as right rules, most neoessarie to be marked and fitte to be followed of all of them that would have children taught as they should. ' Ascham's Scholemaster ed. by Mayor, p. 28. * The doctrine with which the names of F&elon and Paley have, from divergent views, been associated
is
here perhaps first distinctly laid iii the form of a decision from St. Augustine; virtue, says Peter Lombard, is to be followed not far its own sake but as a course that is pleasing to the Deity,
down
60
d'u
'
THE SEKTENCES.
habuerit sapientiam parem
3.
oN
'
.
^^'^^
qiice
cum Deo ;
et si
omnia
quid
scit
Deus.
Si Christus meruit
et sibi et nobis, et
sibi
et
quid
nobis^.
The
New
Law, the
final
final happiness
comprehensive outline of the work will be found in the Benedictine Histoire lAtt^raire de la France'; our main
concern,
Diaiec&iad
the work,
however,
Sentences, while
is with that new element which the apparently resting solely upon patristic
of dogmatic theology.
The
dialectics of the
of
an
effort is
made
of scholasticism'.
opinions
Of the valoe
of such
may
be entertained.
It is easy,
same process
the
air,
heresies,
flights of
1
One
fuller
and
ded the schools in the time of Petms was whether the difine nature, or
only the personality of the Son, be-
very careful one, but poor in literary execution, is to be found in the Essai sut Us Sentences de Pierre
Considerees soils U point de Vue Historuo-Dogmatique ; These pour obtenir le Grade de BacheHer en Thdologie, par Jean Bresch. Strasbourg, 1857. ^ Cousin speaks of Petrus Lombardus as distinguished ' par une
came
incarnate.
After
summing up
Lombard
the opinions of the Fathers, he coneludes that we must admit that the person of the Son has put on human nature, and that thus the divine and human natures have been united in the Son. When therefore we say that the Son has taken on him the nature of a slave, we intend not to exclude the divine nature but only the persons of the Father and the Holy Ghost.
s^v6rit(S de dialectique que vous ne trouveriez point dans les seholastiques qui lui sont ant^rieurs.' CEuvres (Bruxelles), 1 192.
THE SENTENCES.
equally unsatisfactory foundation.
IS
61
the other hand,
it
'
On
'?S ^^
more
clear
and
intelligent
faith.
com-
'No
acknowledged authority criticism of '' the work by T, , , 'can read the nrst book, we should concewe, without acquir^'"'Jf"' ing a deeper and clearer conception of principles in which he has implicitly believed, without cultivating the precious habit of distinction. And we doubt whether any student of philosophy can read large portions of that book and of the three following, without acquiring a new sense of the dignity and responsibility of the name which he has taken upon him, without confessing that the dogmatist has taught him to be more of an enquirer than he was before.' The modest language in which the compiler describes his work, as containing within a small compass the opinions of
critic of
.
many
sition.
In that endeavour however he was by no means completely successful. Like all innovations, this application of the logician's art was regarded at first with dislike and mi T'1 suspicion. The volume which was to become the theological
-*
...
111"!
.
introduction".
Gualterus, the
brevi volmnine conplicans Pasententias, appositis eorum testimoniis, ut non sit neoesse quaerenti librorum umnerositatem eyolvere.' i'ra/. aS. Sententias. _ ' ' It is a curious fact that the spiritual powers persisted in strenuously opposing the successive efforts of 'the rationalists, and at the same time gradually adopted the very, system to which they were so averse., into their own authoritative theology. They opposed, that i, both the principle the principle of the rationalists, that human reason was to be exerand the eised in matters of religion, conclusions to which the unrestrajned use of it had led. But afterwards, when the books of controversialists
1
'
had passed
trum
passionately denounced. Throughout the whole period, when the scholastic method may be said to have been growing, we meet with constant disclaimers, on the part of Church leaders, of the system itself, a constant appeal to the authority of the Scriptures and the holy Fathers agamflt the rationalistic spirit of the times. Luther himself has not more vehemently denounced the scholastic philosophy, than Bernard and other doctors anterior to the Beformation have declaimed against the importu-
62
DTOTioN
'""^'^
THE SENTENCES.
attack on Abelard, did
not spare the prelate who appeared to have learned so much from that philosopher, and denounced a method which he declared served rather to encourage doubt than to confirm the belief of the faithful'.
Nor can we
Rome
has
power.
The
influence
The Sentences
of Peter
the Sentences
designed by
and the anticipations of his opponents. The appeal once made from authority to reason, from implicit faith to logical satisfaction, the old method of treatment could not be restored the standard of the philosopher had been planted
;
The
opposition evoked,
for
men
as
com-
mentators.
commentaries of Peter Lombard. To this task two of the massivo folios of Thomas Aquinas, in the edition pubhshed ^ t i the great edition of at Venice in 1593, are devoted and
,.
m
*
Duns
same
Scotus,
by Luke Wadding, no
less
than six
folio
nateness of the speculations of their times.' Hampden's Scholastic FhilO' sophy, Lect i. 1 The gravamen of the attack made by Gualterus was qitod qua sua esset
sententia,
Univ. Paris,
ii
nunquam fere
aperiret; sed
omni qumstione proponeret opinionem ; quarum prima eorum erat qui nee Saretici nee Catholici vere did poterant. 2. Eorum qui manifeste Oatholici erant, 3. Denique eorum qui absque ullo dubio censendi erant hmretici. Omnes vera
triplicem vulgo de
qu'aprfes les
Sentences
jamais les
authoritatihm sacrm Scriptures et sanctorum Patrum, rationibus quoque et argumentis dialecticis confirmabat, non determinam quee vera essent et tenenda, aiens nolle se ut lectori sua
Scolastiques n'etudiferent avec plus d'ardeur la philosophie p^enne et n'en usSrent plus dans les matiSres de religion que depuis que Lombard en eu montrfi les dangers. Jamais I'^tude des PSres ne fut plus n^gKg^e
ST.
ANSELM.
inferior
63
in their zeal as ductFon.
The Church,
^^^
he had rendered, long celebrated the memory of Peter Lombard by an annual commemoration in his honour, and even in Protestant communions, those who could so far
divest themselves of the prejudices of association as to realise
to their merit.
Round the
the
grew
network of dialectics, where the flower often lost its perfume and the fruit perished. It was well for the faith of those ages that, before the prevailing method had driven life, warmth, and sensibility from out the pale of belief, a thinker st Anseim. of a different school from that of Peter Lombard arose to * no*transmit a loftier tradition. It may be doubted whether even the Sentences more strongly affected the habits of hu influence Tii*^** tlieoloreligious thought for the next three centuries than did the ^^ Whatever of emotion trembles on writings of St. Anseim.
1
* 1
the
or Gerson,
its
dialecticians
lips of
Bonaventura, Lincolniensis,
still
of theological speculation
flung
its inspiration,
And
repudiating the shackles which the new logic was casting around enquiries which he regarded as the highest activity
which man could aspire. His argumentation, for the most part, is equally removed from the puerilities of the schools and from the inconclusive rhapsodies of the mystic. In his writings the spirit of St. Augustine lives again, and it was indeed, in all probability, chiefly through the influence
to
Father retained its hold upon the western Church. The Credo ut inteUigam became the key-note to all that was most noble in the belief of the Middle Ages and modern speculation, wearying of the endless search for mental assur;
64
ST.
ANSELM.
Our
retrospect has
have endeavoured to traoe out the chief elements and tendencies in the .thought and culture that preceded that eventful age, and more especially to bring out in their true importance and relations questions with
the thirteenth century.
respect to which, as
it
We
th,e
interpretations
:
and
he field is new, and known, we may yet hope that we have succeeded in indicating the more important materials for a more lengthened investigation.
value of our enquiry for those
its
-to
whom
whom
it is
1 ' La nouveautg de cette thfologie Tient de ce qu'elle est une application au dogme, non de la logique,
m^taphysiqne; non de la dialectique d'Aristote, mais de la dialectique de Platon. G'est done tout ensemble exag^rer et mSconnattre le r61e d'Anselme que de I'appeler un des createurs de la scolastique. II fandralt au moins faire une distiuction que les critiques omettent trop
mais de
la
certainement sa place marqu^e dans la philosophie proprement dite et poux la seconde, il est venn
qu'il ait
;
au moment ou
elle se formait.
H n'a
pas 4t4 sans influence sur sa formation, mais il n'en a pas pr&isfiment d^termin^ le caractSre. n ne tendait pas a la faixe scolastique, mais philosophique. II voulait fonder la philosophie du dogme.' E^musat, St Anselm de Cantorbry, p. 478.
CHAPTEK
I.
i.
and the mental characteristics of the preceding centuries must rest. Of both the darkness and the dawn which belong to this era it seems fittest to speak in less general and unThe qualified language than has often been employed. darkness, great as it undoubtedly was, had still its illuminathe dawn was far from steady and continuous, but tion
;
We have
seen
how
was able to attain, and how limited was the circle which what survived of that literature was known how, amid the fierce shocks and dark calamities that prevailed, the conceptions of the theologian were narrowed and overshadowed bv one dread conviction how, as some sense of Recapituiation of security returned, and the barbarian acknowledged a stronger J^,'^''*'"^""'^ arm, learning again took heart, and minds began once more how scepticism, to enquire, to speculate, and to theorise with weapons snatched from the armoury of paganism, assailed the doctrines of the Church how the study of law
times,
to
;
;
'
.
how
the political
Rome
Europe a code
>
66
CHAP.
I.
spirit
of
authority
was yet
siiy^fcambndge.
English universities pass from the region of mere tradition Fable indeed long beguiled the ears of to that of history.
^^^ forefathers with the story of the ancient renown of
bridge,
Cam-
and within comparatively recent times an historian of repute could unsuspectingly retail from Peter of Blois, as an author of undoubted credit ^,' the details of the earliest
'
royal founder, of
divinity^,
The account by Peter of
^eneralwiscarded.
but have also pronounced Ingulphus and his continuator alike undeserving of credit^. We are accordinglv = '
. .
Compelled to abandon, as an imaginary scene, the not unpleasing picture which represents the
twelfth century, in
enthusiastic auQuintilian.
Our
and Cambridge continues to be singularly scanty and fragmentary up to the college era; conjecture must, on many points, supply the place of facts and it is only by a careful
; '
iii
438.
in Ms History of the TJnivenity of Cambridge, p. 7, gives without any apparent doubt, a letter from Alcuin to the Scholars of Cambridge, exhorting them to diligence in their See also Lydgate's verses studies on the Foundation of the University,
2 Carter,
!
Appendix (a). s Hallam, in the later editions of his Middle Ages, (see eleventh edit. Ill 421) retracted the credence he
before given to these accounts. Sir Francis Palgrave inclined to the belief that the Chronicle of Ingnlphus was not of older date than the 13th or first half of the fourteenth century, and that it must be considered ' as little better than a moukishinvention, a mere historical novel;' Mr Wright regards the continuation attributed to Peter of Blois as equally spurious.
had
NOEMAN INFLUENCES
IN ENGLAND.
67
study of the circumstantial evidence that we are enabled to chap. i. arrive at a sufficiently probable induction. The character of Norman inthe induction admits of being very concisely stated. It is a * "' c<mfact familiar to the student of our eaily history that before
the
Norman
'
victory
on the
Macaulay,
English princes received their education in Normandy. English sees and English estates were bestowed on Normans, The French of Normandy was familiarly spoken
The court of Rouen seems to have been to the court of Edward the Confessor what the coiirt of Versailles long afterwards was to the court of Charles the Second*.' To such an extent did this state of things prevail, that at one junctm^e it even seemed probable that the spread of Norman influences would culminate in a peaceful establishment of Norman dominion '. Such a sequel was Normm only prevented by a great national reaction and the ques- fotofconin the palace of Westminster.
;
But when
it
still
'"'"
further
To
of every
Saxon
longer drew
university
which now
European thought, became the school whither every Englishman, who aimed at a character for learnThe examples there studied and the ing, perforce resorted. leamins there acquired were reproduced at home. Tlie con- The uniTersitvofParis - T. 11 stitution of the university of Paris formed the model on ^,^' which that of Oxford and that of Cambridge were formed oSSd^
and direction
...
1.
the course of study, the collegiate system, even the regulations of the Sorbonne, were imitated with scrupulous fidelity.
It was not until two centuries after the Conquest that Englishmen could acknowledge these obligations without
*
i*
'
12.
Conqufsl,
515.
52
68
humiliation,
UNIVEESITY OF PARIS.
and could
whom
Paris
when we endeavour
between these universities and the continent, the comparatively ample data which we possess concerning Paris
links
loss,
and, in the
fall
It will consequently be needless presumptive evidence. further to explain why, in the present chapter, we stop to
examine the
constitution,
early fortunes,
and
intellectual
own
country.
An
enquiry, which
is
and Monastic
schools?
we
Aug^tus has been indicated with fond when the Church performed her fitting
function, &shioning
the whole conception of education, and watching with maternal care over each detail of instruction '.
1 ParrenuB au regne de PhilippeAngnste, nons tonchons l la fin de Texistence gloriense des ^coles ^piscopales et monastiqnes et t Tav^nement d'un nouvel ordre des choses. Tons semble des lore conspirer centre redacation clanstrale, ponr en acLes prflats habic^I^rer la mine. tues jl la vie tmnultuease depuis les se laissent absorber par croisades, les prfeccupations temporelles, et brigaent llionneor d'entrer dans les conseils des princes on de devenir lenx ministres d'Etat. Les moines s'engonrdissent dans la reMcbement et roisivete qu'amfene tonjours apres
'
Without entering
elle une trop grande opulence, et se trouvent sans force pour lutter centre les nouTeanx ordres reUgienx qui se sent empar^s des chaires de I'enseignement. II n'est pas jusqn' a la transformation qui s'opdrait alors dans la soci^t^ f^odale qui n'ait eu
ce denouement n'est pas que le zh\e des etudiants se soit refroidi, au contraire, jamais il ne fut plus ardent; mais les fils de ceux qui araient
pr^cipite.
Ce
secoue
se
la
s'eriger
jong des seigneurs pour en municlpalites franches tronrbrent mal h I'aise sous
le
discipline
du
cloitre,
et Tonlu-
69
here chap.
i.
by Theiner^ and Ldon Thlliffil^Maitre, have met with a distinct and specific denial. IftL^nSby' indeed the guidance of other investigators may be trusted, ifen Maitra the thread that connects the schools of Charlemagne with the university of Paris is to be traced in unbroken continuity. Alcuin,' says Monnier, following in the track of the com- counter representapilers of the Histoire Litter aire^ and of Mabillon, numbered ''"""f. Monnier. among his disciples Rabanus and Haymo of Halberstadt. Rabanus and Haymo of Halberstadt were both the preceptors of Lupus Servatus'; Lupus Servatus had for a pupil Eric of Auxerre*; Eric of Auxerre was the master of Remy of Auxerre', who taught in turn both at Rheims and at Paris at Rheims Remy of Auxerre numbered among his pupils Hildebald and Blidulphus, founders of the schools of Lorraine, and Sigulphus and Frodoard, who carried on the school at Rheims and prepared the way for Gerbert while at Paris he united the two branches of the Palatial school, the
to point out that the facts, as pleaded
'
'
'
Johannes Scotus, and interpreted to them the buted to Augustine and the treatise of Capella.
logic attri-
His pupil was Odo of Cluny, who rekindled the monastic zeal and Aymer, Baldwin, Gottfried, trained numerous scholars, Landric, Wulfad, Adhegrin, Hildebald, Eliziard, and, most distinguished of all, John, his biographer. These were the
Hucbald of
Lifege,
canons of St. Genevieve at Paris, and taught in the cathedral In the eleventh century Abbo of Eleury and his school.
rent respirer
villes.
des grandea combattre cea tenPhiUppe-Auguste et sea suedances, cesseurs les encouragtont enfondant des imiversit^a et en comblant cea corporationa avec privil^gea. Inoapablea de aoutemr une conovurence
I'air libre
de'
Loin
Maitre, Ecoles Episcopates, p. 170. i Hist, dei Institutions <r Education EccUsiastique, 1 181190.
aussi redoutable, lea foolea ^piaoopales et monastiquea furent rapidement d^poss^d^es du sceptre qu'ellea tenaieut avec honneur depuis quatre
mst.LitterairedelaFrance,YiS2. Loup de Ferriferea, v. pp. 1921. Herious or Erioua of Auxerre, fl. ciro. 880. Migne, cxxiv 1128. 5 Eemy of Auxerre, d. circ 908. 6 gee p. 44.
3
70
CHAP.
1.
pupils
Haymo
the
historian,
Bernai-d,
Herveus,
and Thierry, imparted vigour to the culture Drogo taught with eminent success at Paris; of their time. and all the neighbouring schools, Chartres, Tours, and Le Bee, were attracted by the learning of that city, the habitual residence of the Capetian dynasty. The fame of the controversies there carried on soon drew together a crowd of teachers and scholars. Among the pupils of Drogo was John the Deaf, and John the Deaf had Roscellinus for his pupil. Roscellinus was from the school of Ivo of Chartres, and had for his disciples Peter of Cluny, Odo of Cambray, William of Champeaux, and Abelard. The schools of Paris thus became a real federal corporation Universitas magistrorum et discipulorum, such was the university: and thus, in the times when books were rare, the precious legacy of learning was transmitted from- hand to hand across the fleeting generaOdalric, Girard,
;
tions \'
Progress versus mere
conservatism,
;
./a
to attach to this
mode
of trans-
quoted to prove that both the monastic and episcopal schools continued to exist long after the rise of the universities"; but it is obvious that if the former represented merely the
stationary
to itself
thority,
1
whatever, feared
Clerc,
I
p. 189.
302.
undeniable that
'Bnfin, on s'obstine k ignorer les prof oudsH^ravaux d'lm Benediotin, du v6n&able fondateux de notre grande Histoire litt&aire, qui attestent, sur les meilleures autoritfes, que les ^eoles des 6vques et oelles des monastferes avaient continue de fleurir aveo les nouvelles sooi^t^a d'^tudes. faut, pour n'aoouser ainsi
2
though both the Monastic and Episcopal Schools may have continued to
exist,
ration:
they had suffered woful deterioHeppe quotes authority to the effect that, in the year 1291, in the monastery of St Gail neither the abbot nor any of the monks could
write; and we have it on the statement of a Benedictine himseH that in the 13th century it was rare even in his own order to find anyone ac-
que les autres, se laisser faire illusion par la haine centre toute loi civile, centre toute education sficulibre, et
mfiine centre tout ordre religieux qui ne juge point la pi^td incompatible aveo une instruction solide et sincere, ni I'histoire avec la v^ritfe.' V. Le
quainted with grammar. See chapter entitled Die Kloster und Domschulen
des Mittelalters in Dr Heppe's Schulwesen des Mittelalters, pp. 15 25.
UNITBESITAS.
71
i.
all
the
'
the same.
comparative importance of the two agencies could not remain The former must decline in proportion as the latter increased and it needs but little penetration to dis;
suicidal
At
Boiogna,
and saiemo.
Paris,
Of these the
;
of civil law
Bologna, Paris, and was distinguished as the school the second, as that of the arts and theology;
first
It is a significant proof of
the non-relevancy of the term Universitas to the range of^^^^^f studies pursued in these ancient seats of learning, that while vnimrStas.
Paris had completed the circle of her studies long before the
commencement
sity is first
found applied to her in the year 1215, in the reign of Philip Augustus'; while Bologna, whose recognition
as a university is of at least equal antiquity, possessed
no
century.
different
The term indeed when first employed, had a meaning from that which it now conveys. In the
'
language of the
rations'
civil law,'
'
all
corpo-
were called
universitates, as
In the German jurisconsults universitas In Italy it was applied to the incorporated trades in the cities. In ecclesiastical language the term was sometimes applied to a number of churches united under the superintendence of one archdeacon.
many
individuals.
is
In a papal rescript of the year 688, it is used of the body of the canons of the church of Pisa'.' If however we agree to define a university as a corporation for. the cultivation of learning
' SaTigny, schen Rechts,
formed under
legal
o.
'
versi'ties, p. 13.
72
CHAP.
I.
UNIVERSITT OF BOLOGNA.
sanction,
we
and Bologna,
by the
a formal recog-
With the
cri^bif
growth in these bodies forms indeed one of the most remark'It would,' says Savigny, 'be ^^^ features of the age. altogether erroneous to compare the earliest universities of the middle ages with the learned foundations of our own times, established by a monarch or a corporation for the
benefit of the native population, the admission of strangers
being accorded as a favour. teacher inspired by a love of learning gathered round him a circle of learners. Other teachers followed, the circle increased, and thus by a purely
How great must have been the reputation and influence of such schools at a time when they were but few in number, and when oral instruction was nearly the only path to knowledge How great the noble pride of the professors and the enthusiasm of the scholars, when, from aJl the countries of Europe, learners flocked to spend long years in Paris and Bologna that they might share in this instruction'!'
natural process a school was founded.
!
universHy
If we look therefore rather to the spontaneous than to the formal element, Imerius may be regarded as the founder of of the uuivcrsity of Bologna, and the movement which he
initiated is seen acquiring a fresh
developement in the lectures on the Decretvm, of Gratian instituted by Eugenius in the middle of the same centuiy, until the university became
officially
it
In this charter we find provision made for the free admission of foreign students ; for their protection from legal proceedings
1 In der That tann der Anfang der Universitat deswegen nioht genau bestumnt werden, weil sie gar nicht von einer willfciihrlicheu Stiftnng ausgieng.' Savigny, c. xxi sec. 3. Mr Anstey remarks that 'in the thirteenth and fonrteenth centuries, strange as it may appear to those imacquainted with patent letters of
'
mm
the
trine,
'
c.
xxx
is not named in the Charter, but Savigny shows that reference could have been intended only to that city. Ibii. ssi 63.
'Bologna
ITS CONSTITUTION.
73
;
founded upon alleged offences or debts in other countries chap. " "while with respect to misdemeanours committed within the
precincts of the university,
shall, at
it is
t.
master under
the diocese.
whom he
is
At
first
1
In 1316, a school and in the latter half of the same century a school of theology was founded by Innocent VI.' It is to be noted that these schools were really separate universities or corporations. Savigny points out that the schools of civil and canon law were practically distinct and it has been even customary with some writers to regard them, together with the schools of arts and theology,
;
'
''
as
Under another
aU students being further distinguished as Citrcmiontani curammand Ultramontani, Italians and foreigners. Thus divided uuranumtani, they constituted the electoral body of the university; the The students oflScers being elected by the students and masters, while the the electoral
,
professors
officers.
It is
a noticeable
Professors.
most part, maintained at the public expense, and were not dependent upon the contributions of the students. At the head of the officers were the two rectors, one for each body, and representing the supreme authority. There were also
counsellors,' who represented the different two chancellors which the Citramontani and Ultramontani were nations into
; '
Rectors.
chancellors,
divided
a syndic,
who
its
otherofHcera.
The degree
.
of doctor,
.
Degree of
doctor.
university
itself,
evidently derives
mere
whom
ponrrait la comparer a una Bphfei;e dont la faculty de droit tiendrait le milieu.' Albert le Grand: VAncien Monde devant le Nouveau, 1 157.
74
CHAP.
I.
UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA.
The
doctors at Bologna,
known
as
those legentes and non-legentes SSiono? distinguished as doctores the term, and those not yet appointed by the university to teach, admitted to such a function, or who no longer exercised it
over the latter the city appears to have claimed a certain jurisdiction. The college system never attained to much
Colleges.
There were colleges, it is true. importance at Bologna. designed like our own early foundations for the assistance of poor scholars, but we have no evidence that these ever
exceeded their original design or exercised any perceptible
influence over the university at large.
features which
mencement
of the
new
era,
might seem
interest of
school at Paris.
But the
feel in
If
we
Limits of the
influence of
Bologna,
Europe by the dissemination of one particular study, the example of Bologna would appear to have exercised but little influence north of Angers and Orleans. She formed it is true the modcl on which these, and most of the other mmor universities were constituted, Toulouse, Montpellier, Grenoble, and Avignon she gave fashion to the universities of Spain and Italy; but her example obtained no further than the Danube and the Seine ^. The universities of the rest of Europe, Oxford and Cambridge in England, Prague, Vienna, Heidelberg, and Cologne in Germany, derived their formal constitution, the traditions of their education, and their modes of instruction from Paris. The influence of this university has indeed emboldened some writers to term her the Sinai of instruction,' in the Middle Ages". From the foregoing brief survey from the summits of the Appennines, we now turn therefore, to where, amid civic strife and political
'
Savigny,
o.
xxi sec.
63.
Von
Sinai of the Middle Ages' term applied by the Beuedictines to Monte Oassino.
'
'
The
was
also a
UNIVERSITY OF PABIS.
agitation, the leading
light,
75
chap.
*
i.
minds of Europe radiated forth their and the law was given from the chairs of the Dominicans.
points of resemblance between Paris
The
are few;
and Bologna
Like
pendence of the civic authorities. In the year 1200 Philip Augustus passed a law, that students or professors, charged
with any criminal offence, might be arrested by the provost,
but should be taken for trial before an ecclesiastical tribunal'.
Like Bologna,
series
too, Paris
saw
its
of entirely spontaneous
efforts.
But with
certain
were
The Univerand
boio
The teaching
contraBteu.
up round the
Tradition
Pandects
as the
germ
of the university.
spirit of
antagonism which Paris evinced towards the worldly of her Italian rival, and in her determination to guard lore her more aspiring culture from the withering influences of
civil
the
and canon
still
law,
we must
a later period,
universities',
Bulseus, Hist. Univ. Paris, ii 2, of Innocent in. in the early part of the thirteenth century,
3.
A decree
of the thirteenth century the study was prohibited by Honorius in. and Innocent iv; (3) In the latter half of
presents the earliest known instance of the application of the term Vniversitas to this body. Savigny, u. 21.
sec. 127.
'
the same century we find, by the testimony of Eoger Bacon, that it was everywhere in high favour with the
ecclesiastical authorities, (see
Gom-
Von Eaumer,
(rv 4) says
'
Diirfte
pendium Philosophic, o.
doch in Paris nur das von der Kirche ausgehende canonische, nieht aber das Civilreeht gelesen werden ; erst im Jahre 1679, ward dies Verbot aufgehoben.' The real facts appear to be as follows : (1) The Civil or Boman Law was studied, to a considerable extent at Paris, in the twelfth and the early part of the thirteenth centuries, a fact which the explicit testimony of Giraldus Cambrensis and of Eigordius places beyond doubt ; (2) In the earlier half
lengthened banishment it was again admitted into the imiversity of Paris, Savigny finds considerable difficulty in a statute of that imiversity of the year 1370, permitting students to go through their course as canonistswithout having studied the civQ law; for how, he asks, could they study the former without the aid of the latter? This difficulty however applies only to a more advanced period in the history of the two studies. It is worthy of
76
I.
UNIVERSITY OF PARIS.
still
and
versies,
and the
religious
age.
its
The
unity
whereby the whole body became participant in a vast variety Though Bologna of scientific and theological discussions. again professed chiefly the study of law, her discipline was singularly defective while Paris, though she gave no heed
;
more
little
more than secure for the student the advantage of able instructors, and a Hberty that too often degenerated into licence the latter forbade him to exercise any power in her assemblies, and required that he
authority^
The former
did
should be completely subject to the professors ^ a subjection which her statutes permitted to be enforced by that corporal punishment which became a tradition in the universities modelled upon her example. Another point of contrast is
that presented
by the
is
early developement
and importance
we
shall
what
rapidity these
I'id&l antique,
quelle
faculty
tri-
upon
AParis, j^ de /autorit^, celle qui penche ^^ "^'^ ^ C^sar et qui en r^fSre de temps en temps a I'infaillibiUte de souverains pontifes pour savoir com-
4^
ment
elle doit
propose, d6s le xni si6ole, deux types de constitution scolaire devant lesquels des lors la chr^tieute m^dite, et qui trouveut leur r^aUsation compl6te dans 1 ordre social et poUtique des deux peuples qui ont voulu cr^er Ihomme a leur image, conform^ment k 1 exemplaure des ohoses divines que les peuples portent en eux, eat peut-etre hasarde Platon, Et voyez
penser,
faculU
i
402.
2
that,
dents were admitted to vote; an inference which Savigny holds to be quite unwarranted by the facts. Geschichte des Momischen Sechts, c. xxi
sec. 30.
UNIVERSITY OF PAEIS.
77
fully chap.
r.
when
their utility
recognized.
"We have quoted the observations of Savigny on the character of the growth of the university; it remains to trace out the chief outlines of its formal devespontaneous
lopement, and here conjecture must to some extent supply the place of well-ascertained data. It would appear to be
g"''*!';'."/.'''"
arts,
or of phi-
was usually then designated, was the first instituted at Paris. It is not however to this faculty that the university owes its eminence, if indeed we are willing to admit that the university can be held to have existed at that period when the trivium and quadrivium of antiquity embraced its whole culture. Its celebrity dates from the time of Peter Lombard rather than from that of William of Champeaux^ and the audiences who gathered round the expounders of the Sentences must be regarded as the true commencement of the new era. These audiences, it must be noted, were not composed of the religious orders; and the teachers for the most part, in singular contrast to the
intentions
of the
was
only because
all
Lombard
As the audiences
it is
multiplied; and
to learning
was
to
became necessary to protect alike the learner Out of such a necessity, Conringius very plausibly conjectures, grew the licence to teach But such a formal permission could not justly be made to depend upon the vague impressions and personal prejudices
It accordingly
and the
qualified professor.
Degrees.
'.
of the electors,:
1
who
were, in
all
lard,
William
;
of
Champeaux opened
a school of logic at Paris in the year 1109 Ahelard was his pupil, and Peter Lombard was the pupil of Abe-
who thus appears to represent the connecting link between the two faculties of philosophy and theology. ' Conringius, Be Anti^uit. Acad.
78
CHAP.
I.
UNIVERSITY OF PARIS.
;
,
body and the next step the application of a definite test to the qualifications of the aspirants to the
professoriate
dignity of doctor
followed
as a necessary precaution.
Hence
The
possession of a university
degree was originally nothing else than the possession of a diploma to exercise the function of teaching a right, which, at a later period, was equally recognised as a duty. The
;
the
but
all
those
who gained
the degree
master,
to
Limitations
oeiior's
again imparting the learning they had to teach, consequent upon success in such examinations as were then instituted, was vested, so
acquircd '.
a certain period
The permission
but
that
it
was
this privilege
we may
somewhat
The'Nation3.'
whenever a new university was founded. It was not questioned that any sovereign might erect a university in his own dominions or if any difficulty were raised, but it was it was only with regard to a theological faculty the Pope alone who could make degrees vaUd beyond the limits of the university in which they were conferred ".' The division that obtained at Bologna of Citramontani and Ultramontani was represented at Paris by the division into nations.' These were four in number (1) the French
to be sought
;
: : '
and Greeks;
(2)
Cr^yier, Hist, de V University de Paris, III 181. M. Le Clero remarks, 'C'^tait une bonne institution que le novioiat des baoheliers, s'essayant pendant tiois ans au professorat sous la direction des maltres, quoiqu'il n'eat point fallu peut-Mre leur imposer quinze anndes d'gpreuves, pour arriver, en th^ologie, au grade de licenciiS. Mais cet exercice triennal
faire,
comme on
disait, leur
'
prin-
au XIV'
SiScle, i 291.
p. 21.
UNIVERSITY OF PARIS.
79
i.
the students from the north-east and from the Netherlands ; chap. (3) the Norman nation (4) the English nation*, comprising,
;
from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Germany ^ It may at first appear somewhat anomalous that the great centre of theological instruction in Europe, up to the fifteenth century, should have been distinguished rather by
by sympathy with the kings of France rather than with the popes of Rome. It does not however require much acquaintance with these centuries to be aware that the papal policy was systematically directed to the discouragement of theological controversy and speculation. At Paris the traditions of Berengar and Roscellinus were still fresh in the memories of men. Even the excellent designs of Peter Lombard appeared to have strangely failed of their avowed object, and
its
its
Early symuniversity
of Paris.
to have fanned the flames they were intended to allay. "We need not wonder, therefore, that this troublous mental activity and unceasing controversial spirit were viewed with On the other hand, disfavour and apprehension at Rome. long before the time of William of Occam, the university had evinced its sympathy with royalty and lent its aid in
the ties that Notwithstanding,' observes M. Le Clerc, bound it to the pontiff's chair, and the numbers of its clergy who had vowed allegiance to that authority, the university had never been wholly an ecclesiastical body. Though bom under the shadow of the cathedral church, it took form and grew up under the protection of the monarch rather than the tutelage of the bishop. The French kings, who had at first accorded it but dubious and precarious aid, as soon as they
'
'
Explanation
le
ciem.
own
strength to be derived
* Known after the year 1430 as the German nation. " A corresponding division into four nations was instituted at Prague, Vienna, Heidelberg and Leipzic. Nos advertentes venerabUem Universitatem Parisiensem pre aliis do'
cente experieneia legibus bene regi Universitatem nostram in quatuor nationea velut ilia distincta est licet aliter nominatas, ad instar iUius duximus dividendam.' Statute of Univ. of Vienna, Baumer, iv 16.
80
CHAP. I
"
"'
became its avowed friends, while the popes, and most ardent promoters, adopted towards it a policy of mistrust, coldness, and opposition; and the
its first
whom
it
devolved, as the
representative of the pontifical authority, to admit the licentiates of the higher faculty,
it
be weU to mark the rapid extension of the movement of which the two most conspicuous examples have already
occupied our attention,
o";"
...
The only
n^^eenth
cenhipy.
^^^ MontpcUier
the study of the
Montpeuier.
civil
but in Italy the impetus communicated by law bore fruit in every direction. In
civil discords
ment
vkenza.
Rsa,vereeni,
Ferrara,
similar migration in
1204 had already given birth to the university of Vicenza. Pisa, Vercolli, Arezzo, and Ferrara rose in the same century whde iu OUT owu countrv Oxford and Cambridge appear 3 i emerging from an obscurity which, greatly as it has exercised the imaginative faculty of some eminent antiquarians, seems
.
and circunistances
forego.
of these founda-
knowledge
Probable
will
most prudently
we
possess
i^rftiH to an origin similar to that assigned to the university of Ld ctai- Paris ; the school in connexion with the priory of St Fribridge.
'
262.
$1
of
chap.
i.
Oxford and Cambridge respectively sprang'. The scattered links which serve to mark the connexion
The chain
' ^
^
of continuity
^
Pfrst panwh was snapped asunder by the Danish invasions, and it would Invasion. i^ * ^ here be of small profit minutely to investigate the evidence *" for a tradition which can scarcely be said to hav6 existed. Learning, to use the expression of William of Malmesbury, was buried in the grave of Bede for four centuries^. The invader, carrying his ravages now up the Thames and now up the Humber, devastated the eastern regions with fire and sword. The noble libraries which Theodore and the abbats Hadrian and Benedict had founded were given to the flames'. In the year 870 the town of Cambridge was totally destroyed*.
^'''
The monasteries
not at
all
'-'
improbable,' says
The
exertions of
King Aelfred
;
libraries
and, under
TheWterivai
the auspices of St. Dunstan, the Benedictine order, renovated at its sources by the recent establishment of the Cluniac branch on the continent, was again estabhshed. During the
reign of Eadgar,
less
g^flSI-
when
f||^jj5
than forty convents of this order were founded. But once again the Danes swept over the country and the work
henceforth began its corporate existence, its true history in its only recognizable form.' Anstey's Introd. to Munimenta Acadi-mica, i xxxiv. ' Sepulta est cum eo gestorum omnis pene notitia usque ad nostra tempora.' Gesta Begum Anglorum, i
'
I ' WMle we cannot doubt that a considerable number of scholars studied at Oxford in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, yet the fact that 710 species of pecuniary support was from any source, that we know of, appointed for them, and that no royal charter or letter has ever been prodilced hitherto, though Anthony Wood speaks of their loss, of an earlier reign than that of Henry III, seems to raise a very strong suspicion that the University did not exist at aU before the Conquest, and that as soon as it became important enough to deserve and require royal recognition, it immediately obtained it, and
sec. 62.
' See Preface to Richard of Cirenoester (Rolls Series) by Rev. J. E. B.
Mayor,
*
ii
cxvi.
C3,maHist.Cantelirig. Acad.^.^j^. ^ Kemble's Saxons in England, ii 452. It is certain,' says Professor Stubbs, ' that in 942 there were no real Benedictines in England.' Introd, to EpistoUe Cantuar. p. xviii.
'
82
CHAP. L
same
visitation.
and,
when the
Subsequent
extension
of
Eadward the
uneOrto""
extended.
The
rival foundations of
Church
Rochester,
all
professed
the Benedictine
rule.
Odo, the
haughty bishop of Bayeux, refiised to recognise any but a Benedictine as a true monk. But though the monasteries once more flourished, the losses to literature were for a long time irreparable. With the second Danish invasion, authors, whom Alcuin and Aelfred had known and studied, disappear for centuries it may indeed be doubted whether the flames that at different times consumed the libraries of Rome, Alexandria, and Constantinople, inflicted a more appreciable loss upon the progress of education in western Europe. At the time of the Conquest, if we may credit the testimony of a competent though somewhat prejudiced witness, an acquaintance with grammar marked out the possessor as a prodigy *. Such, in briefest narrative, were the vicissitudes through which learning in England had passed at the time when she once more bowed before the conquering sword, and other and more humanising influences began to give fashion to her culture and her institutions..
:
Of
it
we have already spoken; was probably about twenty years before that an English ecclesiastic returning from Paris, and commiserating the low
1 " Periisse autem iam tunc per Danioaa aliasque eniptiones omnem prisoam in Anglia eruditionem, luculentus est testis GuiKelmus Mai-
non paucis ante adventum Normannorum annas. Clerici literatura tumultuaria contenti vix Sacramento-
rum verba
ialbutiehant; stupori et
mesburiensiSjConquaestorisfflToproximus. (Lib. iii.) 'Literarum,' inquit ille, 'et religionis itudia obsoleverant
miraculo erat caeteris, qui grammaticam nosset.'" Conringius, De Antiquitatibus Academicis, p. 282,
SCHOOLS OF OXFORD.
state of learning
at
83
chap.
i.
among
Oxford some acquainta,nce with Latin and a love for letters. The Sententiarum Libri Octo of Robert Pullen have been
supposed to have suggested the Sentences of Peter Lombard.
nobert
Fullcn.
Jj"^f^j;,
''''-
They
an absence of the
established
authority,
'
distinction,'
regard to Patristic
and a more generally scriptural method of interpretation. His name is brought forward by Anthony Wood to prove that Aristotle was studied at that period at Oxford'. The same writer, on the authority of Leland, informs us that Pulleyne taught daily in the Schools, and left no stone unturned whereby the British youth might flourish in the learned tongues. Which good and useful labours continuing
'
came
There appears
to
be no
why
some years a student at Paris, and it is sufficiently credible that what he had there learnt he should teach at
was
for
m'th
oFpS]
Oxford.
There
also appears to
ders)
Oxford (tradition points to the Benedictines as their founand that these were presided over by teachers from
Paris',
Mr
Anstey,
considerable attention
same
source.
'The
transition,'
he
says, 'from
mere grammar
1 Wood's conclusion rests on a 'Eobert rather narrow induction: Pulleyne who flourished an. 1146, did before that time read at Oxford
ford by King Aelfred must be classed with the other historical fictions
which the earlier pages of Wood's work are filled an infatuation which in so generally trustworthy an antiquarian is almost inexplicable, unless, indeed, we regard these pages, as some have done, as intended only for a ponderous and
with
;
elaborate joke,
62
84
CTiAP.
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE.
we
call
it,
an university,
cannot be traced
to a certainty,
is
was
effected
by a nearly wholesale
SSion
unbcrsityof
""
'^^^
'earliest
"*^'
language of Cooper, containing any recognition of Cambridge as a university, is a writ of the second year of Henry iii,
addressed to the
sheriflf
of the town,
commanding
all clerks
who had
not been
who
arrested.
If,'
observes Cooper,
is
'
(as
Our
seem
commencement of our true national history, from the time when the Norman element having become fused with the
Saxon element, and the invader driven from our
national
shores, the
its
distinctive
form.
exhibited
itself, it is
richest benefices but the from the Continent which followed on the expulsion of Prince Louis could not fail to develope in an insiilar race a more bold and independent spirit. The first half of
;
the Italian
isolation
iiSl*''
the age of Robert Grosseteste.' The cold commendation with which Hallam dismisses the memory of that eminent reformer must appear altogether inadequate
designated
'
to
period.
Greek learning, the interpreter mendicant orders, the chastiser of monastic corruption, the fearless champion of the national
of
The encourager
'
Munimenta Academica,
p. xliv.
'
Annals,
37.
85
i.
his
Probably no one,' remarks his most recent had a greater influence upon English thought _ I'lpn T-_,_.__. and English literature for the two centuries which followed his age\' Those familiar with the literature of those centimes.
'
editor, 'has
his mfluemo
as a thinker.
how
often the
name
of Lincolniensis,
orders.
accompany the growth of 1''==]^"'' r J o the tormatioa corporate bodies in wealth and influence, had followed upon MonMac*' '''^^"the aggrandisement of the Benedictines, and are attested by evidence too unanimous to be gainsaid, especially by the
The
successive institution
of subordinate
rule,
orders,
which,
whUe
Grandmont, are
rival societies,
1
attempts
stoltB
2
Series).
of Cluni,
so late as in the course of studies prescribed for the University of Tubingen by King Ferdinand, in 1525, the name of 'Linoonious' appears with those of Averroes, Avicenna, Albertus Magnus, Aquinas,
Even
about a.d. 912, gave rise to the Clunian order which was the first and principal branch of the Benedictines for ttey lived under the rule of St Benedict, and wore a black habit; but observing a different discipline were called by a different name.' See Dugdale, Monast. v iv. With
respect to the Cistercians,
we have
the minor orders, we have no satisfactory information, but those of Cluny and the Cistercians undoubtedly took their rise in the spirit The referindicated in the text. mation,' says Tanner, 'of somethings which seemed too remies in St Ee'
the testimony of Hugo, the Pope's legate, in his letter on their first iustitution, 'regulse beatissimi Benedicti quam illuo tepide ac negUgeuter in eodem monasterio tenuerant, arctius deinceps atque perfectius inliErere velle professes fu'.sse.' Hid, v
21'J.
8$
CHAP.
I.
RISE OF
perfection
was
still
monk
devotion,
;
and
as
he illumined the scroll or chanted the intercessory prayer, he held himself well absolved from the duties of a secular life.
The isolation practised by the followers of Pacomius and Antony in the fifth, widely differed however from that of the Benedictine in the thirteenth century. The former, by
shunning intercourse with their
temptations of the flesh
;
fellows,
latter,
the
guarded their privileged seclusion, found for the most part a The great Benedico/fbe Bml- solace in unmitigated sensual indulgence. dictines. ^^^^ movement in Normandy in the eleventh century, and the great Cistercian movement in England in the twelfth, had failed to effect anything more than a partial and evanescent
reform.
The
intense selfishness of a
life
with
less restraint,
and uncritical
age',
S'^cHraidus cambronsis.
In the year 1180, when a young man, he became a guest on ^^^ rotum from the Continent to London, at the famous
jnonastcry of St. Augustine at Canterbury.
He
was hospitably
' Witness appKeatiou by Giraldus Cambrensis of the comparison instituted by Jerome between the monk and the secular priest to his own Giraldus was himself an times. ecclesiastic and an aspirant to the see of St David's. ''Monachus enim tanquam unius custos, vel singularis
I,
dictus, sui solius curam agit. Cleriens vero circa multorum ouram solicitari tenetur. Est itaque monachus tanquam granum tritici solum manens; est autem clericus tanquam granum germinans, et in horrea Domini multum fruotum afferens.' To-
the indignation of his satire. When on his rounds, as Justice in Eyre for the King, he was wont when taking the oath that he would do equal justice to all, to except Jews
pographia Hibemica, Bk. in o. 30. The broad satire of the friend of Giraldus, Walter Map, points in the
same
con
of
direction.
and Cistercians, as men to whom equal justice was an abomination, His Apocalypse of bishop Golias is a fierce satire on the debauchery and sensuality of the order. Bishop Golias is represented as actuated by the fondest hope that he might die drunk in a tavern.
87
chap.
i.
were such that he thought himself among players The table at dinner was regularly laid with sixteen covers. Fish and flesh, roast and boiled, highly seasoned dishes, piquant sauces, and exquisite cookery,
and
jesters.
Though the
ale of
Kent
was of the best, it was rarely tasted where claret, mead, and mulberry wine were constantly flowing'. There is ample evidence that his is no exaggerated description, and that the monastery at Canterbury was far from exceptional in its character. A variety of causes, it would seem, had combined
to produce this laxity of discipline.
fovmmd'this
<"'i'"""^
of the Reign of
Henry
ii
war in the
was
struggle often committed atrocities for which, consciencestricken, they sought in after years to atone
by founding
or
and more powerful foundations had obtained exemption from all episcopal control and were responsible only to the Pope and his legate'.
The
influence of
undermining the popular faith, were, for a time, to some extent counteracted by two important movements. The vast impulse communicated by the Crusades to Christian Europe
had subserved a double purpose, it had rekindled the flame of religious enthusiasm, and had afibrded to the more reckless and lawless members of society the opportunity of reconcilianot, indeed, by the alienation of worldly tion to the Church, wealth, but by appealing to those very instincts wherein the love of adventure excess and criminality took their rise, and excitement*. The ultimate effects of these memorable
^ '
De Rebus a
se Oestis,
Bk.
ii e. 5.
Hist, of the Reign of King Henry II, p. 330. ' Even the garb of the monk, that last external sign of compManoe with
discipline, appears to have teen frequently laid aside for a dress of gay colours. See Pearson, Hist, of England, i 294. * God,* says the abbat Guibert,
'
88
EISE OF THE MENDICANT OEDErwS.
an enervating so extraordinary and novel a character, could scarcely prove favourable to the habits and
ii.
contemplated by Urban
Long residence
in
climate,
under conditions of
Whatever
its
it
many
baneful
influences.
only proved
it
seemed, at one time, much more likely that the converters would become converted. The Manicheistic tendencies which infected the Christianity of the fourth and fifth centuries reappeared the belief in magic and the practice of the magician's arts became widely extended; the Communistia excesses of these times have been attributed, with no small
;
probability,
to
the
indirect
influences
of
the
Crusades.
The Orders
of St. Dominic and St.
l^rancis d'Assisi.
Everywhere might be discerned the workings of a genuine, but ill-regulated enthusiasm. The austerities and doctrines of the rival sects of the Patarins, the Cathari, Bons Hommes, Josephins, Flagellants, Publicani, and Waldenses, were regarded by the orthodox with apprehension and disniay\ Scarcely however had these secondary symptoms become
manifest,
lent
new
prestige to the
faithful.
Long
before
Louis breathed his last on the coast of Africa, in that final expedition on behalf of the beleaguered Christian settlements
invented the Cnisadea as a new for the laity to atone for their sins and to merit salvation,' quoted hy Gibbon, o. 58. 1 See Professor Brewer's preface to the Monumcnta Frnnciscnim, p. xxxvii; also Mr Luard's Preface to Roberti Grosseteste Ephtolie. Mr Brewer regards the doctrines of the Albigensea, which appear to have been a form of Maniehoisin, and
'
those of the
'
Everlasting Gospel
'
as
way
same influences. The Crusades appear rather to have increased than diminished the number of those who took refuge in the'
attributable to the
whose view
of their collective and final effects is somewhat more favorable. Hist. Latin Christianity, Bk. VII c. 6.
89
t.
had roused the flagging enthusiasm of chap. * he had beheld with admiration the rise and
growth of those two great orders to whose untiring Church of Rome was so largely indebted in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Within less than ten
zeal the
St.
Francis of Assisi.
distinguished
The
sagacious glance
had
between
the
genuine
of preceding sects
humble
followers of St.
The whole
spirit in
.
Thoconception of these
m
.
,.
For
isolation
from
spirit of
evangelism
for
and the
wherever vice and misery had their abode, amid the squalor,
poverty, and suffering of the most wretched quarters of the
charivcteria-
errand of mercy.
exemplar was
St.
The
Dominicans
f/otrasted"^
enthusiastic audiences
the
'
latter,
who
professed to imitate
beloved
disciple,'
1 ' The habits of the two orders, great as were their outward resemblanoes, were essentially and radically
but he was exempt from much of the superstition to which the Fran-,
ciscan yielded. He was liable to all the diseases which assault men of spiritual aspirations, to much of the sensualism into 'which they fall, through a desire of finding outward images by which they may represent their deeper intuitions but he could, not be withheld by mere maxims and formulas from tracing the windings of a thought, or from following nature into her hiding places. Both were dangerous, each would have been terrible without the other. Together.
;
90
CHAP.
I.
and
sympathies of the poor amid the vicissitudes of that tempestuous century. The two orders extended themselves with
marvellous rapidity over Europe and yet remoter regions.
their missionaries
s-
The
Franciscans in England.
and the bleak regions of Crim says Dean Milman, 'from the 'In a few sierras of Spain to the steppes of Russia from the Tiber to the Thames, the Trent, the Baltic sea the old faith in its fullest mediaeval, imaginative, inflexible rigour, was preached in almost every town and hamlet'.' In England the Dominicans met with less success, but this was fully compensated by the rapid progress of the Franciscans. Very soon after the establishment of the latter order, they had formed a settlement at Oxford under the auspices of Grosseteste, and had erected their first rude chapel at Cambridge. Within thirty years from their first arrival in the country, they numbered considerably more than a thousand and had established convents in most of the more important towns. ' If your holiness,' says Grosseteste, writing to Gregory IX in
of
Abyssinia,
Tartary.
years,'
1238,
'
from them, for confession and and how much improvement the clergy and the regulars (clerus et religio) have obtained by imitating them, you would indeed say that they that dwelt in the shadow of death upon them hath the light shined".' Even by the existing religious orders they and their work were regarded, in the first instance, with far from unfriendly sentiments or, if jealousy were felt, it was deemed prudent
life,
;
they serred to shew forth the cotinteracting tendencies of a very memorable period. If each held down some truth, each brought some side of truth into light which its rival would have crushed. If they left
without *hioh those ages would have been very barren.' Prof. Maurice, Mediceval Philosophy, pp. 165 166.
intellectual energy,
^ 0. 9.
many
ages, they
awakened a
spiritual
and
ttolcB, p. xxii;
'
91
i.
Roger of Wend'brought
''~~'
new
much
the Lord\'
1
.
With the activity of the Dominicans is associated the instrumentalityoftho movement of this century, the introduction of Dominicans and Jews the new philosophy. The numerous foundations planted by lhe''"Niw^ '" them in the East, brought about an increased intercourse *^"'"'""
other great c>
/
tlie
between those regions and Western Europe the influence of the Crusades, as we have already seen, was tending to a like result; the barriers which, in the time of Gerbert, interposed between Mahometan and Christian thought, were broken down and, simultaneously with these changes, the
'
labours of Averroes,
spreading
at
Morocco
in-
1198, were
no preceding commentator or translator Another widely scattered body supplied the link that brought these labours home to Christendom. The Jews of Syria, and those who, under the scornfully tolerant rule of the Saracens in Spain, found refuge from the persecution and insult which confronted, them in the great cities of Christian Europe, were distinguished by their cultivation of the new philosophy, and their acquaintance with both Arabic and Latin enabled them in turn to render the works
of Aristotle such as inspired.
had
of Averroes
countries.
It
accessible
to
Romance
would seem to be a well established conclusion Aristotle that the philosophy of Aristotle was first made known to to Europe as a philosopher the West mainly through these versions. The rarity, at this ^'Sc'' period, of a knowledge of Greek, and the attractions offered ''"'"'.
by the
yet appeared that was founded upon an immediate acquaint1 'Crevit igitur in brevi hie ordo fratrum prajdiotorum, qui Minores dicuntur, per orbem universum qui in urbibus habitantes et eastelfis, deni et eepteni exierunt in diebus illis, per villas et ecclesias parochi;
verbum vitse prsedioantes, et turbis agrestibns virtutum plantaria inserentes, fructum plurimum Domiales,
92
fciiAP.
'
"^
THE NEW
ARISTOTLE'.
I.
considerable interval
number
to rival those
it will be well before we proceed with the consideration of the interpretation of Aristotle adopted by the earliest teachers of our universities, to discriminate the sources
here
m" wSttags.
more than probably two of his treatises on Logic, the Categories and the Be Interpretatione ; the remaining por^ tion of the Organon, as translated by Boethius, being first
made known
to explain
It remains
by what means the Middle Age translations from the Arabic and those from the Greek have been distinguished and identified. The theories of different scholars on this question were for a long time singularly at variance. It could not be. doubted that the source from whence those who first introduced the philosophy of Aristotle into Christian Europe but in derived their knowledge, were Latin translations directly what instances these translations had been made from the Greek, and in what instances they were derived from the labours of the Arabians, was in considerable dispute. Brucker, in his Histwy of Philosophy, put forth only a confused and unsatisfactory statement Heeren inclined to the opinion that the revival might be traced to sources
; ;
1 ' On piiisait plus volontiers k eette source qn'k I'autre, paroe que
traductions de I'h^bi-eu et de ^taient plus litt^rales, et qu'on y trouvait des explioationa que I'obscurit^ du texte rendait tr^sndcessaires.' Jourdain, Jiecherclies
les
I'arabe
Monte, abbatis S. MicJiaelis, Chronica. (quoted by Jourdain, p. 58). This however would, of course, add httle to the actual knowledge of Aristotle, ' These portions of the Organon,
that is to say, the Prior and Posterior Analytics, the Topica, and the Elenchi Sophistici became known as the Nova Logica, the Categories, and the De Interpretatione as Vetus Logica. 82. Prantl See BuliBus, observes that in Duns Scotus this
.
translation direot from the Greek is that of Jacques de Venise, 1128. Jacobus, clerious de Venitia, transtulit de grteco in
=
The
first
known
'
distinction appears to have been that by which the respective treatises were generally known. Gesehichte der
Logik,
III
206.
JOURDAINS RESEAECHES.
almost entirely independent of the Arabic translations
:
93
Buhle
it
chap.
i.
Tennemann
;
but
was
and laborious investigations at those conclusions which have, with a few qualifications, been now almost universally
accepted \
of
nia mvestiga-
compare whatever quotations presented themselves from Aristotle with the earliest Latin versions we possess he was
;
which the introduction of the Aristotelian philosophy must be referred, but also the sources to which each writer was indebted. As regarded the earlier Aristotle, the translations by Augustine and Boethius were, of course, easily
to
for,
besides the
and freedom, while the latter were characterby extreme literalness, a word for word substitution of Latin for Greek which often greatly added to the obscurity
certain elegance
ised
of the original.
translated,
Technical terms,
moreover, were
left
un-
though
the
Latin
equally
supplied
An
;
from the Greek from the versions from the Arabic for, in the latter, he frequently found that Greek words which, in the absence of an Arabic equivalent, had been retained in
the original version, were incorrectly spelt in the Latin translation sometimes too the translator in ignorance of
;
the precise
1
meaning
of
an Arabic word,
left
it
standing
Hallam's short note {Literaof Europe, i^ 69) recognising Jourdain's researches, does but scant justice to their thoroughness and abUity. Charles Jourdain, in his preface to the edition of 1843, tells
ture
Mr
his
us that long and tedious labour, on own part, over materials to which the father had not access, had been almost entirely destitute of any resuit calculated to modify the original
conclusions.
94
CHAP.
"""""
I.
untranslated.
light
many
was afforded by the divisions of the chapters in the Metaphysics, for instance, and the treatise on Meteors, the division of the Arabic version differed from that of the manuscript employed by the translator from the Greek, and
the discrepancy, of course, reappeared in the corresponding
Latin versions.
Besuus
cste-
blishedbyhis
researches,
The
-yyere,
in substance,
as
follow:
Up
to the com-
mencement
and translators appear to have been known to the Schoolmen. There were, it is true, translations of Avicenna and Alfarabi by Gondisalvi, coming into circulation about the middle of the twelfth century, but they failed to attract the attention of the learned in France and England. Daneus remarks
that the
name
of the Sentences'.
But by the year 1272, or two years Thomas Aquinas, the whole of Aristotle's
to
A further
of their appearance,
and adds
blishment of those relations of the Aristotelian philosophy with the Church which constitute so important a feature in the developement of this age.
Thenatumi
philosophy of
^Mehy'intro-
With regard
.,
ti'anslations
were derived,
it
is
in
is""""
sources.
^f^^
should be disposed to expect from the attention paid by Arabians to natural science, that we find it was chiefly
made known
Geneva, 1580.
jouedain's researches.
the earlier
95
known
The
treatise
translation
on Meteorology, were among the number; the by Michael Scot of the Be Anima must, when considered in connexion with the Arabic interpretation of
the theory of the treatise, be added to the
of Aristotle's writings.
list;
The
translations from
De
four
the
among the
scientific
treatises
were
the Parva
So soon however as the translations from the Greek became more generally obtainable, they rapidly displaced
the preceding versions.
to perceive.
superiority
Monafromthe
JJjj'
Of
aS
by James of
from the
Hermann
Michael Scot, lay under the still more serious defect of having been filtered through the medium of some half-dozen
It is an ascertained fact that the Arabic were invariably made from Hebrew or Syriac manuscripts ^ Even Averroes, who was supposed by Jourdain fco have translated Aristotle into Arabic directly from the Greek, has been shown by later investigators to have been
preceding versions.
translations
Kenan
doomed
1
'
I'll!
traverse
thought Quant k
'
of
la
Aristotle
barbarie
d' Averroes,
Ofi le
mot
mot
greo, de mSme que les pieces de rechiquier s'appliquent sur les cases.' Jourdain, Recherches Critiques, p. 19.
'
Kenan
les
says,
'Au
xii et
au
xiii
sifecle,
traductions se faisaient
toujours directement de I'arabe. Ce ne fut que beaucoup plus tard qu'on se mit k tradtiixe lea philosophes
arabes sur des versions hebraiques.' Averrois et VAverroisme, p. 203. ' ' Ibn-Roschd n'a lu Aristote que dans les anoienues versions faites du syriaquepar HoneinIbn-l8hak,Ishak ben-Honein,Iahjaben-Adi,ete.' Ibid. See also Munk, Melanges de p. 50. Philosophie Juive et Arabe, pp. 431, 432.
96
ciTAp.
I.
dune
traduction hebralque
dune commentaire
fait sur
une traduction arabe dune traduction syriaque dun texte grec; quand on songe surtout au gdnie si different des langues s^mitiques et de la langue grecque, et h I'extr^me subtilit^
du
thlfcim'rch"'
^^^ naturally
to
'ti,rn?w'
philosophy,
prepossession in favour
new
important contribution to the speculative philosophy of the age. When we remember moreover that the Arabians in
their
we have
new
learning was
first
studied, extolled
or interpreted the Aristotelian decisions with but little regard to their antagonism to the Christian faith,
we
perceive that
first
enthu-
while Seneca,
virtuous
life
if
studied, simply
the
rules
of a
standpoint;
6eo<;
Niebuhr, was a
' *
somewhat and Cicero, to use the expression of ayvcccrTO'; whose attributes were but
from a
le regaordait comme un maltre infallible en toute espece de science.'
Averroes et Averroisme, p. 52. ' La reputation dont Aristote jouissait, comme logicieu, donnait une telle extension & son antorit^
qu'on
Recherche Critiques,
etc., p. 3.
97
chap.
"""""
i.
dimly apprehended. Here however like Minerva from the head of Jupiter, had suddenly appeared an entire and symmetrical philosophy, a system the cunningly contrived fabric of which permitted not the rejection of a part without danger to the stability of the whole a theory of ethics, harmonious and admirably developed a psychology, somewhat at variance with the schoolman's notions, but coherent and
well defined
harmonious and
dialectician
treatises
;
theories
of
on nearly every
class of natural
phenomena
for the
It
to admit
and
to repudiate stores
The
is
ecclesiastic
and the
we may
well
Rome
to acknowledge that
Very
early in the
In
were condemned ^ and it was forbidden either to teach or to read the commentaries by which they were accompanied. M. Jourdain has shown
of the
scientific
treatises
and we may readUy admit the hypothesis that their condemnawas the result rather of the pantheistic interpretations of the commentators than of the opinions of Aristotle himself. It is evident indeed that however much the Crusades may
tion
have been instrumental in bringing about that intercourse which led to the introduction of the new learning, the feelings they evoked necessarily disposed the Church to
regard
all
faith.
Nor
' Launoy (see De Varia Aristotelis inSclu)lisProtestantiumPoHuna,a.l) relying on the authority of Bigordus has asserted that it was the Metaphysics that were condemned on this occasion; but Jourdain has adduced the sentence itself, wherein it
stated that they are de natiirali philosophia. Seeherches Critiques, p. 190. ' See chapter entitled Cbrnmentaires sur Ari,stote in La Phihsophie de
libri Aristotelis
expressly
98
^5^^
the
emperor, Frederic
II
likely to
such literature \
He was
himself
accused, at a somewhat later period, book (now known never to have existed) which coordinated,
as developements of a like spirit of imposture, the Mosaic,
of having written a
the Christian, and the Mahometan religions^; the difficulty with which he had been induced by the Pope to join in the
Crusades, was notorious
subjects,
The New
Aristotle
and his sympathies with his Moorish who were numerous in the two SicUies, equally so.
;
Accordingly, as the
of the
anathematized.
In 1215,
the Pope's legate repeated the prohibition of 1210. In 1231, a decree of Gregory ix forbade the use of the treatises on
natural science, in the same university, until they should
have been inspected by authority and purged from all picion of error'.' We learn from Roger Bacon that
'
susthis
On the same authority we gather that it was about this year that the most considerable influx of the new learning took placed
and Averroes.
1 It waa probably about the year 1220 tbat Frederic II sent to the university of Bologna translations, partly from the Greet, partly from the Arabic of Aristotle and 'other philosophers,' chiefly Ptolemy; quas adhuc, says the royal letter accompanying them, originalium dictionum ordinatione consertas, et vetustarum vestium, qtms eis cetas prima conccs-
durch Manche, von welchen wir nicht einmal die Namen kennen, neue Uebertragungen zu Tage gefordert werden konnten.' Geschichte der Logik,
III
5.
Among
the translators
serat, operimento contectas, vel liominis defectus aut operis ad Latina linguce notitiam non perdvxit. Volentes igitur, ut veneranda tantorum
opei'wm simul auctontas apud nos, non absque comniodis communibus, vocis organo traduce innotescat; ea per viros leetos, et in utriusque lingua prolatione pentos, instanter jussimus verborum fideliter servata virginitate, trans/erri. Conringius, Se Antiq. Acad. p. 101. Prantl attaches considerable importance to the Empe.
ror's patronage
Hingegen
'
ist
wohl
dass seit der Anregung, welohe Friedrich gegebeu hatte, fortwahrend an verschiedenen Orten
anzunehmen,
quousque examinati fueab omui errorum suspicione purgati.' Launoy, De Varia Aristotelis Fortuna, c. 1.
rint, et
*
utantur,
Opus Tertium,
c. 9,
ed. Brewer,
p. 28.
99
i.
Here then was a grave question pressing upon the leaders chap. Was this massive and imposing philosophy to The question be regarded as some hostile fortification menacing the rights schooime^ and authority of the Church, or might it not be possible for the Church herself to garrison it, and hold it as some strong
of the age.
Was
it, if
the
new
Aristotle to be
pagan
literature, or
was
possible, to
be accepted and
dogma?
said,
need hardly be
evaded the
decision
;
and the
school-
responsibility of so
momentous a
upon the
men, who,
among
the mendicant
orders alone,
it
to essay a perilous
and arduous
task.
concurrence of
Apart from the reverence with which any writings name of Aristotle were then regarded, it is evident that those influences to which we have already reThe The new uteferred were extending the arena of mental activity. " rature apdreadr anticipations of preceding centuries no longer hung p^'*^f *^ **' gloomily over thought and action and the impulse generated by the Crusades and the mendicant orders was fully shared
success.
"^
by the new and fast increasing centres of education and The scanty literature of the age failed altogether learning. The controversy respecting to satisfy the growing appetite.
Universals could not last for ever: even the Benedictines
were rousing themselves to fresh Utrary efforts and the rise of the Ehyming Chroniclers in England and that of the Troubadours in France are indications of a very general
;
craving.
It
this craving
was
at its height
that the
new
it
we have brought
must be admitted that the sacrifice which the first sought to impose upon the orthodox, in deexclusion
of
such
important
accessions
to
And
here, before
we
72
100
CHAP.
I.
A Norman
giish Library
oftheTwelfth century.
by these accessions, and the new literature to which they gavc birth, it will be well to turn aside for a moment for the purposc of forminff a final estimate of the sources from ^ '^ , ,., , i T l. wheuco, up to about the year 1230, men like Anseim, John
,
and
their
The two
They
than the early part of the thirteenth, the one representing the library of the Norman monastery at Bee, the other, that of Christchurch, Canterbury'; the former a purely Benedictine foundation
;
the
latter, at
mingled with monks, and having somewhat the relation of a mother institution to other foundations throughout the
country",
for the
nume-
possession.
S'hKoStents.
^^ ^^^^
beyond what
The meagre
rivium
is
of course there.
by a
single copy at Bee, has a quadruple existence and a commentator at Canterbury but Cassiodorus and Isidorus at the Norman foundation, and wanting to the other, may he
;
The
first
of these catalogues is
thirteenth century,
" The cathedral church of Canterbury was not a monastery in the
'
same sense as that of St. Augustine's in the same city the latter was founded for monastic purposes; the other was the mother church of the
:
whole kingdom,
its monastic charaoter being almost accidental. Hence, even in the strictest days of regular discipline, it had contained many
clergy
character of its inmates was priestly, not monastic, so as time went on, their successors included both monks
and priests.' Prof. Stubbs, Pref. to Epist. Cantiianenses, pp. xxui, xxiv.
101
fl -9
o n
E-l
<
Ph EH
O
Ph
o o
H ^
102
H
EH
W o W o
W o o
ft
103
o
PS 1-3
C5 .a
c3
104
CHAP.
I.
The educational
its
activity of
;
Christchurch
is
indicated
by
numerous Priscians
'
five
who
might despair of traversing, like Odo of Cluny, so vast an oceanV the same number of the portion on Constructions. Plato, whose name appears in both lists, means nothing more than the translation of part of the Timseus by Chalcidius. Boethius the philosopher and Boethius the theologian stand side by side as one personality. Bee, rejoicing in the munificence of Philip, the bishop of Bayeux, exhibits a noteworthy array of the writings of Cicero, for which Canterbury can shew only the De Senectute and the De .Amicitia, but boasts, on the other hand, eight Sallusts, three Virgils, four Juvenals, and nine Persiuses, names wanting in the Norman library. Macrobius, endeared to the Middle Ages by his gossip and the fragmentary chai-acter of his lore, is possessed by both foundations, and at Christchurch is more numerous than any other author. The absence from the English catalogue of any of Anselm's writings is remarkable, more especially when taken in conjunction with the presence of his disciple and editor, Richard, abbat of Preaux". No Greek author appears in the library at Bee, a fact from which M. Rdmusat is probably justified in inferring that neither Lanfranc nor Anselm possessed any acquaintance with the language" nor will the presence of a, Greek grammar {Bonatiis grece) at Canterbury tend much to modify such a conclusion. The Nova Logica*
The
is still
law
Imuiensum
transnataudo pelagus.'
"ol. 18,
Biohardus, abbat of Pratellum in Provinoia Eotomagensis, died 1131. He edited Anselm's oommentarlea, and himself wrote allegorical iuterpretationa of the prophets, a
"
the
commentary on Deuteronomy,
'
etc.
See Oallia Christiana, xi 837, 838. ' On dit bien que Lanfranc savait le greo, mais on n'eu donno auoune
preuve et quoique, alors, on passfit pour savoir cette langue, quand on en lisait lea caractSres, nous ne voyona nuUe raieon de faire d'Anaelme meme le plus faible des hell^nistes, paroe qu'il oroit quelque part que latitude se dit en greo TrXoVos, et donnelemotalt^r^d'anajrojcncomme synonyme' de contemplatio.' Antelme tie CantorKry, p. 457, * See p. 29, and p. 72 note 3.
;
105
chap.
i.
and their entire absence at Canterbury had not yet found favour in this country. The absence again of the Decretum of Gratian would lead us to surmise that the English catalogues could not have been drawn up many years after the half century. On the whole, it would be difficult to select fairer or more favorable specimens of the literary resources of western Europe in the interval from between the earlier part of the eleventh and the thirteenth century and as we glance through the scanty array we begin to realise more clearly the position of the scholar at that period, and to understand how little he would be disposed to reject, how eagerly he would welcome, whatever offered itself as an accession to these slender
suggests that
;
stores, especially
when such
name
of the
The
is
especially
worthy of catalogue of
teryofchrnt-
each volume
that
is
com-^n'^Tiatof-
some ten
which we
little
same foundation
to say, after
already the introduction of the described, and the consequent awakening of that literary
activity
new
learning which
we have
trace.
Activity of
what gratified either the imagination or the understanding, and the scantiness of the existing:
The
cants favour-
resources, were not the only circumstances that favoured the ""* loanung.
ablototho
introduction of the
new
learning.
It is
revolves,
and
it
Dominicans a long coveted opportunity. At Paris, probably, was first exhibited that sudden and surprising change in their demeanour to which we shall have occasion hereafter more
See Edwards' Memoir) of Libra1 35, where the catalogue 1 122 fiUs 113 closely printed pages. A few of the volumes of the older library
1
ncs,
are to be recognised in this catalogue, but the greater portion have disappeared,
106
CHAP.
I.
fully to refer.
became
conscious that the efforts of the Mendicants were being directed quite as much to the aggrandizement of their order The spirit which had led St. as to the common welfare. Paul to term himself the least of the apostles, had been
imitated by the Franciscans in styling themselves the Friars Minor, but their conduct already began to belie the humility
The Dominietms at
and the Dominicans were evidently at least equally intent upon the increase of their own authority and power. A special letter on their behalf was addressed to the university by pope Gregory in the year 1227, but with small avail. It became evident that a conflict was impending when, in the following year, an unexpected turn of events secured to the Dominicans an easy triumph.
of their professions,
;
Conflict
between the
TJniversity
The
age,
university,
universities
of that
and the
Citizens in
1228.
was frequently in
harmonised
civic authorities.
imperious,
pened that a body of the students in a drunken outbreak of more than ordinary licence, had fallen upon some of the townsmen and severely maltreated them. The outcry raised against the whole university was loud and fierce. Queen Blanche, herself, appears to have shared the general feeling of resentment. The city guard were authorised to take vengeance on the offenders, and executed their instructions with a barbarity which we may well believe far exceeded
the royal intentions.
The real offenders had been of the Picard nation, but the feeling roused was far too fierce to discriminate in its revenge. The students had assembled
outside the city walls for their sports
when they were suddenly attacked and compelled to take refuge in the city. They were pursued through the streets, the citizens joining in the chase some were dragged from their places of concealment, among them two clerks of high dignity who were
;
others were left fcr dead. The whole university were roused to the highest deputation waited on the Queen demanding im-
THE DOMINICANS AT
mediate
satisfaction.
PARIS.
107
chap.
i.
Retirement
versiiy
pended
and Orleans all lectures were susthe assemblies were no longer convened \ It was
from
Henry
III
Many
Cambridge and from the narrative of these refugees Matthew Paris learned the details which we have briefly reproduced^ The Dominicans saw their opportunity and hastened to The opportu111 nitylmproved mi improve it. The secession ot the students was resented both hy'iie do^ means. by the Crown and the ecclesiastical authorities the former indignant that the newly constituted bodies at Orleans and Angers were daring to confer degrees without the royal
settled at Oxford,
at
;
many
cii
sanction
have withdrawn from the sphere of his jurisdiction. The Dominicans were warmly welcomed and were empowered to open two schools of theology where, under the leadership of Jordanus, the general of their order, a man eminent alike
for his virtues
and his talents, their numbers rapidly inSuch were the circumstances under which Albertus M^Sf Magnus first began to teach in the neighbourhood of the d. laso. He had already taught street that still bears his name^ with success at Cologne, where Thomas Aquinas had been among his hearers, and his fame, as an expounder of Aristotle, soon drew around him numerous audiences at Paris. It is
creased.
only
when we
that combined at
learning, tlfe
for fresh
new philosophy
Scholares diapersi vagabantur, amplius oomitia, ntillua MagisBulseus, tratuB ia Aoademise solis.
niilla
'
^'
Magnus
summa
M. Imown
fuit, et per triennium publioe doouit.' Bulseus, iii 162. Considerable difference of statement is to be found respecting the date of the arrival of Albertus in Paris. Miknan and Haur^au placing it as early as 1228 ; Ueberweg and the author of the life of Albertus in the Nouvelle Biographie GSnSrale, as late as 1245.
108
and the
university of Paris,
that
we
on which the thought of the borne within those precincts where Stagirite was irresistibly it was destined so long and so imperiously to reign. We have now arrived at the chief mental phenomenon
of this century,
the Dominican
;
interpretation of Aristotle.
is
Of
com-
it
The tradimethod must be sought in the writings of -Albertus tional and Aquinas. While Albertus has been stigmatized as the
forsaken by the Franciscans of a later period.
'
servile
Thomas
Aquinas.
To each
would
cer-
may be
taken.
It
b.mi.
A 1274.
more accurate tO' describe the former as the ' ape and the latter, in that he followed AveiToes
;
his master \
motiiods of
Albertus
Magnus and
Tiiomas Aquinas.
Their method too was different while Albertus composed paraphrases of -Aristotle, Aquinas was the first who, in imitation of the great commentary of Averroes, surrounded the text with an elaborate exegesis. It would perhaps be most correct to regard Albertus as the laborious collector of materials from whence succeeding schoolmen with distincter conceptions^ of science and method were afterwards
to draw",
scientific
Aquinas,
as
school.
Philosopliy of Tliomas
Aquinas.
factorily discussed
^
The philosophy of Thomas Aquinas can only be satisby considering it both in relation to the
#
'Avicenna est le grand maStre La forme de eon commentaire est celle d' Avicenna Avicenue est cit^ k chaque page de ses Merits,
d' Albert.
;
,
Averroes et V AveiroUme,
236.
'
pp.
231,
tandis qu'Averroes ne Test qu'assez rarement, et parfois pour essuyer lereproohe d'avoir os6 oontredire son maltre.. .Albert, doit tout a Avicenne; saint Thomas, comme philosophe, doit presque tout S. Averrols,' Benan,
109
i.
genuine thought of Aristotle and to the multiform material, chap. chiefly Arabian, which offered itself to the consideration of
philosophers in that age.
to notice that
But first it may be worth while more general point of view from whence, in contradistinction to thinkers like Gregory and Alcuin, he
Christian and pagan thought. It has been the fashion in spunous '^ literature times, a fashion first set by Erasmus, to illustrate *''* '*^_
modem
method
of investigation, they
were
unworthy
It was, undoubtedly,
much
fifteen
tions, orders,
less
than
The PseudoDionysius.
to
the func-
angels,
stood,
their appre-
hension, on the
same
pluribus locis simul. 3. Utrum plures angeli possint esse in eodem loco. " Ut docet Dionysius' is an oft recurring expression in Aquinas. For a lengthened period the book appears to have frequently supplanted the Bible as the basis of exposition in Grocyn, so late English churches. as the year 1498, selected the book as the subject of a series of lectures in St. Paul's Cathedral. Its genuineness had, however, been already called in question ; and having commenced his lectures by strongly denouncing such scepticism, the lecturer found himself compelled, before the completRon of his course, to inform his audience that internal evidence too conclusive to be resisted had brought home to his own mind the fact that the book was undoubtedly spurious,
'
Hierarchy' threw upward the Primal Deity, the whole Trinity, into the most awful, unapproachable, incomprehensible distance, but it filled the widening intermediate space with
'
The
See Wood-Bliss,
I 31.
Seebohm's
a regular succession of superhuman Agents, an ascending and descending scale of Beings, each with his rank, title, office, function, superior or subordinate. The vague incidental notices in the Old and New Testament and in St. Paul (and to St. Paul doubtless Jewish tradition lent the names), were wrought out into regular orders, who have each, as it were, a feudal relation, pay their feudal service (here it struck in with the Western as well as with the Hierarchical mind) to the Supreme, and have feudal superiority or subjection to each other. This theory
110
CHAP.
I.
In this however they only shared the delusions of their age; nor was Dionysius the only forgery that commanded uniThe most influential contribution made by versal deference.
Grosseteste to literature, was the translation which he undertook, with the assistance of John Basing, of the Testaments
'
Twelve Patriarchs.' Basing, who belonged to the Benedictine monastery of St. Alban's, had discovered the manuscript at Athens, and returned with it to England in the belief that he was bringing an inestimable treasure. No
of the
treatise occupied a larger share of the attention of the age,
but its spuriousness has long been recognised\ mating, accordingly, the labours of the schoolmen,
just to bear also in
In
it is
esti-
only
mind the nature of the subject matter which they were sometimes called to interpret and elucidate.
Combination in Aquinas of
Md^chSua
phiioBophy.
-^^'istotle, IS
True wisdom, said Aquinas, echoing the thought of to know the end or reXo? of things, and to make
,
The
different branches of
as
ranking in dignity according as they are concerned with ends of greater or less importance ; but aU these ends merge
in a
common
is
is
harmonious.
The
true phi-
losopher
he,
who
out the final end, the attainment of ultimate truth, the perfection of the understanding.
he
is
There are two paths whereby enabled to attain to this absolute truth, reason and
faith'.
Some
How
is shown by the fact of its being mentioned by every chronicler ...Itislamentabletothink that these two wretched forgeries (the ' Testaments' and the Pseudo-Dionysius) were the Greek books that matoly occupied Grosseteste's attention." Luard's Preface to Grosseteste Epis-
book
tolie.
"
Contra Gentiles,
cc.
3 and
4.
Ill
chap.
i.
human understanding. These faith only can arrive at. There are others which reason seems enabled to grasp unaided by revelation, such as the existence and unity of God^. This distinction, however, constitutes no real difference in the
truths themselves, for
intellect
;
it
human
with God,
all
truth
was never intended to be our sole guide to pointed out, was evident its insufficiency for that purpose In the first place, all natural knowledge takes is manifest. but how its rise in experience, or the evidence of the senses Creator? can sensible objects teach us to comprehend the how can the effect explain the cause? Again, this know; ;
sopher
is
;
is
stranger
And
again, even
^the
the sensible,
the knowledge
it
How
then can we be
If,
mankind could attain to truth, how evil How many, by sheer indisposition for the would be our lot The aversion task of investigation, would fail to pursue it
only path whereby
!
life,
call
to
more
obvious pursuits.
How
how
each other. The divine knowledge in the mind of Christ, said Aquinas, does not extinguish that in the human soul,
1
''
Summa
'
Qusest.
ii art. 3.
Eatio enim
hmnana
in rebus
diviniB est multmn defioiens. Cujus signum est quia philosophia de rebus
tio
Benserunt. Ut ergo eBset indubitata et certa oogniapud homines de Deo oportuit quod divina eis per modmn fidei traderentur, quasi a Deo diota, qui mentiri non possit.' Secunda SeBibi ipsis contraria
cundiB, Quaest.
ii art. 4.
112
CHAP.
I.
but invests
cannot prove the truth of divine knowledge, but worthily employed in illustrating and defending it^
AqiSSS'
Such, in general terms,
teaching of Aquinas.
original or novel,
is
may
be
SeSy.
us as
but that
should thus
perhaps the
strongest evidence
how
and
it
can scarcely be
It long
denied that
it
may
take
its stand.
It has
been echoed in
and systematic
effort to construct
the Christian
faith.
The
be sought in
transition has
specific
application;
and
it
com-
we
conception.
that errors of
hypothesis.
the other hand, it is only just to remember method may bring discredit upon the soundest But from whichever point of view we may form
On
1 '
Summa,
There
iii
Qusest. ix art.
1.
Compare
Qutest.
also
is
a marked resemblance
ii art. 4.
to Aquinas in the theory developed hy Dryden in the first forty lines of the Seligio Laid. The following
has remarked, was far superior in learning to Pope, and though he entered Trinity during the Puritan ascendancy, he' shared in those scholastic influences which strongly affected our Anglican theology in the seventeenth century. Pew of Macaulay's criticisms are more unjust than that wherein he affirms of the poet ' that his knowledge both of the Church which he quitted and of the Church which he entered were of the most superficial kind.' Hist. England, n^
197.
eoincidenoe of thought would suggest that the poet must have derived the idea either directly or indirectly from
the schoolman: 'Sensibihaautemad hoc ducere iutellectum nostrum non possuut, ut in eis divina substantia videatur quid sit, cum sint effeotus causaavirtutemnonasquantes.' Contra Gentes, i c.3. 'How can the less the
greater
comprehend?
|
Or
finite rea-
son reach mfinjty? For what could fathom God were more than He !'
THOMAS AQUINAS.
113
chap.
i.
our estimate of the manner in which Aquinas developed his main theory, it must be admitted that his treatment of the
factory solution of a great difficulty.
is
Difflraity of
relation to
To
reconcile, indeed,
it is
'"''''"^-
but
just to
remember that
it
was the
and
filled
with despair a
conflict
intellect. There is much in the which his age beheld between Oriental and Grecian
recalls the
which seem in some instances to have neutralized each other, in others merely to have stood out in strange and inharmonious juxtaposition.
at the
commencement 1^^^^^^
rose within the
Sf^fy'"?' '*"" ' '
while those
who
Church were of widely separated lands; Albertus was a native of Swabia Aquinas studied at Naples, his family was Italian and distinguished in the service of the house of Hohenstoffern; William of Moerbecke, the translator of Aristotle, died archbishop of Corinth Duns Scotus was probably a Northumbrian Bonaventura was a Tuscan Alexander Hales, an Englishman who taught at Paris. Amid an almost chaotic aggregation of past and contemporary thought the great schoolman took his stand, and strove to evoke order out of confusion, harmony out of discord. The dogmas of Rome were the Procrustean measure to which each theory had to be stretched or to be reduced a task sufficiently arduous in the case of
;
; ; ;
The
added another element of difficulty, and the influence of Moses Maimonides.', from whose Bimb Perplexorvmi Aquinas
1
On
upon Scholasticism
114
^^[^^
(as
tributed
If we add to these employment of the elements his frequent but capricious Byzantine logic, which afterwards produced such important results in the hands of Scotus and Occam, the Neo-Platonic tendencies of the widely circulated De Oamis^, we must admit that the task essayed by Numenius or Clemens was one of comparative simplicity. "We marvel how the great
schoolman could have ever ventured to essay the passage of so dark a current, wherein, as round the hero of old,
KUKU/ufoc Iffraro Kv/m,
<!9m
8'
ex iTaKni irlirTiav
jioits'
oiSi
iroSeffffui
eTxe ffTTipl^aaBai,
Aquinas
Aterrtesin
Aristot?&''^
impelled,
may
sacrifice of
As
and in 1240 Guillaume d'Auvergne, the archbishop of Paris, denounced as heretical another series of propositions taken The facts presented to our chiefly from the De Causis. observation exhibit, iiccordingly, Aquinas as, on the one hand, following almost implicitly the method of Averroes and imbibing many of his tenets, on the other hand as strenuously opposing him whenever his teaching threatened to endanger the cause of orthodoxy". M. Renan remarks
Albertua Magnus drew from his writings may be seen in the treatise of M. Joel, Breslau, 1863. 1 The De Oausis was another popular forgery in these times; a translation from the Arabic of a treatise falsely ascribed to Aristotle. M. Jourdain {Secherches Critiques, p. 212) considers it to have been in scarcely less farour than the PseudoDionysius. 'It contains,' says Neander, 'the principles of the NeoPlatonio monism, as the same was reduced to form and systematic coherence by Plotinus, ^the doctrine of the Absolute as the super-existent, from which issues forth the whole developing process of being, pro-
ceeding by regular gradations, the idea of creation transformed into the doctrine of a process of evolution
necessity.'
that singular theory, revived amid the metaphysical jugglery of the present century, which would explain all contradictions by suggesting as a solution that what is true in scienoe may be false in theology, and vici versa. Eoger Bacon (Opm Terfium, 0. 23, 24) indignantly repudiates the sophism, and Mr. Lewes {Bist. of Philosophy, ii 83) has noticed his disclaimer with complacency. It is
a ;
'
115
chap.
'
however that in general he appears to have regarded his Arabian teacher rather as a pagan deserving compassion in his ignorance, than as a blasphemer to be execrated. The details of the system pursued by Aquinas obviously
beyond the range of our enquiry, but in pursuance of our endeavour at elucidating the peculiar manner in which the philosophy of these times entered into their whole spirit of instruction, we propose to briefly point out how, on one important point, the method of the schoolmen failed equally to avert the censure of authority and the reproach of the
lie
i.
Failure of his
philosopher.
forth, in '
The theory respecting the intellect which the third book of the De Anima^, is
'
_
Aristotle sets
familiar to all
fp^e to Psychology.
students of psychology.
He
the
passive principle
Theory ot the
and the active principle. This theory has its basis in a presumed analogy as, throughout nature, we are conscious, on the one hand, of matter, representing the potential exist;
which gives them an actual existence, so we are a like duality in the human intellect and hence the Aristotelian division of the soul into two distinct principles the active intelligence, wv ivreX.e'xeia, and the passive intelligence, wp Svvdfiei. Of these the former is the superior, and to it we ascribe the attributes of imor form,
entitled to look for
:
perishability and impassibility; this is the eternal principle which endures, while the merely passive principle is the subject of change, and, separated from the active principle,
perishes.
Such
is
De Anima,
however but
duinPhiloBophiam,Bednoiiseoundam fidem Catholicam, quasi sint dusB veritates contrarise, et quasi contra veritatem Sacr Soripturfe sit Veritas in dictis Gentilium damnatorum.
Bul83UB,
i
m 433.
Be Anima,
iii c. 5.
82
116
CHAP.
I.
demnation of the Church; but his own heterodoxy was almost lost sight of in the still less ambiguous theory maintained by his Arabian commentator. It was not impossible for the schoolmen to maintain, as later interpreters
have done, that Aristotle did not really mean to deny the immortality of the soul, and that the inferences that appear warranted by the De Anima are contradicted by the tenour
of passages in his other writings to the theory by Averroes
passive
But when we take the individual man we find the potential principle preceding the active, and it is consequently evident that the active principle, the imperishable
and
ever-existent,
The
active
principle
devoid of personality,
one and
absolute. It was thus that Averroes deduced the doctrine of the Unity of the Intellect, known in the time of Leibnitz
as Monopsychism.
Extension
given to this
^eorybythe
tat""'
How far this reasoning: represents a legitimate deduction from Axistotle WO are not here called upon to enquire, but
.-i
well
ini
it
is
known
that
his
Arabian
commentators have
he has but very briefly indicated, or essayed in a purely tentative manner. His immediate followers had certainly
^
'II
6tait
indestructible, Stemel. II a bien dit aussi que ce principe ^tait en nous une veritable substance. Mais quelle substance? Nous I'avons vu; dans
renteudement lui-meme,
il
y a une
partie p&issable, comme sont pfirissables I'imagination, la sensibility, et cette partie, c'est la la nutrition partie passive, celle qui est, en quel:
la personality hnmaine, de cette personality sans laquelle 1' immortality de I'Sme n'est qn'un vain mot et unleurre.' BarthllemySaint-Hilaire, Psychologic d'Aristote, PrefaceJ p. xxxix. 'L' opinion dn philosopher cet ^gard ne saurait tre doutense. L'intellect universel est incorruptible et separable du corps; l'intellect individuel est pferissable et finit
matiSre de I'intelligible. L' intelligence active, celle qui fait I'intelligible, snrvit ^ternellement au corps, qui seul doit p6rir. Mais dans cette vie nouvelle, il ne reste rien de
que
sorte, la
avec le corps.' Eenan, Averroes et I'AverroUme, p. 153. See also Mr. Grote's Essay on the Psychology of Aristotle, appended to the third edition of Mr. Bain's Senses and the
Intellect.
117
Alexander chap,
to bring
t
first
Themistius,
it
who
was a
source of
it
;
arrested,
again,
the searching
but Averroes was the first to give which constituted it the leading heresy of the thirteenth century. Such was the theory to the
that
developement
refutation of which, as
and of the immortality of the soul, Aquinas devoted the full force of his intellect, and in his indignation at its author stigmatised him as non tain Peripateticus quam
resurrection
Peripateticce philosophice depravator^.
Other and not unimportant doctrines maintained by the Arabian commentators, sometimes in conformity with the teaching of Aristotle, though more frequently in excess of the earlier Peripateticism, encountered the censure of the Church*; but it was chiefly against the theory of the Unity of
the Intellect that the scholastic artillery was directed, and in direct connexion therewith arose the fierce controversy of the
next generation, respecting the principium individuationis. It has already been observed that at the commencement of ^^^'tf^""' Franciscans, the controversies to which the new Aristotle gave birth, other
views than those of Albertus and Aquinas were espoused by the Franciscans of comparatively small importance however
Foremost
Alexander
<
among
It
is
ander Hales,
the leaders of this order was the Englishman, Alexwho taught at Paris with distinguished success.
that the commentary on the Metaphysics
i2-
now known
once attribiTted to this writer is by a different hand, but in his Summa TheologioB we have ample indications that he ventured to dangerous lengths under the guidance of Averroes*.
1
'
' la matifere premiere et indetermin^e, la hierarchie des premiers principes, le r61e interm^diaire de la premiere intelligence S. la f ois or6^ et cr^atrice, la negation de la providence, et surtout I'imposaibilit^ de la creation. Le
Aveirois
et
VAverroisme, p.
238.
'
'
On
pent designer
comme
lea
xiii
franciscaine et surtout
118
CHAP.
I.
THE UNIVERSITY OF
Irrefragable Doctor, for so
PARIS.
rpijg
year 1245, and his followers appear to have adopted yet bolder doctrines. The tendency in Averroes towards investing abstract notions with objective reality appears to have exercised a strong fascination over the mysticism that characterised the earlier Franciscan school. Bonaventura, indeed, the disciple
STaYi!"'""'
in
him him
human
Aristotle.
Even now, as we turn the mystic pages of the Itinerary of the Mind towards God, we recognise the deeply emotional
nature, the fervour of soul, that belonged to the great orator
who
thrilled
we
tions of the pilgrim, who, with but a languid glance for the
and the wandering gleams of philosophy, he seemed to discern the shining bulwarks of the celestial city'. '* probably marks the general success that was held to mS^oF bave attended the efforts of Aquinas to discriminate between by^Aquhwsf' the doctrines of the Greek philosopher and his Arabian commentators, that while Roger Bacon writing in the year 1267, was able to say that the Aristotelian natural philosophy and metaphysics, which for forty years had been contemned and vilified, were now recognised at Paris as sound and useful doctrine,' we find Etienne Tempier, two years later, condemning no less than thirt.een of the most notable Averroistic opinions and we may well understand' that the blow
'
Ibid.
259.
Roger Bacon reproduces this tradition of his order see Opus Majm, passim. According to Bulseus, Hales was the first to comment on tlie Sentences Primus autem e theologis nostris M. Petri Lomhardi Sententias commentariis illustrasse dicitur Alexan:
'
nion il lui a plu d'exprimer incidemment, avec le laissez-aller de I'indifference, sur les grands problemes du peripat^tisme.' Haurgau, Phil.
Scholastiqxie,
ii
219.
119
i.
had fared
memorable
secession.
Return of the
When
and Rheims they found the chairs of instruction occupied p*. 12S1. by the Mendicants, and it was only by the exertions of Gregory ix on their behalf that they were reinstated in their privileges. For twenty years a hollow peace was preserved. Rivalry during which the jealousies and rivalry thus evoked con- f^^eMen^-"* tinued to increase, and at last broke out into open hostility '*'"^when, one of the students having been killed in an encounter
with the
citizens,
the
new
orders refused to
and Innocent IV published famous bull whereby the mendicant orders were subjected to the episcopal authority^- His death, occurring was attributed to the prayers of His policy was altogether reversed by his successor, Alexander iv, who, to use the expression of Crevier, was intent throughout his pontificate upon tormenting the The Mendicants were restored to their university of Paris. former privileges, and the old warfare was renewed with increased violence. It was at this crisis that William St. ]^^^'in the following month,
the Dominicans.
Amour, standing
assailed the
forth as the
new
In his Perils of the Last Times, he denounced them as interlopers into the Church, unsanctioned by apostolic authority, equally wanting in honesty of purpose and in Aquinas credentials for the high functions they assumed.
camp.
replied in his treatise
^S
"^"
Cultum
et
Religionem, and
WiUiam
Amour was
finally arraigned
before the archbishop of Paris on the charge of having published a libel defamatory of the Pope.
1
'
When
however the
It is
a characteristic
trait of
these Paris quarrels, that they were mainly caused by the wilful course of the Dominicans in the great secession This measure had been deof 1229. creed by a 'great majority of the Masters, but the Dominicans disobeyed it, in order to get scholastic
own hands during the absence of aU other academicians, Naturally this was resented keenly, and produced deep distrust. Their submission to all university regulations was now exacted with increased severity.' Huber's English Univeraffairs into their
sities,
by Newman,
11
119.
120
CHAP.
I.
champion of the university appeared, ready to attest by solemn oaths over the relics of the holy martyrs, the students who accompanied him made such an
intrepid
his innocence
imposing demonstration, that the archbishop deemed it prudent to dismiss the charge. A few years later the Dominicans attained their end. The Perils of the Last Times was burnt in the presence of the Pope at Anagni, and William
Rivalry
and the
Franciscans.
Amour was compelled to retire into exile, a retirement from which, notwithstanding the efforts of the university on his behalf, he was not suffered again to emerge'. But while the cause of the Mendicants was thus triumphant, disunion begun to spring up between the two orders. The fame of Albertus and Aquinas, the latter the chosen counsellor of royalty, and the prestige of the Dominicans, aroused
St.
incurred.
They
nor had
critical
whence to assail the heresies of the formed one of the most notable divergences
from Aristotle in the philosophy of Averroes, that while the which we have already adverted, of matter and form as representative of the principle of potential and actual existence, he differed from his
teacher in regarding
Aristotle
The phUoBophy of Aquinas
attacked by the Fi-anciscans.
form
had declared it to be matter, and in this he was implicitly followed by Aquinas. The individualising elements in Sokrates said the Dominican, are hcec cam, hcec
ossa; if these be dissolved the Universal, Sokratitas, alone
1 'L'UniverBit^regrettainfiniment son absence, et elle n'omit rien de ce qui pouvait d^pendre d'elle pour obtenir son retour & Paris. Dfli-
berations frequentes, mortificatious proour^es aux Mendians ennemis de ce doctenr, deputations au pape tout fut inutile.' Crevier, ii 27. The-svhole history of the conflict between William St. Aniour and his opponents, which we cannot further follow, forms a
:
His genius and eloquence had the remarkable effect of winning the sympathies of the lower orders to the university cause, aud we are thus presented with the somewhat singular conjunction of the Pope, the Crown, and the new Orders on the one ^ie, and the university in league with tie commonalty on the other. See Bulteos,
significant episode.
ni 317, 382.
121
chap.i.
remains. Theology, as with Koscellinus, here again supplied the readiest refutation, and from thence the Franciscans drew their weapons. If matter, they asked, be indeed the princi-
pium
individiiationis,
?
how can
material world
Creator, for
power of the
if
He
the
individualising element
were lacking. In fact, the whole celestial hierarchy concerning which the Pseudo-Dionysius expounded so elaborately, threatened to vanish from appro- JSsF hension. The reply of the Franciscans was eminently sue- "' """"^ cessful, for it enlisted the sympathies of the Church. In vain did Albertus hasten from Cologne to the assistance of his
illustrious disciple
;
Kome
bring for-
ward
arguments in support of the Aristotelian doctrine. The teaching of Aquinas had been found in alliance with heterodoxy, and within three years after his death we find the doctrine he had supported selected for formal condemnation.
fresh
place, at Paris
under Etienne
Tempier, in England under Kilwardby, archbishop of Canterbury, having for its object the repression of philosophic
and a long list of articles summed up the doctrines for renewed condemnation; the 'Franciscans however found no little consolation in the fact that three of the articles were directed contra fratrem Thomam^. Aquinas had died in the year 1274, and contention, at Death of ^ ThomM Paris, was for a brief season hushed amid the general sense Aquinas, that a great light had been withdrawn from the Church. We
;
of Averroes
'
the
name
'
world, gave
him but
for
if
we may
fol-
1 M. Eenan very justly observes that the majority of the articles eondemned represented the tenets of scepticism; and that this incredulity is evidently associated by Etienne Tempier -with the study of the Arabian philosophy, but he has failed to note the rebuff inflicted upon the Dominicans. Of the three condemn-
ed
articles,
:
'
lows
non
habent materiam, Deus non potest plures res ejusdem speciei facere, et
quod non est in angelis, contra fratrem Thomam.' See Haur^au, Philosophie Scholastique, ii 216. Eenan,
Averrolt
et
VAverrolsme,
p. 278.
Bulaeus, lu 433.
122
t''''-
THOMAS AQUINAS.
wisdom placed
him upon
of nature.'
The Dominicans were as sheep having no shepand when the teaching of their leader encountered the deliberate condemnation of the Church, the blow was felt by the whole order. The exultation of their rivals was proportionably great the name of the Angelic Doctor began to be mentioned in terms of small respect and at length, in 1278, it was deemed desirable to convene a Council at Milan
herd,
; ;
d*Mte"by
the Church.
foJ^
The
priors
Paris pronounced
'
Thomas
of Aquino, of vene-
rated and happy memory, having wrought honour to his order by the sanctity of his life and by his works, justice demanded that it should be forbidden to speak of him with disrespect, even to those who differed in opinion from his teaching \' This movement appears to have had the designed effcct. From the end of the thirteenth century the Dominicans, who had themselves been threatened by schism, rallied
"^
_
His canonization.
illustrious teacher.
countryman and
disciple
and years before that event his great had with raptured eye beheld him,
spirits of
the
The
teachers
of the
still
his fame, if
theirs; and Erasmus, standing half-way between the schoolmen and the Reformers, declared that Aquinas was surpassed by none of his race, in
Haurfiau, Philosophic ScliolastiBulasus, iii 448. II 217. " Da,nte,Paradiso, x 64. The whole of the speech of Aquinas, in the fol1
que,
is interesting as an illustration of the comparative estimation in which the chief doctors of the Church were then held.
lowing passage,
123
chap.i.
The Summa of Aquinas has still its readers but his commentaries on Aristotle are deservedly neglected, and the crudeness of the reconciliation which he sought to find between pagan philosophy and Christian dogma startled even
;
subacqucnt
iiu
teacwn"
the orthodox into dissent as the true thought of the Stagirite became more distinctly comprehended. The devout have repudiated his dangerous temerity; the sceptical, his indifference
Even in the Church which canonized him there have been not a few who have seen, in the fallacious alliance which he essayed to bring about, the commencement of a method fraught with peril to the faith and with disquiet More than a century after his death, Gerson, to the believer.
to radical inaffinities.
"'
^rjon"
vel doctrinas
sceculares
ohumhratas more multorum, was a far safer guide, and abjured both the Aristotelian philosophy and the attempted reconciliation.
dialecticas aut physicas terminis theologicis
cardinal'
Hermann,
editor of
commencement
sanum
and declared
it
would have
been well had the schools confined themselves to the limits marked out by Boethius and Damascenus, since they had
retained scarcely a vestige of true theology.
pateticce philosophicB
faceret philosophicam,
Still
heavier
falls
the
Prantrj.
124
CHAP.
I.
THOMAS AQUINAS.
an original thinker, and affirming that it could work of a confused understanding,' to retain
'
only be the
'
It is
men
^^^^
...
it is
ments
of the
easy
Aquinas may have appeared one of comparative true Aristotelian mean between unreasoning faith and unrestrained speculation. His repudiation of Averroes was not improbably the salvation of his own authority, for in the history of the Italian universities we have ample evidence that the apprehensions of the Church with respect to the tendencies of the Arabian philosophy were justified
position of
safety,
the
by the
its
*
sequel,
left
flaunted
If again,
its colours,
own
day, at
Padua and
at Venice*.
we
of the philosopher,
fusion
vague nomenclature,
its
own
On
them
' '
it
devolved at once to confront the infidel and to apto the natural sciences, and the open ridicule with which they assailed the Mosaic account of the Creation, effeotually checked much sympathy be-
compose a
De
sui
ipsiusetmultorumalioruviignorantia, having for its object the rebuking of the pert scepticism which was rife among the young Venetians. In his intercourse with them he tells us that he found them intellectually and studiously inclined, but their devotion, under the teaching of Averroes,
tween him and them. He was wont to tell them that he considered it of more importance to explore the nature of man than that of quadrupeds and fishes. See Ginguto^, Hist. Litt.
d'ltalie,
Tom. n
p. 35.
Tirabosohi,
45.
THOMAS AQUINAS.
125
^^^^-
and
if
they
failed, it
their very
;
failures
that the
still
and
from a
unknown
land^.
It remains to say
Technical
In his
Aquinas,
that while
tinctio,
Lombardus
Aquinas propounded each logical refinement as a qucBstio. The decisions of the Master were, indeed, as judicially pronounced as before, but the change from a simple contrasting and comparing of different authorities to a form
which seemed to invite the enquirer to perpetual search rather than to a definite result, was obviously another advance in the direction of
dialectics.
The
objections which,
as we have already seen, had been taken by the Prior of St. Victoire to the original method, became more than ever
though the treatment of Aquinas might seem exhaustive, the resources of the objector were inexhaustible. "W^e have already spoken of the character of the translations fi-om the Greek, whereby, with the advance of the centuty, the proper thought of Aristotle began to be more clearly distinguished from that of his Arabian commentators
applicable
;
for
Tnmsiafion
"'
text of
but wherein an extreme and unintelligent literalness often It would veiled the meaning and obscured the argument.
Prantl {Geschichte der Logik, ii 1X8 21) enumerates thirteen distinct shades of opinion that divided the schools from the time of Boscellinus down to that of Aquinas. Few who have made the effort to grasp the distinctions on which these controversies turned, will fail to feel the force of Benan's observation: 'II est fort difficile, au milieu des querelles
qui dfiohiraient k cette ^poqne le philosophique, de saisir exaotement la nuance des diff&enta partis. Cette nuance mme ^tait-elle bien arrfetfe ? N'est-il pas des jours de chaos oit. les mots perdent leur
monde
signification primitive, ovt les amis ne se retrouvent plus, oi les ennemis semblent se donner la main?' AverroU et VAverrmsme, p. 221 (ed. 1852).
126
TJNTVEESITT OF PABIS.
life
^^}:
hecame aware of the unsatisfactory character of these versions, for mthin three years of his death he prevailed upon
Moerbecke to undertake the production of a new version which, known as S^ova Translatio, was long regarded
WiUiam
of
and
still
by
The commentaries
however, appeared nearly ten years before, and were consequently liable to any error which might arise from the grosser
defects of the versions to
TtaeCoUeges
recourse*.
movement
in our
own
country.
ment, but long before that time these institutions had been
TVosnp-
Crevier indeed
n^''?
fomided
Sntor'"'
back the foundation of two coUM^es, that of St. Thomas ^^ Louvre' and of the Danish college in the Rue de la Montague, as far as the twelfth century while he enumerates no less than sixteen as founded in the thirteenlii century*. Of these some were entirely subservient to the
;
^ ' Saint Thomas d'Aqnin n'a employ^ que des Tersions d^rivfes imme-
diatement du grec, soit qu'il fait faire de nouTelles, soit qu'il ait obtenu des collations d'anciennes Tersions avec I'oTiglnal, et ait en ainsi des Tariantes. GnillauTne Tocco, dans la Tie qu'il nous a laiss^ de ce grand doctear, dit positiTement Scripsit etiam super philcsophicam naturaXem et tooTolem et super metaphysicam^ quorum librorum procuravit ut Jieret nova
:
bres fonmit le logement et la sobsistance, on du moins des secours pour subsister pendant leurs etudes. Gette ceuTre de charity n'^tait pas noUTelle, et il y avoit d^ja longtems que le loi Bobert en avoit donn^ I'exemple en
le
Jeune
faisait aussi distrlbuer des libeialit^s a de pauTres ^coliers par son grand
pr^ts i
I'iniiter.
Sane. Antwerp, i 665.) Jourdain, Jlecherches Critiques, p. 40. ' Ibid. p. 395. Prantl, Geschichte
der Logik, rn 5. 3 'Dans cet ^tablissement se manlfeste I'origine de nos boursiers, qui Bont de jennes gens pauTres, auxqnels le collie dont ils sont mem-
Cette bonne oeuTre prit faTeur, et se mnltiplia beancoup pendant les treizieme et quatorzi^me sikdes, ansquels se rapporte I'institation de la plupart des boursiers dans notre TJniTersitd.* CreTier, i 269. * They are the CoU^e de Constantinople, des Maturins, des Bons En-
COJCttEN"CEMEN"T
127
cfLKf i
requirements of different religious orders, while others were, for a long time, little more than lodging-houses for poor
students in the receipt of a scanty allowance for their sup-
The
most important^ both from its subsequent celebrity and from the fact that it Trould appear to be the earliest example of a more secular foundation, that is to say a coUege for the secular clersry, was the Sorbonne, founded about the The soryear 12-50 by Robert de Sorbonne*, the domestic chapkdn
of St. Louis.
Originally capable of supporting only sLsteen
whom were to be elected from each and who were to devote themselves to the study of theology, it eventuaUv became the most illustrious foundation of the tmiversity, and formed, in many respects, the model of our earliest English colleges'. For a time, however, the modest merit of this society was obscured by the splendour of a later foundation of the fourteenth centiuy. In the vear 1305, Jeanne of Xavarre, the consort of Philip ^ the Fair, founded the great college which she named after the country of her birth. In wealth and exteraal importance the coU^e of Navarre fsff stirpassed the Sorbonne. It was endowed with revenues sufBcient for the maintenance of twenty scholars in grammar, thirty in logic, and twenty in theology, and the ablest teachers were retained as in.
Thecwiege of XaniTC.
Latinos odium deponerent eommqiie hnmanitxtemetbsiigiiitateiii&perti ad snos reyersi non sine magno Iditini nominis ineremento Tirtntes iBas
Iiabiti, qui, si
passim pnediearent, ac Telirt obsides quid paientes et afSnes Gneca lerhati adreisiis latinos mo-
which De Boalay eanjeetnies it may haTB taken its rise, are somewhat 'Post expngnatam Consingolar: stantinopohm a Fiands et Yenetis sacro foedere jnnetis PhiHppo Angusto rege LutetiiB eonditam est eollegimn Constantinopolitanimi ad ripam Seqnanae prope fornm Maiaroano mipem bertinmn, nesao eonsilio, nt Gracornm liben Lntetiam venientes tma earn lingua Latina paoUatim retus illud et patrmm
Lntetia
10.
271. Le Qere, tat Oa Lettra an XI T' Sitae, i 265. 5 'Hoimne simple dans son earaetjje et dans ses moears.' Cre-rier.
Cierier,
i.
^tabli a Paris potir les p^enliers ^tadians en Theol<^e. yoalut lenr procnrer oet avantage
coll^ n'^tait
La paimet^
^tait I'attribTit piopre ^g la maison de Sorbonne. Elle en a conserr^ longtems la reaKt^ axec
je titre.'
128
UNIVEESITT OF PARIS.
i2^1^
centuries
it
it
was the foremost foundation of the be denied that many eminent men
its
walls
Nicolas
fourteenth Century.
no unworthy representative of the school of Gasparin and Aretino Pierre d'AiUy, afterwards bishop of Cambray and the celebrated Gerson. But though poverty was here, as at the Sorbonne, among the conditions prescribed by the founders as essential to the admission of a scholar, the associations of the college with rank and wealth soon developed an ambitious, worldly spirit that little harmonized with the aims and occupations of the true student. High office in the State or in the Church were the prizes to which it became a tradition among its more able sons to aspire; and such prizes were rarely to be won in that age without a corresponding sacrifice of integrity and independence. The influence acquired by the college of Navarre was unhappily made subservient to the designs and wishes of its patrons, and the value of the degrees conferred by the university and the efficiency of the examinations are stated to have equally sufiered from the interference and the favouritism resulting from these courtly relations'. In the year 1308 was founded the Collie de Bayeux by the
bishop of that see, designed especially for the study of medicine -and the civil law
;
in 1314,
isme en France, 1 128 130. Oresme was one of the earliest political economists, and his treatises on mathematics and his lingmstic attainments constitute a phenomenon almost as singular when taken in connexion with the age in which they appeared, as the cnltnre of Boger Bacon in the previous century. Of his acquaint-
par les hommes de cette maison, trop accoutnm^s i faire la rolont^ des rois et des princes pour etre de
bon
conseillers
dans
les
temps
difS-
ciles.
On le
deux
ance with Greek we shall have occasion to speak in another place. ' 'Ce fut un malheur pour une corporation qui arait besoin d'indpendauce, de s'etre laisser dominer
avait pris sur le corps enseignant, loin de le fortifier contre des i>rils qu'il faillait braver, I'a&aiblit et I'&ierva, en lui 6tant pen & pen, 4e
connivence aveo des protectenrs poissants, la liberty de ses lefons et la publicity de ses examens.' IjC Clerc,
266, 267.
DESCRIPTION OF M. LE CLERC.
represented a similar design.
.129
chap.
i.
The
de Plessis-Sorbonne, for forty scholars, in 1323 of the College de Bourgogne, for twenty students of philosophy, in 1332
of Lisieux, for
1336,
are
among
tions
Had
Le
Clerc,
S"^
''''"
'or
had they
complement
St.
of scholars,
Denis when
Many however contained but been yet more imposing. who, while attending the regular course
of instruction in
the
different
faculties,
met
larger
in general
assembly
conferences
on
;
certain
w'hile
days
for
their
for
disputations
and
ethers,
founded
numbers,
maintained not more than two vor three, or were completely deserted, their revenues having been lost, or the buildings
At
'Without adding to our lengthened enumeration the great episcopal schools, which must be regarded as distinct institutions, but including only the numerous foundations in actual connexion with .the corporation of, the university,
as, for instance,
we
have incontestable evidence, and the unattached students, we are presented with a spectacle which historians have
scarcely recognised in all its significance, in this vast multi-
illusion in
but notwithstanding, even the most able and most all this learned would have held that their education was defective
of students at
130
UNIVERSITY OF PARIS.
'Towards the close of the sixteenth century, notwithstanding the disastrous religious wars, a Venetian ambassador
was
less
still
able to say,
"The
university of Paris
numbers
little
than thirty thousand students, that is to say as many as and perhaps more than all the universities of Italy put
believed to
But Bologna, in the year 1262, was generally number over twenty thousand. The enquiry naturally arises, how did this vast body of students subsist ? an enquiry which it is by no means easy to answer, for the majority had no resources of their own, and the laity had, for a long time, been contending with a new inroad upon
together."
The new
by the
assuming in
self-defence the pristine poverty of the evangelists. There were the poor scholars of the Sorbonne, the enfants pauvres of St. Thomas du Louvre the election of the rector was for
;
le
Pauvre
given to this foundation in the year 1311 requiring that ihi ponantur duodecim pauperes, an oft-recurring expression: and indeed the university was entitled to proclaim itself
"^
it
undoubtedly was.
The capites of Montaigne, who were also, and iiot without reason, known as a community of poor students, were however not the most to be pitied, even after the harsh reform which limited their diet to bread and water; there was a yet lower grade of scholars who subsisted only on charity, or upon what they might gain by waiting on feUow-students somewhat less needy than themselves^ Of Anchier Pantalion, a nephew of Pope Urban iv, by whom he was afterwards raised to the dignity of cardinal, we are told that he began his student life by carrying from the provision market the meat for the dinners of the scholars with whom he studied. This same humble little company, which formed a kind of brotherhood with a chieftain or king at its head,
included in
its
DESCRIPTION OF M. LE CLERC.
'
131
life,
The
the
memo-
chap.
t.
which survived with singular tenacity, were poverty, The students in the ardent application, and turbulence. Arts, "the artists," whose numbers in the fourfaculty of teenth century, partly owing to the reputation of the Parisian Trivium and Quadrivium, and partly in consequence of the
lies of
other chara-
ill-disciplined.
Older
faculty,
with
At the age
still
of thirty
a scholar.
facts which best explain the by a ;body of students and their masters over the affairs of religion and of the state. However serious the inconvenience and the risk of thus converting half a great city into a school, we have abundant evidence how great was the attraction exercised by this vast seminary, where the human intellect exhausted itself in efforts which perhaps yielded small fruit though they promised much. To seekers for knowledge the whole of the The narrow Montagne Latine was a second fatherland.
This indeed
is
one of the
'
the lofty houses, with -their low arch^Vays, their damp and gloomy courts, and halls strewn with straw', were never to be forgotten and when after many years old fellow-students met again at Kome or at Jerusalem, or on the fields of battle where France and England stood arrayed for conflict, they said to themselves, Nosfuimus avmul in Oarlamdia; or they remembered how they had once shouted in the ears of the watch the defiant menace, Allez aw clos Brimeau, vous trouveres a qui parler".'
streets,
;
1 The street in which the prinoipal schools were situated, was called the Rue cbifoua/rre, TicmStratnineug, or Straw Street, from the straw spread upon the floor, upon which the students reclined during the continuance of the lecture: benches and seats being forbidden by an express statute of Pope Urban Y in X366.
'In faoultate artium,'quod dioti scholares audieutes suas lectiones ia dicta facultate, sedeant in terra coram Magistro et non in scamnis aut sedibus elevatis a terra.' See Peacock on the Statutes, App. A. p. xlv.
2
l^
Clerc,
i
xiV
Siicle '
Lettres aii
92
CHAPTER
II.
ment
large
for
^its
mencement and growth of its collegiate system. We shall now, passing by for the present many interesting details,
endeavour to shew the intimate connexion existing in the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries between Paris on the
one hand and Oxford and Cambridge on the other, and the fidelity with which the features we have noted were repro-
duced in our own country. The materials that Fuller and Anthony Wood found available for their purpose, when they
sought to explore the early annals of their universities, are scanty indeed when compared with those which invited the
labours of
Du
The
university of Paris,
throughout the thirteenth century, weU-nigh monopolised the interest of the learned in Europe. Thither thought and speculation appeared irresistibly attracted it was there that
;
the
new
and
power; that new forms of scepticism rose in rapid succession, and heresies of varying moment riveted the watchful eye of Rome; that anarchy most often triumphed and flagrant vices
most prevailed; and it was from this seething centre that those influences went forth which predominated in the contemporary history of Oxford and Cambridge.
KISE OF THE ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES.
133
universities chap, il
The glimpses we
at this period are
own
and
between those
fol-
The
obscurity which
but through the drifting clouds of pestilence and famine, of internal strife and civil war, we discern enough to assure us
that whatever learning then acquired, or thought evolved, or
was carried on under conditions singularly The distractions which surrounded student life in Paris were to be found in but a slightly modified form at Oxford and at Cambridge, and indeed at all the newlyformed centres of education. The restlessness of the age
professors taught,
disadvantageous.
was
little
likely
to
Frequent mi-
how
numbers of students, in students from Paris at the great migration from Pans, m'the year 1229, availed g^^j^* themselves of King Henry's invitation to settle where they pleased in this country and the element thus infused at Cambridge is, in all probability, to be recognised in one of
*'
that large
four writs, issued in the year 1231, for the better regulation of the university, in which the presence of
is
of these writs it is expressly provided that no student shall be permitted to remain in the university unless under the the earliest trace, perhaps, tuition of some master of arts, of an attempt towards the introduction of some organization among the ill-disciplined and motley crowd that then represented the student community. An equally considerable immigration from Paris had also taken place at Oxford. The intercourse between these two centres was indeed surprisingly
It
1
Cooper's Annals,
42.
134
CHAP.
II.
Eminent Oxonians at
Paris.
'make and Wood enumerates no less than thirty-two eminent Oxonians who had also studied at Paris. Among ^]^g names are those of Giraldus Cambrensis, Daniel Merlac, Alexander Hales, Robert Grosseteste, Robert PuUeyne, Roger Bacon, Stephen Langton, .iEgidius, Richard of Cornwall, and Kilwardby; and it may be added that this list might be Considerably extended. 'Leland,' says Wood, 'in the lives
^
^_
m these
times' (sm6
anno 1230),
for
'tells
more illustrium, Anghrv/m, and accomplishment sake did go from Oxford to Paris and so
Nay, there was so great familiarity and said universities, that what one knew> the other straightway did, as a certain poet hath it thus
to Oxford again.
Et procul
et propitis
jam FrancuB
et
Anglicus eque
feceris Oxonieque.
This
familiarit)','
he adds,
'
of
any other studies but and occupied in refuting his opinions and crying down the orders of Mendicant Friars'.' We can hardly doubt that some quickening of thought must haTe resulted both from this habitual intercourse and the sudden influx of the year 1229; and that, though the foreign students were probably chiefly possessed at the time by feelings of angry dissatisfaction with Queen Blanche and William of Auvergne, and full of invectives against the obtrusive
scholastical divinity, scarce followed
froScLm-
the new orders, something must have been learnt at Cambridge respecting that new learning which was exciting such intense interest on the continent, and which the authorities of Paris had been vainly endeavouring to stifle. Within thirty years of this event Cambridge and Oxford
spirit of
tafe*
*^iir
abodes.
The
division into
1
nations
I
'
Wood-Gutoh,
206214.
135
chap. n.
"""^
some extent represented in England by that North and South, and was a special source of discord
students.
among the
The
animosities described
by these
long
by special enactment. It was in the year 1261 that an encounter at Cambridge between two students, representatives of the opposing parties, gave rise to a general aflfiray. The townsmen took part with either side, and a sanguinary and brutal struggle ensued. Outrage of every kind was committed; the houses were plundered, and the records of the university burnt. It was in consequence of these disturbances that a body of students betook themselves to Northampton, whither a like
migration, induced
Migration
had already taken place ^^J^ from Oxford. The royal licence was even obtained for the *" establishment of another studium generale, but to use the
by similar
causes,
new
full
1264 the emigrants were ordered by special mandate to return to the scenes they had quitted. Within three-quarters of a century from this event a like migration took place from Oxford to Stamford, a scheme logratim which to judge from subsequent enactments was persevered to stamxoid. in with some tenacity'. It would be surely an ignoble estibachelor,' for in the year
^
file
to pass, which ronneth DoctriTug Hudium quod nunc viget ad Vada Boum Tempore venturo celebraMtur ad Vada Saxi.' Wood-Gutcb, I 425. Vada Bourn is here for Ox/ord; Vada Saxi ioi Stoneford or Stamford. The seer however is guilty of a false etymology; the root ox being of Keltic origin and signifying water. Stamford was distinguished by the activity of the CanueUtes
wag come
thns
the old nnivergitieg and elsewhere, nntU the year 1333, when Edward III, wpaa the nrgent complaint and application of the university of Oxford, ordered all snch stndents to
penalties,
and
that efiectnally checkeid the progress of a third nniversity in this Mngdom ; and in the foUowing year the nniversity of Oxford, and most probably, likewise at the same time, the university of Cambridge, with a view to the exclusive enjoyment of
their own privileges, and the more complete suppression of this formidable rival, agreed to bind their regents by an oath, neither to teach anywhere themselves as in a university, except in Oxford or Cambridge, nor to acknowledge, as legitimate
who had an
extensive foundation
there, and taught with considerable enccess. Several halls and colleges were founded andthe remains of one of these, known as Brazen Nose College, ' Scholars exist at the present day. continued to resort to Stamford from
136
CHAP. n.
mate of the spirit that actuated these little bands which would suggest to us that their enthusiasm was a delusion, and that, as far as we can estimate the value of the learning they strove to cultivate, their text books might as well have been left behind. We shall rather be disposed to honour the
stedfastness of purpose that actuated these poor students in
artificial
and if we reflect that it is far from improbable that in some future era the studies now predominant at Osdbrd and Cambridge may seem for the greater part as much examples of misplaced energy as those to which we look back with such pitying
and
contempt,
we
meaning and worth. such gi-ounds, and on such alone, we should be glad to know more of the real status of our students at this period and the conditions under which their work was carried on in all such enquiries however we find ourselves encountered by insuperable difficulties arising from the destruction of our
chief
On
records.
it
which so fi-equently attest the inroads of the fiery element upon the archives of our university. This destruction was of a twofold character, designed and accidental the former however having played by far the more important part. A blind and unreasoning hatred of a culture in which they could neither share nor
and Cambridge certainly encountered its fuU In the numerous afi&ays between 'town' and 'gown' the hostels were often broken open by the townsmen, who plundered them of whatever
this country,
regents, those
xr\iii.
'
137
ii.
the year 1322 was marked by a similar act of Vandalism in 1381, during the insurrections then prevalent throughout the country, the populace vented their animosity in destruction on a
;
J'r'j^t'^,j''
Jirds*by Are.
Jj^*''"^
At Corpus
were destroyed. At St. Mary's the university chest was broken open, and all the documents met with a similar fate. The masters and schoto the society
lars,
muni-
exclaiming
! '
Henry
sion to
v.
Of the more general havoc wrought under royal we shall have occaspeak in another place. The conflagrations resulting
Fuiier's view
from accident were also numerous and destructive": though Fuller indeed holds it a matter for congratulation that far
greater calamity was not wrought by such casualties
soever,'
:
'
Whoill-
he
says,
'
shall consider in
contrivance of
many chimneys,
lowness of tunnels, carelessness of coals and candles, catchingness of papers, narrowness of studies, late reading, and long
an especial
opportuniforfed'fortiia
Providence preserveth those places."^ The result of these disasters has unfortunately resulted iu a positive as well as
negative
evil,
IT.-is it
.1
we
11
introduction offonjodes.
versity,
of interest in the antiquities of the unibut the absence of definite information has also
critical age,
especially
when
pre-
menfor
It
was easy
mia
'
Cooper, Aiimih, i 48, 79, 121. records of Clare Hall, which as those of one of the most ancient
^
The
college foundations would have had a special value, were lost in the fire of 1362, when the whole building
was burnt
to the ground.
138
CHAP.
II.
RISE OF
when the sceptical demanded evidence respecting charters granted by King Arthur and Cadantiquarians like Fuller,
wallader,
assert that such
and rules given by Sergius and Honorius, gravely to documents had once existed but had perished
tournaments,
and not infrequent source of disquiet to both their was the Celebration of tournaments vicinity. Many sad casualties,' says Fuller, were caused by these meetings, though ordered with the best caution. Arms and legs were often broken as well as spears. Much lewd people waited on these assemblies, light housewives as well as light horsemen repaired thereunto. Tea, such was
uuivcrsities
'
Another ...
i,
'
men
all
all
the night,
provisions being
unconscionably enhanced.
In a word, so
many war
horses
were brought hither, that Pegasus was likely himself to be shut out for where Mars keeps his terms there the Muses
;
their vacation.'
"^
^
,
Orders at Cambridge,
The Franciscans.
be necessary further to illustrate the presence ^ of those disturbing elements in which Cambridge shared scarcely less than Paris itself; the mingled good and evil resulting from the influence of the Mendicants were also equally her heritage. It is however to be noted, that while at Paris the Dominicans obtained the ascendancy. throughout England the Franciscans were the more nume rous and influential body. At Cambridge, as early as 1224, the latter had established themselves in the Old Synagogue", and fifty years later had erected on the present site of Sidney a spacious edifice, which Ascham long afterwards
It will not
.
1 have but one true and sad ans-wer to return to all their questions, " They are burnt." ' (Fuller, Hist. of the Univ. p. 84). These forgeries are given in MSS. Hare, i
'
We
the
first of our antiquarians to perceive their real value. The absurd anachronisms they contain are point-
13. What opinion Hare himself had of their genuineness he has not Baker was perhaps left on record.
fratres burgenses
eis
villffl,
assignantes
contigua oarceri.
Cum
vero intole-
13.9
ii.
which were
still,
In 1274 the Dominicans settled Tiie Dominiwhere Emmanuel now stands. About the middle of the century, the Carmelites, who had originally occupied an The carmciextensive foundation at Newnham, but were driven from
in the college grounds.
thence by the winter inundations, settled near the present site of Queens' towards the close of the century, the
;
Augustinian Friars, the fourth mendicant order, took up their residence near the site of the old Botanic Gardens
opposite to Peterhouse were the
thc Augmti-
White Canons
Jesus was
of
foundation
St.
St.
Hospital
all
the
Brethren of
John
while overshadowing
t
'
the rest in
The
A)igusti-
wealth and importance there rose in the immediate neighp k r^ -r n bourhood the priory oi the Augustinian Canons at Barnwell. The general organisation of both Oxford and Cambridge was, as we have already seen, modelled on that of Paris, and it will here be well to point out what appear to have been
^ Canons
atBnmweii.
"iy"o^ "^nu"
**
En^'Sh
'''"^"""''
the main outlines of that organization in the period when the colleges either did not exist or exercised no appreciable
influence on the university at large.
It is to
be remembered
the
that at a time
medium
of
communication between most educated men, the vehicle of pulpit oratory and of formal instruction, the language of
it was as upon a prescribed course of academic study, as would be the ability to read and write his mother tongue in the present day. Though therefore
nearly
all
first stage of the Trivium, denoted an acquaintance with the Latin language generally,
was customary in the earliest times to delegate to a nonacademic functionary the instruction of youth in the elements
it
of the language.
Such,
if
we adopt the
quod eundem ingreBsum habebant carcerarii et fratres, dedit dominus Eex decern marcaa ad emeudum reditum quod satis fieret saccario bug
unus oarpentarius in una die f aoeret, et erigeret una die xiv coplas tignorum.' MonumentaFranciscana, p. 18.
14!0
was the function of the Magister Qlomerice, an whosc duties have been the subject of considerable Function of Qhy^ia!" Controversy among those who have occupied themselves with
CHAP.
II.
jecture,
officer
It is
not necessary to
beyond the merest rudiments, an excerpt probably from the text of Priscian, whose treatise formed the groundwork of the lecture to the university student. The Tnviwm and Quadrivium formed the ordinary course of study, culminating as it was theoretically assumed in theology, but often abandoned on the completion of the Trivium, (which represented the undergraduate course of study,) for the superior
attractions of the civil
If
and canoa
law.
we now
the university,
we
shall scarcely
be able to
offer
a more
by the
'
Statuta
ontiine from
A ntiqua
^.
The
con-
Peacock of
the early
constitution
o^brtlS-"*
two houses of regents and nou-regents I The chancellor was chosen biennially by the regents, and might, upon extraordinary occasions, be contiaued
sisted of a chancellor,
and
of the
He summoned
convocations or
' The body of Statutes from which dean Peacock's oatline is derived is
incjreaae of the nnmber of colleges, the changes of the government, and the reformation of religion, neces-
produced great changes in the condition, character, and views, of the great body of students, and in the relation of teachers to those who were taught, yet we can discover no attempt to disturb the distribution of the powers exercised by the chancellor and the houses of regents and non-regents, or even to change matcriaUy the customary methods of teaching, or the forms and periods of graduation. Observations, pp. 26, 27. ' Eegere like legere (see p. 74) was to teach : the regents were those engaged in teaching, the non-regents those who had exercised that function but no longer continued to do so.
sarily
'
141
the
common
utility,
No
own
graces, as the
name
in
some
all
He
presided in his
court, to
^^^^^_
'*""
He
for
of the readings
of the masters and though a vice-chancellor, or president, might be appointed by the regents from year to year, to relieve him from some portion of his duties, yet he was not
allowed to intrust to
to the valuation
hostels, or of
from the university or imprisonment. A later statute, expressive of the jealous feeling with which the university
began to regard the claim of the bishop of Ely to visitatorial power and confirmation, forbids the election of that bishop's
official to
'
the
office of chancellor.
The powers of the chancellor, though confirmed and amplified by royal charters, were unquestionably ecclesiastical,
both in their nature and origin: the court, over which he presided, was governed by the principles of the canon as well as of the civil law and the power of excommunication
;
'^'^'
'eSM "'"
and
of Ely, and subsequently from the pope, became the most prompt and formidable instniment for extending his authority the form, likewise, of conferring degrees, and the kneeling
posture of the person admitted, are indicative both of the act and of the authority of an ecclesiastical superior.'
'It is very necessary,' adds
dean Peacock,
'in considering
142
CHAP.
It.
from those of the regents or non-regents for the authority of the chancellor had an origin independent of the regents, distinguished j i* ta from those of and iiis prcvious concurrence was necessary to srive validity the regents ., ,. and nonhe constituted, to their acts fact, a distinct estate in the
His powers
i
.
regents.
m
.
'
and though he owed his appointto the regents, he was not necessarily a member of their body, and represented an authority and exercised powers which were derived from
:
academical commonwealth
ment,
in
the
first
instance,
external sources.
istence of
The ancient
Important
distinction in
two great divisions of the members of the second estate of our commonwealth, the houses of regents and nonregents, which have continued to prevail to the present time, though with great modification of their relative powers. The onactments of these statutes would lead us to conclude,
*^^* ^^ *^^ earliest ages of the university, the regents alone,
possesseTby
bodies.'"
as forming the acting body of academical teachers and readers, were authorised to form rules for the regulation of the terms
of admission to
who were
affairs.
proper administration
find, that if
of their
We
consequently
a regent ceased to read, he immediately became am alien to the governing body, and could only be permitted to resume the functions and exercise the privileges of the
regency,
after
prescribed forms, and under the joint sanction of the chancellor of the university
of regents.
The
franchises
of
number
and advantages, increased very greatly the permanent residents in the university, who had
the
who were
statutes of their
The operation of these causes produced own societies. a body of non-regents, continually increasing in number and
^^.^^
importance,
^^.K,^^x>.^i
ON OF CAMBRIDGE.
143
ii.
were not immediately connected with the proper functions r r 01 the regency and we consequently find that at the period when our earliest existing statutes were framed, the nonregents were recognized as forming an integrant body in the
;
nou-regents
at a later
p"*-
exercising a concurrent jurisdiction with the house of regents in all questions relating to the property, revenues, public
rights,
privileges,
university.
Under
assembly, who deliberated in common upon affairs which were of great public moment. When graces were submitted by the chancellor to the
'
approbation of the senate, the proctors collected the votes and announced the decision in the house of regents, and the
scrutators in that of the non-regents;
from the
they were proposed to the senate, were submitted to the discussion and approbation of a council or caput, which was usually appointed at the beginning of each congi-egation.
Under very
when
'
he obstinately refused the sanction of his authority for taking measures for the punishment of those who had injured or insulted a regent or a community; for, in such a case, as appears by a very remarkable statute \ the proctors were empowered, by their sole authority, to call a congregation of regents only, or of both regents and non-regents, notwithstanding any customs which might be contrary to so violent and unusual a mode of proceeding.
1
De
144
'
The two
vice-chancellor,
officers in
were
the'
most
important
administrative
annually, on
the university.
and two junior regents standing in scrutiny and collecting they regulated absolutely the times and modes of reading, disputations, and inceptions in the public schools, and the public ceremonies of the university they superintended the markets, with a view to the supply of wine, bread, and other necessaries for the scholars, and to the suppression of monopolies and forestallings and those other frauds, in the daily transactions of buyers and sellers, which furnished to our ancestors the occasions of such frequent and
the votes
;
extraordinary
affairs
legislation;
they
managed the
pecuniary
Bedels.
and finances of the university; they possessed the power of suspending a gremial from his vote, and a nongremial from his degrees, for disobeying their regulations or resisting their lawful authority,; they collected the votes and announced the decisions of the house of regents, whose peculiar officers they were they examined the questionists by themselves or by their deputies they superintended or controlled all public disputations and exercises, either by themselves or by their officers the bedels they administered the oaths of admission to all degrees, and they alone were competent to confer the important privileges of the regency ^. 'The Other officers of the university were the bedels, scrutators, and taxors. The bedels were originally two in number, who were elected by grace by the concurrent authority of the regents and non-regents in their respective houses. The first was called the bedel of theology and canon law, and the other of arts, from their attending the schools of those faculties. They were required to be in
;
1 'The proctors were also authorised in those days of poverty, to take pledges for the payment of fees, which were usually jewels or manuscripts these books or manuscripts were valued by the university stationarii (thebookseller3),who were not unfrequently bribed to cheat the univereity by putting a price upon them
realised, in case the pledges were not redeemed. By a late Statute {sea Statuta AntiqvM No. 182) no manuscript written or book printed, on paper instead of vellum, was allowed to be received in pledge.' Peacock's Observations on
145
ti.
and
'
by the non-regents at scrutators. each congregation, to collect the votes and announce the decisions of their house, in the same manner as was done by
The two
regents,
The two taxors were regents appointed by the house of Taxom who were empowered, in conjunction with two
Henry
iii.
They
in
making the
assize of bread
and
beer,
and
in the affairs
of
Oxford
but a
Ji>| working
much
itself for
was in those actually engaged in the J o o and in no one else, that work the management of the university was vested. The diffiation, 7
fact that it
the
culties of
it is
in
versity,
no way a tradition in the constitution of the unibut a comparatively modern anomaly, which still
efforts of those who are active labourers in her midst dependent for the sanction of whatever plans they may devise to render her discipline and instruction more
makes the
upon those who are neither residents nor teachers. was not until the year 1318 that Cambridge received r Tk T from Pope John xxii a formal recognition as a Studium Generate or Universitas^, whereby the masters and scholars
effective,
It
PI
Papai
recognition
'^'^S}^'}?i">
'^'^^<^-
^ Brian Twyne, with his usual unfairness, endeavours to -wrest this fact into evidence that Cambridge, before this time, had no claim to be
considered a university ' quse essent admodum ridioula, si ante illud tempus Cantabrigia aut studium generale, aut Universitas habita fu:
10
'
146
CHAP.
II.
Among
tion, doctors of
own
throughout Christen-
dom
power
the province,
It appears
these
all
powers, so far as
members
of
the
not admitted by
much
set
in
Process.
The Mendicants.
If
we now turn
consider the
character
of the in-
tellectual activity
which
at this period, we shall find that, as at Paris, it was the Mendicants who assumed the leadership of thought, and also, for a time at least, bore the brunt of that unpopularity which papal extortion and ambition called up among the
laity at large.
Increase of their power, and rapid
decline of their popularity.
is, perhaps, no instance in English history, of any body undergoing so sudden and complete a change in popular esteem, as that afforded in this century by the new orders. They entered and established themselves in the country amid a tide of popularity that overbore all opposition; before less than thirty years had passed their warmest supporters were disavowing them. The first symptoms of a change are observable in the alarm and hostility
There
religious
isset,
versitatiB,
dagogik, iv 11.)
But
a Eomanis pontificibiis obtinuisset. (Antiq. Acad. Oxon. Apologia, p. 111.) It is of course true that in the case of the majority of the universities created prior to the Reformation, the granting of the Papal Bull was coincident with their first foundation.
(See
nothing with respect to Paris and Bologna, Oxford and Cambridge. The origin and formation of these
universities
is
lost
in
obscurity.
'Das
gilt,'
says
keiner deutschen Universitat, man liennt bei alien die Geschichte ihrer Bntstehung.' iv 6.
Von Raumer,
147
chap.
ii.
which the regular orders found themselves unable any longer to disguise. It soon became apparent that the friar so far from representing merely the humble missionary
to
whom
complacently resigned, was likely to prove a formidable and unscrupulous rival in the race for influence and wealth.
Among
familiar
of his
the
first
aeacribedty'
language,
is
pari^^"
by official experience with the defects and scandals own order, and distinguished by the energy with which
to bring
he sought
orders
:
Writing
In
'
new
this
gether with some of the order of Preachers, did with extreme impudence and in forgetfulness of the professions of their
order, secretly
make
their
way into
under the pretext of the performance of their duties and as though intending to depart after they had preached on the
morrow
((post
crastinam prcedicationem).
Under the
altar
pi'etence
however of
their stay;
illness or of
some other
and placed
many
in order, forsooth,
might confess
to
whom
they might
sin,
intemperance; to such
to prescribe
it
As
1
Historia
419.
MS.
Cott. Nero.
I have generally referred to this fa. manuscript -when using the Historia Major of Matthew Paris. It *as
given by John Stow, the antiquary, to Archbishop Parker, and the second part (aim. 1189 1250) was, in the
102
148
CHAP.
II.
Description
by Matthew
Paris of the
nvalry be-
account SO grave a scandal and descants thereon with wellj t 'And as though/ he says, 'no part of the horizon might appear unvisited by storms/ (he is
a controversy now arose between the brothers Minor and the Preachers, which excited the astonishment of not a few, inasmuch as these orders appeared
1
243)
'
to
For while the Preachers asserted that, as the older order, they were the more worthy, that they were more decent in their apparel, had worthily merited their name and office by their preaching, and were more truly distinguished by the apostolic dignity; the brothers Minor replied, that they had embraced in God's service a yet more ascetic and humble life, and one which as of greater humility was of greater worth, and that brethren both might and ought freely to pass over from the Preachers to themselves, as from an inferior order to one more austere and of higher dignity. This the Preachers flatly denied, affirming that though the brothers Minor went barefoot, coarsely clad {viriliter tumcati) and girded with a rope, the permission to eat flesh and even yet more luxurious diet, and that too in public, was not
refused to them,
far therefore
and patience.
a thing forbidden
in their
own
order
so
to enter
worthy than their own, the direct contrary was to be maintained. Therefore between these two bodies, as between the Templars and Hospitallers in the Holy Land, the enemy of
the
human
race having
;
sown
and scandalous
strife arose
one
too, all
entire Church inasmuch as it was between men of learning and scholars (viri literati et scholares) and seemed to forbode some great judgement imminent. It is a terrible, an awful
presage, that in three or four hundred years or more, the monastic orders have not so hurried to degeneracy, as have these new orders, who, within less than four-and-twenty
149
ir.
Kings.
England mansions as lofty as tlie palaces of chap. These are now they who, enlarging day by day their sumptuous edifices and lofty walls, display their countless
wealth, transgressing without shame, even
as the
German
HUdegard
foretold,
force themselves
by the love of gain, upon the great and wealthy in the hour of death, to the wrong and contempt of the ordinary priests, so that they may seize upon emoluments, extort confessions and secret wills, extolling themselves and their order above all the rest. Insomuch that none of the faithful now believe that they can secure salvation unless guided by the counsels of the Preachers and the Minorites. Eager in the pursuit
basis of their profession ; who, impelled
palaces of Kings
and
nobles,
as
chamberlains, treasurers,
and
In their preaching
they are
now
flatterers,
now
now
revealers of confessions,
now
St.
reckless accusers.
As
for
whom
The
It
the Black
Monks
as
open
trial of
was not long before this arrogance brought about an strength between the old and the new orders.
the wealthiest religious houses throughout the country
Mendfomts
orders,
Among
was the monastery at the ancient town of Bury St. Edmund's; originally a society of canons, it had, for reasons which we can only surmise, and contrary to the tradition of the Danish monarchs, been converted by Cnut into a Benedictine foundation, and its revenues had been largely augmented by
In defiance of the prohibitions of the abbat, and backed by some influential laymen, the
successive benefactors.
Franciscans endeavoured in the year 1258 to establish themstruggle ensued which lasted for g^e selves at Bury.
ti.o
Fmnds-
"""^''''fy-
years.
The
1
friars
monks
de-
Wats,
p. 612.
MS.
150
CHAP.
II.
molished.
but their
while Alexander
by the latter to Rome, proved of but small avail lu the year the papal chair.
carried
and his successor Urban IV issued a mandate requiring the Franciscans to quit the town; they succeeded in avoiding actual expulsion by an unconditional
1261 that pontiff
submission to the authority of the abbat but not before their protracted resistance to the jurisdiction of a foundation of such acknowledged dignity and antiquity, had, according to
;
Matthew
\'
In other quarters, where they managed to enlist on their new comers proved too
In
town'"'.
Order at Canterbury, acting in conjunction with the townspeople, nearly succeeded in driving the
monks
of Christchurch
difficulty
from the
city,
But a policy thus aggressive could not long be popular, and it would seem that even during the
allayed the
strife.
PapaUxor'""'
the Meudicauts had begun to ebb. Foremost among the causes of this change must be placed the fact that they
It
was in the year 1249 that two messengers belonging to the Franciscan order arrived in England, armed with authority from Innocent iv to extort whatever money they could from
the different dioceses, for the use of 'their lord the Pope.'
The king, the historian tells us, was conciliated by their humble demeanour, the missives they presented, and their bland address. He gave them permission to proceed on
' Matthew Paris, ed. Wats, pp. 967 8, and 970; Register Werketone, Harleian MS. 638; Dugdale, Mo-
collatis sibi a
cumjacentibus de quibus Prior et oonventuB redditua debent peroipere, in magnum ejuadem domus detrimeutum, in brevi satagunt ampliare. Et
ipsi in iedifioiis et spatiis latioribus augmentantur, tanto Prior et oonventus in bonis suis et juribus angustiantui' ; quia redditus quos a messuagiis fratribus collatis reoeperant, sibi nunc pereunt ; et oblationes, qua3 eis dari consueverant, fratres jam noviter venientes, prsdicationibus suis urgentibus, funditus usurpant.' Matthew Paris, p. 986.
quantum
151
money
chap.
ii.
as a free offering
and
resort to
ornamented with
selves
gold.
to Grosseteste at
J,e,'t"en The
me^SigeS
Grosseteste
among
their number,
won by
their devotion,
earnestness and missionary zeal. It must accordingly have been a sad disenchantment for the good bishop, and his heart must have sunk within him, as he looked on the two messengers and listened to their demands. Of what avail were his efforts on behalf of church reform, his stern dealings with
whom
his
hopes
were
thus
falling
away from
their profession?
sum
and would be equally impossible and dishonorable, he declared, to pay it; nor would he even entertain their application until he had consulted the rulers of the state. Disconcerted and repulsed they remounted their horses and rode away. It was not however the only time that the Mendicants appeared before him on such an errand on his death-bed he lamented the manner in which
they had lent themselves to the extortionate pohcy of Rome, though he still strove to believe that they were only its
unwilling accomplices.
But such
The
virtues of the
Mendicants,
it
be more enduring than those of the Cistercians or the Camuldules; as the morning cloud and as the early dew
that quickly goeth away, so passed the fair promise of the
Dominic and St. Francis of Assisi. would perhaps be unjust not to recognise the fact, that It the Mendicants lay under a special disadvantage in that they encountered to a far greater extent than any preceding order
followers of St.
societies.
152
CHAP.
II.
RISE OF
parochial clergy.
Rapid detiionow
orders.
mode
censured and decried, by their unscrupulous zeal. * For a time, by talents of an essentially popular order, they managed to retain their hold on the affections of the common
people,
their
example of mendicity
it is
almost surprising
England did not turn able-bodied beggars. But with the fourteenth century their character and popularity rapidly declined, and even before the close of the thirteenth, it had become manifest that the new movement which had enlisted the warm sjntnpathies of the most pious of monarchs, the most sagacious of popes, and the most highminded of English ecclesiastics, was destined, like so many other efforts commencing in reform, to terminate only in yet deeper Gonsideremus religiosos, says Roger Bacon, *^S^^6racy. BogMBMon writing in the year 1271, himself a Franciscan friar, nvMum spres^'?^-' Videamus quantwm ceciderimt singidi a thereiJgious orditieni excludo. day. statu debito, et novi ordines jam horribiliter labefacti sunt a
pristina dignitate.
avaritice^;
et
and,
recalling
the
he solemnly
declares,
ficere in sapientia^.
homo deditus peccatis non potest proThe literature of England during the
'artillery
and
MenWhether we turn to
the homely satire of the Vision of Piers the Ploughman, the composition of a Londoner of the middle class, or to the masterly delineations of the different phases of contemporary
society
man
of the world,
or
we
among
the
' Comp. Studii Philosophic, c. 1. This treatise, written in 1271, must be carefully distinguished from the Compendium Studii Theologice et per
Philosophic, written in
Ihid.
c. 6.
GEOSSETESTE.
the
153
it
new
culminates chap.
ii.
of the Fran-
gJJ^^^J^f^
knocked at his door. It marks the reputation which he had eveu in his lifetime achieved, that though his closing years were vexed by arduous contention, though the Pope appeared to him as Antichrist, and his dauntless spirit as a reformer had called up unnumbered enemies at home, it was yet believed that at the hour of his death celestial music was heard in the air, and bells of more than earthly melody chimed untouched by human hand'. Legend has surely often graced a far less deserving name. His friend Simon de Montfort wrought not a greater work in the world politic, than did Grosseteste in that of literature and in the Church. He had stimulated he had enriched the education he had revived learning stores of the theologian he had brought back discipline and suppressed abuses among the older religious orders, he had been a father to the new he had confronted the extortion of the Roman pontiff, in the noonday of the papal power, with a courage which still endears his memory to Englishmen and, though his hand had been heavy on the Beneemissaries
; ;
^^^^l^e^.
^"'^
that bound
if
him
it
on record,
Testimony oi
in pregnant
correptor,
monachorum
presbyterorum
director,
^^J^*
clericorum instructor,
scrutator diversarum,
Romanorum
mnlleus
et
contemptor.
^fiai^^'tim
""'" '"""^"k-
During the latter part of his life Grosseteste's attention appears to have been given to the new learning scarcely less than to the new orders, and he had sought to promote the
1 "
Matthew
'
humanua
154
CHAP. iL study
by inviting Greek
scholars
over to this
country,
whom
His own scholarship did not enable him to translate from the original unaided, but as soon as he had gained the assistance of others, he at once perceived that by
at St. Alban's.
far the greater
number
comprehension of Aristotelian thought were to be attributed to the wretched character of the existing translations and the
mechanical
their task.
Hetramiates
which the translators had performed we may refer the fact, which there seems no good reason for calling in question, that he himself caused to be prepared, and superintended the prospirit
in
To
this conviction
duction
His opinion
of the existing
of,
new
translation
*'
of the
Ethics'.
Of such
'
STristot"e.
were already in use he utterly despaired, and ^ l assertod that those who wished to understand Aristotle must study him in the original. His views were fully shared
translations as
Roger^a*d. 1292.
and admirer, Roger Bacon. Sure am I,' says it would have been better for the Latins had the wisdom of Aristotle remained untranslated, than that it should be handed down amid such obscurity and perversity, as it now is by those who expend thereon the labours of thirty or forty years and who the more they toil the less they know as I have ascertained to be the case with those who have adhered to the writings of Aristotle. On which
by
his disciple
'
'
^jjg latter,
that
account
my
memory, entirely neglected the books of Aristotle and their modes of reasoning Had I the power, I would have all
the books of Aristotle burnt, as
cause of error to study them.'
it is
Of the
niences resulting from the use of such translations, he had, indeed, himself had some experience, for when lecturing on
Aristotle in the schools at Oxford,
alighted on some
Lombard
by
unknown Latin
:
The
tion
Bacon, sa Vie,
Ouvrages,
etc.
(Paris, 1861) p. 328 but see Jourdam, Recherches Critiques, p. 59, and Mr Luard's Preface to the Epistoke.
,
ROGER BACON.
equivalents,
155
ii.
and on
had openly derided his perplexity'. The efforts of Aquinas towards remedying defects like these, do not appear to have elicited any eulogium from the Oxford Franciscan, while William of Moerbecke is singled out by him for special attack and the following verdict, delivered in his Compendium
;
may
probably be
:
we have numerous
the Geraian, there
Though by Gerard
'
^fhe"""'
teanaiator
Hermann
such an utter
For a translation to
be true, it is necessary that a translator should know the language from which he is translating, the language into which he translates, and the science he wishes to translate. But who is he ? and I will praise him, for he has done marvellous things. Certainly none of the above named had any
true knowledge of the tongues or the sciences, as
is
clear,
life.
Hermann
Gerard,
the German,
intimate with
is still alive,
and a bishop.
When
I questioned
him
about certain books of logic which he had to translate from the Arabic, he roundly told me he knew nothing of logic
and therefore did not dare to translate them and certainly if he was unacquainted with logic he could know nothing of any other science as he ought. Nor did he understand Arabic, as he confessed, because he was rather an assistant in the translations than the real translator. For he kept Saracens about him in Spain who had a principal hand in In the same way Michael the Scot claimed his translations. the merit of numerous translations. But it is certain that Andrew, a Jew, laboured at them more than he did. And
;
And
who
now
p. 287.
in such
reputation.
1
Whereas
it is
well
known
156
CHAP.
II.
RISE OF
he is ignorant of the sciences in the original Greek, to which he makes such pretensions and therefore he translates falsely, and corrupts the philosophy of the
Paris, that
;
Latins. For Boethius alone was well acquainted with the tongues and their interpretation. My lord Robert, by reason
of his long
knew
ants'.'
nifficuities of
life and the wonderful methods he employed, the sciences better than any other man for though lie
;
assist-
lus career.
is
Oxford when he essayed to prosecute his scientific researches, a familiar tale. While Albertus and Aquinas were the
of
guests
royalty and
English
of his
friar,
as far as
we can
for
life,
was atoning
and banishment and while Aquinas was trusting to such aid as he could find in men like William of Moerbecke for a clearer insight into the thought of Aristotle, the occupant of the humble cell at Oxford had, by his almost unaided efforts, raised himself to be the first scholar of his age.
honorable,
isolation, disgrace,
s^^dai value
writings.
by
Roger Bacon have a value of an almost They not only give us an insight into the learning of the age, such as is afforded by the writings of no
Writings of
The
unique kind.
other Englishman in the thirteenth or the succeeding century, but they also supply us with that
most assuring
of all
corroborations
our estimate of a remote and obsolete culture, the concurring verdict of a contemporary observer. When the Oxford friar denounces the extravagance, the fri-
in
volity,
lest
and the shortcomings of his time, we feel less diffident own impressions may be chiefly those of mere prejudice and association; and, in bringing to a termination our
our
we can scarcely do better than record the conclusions wherein his penetrating inteUect has summed up
sketch of this era,
1
InedUa,
ROGER BACON.
its
157
chap.
ii.
stem indictment, as his eagle glance ranged over the domain of knowledge, and noted with what caprice, what perversity, what blindness, the labourers yet tilled, planted, and essayed to gather fruit on an ungrateful soil, while all around them broad and fertile acres stretched far and wide It or faded from the gaze on the dim and distant horizon. o was in the year 1267 that Bacon completed those three treatises
His three
treatisea,
J^^f"'"*
which he had, in obedience to the wishes of his patron Pope Clement IV, drawn up in illustration of his views, and which, known as the Opus Majus, the Opus Minus, and the Opus Tertium}, are still extant, and constitute so remarkable a monument of his genius. It is from these writings, together his censures with two other treatises written at a later period, that we and vices of gain an insight into the actual education of the time, such as we should vainly seek elsewhere and as the writer reviews with scornful impartiality the errors and defects of the pre;
vailing methods,
we seem
humble
alike
his
friar of
the days
of
Henry
III.
;
His
censure
falls
and Franciscan
theology",
and
to
whom
the true
he notes with
upon the
on the
It
may
be of service
liere
to
enmuerate the different treatises by Bacon to which reference will frequently be made, with the assumed (a) Opus dates of their composition Majus (edited by Dr Jebb, 1733) *(j3) Opus Minus (extant only as a fragment); *(7) Opus Tertium (intended as a preface to the two former), composed 1266 67 in compliance with the request of Pope Clement IV *(5) Compendium Studii
:
Opus Minus, ed. Brewer, p. 322. Ibid. p. 325 327. ' ibi est tota gloria theologo-
Nam
rum, quse facit onus unius equi. Et postquam ilium legerit quis, jam
prsesumit se de magistro theologise, quamvis non audiat tricesimam partern sui textus. Et bacularius qui
(e)
(still
Compendium in manu-
textum sucoumbit lectori Sententiarum Parisius. Et ubique et in omnibus honoratur et prsefertur. Nam ille qui legit Sententias habet principalem horam legend! secundum suam voluntatem, habet et sooium
legit
158
CHAP.
II.
RISE OF
youth and inexperienc& of those from whom the ministers of the Church were recruited', the overweening attention given to the study of the civil law as the path to
he proToser
honour and emolument*. ^^^ Bacon was no mere iconoclast and while he severely scrutinised existing defects he was not less explicit in the remedies he advocated. Logic was, indeed, to be dethroned, but its place was to be filled by two other studies, which he
;
all
and the study of mathematics. To the prevailing ignorance of the original tongues he ascribes the confusion then so rife utter want of in theologv and philosophv. The earliest revelation to man '^^ * x grammatical ^^^ been handed down in the Hebrew tongue the thought ania'^u^ of Aristotle was enshrined in Greek that of Avicenna, in Arabic^. How important then that these languages should be thoroughly known And yet, he affirms, though there are many who can speak these languages, there is an almost
./
ignorance of them in their grammatical structure. There are not four men among all the Latins,' he writes, who know the Hebrew, the Greek, and the Arabic tongues grammatically; I know what I say, for I have instituted rigorous inquiry, both at home and abroad, and have gone to considerable pains in the matter'^.' Of the great work, which amid all the puerilities and extravagancies of dialectics was
utter
'
'
by the schoolmen, the subtlety, preand vastly extended nomenclature that they were imparting to the Romance languages, he seems to have had no conception. It is to Mathematics however that he assigns the foremost
really being performed
cision,
et
cameram apud
religiosos.
Sed
cum
men-
dieat horam legendi, secundum quod placet lectori Sententiarum.' Ibid. p. 329. 1 Ibid. p. 330. Ibid. p. 323, 363. ^ Compendium Studii Philosophiai, p. 426. ^ 'Nam plus laudatur in ecolesia
et theologiam, quam unus magister in theologia, et oitius eligitur ad ecolesiastieas dignitates.' Opns
Ibid. p. 32.
'
Nam non
grammaticam Hebrseormn, et Grsecorum, et Arabum bene enim cognosco eos, quia et citra mare et
q^ii
sciant
civilis, licet
solum
ROGEK BACON.
place.
159
ii.
Divine Mathesis, and she alone, can purge the intel- chap.
lectual vision,
and
fit
all vaiueattached by
""^
knowledge*.
As
Mathematics,
Church mathematics were almost unknown, and consequently could scarcely have been either condemned or approved; but, so far as any evidence existed to shew, had not Isidorus carefully discriminated between the use and abuse of the science, in the distinction he had drawn between the study of astronomy, and that of astrology or magic"? The uses of logic cannot, he insists, compare with those of mathematical or linguistic studies, for though its terminology is a matter of acquirement in the language which we speak, the reasoning faculty is itself innate, and, as Aristotle had himself
Amid
the
many
career,
to
and how long language and mathematics would be doomed wait without her gates while logic reigned supreme
within.
And yet there were grounds for hope in the events that were going on around him for at the time that these three treatises were written, there had already been founded at Oxford an institution, to which indeed we find no reference in his writings'*, but which we cannot but suppose must have suggested to him a coming age when learning should be set
;
free
>
'
si
omnia seiantur
quia omnes per mathematicam, seientise sunt oonnexse (ut superius licet quseUbet simul cum hac dixi)
p.
Mr Peroival, in Mb edition of the of Merton College (Oxford, 1847), has stated in his Introduction, that Eoger Bacon ...taught philosophy and rhetoric in the schools of Merton;' an assertion
*
Foundation Statutes
'
Tbid. p. 26.
'Delogioaenimnonest vistauta,
quia soimus earn per naturam, licet vocabula logica inHngua, qua utimur, quserimus per doctrinam.' Ibid. p.
102.
which appears hardly reconcilable with what we know of Bacon's life; and I may add, on the authority of Mr Coxe of the Bodleian, that no known existing sources of information throw any light on the queption.
160
haunted his Franciscan cell. The walls of Merton College were already reared', and though his soul would have been but little gladdened could it have descried, in the future, Duns Scotus descanting to breathless audiences on the mysteries of the intentio secunda, he might have derived some solace could he have foreseen the work of Occam and Wyclif.
The schools of Oxford had been rising rapidly in impoi-tance ever since the arrival of the Franciscans in England.
Under the
auspices of Grosseteste,
first
in his capacity of
rector scholarum
and subsequently as diocesan', and under the teaching of Adam de Marisco and others of the Franciscan order, the university began to attain to that celebrity which
culminated in the early part of the following century.
It
would not appear however that either Grosseteste, or Adam de Marisco, or even Roger Bacon, though all more or less keenly alive to the evils resulting from the abuse of the papal power and the laxity of monastic discipline, had ever seriously contemplated the severance of the work of education from
its traditional
associations.
new
Progress of the conception of foundations for the secular Clergy.
many
of
So
far
The
notion
bequeathed 310 marks for the support of poor scholars. His bequest remained unapplied for many years, during which interval Merton College was founded. Mr Anstey considers
that Anthony Wood is guilty of some disingenuousness in claiming, under
these circumstances, the priority for Merton ; before Merton College was finally established William of Durham's bequest had been all applied by the university in the purchase of houses, and statutes given for the halls founded therewith. ' Introd. to
'
Munimenta Academica,
"
p. xxix.
Luard,
Introd.
to
Grosseteste
xl.
and
SECtTLAE FOUNDATIONS.
of Metz'.
161
n.
The
sapremacy of the family of Eadgar had been adverse to the canons, who had been displaced from the colleges and cathebut the dral churches to make room for the Benedictines Danish monarchs not unnaturally sympathised with the
;
for
Cnut indeed appears to have been guided more by local Cnit. considerations than by any abstract theory, and favoured the two parties alternately* but Harold, the noble-hearted and wide-minded Harold, was throughout distinguished as canonicce regulce strenuus institutor^, and his foundation at ^^^J^n**'' Waltham has been recently, and for the first time, brought ** "'^"'';
1 Prof. Stabbs, Introd. to De Inrentione Sanct<e Grucis, etc. pp. viii. is.; and iBtrod. to EpistoUe Cantua-
riensfs, p. xvii.
Tanner-Nasmith, pp. 84, 207, 504. See also Mr C. H. Pearson's observationB in Historical Maps of England, p. 54. 'It was,' says Professor Stnbbs, 'unfortunately the policy of the monks and their advocates to claim an original right to all monastic churches, and to aggrandize themselves whenever they could with the occupation of those to which they had not the original claim, on the ground of their sanctity. In this way no prescription against them was allowed to defeat their existing claims, and the shortest prescription in their favour was pressed against the most just claim of the seculars. To turn a church of clerks into a monastery was a merit of great efficiency for the remission of sins, but to turn a monastery into a secular church was an unheard-of impiety.' Introd. to Epist. Cant. p. xxv. ' He is so described in the can imacharter of Waltham. ' gine,' says Professor Stubbs, 'the reasons that made bixn so the foreign predilections of the monks, favoured by the simple monarch on the throne; the decay of learning which was beginning to be felt in the institutions which had the monopoly of it, and which it was reserved for the energy of Lancaster to counteract ; and the danger which
and sympathies from the people and wielded by worldly men, always entails on the religion and happiness of a nation. The monks, like the
were always in extremes; sometimes before, sometimes behind the age. The heroic
friars in later times,
patriotism displayed by some of their fraternities at the moment of the Conquest and shortly after it, would, if anything could, disprove this statement but the effort was short and spasmodic, and served but to rivet the fetters on the people, who would
:
it
had
earlier.
secular colleges of the most likely means of raising up a clergy whose knowledge of mankind, general learning, and
The multiplication of
was one
thorough sympathy with Englishmen, might improve the character and help to save the souls of the people Harold loved. Alfred and Eadward the Elder, Athelstan and
Cnut, had shewn their sense of this by secular foundations; the heroes of the monks were Ethelwulf, Eadred, and Eadgar: the contrast is a speaking one. Nor was the lesson lost on English statesmen who followed them, such as were the great
bishops of the family of Beck, archbishops Thomby and Chicheley, Walter de Merton, and William of Wykeham.' Introd. to De Inventinne, p. vii.
We
11
162
CHAP. n. before the student of this period, in its true relation to the
'Every writer of English history,' says Mr Freeman, 'as far as I know, has wholly misrepresented its nature. It is constantly spoken
Ktetton? " ^ ^^
^^ abbey, and
its
inhabitants as monks.
Waltham
founder thus gets mixed up with the vulgar crowd of monastic foundations, the creations in many cases of a real
and
its
and enlightened
superstition or
piety,
but in
many
cases
also of
mere
mere
fashion.
The
;
dation of earl Harold was something widely different. Harold did not found an abbey Waltham did not become a religious house till Henry the Second, liberal of another man's purse, destroyed Harold's foundation by way of doing honour to the new martyr of Canterbury. Harold founded a Dean and Secular Canons them King Henry drove out, and put in an Abbot and Austin Canons in their place The clergy whom Harold placed in his newly founded minster were not monks, but secular priests, each man Kving on his own prebend, and some of them, it would seem, married
;
clergy
him
the
many
eccle-
It was not only the perjurer, the usurper, but the man whose hand was closed against the monk and open to the married priest, who won the hatred of Norman
and monastic
the
writers.
of the
Normans
monks
finally
triumphed.
own
foun-
for those
whom
At
the
last
men
of piety
onwards the bounty of founders took the same direction which it had taken under ^thelstan and Harold. Colleges, educational and otherwise, in the universities and out of them, now again rose alongside of the monastic institutions which had now thoroughly fallen from their first love. In
SECULAE FOUNDATIONS.
short, the foundation of
163
chap. n.
its
illustrious founder'.'
,
Harows Such was the conception which Roger Bacon saw revived in conception his own day, and which is still to be studied in the brief ^^J'j^^'J^y and simple statutes of the most ancient of our English col- ^^'^"^ leges the outcome of a mature and sagacious estimate of the wants and evils of the time, not unworthy of one whose experience combined that of a chancellor of the State and a. bishop of the Church of one who in his youth had sat at the feet of Adam de Marisco'', but whose ripened judgement comprehended in all their bearings the evils that must necessarily ensue when the work of education is monopolised
; ;
Hist, of the Norman Conquest, ii 442, 444-5. I may perhaps Tenture to state that I had originally been inolined somewhat to dissent from the -new here enforced by Mr Freeman, but a communication with which he has very courteously
^
440,
favoured me on the subject, and a careful perusal of Professor Stubbs's Prefaces, have placed the matter in another light. At the same time it may, I thmk, be questioned whether Harold's conception was of quite so unique and anti-Norman a character as Mr Freeman's language might lead us to infer, and in support of this opinion I would submit the followyear 1092, ing facts (1) In the Picot, the Norman sheriff of Cambridgeshire, a man notorious for his misrule and rapacity in his baUiwick, instituted Secular Canons at St. Giles in Cambridge; the foundation being afterwards changed by Pain Peverell, the standard-bearer of Eobert, duke of Normandy, into one for thirty Augustinian Canons, and removed to Barnwell, where it form(Cooper, Annals, i 20. ed the priory. Hist, of Barnwell Abbey, 9, 10, 11.) (2) Lanf ranc, who had been educated at the monastery. of Bee, established Secular Canons at St.Gregory's, whom archbishop CorboU afterwards removed, putting Begular or Augus:
tinian Canons in their place. (Le land. Collectanea, 1 69.) (3) The Secular Canons on Harold's foundation, though certainly treated with some severity by the Conqueror, remained undisturbed for more than a century of Norman rule, i.e. from 1066 to 1177 and even then, if any credence is to be given to the reason assigned in the royal letter for their removal, it was on account of their having become a scandal to their neighbours from their laxity of disciplme, not from hostility to their rule. ' Cum in ea canoniei seoulares nimis irreligiose et carnaliter vixissent, ita quod infamia conversationis illorum
;
modum
zasset.'
excedens multos scaudahDngdale, Monasticon, vi 63: or, in the language of the account quoted byDugdale, 'quia...mundanis
operibus, et illecebris ilhoitis magis quam diviuo servitio intendebant.'
VI 57.
" Such at least is the opinion of his biographer, who founds his belief upon the fact that Walter de Merton was the bearer of an introductory letter from Adam de Marisoo, when he presented himself to Grosseteste for subdeaoon's orders. See Sketch of the life of Walter di Merton, by
112
164
CHAP.
ir.
RISE OF
whom the interests of an order are likely to outweigh the interests of their disciples. To raise up an institution which should baffle that encroaching spirit of
by those with
startled Grosseteste
ideas,
when we add
Lord High
Chancellor of England,
became
Bishop of
Rochester.
d. 1277.
both at Oxford and at Cambridge were framed, we shall need no excuse for dwelling at some length on their scope and character".
Statutes of
The
statutes
first
is
memo
vision
religiosus, is to
which
existed
life
;
it
may
misapprehension.
there
In those times,
is
to
be remembered,
^the
military
the religious
life,
withdrawing from all intercourse with society, the latter disavowing any share in worldly wealth; and both merging,
as it were, their individual existence in their corporate
Exclusion of the religious orders from the foundation.
life.
classes
whom
1 'E-rar a warm advocate of the liberty of the subject, and a staunch patron of education, Merton must
have viewed with a jealous eye the advances of Rome and the increasing influence of her emissaries in the country. "While filling the high office of chancellor of England, he had learned by experience how vain was the attempt to struggle with the ministers of Rome when once wealth and position had given them an over-
He was chan{Life, p. 7.) cellor in the years 1261-2, a time when the troubles of Henry III.
college.
were at their height, and he not improbably earned the gratitude of the royal family by his able administration during the monarch's absence from the kingdom. ^ The statutes here referred to are those of 1270, and may be regarded as embodying the final views and intentions of the founder.
MERTON COLLEGE,
Church, and he accordingly determined to place
the power of either
dation and convert
successful ambition
it it
165
beyond
chap, il
monks
All around
the Augustinian Canons at Oseney, the Franciscans in St. Ebbe's, the Dominicans in the Jewry, St. John's Hospital
where Magdalen College was one day to stand, the Augustinian Friars on the future site of Wadham, the Carmelites, and the Friars de Pcenitentia. He might well think that enough had been done for the recluse and the mendicant, and that something might now be attempted on behalf of
those
who were destined to return again into the world, to mingle with its affairs as fellow-citizens, and to influence its
thought and action by their acquired learning. On the other it would be erroneous to infer that Merton College was
hand
any thing more than a seminary for the Church, though such a limitation loses all its apparent narrowness
originally
when we
included
varied pnrecclesiastic
tllese
preparation.
The
civil law, as
we know irom
isacon s testi-
.in
times,
mony, was already an ordinary study with ecclesiastics; so also was medicine, though professed chiefly by the Mendicants; while chancellors of the realm and ambassadors at foreign courts, like William Shyreswood and Richard of Bury or Walter de Merton himself, were selected chiefly from the clerical ranks; and even so late as the reign of Richard II, churchm'en, like the warlike bishop of Norwich, might ride
forth to battle, clad in complete armour, brandishing a two-
handed sword, and escorted by a chosen body of lancers'. When such were the customary and recognised associations of the clerical life, it obviously becomes an unmeaning reproach to speak of the Church as usurping the functions of laymen; the truth would rather appear to be, as has been recently observed, 'that in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries statesmen and lawyers usurped the preferments of
the Church than that ambitious churchnien obtruded on
'
166
CHAP. n. civil
The
tery.
and
The
restriction of
college
not a monaS'
those professions that possess a curricul-um at either Oxford or Cambridge at the present day. Considerable stress
has indeed been laid on the extent to which the monastic mode of life was reproduced in the discipline imposed upon
our colleges, but a very slight examination of the early statutes is sufficient to show that such an approximation was
the
was
really anti-monastic,
and its limitation to those designed for the clerical profession was simply a necessary consequence of the fact that the activity of the Church embraced nearly all the culture of the age*.
Dean Hook, Lives of the ArchThe expression used by Hugli Balsham (a.d. 1276) in his
'
ries
bishops, IT 73.
arbitrator between his of Glomery, sive scholares sive laid, shows how entirely ecclesiastical was the character of the Universities at this time. Laymen and clerks, as Mr Anstey observes, were the nearest equivalents to the modem 'town'
decision as
were no longer competent to supply the education which the improved state of society demanded. The primary object of the monastery was, to train men for what was technically called "the reUgious Ufe," the life of a monk. Those who did not become monks availed themselves of the advantages offered in
and gown,' Munimenta Acad, At the same time the very varied
'
i vi.
the monastic schools; but stiU, a monastic school was as much designed to make men monks, as a
training school, at the present time, designed to make men schoolmasters, although some who are so trained betake themselves to other professions.' Dean Hook, Lives of the Archbishops, in 839. 'Our founder's object,' remarks the bishop of Nelson, I conceive to have been to secure for his own order in the Church, for the secular priesthood, the academical benefits which the religious orders were so largely enjoying, and to this end 1 think all his provisions are found to be conis
'
character of the activity of churchmen in the Middle Ages has induced many to maintain that the universities were as much secular as ecclesiastical. ' L'importante question,' says M. Thurot, in his very able treatise, de savoir si I'Uuiversit^ fetait un corps la'ic ou ecclesiastique a 4t6 toujours coutrovert6e...Elle fut toujours trait6e comme un corps ecclesiastique
'
me un
corps laic au xvii et au xviii" De V Organisation de VBnseignement dans V University de Paris au Moyen-Age. Par Charles Thurot. Paris, 1850, pp. 29-31. ' 'It is customary with the ignorant to speak of our colleges as monastic institutions, but, as every one knows who is acquainted with the history of the country, the colleges with very few exceptions were introduced to supplant the monasteries. Early in the 12th century the opinion began to prevail, that the monastesifede'.
sistently framed. He borrowed from the monastic institutions the idea of an aggregate body living by common rule, under a common head, provided with all things needful for a corporate and perpetual hfe, fed by its secured endowments, fenced from all external interference, except that of its lawful patron; but after borrowing thus much, he differenced his institution by giving his beneficiaries quite a distinct employment, and keeping them free from all those
'
MERTON COLLEGE.
167
chap.
ii.
The next important feature is the character of the culture which the founder designed should predominate among the
was his aim to establish a 'constant succession of scholars devoted to the pursuits of literature,' 'bound to employ themselves in the study of arts or philosophy, theology or the canon law;' 'the majority to continue engaged in the liberal arts and philosophy until passed on to the study
scholars
.
,,,_
It
,..
11.1
of theology,
by the
decision of the
warden and
fellows,
and
as the result of meritorious proficiency in the first-named subjects".' The order in which the different branches are here
enumerated
attached
may be
^
regarded, as
is
all
the
by the
is
founder to
The
canon law
favour
is
even
less ^fersatufMmenit
in
canonists,
and
ecclesiastici regimdnis,
judi-
remedy for the prevailing ignorance of grammar which Bacon so emphatically lamented', is provided by a clause
requiring that one of the fellows,
known
as the grammaticus,
and directing
perpetual obligations which conatitnted the essence of the religious life The proofs of his design to benefit the Church through a bettereducated secular priesthood, are to be found, not in the letter of their statutes, but in the tenour of their
provisions, especially as to studies, in the direct averments of some of the subsidiary documents, in the fact of his providing Church patronage as part of his system, and in the readiness of prelates and chapters to grant him impropriations of the rectorial endowments of the Church.' Bp. of Nelson's Life of Walter de Merton, p. 22. 1 The term ' scholar may be regarded as nearly equivalent to ' f ellow,' in our early coUege statutes, indicating a student entirely supported by the revenues of the fouu'
Wherever the term ral government. appears to be used in its more sense, attention will be drawn to the fact.
modem
^
'While he provides for a good and general grounding in all subsidiary knowledge, he
liberal education,
jealously guards his main object of theological study both from being attempted too early by the half-educated boy, and from being abandoned too soon for the temptations of some-
thing more profitable. It should be remembered that while the warden is charged with the duty of keeping
an
illiterate
the crowning study, he has no authority for dispensing with it in any one case.' Ibid. p. 27.
"
Compendium
Philosophice,
ed.
Brewer, p. 419.
168
CHAP.
II.
RISE OF
advanced students are to have the benefit of his assistance when occasion may require. It is to be noted that English
as well as Latin enters into his province of instruction.
Only real
stu-
dents to be
mnintained
on the foundation.
home
students absenting
themselves from the schools on insufficient grounds shall be liable to corresponding deductions in respect of their
scholarships, and
study
is
which may
probation
wisdom
of
not, in
some form or
other,
be found embodied
in
the whole
conception.
society'. With this somewhat remarkable exception, we find that the statutes of Merton became for the most part the model of our English colleges
and
an unprejudiced mind to deny the and the thoughtfulness by which they are characterised throughout. In the construction of the curriculwm, were it not for the absence of natural science from the prescribed order of studies, we might almost infer that the counsels of Roger Bacon had aided the deliberations of Walter de Merton. It appears indeed that, a few years after, an attempt was made to remedy this deficiency by establishing a faculty of medicine in connexion with the college an innovation which archbishop Peckham, in 1284, decided was contrary to the tenour of the statutes, and consequently abolished. We do not conceive,' says Walter de
it
will
be
difficult for
'
Morton's biographer', in summing up his estimate of these statutes, that there need remain any doubt that the par'
Statutes, ed. Peroival, p. 20. Ibid. p. 55. Medicine nevertheless afterwards became a flourish^
'
ing study in the college during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth
and in a capitular order of recognised as a philosophical act.' Bp. of Nelson's Life of Walter de Merton, p. 26, note.
centuries,
1504
is
DUNS SCOTUS.
ticular benefit
169
chap, il
which the founder designed to confer on the Church was the improvement of his own order, the secular priesthood, by giving them first a good elementary, and then a good theological education, in close connexion with a university, and with the moral and religious training of a scholar-family living under rules of piety and discipline. And this design was, we have good reason to believe, in the main achieved. Whilst the Visitor of 1284! brings to light the fact that worldliness and selfishness were in some degree marring the original design, there are abundant witnesses to During the first eighty years of the life its general success.
of the institution, a brilliant succession of names, divines
who
were
also scholars
forth,
and kindled
The
earlier, statutes of
rowed with more or less closeness and avowal, the Regula Mertonensis, and thus justified the assertion which the royal founder of Eton afterwards used, that the later colleges bore a childlike resemblance to their common parent, velut imaffo
parentis in prole relucent^.
We can
foundation
men who
new
regarded as evidence of the wisdom and discernment of the founder, no coU^e can be held to have more amply justified the motives that dictated its creation.
may be
of
was there that Duns Scotus wa.s educated; it was there that he first taught. Thence too came William of Occam, the revolutioniser of the philosophy of his age, and Thomas
Bradwardine,
as the Doctor
Walter Burley, Robert Holcot, and a host of inferior names, but men notable in their own day. In attempting to illustrate the culture and mental tendencies of this period
'
Ibid. p. 29.
170
CHAP.
"
II.
we can do no better than turn briefly to consider the special characteristics of -the three
'
of the time.
and the ignorance of his age, seems rather to bring out into stronger contrast the prevailing characteristics than to redeem them from one general censure. It has indeed been asserted
on high authority, that the insight shown by Bacon
conjunction with the time in which he wrote,
inexplicable
into
an
made by
afford
researches,
In fact, although in his preference for physical and his distrust of the current Aristotelianism, Bacon undoubtedly presents strong points of difference from
may
be discerned
geuius of
Duus
Scotus,
life
who next
d. 1308.
the academical
of England,
will
and aims.
The
^
spectacle presented
by Oxford
at the beginning of
how
such a character could then exist. That he received much of his knowledge from Arabic writers there is no doubt; for they were in his time the repositories of all traditional knowledge. But that he derived from them his disposition to shake off the authority of Aristotle, to maintain the importance of experiment, and to look upon knowledge as in its infancy, I cannot believe.' (WheweU,
Hist, of the Inductive Sciences, li^S.)
both Avicenna and Averroes he speaks with invariable respect. Mr Lewes remarks, 'I am myself but very superficially acquainted with these (the Arabian) waitings, yet I have discovered evidence enough to make the position of Roger Bacon quite exphcable without in the least denying him extraordinary merit.'
may be doubted whether any passages in Bacon's writings can be eonstrued into impatience of the authority of Aristotle himself: a careful examination wiU shew that his censures are always directed at the Latin
It
Hkt. of Phil, ii 84. Mr Shirley, in the Introduction to the Fasciculi Zizaniorum, p. 1. has even gone so
far
as to
assert that
'
we have
in
Eoger Bacon
DUNS SCOTUS.
the fourteenth century
is
171
ii.
by any
commencement of the new era, the earHest developement, in our own country, of that sinerular ^
university since the
.
Oxford at tho
and ahnost feverish activity of thought which stands in such century. marked contrast to the generally low culture of the period, and which becomes intelligible only when we bear in mind
all
we
have endeavoured to bring together in their mutual true relations. At a time when learning had fewest followers
minds are to be found most excited 'and most enquiring. In a century during which Greek scholarship in England is represented by a single name, and wherein the comparatively correct Latinity of the tweKth century, such as characterised writers like Giraldus and John of Salisbury, was supplanted by a barbarous jargon \ Oxford appears as the centre of a purely philosophic ferment to which the subsequent annals of neither university present a parallel. A young Franciscan, originally a student at Merton, rises up disputes with a subtlety never before exhibited the conclusions of his predecessors gathers round him vast and enthusiastic audiences as he successively expounds his doctrines at Oxford, Paris, and Cologne; and is carried off at the early age of thirty;
four, while in
and for learning. His become the text-books of English education up to the time of the Reformation; and his theories form the germ
of that dialectic freedom of discussion which ultimately snapt
asunder the links wherewith Albertus and Aquinas had laboured to unite philosophy and faith. The leadership of
1
'Down
it
chroniclers or miscellaneous writers of Latin in the Middle Ages very gross departures from the ordinary The niceties rules of Latin syntax. of the language had been lost ten centuries before; but the difference of the Latinity of the age extending from Bede to Giraldus, that is, of the seventh to the thirteenth century, from Tertullian or Ausonius, is not greater than the decline of the latter from the purer Latinity of the Republic. After the thirteenth century, the cor-
ruption became rapid and marked in all directions. The style of Giraldus is not purer than that of Malmesbury; not so pure as that of his contemporary, John of Salisbury. Yet it would not be easy to find in Giraldus any violent transgressions of the rules of Latin constructionperhaps none for which sufficient authority might not be produced ia the wide range of Latin literature, from the earhest period to the fall of the empire.' Prof. Brewer, Preface
to
Giraldm Gambrensis,
ii.
xv.
172
CHAP.
"
II.
the age had passed from the Dominicans to the Franciscans, nor can it be denied that to the latter order England was mainly indebted for such profundity of thought and vigour of
speculation as the fourteenth century beheld ^
The
Views of the
an'd
developement of mental
activity that is
now presented
had been
thrust
ttT"
aside
by the
But
S?M compare
fashions
evolution of
human thought,
Precisely
mind
of the
that
ordinary scholar
now
felt
by the schoolman
time.
many
of
own
and
on Etruscan pottery would have appeared, Oxonian of the days of Edward i, but solemn trifling, while the distinction between the prima and secunda intentio still remained uninvestigated and the principium individ/uadisquisitions
to the
tionis
undetermined;
and
students
who
could
not have
now excite the laughter of an average English public schoolboy, listened with rapt attention to series upon series of argumentative subtleties such as have taxed the patience and the powers of some of our acutest
cisms that would
modem
metaphysicians.
of the oracle of the fourteenth
The name
centuries, to
and
fifteenth
whom Coleridge
that attend
any account
ofthispenod.
(if such he were) possessed of high metapl^ysical subtlety V has passed, by a strange caprice of p , -i.!, x i lortuue, luto an epithet ^ tor the grossest ignorance and as we
.
turn the leaves ot the ponderous tomes which enshrine the thought once deemed the quintessence of human wisdom, we
1 The prosperity and authority of the Domimoans appear to have been very closely associated with the prospenty of the university of Paris. Mr Shirley notes the decline of that
,i
j>
Wow'
^
Zizaniorum,
p. li
Coleridge's
Litera,-y
Remains.
in
21.
DUNS SCOTUS.
feel
173
n.
how vain must be the effort to realise the conditions chap. under which that thought was conceived. The materials and the sympathies that should enable us to recover some adequate
impression of those days have alike vanished.
It
would con-
We
must pass by even the fragmentary data we possess its early triumph and its sudden close; the fierce controversy concerning the Immaculate Conception which he was summoned to Paris to allay; the peremptory mandate in obedience to which he repaired so promptly to Cologne, from the green fields near Paris where he was seeking a breathing space of repose, his manuscripts
left
his mysteri-
ous death, and the dark rumours that gathered round the
we may venture
to claim for
restricted to
We have already adverted to the arduous character of Progressive the task which devolved upon the schoolmen of the preced- history ^ of scliolastiing century; the va.stness, the novelty, and the heterogene- -^
and we have shewn that, however meritorious the spirit in which they essayed to grapple with overwhelming difficulties,
the verdict of posterity has failed to ratify their decisions or
their method.
of another
im'ush,
century,
when
of
Pro-
fessor Stubbs of Oxford, I am able to state, both on his own authority and that of Mr Coxe, hbrarian of the Bodleian, that no materials now exist at Oxford likely to throw any light on the personal history of Duns Scotus at that university. The fate that befel his writings there will come under our notice in a future chapter. ^ ' The toil, if the story of his early death be true, the rapidity of this
man's productiveness, is perhaps the most wonderful fact in the intellectual history of our race. He is said to have died at the age of thirtyfour, a period at which most minds
perhaps without a superfluous word, except the eternal logical formularies and amplifications.' MUman, Latin Christianity, Bk. xiv. c. 3.
174
CHAP.
11.
we
naturally
more
if
critical spirit
we be disappointed. The decisions not altogether reversed at Oxford, reappeared only with numerous and important modifications. An improved canon andihe accession of new material equally
Nor
shall
delivered at Paris,
conduced to such a result. There is, indeed, no graver error with respect to the schoolmen than that which would lead us to regard them as expending their efforts in one uniform direction, their arguments revolving in one vicious circle and aroimd the same
hopeless points of discussion; and, so long as metaphysics
hold their place in the domain of speculative enquiry, the thinker who anticipated Hegel on the one hand, and Spinoza
on the
of>^t
wnters.
^^
other,
would seem
entitled to
some recognition
in the
history of
human
thought.
qualifications
select,
and value that its efficient performance would possess though somewhat limited, circle of students'.
the opinions and expressions ef various authors on points of science, to guard both himself and his readers against the mistake of taking anything on authority that ought to be evinced by scientific reasoning.'
RTiately's Logic (ed. 1862), p. 2. In striking contrast to the view above indicated, Dean Mansel considers that ' a historical account of the Scholastic Logic ought to confine itself to
tises
^ ' The extensive research which wotild form one indispensable quaHfieation for such a task, would be only
one ont
work would be worse than useless. The author should be one thoroughly on his guard against the common
of confounding together, or leading his readers to confound, an
error
commentaiies and
trea-
expressly on the science ; and the scholastic contributions to the matter of Logic should be confined to such additions to the Aristotelian text as have been incorporated into the Logica doccns.' (Introd. to Artis Log. Bud. p. 31.) But in treating a time when the application of this Logica docens underlay almost every treatise of a didactic character, it is evident that to restrict the historical survey to the abstract art
DUNS SCOTUS.
175
n.
has
BOW been
Prantl, to
whose researches, and Charles Jourdain, we have been so fax indebted that
necessary to state that, without the aid of these writers,
many
To the
named we
new
new Aris-
and the Arabian commentators, which hitherto appearing only at intervals and exercising but little influence on the philosophy of the schoolmen, now assumed in the writings of Duns Scotus such considerable and significant proportions. The Byzantine logic has a peculiar interest, inasmuch as it inflaence of -_ theByzantine associates the learning of the Latms with that of the Greek i^<i empire, and may be regarded as a stray fragment of those literary treasures which, two centuries later, roUed in such profusion from HeUas into western Europe. In the eleventh century the seat of the Caesars of the state of East, which had so often defied the fiercest assaults of the ^^teta uie infidel, and had not yet been subjugated to the rule of an iUite- ^^^. rate Latin dynasty, still preserved some traces of that literary spirit that in the West was almost solely represented by the
.
,1
victorious
Saracens.
The masterpieces
of Grecian genius
were
stiU.
a purity that strongly contrasted with the had overtaken the tongue of Cicero and Virgil'; and
was spoken in the conrt and tanght in the collie, and the floTuishing
state of the language is described,
to dimimsh, very mateboth the valne and tiie interest of the whole work. ^ If we accept the accoimt of Philelphxis, this contrast was still to be discerned even so late as the period immediately preceding the fall of Constantinople before the Turks in 1453. 'Since the barriers of the monarchy, and eyen of the capital, had been trampled under foot, the
liallT,
would be
and perhaps embellished, by a learned Italian, who, by long residence and noble marriage, was naturalised
at Constantinople about thirty years before the Turkish conqaest. " " The Tulgar speech," says PMlelphus, "has been depraTed by the people, and infected by the raultitude of strangers and merchants, who every day flock to the city and mingle with the inhabitants. It is from the disciples of such a school that the Latin Iangnage received the versions of Aristotle and Plato, so obscure in sense, and in spirit so poor. But the Greeks,
Tarious barbarians had doubtless cormpted the form and substance of the national dialect ; and ample
glossaries have been composed, to interpret ik multitude of words, of Arabic, Turkish, Sclavonian, Latin, or French origin. But a purer idiom
176
tested,
Treatise of
Michael Constantino
Psollus.
d. 1078.
works of extensive erudition and much critical acumen atfrom time to time, that though the age of poetic genius and original conception was past, scholarship and learning were still represented by no unworthy successors of Strabo and Aristarchus. Among such writers the name of Michael
Constantine Psellus, a learned professor at Constantinople towards the close of the eleventh century, deserves a foremost
place
;
and
to his treatise
on
reKov; XoyiKrjv
iiria-Trifiriv,
we must
refer those
influences
offer
themof the
our consideration.
up
fore in no way comparable for originality with the works of Avicenna and Averroes, would, notwithstanding, seem to have affected the developement of logic in the West to an extent
Translation
of the treatise of Psellus by
singularly in excess of
its real
value.
Among
the contem-
Petrus Hispanus.
d.
mi.
native of Lisbon,
who
and teacher at Paris, was ultimately raised to the papal chair under the title of pope John xxi. His literary activity, which might compare with that of Gerbert himself, extended to science, theology, and philosophy, and he was, 'until recently, regarded as the earliest translator of the treatise by
Translation
by WilHara Shyreswood.
This supposition however has been altogether who has shewn that Petrus Hispanus was forestalled, by at least twenty years, by an eminent Oxonian, William Shyreswood, whose name,
Psellus ^
though
it
has
identified
the contagion, are those whom we follow, and they alone are worthy of our imitation. In familiar discourse they still speak the tongue of Aristophanes and Euripides, of the historians and philosophers of Athens; and the style
of their writings is still more elaborate and correct." Gibbon, c. 56. VIII 105. See also Hallam, Middle
'
tion to his A rtis Lopicte Rudimenta, has expressed his belief, iu which he informs us he is supported by the authority of Sir WilUam Hamilton, that the work attributed to Psellus is, in reality, a translation into Greek of the work of Petrus Hispanus 1 In the later editions of the above
work he has however omitted to notice the most recent contribution by Prantl to the literature of the
whole subject. See sixth edition Artijs Logica Rudimenta, p. 33.
of
ii
265.
Anm.
6.
Dean Mansel,
in the Introduc-
THE BYZANTINE
LOGIC.
177
chap.
ii.
new element. William Shyreswood was a native of Durham, who, after having
studied hoth at Oxford and Paris, succeeded to the dignity of
As a
Internal evidence,
by
information;
we have no certain and the method of Duns Scotus, which was founded, in no small degree, upon the Byzantine logic, does not appear to have traced back its inspiration further than to this writer. In Shyreswood we firet meet with the familiar mnemonic verses of the Moods of the Four Figures, still preserved in every treatise on formal logic '^; and it would appear, that from the time of Roger Bacon down to that of Ben Jonson' his reputation as a logician was undiminished in the university which he adorned. As regards Petrus Hispanus, it would seem, if we accept the conclusions of Prantl, that he was not only not the first translator of Psellus, but that his performance was in every way inferior to that of our own countryman the work of the one being spiritless and servile, while that of the other shews superioritr
:
translation.'^
little to
procure for
eulogium of Bacon', whose severest contempt was always reserved for a mechanical spirit of interpretation, whether in
teacher or learner.
to conjecture that
The
'
Barbara,
*
_
Celarent, Darii, Ferio, SaralipUm, Gelantes, Dabitis, FapesTno, Fritesomorum, Cesare, Campestres, Festino, Baroco, Darapti, Felapton, DisamU, Datisi, Bocardo, Ferison.
| | |
'
pientes famosiores inter Christianos, quorum unus est frater Albertus, de ordine Prffidicatorum, alius est Gu-
Uelmus de Shyrwode
Geich. d. Log.
3
'
15.
Here
thesaurarius Lincobiiensis ecclesis? in AngUa, longe sapientior Alberto. Nam in philosophia communi nullus major
est eo.'
Oput Tertimn
u. 2.
12
178
But, how-
ever this
may have
Church
soon cast into the shade those of the English ecclesiastic, and though the name of William Shyreswood was long remembered
at Oxford, his reputation in
Extensive popularity
b^'petrus"^" Hispanus.
Europe could not compare with For two centuries and a half the ^ummulm Logicales of the latter writer reigned supreme in ^^ schools, and during the hundred and thirty years that followed upon the invention of printing, no less than fortyeight editions are enumerated by Prantl as issuing from the presses of Cologne, Leipsic, Leyden, Venice, and Vienna;
.
-,
so
generally recognized, that to reconcile the same with the previously accepted dicta of authority had become a task
which no one who aspired to be regarded as a teacher of the age found it possible to decline. Just therefore as it had devolved upon Albertus and Aquinas to decide
interpretation of Aristotle, so did
to
influenceof
how
far the
devolve upon
Duns
Scotus
incorporate
or to
shew reasons
new
is
The
element,
th&g m"re"
technS.^''^
and
Grosseteste,
but an exceptional phenomenon {vereinzelten Erscheinungen), now becomes in the great schoolman of Oxford a predominant
feature; a feature which Prantl in his almost exhaustive treatment of the subject has fully investigated; and though it
is
him
special
main purpose
>
to
'JedenfaUa ist unter den ahnlichen ErzeugniBsen jener Zeit das Compendium des Petrus Hispanus das geistloseste, insoferne es obne einen einzigen irgend eigenen Gedanken nur den Grundtext der nen eingefiibrten byzautinisohen Logik wiederbolt. Ob der Verfasser des Griecbiscben macbtig war, um
den Psellus zu iibersetzen, oder ob er nurals Absohreiber einer bereits vorbandenen getreueu Uebersetzimg
siob seinen weltgeschichtlichen" Einfluss errungen babe, lasst sich nicbt entscheiden; der Schweiss des Angesichtes " kann in keinem der beiden FaUe gross gewesen sein.'
in 34.
THE BYZANTINE
struction placed
LOGIC.
179
chap.
ii.
in which
it
operated.
upon the Byzantine logic and the direction One might easily be inclined to sup'
pose,' observes
its
influence belonged
and had nothing at all to do with the Arabian Aristotelianism and the controversies springing from thence, but the sequel shews that this Byzantine weed-growth sent its offshoots deep into the logical party contentions, and hence into the so-called philosophy of that
time, and that (since
Occam
is
many
entire writings as
The
legiu-
Duns Scotus
in relation to the
fiJf New"'
philosophy of the time, briefly to recall those important pl^ly modifications of theory that had already resulted from the Ey'th?'^^
events of the preceding century.
Aristotle
The
first effects
of the new.
logic.
would seem, as may be naturally supposed, to have tended towards some diminution of that excessive estimation in which logic had hitherto been held. So long as the Isagoge, the Categories, and the Be Interpretatione
upon the
schools
represented the
sum
of the
known thought
of the Stagirite,
the importance of logical science had been unduly exalted and the study had commanded exclusive attention. But as soon
as
it
and that it was difficult to say how far it could be proved that he had regarded logic as anything more than an instru-
ment
that
it was an art and not a science, that is, had for its subject-matter no fundamental laws of thought, but was merely an arbitrary process constructed for the better investigation of real knowledge *, the prestige of
1 The distinction between a Science and an Art, that the former has for its object-matter that which is neoes-
sary or invariable, the latter that is contingent and variable, dates back as far as Aristotle. See Ars Poet, i, ii. Topica, vi, viii. 1.
which
Sir WiUiam Hamilton (see Article in Edin. Rep. Vol. lvii. p. 203) says, ' The Stoics in general viewed it (logic) as a Science. The Arabian and Latin schoolmen did the same, In this opinion Thomist and Scotist, Realist and Nominalist concurred;
122
180
RISE OF THE ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES.
became correspondingly lessened. Aquinas and Roger Bacon, little as they agreed in other respects, The subjectseemed in some sense at unison on this point. matter of logic,' said the former, is not an object of investigation on its own account, but rather as a kind of scaffolding to other sciences; and hence logic is not included in speculative philosophy as a leading division, but rather in subserviency thereto, inasmuch as it supplies the method of enquiry, whence it is not so much a science as an instrument^.' The view of Bacon, according to which he regarded the logica utens as a natural inborn faculty, and the logica docens as merely ancillary to other sciences, "has already come under our notice. That such views failed to find expression in a corresponding modification of practice, and that, notwithstanding the more intelligent estimate of science that now undoubtedly began to prevail, logic continued for more than two centuries to occupy the same 'bad eminence' both at Oxford and at Cambridge, must be attributed to the Byzantine logic, to Petrus Hispanus, and to Duns Scotus. "^^^ logic of Duus Scotus,' says Prantl, which gave ttie^B^m-' birth to an abundant crop of Scotistic literature, does not Dmisscotm. indeed proceed in entirely new paths which he had opened up for himself, he is, on the contrary, as regards the traditional material, just as dependent and confined {ahhamgig und bedingt) as all the other authors of the Middle Ages. But he is distinguished, in the first place, by a peculiarly copious infusion of Byzantine logic, and secondly, by the comprehensive precision and consistency with which he incorporates the Aristotelian, Arabian, and Byzantine material, so that by this means many new views are, in fact, drawn from
CHAP. iL the dialectic art
' '
'
'
all
Occam
effected^'
The
by
Scotus developed;
Dyalectica
est
an opinion adopted, almost to a man, by the Jesuit, Dominican, and Francisoan CursualistB.'
More accurate
^ Ad Boeth. de Trinitate, (Vol. xvii 2) p. 134. quoted by Prantl, 108. ' Geschichte der Logik, iii 203.
THE BYZANTINE
tiarum,
enim,
LOGIC.
181
mam
habens.
Sola chap.
it.
omnium
aliarum sdentiarum^
physics,' said Albertus
sciences,
acquisitione scientiarum
logic is not
concerned with
being or any part of being, but with second intentions^.' It ]]^^'"' was in connexion with this doctrine of the intentio secunda s^""^
that
to find that
'
consistency
to
Prantl speaks,
supremacy
It
it
may
.^
presented
itself before
is
the enunciation
of
Scotus.
an
art
a science
not witb
facts,
with veritable
entities,
artificial
or arbitrary laws.
is
Metaphysics are a
concerned only
it
science,
astronomy
a science, but
logic, as
seeks to
and
regulate, has
While therefore they accepted, as Albertus has done, the Arabian theory of the intentio secunda, by far the most
important contribution to metaphysics since the time of
Aristotle',
among the
sciences.
The
ethianisohen Tradition aufgenommen.' in 41. In the edition of the Synopsis by Axinger we have, however, the original Greek AmXcktik'^
:
4<rTi T^x"'!
rex'"^" ff'
iiriffT-qixri)
i-n-
(TTri/iQv
wpos ris
dirofruiv
tuv
ne06Sa)t/
KTTJirei
d/)xds o56v Ixovtra, Kcd 5i4 touto h> T-g TUP iiriaTTifiav wptir-qv thai rrfv
Sia\cKTLK^v Prantl.
'
xp4
!> p.
1>
quoted by
2 Istae igitnr sunt tres scientiae speculativse, et non sunt plures. Scientise logicae non considerant ens et
secundas.' Metaph. 1 1, 1. The only sense in which Albertus appears to have been able to recognize logic as a science was as Logica Utens : see quotations in Prant), in 92. ' The principal material added by the Arabians to the text of Aristotle is the celebrated distinction between first and second intentions. This is found in the epitome of the Categories by Averroes. It has also been traced to Avicenna. To the Arabians also are probably owing some of the distinguishing features, though certainly not the origin of the Scholastic
'
,
to
a '
182
CHAP.
II.
prima.
But
se-
when the
by a
condary process,
animal
he
is
But the
;
human intellect,
Counter
theory of
and hence cannot be ranked among real existences wbile the objects of the external world, and Universals which have their existence in the Divine Mind, would exist even if man were not. It was in respect of this theory of the non-reality
of the intentiones secundce,
that
issue
It is true, he replied, that existence with the Thomists. must of necessity be first conceded to the objects which correspond to the primary intention, but it by no means fol-
lows that
it
is
more than
Logic a
science as well as an
art.
posterior to that
' '
phenomena
'
man and
animal
Hence we
is
may
senschaft sei, im Ansschlusse an Alfarabi dabin, dasa die Logik einerseits als docens wirklioh eine Wissensobaft ist und andrerseits als utens den modus fiir aUe jibrigen enthalt, so dass \yir bier... den Begriff einer "ange-
wandten Logik"
treffen.'
Prantl,
intellectus oder
von
conceptus ausgehen.kurzalsodersubjeotiven Werkstatte angehoren, auf das objective Wesen der Dinge anwende," applicare. Eben liiedurch entsoheidet er auoh jene Frage, ob die Logik als modus sciendi selbst eiue Wis' '
Geschichte der Logik, iii 204-5. According, tberefore, to tbis view we have, Logica Docens = Pure Logic = Science Logica TJtens=Applied Logic = an Art. Tbis appears almost identical witb the view subsequently espoused by Wolf, and by Kant, who, in defining the Logica Docens as ' The Science of the Necessary Laws of Thought,' arrived, though by a very different process, at the same
;
"
THE BYZANTINE
LOGIC.
183
Duns
Scotus,
theories concerning
forestalled
all
and
the
exceeded
lect
arbitrary divisions
and
distinctions
intel-
external individual
which claimed
ception of the
mind a corresponding
still
objective reality,
was at
further extended.
With
Scotus the
Logic,
'
no
Logic the
sciences.
became the
mistress,
the
science
men
logical con-
d priori reasoning might supply that knowledge which can only be acquired by a patient study of each separate science*. Mathematics and language, which Bacon had regarded as the two portals to all learning, were to give
place to that science where alone could be found the perfect
circle,
and vagueness of
so
nomenclature and
unjustly cast
diction.
upon Locke,
conclusion as Seotua. See Dean Mansel's Introckiction, pp. xlv and xlvii. While I wish to speak with all respect of a work like Dean Mihnau's Latin Christianity, I may venture to observe that in his statement of Duns Scotus's philosophy he has exaotly inverted the order of the Scotian argument. A comparison of his account (Bk. XIV c. 3) with that given by Haur^au and Prantlwill prove this. 1 Prantl remarks that both Albertus and Duns Scotus attempted to prove the existence of Universals from our subjective conception of them: 'well es ja von dem NichtSeienden keine ErkenntnisB geben
.
kiinne
Etwas
(correspondere) miisse,
iii 207. Indeed it was only by such reasoning that Scotus redeenied his theory of logic from the imputation of making it, not simply the mistress of the sciences, but the one and only science. Universalia rum sunt fictiones intelleetus; tunc enim nunquam in quid prcedicarentwr de re extra nee ad definitionem pertinerent, nee metaphysica differret a logica, immo omnis scientia esset logica, quia de
wniversali.
Theorem, 4
iii
iii
269
A,
quoted by Prantl,
207.
184
CHAP.
ir.
Subtle Doctor.
'
he applied with perfect propriety to the Cela pos^,' says Haur&u, after an able ex'
cela
pos4
il
indiff^remment e'tudier la nature en observant les faits de conscience ou en observant les ph^nomfenes du monde objectif, et qu'une logique bien faite peut supplier h. toute
physique, a toute metaphysique^.'
rSulwthe
zan
e ogic.
of'tte^- those
g^^g^^g^j ^jjg
mruute and subtle enquiries whereby he has demonpresence of the new element in the applied log^c
of Scotus,
of
the direc-
and
its influence
Nor
we remember
that in
influ-
macy
men
new movement.
Duns
^^'i?in'^
tk>l*m''i!)'^'c
who riveted thus closely the fetters of the schools, was also the theologian who broke through the
^*
'^^^ logician
barriers
truth,
structed
which his predecessors had so complacently conand it must be regarded as an important advance
Logic,
s
Philosophie de Locke, oth edit., 232 Of. Locke, Essay on the BuVMii Understanding, in 2, 4; Mill,
1
i'
197.
ii
p.
philosophU Scolastigue,
313.
185
it.
human
when
revealed tran-
scended
its
analysis.
from the perilous position of Aquinas by a solution comprehension but there were also many
;
The
strain
beneath which the formulas that Albertus and Aquinas had constructed were before long to give way, grew heavy under
the supremacy of the Subtle Doctor.
clearly
He
than they, the real tendency of Aristotelian thought, and that the theory of the vital principle pointed unmistakeably to a renunciation of the doctrine of a future life*. And,
all its force
while he recognised in
which has proved both the polar star and the ignis
of philosophy,
he avoided with equal insight that theory of reabsorption, towards which the mysticism of Bonaventura had advanced so closely, and preferred simply to regard the
belief in
If,
human
immortality as a revealed
ti'uth.
accordingly,
we compare Duns Scotus with Roger JJ,"^!,^^' """' be found, as we have already remarked, ^J^
Both were
its
dis-
by
time
beginnings in
discern
experience*,
1
and
in
the
'Auch besitzt Scotus darin nnsere Sympathie, dass er ( um mit modemenWorten zu sprechen )auf der TJnerkennbarkeit des Absoluten steht, dass er als Indetermiiiist die thomisticlie Unterordnung des Pxaktischen unter das Theoretische entsohieden bekampft, und dass er der Theologie nur eine praktische Wirksamkeit im Gebiete des praktisohen Glaubenszuweist.' Prantl,Gesc/ii<:/ite der Logik, rn 202.
coimaitre, il eut fallu qu' Aristote fit ^oiair^ des rayons de la gt&oe.' B^aKaiiu, Phil. Scolastiqiie, u 369.
la
*
'
pour
Omnia
sibi
qnse
sunt,
seonndnm
modnm
oonTenientem et possibilem unitatem appetunt.' De Serum Principio, Qmest. rn 1. For explanation of tMs doctrine of the secun-
dum moiwm,
* Prof.
see
Haoi^a,
ii
355.
Snivant Duns- Scot, cette vdrite ne se prouve pas "Animam esse im'
'
:
et,
certain inductive tendency, as opposed to the dednctive method of Aquinas, characterised the whole ' Franciscan order The esperimen:
186
CHAP.
II.
BISE OF
first
commencement
of the seventeenth
century,
essential
differing
it
though
its
relative
importance;
both relegated to theology those deeper mysteries which the thinkers of the preceding century sought to determine
by
doSlfth'e"
dialectics^.
The reputation
of
Duns Scotus
in
our universities
all
is
Duns
sifqhia
Tersities.
but theological influence of the former was probably far the questions the His realism, it is true, was displaced by the nomigreater.
rivalled by that of Aquinas alone, and in
nalism of Occam, but his authority as a logician and a theologian remained unimpaired.
The
literature to
which
his
Even
so
late as
the
been dragged so ignominiously from his pedestal at Oxford, an edition of his entire works appeared under the auspices of
tiie Irish
execution
of Spain,
order,
while in the dedication of the work to Philip rv John Baptista a Campanea, the general of the unhesitatingly claims for his author the fame that
;
^te?Dm
""'
Among
tion that
universities
the
tal tendencies of Eoger Bacon expressed the method which he had learned from the strictly individualising mind of his founder. Francis of Assisi could loot only at individuals, could only rise to the universal
through individuals. Thence came his genial sympathy, thence came his
superstition. What Bacon transferred to physios at the peril of his
carried into metaphysics and theoan,d so became the founder of the great Middle Age sect which bears his name.' Moral Phil. p. 5. ^ ' Et oerte si logioam nescivit, nou potuit alias scire scientias, siout decet.' Comp. Studii, c. 8.
logy,
Opus Majus, cc. 4, 46. Opera Omnia, cura Lucasi Waddingii, Lugduni, 1639.
^
Duns Sootus
187
chap, il
by Haur^u with having been the leader on the theory of Universals while the third acquired distinction by his denial of some of the chief
credited
of the attack
;
among- them
that of the
'first
and that of representative ideas \ Both approached the confines of that border land where the phantasies of realism were to be seen fleeing before the approaching light. It is impossible indeed to foUow the reasoning of the most eminent logicians from the time of Aquinas without perceiving that clearer and juster metaphysical thought was being evolved from the long discussion. It needed but a few bold strides, and the regions of realism, so far at least as the theory of Universals was concerned, would be left behind. It is hardly necessary to add that such an advance was soon to be made, and that it was to be made by WiUiam of Occam. The demagogue of scholasticism is no iaappropriate wauam of title for one who, at little more than twenty years of age, d.isi7. defied the authority of Boniface Viii, in a treatise against the spiritual power of the Pope"; who, in mature life, stood forth in defence of the vow of poverty and of his order against John xxn'; and who so far reversed the tradition of the
' '
410
*
HanT&ra, Phil.
416.
Scolastiqtte,
ii
Logik,
fate
m 292.
!Prantl,
Geschichte
der
That the IHsputatio super Poleswas written daring the lifetime of Boniface seems ceri;airu (See Goldastns, De Monorchia S. Bomani Imperii, ed. 1612, p. 13).
vobis possnnt jura esse, nobis vero non snnt. Nnllns enim potest de iis statnere, super qua constat ipsmn domininm non habere. Sic neo Francomm rex potest stataeie super imperium : nee Imperator super
regnum
Occam could
therefore,
little
if
bom in
Franeiae. Et quemadmoterreni principes non possunt aUqnid statnere de vestris spiritualibus, super quae non acceperuut
dum
twenty, for Boniface died Oct. 11, 1303. The Disputatio is in the form of a dialogue between a soldier and
a priest, and it is certainly somewhat startling to find sentiments like the following proceeding from the pen of a Franciscan of the fourteenth
certe conClericus. jus, injurias innumeras Scire vellem, Bustinemus. MUes. quid vocatis jus, Clericus. Jus voco,
century.
'
Immo
tra
omne
decreta
nomm
potestatem sic nee tos de temporalibus eorum, super quse non habetis auctoritatem. Unde friTolum est quicqnid statnistis de temporalibus, super quae potestatem non accepistia a Deo. Unde nuper itiihi risus magnus fait, cum audissem noviter statutum esse a Bonifacio octavo quod "ipse est et esse debet super omnes principatos et regna," et sic facile potest sibi jus acquirere super
:
rem
'
qnamlibet.'
Ibid. p. 13.
188
?':*
J-
"
schools,
some
instances,
was
even regarded as a heterodox doctrine. The triumph of no,. n l. minalism as opposed to the realism of this penod, was but tijQ victory of more sober sense over the verbal subtleties and
subjective phantasies that
which William of
had hitherto dazzled the otherand the brief sentences Occam sweeps away the elaborate web;
du nominalisme cest la simplicity, says Haur^au, in apology for his own brevity in expounding the doctrines of Occam; and though the application of the method is modified with each separate thesis of realism,
of Mill. caracthre propre
Le
is
is
easily
The
nominalistic
Influence of
UieUyzan-
ttemn?"""
respectmg
no exposition at be necessary, having followed Prantl thus far, to explain in what manner, according to his view. the Byzantine logic exercised such important influence on so . , fundamental a controversy, an influence in the absence of which he even ventures to assert Nominalism would not have
suffrages of succeeding thinkers, requires
it
will
umversa
^^g^^jg jj^
As the
chief contribution
rawMi""-*"""
been the theory of the intentio secunda, so that of the Byzan*-^ ^og^c was the theory of the suppositio, a conception of
Aber gewiss
JBt.
die byzantinische Logik jene Richtung, welche man spater als Nomi-
nicht
ent-
WILLIAM OF OCCAM.
objective entity, the latter the collective sign of signs.
so far
real
189
And,
chap, il
was Occam from claiming for the intentio secunda a and distinct existence, as Duns Scotus had done, and inferring therefrom the high prerogative of logic, that he appears to have regarded this as a question in which logic had no concern^ But while Occam struck thus boldly at the The true
.
.
value of
"^^
as such, could afford no real knowledge, and hence Universals a,^ { assumed for him their true value as the aim of all scientific "^"'
induction.
This, then,
service
which Occam
it,
rendered to philosophy.
He
^the
be recognised.
its
real services
we
1
'
find
and mistakes. 'In short,' says Prantl, ourselves in Occam on the basis of an Aristotelian
talia sint reaJiter
Utrum antem
propositum nee hoc spectat determinare ad logicum, qui tamen principaliter distinctionem inter nomina primse et secunds intentionis habet considerare, quia logicus prsecise habet dicere, quod in ista propositione " homo est species" subjectmn supponit pro uno communi et non pro aJiquo sigutrum autem iUud nificato suo
;
an
objective
form, and that involved in the theory of the intentio secunda, are those
on vrhich Mr Shadworth Hodgson has built up the theory of his essay Tirm and Space. If I rightly unfirst
33 45), his view, making due allowance for the additional light thrown
commune
nihil
sit
reale vel
non
sit reale,
ad eum, sed ad metaphysicmn.' Sent. I Dist. 28. Quaest. 1. (quoted by Prantl, III 342). The two great philosophical distinctions which chiefly engaged the attention of the
schoolmen,
190
CHAP.
iL
human
knowledge begins with the perception of sense and of the individual object, combines the claim that every science, as such, can treat only of Universals a fundamental conception which appears clothed in Byzantine terminology, when he says that the component parts of judgements in every case
:
but
much
hardly
worth'.'
it
is
non
est
signum
Similiter
Empiiismns, welcher mit Zngestandnisse, dass aUes menschEche TVissen von der Sinneswahmehmtmg tmd von den EinzelnObjecten anhebt, zngleich die Fordemng vertnupft, dass jede Wissenchait als solche nur von UniTersellem handle, eine grandsatzliche AaffassTing, welche in byzantimsehe Terminologie eingekleidet ist, wenn Occam sagt, dass aUerdings die Bestandiheile der Urtheile mittelst svppositio an Stelle singnlarer Individnen stehen, aber fiir die Wisseu-
dem
accipiendo dicitnr intentio seemida animse eonceptus, qui sunt naturalia signa rerum, cujusmodi sunt intentiones prim^ stricte acceptee, sed etiam prout signa mentalia
modo
forte
non habemns
nisi vocale
eorrespondens intentioni secnndae. Stricte autem accipiendo dicitnr intentio secunda eonceptus, qui prascise significat intentiones naturahter significativas, cujusmodi sunt genus,
species, difierentia et alia
hujusmodi
schaft doch
'
332. following ^notations from the Quodlibeta and the Summa Totius LogictB, indicate irith snch remarkable clearness the views of Occam in conformity with the Byzantine element, that I have thought it worth while to give them in full as printed by Prantl in illustration of his own criticism : ' Large dicitnx intentio prima esse signum intnsibile existens in anima, quod non signifieat intentionem vel eonceptus in anima vel alia signa prsecise (prcecise in scholastic terminology =omnino, prorsus. SeeDucange, s.v.) etisto
The
Ita de intentionihns primis, qme supponunt pro rebus, praedicatnr nnus eonceptus communis, qui est intentio secunda. In the Summa we have the following equally explicit '^sufSiciat, quod intentio exposition est quoddam in anima, quod est signum naturahter significans ahquid, pro quo potest supponere, vel quod potest esse pars propositionis men:
Tale autem duplex est. Unum, quod est signum ahcujus rei, et illud quffi non est tale signum
talis.
Large
modo non solum categoreumata mentaUa, quae significant res, quaenon sunt significativas, sed etiam syneategorenmata mentalia et verba et conjnnctiones et hujusmodi dicuntur primse intentiones Sed stricte dieituT prima intentio nomen mentale prsecise natum esse extrcmum propositionis et supponere pro re.
dicitur intentio prima onme signum intentionale existens in anima, quod non significat intentiones vel signa et iUo modo verba prsecise, mentaha et syncategoreumata mentalia,
adverbia,
conjunctiones,
et
hujusmodi possunt did intentiones Stricte autem vocatur inprimte. tentio prima nomen mentale natum pro suo significato supponere. Intentio autem secunda est ilia, quae est signum tahum intentionum primarum, cujusmodi sunt tales in-
WILLIAM OF OCCAM.
191
chap,
dox of the master' and the true discernment of the pupil, we have a striking illustration of the relevancy to true philosophy, which, notwithstanding their
many
may undoubtedly
The works
claim ^
compared to
minute and monotonous in detail and even as Egyptian travellers who have venturously essayed the labyrinths of
;
those ancient
structures,
feelings
so,
of
we
can-
rejoiced as they
men of the fourteenth century must have saw some promise of escape from endless
It is inspiriting to note the ease
perplexity and
toil.
where- ^f^^"
with this English schoolman disentangles himself from the J^^^]^ toils of theological dogmas by his prompt disavowal of the toS^y ambitious all-sufficiency of Aquinas, a feature in which the
influence of his teacher Scotus
is
probably to be discerned.
know
not,'
replied
Occam; 'experience
me
nothing of
the Cause of
all causes,
Was
nnr
^
tinmittelbar
(objective) auftrete.'
'
gee Prautl, 361 379. MUl's n oc. 1, 2, and 3. Bain, Mental and Moral Science, Appendix Dean Mansel observes that OcB. cam, like Petrus Hispanus, departs from the ordinary arrangement of
Logic, Bk.
'
vorstellnngsweise ni 208.
Einzelnheit sei und daher auch im Denken nioht mit concreter Gegenstandlichkeit(su6jech'rf)sondemeben
the Organon. He commences with the different divisions of terms, of which his account is much more complete than that of the Summulte Logicales.' (Introd. to Artis Logicce Itudimenta, ji.xxxvi.) Pranti shows that Occam exercises a perfectly independent judgement in his employment of the technical method of that treatise: see Geschichte der Logik, 382, 391, 392.
192
'>i!li^'
RISE OF
*^^*
'
mode
of existence
is
but the
effects of the
Cause itself is infinite, and is thereremoved from the province of my logic' Such manly sense finds an echo in our hearts. We are ready to surrender
to
Luke Wadding
his
Englishman the
would require very extended research in his writings Occam in no case recognised the existence of an ultimate major premise, that is to say, a major premise which could not, in conformity with the nominalistic philosophy, be shown to be resolvable into an induction from observed facts. But it is to be rememIt
The
was not
belief in
their
existence
had been
Church
and
it
until Plato
to western
Europe,
that
the
it
theory began
advance
There
is
nothing in the
nominalism upon the whole theory of innate ideas, we may well hold his predecessor by more than three centuries exonerated from reproach in his corresponding lack of apprehension. On more perilous
ground
it
proved, in
all probability,
of eminent service to
the progress of speculation that Occam so definitely refused to render his method subservient to the test of theological
2f controversy,
hoiS ^S^^-
seem a bold step for a Franciscan friar thus to proclaim the severance of logic from theology; but the impossibility of that alliance which Aquinas had en* "light
tx
j.
WILLIAM OF OCCAM.
193
chap. n.
deavoured to effect, was becoming increasingly apparent, and the path pursued by Occam seemed at least to relieve him from the arduous task of reconciling what both Bacon and the Church had declared could not really be at variance. To some he may indeed appear only to have evaded the difficulty, but in the restrictions he thus imposed on logic it is easy to see that he narrowed the field of controversy with the happiest results. The dogma had hitherto been the rallying point for the fiercest controversies. The Real
Presence, the Incarnation, the doctrine of the Trinity, the
existence of angelic natures, the Immaculate
Conception,
such had been the questions which drew round each great
doctor the excited audiences of those centuries.
estness with vyhich
The
earn-
men then
that which
it
among the most remarkable, perhaps features of these times. With William
repose.
versities,
Occam we
see
Universals thenceforth, at least in the English uniceased to invite the ingenuity of the logical dis-
and each new comer, relieved from the necessity of shewing how his doctrines might be reconciled with dogma, cast his metaphysical theories into the arena of the schools to be tossed from one disputant to another, in comparative freedom from apprehension concerning their bearing upon theological controversy. An immense accesputant
;
sion
and few
the
typifies
comment
be disposed to call in question the justice of of Hallam, that this metaphysical contention the great religious convulsion of a later time.
' '
have already alluded to those writings of Occam wherein Jie appeared as the confronter of the papal assump-
We
;
The'Pope at
opposed by
Franciscans.
and the whole controversy between the pope at Avignon and the English Franciscans is so pertinent to the history of English thought at this period, that we shall need
tions
no excuse
of this
for
tiote the
main features
have adverted in the preceding chapter to the rapid degeneracy of the Mendicants,
remarkable
We
13
194
CHAP. n.
RISE OF
it is
and
undoubtedly somewhat
which drew from Wyclif, the master of Balliol, such stern rebuke, and from Gower, Chaucer, and Langlande such trenchant sarcasm, with the merits of that order which could trace from Adam de Marisco so illustrious a succession as is presented, in England
concile those general characteristics
^ush'
oEcans.
alone,
of Coventry,
John
Wallis,
rpj^Q^^
Dockyug, Thomas Bungay, Peccham, Richard MidIt is not less dleton, Duns Scotus, Occam, and Burley. singular to find the order which sacrificed the sympathy of
Grosseteste
by
its
now
is
Of
ttie
latter
phenomenon a
sufficient
explanation
toFreMh"
vm, and
the subsequent
The
rapacity
Avignon to French interests roused the indignation of all true Englishmen. For seventy years, after the conclusion of the struggle between the crafty and able pontiff and the equally crafty and able Philip the Fair, the pope was the humble vassal of France; and when at length he again resumed his residence under the shelter of the Vatican, it was soon discovered that, in that long humiliation, much of the awe and reverence that once waited on his authority had passed away, and that his mandates, his menaces, and his anathemas were but feeble echoes of the thunder that Hildebrand and Innocent III had wielded. The effects of
that long exile were indeed such as
we may
well suppose
none of the French monarchs had foreseen. The power of France, at the opening of the century and up to the days of Cr&y and Poitiers, was a menace to all Europe, and
^ For an account of the extraordinary fraud, a transaction resembling that of the Teriest modem sharper, practised by Boniface on the Franciscans of England, see Milman'siotin
Christianity,
Book
xi
c. 9.
'
'
It was,'
WILLIAM OF OCCAM.
it
195
chap.
ii.
^^^JJf^fy.
of angry dissatisfaction.
shameless profligacy that gathered round the court at Avignon, sarcastically compared the exile of the pontiff to the
Babylonish captivity.
the tribuneship,
summoned Clement v
Rome.
But
it
S^S
before.
The resentment
felt
mono-
compared with that evoked by the same monopoly when The national claimed by the nominees of a foreign foe. the two nations had character was now fully formed blended into one and the strong purpose of the Saxon and the high spirit of the Norman ahke found expression in the Statute of Provisors sanctioned by the most courageous of
;
;
to temporal
English monarchs, and the denial of the papal pretensions power asserted by the boldest of the English
schoolmen.
It can consequently excite but little surprise that, when ot'o^m"'^ the opponent of the Papacy appeared as the author of a thepapai' new philosophy, his doctrines fell, at Paris, under the ec-"'"""
clesiastical
fierce
censure.
against
the
The wrath of pope John xxii was against the whole Franciscan order
Spiritual Franciscans
who inveighed
The
Franciscan were committed to the flames, and masters of Occam himself sympathy arts were forbidden to teach his doctrines.
mamfeated
was a prisoner at Avignon, and only escaped death by secret ^^^^^ ^'a"*. flight and taking refuge at Munich with .Louis of Bavaria,
who supported the cause of the rival claimant to the pontiFrom Munich he waged a further controversy with ficate.
his antagonists
his
132
196
CHAP.
11.
who
styled
Contrast
most powerful and the feeling excited by the usurpations of the Papacy most intense, the sympathy evoked on his behalf was proportionably strong. From the time of Grosseteste there appears to
by strong points of
under the influence of the Dominicans at Paris ; and not a few of our countrymen regarded with exultation the vigour and freshness of speculation at home when compared with the conservatism that prevailed at the great continental university'. Traces of
this contrast of feeling are to
NSLiaJistic
atjhetter
university.
tiie
of
fifteenth
Even so late as the latter part of the century we find that at Paris, when the ban under
Occam.
which Louis xi had placed the nominalistic doctrines was removed, and the chains which bound the forbidden volumes were loosened, the German nation, originally known as the
English nation, alone received with any manifestations of
The
scliool
(in
which then
in the year 1430. The historian of the TOiiTersity of Basle, Dr Visoher, observes that at its first foundation in the year 1460 the still raging controversy introduced an element of discord. Of the different phases of nominalism in that centunjr, he observes Der Nominalismus vereinigt jetzt um sich die ganze gegen die kirchlichen Missbrauche ankampfende, neuemde Partei, welche in den Concilien einen Weg zur Verbesserung der Kirche sncht, und, so auffaUend es anch auf den ersten Blick ist, erscheint er in bedeutenden Vertretem sogar mit dem Mystioismus verbunden. Er f and trotz dein Widerstande des mit der romisehen
:
'
versit^ la nation d'Allemagne re(;ut avec une grande joie eette autorisa-
des
vierzehnten und im Anfang des funfzehnteu Jahrhunderts vorherrschend, selbst auf der Pariser Universitat.' Geschichte der Universitat Basel,
p. 139.
NOMINALISM.
197
At Oxford however
Occasionally,
the doctrines of
Occam obtained
older
chap. n.
popularity of
at Oxford,
philosophy
avowed their dissent from his teaching of whom the most eminent was perhaps Walter Burleigh, a pupil of Duns Scotus, whose Expositio super artem Veterem long continued
a text-book in the university, and whose Liber de Vita ac
Morihus Philosopkorum
thought.
is
But by far the greater number followed in the new track. Among them were John Bacanthorpe, Adam Goddam, and Armand de Beauvois while some even sought
;
arguments of their teacher to yet more extreme conclusions. Such was Richard Holcot, who did not hesitate to insist upon that distinction between scientific and theological truth which, as we have seen, both the Church and Bacon declared to be impossible, and at which Occam himself appears to have stopped short". If we accept the views of certain writers we shall be disposed to look upon
to press the
the
distinguishing
feature
of
scholasticism
as
well nigh
and
diffusion of nominalistic
The triumph
of Nominalism,' says
involved the downfall of the principal applications of the Sniiistio But, on the other hand, the facts shew themethod'of scholastic method.'
method as not less rigorously pursued by Bradwardine and Wyclif than by Albertus and Aquinas. Professor Shirley, whose views on such a subject must carry
us that
considerable weight, inclined to the opinion that a modified
1 Wood says, sub amw 1343, the divisions between the Northern and the Southern clerks were now as great, if not more, as those before. Those of the north held, as 'tis said with Scotus, and those of the south with Ockham, and in aU their disputations were so violent that the peace
'
secundum rationem supernatuialem. Nam (ut ait S. Thomas) nullo pacto verum alteri vero repugnare potest Quapropter Thomas, in Comment. ad Lib.
Trinit. Boethii, scribit
of the
little
"
Wood-Gutch,
439.
'
quid inveniatur in dictis philoaophorum fidei repugnans, iUud non esse philosophia desumptum, Bed ex ejus abusu procedere propter
si
quod
Neque
defectum.' Mazonius in Univ. Platonis et AHst. Philosoph. p. 201. Quoted by Haur^au, ii. 479.
rationis
198
CHAP. n.
form of realism
'
prevailed,
It is possiwas abandoned. ble,' he says, that in order to be consistent with a revealed religion, nominalism requires a definite boundary to be drawn between the provinces of religion and philosophy,
versals as objective existeaces
and to this the whole genius of scholasticism is opposed. But this at least is certain, whatever be the cause, that almost all the religious life, and even all that was continuous
in the intellectual
life
In the latter
among
secular priests.
realists*.'
was to be found, speaking broadly, among the As a body, therefore, they were naturally
It is evident, indeed, that if nominalism,
in a
form incompatible with the scholastic method, had become predominant to the extent that some authorities have represented, the result must have inevitably led to a comparative neglect of those writers in
whom
that
method
is
Ttamas
d. 1349.
shew us that such was not the case. its pohcy was the same. The provinces of reason and faith may have been no longer regarded as conterminous, but logic was stiU. the weapon that the theologian most relied upon in controversy, and its popularity was undiminished in the schools. proof wcrc required of our statement, we could scarcely adduce better evidence than is afforded by the great treatise
centuries suflSces to
The
of
of Canterbury,
^the
De
it
Causa
J>n-
This treatise, addressed ad suos Mertonenses, mav , j j be regarded as one of the chief sources of the Calvinistic
obtained.
teaching, so far as
;
'J
it has found expression, of our English Church founded for the most part on the work of Augustine, it aims at developing, by a series of corollaries from two
'
lii.
BRADWAKDIXE.
199
main
The
chap. n.
'
mode
of treatment^ which
is
almost as
much
that of the
geometxiciau as of the school logician, is perhaps the most remarkable instance of the schol:K<tie method to be found in
the whole range of middle age literature'. How soon its authority as a classic work on the coutroversv became reooor. nised, may be mterred trom the simple yet reverential
T^stinKMy of
i'*
-^t.
pVit in
the
mouth
be
of his
Nouue
Prest:
'
neeiies
After the opjiijxnm of certain olerHs. "Witnesse on him, that eny oleik is.
Bnt Tit I cjui not bnlt it to the hreu. As can the holv doctor Angostyn. Or Boeee, or tht bisthop Bnuitear^gH, Whether that Ooddis worthy forwetjng
Str<>!gueth
me
Or eUes
if fre
ohoys be granted
me
it
To do
nought.
Though God forwot it, er that it wss wrought; Or if his wityng streyneth never a deel. But by necessite eondicionel.'
The work
to
wardines time
of
Europe*;
it
* A good ontUne of the general scope of the work will be found in Dean Hook's Lirr.-' of *** J A-A6iV*i>ps ofC^iHtfrbury, rr ST ;'"J : and a oarefal study of it in Lechlor's P^ Thoma
nuir<?r<)(No
ISlj-J.
Oommfntatio:
Lipsife,
es hypothesibns, et pnedemonstiatis reliqua omnia perpetna serie ad fiuem nsijue operis sttesendo, quo fit ut ivuolnsioues ejus enipiam fortasse nimis alte petitw Tideantur. Qnodsi in lemmatibns et propv^siriouibus non
Ssvile looks upon Bradwardine's method as unique: 'Itaqne primus, quod seiam, et solus h-sne riam tentavit in Theologiois. ut tilo Mathemaueo Theologioa cvuiexerot, ponendo scilicet primo loco duiis hypotheses quasi principia, et ex lis
iUam mathematiusqueqnaque asstxjm, meminerit lector non id anctori imputandum. sed subjoctje, qnam tractat. m.iteri<e.' Pnet. Lfctori.
liiplieiiir
semj^r
ciun
potnit
pnmma
atque ^ 'Fuit bio Uber, statim editns est, tanto omnium doetorum exeeptus applansu. ut per omnes fere hihUotheeas loiius Eiu\>p* describeretnr."
Ibid,
200
CHAP.
11.
Sir
Henry
Savile,
services
to
literature,
latest of that
eminent
of
scholar's
as
folio
some 900
pages; and even so late as the last century. Dean Milner deemed it deserving of a lengthened and scrupulous analysis.
What
kind of
is
no
evidence in the
Be Causa Dei
affraSb?
thirimfag
eage.
any of that philosopher's writings except the by Chalcidius. At the same time it must be admitted that his references to ancient authors are surprisingly numerous and extend over a- wide His pages bristle with quotations from Ptolemseus, range.
had
access to
Pseudo-Dionysius, Damascenus,
Even had he
for at this
offer
Our knowledge
how-
for
we know
Buf*
AiS
There was no Grosseteste in the fourteenth century, but and liberality in its promotion were worthily represented in Eichard of Bury. The son of a
^i^ ^^ ^ learning
Norman knight
education at Oxford, where his academical distinctions were such that he was selected to fill the post of tutor to the
Edward
III.
At
court
his
was a
difficult
one
were con-
By
to
time
for action
had
arrived,
render
important
service
cause.
To
his
EICHARD OF BURY.
rupture forced on between Edward
law, Charles the Fair of France.
ii
201
chap. n.
his eariy
experiences.
and his brother-inwas he who, as the royal treasurer in Guienne, forwarded the revenues he had collected to Isabella on her arrival in Paris a daring step which subsequently made it necessary for him to flee for his life, from the pursuit of Edward's lieutenant, to the campanile of the Franciscans in that city. During the
It
;
soon became apparent that was the man whom he delighted to honour. In 1330 Richard was appointed ambassador to pope John XXII at Avignon, and the successful conclusion of the
off their dictation it
had shaken
Durham.
The stewardship
There seems to be little reason for infemng that Richard ^ Bury was a man of profound acquirements, even when measured by the standard of that illiterate age. Petrarch, who made his acquaintance at Avignon, describes him as
of
witii
' Avignon,
man of ardent temperament, not ignorant of literature, and with strong natural inquisitiveness into obscure and
a
out of the
way
lore.
The
he had found the very man to solve for him an antiquarian the geography difficulty he was then seeking to unravel, and propounded his question of the Thule of the ancients,
We learn with regret that our eminent countryproved no CEdipus on this occasion. He took refuge in a vague vaunting of those literary stores he was then accumulating at home, and expressing his certain belief that
forthwith.
man
on
his return
information.
sure of
he should be able at once to find the necessary But though Petrarch, believing that the pres-
more important affairs might have driven the conversation from the mind of the English ambassador, wrote once and again to remind his lordship of Durham of his
202
CHAP.
II.
RISE OF
preserved an obstinate
silence'.
From
data
we
SerSf'his
attainments,
may, indeed, reasonably surmise that in Richard of Bury the literary enthusiast and the bibliophilist prevailed over nor does the appearance of some t'^ accurate scholar^;
^^^f
^j^^^en
in
concluding that the author had any extended acquaintance with the language. Our admiration will more judiciously
select his really strong points
:
^the
he descants on the advantages of learning, and on the care, the respectful care, to which its treasures are enhis princely bequest to Oxford and wise provisions titled, for the maintenance of that bequest in its integrity, the kindliness of his nature and his quick eye for genius, as
shewn
in the
he loved to gather round him in his palace at Bishop's AuckAmong these was Thomas Bradw-ardine, one of the land.
^ The liyely maimer in which Petrarch has related this anecdote induces me to transcribe the original Latin Mihi quidem de hac re
:
'
tam messem
neo-
dum
horrea, sed
abiisset,
dum
genitus atque educatus, abditarumque rerum ab adolescentia supra fidem ourioaus, talibus prsesertim quEestiunoulis enodandis aptissimus videretur, ille autem, seu quia sic speraret, seu quia puderet ignorantiam fateri (qui mos hodie multorum est, qui non inteUigunt quanta mo-
sive niViil invenienB, siye noTiter injuncti pontificaUs officii gravi munere distractus, quamvis ssepe Uteris interpeUatus, expectationi mese, non aliter quam obstinato
sUentio
'
satisfecit.'
Epist. de Rebus
Fam. Lib.
'Iste
destiaelausait,homininato,necnosse
omnia volenti, profiteri ingenue se nesoire quod nesoiat) seu forte, quod non suspicor, quia hujus mihi arcani
notitiam iiivideret respondit, certe se dubietati mese satisfacturum, sed non priusquam ad libros sues, quorum nemo copiosior fuit, in patriam revertisset, erat enim dum in amici:
tiam ejus
peregrinuB
incidi, tractandis
sui negotiis,
ea
tempestate,
delectabatur in Plures enim libros habuit, sicut passim dicebatur, quam omnes Pontifices Angliffi. Et prteter eos quos habuit in diversis maneriis suis, repositos separatim, ubicunque cimx sua familia residebat, tot Jibri jacebant sparsim in camera qua dormivit, quod ingredientes Tix stare poterant vel incedere nisi Ubrum aUquem pedibus coneuloarent.' W. de Chambre, Continuatio Hist. Dunelm. Surtees Society, p. 130, (quoted by Mr Macray, Annals o/ the Bodleian, p. 4).
summe
multitudine librorum.
RICHARD OF BURY.
bishop's chaplains
;
203
chap.
ii.
and from the library of the episcopal residence the author of the De Causa Dei enriched the pages of his treatise. A certain community of error between the bishop and his chaplain would, indeed, suggest that they drew from common stores, for both are to be found
referring in their writings to a sorry
His oxeniona
collector.
own high
position,
His agents explored the chief towns of France, Germany, and Italy. He had himself conducted the search in Paris and among the more important monasteries in England and at the magic of his gold, many a religious house and many a
;
its
dark recesses
and from mouldering chests some neglected, half-forgotten volume, gnawed by the mice, eaten by the moth and the worm, and covered with mildew and with dust.
It is gratifying to find that, unlike
many
Jxfori
monks
a
of
college,
At the close of the thirteenth century the Durham had founded for their order at Oxford first known as Durham and afterwards as Trinity
was required
to preserve the volumes in chests,
for their use
The
society
and the
rules laid
down
Among
and
writers whom Bradwardine cites, besides, of course, the omnipresent Dionysius, we have the Vacca of
bequeathed by of Worcester, in the year 1320, together with those bequeathed by Richard of Bury.
valuable, collection
Plato, the Pcemandei- of Hermes, and the Secreta Secretorum of Aristotle. ' Some of these books, on the diasolution of the CoUege by Henry viii,
Duke Humphrey's Library, and some Macray, AnnaU to Balliol College. of the Bodleian, p. 5. The University Library
menoed
Part of the library, amounting in value to forty pounds, was sold, in order to raise a salary for the librarian,
204
CHAP.
II.
1 The regulations prescribed by Eicbard of Bury appear to have been almost identical with those of the Sorbonne. M. Victor de Clero, after
'
LMvgque
qu'il
gave him easy access to this institution, where, once admitted^ lie would not fail to visit the library and learu
its officers the rules for its management.' Critical Notice, prefixed to the Philobiblon, p. 37.
from
de ses livres, in 1344, b, Tuniversit^ d' Oxford, reproduit presque UttSralement les m6mes articles, et admet aussi, aveo de sages restrictions, D^jH vers la fin le prinoipe du prt. du X' sifecle les livres de IMglise cath^drale de Clermont pouYaient Stre pretes k des particuliera. LMv6que de Caraillon, Philippe de Cabassole, en n'interdit k personne 1' usage de 1372, ceux qu'il l^gue k son ohapitre mais il veut qu'ils soient enchatn^s.' Etat des Lettres au Quatorzieme Siecle, i 345. M. Cocheris (I quote Mr Hand's
;
amount
has re-
cently received at other hands renders a more lengthened notice here, less necessary. Professor Morley has given a careful epitome of its contents in his English Writers, Vol. ii
translation) remarks as foDows ' They (the regulations of the Sorbonne) are more minute than those of the bishop of Durham, but do not materially differ from them. The first article prescribes a system of pledges, and the second directs the election of the custodian or librarians by the socii. These two fundamental articles are to be found in Richard of Bury's scheme and are its essential features. It is therefore quite impossible not to perceive the imitation. It is, besides, easy to explain this borrowing by Bury
:
43 57. Dean Hook has also happily touched on some of its most interesting features in his life of Bradwardine, {Lives of the ArchThe original work bishops, Vol. iv). has been elaborately edited by M. Cocheris, (Paris, 1856,) from the MSS. at the Imperial Library of Paris, with valuable biographieal, bibUographioal, and literary excursuses ; there is an American translation of this edition (Albany, 1861), to which the editor has added the EugUsh translation by John B. Inglis, (London, 1832) this latter translapt. 1, pp.
;
tion is a very inaccurate performance. I have used the MS. in the Harleian Collection, No. 492, which appears in some respects superior in accuraoyto those towhichM.Cocheris
His
Uterary
had
access.
EICHAED OF BUEY.
interval from the close of the
205
Richard of chap.
*
;
half century.
ii.
Bury died
at his palace
at
Auckland
William of Occam, in exile at Munich, in 1347 Thomas Bradwardine, after holding the see of Canterbury for a fewmonths, was carried off by the prevalent epidemic, the
plague
of
Florence,
in
1349\
we must be
which they
lived.
is
met with
suffices to
men
of his
own
day.
The censures
he
tells
us
how he
is
universal ignorance of
''
ma-
Dr Lechler has
distinguished the
medulla
est
eritque.
temporary in the following pregnant Bradwardinus enim, si sentences quid videmus, neque dootoribus iUis
:
mentem
Eo-
'
manse aut
adversari,
Bomauo
erga
quamdeimpugnandaEomacogitavit.
Verum
non
uterque ea
ecolesiffl
ejus de-
cum
fensores extiterunt, neque illis viris, qui Eomse adTersarii in pubUoum prodierunt, sive, ut Ocoamus, imperii nomine cum saoerdotio pugnam committebant, sive doctrinas disoiphnseque Eomans capita qusedam oppugnabant. Bradwardinus neque in Eomse decreta et iastituta ita juraverat, ut Eomam Eomse causa veneraretur, neque uUo modo consilium cepit arma Eomse inferre. Nibilominus sententia ilia de gratia Dei per Christum gratis salvante et pecoatores justificante, quse medulla
temporis tantum fuit, ut dissensus eo usque latens in luoem proferretur. Itaque nuUi dubitamus Bradwardi-
num
nostrum
illis
adnumerare
viris,
qui "testes veritatis" et prtenuntil Beformationis uuncupati sunt.' Commentatio, etc. p. 18.
^ Thomas James, librarian of the Bodleian in 1599, in a manuscript letter to Lord Lumley, preserved at the British Museum, in a copy of the
edition of the Fhilobiblon which he published in the same year, speaks of his own time as an iron age,' while of Bury he says ' vixit in illo aureo seculo cum illis priscis et bonii
'
Imo
dootrina
eadem
est,
quse a
hominibus,'
ecclesias
206
RISE OF
when
among
his
and
especially
when he thus
characterises,
in language which
ofthe'time'"
might almost pass for a passage from the Opus Tertium, the prevalent characteristics of the students who composed the great majority at Oxford and at Paris 'and forasmuch as,' he writes, 'they are not grounded in
:
by Richard
their
first
rudiments
at
when grown which they should have acquired when of tender years, and thus must needs ever pay the penalty of having too hastily vaulted into the possession of authority to which they had no claim. For these, and like reasons, our young students fail to gain by their scanty lucubrations that sound learning to which the ancients attained, however they may occupy honorable posts, be called by titles, be invested with the garb of office, or be
ing edifice on an insecure foundation, and then
are
up they
ashamed
to learn that
Snatched from their cradles and hastily weaned, they get a smattering of the rules of Priscian and Donatus; in their teens and beardless they chatter childishly concerning the Categories and the Perihermenias in the composition of which Aristotle
spent his whole souP.'
^^ ^^y ^^ emphatic is his testimony to the decline of mendicant orders, whom he describes as altogether busied of thfSiwith the pleasures of the table, the love of dress, in which
mony tothe
tlie
they disregarded
activity, learning
all
Amid
all their
;
wide-spread
was
on the
1
'
Philobihlon, o. 9. ' Sed (proh dolor) tam hos quam alios iatorum sectantea effigiem, a paterna cultura Ubrorum subtrahit triplex cura oura superflua ventris viz. vestium, et domorum. Sic Bimt enim (neglecta Salvatoris provideutia, quem Pealmista circa pauperem et mendioum promittit esse eolicitum)
: ;
labentis corporis indigentias oooupati, ut sint epulis splendidee, veetesque contra regrdam delicato, necnon et tBdifioiorum fabricaa, ut castrorum propugnaoula, tali proceritate, qute paupertati non oonveuit exaltatfe.' c. i. Querinumium Librorum contra Ueligiosos Mendicantes,
207
in- chap. n.
it
might seem to
from them in his researches, and to the invaluable literary stores of which their foundations were the repositories
and
oi'ders in
popular
Without denying
that,
herent defect of their constitution, those orders must in all probability have degenerated, just as all other orders had
their fate overtook
degenerated in every preceding age, we may yet allow that them with more rapid strides owing to
the correspondingly rapid encroachments made by the new centres of learning upon their province as instructors of the
amid their had given something of dignity to their many shortcomings, Warton appears to us to have here pointed out the office.
people,
and
connexion of cause and effect very justly: 'As the univerbegan to flourish, in consequence of the dissities,' he says, tinctions and honours which they conferred on scholars, the
'
^^;^;?^
establishment of colleges, the introduction of new systems of science, the universal ardour which prevailed of breeding
almost
all
claimed
208
CHAP. n. dies
RISE OF
which were more strongly encouraged, more commoand more successfully cultiv^ated ia other plac&s ; they gradually became contemptible as nurseries of learning, and their fraternities degenerated into sloth and ignorance \' It will devolve upon us, at a somewhat later
diously pursued,
stage in our enquiry, to point out how a like decline awaited the prestige of the mendicant orders, the penalty of their
bigotry.
acomrpfibe activity of
a close OUT retrospect of the intellectual England at this era, a yet more miportant decline even than that of the monastic and mendicant orders presses How itself upon our notice and demands some explanation. from the middle of the fourteenth century up is it, that
In
brinprinpr to
is
comes over the mental life of both Oxford and Cambridge, and so few names of eminence, Wyclif and ^Reginald Pecock being the most notable exceptions, invite our attention? From the death of Bradwardine to the first battle of St. Alban's, more than three quarters of a century intervene, during which no adequate external cause of distraction appears which may be supposed to account for the comparative
Wood's
cria-
The
observation of
Anthony
, '
cism offers
'hS
(rftbeiact.
any studies but polemical, being wholly bent and occupied in and crying down the orders of mendicant friars,' presents us with a true but only a partial explanation. Other causes were at work, some of which wiU be best explained in a subsequent chapter, but it can hardly be questioned that the most baneful efiects in the fourteenth century
refuting his opinions
are to be traced to the bias given to the studies then pursued.
d^tio^o
JteSrtLw.
excesses indicated by Bacon constitited the prevailing characteristics long after his time, and the absorbing attention given to the civil and canon law was
It
ed. 1840.
20.9
it
would be a serious misapprehension were we to regard these two branches of jurisprudence as representing at that time the provinces
not be unimportant here to notice, that
of the civilian and the ecclesiastic respectively.
It
is
may
chap.
ii.
part of
which
between the laity and the clergy of those times. Blackstone indeed in the Introduction to his Commentaries inaccnracyof Blackstone a has gone so far as to represent the civil law as from the first fSaw^of under the protection of the clergy, and contending in its"^""''^'
grasp)
We
have
that
and of the new But Aristotle, had opposed the study of the Roman Law. advance of the thirteenth century this opposition with the had died away, how completely may be seen from the fol-
had
lowing passage from the Compendium Philosophice: ' But as we have now come down to our own times, I
am ^^^^^
especially desirous of introducing that which has been ad- ?^uitta?' vanced in preceding pages concerning the causes of errors cKiusive and the impediments of learning which have multiplied civa law. during the last forty years, and to point out how error so prevails in the Church of God, that either the approach of Antichrist or some other heavy trouble must be near at
the strength of
1
'
hand, or the advent of some most holy chief pontiff, who in God will root out these causes of error and
The
clergy in particular as they
entirely tinder the influence of the popish clergy (Sir John Mason, the first Protestant, being also the first lay, chancellor of Oxford), this wiU lead us to perceive why the study of
then engrossed almost every other branch of learning... were peculiarly remarkable for their proficiency in
the study of the law.
Nullus clericus
nisi causidiiyus is the character given of them soon after the Conquest by And if WiUiam of Mahnesbury it be considered that our universities begap about that time to receive their present form of scholastic discipline; that they were then and continued to
Soman laws was in those days of bigotry pursued with such alacrity in these seats of learning, and why the common law was entirely despised, and esteemed little better
the
than
heretical.'
Blackstone,
1
Com-
mentariei by Kerr,
15.
be
till
14
210
Of these
causes two
all
kingdoms.
And
thus,
by
this abuse,
grades of learning are destroyed, and the whole world exposed But as for the way whereby evil-minded to the evil one
jurists destroy the love of learning, that is patent
; namely and trickery they have so preoccupied the that by minds of prelates and princes that they obtain nearly all the emoluments and favours, so that the empty-handed students of theology and philosophy have no means of subsistence, of buying books, or of searching and experimenting upon the Even jurists who study the canon law secrets of science. neither of subsistence nor of study unless possess the means they previously possess a knowledge of the civil law. "Whence, just as with philosophers and theologians, no r^ard is paid them unless they have a reputation as civil jurists, with the abuses of which studv thev have disfigured the sacred canons. Furthermore, every man of superior talent, possessing an aptitude for theology and philosophy, betakes himself to civil law, because he sees its professors enriched and honoured by all prelates and princes, and also that few, out of r^ard for their kin, adhere to the study of philosophy and theology,
their craft
civil
body of the
clergy.
And
law of Italy
destroy the pursuit of learning in that it carries off the resources of students
and diverts
fit
but also in that by its associations it unworthily confounds the clergy with the laity, since it is in no way the function of
the clergyman, but altogether that of the layman, to have
cosrnisance of such law,
^as is
evident if
we
bear in
mind
government of the laity at large. And, indeed, the professors of the law of Bologna are willin g to be styled either teachers or clergymen ; and they reject the clerical tonsure. TJjey take to themselves wires and regulate their household entirely in secidar fashion, and associate with and adopt the
CIVIL LAW.
it is
'
211
ii.
From whence
portan"!
oT
tileciviuaw
canon law, had become the rule rather than the exception.
lore, theological
most of
ments in a subject which so nearly concerned the temporal and the civilian and the canonist interests of the Church
;
alike looked
theologian, even as
''i'^''?"y
Hagar, to use the comparison of Holcot, despised her barren The true scholar returned them equal scorn mistress".
and Richard of Bury roundly averred that the civilian, though he might win the friendship of the world, was the enemy of God'. Equally candid is the good bishop's expression of his indifference, notwithstanding his omnivorous
Testimony of
Bury,
inasmuch as
it
the gratification of the love of subtlety induced by the training of the schools, an outlet for practical activity .
^
But
it is
Compendium Studll
Philosophies,
c. 4.
Holcot, Super Librum Sapientim, Leges enim,' he adds, et Prffif. D. canones istis temporibus mirabiliter foecundse concipiuBt divitiaa et pariunt dignitates. Et ideo sacra scriptura qnsB est omnium scientiarum dereliota est; et ad illas affluit quasi tota multitudo scholarium.' ' In libris jmris positivi, luorativa peritia dispensandis terrenis accom^
' ' '
capessenda Baora soripturEe mysteria et arcana fidei eacramenta, filiis luoia eonfert utpote quae disponit peouliariter ad amicitiam hujus mundi, per quam homo, Jaoobo testante, Dei constituitur immious.' PhilobiUon,
:
c.
11.
'
minusque
Toluminibus
quam
6
expensse.'
moda,
509,
142
212
CHAP. n. easy to see that its chief value iu the eyes of the
many, of
those
'
as a means rather than as an that asserted by Bacon, that it was the path to end, was emolument, to high office, to favour with 'prelates and
princes.'
'Who
laws, or the
canons?'
But it was under the shelter of the canon law that the archbishop fought out his struggle with the king of England. As for the hope to which Bacon had given expression, that some most holy pontiff' might arise
'
who
evils, it is sufficient to
note
a pope whose
sole
recom-
mendation to the tiara had been his unscrupulous political genius, when he heard at Avignon that a young student of
SesSSc^isel'^
to theology:
'What
he ejaculated, 'what folly, for These theologians are aU mere Neither from Rome nor from Avignon were
folly,'
!
time
Plus dico
terdum scientiam auget ad timorem, sed devotionem aut raro aut nun-
speetacula poscit.
Siquidemnon tarn
quam
devotionem excitant, quam cuxiositatem Quis e lectione legum, aut etiam canonum compunctus surgit?
Inflammat.' Epist. 138 [a.d. 1165] ed. J. A. GUes, 1 196. ^ Creyier, iii 186.
CHAPTER
III.
Part
I:
The names
seem
would
'-
onhe''feador-
thought from
ford,
With-
Duns
Scotus,
we may
fairly
ask whe-
men
comparable in their respective excellences and extended influence with Wilham of Occam, Bradwardine, and Eichard If Paris can claim to have given to. Oxford and of Bury.
Cambridge
their statutes
and their organisation, Oxford can Paris some of her ablest and most As the renown of those eminent
men
did not
fail
to note the
interchange mth Paris as regards the rights of masters of arts at that university, we find that the claim of Oxford as the source of the ancient instruction of Paris, is plainly preferred: vermn quia du-
Mum non est (secundum veierum testU monia scripturanmi) Gallicanum studium ab Anglieanis nostris originale traxisse principmm, SeeBrianTwyne,
Apologia,
p.
877.
214
CHAP.
-
III.
comparative
of
Pe-
names
Rilite-
were those of
men whom he
claimed as compatriotsS
already a
of
H!cho^f
he declares, in her regard for antiquity, seems careless adding to her knowledge, while the perspicacity of
is
English' thought
'
We
he exclaims, writing while the soldiery of Edward III were ravaging the French provinces, home off, alas, by that same paroxysm which afflicts
behold the palladium of
'
land. The zeal of that illustrious school has become lukewarm, nay, even frozen, whose rays once illumined every
our
own
The pen
is
no longer propagated nor is there one who can be regarded as a new author. They wrap up their thoughts in unskilful language, and are wanting in all logical propriety, save when they learn by secret vigils those refinements of English thought which they publicly disparage.'
books
'Est ilia civitas tona quidem, et Eegia prsesentia, quod ad studium attinet ceu ruraUs est oalathiTS, quo poma undique peregrina et nobUia def erantur ex quo enim stuinsignis
;
les
ut.legitur, ab Alcuino prsoeptore Caroliregis institutum est, nunquam quod audierim Parisiensis quisqnam ibi vir clarus fuit, sed qui
illud,
dium
fuerunt extemi utique et nisi odium barbari oculos perstringeret, magna ex parte Itali fuere.' Contra Galli Galumnias, (ed. Basil, 1554) p. 1192. He enumerates in support of Ms assertion Peter Lombard, BonaVentura, Aquinas, and .ffigidius. To tHese observations M. Le Clerc reCette remarque est juste, et plies, continue mgme de I'gtre pour les Mais elle ne sifecles qui suivirent. prouve rien centre la puissance ct de ces grands centres d'acI'autorit^
'
maitres qui forment, diligent, ^olairent; qui usent leur esprit et leur vie a ce labeur de tous les instants, et ne se sentent pas humili^s d'avoir des disciples plus hardis et plus oSlebrea qu'eux. On sait bien que la critique n'est point le g&ie; or, dans les grandes viUes, dans les grands foyers d'instruction, la critique regne presque sans partage. L 'ancienne Borne, qui fut long temps, oomme Paris, nne sorte d'deole uni-
remains et elle n'en a pas moins le droit de revendiquer, entre ses titres
;
d'illustration,
la
gloire
litt6:aire.'
'^
?f g* Li sent
ii 81. An ingenious defence ; but Petrarch. i imagine, would have regarded the parallel instituted as defective,
14 Siecle,
215
But though we may readily admit that the temporary chap. hi. effects of the events alluded to by Eichard of Bury had their ~1^!_1^ share in bringing about this decline, it would seem that the the court at most potent cause must be sought in a long prior occurrence upon theuniand it is probably to the removal of the papal court to ^Avignon that we must refer that paralysis which seems to have overtaken the genius of the nation. The pope, while he servilely subscribed to the political policy of the French monarch, to some extent indemnified himself by the assertion of an ampler authority over the centres of education and
;
.
intellectual
Professor Shirley,
remarks sMrfe/Zoriwas impossible. '""^' One of the many mortifications suffered by the pride of Boniface viii, had been a refusal on the part of the university of Paris to send to him a list of the lectures she deactivity.
' '
With such a
neighbour,'
intellectual independence
livered, together with the names of such of her professors, or more distinguished graduates, as she wished to recommend for promotion. What Boniface had solicited in vain was freely granted by the university to John xxii. In 1316 the first Rotulus Nominandorum was sent to the newly elected pope at Avignon, and the practice once established soon became annual. Ecclesiastical dignities and emoluments fell in abundance upon the professors; and from that time
Other causes were, indeed, in opehad hitherto been the only "great school of theology on the continent. The time had come when this could no longer continue. The demand for learning was becoming daily more general; and, what is more important; the spirit of nationality was growing every day more powerful. A vernacular literature had arisen in Italy, and was rising on a humbler scale in England; and even Germany and Bohemia, which had contributed many illustrious pupils to Paris, began to wish for national universities of their own. In 1348 the university of Prague was founded in connexion with Oxford; in 1365 that of Vienna, 'the eldest daughter of Paris;' in 1362 and 1363 faculties of theology were given to Bologna and Padua, where law alone had hitherto been
ration.
studied.
To
21G
CHAP. in. left, at
^iy
'
liated
by
defeat.
liumiof her
intellectual empire'.'
Scantiness of the matenals
It is accordinglv
. .
by a natural and
inevitable transition
of'the'SS
tliat,
cJmSid^e
Mii^e'eL
from the continent to England; and, having examined sufficiently for our present purpose, the character and direction of the new activity at Oxford, we may now proceed to consider the rise in our own university of those new instiwhich, reflecting for the most part the example by Walter de Merton, occupy the foreground of our subject in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Lengthened
tutions,
set
it
to our
remarkable mental activity under the influence of the Mendicants, and its rapid collegiate growth, are the three caxdinal features in its early annals
which Oxford reproduced, in aU essential points, with singular fidelity. It would be gratifying if our information
enabled us to trace out a similar resemblance at Cambridge, but the obscurity which hangs over her ancient history, and
much that might have served to attest a corresponding process of developement, preclude us from a like
the loss of
Beyond those broad outhnes which we have followed in our preceding chapter, there is little that
course of treatment.
the Hospital of St. John the Evangelist and of Petermfere, ne nons paraltra jamais plus pnissante, malgr^ le prestige qui en-riromie an loin son nom, qu'eUe ne le fut pendant ce si^le au centre mdme du royaume, k Paris, et dans notre propre histoire; car jamais, depnis qu'elle fut
proclam^ lem
M. Le Clerc, somewhat misp. li. led, I rather think, by the numerous movements, political and theological,
which found a centre at Paris during this century, movements however
that represent the conservatism rather than the advancenaent of the age, has claimed for his university an undiminished influence and prestige :-' Mais cette nnivergit| de PariB
m^Ue aux
esprits.'
affaires
du monde
politi-
que, elle n'exerfa, prSs de cinquante ans de suite, un tel pouvoir sur les
U- SO-
^^
'
282.
CUEATION OP HOSTELS.
bouse, of Michaelhouse
217
chap. hi.
and of King's Hall, of University that our data assume something of comit is
l'
not until
and
new
conception
is
seen struggling as
it
were
for utterance
amid
the terrorism and traditions of a monkish age, the disputation, the friar and the secular,
tion, in strange
dogma and speculaand bewildering contrast and juxtaposition, that a sense, dim and vague though it be, comes over us of the conditions under which our college life beganj and it is
precisely as
we turn
still
and
its
thought.
Omitting
much
interesting detail,
it will
new
fotxndations, that
new movement
be-
consideration to
which took
its rise
as we have already seen, students of the earliest period were exposed. The hostel of the English universities in Hostels, former times may be defined as a lodging-house, under the rule of a Principal, where students resided at their own It provided for and completely absorbed the pensioner cost.
class in the university;
for the College, as
we
shall after-
was originally composed only of a Master, Fellows, and Sizars. It offered no pecuniary aid, but simply freedom from extortion, and a residence where quiet would be ensured
wards
see,
and some
discipline enforced; advantages however of no small rarity in that turbulent age. Fuller, in his history ofj^ount
218
CHAP.
III.
nJ^^LI.-
tions, of
Caius and Parker, no less than thirty-four of these instituwhich the greater number either fell into decay or
colleges before the Reformation,
while some undoubtedly survived for a longer period and are supposed by the same authority to have been the residence
of
trained at Cambridge
during the earlier half of the sixteenth century are unmentioned on her college registers.
'we
see
Of these hostels,' he says, some denominated from the saint to whom they
were dedicated, as St. Margaret's, St. Nicholas's, etc. Some from the vicinage of the church to which they -were adjoined, Some from the materials as St. Mary's, St. Botolph's, etc. with -which they -were covered, as Tiled-Hostel. Some from
those
who
Some were
all
the
employed
for artists
and
divines.
Some
of
them
"were
then to
were absolute corporations, entire within themselves, "without any subClare Hall
St.
Bernard's to Queens'.
The
rest
ordination.'
Early statute
respecting
We
tenureof"*
hostels.
^^ early statute concernmg the hire and tenure of these institutions, which may be regarded as one of the oldest documents illustrating the internal economy of the imiversity; it
and
offering as
it
does
marked points
tion:
Cautions : at what time
'
.
of contrast
the statute
given in our Statuta Antiqua, has seemed worthy of inserIf anyone desire to have the principalsMp of an"v hostel
-i
jhoymaybo
he must come to the landlord of the said hostel on St. Barnabas the Apostle's day (June 11); for from that time up to the nativity of the blessed Mary
uuiversity,
m the said
-i
11
(Sept. 8) cautions
may be
offered
HOSTELS.
'
219
is
Moreover, the
first
by
priority
the
first
by
first offers
^itimeiret'
rightf"'
must be preferred
'
who
is
must
"il^l'fj"'^^,',^
on the aforesaid day or within [the abovenamed] period, but the sooner the better, and in the presence of a bedell or a notary, or of two witnesses, produce his caution, giving effect thereto, if -he be
come
ihe''chance'i-
'"'
willing;
by
;
effect is
is,
pignoraticia, that
two sureties, or a book or something of the kind and if he be not admitted the same scholar is forthwith to repair to the chancellor and produce his caution in the presence of the aforesaid witnesses
and say in
him
in the
and
this
having
been proved the chancellor shall immediately admit him ou that caution and to that principalship notwithstanding the
refusal of the proprietor.
'
Moreover, he
who
is
hostel
may
'Moreover, cessions of this kind are forbidden, because they have proved to the prejudice of the landlord of the hostel, which ought not to be.
'Moreover,
if
of a hostel
and any
Admission to
sMpl^f^ahos-
him go
tion, as
to the landlord of the hostel and proffer his cauabove directed, with these words Landlord, if it
:
fo^''^^""
'
please thee, I desire to be admitted to the principalship of the hostel in such and such a parish, whensoever the princi-
pal
is
right, so that I
may
will
first,
you are
ing,
without prejudice to his right thereto, so long as he shall be principal.' If he do not agree, thou mayest pro-
may admit
220
CHAP.
III.
cipal
^^^^^ former
else;
and the chancellor shall admit thee even against the wish of the landlord and that of the principal. Moreover, if any landlord shall say to any scholar, have's'' Dost thou desire to be principal of this mine hostel V and evoilhoulh' Yes,' but the landlord says that he does andpriidjai the scholar answer ""' wuiing. not wish that the hostel should be taxed in any way, and the scholar says he does not mind, and enters into occupation as principal and receives scholars to share the hostel with him, those same scholars may go to the chancellor
' '
'
and have
'Moroover, no one
is to
any
fashion, so long as
he
pays his rent, or unless the landlord desire himself to be the occupier, or shall have sold or alienated the hosteP.'
The rude
vity,
its
simplicity
and bre-
may
Main
object of the sUitutc
quoted in the Statuta Antiqua; but further internal evidence be noted in favour of such a conclusion. It will be
observed that with the exception of one clause, its piu-pose is The to assort the risfhts of the university over the town.
collection
it
above
much more
into detail;
secures the
' See Communication made iy Henry Bradshaw, M.A., published with Report presented to the Gam-
bridge Antiquarian Society, May 11, 'A statute,' observes Mr. 1863. Bradshaw, ' concerning Hostels, made
'
Edward the First, carries us back to a time in the history of the university when Peterhouse was the only college, and nearly all the members lived in these HosIt is therefore less remarkpitia. able that we do not find this statute
in the reign of
printed editions, as the old Proctors' books, from -which the materials chiefly came for the edition of 1785, seem not to have been dra-wn up till the end of the 14th century at the earliest, and so represent a time when the collegiate system had begun to get a firm footing in the University.' The quaint character and eccentric grammar of this ancient statute has seemed to render it worthy of insertion in its original form: see Appendix (C).
among
HOSTELS.
221
it
chap. hi.
^.^^^1^
ranfpared
number
it
of statute st.
and convenient
'
provides
payment
it
when the
and the protection of the student was the primary object; and it is deserving of notice that it is probably in virtue of the power conferred by. the third clause that we find, in the year 1292, the Chancellor putting one Kalph de Leicester in occupation of a house to the tenancy of which the Prior of Barnwell had refused to admit him, though a sufficient caution for the rent had been duly tendered*. But the aid afforded to the student by the institution of little avail as H?,''<''"!f the hostel was evidently of a very limited character. If balamX poor, the only assistance he obtained was protection against tums ofXe
'J
the rapacity of the lodging-house keeper; the principal appears to have been in no way concerned with the instruc-
Mdera*
impuand inexperienced unsuspicious youth were induced to enrol themselves as Dominicans or Franciscans long before their judgment was sufficiently formed to estimate the full importance of such a step. The attractions held out were, indeed, well calculated to aUure them from honorable activity in any secular calling. The indolent were tempted by
nity,
the prospect of a dronelike existence at the expense of the by the temptations of a thinlylife-
Cooper, Am.aU,
\ 65.
222
while to
tTie
how
had found in the ranks of his order the most congenial associations and the opportunities for the most successful career. It is difficult to study the chai'acter of such men as Koger
Bacon and William of Occam, and not to surmise that vows of the Franciscan was the result rather of the proselytising activity to which they were exposed than of their own mature and deliberate choice. Minors and children agreed well together,' says Fuller, in
their adoption of the
'
When
Enactments
designed to counteract the proselytism of the Mendicants.
we need feel no surprise that both the academical authorities and private munificence were roused to action on their behalf. In 1336 a statute of our own university forbade the friars to receive into their orders any scholars under the age of eighteen years, a measure which it required the united influence of the four orders to repeal \ To such an extent had the evil spread at Oxford that, in the preamble of a statute passed in
fourteen had to acquire a university education,
1358,
lity
we
find
it
and commoners alike were deterred from sending their sons to the university by this very cause, and it was enacted that if any .Mendicant should induce, or cause to be induced, any member of the university under eighteen years of age to join the said friars, or should in any way assist in his abduction, no graduate belonging to the cloister or society of which such friar was a member should be permitted to
give or attend lectures in Oxford or elsewhere for the year
It
may be
era,
dern
this country
turies.
than
it
fifteenth cen-
The
numerous
gilds
among the
remarkable power
among the
i
Mendicants,
1
we
Cooper, Annals,
109.
201-5.
EAELY FOUNDATIONS.
conception.
223
chap.
iir.
The
gilds of the
presumed
class or of
and pre-
it
was not
until the
example thus
set
had been
own
So
Frosts,
an ancient and charitable family in Cambridge, Evangelist founded there a hospital dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, under the management of Augustinian Canons. Tradition has assigned to Nigellus, the second bishop of Ely,
list
of benefactors
name
earliest,
and
The bene-
Emtachius,
were of a princely character, and the iwr-ials. privileges he obtained for the new foundation added largely to its importance. His example was followed by his sue- nSoIci cessors in the bishopric; by Hugh Norwold, who obtained ^i^^'ii.
for 'the
(a
material
St. Peter's
Church
earliest
university exhibition.
and by William of Kilkenny, the founder of our wiiiiam or William of Kilkenny was Y "^'>''
Hugh
Balsham.
Hugh
Bal- Hugh
to!'!'-""^^^
represents the
through
nominee of both the Crown and the archbishop, the representative of a Benedictine community, in preference to
to the
It was the monks of Ely who elected Hugh Balsham; the King quashed the Hia disputed ''"" election and nominated Adam de Marisco*. 'A proceeding,'
1
sigilli
sui
224
CHAP.
III.
says
Matthew
Paris,
'
all
for
^^
could be condemned
meriK'
"SSd'
Marisco"
It was justice, nor any fault be found with the elect'.' only by recourse to the usual bribery, and an expensive jour-
may
possibly
appear to those
who
distinguished
Adam
him
in
capacity of diocesan.
We may
feel
assured that he
would never have become, what Hugh Balsham became, the founder of our first Cambridge college. He was moreover at this time a worn out man, and died within twelvemonths of the election; while Hugh Balsham filled the see of Ely for
nearly thirty years.
Though
genius and
we can
Cam-
and an
bajulnm, promovere eupiebat, speoiales Uteras supplioatorias et solennes nimoios oonTentui Elyensi direxit petens urgenter et instauter, ut die-
nobilem episcopatum Elyeusem, et insulam, quas ab antiquo asylum extitit ref ugii omnibus opptessis tempore
tribulationis.'
'^
turn
dominum Henricum
in episoo-
pum
Ibid. p. 950. of Adam de Marisco Prof. Brewer observes, hardly borne out by his letters, his
The claim
is,
to tbis title
cundumiUudethiemn:
tu noli praponere notis,
Ignotumtibi
ipsum me-
only extant -writings; but he quotes from the Opus Tertiuvi the emphatic testimony borne by Eoger Bacon to the attainments of his illustrious brother Franciscan. See Monvmenta Franciscana Pref. p. c. ^ Balsham, a village about ten miles to the east of Cambridge, was formerly one of the manor seats of the bishopric of Ely, and Simon Montacute resided there. Fuller remarks that it was customary at this period for clergymen to take their surname from the place of their birth. In the accounts of the Pre,
Wats, p. 936. 1 'Super quo facto mirati sunt cuncti audientes, quia electus nee electio reprobari de jm-e poterat, nee in eisdem vitium reperiri. Sed prsvaricatores, qusrentes nodum in scirpo, et angulum in circulo, imposueed.
runt ei quod simplex claustralis fuit, nee de negociis ssecularibus exercitatus vel expertua, et penitus insuffi-
HUGH BALSHAM.
825
''^^''^
'
which
appeared to
saw around him, his merits may have many to outweigh even the fame and influence
he
Some
new
was acquiring a real knowledge of the state of the neighbouring university; and it would be difiicult to point to any patron of learning either at Oxford or at Cambridge who
has combined with such enlightened activity such generous
self abnegation.
Hugh
-
Bal1
ham
munificence and in earnestness, but mostly where strator. they have established a claim to gratitude they have sought
to assert
m
.
a corresponding
authority.
It
was this
prelate's
tions
render his powers of interference and increase his benefacbe more a helper and yet less a dictator ; could ced^
;
mand, and yet labour on in the same field where those claims had been asserted prefening rather to survive as a
;
memory
is
of a grateafforded us JJ^the"Sta"toIu^I
'^'="-
Of
in the letters
by
own
authority as
In the following
year,
when he was called upon to adjust ks equi-' own archdeacon and the authorities of JJJ4e^o'^
spirit. *ify.
""'"
The archdeacon, it appears, not only claimed jurisdiction over the churches in Cambridge as lying within the diocese, but also, through the Master of the Glomerels, whose nomination
oentor of Ely Cathedral, iu the year 1329, we have the foUowing entry: ' The Precentor, going to Balsham, See to enquire for books,, 6^ 7''.'
15
226
CHAP. m.
^as vested in the archdeaconry, laid claim to other authority ^v^ which threatened to encroach upon the rights of the chancellor. The Glomerels, as we have already seen, constituted a body distinct from the scholars of the university, and it
became necessary
Balsham's decision
definitely to
limits of the
jurisdiction exercised
by the heads of the two bodies. Hugh was clear and equitable. He decided that
all
disputes con-
and
townsmen, but that whenever a dispute had arisen between Glomerels and scholars there should be a power of appeal
from the decision of that functionary to the chancellor'. other points, such as the jurisdiction over university
vants,
On
ser-
brants,
and
and deserving of comis undoubtedly that in -confirmation of a statute previously passed by the chancellor schoiara not and mastcrs, that no one should receive a scholar who has under a maabishop's decisions are equally clear
theSer ^^^
'"^"
^^
had entered the university, or who had not taken name had been within the time aforesaid inserted in the matriculation book of his master, unless the
scholar
care that his
vented the same.' To this 'commendable and wholesome' statute, as he terms it {statutuvi laudabile et scdubre), the
bishop gives his hearty sanction.
'
'
In
fact,'
if
scholar,
1 ' It appears from the perusal of these very remarkable documents, that the master of glomery received his appointment and institution from the archdeacon of Ely, to whose jurisdictiou the regulation and collation of the schools of grammar of the university prescriptively belonged; that he was required to swear obedienoe to the archdeacon and his officials that it was his duty to preside
:
PETEEHOUSE.
227
hi.
the foregoing, must have had ample opportunities for a clear -^-v
insight into the defects
we doubt
cution.
poor scholars
for
conveniency of
Hugh
Balsham
If
in his
JT
new endeavour^
the account accepted by so trustworthy a.f"^^"J J r duces secular
efforts
we adopt
were
first
Having
first
directed towards
Merton had
of the brethren,
he brought in and
John the
Evangelist),
and
in contemplation of his
new
and were the first and possibly in any other university whatever'.' failure of The attempted combination was not successful. The scho- this combiD& * lars,' observes Baker, were too wise, and the brethren pos- |i.^jf sibly over good;' and Hugh Balsham, after vainly endeacollegium,
university,
' ^
unum
'
strife
Hist, of the College of St. John the Evangelist, by Thomas Baker, edited by John E. B. Mayor, M.A. i 'The precise time when this 22. was done, or how long they continued together, does not so clearly appear for though the Uceuse to this purpose was obtained from Edward the First an. regn. nouo, Decembr. 27, and there might be no fuU and thorough settlement till this time, yet I am apt to believe they were placed
2
and my reason is this, because they are said by Simon Montaoute (who knew very well) to have continued here per longa tempora, which in no construction of words can be understood otherwise, than that they were placed here very early, and towards the beginning of Hugh Balsham's prelacy at Ely: for that they were here before he was bishop I can hardly imagine, he having nothing to do with the government of the house before he was bishop.'
Ibid,
i
22, 23.
much
152
228;
GHAP. in.
Such a proceeding involved, of course, a division of the common property, and the canons, who appear to have been iiiost anxious for the separation, were considerable losers by of thrtwo" They resigned to the secular scholars the improTheschoiars *^ result. hospropriatiojf" priation of St. Peter's Church with the two adjourning return a hostel near the churoh'with- tels already mentioned, receiving in ington gates. Dominican foundation, afterwards known as Rud's Hostel, and some old houses in the vicinity of the hospital. To the two hostels of which they had thus become the sole proprietors, the secular scholars removed in the year 1284, and there the separate foundation of Peterhouse. But though o^pbtbe formed HouBE, 1284. ^Q i\^g,i ancient foundation undoubtedly belongs the honour
^Jl^^L^
of having
rate
first
and
John the
good
nurtured the
'No
bishop was
but could he have foreseen, that this broken and imperfect society was to
grieved with these divisions give birth to two great and lasting foundations, and that two
colleges
much
much
Within another quarter of a century the foundation of Peterhouse was further enriched by an unexpected addition. The immunities and influence enjoyed by the Franciscans and Dominicans had excited the emulation of not a few rival sects, until at length the Church found it necessary to set bounds to a movement which threatened to terminate in aisaster from a too complete sucThe college coss. At the second Council of Lyons, held in 1274, it was poajoy in his disappointment^.'
becomes
./
'
'
henceforth be recognised, the other sects being formally supbe urged,' observes that St. John's college is.of superior antiquity to any other, as the Hospital of St. Jojin, on the site of which it stands and with the
,1
'
It
may even
'
Mr. Cooper,
revenues whereof it is endowed, although a religious house, was also a house of learning, its members being entitled to academic degrees.' Memorials, ii2,note. So Cole, who says, 'St John's college, now grafted on that hospital, and still enjoying its
possessions, may justly be accounted theflrst of our present colleges.' Baker-Mayor, ii 561. ^ Ibid. p. 26. 'By his last will he left to his scholars many books in divinity and other sciences, and 300 marks for erecting new buildings;
with which
piece of ground on the south side of the said church, where they built a very fine hall.' MS. Harleian, 258, quoted in Bentham, p. 151.
PETEBHOUSE.
pressed.
229
Among
the
site of
these was the order De Pcenitentia Jesu, chap. in. whose foundation at Cambridge came into the .^-v
possession
mented the resources of the universities at a later era. The example set by Hugh Balsham was worthily followed fj^''^m, by Simon Montacute or Montague, his successor in the iJjj^fj'/s, bishopric. The first efforts of this prelate were directed to a more equitable adjustment of the terms on which the canons and the scholars had parted company, for the dissatisfaction of the former found unremitting and clamorous expression the society at Peterhouse was confirmed in its possession of the two hostels, but subjected to an annual payment of
twenty shillings to the brethren of St. John's. If we further pursue the fortunes of these two foundations, we shall with
difficulty avoid the conclusion that their separation repre-
o('5,'^"""
J.^*^'^;"'
Both became enriched by valuable endowments; but under the management of 'the
sented a real and radical inafiinity.
tells us,
ii
a com-
reported
how
by the neglect of the warden the number of students had become diminished;' 'lands, rents, and possessions granted them by Edward iii wasted and destroyed;' 'charters, books, jewels and other monuments, goods and chattels, alienated and sold by the warden and his ministers or servants;' how 'debates, dissensions, and discords' had arisen betwixt the master and students, so that the students led a desolate life and could by no means attend to learning and study'.'
'
Very
learn
a few years of the above report; for from the same writer
how
that
passion of
we John Fordham, bishop of Ely, having comtheir case, and a tender regard to their notorious
'
as
Baker-Mayor,
37.
230
CHAP.
Part
III.
I.
of Hinton, as a college former foundation regained its exclusively religious character; shared the corruption and degeneracy that mark
nearly
all
Henry
its
viii,
to
bears
name^
and was finally dissolved in the reign be converted into the college that now The college of Peterhouse, on the other
;
mented by the wise munificence of its masters, sent forth, during the same three centuries, many well-trained scholars and not a few able men; offering, in. both its utility and vitality, a marked contrast to the institution from which it
sprang.
Sere-"
rifhtofpre-
of
"
'* "^* ^ regarded as a signal proof of the moderation Simon Montacute, that he resigned to the college the
ofiSce,
?owswpsat
of pre-
an act conceived in a
of the see
Process.
very different
spirit to that
BamweU
But the
most eminent service rendered by this prelate to the new foundation, was undoubtedly the body of statutes which he caused to be drawn up for its government. To the consideration of these
we
shall
now
proceed.
We
shall very
^'/of^egiJenby
Si-
catei338.(?)
embodiment of the earliest conception under which our college life and discipline found
as the expression.
them
rapte'dfr'Jm
joS'coueg"'
nality has
That the statutes of Peterhouse have no claim to origibeen already observed the phrase ad instar Aulce
;
Baker-Mayor, 60
64.
39.
to the university, he was commemorated in the ancient formulary of commemorating and praying for our
benefactors.'
Ibid,
i
33.
PETEEHOUSE.
de Merton meets us at almost every page\
231
The second
'
sta- chap.
iii.
Hugh ^v~'
Balsham, as interpreted by his successor, of providing, as far as lay in his power, for the security of a suitable maintenance for poor scholars desirous of instruction in the knowledge of
'
letters.'
A master
fellows", uSnde"^*'*
for
by the hostel. In case of a vacancy among the fellows P'S^ 'the most able bachelor in logic' is designated as the one on mentre'quirwhom, ceteris paribus, the election is to fall, the other fowf requirements being that, 'so far as human frailty admit,' he be honorable, chaste, peaceable, humble, and modest.' The Moral quaiischolars of Ely,' for by this name they were first known, were bound to devote themselves to the study of arts, Ari- studies.
'
'
'
stotle,
two were to be admitted to and canon law; one, to that of medicine. When any fellow was about to incept in any faculty it Enquiries ' r J J preliminary devolved upon the master with the rest of the fellows to ?" " sciioiar-s ^ mceptingin enquire in what manner he had conducted himself and gone ^ fa<J'ythrough his exercises in the scholastic acts; how long he had heard lectures in the faculty in which he desired to incept; and whether he had gone through the forms according to
;
civil
The
if
two
1 The date assigned to these statutes in the Statuta Antiqua is 1338, but internal evidence shows that some of them are at least four years In the 35th statute reference later. is made to the provincial constitution of Ardhbishop Stratford which belongs to the year 1342. The signature of Simon Montacute appears to have been given on the ninth of April, 1344. ' At first the fellows of a college
foundation were known as the scholars: but in order to avoid the erroneous impression which the use of the latter term would be calculated to give, I have employed the other throughout. Judgmg from a passage in Chancer, they were occasionally called fellows in his day: ' Oure come is stole, men woll nsfooles call
Reve's Tale.
232
CHAP.
,
^rscho-
grammatica notahiliter funmay seem fit,' by the college alms ; such poor scholars being bound to attend upon the master and fellows in church, on feast days, and at other ceremonial occasions, to serve the master and fellows at iS!^' seasonable times at table and in their rooms. All meals were to be taken in common but it would seem that this regulation was intended rather to conduce towards an economical management, than enacted in any spirit of studied
^(ifgg-j^
iiL
life,
for,
manner
of living, until
means
shall,
plentiful increaseV
We shall be able,
of
many
tutes,
which we
though appertaining minor point, affords such pertinent illustration of the whole conception of the founder, that it seems to demand a
of the scholars,
Among
how
largely
how
mode
of
life,
little restraint
^their
disregard
i^er^M* ^ *^ dress held proper to the profession. At the imiversiThe students, to dreS**"* tis this licence had reached its highest point.
we quote from Mr. Cooper, disdaining the tonsure, the distinctive mark of their order, wore their hair either hanging down on their shoulders in an effeminate manner, or curled
'
beards,
and
their apparel
more
ing their elbows, shoes chequered with red and green, and
tippets of
an unusual length;
their fingers
were decorated
with rings, and at their waists they wore large and costly
girdles enamelled
Documents,
ii 1
42.
PETEKHOUSE.
233
ifi.
hung knives
discipline
like swords'.'
--
bishop Stratford, whereby every student in the university was rendered incapable of any ecclesiastical degree or honour 11. 11 until he should have reformed his 'person and apparel; and
1
Archbuiiop
witifrofor-
onoo thereto.
it is
drawn up 'Inasmuch as the dress, demeanour and carriage of scholars are evidences of themselves, and by such means it is seen more clearly or may be presumed what they themselves are internally, we enact and ordain, that the master and all and each of the scholars of our house shall adopt the clerical dress and tonsure, as becomes the condition of each, and wear it conformably in every respect, as far as they conveniently can, and not allow their beard or their hair to grow contrary to canonical prohibition, nor wear rings upon their fingers for their own vain glory and boasting and to the pernicious example and scandal of others'.' Similarly, as it was forbidden the clergy to play at dice, Tiiefounda^ tlon nonmo1 11 o ill so IS the same pastime forbidden the 'scholars of Ely. On ,><! in oiiaraoter,t)Ut the other hand the non-monastic purposes of the founder 1""^*^",^^ are insisted upon with equal explicitness should either the tho'moniiatic master or one of the fellows desire to enter any of the
|^,'j;{,'';;[,
'
<.
1 1
ita
-L
*'
it is
be given him, but that after that, another shall be elected in his place, inasmuch as the revenues of the foundation are designed for those only
who
actualiter studentibus
No
be desired
was the design of the founder to provide assistance for students unfettered by the necessity of embracing the monastic life,
it
nothing hostile to monasticism was intended; but as it was not the object of Hugh Balsham to found a monasteiy, the college was no home for the monk. If we add to the foregoing features that afforded by the statute which provides,
that on any fellow succeeding to a benefice of the annual
J
Cooper's Annals,
96.
'
Documents,
11
72.
234
CHAP.
^
1324.
III.
we
shall
S'mioSU0U5B
Ai interval of forty years separates the commencement of Michaelhouse from that of Peterhouse. In the year 1324
find Hervey de Stanton, chancellor of the exchequer, and canon of Bath and Wells, obtaining from Edward ii permission to found at Cambridge, where, as the preamble informs
we
the
college of the
Mi.
'
scholars of
St.,
Michael.'
Though
|v^nb|"^r.
ton.
an illustration of early college discipline, Michaelhouse is, " in point of fact, of greater antiquity than Peterhouse, far
the statutes given at the time of its creation preceded those given by Simon Montacute to the latter society by at least
tto"nf?e'?,ii-
fourteen years.
in a
toteffSfeilowsiiips.
The foundation itself has long been merged more illustrious society, but its original statutes are still extant, and are therefore the earliest embodiment of the colit found expression in our own univerTheir perusal will at once suggest that they were
lege conception, as
sity'.
drawn up
fiveS^M
in a
somewhat
than presents
is
S*'
itself in
the code of
Hugh
Balsham.
ji^oiS'aer-''^"
f^ar are excluded from the society, but the rule of Merton
feiTow*!
not mentioned.
It
is
all
branches,
who intend
study of theology; the celebration of service at the neighstatutes,' observes Dean present a very remarkable contrast to many of the later codes ,of statutes, which attempted to regulate and control nearly every transaction in life, and -which embodied nearly every enactment which the experience of other and more ancient bodies had shown to be sometimes required.' Observations ore the Sta1
'
These
'
Peacock,
ttttes, p.
110.
printed, and as the earliest college statutes of our university have consequently seemed deserving of insertion in extenso: see Appendix p). I have printed them from a transoript of the original in Ottringham, or the Michaelhouse Book, now in the possession of the authorities of Trinity college. There is also a copy of these statutes in Baker MSS. XIX 7; xxxi 160.
'
MICHAELHOUSE.
bouring church of
St.
235
iij.
Michael
is
minuteness
So
v-^
much
that
prominence, indeed,
he deems it necessary to explain no way his intention to prejudice the study of secular learning: 'It is not,' he says, 'my design herein to burden any of the officiating scholars with the performance of masses, as aforesaid, beyond his convenient opportunity, so as to prevent a due attention to lectures, disputations in the schools, or private study; but I have considered that
der's instructions, that
it is
in
left to
It is
the state of
queen
Isabella, of
Prince Edward and the rest of the royal family, of the lord bishop of Ely, of the prior and convent of Ely, of the founder and his family.
The consent
gjjjj;
cese had, like that of the reigning monarch, been necessary iJi^Jj^. and if, as from the tenour of different statutes appears probable, the general
scheme of the new foundation had been drawn up under the auspices of John Hotham, who at that
time
filled
religious services to
telligible.
ability,
unlike
Hugh
efforts
almost
and strengthening the monastic foundations of his diocese, and left it to Simon Montacute, his successor, to assist in the developement of the more secular
exclusively to enriching
theory ^
The
dress,
regulations concerning a
common
table,
a distinctive
and other
statutes, offer
when compared
Compare note
'
An
that adduced by Baker, namely hisinterference in connexion with St. John's Hospital, in fixing the mode of the election of the prior of that house. Cf. Bentham, Hist, of Ely Cathedral, pp. 156158.
236
CHAP. lit for concerning
circum-
-~^^^
stantial
and explicit, while there is nothing to indicate that the example of Walter de Merton was present to the mind
ot'pSmEOKB
mTf""'
Hervey de Stanton. The two foundations which next claim our attention, that of Pembroke Hall in 1347, and that of Gonville Hall in 1350, afford satisfactory evidence that the college was not
of necessarily regarded as
an institution
its
Marie de
St.
orders
warm friend of the Franciscans; while the latter was founded by Edmund Gonville, an equally warm friend of the Domi-
SS'Sy
S*!'^""'^
nicans.
The
where in
enumerating
'All that on Gramta's fruitful plain
Eicli streams of regal
bounty poured,'
sad Chatillon,
mom
is
is
founded on a mere
but
it
husband
turned the
as
known
its rise. Large endowments to a nunnery of Minoresses at Waterbeach, and the foundation of Deney Abbey, had fully
'
been, it assuredly did not take place BO soon as our poet repreNot that he is chargeable eents. with the invention of this interesting Ho only relates what was and tale. is to this day currently believed to be true. And perhaps the lovers of poetry and romance, who have been accustomed to indulge a feeling of sympathy for the unhappy lot of this bereaved lady, would rather that the illusion were not dispelled. The historian of the sixteenth century, doubtless resting on the authority of monkish annals, and succeeding writers even to the present time, treading in their steps, state that she was on one and the same day a virgin.
may have
and widow, her husband having been killed by a joustiug on the veryday of his marriage. The date of his marriage being however ascerwife,
tained the mere detail of subsequent events occurring during his lifetime will at once prove the whole account Memoirs of Marie de to be a fable.' 28. By Gilbert St. Paul, pp. 26 Ainslie, Master of Pembroke CoUege, Cambridge, 1847. I am indebted to the courtesy of the present Master of Pembroke, the Eev. J. Power, for access to this valuable and interesting manuscript. ^ After her marriage she was never knovm by any other surname than that of St.. Paul.' Ibid. t^. 37.
'
PEMBEOKE.
attested her liberality of disposition before the
237
Aula
seu chap.
hi.
Domus
the
de Valencemarie arose.
^1-
It is
much
to
new
foundation of
A revised rule,
of perhaps not
be regretted that the earliest rule given to JtatuS' Pembroke Hall is no longer extant'. teSf""" of the conjectural date of 1366, and another
more than ten years later, are the sole data whence the subjoined outline has been drawn up". The
1
ly Statutes, p. 179,
cuments,
the impression that the statutes of 1347 are still extant ; but such is nolj the case. Although no copy of them is extant,' says Dr. AinsUe, ' yet it is certain that they were enacted in the year 1347, since the revised copy of statutes, by which they were superseded, though itself wanting in date,
'
The
do-
cument containing the revised statutes is in the form of an indenture, to one part of which remaining with the college was affixed the seal of our lady, and to the counterpart remaining with her the seal of the college. The part remaining with the college was, upon a subsequent revision, cancelled by cutting off the seal together with the names of the witnesses. The document never had a date. It may be conjectured to be about the yeV 1366. The like want of a date throws the same uncertainty over the time at which the second revision was made. All perhaps that can be affirmed with certainty is that It was not made later than the year 1420. Thus much at least there is internal evidence to prove, if not indeed that it was made by the foundress herself, that is, before March
17,
2
in holy orders if there were twenty there were to be at least four ; and it twelve or upwards, there were to be two for "the performance of divine service. These proportions were altered in the next code thus: if there were ten fellows or upwards, there were to be at least six in orders ; and four, if the number was less. ' The fellows were to apply themselves solely to the faculty of arts or theology ; the master might exercise more than one faculty, according to the judgement and approbation of the two rectors. And when any one should have finished his lectures in arts, he was to betake himself to the;
ology.
of the college was to be by the fellows and to be distinguished by the title of Keeper of the House and he was to have a lo'
The head
elected
cum
'
tenens.
There were to be annually elected two rectors, the one a Friar Minor, the other a secular, who should have taken degrees in the university. They were to admit fellows elect, and to have visitorial jurisdiction, which
after the death of the foundress they were to exercise even over the statutes with the consent of the college. 'The later code however did not recognise the rectors at aU, but appropriated their several duties to the master either alone or in conjunction vrith two or more of the fellows saving only the power of control over the statutes, VMch, though reserved to the foundress during her life without any limitation, was not vested in any one after her decease. 'And thus ended all connexion between the Franciscans and the eol;
13767.'
Ibid. p. 89.
The
from the pen of Dr. Ainslie gives the The substance of the two codes house was to be called the Hall or House of Valence Marie, and was to contain thirty scholars, more or less,
'
according to the revenues of the colof whom twenty-four, denominated fellows, were to be greater and permanent; and the remaining six, being students in grammar or arts, to be less, and at the times of election either to be put out altogether or else promoted to the permanent
lege
lege.#*#
238
points
however
deserving of close attention especially that whiereby the participation of the Franciscans in the management of the
society, secured to
them by the earlier statutes, is abolished on a second revision. The scholar, in the sense in which the term is now used in the university, is also here first to be met with; it being provided that six of the 'scholars' may
be minor
scholars, eligible at elections to
i.
Grammar for
the first time included in the college course of
study.
e.
It is in
knowledge of which, as we have before had occasion to observe, was generally looked upon as an essential preLimitations with respect to different counties, in elections to fellowships.
Here, too,
we
prejudices
and
partialities
ence was to be given to the most orderly, the best proficient in his studies, being withal freeboru and legitimate provided he were a bachelor
;
or sophist in arts, or at least had studied three years in that faculty; and he might be of any nation or realm, that of France especially, if there should be found anyone of that covmtry qualified, as above stated, in either university of Cambridge or Oxford.
The number
of fellows of
six,
any one
nor the
indiffer-
The scho-
might be elected
ently from
'
among the
students of
Cambridge or Oxford. The fellow elect was required to swear that he had neither by inheritance nor of his own means above
forty shillings a year to spend. By the next code this sum was doubled, being made six marks. ' The election of a feUovs^was not
confirmed by admission till after the lapse of a year and then the major part of the fellows might withhold Buch confirmation. 'Every fellow before admission pledged himself to vacate his fellowship as soon as ever he was promoted
;
to
place, unless
GOXYIIXK HALL.
239
and
collate
life.
severed localities
In davs when intercourse between widely chap. m. ^ was rare and diflSeult, the limits of co\m-
than
now exist between nations separated by seas. The student from Lincolnshire spoke a diflferent dialect, had different blood in his veins, and diflGarent experiences in his whole early life, from ihc>se of the student from Cumberland or the
student from
Keut
Distinctions equally
Hereford, or Yorkshire.
tact at
When
a common centre, at a time when local traditions, pr>?judices, and antipathies, operated with a force which it is
difficiilt
now
to realise,
men
were guided in the formation of thm' friendships by common associations rather than by individual merit; and, in elections to fellowships, the question of Xorth or South often
reduced to insignificance
eompaiatiTe
considerations
no capricious enactment, but the which provides that the number of fellows from a single county shall in no case exceed a fourth of the whole body. Another provision is explained by the descent and earlv lite of the foundress. The countess had S**^ WKiTefl to inhmted from her fether. John de Dreux, duke of Brittany, f^S," extenave possessions iu France; and it must be r^arded That statute accordingly
reflexion of a serious evd,
a graceful rec<^nition of the counfay of her birth than as a national prejudice, that at a time when intercourse between the two countries was so frequent, natives of France
rather as
The founder oi the nest CiMlege that claims our attention *!** was Edmund Gonville, a meml er of an ancient countT femily, ^*^ **** a clergyman, and at one time vicar-geneial of the diocese of Ely; his sympathy with the Mtudicants is indicated bv the feet that through his influence the eari W;\nn and the earl of Lancaster were induced to create a foundation for the Dominicans at Thetford. In the year 1348, only two vears before his death, he obtained firom Edward permi^on to
240
CHAP.
m. establish in Lurteburgh lane\ now known as Freeschool lane, _' a college for twenty scholars, dedicated in honour of the Annunciation of the Blessed Yirgin*.
The statutes given by Edmund Gonville are still extant, SiS^* but within two years of their compilation they were considerably modified by other hands; they cannot therefore be
regarded as having long represented the rule of the new foundation. Their chief value, for our present purpose, is in the contrast they offer to the rule of another college, founded
at nearly the
^^^-
ception of
same time, that of Trinity Hall, ^to the conwhich they were shortly to be assimilated. Ac-
Edmund
was
vium or Quadrivium,
His main Ob-
as the basis of
an almost exclusively
but on the completo form the main
tlxeological training.
Each
^^^
Tbeoiogy-
was
a view to enahim to keep his acts and dispute with ability in the The unanimous consent of the master and feUows schools.
subject, his studies being also directed with
bling
stadyofthe
ESmit'SrU-
^'^"
was necessary before he could apply himself to any other and not more than two at a time could be permitted It was however permitted to deviate from the usual course. to every fellow, though in no way obligatory upon him, to devote two years to the study of the canon law', The foregoiug scheme may accordingly be regarded as ^^^* ^ *^ English clergyman of the fourteenth centuiy, actuated by the simple desire of doing something for the encouragement of learning in his profession, and well acfaculty,
It will
The see of Norwich was at that time filled by William Bateman, a bishop of a different type from either Hugh
1 Oriuf/iJor'!*-/an; see Masters' Hist, of Corpus ChrUti CjUege, ed.
dedicated,
was
of
origiiially
knowB by
See
the
name
MS3.
GonTille HalL
p. 215. '
270.
TRINITY HALL.
241
chap,
irc
'^
Balsham or John Hotham; one who had earned a high reputation at Cambridge, by his proficiency in the civil and canon law who had held high office at the papal court and resided long at Avignon and who, while intent it would seem, on a cardinal's hat rather than upon the duties of his diocese, had finished his career amid the luxury and dissipation of that
; ;
splendid
find
city*.
It
is
accordingly with
little
surprise that
we
deeming no culture more desirable than that which Koger Bacon had declared inimical to man's highest interests, but which pope Clement vii
a
of such associations
man
fi.eld
who
aimed at eminence and power. The year 1 349 is a memorable one in English history, The Great for it was the year of the Great Plague; and it would be i^difficult to exaggerate the effects of that visitation upon the political and social institutions of those days. Villages were left without an inhabitant; the flocks perished for want of
the herdsman's care ; houses
in the
fields.
fell
In the demoraUzation that ensued existing institutions were broken up or shattered to their base. The
worst excesses of LoUardism and the popular insurrections of
the latter part of the century
general disorganization.
may
Upon
with peculiar severity. Oxford, which rhetorical exaggeration had credited with thirty thousand students, was half depopu-
Umverswes.
and her numbers never again approached their former limits. At Cambridge, the parishioners, to use the expression of Baker, 'were swept away in heaps;' from the Hospital of
lated,
St.
in the space of so
The
West
Riding died; in the East Riding, in Nottinghamshire, and the dioceses round Cambridge the losses were hardly less severe'.
1
Masters-Lamb,
p. 29.
'
He had
desired to be interred in England, either among his ancestors or in his cathedral. His remains were however buried in the cathedral church of St. Mary at Avignon, his body being attended to the grave by the
and was
performed by the patriarch of Jerugalem.' Cooper, Memorials i 112. * Baker-Mayor ' i 34. See article on The Black Death by Seebohm, Fortnightly Review,
Id
242
It
was
Bateman proceeded,
HalP.
In
fact,
no
less
Cambridge
in
In the statutes of Trinity Hall the design of bishop Bateman appears in its original and unmodified form. The college is designed for students of the civil and canon law,
Bateman.
alone,
the balance inclining slightly in favour of The foundation, it is contemplated, will supit
is
ten shall
be students of the
civil
A civi-
may, at a subsequent period, devote himself to the study canon law, or a canonist to that of the
civil law, so as
of the
The college
designed
exclusively for canonists
to
civiHans to thirteen
and
civilians.
imum limits
days,
two
to
be held, at
Wedneswhich some
is
to sup-
on the civil law, the canonists on the canon law, so long as they continue to be bachelors, until they have gone through the customary course of reading*.
Vol. II. It is however open to question whether the writer's inferences are quite justified by his facts. Two thirds of the benefices in the West
Socii
omdili-
Documents,
ii
419.
TRINITY HALL.
243
A fellow,
whether
d,
-l^^
may be
uni*-
whose reputation
entitles
On
a vacancy occurring
to civilians, it
conditions to
appropriated
may be
by
electing a ba-
JSIma'ster-"'
chelor or a scholar of three years standing, whose studies feilSmup^ have been directed to the civil law, or by the election of a
master or a bachelor of arts (the latter to be within a year of incepting as master), provided he be willing to enrol himself
in the faculty.
canonists,
On
among the
whereby their number is reduced below seven, the vacancy may be filled by the election of one of the civilians already holding a fellowship, on his signifying his readiness to become a canonist, and to take holy orders'; but should seven canonists still remain, the vacancy may be filled by
the election of either a civilian or a canonist as the majority
may
to
decide.
It
is,
become a
library given
by the bishop
and
to the
new
,
college affords
Library pre-
by him
to theological
juridical studies.
No
less
than
four copies of the code of the civil law, each in five volumes,
integrmn
et glbsaty/m,
by
on the Codex, Inforciatum, and Authentica. The volumes of the canon law are seventeen in number; those in theology only three viz. a small bible, a Compendium Bihlie, in uno
!
unum
librum Recapitukudonis
.
statuimus
et
ordinamus,
DeCretaleS; prssmittatur, ad studendum in Jure Canonioo deputatus, seu in locum CanonistiE alterius subrogatua, infra anni praximi
cursorife
ordinariS'
vel
quiounque,
modo quo
.,
poat
eonim cessationem
legentit)us
162
244
Bihlie.
There is however a second catalogue, the volumes which are reserved by the bishop for his own use during his lifetime, wherein theology is somewhat better reprein
sented '.
It is sufficiently evident
foundation was certainly not conceived in a manner calculated to remove the evils which Roger Bacon deplored; the
combination of two branches of study which he held should be regarded as radically distinct, the predominance given to
the secular over the sacred branch,
the training of a body of students either wholly given to what he deemed, and what probably then was, an ignoble
and corrupting
dviliter jus
profession,
or,
to
use his
own
expression,
reli-
canonicum
tractantes,
We
Hall.
m^ust
now go back
The
from being fully consohdated at the time of his death, that, either from insufficiency of funds or some other cause, the coUegc would probably have ceased to exist, had not the nfinjation Go'^S* founder of Trinity Hall given it effectual aid. In the same bytehop year that the original statutes were given, the year in which
Dec!'2i,"i35i.
Edmund
Bateman
ratified
Wisdom,' he
says, in
pompous manifesto,
be preferred to all other possessions, nor is there anything to be desired that can compare with i\; this the wise man loved beyond health and every
'is to
1
The department of civil Huber. law,' he says, 'which was of national importance, was but limited; and
'
*the number of individuals who studied it was too small to constitute a school.' English Universities, 1 158, A closer acquaintance with J.59.
our college history would haye saved him from this misconception. It has been pointed out to me that, inasmuch as the fellows of Trinity Hall were prohibited by one of the statutes from going about to practise, the design of the founder appears to have been to encourage the study of the civU law rather than its practical profession; but, on the other hand, the very necessity for such a provision must be regarded as another
indication of the mercenary spirit in which the study was then pursued.
GONVILLE HALL.
good thing, preferring
it
245
even to
life itself.
The founder
of chap.
ifL
^-ii^
We
therefore, bishop of
with the founding and endowing of the college of Scholars of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, in ofder that so praiseworthy an endeavour
although
already over-burdened
may
must
and
knowledge of
letters
becoming moistened by the dew of scholastic teaching bring forth much fruit, 'being also the more incited to such work in that we have here ourselves received the first elements of learning, and afterwards, though undeservedly, the doctorial degree desiring that this design may be brought to its full accomplishment, do constitute, ordain, and appoint the said college, and moreover confirm and will that the said college be called the college of the Annunciation of the Blessed The name Maiy, proposing by the assistance of the said glorious Virgin, altered to so to endow the said college with revenues and sufficient coiiegeoftho o Annuncia-
(when the present site or any other shall have been approved by our diocesan bishop of Ely,) that they
resources.
shall, in all
Hesroi''^
*'*''
sary for
life^.'
this
document
we
new
el
Mary
The phrase
change of
locality, is
probably to
permanent settlement of the college in Lurteburgh Lane, for we find that in the following year an exchange of property was
1
be referred to
some uncertainty
Rev. Patrem
246
Gild of Corpus Christi, and the scholars were removed from that part of the town to the present site The Hall of the college in close proximity to Michaelhouse.
of the Annunciation
brought into the immediate neighbourhood of Trinity Hall, and under the bishop's
was thus
also
Agrecmeot
'
de Amicabi-
litate- be-
tween toB
TrinitrHa'ii
de AmwoMUtate,
a Compositw
/7
"j
H^ifiMf' ^
and feuds between colleges in and schools of the same faculty. By this agreement the members of the two foundations, as sharers in the protection of a common patron and living under nearly
vice in preventing rivalries
as far as in
of
them
lies to
and welfare
all
individual sons.
On
public occa-
gut
but
Sm'fe Got-
little
Hau?**" that of Hugh Balsham, was to be bought only with a price. tion, 1353. To the bustling canonist Avignon and her traditions were aU
in all; to him, as to pope Clement, the theologian seemed
civil
than the performance of masses and wranglings over the theory of the Real Presence or the Immaculate Conception. Accordingly, without explanation, and even without reference to the former statutes, he substituted as the rule of the foundation of
Edmund
The
Gonville,
aheady drawn up
>
for his
own
college ^
direction thus
et integraliter
'Volumpsinsuperquodomneset
qui pro
faciant et obseryent omnia et singnla que in duodecim Statntis Sociornm Collegii Sancte Trinitatis per eos jn-
CORPUS CHRISTI.
given to the course of study
is
247
a kind of mean between that chap. hi. designed by the original founder and that of Trinity Hall. -Z^^^^ The Trivium and Quadrivium are retained in the prominence originally assigned to them, but the requirements with respect to the study of theology are abolished. All the
fellows are to
arts,
and are to
they
and even
are to lecture ordinarie^ for one year; but from the expirait is
canon law,
theology, or medicine
The
The
principal provision in
all
students
The
whose
its
college
of Corpus
Christi
is
another foundation,
less directly,
Foundation
rise
coSb
'^^'
dimns
si
quam
'
continuent, quousque in ilia Magisgradum obtinuerint, et per aunum in eadem ordinarie legerint, ut est moris. Quos statim post annum cessare volumus, et ad Jura Ci-rilia
terii
eorum
eleotio-
'
nem
ments,
literalis scientie
fomentum
fore ore-
'248
.ciiAP.
III.
...J^^Ll-
institutions,
the subjedt has thrown considerable light upon these ancient and tends considerably to modify the conception
that before prevailed concerning their scope and character'not,' says this writer, 'in any sense superstitious
is,
sSr
GiidS^"''^
foundations; that
priories, for
they were not founded, like monasteries devoted to what were deemed religious Priests might belong to them, and often did so, exercises. But the Gilds were lay bodies, in their private capacities. and existed for lay purposes, and the better to enable those
men
and understandingly to fulfil men in a free State It is quite true that, as the Lord Mayor, and Lincoln's Inn, and many other as well-known personages and pubhc bodies,
who belonged
to
them
rightly
have to this day a chaplain, so these old Gilds often took measures and made payments to enable the rites of religion
be brought more certainly within the reach of all who This was one of the most natural and becoming of the consequences following from their existence and character. It did not make them into superstitious bodies ^' 'Though it was in this way very general,' observes
to
belonged to them.
more
and
in
this
curiously exemplified
Cam-
Trinity, if they
part in its mar nagement; while the third, that of the Blessed Virgin, has a chaplain, whose office however is to cease, in the event of the
como
them any
funds proving inadequate to his support in addition to that of the poorer brethren'.' The statement, accordingly, made
by the historian of Corpus Christi College, with reference to the two Gilds to whose united action that College refers its
English Gilds. Edited by the Toulmin Smith. Witli Introduotion and Glossary by Lucy ToulSmith, and Preliminary Essay on the History and Developement of Gilds by Dr Brentauo. 1870. Published by the Early Enghsh Text
1
'
late
min Smith,
s
'
mm
English Gilds, Introd. p. xrix. The services of a chaplain were deemed quite secondary to the other purposes of the GOds.' Note p.
264.
Society.
CORPtTS CflRISTI.
-origin,
'
249
iit.
that
'
for religious
scarcely accurate;
but, though
_f!^^_l,
may be
applied with
ItXtaf?un-
perfect accuracy to
would appear that among the many secondary effects that *^'j'^^^P"^foUoWed upon the plague, the great mortality among the clergy had induced the survivors in that profession considerably to augment the fees they demanded for the celebration of masses"; and there is good reason for inferring that the exorbitancy of their demands suggested to the members of the Gilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin the idea of founding a college for the education of the clergy, where
should be obligatory on the scholars to celebrate whatever masses might be desired for the repose of the souls of
it
The duke
of Lancaster,
known
offices
as the
now known by
the
name
of Corpus Christi*. *
When
such
I's statutes
apparently ft.'o*g ,
housa^'"
new
little
originality,
The
though
Masters-Lamb,
p. 8.
The name
of Richard of Bury, it is worthy of note, occurs in the list of benefactors of the Gild of the Blessed Virgin. Ibid. p. 16. " English Gilds, Essay by Dr.
Hid.
*
p. 23.
Brentano, p. cxlii. " This explains the title in the 'Ad perpreamble to the Statutes, petuam rei memoriam cum nos Hen-
'About the close of the fourteenth century, the college began to be generally Imown as Benet College (from its proximity to the church of
S. Benedict),
title
LancastriaB Aldermannus et Confratres Gildse &c.' Masters re'Although he is usually deemed marks
rious
Dux
its
the Pounder of the college, I meet with no considerable monuments of his bounty bestowed upon it, except a few silver shields enamelled with his arms and the instruments of the Passion upon them, to carry about
Christi, which indeed has only been generally revived within the last forty years.' Cooper, Memorials,
1 147.
^ I am indebted to the courtesy of the Master of Corpus Christi College, the Rev. James Pulling, D.D., for access to the Statuta Antiqua of 1350,
250
it is
may be admitted
to the foundaall'
tion: it
be in
have lectured in arts or philosophy, or at least be bachelors in either the civil or the canon law or in arts, intending to devote themselves to the study of
priest's orders,
and
shall
number
of those devoting
themselves to the last-named faculty being restricted to four. If however we compare the general tenour of these statutes
with that of the ordinances of the Gilds themselves, we shall have no difficulty in discerning that the religious sentiment
of those bodies found
of the
Foundation
of Clarb Uall,;13S9.
its
Within ten
i,
we
find Elizabeth de
an already existing foundation'. The following passage from the preamble to the statutes given by
the Countess in the year preceding her death sufficiently
explains her motives:
skill in
sought for in
where general study is known to flourish. Moreover, when it has been found, it sends out its disciples, who have tasted its sweetness, skilful and fit
which do not, I
believe, exist in a printed form. Among the passages common to the statutes of Miohaelhouse and those of Corpus Christi, I may quote the following, which succeeds the regulations laid down for the celebration of special Masses 'Per hoc tamen intentionis nostrte non existit eorum Soholai'ium Capelhinorum aliquem ultra possibUitatem suam congi'uam super hai-um Missarum oelebrationibus faciendis onerare quominus lectionibus disputationibus in Soholis sou studio vacare valeat oompetenter super quo
eoTum
p. 235.
1
conscientias oneramos.'
Cf.
who
fell at
Banuookburn,
leav-
ing no issue, had placed the whole of the family estates, which weie of a princely character, at the disposal of the Countess and her two sisters. See Cooper, Memorials, i 25 30. The change in the name of the foundation from University to Clare Hall is said to have been effected under a ohai-ter granted by Edwai'd iii in 1338-9. Ibid, p. 29.
CLAKE HALL.
251
state,
who
m.
-.,_
and promote the advancement of divine worship, the welfare of the state, and
this
by
consideration,
omby reason of the ixasra bj tbe aoned away a multitude of men, are now J^f^ beginning to feil lamentably, and directing our observation "'"'* to the university of Cambridge in the diocese of Ely, in which there is an assembly of students, and to a hall therein, hitherto generally called University Hall, now existing by our foundation, and which we desire to be called Clare Hall and to bear no other designation; we have caused this to be augmented with resources, out of the property given us by Grod, and to be placed among the number of places for
study.
'
have also had in view the object, that the pearl of which they have through study and learning discovered and acquired, may not lie under a bushel, but be extended further and wider, and when extended give light to them that walk in the dark paths of ignorance. It is also our design that the scholars who have been long since dwelling in our house, may, by being protected tmder a stronger bond of peace and benefit of concord, devote themselves
science,
We
more
freely to study.
With
this view
we
up
certain statutes
and
LaxniitT or
The
clerical
element. ^?*=**^
The
it is
little stress is l^d, as at Michaelhouse, on the order or particular character of the religious services, and the provision is made apparently
rather with the view of securing the presence of a sufficient number for the performance of such services, than for the
1
ff.
4362.
DoeunatU, n 12L
'252
CHAP.
III.
The
^!^ remaining
^'^'i
be selected
skilful
and well-conducted
civilians
two
fellows
maybe
civilians,
only
arts,
one a canonist.
are to lecture;
and on the inception of any other fellow, one of the three has permission to retire from this function, provided he has lectured for a whole year. This permission does not, however, imply permission to cease ^frorn study he is bound to apply himself to some other service wherein, con;
Sizars.
and aptitude, he may be expected to make The sizars are represented by ten the most 'docile, proper, and respectable' youths, to be chosen from the poorest that can be found, especially from the parishes of those churches of which the master and fellows are rectors; every Michaelmas they are entitled to receive clotting and
sidering his bent
rapid progress.
mark
and
their term
^^^
ofifer some noticeable and So early as 1326, thirty-two scholars, known as the King's scholars, had been maintained at the university by Edward ii. It is probable that he had intended thereby to extend the study of the civil and canon law, for we find him presenting .books on these subjects, to the value of ten pounds, to Simon de Bury the master, from whom
novel features.
One
of the clauses,
somewhat
ambiguously expressed, and, I suspect, corrupt, seems designed to secure those undertaking the performance of the services against labouring under any disadvantage when compared with the rest, by providing for the retirement of one of the six every time that there is a new election to
a fellowship the expression, in favoribus recipiendis amplius remoti, refers, probably, to opportunities of leaving the college and pushing one's
:
individual claims to preferment among the disposers of benefices. See Documents, ii 130. ' Only two cifUians and one oanonist are however permitted to hold fellowships at the same time, The clauses relating to the studies to he pursued after the year of lectureship are apparently intended to discourage both these branches of the law; possibly as an equipoise to
king's hall.
tliey
253
in.
''
been his intention to provide his scholars with a hall of residence, but diiring his lifetime they resided in hired houses, and the execution of his design
It
also
queen
had
>,
lilies
on his brow
From haughty
Gallia torn^.'
By
1
Mansion monarch a mansion was erected in the vicinity of given to the ^ the Hospital of St. John, to the honour of God, the blessed Ss^'ylJl?"' "'' Virgin, and all the saints, and for the souls of Edward II, of himself, of Philippa the Queen, and of his children and his ancestors.' As Peterhouse had been enriched by the ad vow-
this
'
new
foundation,
now
known by
the
name
of King's Hall,
amid the sweeping reforms that marked the Henry VIII was, in conjunction with Michaelhouse, subsequently merged in the illustrious foundation of Trinity
reign of
college.
The
biief
by Richard
ii,
are
statutes
and simple, and bear a closer resemblance to those of KioharJn. Merton than those of any of the preceding foundations, Peterhouse alone excepted. It is somewhat remarkable, and
is
own
edifi-
cation,
weakness of humanity, prone by nature and from youth to evil, ignorant how to abstain from things unlawful, easily
falling into crime.'
It is required that
'
admission be proved to be of
tion;'
Limitation a
"f admission,
age,, the student not being admisunder fourteen years of age, a point on which the
1 It is thus that Gray, in his fwstallation Ode, has represented Edward III as the founder of Trinity
regarded as the founder of the institution, and is so designated in the ancient university statute, De exe-
CoUege. But the honour more properly belongs to Edward ii, for, as Mr. Cooper observes, although that monaroh did not live to carry out his intention of erecting a hall.. .he was
'
annuatim ceUbrandis, under which his exequies were performed on the fifth of May annually.' Mequits
morials, 405.
ii
194.
Of.
Documents,
254
CHAP.
III.
Master
gion,
to be satisfied
-J^^^
otherprovi-
witnesses.
The
student's
must be such
as qualify
him
for the
study of
logic, or
upon examination
of his capacity,
he
is
On
enrolment in a religious order or succession to a benefice of the value of ten marks, the scholar is to retire from the
foundation, a year being the utmost limit within which his
stay
may be
prolonged.
On
to
From the
general
we should
in reference to education,
mount
consideration.
and consent of the master, and bachelors are required to be regular in their attendance at repetitions and disputations; but no one faculty appears to have very decidedly com-
manded the
founder's preference.
On
prohibitions
with
respect to
the-
and peaked
flutes,
drained
foi
and perhaps in the unusually liberal allowance for weekly ' r commons, that the foundation was designed for students of
'^
'
i-
ci'i'^"^'^'
the wealthier
1
class'';
poverty
sit et
is not,
'Bone conversationis
ho-
neste, aetatis quatuordecim annorum vel ultra, de quo volumus quod prefato Custodi fide diguorum testimonio fiat fides : quodque talis sic admittendus in regulis grammaticalibus ita sufficienter sit instructus, quod congrue in arte Dialeotica studere poterit seu in aliqua alia facultate ad quam prtefatus Gustos post
et admissiouem ejus duxerit ilium deputandum.' Statutes of King's Hall (from transcript in poseession of the authorities of Trinity College). These statutes
examinationem
tury was twelve pence, at GonvUle Hall only ten pence At Corpus the allowance was most liberal, amounting to sixteen pence. Chicheley, when confined to his rooms by a
!
CONCLUSION.
the other colleges, indicated as a qualification
munificence and
;
255
and
it
seems chap.
hi.
,,1-
It is
difficult
element in the university of those days. perhaps to trace any real advance with affoS'
^. .,-,,.
it
1.1
of these"ariy foundations
afford con-^^'''">
In Peter-
and King's
Hall,
we
tion,
more than a repetition of Walter de Merton's main concepnot unaccompanied by a certain vagueness as to the character of the education to be imparted, and an apparent
disinclination seriously to assess the comparative value of the
Julstta with
vOle Hall,
(as
modified by
second founder,)
we
hearutfivmity
need scarcely be
said,
which
to guard.
university
may advan-
nineteenth.
At
Paris, as
we have already seen, it had been The civil and the canon law had
jurist
been excluded from her curriculum, for in the hands of the and the canonist they had become a trade rather than a branch of liberal learning'; and it is evident that those
clearly
severe illness in 1390-1, at New College, Oxford, had aUowauoe made him for his commons at the rate of sixteen pence a week for six weeks which was afterwards reduced to fouiteen pence. Bursar's Accounts,
'
pas la science du droit comme un art liberal. Pour eux c'^tait un metier plutdt qu'un art.' De I'Orgcmisation
p. 166.
de
I'Enseignement,
etc.
Lives,
8.
256
CHAP.
paet
III.
r.
success
>
'^
bUght those studies that appealed to a less selfish devotion^ To bishop Bateman the question appeared in another light. The civil and the canon law were the high road to ecclesiastical preferment, and he aimed at training up a body of shrewd, practical men, who, though they might do little to
help on philosophy and science, would be heard of in afterlife
and
state,
cise
But
would seem that the bishop had rendered his university but a doubtful service; and though colleges multiplied at Cambridge we may vainly look for any corresponding growth in
her intellectual
interesting as
activity.
The
comment.
an
what
no exaggeration
to
an endeavour which,
new
institu-
as
we
was prorecognise
inspired,
we
more^than the sentiments of the devout laity, in all probability, by the priest and the confessor.
It will scarcely be denied that in connexion with these foundations questions of grave import were contending for
we doubt
would reveal that the antithesis represented in the statutes of Peterhouse and those of Trinity Hall, was a matter of keen and lively interest to the Cambridge of those days; and inasmuch as an opportunity here
presents itself for a slight digression,
tutes of King's Hall
for between the staand the foundation of King's College
more than
^pole'
de droit
Crevier, v 156.
ne
CONCLUSION.
sixty years intervene,
257
to illustrate chap.
hi.
we
shall
now proceed
more fully the scope and bearing of that antithesis, from the ~.-l^!i
history of the sister university
of thought
17
CHAPTER
III.
Part
II:
cambridg'^.
and masters, whom he had already appeared before him the following day in the Congregation House, andtendered their canonical obedience. Com-
The
chancellor, doctors,
cited,
who
visited
Trinity Hall, Clare, Gonville, Michaelhouse, Peterhouse, Pembroke, St. John's Hospital, St. Rhadegund's Nunnery, and the
House
of the
his grace
and
?he si^'rest'oual-diaii).
cipline
O'^e
and general state of the university. Among them was which, at that juncture, possessed no ordinary significolleges to which they did relate, Absolute hostels, -who stood bythemselves, being all of them unendowed, by consequence had no considerable statutes, the breach whereof was the proper subject of this visitation, Besides, the graduates therein may be presumed for their personal de-
> King's Hall and Corpus Chriati do not appear to have been visited. Cooper observes that the master of the latter college, Richard Billingford, was chancellor of the univer-
sity at the time. Annals, 1 147. As for hostels, the wonder is not so great, whythose commissioners stoop. cd not down to visit them. Fkst,
'
meaaours visited in the coUective body of the university.' Fuller, Hist, of the Vniv
LOLLAKDISM.
cance were there
; '
259
'
suspected of chap.
hi.
LoUardism?'
the Swift,
The ashes of Wyclif had not yet been cast into and his memory was still cherished at Oxford, but
f^"^ "
De
months before, the first victim of that enactment, WiUiam Sautree, had perished at the stake. Such an inquiry, therefore, from a man of Arundel's determined character and known views*, could scarcely fail to strike ominous forebodings into the minds of those
students who favoured The number of these
was
presented
itself to
demand some
of the
moveThe question
.se.ii
In om- brief notice of the career of William of Occam, we were occupied mainly with his metaphysical theory and his
influence in the schools, but his opinions with respect to the
political
by
"^"'
less
Rome were
in the days of
Occam and
theoretical
in the barbarous diction of that age as the Digestum Novum, Inforthe massive tomes that, with the labours tiatum, and Vetus,
known
was himself no scholar he was only a bachelor of arts and he was spoken of at Oxford in terms similar to those which would be employed in
;
He
was met by the most determined opposition, and a direct denial of his powers of visitation. See the amusing account in Wood-Gutch, i 455 458.
172
260
CHAP.
nr.
'.
Paut n. -^,,
ancient colWe libraries. From these sources were drawn all those subtleties which, from the days of Hincmar to those of Boniface Viil, gave the Church such formidable advantages in
1
her struggles with the secular power, and it was against the broad principle implied in the whole system that Occam
raised thestandard of insurgency when, in his Be Potestate, he propounded as an open question for discussion, the query, Can the spiritual and lay power dwell in the same perscm? It is evident that inasmuch as the assumed affirmative formed the basis of the Romish polity at the period, the mere mooting of such enquiry called in question what had hitherto been an article of faith, the infallibility of the papal decrees, and thus again opened up a way to still wider and more important discussions. It was of course impossible that a code, pronounced by the pope to be the binding law of Christendom, could be challenged, without involving the far wider question of
belief in theological
rmmediate
th'/question
^^^
*^^
^'
dogma: and when a Franciscan schoolman ^ fovind asking, 'Whether the pope could be a here^6 was manifestly Calling in question the whole theory
thetempSfai
Nor
is it difficult
to see
canon law.
academic education.
were to
disputes
be the standard to
which,, in those
unquiet times,
all
would
If again,
all
must at once sink into secondary importance, for it lacked almost entirely that objective value which imparted so much significance to the civil and the canon law. It was in opit
position to any such conception of the theologian's province, that William of Occam and his brother Fi-anciscan, Marsilio
of Padua,
waged war
in
the interest
of
the schoolmen
JOHN WYCLIF.
2G1
own me- chap. iit. thod to specific dogmas, was not made by William of Occam v_i^]!__:nor was it made by Wyclif, who may fairly be regarded as the '"f^^^""'representative of Occam in his assertion of the right of pri- wycHfiin
As we have already
Some
writers,
thc^temporai
respects a thinker of
was,' says
Pope, a
mj^a
He
James, ^"
'
a professed follower of
otuerpSSits.
an importaat reservation; in matters of ecclesiastical polity and religious belief Wyclif undoubtedly adopted and developed
the theories of Occam, but in the schools of Oxford he was
known
an upholder
His relation
Mendicants,
champion
of the Franciscans,
exam-
The po-
Wyclif
in relation to the
The salt had lost which had once represented an its savour and energising impulse in the direction of a higher culture, had degenerated into a mischievous and disturbing element,
orders proceeded with ominous rapidity.
;
influences,
productive only of
strife
seriously detri-
With the Mtter part of the century this evil had reached ^ a climax. The resistance that the English Franciscans bad
,-,
.
' Life of Wicklijfe, apptoded to Tioo short Treatises against the orders the Begpinri Friars: Oxford, 1608. of ^ 'The immense services which our great countryman, William of Occam, had just rendered to science, oould hardly have been unknown to, but they do not seem to have been appreciated by, Wyclif.' Mr, Thomas Arnold, Theoloij. Bev. Apr. 1870. See however the passage quoted by
Zizaniorum, pp. lii and Uii) from the MS. sermons of Wyclif preserved in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge: where, so far as it is possible to judge from an isolated and corrupt passage, the philosophical opinions of the reformer appear to have been nearly identical with those of Aquinas. Of Ockham himself ,' says the editor, 'Wyclif always speaks with respect.'
'
Prof.
Shirley
(Prof,
to
Fasciculi
262
CHAP.
III.
_^^^__1,
by little besides a keen sense that their own interests were at stake. The struggle with John xxii was also at an end. Their differences with Rome had been composed, and they had betaken themselves
an
air of patriotism, wa.s in reality actuated
laity.
''^
* ^
Neither the ambition nor the interests of the two orders would permit them to forego the great centres of education
and progressive thought; while their vows and their aims were incompatible with the obligations involved in the oaths administered by the universities. It was their object accordingly to create an imperium in imperio, and, while availing
themselves of those centres as fields of propagandism,they were
really intent
thority.
'
on the creation of a
all
rival if not of
a hostile au-
The
Huber,
'
was
fought simultaneously in
It
assumed any
consi-
In the
Domini-
AgjOji^is-
der
IV,
participation
share in the
government, their admission had led to important changes, among others the separation of the faculty of theology from
the faculty of
arts.
The annals
*^
friars.
We
have already
mdOT'
adverted to the stringent provisions passed at Oxford to check the widespread evil of proselytism. In the year- 1311 the
Rome against some of the provisions enacted for the limitation of their independence, and in the year 131 4 a formal decision was pronounced by a Commission
Mendicants appealed to
jointly
composed of representatives of the university and of The verdict was a severe blow to the latter.
263
numerous
acts
in.
"
The
bachelor,
in the
Dominicans,
witness large
numstatute
at
and their own sources of emolument considerably curtailed\ In the university of Cambridge we find, in the year 1359, a statute enacted prohibiting two friars of the same order from incepting in the same year; a subsequent statute required that two regents, whether doctors or bachelors of divinity, of the same house, should not concur in their 'ordinary' readings, whether of the Bible or the Sentences, but that one of them must read in his own convent, and the other in the schools of the university. These statutes,' says dean Peacock, would seem to have
bers of the students diverted from their doors
'
'
cam-
been framed with a view of compelling them [the friars], if admitted to the regency in the university, to take part in the
public duties incumbent upon other regents, and not to confine their labours within
on the part of the university was keenly resented by the friars, and in the year 1366, the universities on the one hand and the Mendicants on the other, besiesred
legislation
Such
and the
provincials
orders,
repaired to Westminster and submitted their disputes to the The conclusion arrived at by Edward iii, to royal decision.
which the bishops, dukes, earls, and barons all signified their assent, was so far favourable to the Mendicants that it rescinded the statute forbidding them to receive into their order
'
''''"'
't**"''
Wood-Gutoh,
382
384.
'
No-
thing was granted to the friars, but only that they should enjoy their schools within the precincts of their house, to be free for lectures, disputations, and determinations, and nothing else, conditionally, that in
the performance of them they do not entrench upon, or contradict, the students of the university.' Ihid. ^ Cooper, Annals, i 105. Peacock, Obsenatiom, xliii, note,
etc.
Append,
a.
264
CHAP.
III.
^^.^
under eighteen years of age, and forbade the enactany similar statute: a far more important provision however was that whereby all bulls and processes from Rome, favouring the Mendicants in their relation to the university, were definitely set aside, and the renunciation of all advanscholars
ment
of
But the
;
per-
Exclusive
gained^bythe Mendicants.
was not easily to be overcome for within nine years after the enactment of the above provisions, they obtained through the assistance of Christ Church, Canterbury, a bull enabling them to dispense with a statute which reQuirod that all persous should be regents in arts before pro^
ceedmg
p,...
m
.
other words,
sufficiently indi-
WaiterdJ"
Merton.
iii
ascertained period,
wyciuon
behalf of the
Balliol College,
'
ciwg'rat Oxford.
we
find
him
his
by pron
rT
^T-11-
T-i
how
his holiness
In the recital the bull sets had been petitioned by the clerks and
stmt
et
Cooper, Annals, i 109. Lewis, ii/e of iVyclif, p. 6. The object of the Mendicants appears to have been to obtain the privilege of reading and lecturing at their own schools instead of those belonging to the university: that they did not claim exemption from the course of instruction that preceded the period of regency is evident from the Ianguage of Gregory: 'Nos igitur volentes eosdem custodem et collegium favore prosequi, gratiose hujusmodi
^
non
rexerint in
facultate, dummodo alias in primitivis soientiis Bnfficiente fuerint instructi ao oursus suos fecerint in theologica facultate, et per diligen-
supplicationibus iuelinati, volumus ac eisdem custodi et ooUegio apostoUoa auctoritate concedimus, quod cuitos et scolares dicti collegii qui
265
'
many
of
m the
.
that
every one
II.
iil
them had anciently received only when they had taken their degree
immediately expelled the said
reason of their poverty,
hall, so
make any
;
week, and that they might freely remain in the said hall, whether they took their master's or doctor's degree or no,
until they
ecclesiastical benefice,
and
then should leave the halP.' On the 16th of May in the same year teat Wyclif exhibited this bull to Gynwell, bishop
of Lincoln, he was himself instituted, on the presentation of
wyciif leavoa
'^'"^
He
did not
dent again in Oxford until 1374; but in October, 1363, he is found renting rooms in Queen's College, and in 1368 he
obtained two years' leave of absence from his living for the
when
at
own on behalf of the secular connexion with Canterbury Hall. It was in the year 13G1, the same year that Wyclif obtained the papal bull
history of similar efforts to his
Islip,
archbishop of Canterbury,
simon
isiip,
sought to carry out a plan resembling that conceived by SSury'"' Hugh Balsham, a combination of the seculars and the reli- ^**'^^*^*"
He
to the society a
Tlie amount stands, as above, a in Lewis. 1 Lewis, Life of Wiclif, p. 4. (from Manuscript Collections of the Bishop
of Peterborough).
2
Wank
niorum, pp.
Two John
266
CHAP.
in.
who were monks from .i^[^ and eight other scholars who were
scholars
pi'escribed
Canterbury,
The
studies
tocombSr
mentaaf""
tjantorbury
civil
and
But,
The monks
cxpds'ti'ie '"'''"-
were perpetually at variance, and Simon Islip, perceiving that harmony was hopeless, in 1365 expelled the warden Woodhall, together with the other monks, and
and the
seculars
bur^3B613<>8.
The successor of Simon Islip was Simon Langbam, a monk by education and entirely monastic in his sympathies. Under his auspices and by the use of considerable influence at Rome, the monks obtained a reversal of Simon Islip's dccisiou. The seculars were all expelled, and their * ^ pl^-ces filled by their rivals. Such a result must have proved a bitter disappointment to the more liberal party at the university, and the feelings of WyclLf when he came up to Oxford in the following year, having obtained the
...
or
While the
seculars
.
th"powe?of
the Church.
foes,
turn were seeking to circumscribe the power of the whole Church. To counteract the rapacity of Eome the Statute
against Provisors was re-enacted six times in the course of
the century
and defining
we
This fact
is
not
Fasciculi Zizaniorum,
515.
Dean Hook takes notice of the deposition of Woodhead or Woodhall only. The new warden appointed on this occasion was John Wyolifo/Jl/a?/Jield,
whom Prof. Shirley has, it may be considered, satisfactorily proved to have been also the fellow of Merton College (see Note on the Two
'
JOHN WYCLIF.
267
ni.
churchmen to all great dignities ^j^^!^ of the state, and petitioning that laymen may be chosen for The movement was attributed by these secular offices. many to John of Gaunt but that Wyclif was the adviser of Such data his patron in this matter we have no evidence. as we possess would rather lead us to the conclusion that his The long career as a reformer had scarcely commenced*. neglect into which his Latin treatises have, in this country, been allowed to fall, has indeed tended to create considerable
;
and manly passion, his denunciations of Romish innovations, was still the schoolman, the dialectician, and the realist^ He was second
English
tracts, so full of pathos, irony,
'
sjT^pMwk
Knighton, in philosophy ; in the wycuf * " t],g foremost disciplme of the schools he was incomparable.' He was,' ^'j^'^ says Anthony Harmer, 'far from being condemned at Oxford,
to none,' says the
. .
monk
'
*/
'
own life or the life of the duke of Lancaster, but was had in great esteem and veneration at that univereity to the last; and his writings, for many years before and after his death, were as much read and studied there as those of Ai-istotle, or the Master of the Sentences'.' A most profound philosopher and a most distinguished divine a man of surpassing and indeed superhuman genius,' is the verdict
during his
'
of
Anthony Wood.
if
When
such
is
diced
for no farther evidence to shew what was really the generally accepted repu1 Mi1ma,Ti, Latin Christianity, XIII c. 6. Dr. Kobert Yaughau
we need seek
Bk. has
quoted from the EccUsia Regimen (Cotton MSS. Titus, D. 1) passages which clearly shew that Wyclif subsequently approved the views urged on this occasion; the date of this manuscript is uncertain, but there is every reason for supposing that it is the production of a much later period
in
2
WycEPs
ally
life, when he had actuassumed the part of a reformer. Lewis has asserted that Chaucer,
in his description of the Parish Priest 'seems to hare had him (Wyclif) this friend and acquaintance of his in his thoughts.' Life of Wyclif, p! 45. Mr. Bobert Bel^ in his preface to Chaucer, observes, on the other hand, that 'the antagonism is perfeet ; and that if Chaucer meant to apply the sketch to WvcKf, it must have been as masked sarcasm and not as a panegyric.
'
'
p.
15 (quoted by Lewis).
268
CHAP,
would seem ^^IZ^ indeed that, during the greater part of his life, Wyclif was day chiefly known as the most eminent schoolman of his Cantereven his memorable citation before the archbishop of bury, at St. Paul's, was the result of his political rather than of his religious tenets, and the measure was probably aimed
tation of the character to
whom
they
refer.
It
acceptance of the doctrinal teaching of the Church is sufficiently indicated by the fact that it was not until withm a
few years of his death that his bold revival of the doctrine held by Berengar exposed him to the charge of heresy. That doctrine again was one which related to a controversy that had agitated both the eastern and the western Churches,
Wyclif uot
originally
and which was peculiarly calculated to attract the ingenuity of the schoolman and whatever of mistrust the name of a refuted heretic might awaken, there were not a few at Oxford who could remind those around them that the arguments of Berengar had been those of the "true logician, and who could recognise in their illustrious contemporary the same or even yet greater mastery over the acknowledged weapons of debate. While finally, if we carefully examine the origin of -"
; '
Mmdicln*''
we
shall find
good reason
for
had
and the heaviest indictments that proceeded from his pen would never have been written. A highly competent critic, the most recent
to pass unchallenged, the fiercest passages
* ' If Wyelif had confined his teaching to the schools, he would probably have remained unmolested. Considerable latitude in speculation was allowed to the schoolmen; and the heads of the Church of England at that time cared little for theological disousaious. The university was, itself, vehemently antipapal, long before Wyclif was matriculated; and his antipathy to the Church of Eome was an inheritance on the pai-t of an Oxonian. In opposing the pope, a creature of France, Wyclif only did what every patriot was
doing, so long as the popes remained In exposing the hypoat Avignon. crisy of the monks, he acted with the applause of the bishops, whose jurisdiction they rejected or despised, He had not only the two universities, but all the clergy, regular and secular, with him when he attacked
the Mendicants. Fitz-Ealph, who preceded him, and was equally violent in his attacks upon the mendicant orders, had been rewarded with the archiepiscopal mitre of Armagh.' Hook, Lives 0/ tim Archbishops,
in 83.
269
cei-tainly
were
not chap.
in.
of a hostile character'.
It
._1^^__!,
was undoxibtedlv an ^
evil
day
*^
for the
Mendicants when
Sao''oP""'
Amour.
The
Benedictine historian,
"'"' ^'"^
tempt of Langlande and Chaucer, even the hot anger of Armachanus, seem tame and feeble when compared with the glowing diatribes of the Oxford schoolman. They had but denounced the abuses of those orders of whom he demanded the extinction whoever in fact wishes to know the worst that could be said against the Mendicants in the fourteenth century, unmodified by any palliating circumstances or
;
it
With much
and shortit
ai'e
there held
up
to view, and
tis
we have before
the repre-
sentatives of those
The late Dr. Eobt. Taughan, in work entitled John de Wpcliffe, D.D., a Monograph, says 'From what we know of the controTersr as
'
his
cum non
esse, et alia
moun-
menta
conducted by others, and from all that we find bearing upon it in the later works of the reformer, it is not difficult to judge of the manner in whioh he acquitted himself iu relation to it at this earlier period.' (See p. 88.) How far the inference here made is justified by the facts may be seen from the following
et libri ejus
nondnm
Trialogumauthocautposteriorianno editum esse.' Prol. ad Trialogum, p. 3. Lewis, on the authority of Leland, De Script. Brit. p. 379, asserts that WycUf began, so early as 1372, to attack the Mendicants, in his leotures as Doctor of DiTinitv at Oxford, 'In these lectures,* he says, 'he frequently took notice of tiie eorruptions of the begging Friars, which at first he did in a soft and (gentle manner, until, finding that his detecting their abuses was what was acceptable to his hearers, he proceeded to deal more plainly and opelily with them.' Life of n'yclif, p. 21. He admits, however, that the tract eJited by James, the Ubrariau of the Bodleian, iu 1608, which with the Trialogus contains the grarameu of Wrclif's attack, was not written untU about ten years later. Ibid. p. 22.
'
minoribus,'
relipriBdicatoribus,' quis, ita sensisse, potius magni eos ajstunavisse, nee antequam coepisset
'
doctrinsa
de
'transsubstantiatione'
censuram agere,
pugnasse,
mendicantes
im-
ipsius opera testimtvtr. Cum enim theologi Ulis ordinibus adscripti pne ceteris ipsa adversarentnr de doctrina iUa agenti, 'Wiclifus
sibi persuadere ctepit, fratres mendicantes omnium errorum atque
malorum
in ecclesia
Romana
vigen-
270
CHAP.
III.
^l^^JLiL
the admiration of St. Louis and of Robert Grosseteste. The vow of poverty had long been disregarded ; the residences of the orders were among the most magnificent structures of the
time, so thickly scattered too throughout the country that
a contemporary poet was scarcely guilty of exaggeration when he declared that the friar might make a tour of the realm and sleep each night under the shelter of some one or other
of these, palatial abodes'.
little
better than those ancient strongholds where lawless barons were wont to set law and order at defiance, issuing forth at
intervals only to spread terror
of their
for the
mendicancy which supplied the place of force, he begging was damned by God both in the Old Testament and the New;' while the proselytism of the orders, he described as habitually carried on by hj'pocrisie, lesings and steling.' In short, after making all allowance for
declared that
'
it
is
difficult to
conceive
much
irregular procura-
of Christen
Scariot's children,'
and so as a nest or herd of Mammon's tresour,' 'both night thieves and day thieves, entering into the Church not by the door that is Christ,' 'worse enemies and sleers gf man's
theft,
is the cruel fende of hell by himself,' envenymed with gostly sin of Sodom,' perilous enemies to holy Church and all our lond^' We need scarcely wonder that charges
'
soule than
'
'For ye
by Wyclif
as a
term of reproach,
your owne courtes, and so mow hut ngU tevi loiis Ao.' Jack Upland (quoted by Lewis). Gayvies Castelis. 'That is Cain's Castles; for in Wyclyffe's time the proper name Cam appears to have been commonly corrupted into Caim. So in his New Testament: "Abel offered a myche more sacrifice thann Caim to trod." The word is used
as of the orders,
CarmeUtes, Augustinians, Jacobites or Dominicans (caUed Jacobites from the Eue St. Jacques in Paris, where
their famous convent stood), and Minorites or Franciscans.' See note bv Dr. Todd to his edition of Wyclif's twittise DeEcclesiaet Membra Ejm.
3
Xwo
shoi-t
Ordeis
of the Begging
PHars,
ed.
; :
271
ra.
'^
and epithets such as these, made moreover by no obscure chap. parish priest but by the most eminent English schoohnan of i^^ his day, shoutd have called up the undying hatred of the Wyclifs enemies could say no worse of him four orders. than he had said of them. Netter and Kynyngham are
models of courtesy by comparison*.
It
is
the
developement of thought
;
and
education in the
decisive
universities
but
we may
observe that
we have here
itself in
Occam
a,nd
was carried out by Wyclif, was essentially a university movement. While conservatism found its chief support in
the superstitious zeal of the provinces, the spirit of reform
having
its origin
indeed
schoolman
all
of his day,
The
John
and
The views
of Berengar
were
on his own living. If the reader allot to the praise of courage, he cannot refuse to them the praise of moderation.' Hist, of
Tersity to reside
Mm
England
iii^
307.
'
terests,
alarmed and
clergy. tion to
but though their reputation and fortunes were at state they sought not to revenge themselves on their adversary, but were content with an order for his removal from the uni-
^ Of its presence at Oxford we have a signal proof in the fact that within a few years after the foundation of New College in 1380, we find the courtiers reproaching WiUiam of Wykeham, the founder, with having raised up' a seminary of heresy; so prevalent had the new doctrines become within the college. See WiU liam of Wykeham and his Colleges, by Mackenzie B. C. Walcott, p. 282.
272
CHAP.
III.
-iS^
reasserted by Wyclif, not simply in connexion with a specific tenet but with the whole field of religious enquiry and it
;
was
latter's
opinions con-
cerning Church and State, began, soon after his death, to spread with such rapidity at Oxford and Cambridge. The
preamble
of'archb"'
1408, indicates very clearly the gravamen of the offence given by the party of reform to the ecclesiastical authorities
im.
^^ injury to the most reverend synod, who examines and since he who disputes the supreme earthly judgment is liable to the punishment of sacrilege, as the authority of the civil law teaches us; much more grievously are they to be punished, and to be cut off as putrid members from the Church militant, who, leaning on their own wisdom,
'
^^
*^^
its
determinations
and despise, by various doctrines, words, and and canons made by the key-keeper of eternal when they have been published according life and death to form and cause, and observed by the holy fathers our predecessors, even to the glorious effusion of their blood, and dissipating their brains'.' In the same Constitutions it is
violate, oppose,
that no master of arts or grammar shall instruct upon any theological point, contrary to the determination of the Church, or expound any text of Scripture in other manner than it hath been of old expounded, or permit
provided
(1)
his pupils
(2)
that
no book or tract compiled by John Wyclif, or any one else in his time or since, or to be compiled hereafter, shall be read or
taught in the schools, hostels, or other places in the province, until it has first been examined by the universities of Oxford
and Cambridge, or at least by twelve persons to be elected by each of these bodies, and afterwards expressly approved by the archbishop or his successors (3) that whoever shall read or teach any book or treatise contrary to the form aforesaid,
;
shall be punished as a sower of schism and heresy, according to the quality of his offence'.'
1
favourer of
''
Cooper, Annals,
iii
153.
Willdns,
'^9-
Concilia,
316.
273
hi.
we are not
called
upon
to enter.
They appear
to
-^
by the fanatics who, under the general designation of Lollards, represented not
merely, as Professor Shirley observes,
'
fancterof
Loiiarda.
ligious malcontent,'
existing form
of government.
aimed but the ecclesiastical authorities subsequently found their advantage in confusing the theological and political aspects of the movement, and representing them as inseparable. Under both, the followers of Wyclif strained his teachings to conclusions that could scarcely fail, at any time, to excite alarm, and call forth vigorous measures of repression' and while we honour the integrity, the vigour of thought, and the untiring zeal of their leader, we shall not the less lament the extravagancies which obscured the original lustre of his design, and contributed in no small degree to the defeat of a noble purHceretico
;
Be
Comburendo was
pose.
It
is
which Arundel, Chicheley, and Beaufort successively carried out were attended with almost complete success and the
;
oft-quoted simile of
Foxe
typifies
with singular
felicity
the
As the ashes of the great Avon and the Severn far from
consigned to
1
11
...
1
first
1
rest,
1
even so his
T-i
iniiardiam suppressed in
reappear in
in a distant land.
Amid
a Sclavonic
J^"""'^
Bohemia, the son of John of Gaunt" directed the persecuting sword against the tenets of which
the
cities of
' 'Another class, as truly alien from his spirit as any, and who began in the next generation to appear in considerable number, were the men who rejected, as unworthy of the Christian religion, whatever did not appear patent at once to the intelligence of the most ordinary learner. For them human nature had no hidden depths, religion no
have thoroughly approved itself to them was that which to others appeared the most mysterious of all, the exposition of the Bible by the most ignorant of the priesthood. In the high valae they set on this unlettered preaching, and in that
they could truly claim the authority of Wyclif.' Prof. Shirley, Pref. to Fasc. Ziz. Ixviii. ^ Cardinal Beaufort,
alone,
18
274
CHAP.
III.
protector*.
But
its
at
home, Lollardism,
says a writer
'
lived at
all,
survived rather by
'
Notwithstand-
who has
care,
subjects connected
may
venture pretty
noKc^mencement
Information,
"the
moming
altogether erroneous.
Wyclif 's
own day, and so far from Lollardy having taken any deep root among the English
real influence did not long survive his
it
At
of
all
Henry the
of the time,
we
;
a natural death
significance.
Though
it no longer counted among its adherents any man and when another generation had passed away, the serious action of civil war left no place for the crotchets of fanaticism. Yet doubtless Lollardy did not exist in vain.
numbers,
of note
;
not entirely
die,
because
it
never
remained
after
the whole mass of English thought, and may be traced in the theology of the Anglican Church itself. Ball and Swyn-
derby were forgotten, as they deserved to be extravagance effervesced and was no more but there still remained, and
; ;
Huss studied at Oxford, where he 'made it his whole employment' 'to collect and transcribe' Wyclif 's
that
doctrines.
ae-
The number of students from Bohernia at the English university at this period is a noticeable feature, and is probably attributable to the increased intercourse between the two countries that followed upon the
man-iage of king Wenzel's sister to Richard ii. Wood-Gutch, i 585, 586. Milman, Latin Chrutianity, Bk. xiii
c. 8.
count ia that Huss became acquainted with those doctrines through writira;s brought by one of his scholars who had been studying at Oxford,
275
chap. hi.
is
far
unsound'.'
^^^^
would seem indisputable that the doctrines
it
Sa^e'cf the'"
But while
is fonowd"""
pression of
demand a wider
_
solution.
The
tollardismat """??'versities.
is
exaggerated in
'
:
conception and erroneous as a statement of fact One might have expected,' he says, that this great battle should be fought out at the universities, and that the emergency would have called out the most brilliant talents on both sides. It might have been so, had not the higher powers without, both temporal and spiritual, at each successive from
'
crisis
thus
on the other side likewise, when a battle essentially intellectual and spiritual was never
entailing intellectual imbecility
and
it
vailed in
them
at that time
studies
were
adopted in
might have been In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the university of Oxford had reared and sent forth sons who attracted European regard but in the great Councils of the Church of the fifteenth century,
in
the great
ecclesiastical questions as
more
of the phenomena of the Sceculum Synodale, and a more intimate acquaintance with our univei-sity history, would
...
eno-
neous,
if
not
was
Thought in
noted and commented on this sudden extinction of reform in England at Wickliffe's preaching,' he says, which all the succeeding reformers
: ' '
the pope and prelates for six or seven Kings' reigns.' Of Reformation in
England, Bk.
ii
i.
Works by
St.
John,
i
368.
^
more
156.
182
276
In the first place it is and Cambridge were represented at the council of Pisa'; and when the deputation from Oxford was passing through Paris, it was addressed by Gerson, then chancellor of the university of Paris, and complimented on the spirited interest in the welfare of the Church, which the body it represented had displayed at so important a
altogether to cancel this passage.
certain that both Oxford
had reappeared in the movement led by John Huss, occupied a prominent place in the deliberations of the
as that heresy
council,
its
chancellor and
Both
universities, again,
and the
so
responded to the invitation as to send delegates, is satisfactorily accounted for by the comparatively languid interest
political disturbance
That the suppression of Lollardism acted as a check upon thought at the universities is probable enough, but it is far from supplying an adequate explanation of the 'torpor' and languor' to which Huber refers, and which undoubtedly prevailed. Between heresy of the most uncompromising character and complete subserviency to mere tradition, there was yet an interval that afforded sufficient scope for vigorous of this the speculation and active organic developement
free
'
The
university of Piirisre-
position occupied
by the university
is
incontestible evidence.
;
The
and
gains her
former preeminence.
during that period Paris was again what she had been in the
1 Labbe and Cossart, xi 2221; Wood-Gutcb, 544, 545. " 'Eccequid prfficlara universitas Oxoniensis, unde sibi meruit eongratulari, pridem ad hoc Concilium petendum determinavit se et misit
Propositio facta a J. Gersonio ex parte XJniversitath coram AngJicis Parisios emitibtis ad Saci-um Gonsiliuvi Pisis. Opera, ed. Dnpin, ii 126. " Cooper, Annals, i 158. < MS. Lambethiani, No. 447, fo. 143 (quoted by Cooper).
dum
277
hi.
Z^^^JL
affairs of
never had she taken so conspicuous a part in the decision of such importance while the names of Nicholas de
;
and Jean Gerson might vie with any that had yet adorned her academic annals'. It was the era of the great councils and had the views advocated by
Clamangis, Pierre
d'Ailli,
;
the two last-named illustrious scholars of the College df Navarre obtained a permanent triumph over papal obstinacy,
it
is
more mode-
and the admitted right of synods oecumenical to overpope himself, might have floated
Romish system over the two fatal rocks on which, in Germany and in England, it went to pieces^. Of Gerson himself it has been truly said that he does jean ciarmore than almost any other man to link the thoughts, of Gerson,
the
'
;'
for,
<
wssi
most dissimilar phases and tendencies. The nominalist full of contempt for the fine spun cob;
full
of re-
verence for Dionysius, the holy and the divine ;' intent on reformation in the Church, yet consenting to the death of
the noblest reformer of the age
;
he adds to the anomalies of a transitional period the features of an indiIt is foreign to our purpose to enter here vidual eclecticism.
yet ever foremost in the controversial fight,
irpon
'
somewhat earlier period in England, Mr Froude observes, 'If the Black Prince had lived, or if Richard II had inherited
3
Crevier, in 3. Similarly, of a
moral corruption of the Church from which it received its most powerful
impetus.'
^
Hist of England,
82.
Prof.
Maur
the temper
sophy, p. 46.
;
ecclesiastical
'
spared the misfortune of a longer reprieve. Its worst abuses would then have terminated, and the reformation of doctrine in the 16th century would have been left to fight its
d'une fepoque
principes les plus contradictoires se combattcnt.' Esjai sur Jean Gerson, p. 30.'
oti les
278
CHAP. in.
Be
De Monte
Conteniplationis
taatues,
De
but in two of Gerson's shorter and comparatively unknown treatisos, the De Modis Signifioandi, and the De Concordia
DeConcoriiia.
Metaphysicw cum Logica, we have a valuable exposition of the state of metaphysical science at Paris at this period, and an incontrovertible proof of the progress which that science
had made
sitions
In the
is
fifty
propo-
into which
divided, the
what
is
to
it
may
chancellor in the
th"vafford
resuits^of'''
by one who had filled the office of same university that had seen the writings
It is to
be
noted
also, as
metaphysics,
mean-
The
metaphysics and
logic,
to
investigate the
but simply the notion'; his object being, in more modem phraseology, 'to produce distinctness in concepts, which are
The theory to which the realists had adhered with such tenacity, that in some yet to be discovered
the things of logic'
treatise of the Stagyrite
sition of the functions of logic as
of things themselves",
position taken
is
hKC
res
Opera, ed. Dupin, iv 826, 827. 'bumatur ex his distmotionibiis uuioa, qnod eousideratio rei, ut
est,
Rignum
Ibid, iy 829.
3
spectat
ad metaphysioam.
Dean Macsel,
279
finally
reaped chap.
it
hi.
After the
toil of
centuries
had
^^H^
at last succeeded in bringing back to view the original text of the great master, tion
had well-nigh
it
is
obliterated'.
,'yiJf|''JoJ"'"
But
''"
fo'^he
The grand
"f AiStdtie.
of sciences, struggles
expression.
is
Theology or rather
as the
11
dialectician.
'
oorson's
-1
wof"'0
'
f^ijj'^
"'""'"sy-
Of the disand soars beyond the region of the Categories'' putes of the theologians Gerson appears absolutely weary
!
affirming that
it
alto-
gether than that discords like those which he had witnessed should continue to scandalise alike the faithful and the infidel.
The date
^ A recent critic however sees in Gerson's treatise something more than a mere restoration of Aristo'The metaphysical telian thought. philosophy of the Mi Idle Ages, with its dominating controversy letween realism and nominalism, that is, between metaphysic mixed with ontology and metaphysic pure, is a painful working back to the point of view which Ai-istotle occupied, and a rediscovery of his meaning. But at the same time it was a reproduction of his meaning in a new and original mould, so that the form was simpler and clearer, and the contradiotions which Aristotle's system contained, in its combination of ontology with metaphysic, were brought to view. This was a great step in adarose vance, although no one as yet capable of introducing a principle
Jean Charlier Je Gerson's work, De Modis Significandi and Dc Concordia Metaphysics cum Logica, may be taken as an exponent of the results obtained by Scholasticism and it is surprising to see the close agreement between it and modern Kantian, and
;
therefore also of much post-Kantian, philosophy. It is the result of provious philosophy, and the seed of
modern
mum,
in
id est,
sed removendo.
Deum,
eleganter valde.'
Opera,
iv 827.
280
CHAP.
-.1!^^
III.
ailncS'
l".'',"tr'att
written."
and invests them with additional interest. The this time was no longer chancellor of Paris. career had made the duke noblest act of a far from ignoble In 1418 he fled from the city of Burgundy his mortal foe. in which it is no exaggeration to say, that he had for a time ruled like a king'.' He first took refuge in Bavaria, and
plains their tone
Gerson at
'
finally
found a
home
of
which
his brother
was
prior.
It
summed up
The
cherished labour to
year
of life
he thus enun-
him then
lation,
when
which now crossed each other with bewildering complexity or vanished from the mental eye in widely opposed directions, should be found harmonious and concentric when he should discern the true reconciliation, not merely of metaphysic and logic, but of all knowledge, and see no longer as
;
The
sitios
tweenVirfs
Eugiisii universities.
chancellorship,
and we have
failed to discover
any evidence
way
to stimulate the
aw'aditiie
influince
oftheuniPai*in"tiie
century'.
Over both countries the storm of war burst with. and when the fierce feuds of the Armagnacs and the Burgundians, the strusrsle between the two <"' "^^tions, and the Wars of the Roses were over, the supremacy ^ Paris as the chief seat of European learning was also at
century.
peculiar severity
.
'
Prof.
Maurice,
Modern Philo-
Theo-
sophy, p. 49.
metaphysicie cum theologia fiet, si consideretur ena siinpliciter vel ens purum, vel ens \iniversaliter perfectum, quod est Deus. Aut si consideretur generalis
''
'Concordia
ratio
objeotalis
eutis.
Secundum
:
spectat ad metaphysicam primum proprie ad theologiam, in qua peus est subjectum. Est autem theologia
logia vise respicit ens primum ut creditum cum suis attributivis nou excludendo intelligentiam de mnltis. Theologia autem patria; respicit ens primum ut faciaJiter visum et objeotalitur in seipso, non in speculo vel senigmate. Gratias ipsi qui aperuit hano coucordiam bomiuibus bonse voluntatis.' Opera, iv 823, 830.
281
an end. It may appear but natural that such a result should chap. in. have followed upon the reign of the Cabochien and the Scor- _^!!|J--1
cheur ;
it
may
even seem a
it
fitting
but so far as
is
it would rather appear that the decline which now came over the prestige of the university of Paris must be attributed to efforts as honorable as any which mark the
It is well
known
that the
co|di*'
of Pisa, Constance,
and
the
At the assembling
of the council
different
of Basel
The schism
;
brought to a termination
and when the French deputies at Basel, pledged to support The policy of and carry out the policy of Gerson, demanded measures of posed at
reform to which Eugenius IV refused his sanction, they found uura* themselves opposed by an English Ultramontane party, re- ''sts.
presented by
of York,
who supdate a
pontiff
From the breaking up of the council of Basel we new theory of the pontifical power. The supreme
no longer appeared as episcopus inter pares, but as the universal bishop, from whom all bishops in other countries received their authority and to whom they owed allegiance. The SoBGulum Synodale was at an end '.
But before the council of Basel had ceased to sit, France Prance had secured for herself at Bourges that independence of Rome tiie^p^ainna* tic Sanction. which she had vainly striven to assert in the oecumenical councils. The Pragmatic Sanction, re-enacted in 1438, vested in the crown the most valuable church patronage of the king
'
282
it was to France far more than the statutes of Proand Prcemunire had ever been to England for more than half a century, says Eanke, it was believed to be the
dom
visors
The popes
avenge them,
selves upon the miiversity of Paris.
palladium of the realna\ But, in the mean time, her adherence to the policy of Gerson drew down upon the university of Paris the enmity of successive popes, who repaid the attempted limitation of their authority by a not unsuccessful endeavour to diminish her influence and prestige. Hence
Rise of new
universities
under
papal
tiie
the encouragement
to the creation of
sanction.
that of Paris
We
XIII c.
I
25, 26.
^ 'Les differences sont encore plus frappantes si I'on examine senlement le nombre des Facultes de th^ologie
autoris&s par les papes xni'' sifecle, 1; xiv" sifecle, avant 1378, 5; de 1378 a ISOO, 27. Si Ton rapproche ces ohiffres des ^vdnements religieux et politiques auxquels rUniyersit^ de Paris a ^t^ m&l^e, on trouvera que
;
fondation d'une University complete a Caen, au milieu d'une des Nations les plus riches et les plus importantes de rUniversiti5 de Paris. Charles VII, reconnu roi au sud de la Loire, avait d^ja autorise une University a Eugene iv accorda Poitiers (1431). une Facultfi de theologie ^ Dole ( 1 4-37)
uneUniversitecomplfeteaBordeaux Louis XI et Pie ii ne pouvaient manquer de s'entendre centre I'Universite de Paris, qui contenait des
et
(1441).
li6rement multiplifies h, partir du schisme, des conciles de Bfile et de Constance, de la guerre des Armagnacs et des Bourguignons, de I'invasion anglaise. On- est porte a en couclure que ces ^r^nements, accomplis entre 1878 et 1430, n'ont pas et^ sans influence sur la multiplication des Universit^s. L'^tude des faits confirme cette conclusion. .Les papes, irritfisdelaconduitederUniversitede Paris dans les conciles de Constance et de Bale, autorisferent douze UniTersitfis nouTelles pour TAUemagne, laHongrie, la Suede et le Danemarck.
.
sujets de Charles-le-T^meraire, et qui soutenait la pragmatique sanction. Deux Universit^s furent autoris^es
dans
les
aient le plus d'etudiants S. la Nation de France, en Bretagne (Nantes, 1460) et en Berry (Bourges, 1464).' Thurot, Se TOrganisatiim de I'Enseignement, etc. pp. 206, 208. I may observe that the foundation of the collegium ti iUiiijue at Louvaiu, in 1426, \\'hich
En France mcme, les papes et les rois s'aocorderent pour frapper au coiur I'Uuiversitu de Paris. Charles Tii la diitestait parce qu'elle avait 4t6
Le
dominie par les supp6ts de la nation Picarde, sujets du due de Bourgogne. concile de Bale donuait peu de
satisfaction
au pape Eugene
iv.
En
1437,
ils
autorisJireut tous
deux la
those enumerated by M. hardly an illustration of his statement. It was founded under the auspices of the Duke of Brabant, and designed for all the faculties save that of theology; the primary object being to create a studimn generale where the youth of the Low Countries might receive a higher instruction without resorting to Paris or Cologne, and encountering the heavy expenses and numerous temptations that beset the wealthier students in large cities. See Memoires
is
among
Thurot,
is
NEW
UNIVERSITIES.
'
283
have already noted that the English nation' at Paris was chap. hi. known after the year 1430 as the German 'nation'; but Z^^^^JLwithin ten years from that time the German 'nation' had
in turn
for neither
master nor
student remained'.
The new
universities, it is true,
were
when
new learning, and an age of revowhich young institutions, conceived in conformity with old traditions, were likely to find steady and continuous developement. But, notwithstanding, they
each exerted more or less influence over,
a,
JiemJnt'"'"'"
and the students attracted to each new centre were, in considerable proportion, diverted from the schools of Paris others again were driven from France into Germany by the
persecutions which Louis xi revived against the nominalists;
and the professors of the Sorbonne and of Navarre, as they scanned the once densely crowded lecture rooms, could scarcely
have be aware that the representatives of the Teuwere gradually disappearing from their midst, perhaps sometimes recalled, not without misgiving, how
failed to
tonic races
whom
that race had given to their uninlterius contiuuandis vel immutandis in alia parva loyoalia, soiKeet Greffin-
Us deux Premiers Siecles de V VniLouvain, par le Baron de Eeiffenberg. BruxeUes, 1829. None of these fifteenth century universities shew any advance in their conversite de
ceptiou upon the traditional ideas. Leipzic, founded in 1409, adopted in the first instance the course of
stein yel Marsilii vel alterius.' The authors and subjects reqmred both for the bachelor's and the master's degree are enumerated, and Aristotle
study at Prague (founded 1348) with scarcely any modification. See Die Si atutenbiicher der Universitat Leipzic, aus den Ersten 150 Jahren Hires Besteiiens. Von Friedrich Zarncke, Item die et loco, qnibus sup. 311. pra, plaouit magistris pro tunc facultatem repraesentantibus, quod libri pro gradibus magisteiii et baccalariatus in universitate Pragensi simiUiter hie permanere debeant sine addicione et diminuoione ad annum. Quo finite possit fieri mutaoio, addioio vel diminucio juxta placitum Et idem placuit de parvis facultatis. loycalibus Maulfelt pro exercioiis et ordinario servaudis ad idem tempus et postea juxta, voluatatem facultatis
'
nearly the Alpha and the Omega in the first the oandidate must have attended lectures on the logic of Petrus Hispanus, and an abridgement of Priscian; the whole oftheOrganon specified as the Fctits Ars, the Prior and Posterior Analytics, and the Elenohi Sophistici; the Physics, the De Anima, and the Sphsera Materialis; in the second, the Topica, the De Coelo, De Geneis
of the course
ratione,
De
Meteoris,
and Parva
Naturalia; the Ethics, the Politics, and the Economics; common perspeotive, the theory of the planets, Euclid, the logic of Hesbrus, common arithmetic, music, and metaphysios. i Thurot, De V Organisation de VEnseignement, etc. p. 208.
284
GHAP.
III.
versity
In
tlie
decline
^^f!^
that thus befel the university of Paris the English universities undoubtedly shared the cessation of their former interchange of thought was a loss to both nations and not
;
;
least
the disadvantages that resulted to Oxford and Cambridge is the fact that Gerson's remarkably able expo-
among
alto-
gether failed to arrest the attention of our countrymen, and that nearly two centuries elapsed before philosophy in Eng-
it
had
fallen
from
and isolatlou from the continent, a third cause affected yet ! p ^~\ i^>j morc closcly the material prosperity of Oxford and Cambridge, the action of the statute of Provisors. That statute, after having been repeatedly confirmed, was found to be so
111
its
t^
inimical in
it
commons
is
like object; and in the year 1416 we somewhat startling fact, that the depressed state of the clergy and the rise of 'great and intolerable heresies' are attributed by the same assembly to the operation of the same statute \ Patronage, it had been
'
p Doetours en Divinitee, en
les Leyes CanonetCivill,etpourautresdemeyndre degree, a graimd confort, consolation, ettaut proiit de toute Seinte EgUse, et votre poeple Cristian d'Engleterre environ, a ore en eontraire d' einsy, que I'estatuitde Provision et encountre Provisours f iiit fait par Parlement, la Clergie en les ditz Universitees lamentablement est extiuote, et en plusours- parties despise, a grauut
anientisment de Seinte Eeglise, et sur ces pur defaut que les diz Clerkes etudiantz en les voz ditz Universitees, ne sonnt pas avauueiez, promotz, et nm-icez,enleurempriseliouesteetvertue, et si pur taunt que la dite Clergie n'eot comforte et nuricee, graimtz et intollerables Errours et Heresyes euvers Dieu, et Homme, et rebellion et obstiuacie encountre Vous, tres soverain Sg'. eutre lea commune pie de votre Eoialme soimt nadgairs ensurdez encountre aunoieu doctrine de noz Seintz Piers, et determination a tout Seiut Esglise et si I'avaunt ditz Universities ouut mys en hautz
,
CHURCH PATRONAGE.
found, could be as
its
285
;
much abused
in
exercise
by
their fellow-countrymen
chap.
m.
t^^-Jtimn
disastrous to students.
The prevalent
men
to
homo
The papal
patronage had rarely been characterised by partiality so unforeigners had indeed been generally appointed to the more valuable benefices, but when the election lay between Englishman and Englishman, the pope had rarely failed to shew some appreciation of merit, though it might be only that of the civilian and the canonist'. But at home nepotism, or yet more mercenary motives, prevailed over all other considerations, and the predilections of the English patron proved but a poor exchange for those of Rome and Avignon while preferments fell all around the universities, they, like Gideon's fleece, remained unvisited by the refreshing shower ^ Precisely similar had been the experience ot^'^^^^j the university of Paris. In the year 1408, we find Charles Vi TCra?ty"of ^"'"" recognising by royal letter the inefficient working of home patronage. It had been determined that a thousand benefices should be set apart for the university, and four prelates had been selected to recommend, from time to time, those graduates whom they might deeni most worthy. But through-
just
whom
it
them with contempt, and presented ignorant and unfit persons'. A like complaint was urged in the latter pai-t of the century, when it was alleged that the Pragmatic Sanction had utterly failed to secure a fair consideration of the claims
of graduates to church preferment*.
lamentation desolation, et disheritance de sez Eapirituelx sitz et profitablesstudianz.agi-auntdescomfort et prejudice de toute Seinte Esglise suia dite, et extinction de foie Chris-
'
iii
538.
'
Wood-Gutch,
617.
Cooper
male exemple a toutz autres Cristians Eoialmes, si hasty remedie ne Boit fait en ceste matere si hosoinRot. Pari, iv 81. able.'
tien, et
i 158. ' Bulaeus, v 186. Ibid, v 775. Les Prelats, oollateurs, et patrons ecol^siastiques ne
'
AnnaU,
286
CHAP.
III.
J^%^
tidsmo""
apprcciiuon
of the facts.
phase of the religious history of the fifteenth century has been but lightly treated or wholly slurred over by most of
our recent historians, but the comment of Huber places it It is not,' he says, to be inferred that in its truc light '^
:
'
'
''
church patronage was any the better bestowed when confined to native holders and native clergy and it is certain that the universities in particular gained nothing by the
;
r,
anti-Romish system. In fact, after the end of the fourteenth century, 'their complaints against the Prcemunire are still more frequent and violent than they had been against the
papal provisions; insomuch that they occasionally extorted
from the king exceptions in mere temporary alleviations assemblies of the Church the that the king and prelates,
their
;
own
favour.
These were
way
fill
In the con-
up
In practice however the universities were the first to object to the working of the system nor did the patrons adhere to the rule prescribed.
cording to a fixed arrangement.
;
The same
by the
prelates in 1438,
but without
relief,
which
is
The
universities gained
no
and
Thus
;
and
more
clearly
From this criticism we are enabled how it was that the university
presentation was invaded by the papal claims, had originally provoted the complaints -which the reader has so frequently noticed, and now were ready to submit to a minor sacrifice, rather than allow the repeal of the statutes which secured to them the influence of patronage, and shielded them from the interference of the pontiffs.' Hist, of England
'
lea b^n6fioes qui estoient et seront deubs et effectez aux graduez et nom-
mez de
1
Uni-versitez.'
Huber, English Universities, i See also England under 173, 174. the Hmtse of Lancaster, -pip. 135, 136.
' The truth is,' says Lingard, that the persons who chiefly suffered from the practice of provisions, and who chiefly profited by the statutes against them, were the higher orders of the These, as their right of clergy.
'
iii
539.
CHURCH PATRONAGE.
287
iii.
Pragmatic Sanction
Provisors.
while the English universities led by the Ultramontane party sought to set aside the statute of
;
^ilJ^-iL
I'/i
At Cambridge indeed
Ill
by the
uitrar
montanist
"t
is
afforded
cele-
We
ascribed to
for
its
object
the more
accurately
the
jurisdiction
respectively
claimed
by
the
his
own archdeacon, by the Magister Glomerice, and chancellor of the university. The equitable spirit in
fruit
in
the comthose
absence
at
Cambridge
university
of of
disputes
Paris;
like
which
.
harassed
the
and
indeed
If we admit the pretensions Diocesan authority of by the university, the immunity was founded upon ^ "j^liJ^ops^' ancient and indefeasible rights'; but occasionally a bishop u^ereityV *^'"'*'' of Ely appeared who called these rights in question, and
is
a noticeable feature.
asserted
...
his
endeavoured
to
establish
own
right
of interference.
had been raised by the John de Donewyc, who had a second time been
Arundel was not the man to submit to any abatement of his authority without a struggle, and he cited the chancellor to take the oaths on a specified day. The
to the bishop.
wood,
'
288
that we find Arundel assuming the right of visitation when metropoUtan, in the manner already described at the commencement of this chapter. The exercise of such right was
however
gave
rise to criticism if
we
what
abolished^
in the
became of the privileges of the university on that occasion ' ? Whatever doubt existed respecting these privileges was now In the year 1430 pope Martin V to be finally set at rest. issuod a buU reciting how that the doctors, masters, and
,
Barnwell
Process.
Cambridge had
lately exhibited
i
',.'.-
to
him a
petition,
'
and
Sergius
l,
to exercise
had been
seventy years or
more, but that there were ancient copies in the archives of the university, and praying that he would of his apostolic
However, bisliop Arundel and some of his immediate successors did not constantly insist on the chancellor's taking the oaths, but sometimes admitted and confirmed them without
nevertheless, saving to themselves successors the right of exacting it whenever they should thinl; fit so to
it
:
great immunities) I mean, that the validity of them both, though not cancelled, was suspended for the present. If it be true, that the legate de latere hath in some cases
:
ec[ual
and
do.'
represents;
power with the pope, which he and if it be true, which some bold canonists aver, that none
.'
may
it
165. Arundel appears to have been active in the affairs of the university during his tenure of the see of Ely: see Cooper, Annals i 122, 128,' 129. In the year 1383 he was appointed by the king to act as visitor of King's Hall, Cambridge, where great irregularities had taken place, the buildings having fallen into decay, and the books and other goods having been purloined. Regis-
Ely,
say to the pope, cur ita facis safe for any in that age to dispute the power of Thomas Amndel. But possibly the universities willingly waved their papal privi-
was not
leges;
this
lentibiis.
trum Aiundel,
'
fol.
106
(quoted by
Dean Hook, iv 409). ' Some will say, where were now
the privileges of the pope, exempting Cambridge from archiepisoopal jurisdiction? I conceive they are even put up in the same chest with Oxford privileges (pretending to as
way, how the scholars were aggrieved that, the supreme power being fixed in their chancellor, there lay no appeal from him (when injurious) save to the pope alone. Wherefore the students, that they might have a nearer and cheaper redress, desired to be eased of their burdensome immunities, and submitted themselves to archiepiscopal visitation.' FaHei, Hist, of tlie Univ. of Cambridge,
289
benignity provide for the indemnity of them and the Univer- chap, iil He therefore delegated the, prior of ^^^^^ sity in the premises'.
or one of
of October,
John Holbrooke,
d.d.,
chan-
cellor, and the masters, doctors, and scholars, by an instrument under the common seal of the university, constituted Masters Ralphe Duckworthe, John Athyle, William Wraw-
bye,
and William
Sull,
clerks,
or either of them,
their
hibited
'On the fourteenth of October the pope's bull was exby William Wrawbye, in the conventual church of
who assigned the sixmonth in his chapter house, for proceeding in the business. At which time and place, William Wrawbye exhibited six articles, setting forth the claim of
Bernewell, to the prior of that house,
Thomas Marklande, aged William Lavender, aged 48, John Thirkyll, aged 40, and William Sull, aged 86, who deposed to the use of ecclesiby the
chancellor, as far as their respective
astical authority
memories extended.
to the
same place
The proceedings were then adjourned on the 19th of that month, when there
was produced an instrument attested by a notary and others, setting forth the bulls of John XXII and Boniface ix, and copies of the bulls of Honorius i and Sergius I, taken from
a register belonging to the university; also various .statutes On the 20th the prior in the chapterhouse of that body.
1 ' Being mislaid or lost ttrough the negligence of their keepers or by other casualties,' is the further explanation offered. The whole process is an amusing combination of the strict observance of legal formalities with a complete indifference to the Value of the evidence on which the whole of the assumption rested, The' bull, it may be observed, impHes
when young. Dyer, the first of our university historians in whom the critical faculty exercises
any appreciable weight, mildly asks,
'is it reasonable to suppose, that Honorius, when a boy, should be sent
from
be
19
290
CHAP.
iiL
gave
^11!3I^ claimed'.'
When we
had been directed towards reand that it was confirmed three years later by pope Eugenius iv, who endeavoured to break up the Council of Basle, we shall be
little likely to
for
any
real
In fact both universities at this time towards Ultramontane doctrines, and of this tendency the celebrated Reginald Pecock,
of Oriel College, Oxford, affords an interesting example.
Eeginaid
mistake this impatience of home jurisdiction growth in the direction of intellectual freedom'. there appears to have been a decided tendency in
ofchictoter
ablest English
dim
{7).
Reginald Pecock, bishop of Chichester, the author of the pamphlet of the fifteenth century, was, like Gerson, an eclectic; and an eclectic of a yet more puzzling
description.
By many he
is
of Wyclif, and he
has been mistaken for a follower even described by Foxe as one of those
of the
same
universitie,
and raised up
is
character-
1 Cooper, Annals, i 282, 283; Heywood, Early Cambridge Statutes, 181 211. Huber, judging from his Ianguage,wouldappear to have been ighorant of this document. See English
Lincoln:
John Deping
feeing
se-
Universities,
63.
^ Baker, in his History, seems to be the first writer who has grasped the fact that the Barnwell Process was an Ultramontanist moTement. Speaking of the comparative indifference shewn by the two bishops of Ely, John Fordham (bp. 1388 1425) and Philip Morgan (bp. 14261435),
John, he says, These two bishops had some reason to be out of humour with the religious as well as with the university, who seem to have conspired and joined in the same design of procuring exemptions from
'
episcopal jurisdiction. For it was jjnder this bishop that the great blow was given to the see of Ely by the npivsrsity, by obtaining from
cular was not fond of such employment, but the prior of Barnwell was a man for the purpose, who sat and heard the process alone, and the buUs of Honorius and Sergius the First being produced (who had no more authority in England than they had at Japan) he very learnedly gave sentence for the university upon two as rank forgeries as ever were; for the whole stress of the controversy tmrned upon these bulls. But the present pope was wilUng to believe there had been such a power exercised in England by his predecessors so many years ago, and the honest prior was to follow his instructions. And so there was an end of ordinary jurisdiction.' Baker-Mayor, i 48, 44.
REGINALD PECOCK.
291
In some important respects, indeed, the views held -i2^^^ by Reginald Pecock were identical with those of the great his '^'" Both strenuously contended for the right ofi reformer. private judgement and the necessity of approving to the reason whatever was accepted as doctrine. Under this aspect the English bishop, like his predecessor, offers a good
tane.'
j
example of the
It
station,
effects of
was his great desire that every man, however humble his who accepted the teaching of Christianity, should
faith,
have a rational
for
and the
It
synonym
was his belief that a large amount of capricious scepticism and unmeaning declamation might be done away with, if a knowledge of the method ^(,n"fe,o', unfolded in the Organon were to become general among the M^thett*'" laity. The Ars Vetus was- his panacea for aU forms oflgS^ilt ^"^^^' heresy, from Gnosticism to Lollardism, and he loudly lamented that it was shrouded from the apprehension of the common people by a Latin garb. Would God,' he exclaimed, 'that it were learned of them in their mother's language, for then they shoulden be put fro much rudeness and boistoseness which they have now in reasoning.' He even proposed himself to undertake the remedying of the deficiency, though he does not appear to have ever carried his purpose
the formally logical.
'
to its accomplishment'.
true,
and thai
hc asserts
the rights of
all
^f^t
'*''=*-
men
So
an indication,
it
may
her prelatis, as
summe
of
hem now
ben, for defaut of perceuyng whanne an argument prooedith into his conclusioun neecGs and whanne he not so dooth hut Bemeth oonli so do. And miche good wolde come forth if a schort oompendicse logik were de-
purpose sumtyme
seid schort compendiose logik were ful preoiose. Into whos making, if God wole graunte leue and leyser, y
af tir
myn
othera
bisynessisfortoasBaie.' Repressor, p. 9.
192
292
CHAP. HL function,
-
and to veil its face before the ineffable and the In respect to the moral law, he appears to have held almost precisely the same view as that which Clarke and Cudworth advocated so ably at a later period, ^that the principles of morality are not derived from Revelation but
divine.
are discoverable
by the imaided
reason,
if
if the
As
reason
is sufficient
to provide
man
action, so it is also
upon the interpretation of Revelation. 'And if,' said Pecock, any seeming discord be betwixt the words written in the outward book of Holy Scripture, and the doom of reason writ in man's soul and heart, the words so written without forth oughten to be expowned and interpreted, and brought
'
the
be expowned, glosed, interpreted, and brought for to accord with the said outward writing in Holy Scripture of the Bible, or anywhere else out of the Bible.' How he proposed to provide for that class whom Aquinas indicated, whom natural incapacity, or the cares, trials, and temptations of human life shut out from this high exercise of reason, does not appear but it is evident, from various H^not passages in his writings, that he was prepared to set aside ^^ both the Fathers and the Schoolmen if their conclusions ofuieFatheH appeared to him erroneous. Yiews like these are now Schoolmen, ngitjiej. strange nor singular, but it must be admitted that such an adjustment of the respective provinces of faith and
of reason ought not for to
:
doom
men
of
Snto?^.
particularly challenges
iS^nZ^ the
lu'h^ri^S'
the pope,
,
ness and independence of thought, Rerinald Pecock should o > s , t 1 , have been as much the advocate of unconditional submission to the temporal authority of the pope, as Occam had been its
antagonist and that his 'Repressor' should be mainly occupied with a confutation of Wyclif's leading doctrine^ and a dndica;
REGINALD PECOCK.
tion of the practices of the Mendicants, find in
293
'Cain's Castles' chap.
hi.
whose
apologist.
As
for
the
.^"J
'S
and deLoiiardism.
by
Aristotle,
was a work
'There
is
no book,' he
says, 'written in
man
was
While therefore his agreement with the followers of Wyclif sufficient to alienate him from the Romish party, his
divergences from
possibility of his
single point
and the friars; with the had been the weapon which had given them the
and contributed so maart
was held
by their party,
cock,
is
Among
^^^
was a his summa Dominican, was both Doctor Utriiisque Juris and master of """^ theology, and a strenuous opposer of Wyclif 's teaching his estimate of the importance of the preacher's function however is clearly attested by the massive volume which he put forth as a professed aid to those who were called upon to expound The work represents a series the Scriptures to the people. of skeleton sermons, arranged not under texts, but under
author or compiler of the
Summa
Prcedicantium.
He
single
nentia,
qualities,
such as AbstiPatientia,
Conscientia,
Fides,
Paupertas, Trinitas,
Fathers,
^
and occasionally
Pastoribus,
minici
Pivini
294
CHAP.
m. exegesis
i
cold, formal,
amount of the
logical
commanding
and taking its stand, for the most part, entirely super In the contrast presented by this laborious, careful, and learned production to the speculative tendencies
antiquas vias.
*'^**
Brom^Md*
contrasted,
we may
The contrast
t^i(Sone.
two
universities;
that however
is,
the widely
impUed estimate
when
Pecockdisapproves of
m-eacUne.
compared with Pecock's views on the same subject. Neither Wychf's 'simple priest,' nor the eloquence of the Dominican appears to have found much favour in the bishop of Chichestcr's sight. He seems to have been of opinion that there was ^ ^ * great deal too much preaching already; and in an age when the great majority of men were compelled to leam by oral instruction or not at all, and at a time when the indifference manifested by the superior clergy to the instruction of the lower orders, and the numbers of non-residents and pluralists were exciting widespread indignation, this
eccentric
ecclesiastic
thought
it
be
Repressor
much
eccentric defence of his order,
His
viction
.
rhctoric plays a
,
,
much more
,
,
.
conspicuous part.
-,
At
.,
'
the
m a veil
aungels;'
bishops,
after
all,
'ben
the
many
difficulties it is beset
what too
cessaria.
familiar simile,
own some-
to climb a tree
pemeseyeral
EEGINALD PECOCK.
or to descend a tree, save the
295
it',
man
it
chap, iil
To
the Lollards,
who held
that
was the
first
duty of a Ft^l ^.
bishop to provide for and participate in the spiritual instruction of his diocese, such
an audacious piece of
author,
much
some of as he
dya
pecockaomethan a mere
Ultra-
less
than
this;
him
to sever himself
from both
.
parties, at
a time
when such
montaniat
isolation
was unsafe
if
not impossible^.
still
He
ful section at
gi'eat councils,
home, who
the pope.
The
by
his support of
the theory represented by the Barnwell Process and his opposition to the statute of Provisors,
Ambrose aad
the Sentences.
whose teaching was enshrined iu their universal text-book, While the bishops, fiar from being won by his
heresy in the
man-
Hades,
enemies.
Am^g
King's^,
provost of
a man of honorable
who
spirit,
Hugh
Dam*.
master of Pembroke,
writings that
like,
Mm.'
Ibid. p. xxvi.
they
now
exist,
however being rather Anglican than Eoman. Of Puritanism, in aU its phases, he is the decided opponent. There were many others more or less
' Capgrave says of him, ' in Boho. lastieis inquisicionibus, et profunda litteratura, ao maturis moribus, multos antecessores suos preoelUt.' Lives of the Henries, quoted in Communications to tlie Camb. Antiq. Soc. i 287, by Mr. Williams iu his Communication, Notices of William Millington, First Provost of King's College.
*
CommunicationsoftheCamb.Antiq.
Soc.
18.
296
CHAP.
^
III.
''
The and subsequently renounced the doctrines of Wyclif Mendicants whom, in spite of his advocacy on their behalf, he had made his bitter enemies, were equally zealous in their
His arraignment before archbishop Boiirchier, and subsequent consignment to that obscurity in which his days were ended, are details that belong to other pages than ours. It has been conjectured that political feeling had its share in the hostility which he encountered''. The Lancaspersecution.
]^jg
poimc^ "
sufferer.
ijumiliating recantation,
trian party was distinguished by its leaning towards Ultramontanism, and it was within two years of the first battle of St. Albans, when the Yorkists were everywhere in the ascendant, that Pecock was brought to trial. It is certain that
commanded a
to
"J-biMe'uaf
Bitie"."""""
to favour
any con-
demned
Cooper,
26.
MSS. n
p. 142.
in the
sufierer,
and
doomed
^ See dean Hook, Lives of the Archhishops, V 308. Pecock, says this writer, ' had suffered in the cause of
the pope. He had maintauied the papal cause against the councils of the Church he had asserted, with Martin v, that the pope was the monarch of the Church, and that every bishop was only tte pope's delegate: he had done boldly what Martin v had called upon Chicheley and the bi hops of his time to do; he had piotested against those statutes of provisors and praemunire which the clergy and Ixity had passed as a safegusrd agamst papal aggression; and surely the pope would not desert him in Ks hour of nejd. If the pope possessed or cJaimei the supremacy for which Pecock contended, he would purely exeic.se it in behalf of one,
;
qui-
non
Eeginaldi Pecocke, neque aUoujus alterius hseretici, quamdiu vbc erit in hoc mundo, sub poena per. jurii et expulsionis ipso facto.' Stat. Coll. Regil. Cantabr. c. ult. in fine, See also Prof. Babington's Introd. to the Repressor, p, xxxiv. The date assigned to the above statutes in the Documents is 1443 but at that time Pecock's doctrines were not fully
lyfe,
;
POGGIO BR^ICCIOLINI.
even so late as
Queens' College*.
tlie
297 m.
year
147'>,
^^^
of
The
but
little illustration
much
of thought
New
The quickening which had followed upon the introduction of the Scholasticism had done its Tori-orofth Aristotle had died away.
^vas tallma- into its dotage. civil
work and
break of the
wars, Oxford,
^ in a
out- wa
time,
pre-
served to us by
halls
aud hostels
orford
were deserted, and that she was almost abandoned of her own children*. The intercourse with the continent was now
rare
^'"'^
and
fitful.
was seldom
to
of
Cambridge or Oxford.
necessity brought
but
the gross ignoi-ance and uncultured tone that everywhere prevjuled effectually discouraged a lengthened sojourn.
Among Testimony of
^gj;''''^
those
tury,
was the distinguished Italian scholar, Poggio Bracciolini. * '^*^ came fresh from the discovery of many a long lost masterHe piece of Latin literature, and from intercourse with that rising
sdiool of Italian literati, represented
known, and certainly had not been condenmed. This is therefore another instance of a by no means anoonimon oocurrence, viz. the incorporation of a later statute in the Statuta Antiqua of our eoUegos, \rithout any iutimation that it is of a later date than that when the statutes were first drawn up. ^ In the oath administered to the
fellows it is required by the fifth clause, Jmabit quod non fovebit aut defendet hffireses Tel errores Johtin
by men
like Aretiuo,
filii
cognoverunt earn. Sio sio rerera Patres fremitu beUoront annonts peouniarvuuque oaritate depanperaturn est regnum nostrum ; tam sera insuper ao modioa virtutis et studii meritis merces quod panci aut nuUi ad universitatem acoedendi habeut
Tohmtatem.
Unde
fit
quod
aulie
atque hospitia obserata vel Terius dirut-a sunt; jauuie atque hospitia scholarum et studiorum clansa, ^t <(< tot milUbiis studentium qute fama est
istio in priori tefeite fnisse
iiii(
nis Wiekhf, Begiualdi Peoooke, aut oujuscnnqiie alterius hseretioi per .I/S. Statutes of ecelesiam damnati.' 1475 in pim^e/fion of the authorities
<)/"
supersit.'
<^HCr-,t' Colteiie.
'Jamsiquidemgloriosamaterolim prole foeonnda, peue iu extirminium ao desolationem yorsa est sola sedet plangens ao dolens, quod non modo oxtranei, sod neo siii ventris
*
tam beata
addressed to archbishop Cbicheley aud other bishops in synod, Apr, 28, 1438. It is somewhat remarkable that '<fe also find in Bulieus (v 813), the followiug plaint by the university of Paris on the occasion of an epidemic, Nunc mihi de mnltis vix extit milU'
biisuniio.'
298
CHAP.
Part
III.
II.
Traversari, Guarino,
.
From such
scanty records as
remain of his impressions we might conclude that the Roman poet on the shores of the Euxine found a scarcely less congenial atmosphere If indeed all that the fifteenth century produced in England were subtracted from our libraries, the loss
'.
would seem singularly small, and the muses, hke the princess in the enchanted castle, might be held but to have slumbered Whatever still survives to represent for a hundred years.
the national genius,
is
little to
de-
who sought
solid reading developed habits of observation and reflexion, could scarcely fail at the same time to direct the attention to
divert their
it
which, while
The few
original
Not
surely a very
happy
own ports, were the fniit of seed sown in other lands. But before we permit our attention to be drawn away to events pregnant with very momentous changes, it wiU be well to follow up the course of external
that were afterwards to enter our
developement at Cambridge, and also to complete our survey of those institutions which may be regarded as taking tlieir
rise still in implicit accord
with "those theories of education which were shortly to undergo such important modifications.
tempo, perchiocchfe egli dice, che dope lungo intervallo tome final-
' Poggio visited England at the invitation of cardinal Beaufort. The motives,' says Shepherd, 'which induced him to take this step seem to be concealed in studied and mysteTious fiilence.' Life of Poggio, p. 124. TiraboBcM says ' Ei riaggio auoora oira il 1418 neU' InghUterra,
'
mente
alia Corte.'
ti 701.
'DerHu-
manist erging sich in grossen Hoffnungen, theils auf dem britischen Boden noch manchen verlorenen
Classiker wiederznfinden, theila unter BclOTt7.e des kSni^i<aien Tralaten sein Gliick zu maohen.' Voigt, Die Wiedei'belebung des classischen Alterthums, p. dll.
dem
benchS non si sappia precisamente per quel mottivo; del qual viaggio fa egli Btesso piu volte menzione; e pare, che oi ei trattenesse non poco
Scltoleinaster, ed.
Mayor,
p. 81.
EEECTION OF SCHOOLS.
299
It will be remembered that the papal decision in the chap. in. ". year 1314 with reference to the privileges of the Mendicants -""^'J
was regarded by them as a great blow to inasmuch as they were no longer permitted to receive the general body of students in their houses for
in the universities,
their order,
lectures
and disputations \
Up
Defective
hf3tctonat
saies."'"^^''
it
Under
these circum-
ders
and
At
canons for a local habitation, and even in the fifteenth century the university
had been
' Seepp.262 3. 'Thegreat schools in the school street of Cambridge are mentioned in a lease from John de Crachal, chancellor of the university, and the assembly of the masters regent and non-regent, to Master WiUiam de Alderfjrd, priest, M.A. dated 15th February, 20 Edw. in. [13467].' Cooler, Memorials, 11159. ' It has even been asserted (Huber, I 168), that masters of arts were in the habit of assembling their pupils in the porches of houses, but the inference of such a custom from the term in parvisio, from parvis Fr. from paradisus, a mediaeval word denotiug a 'church porch,' cannot opinion,' says be sustained. 'In
of arts, and such as are called the great exercises. In the evening were the exercitia parva, sometimes corruptly called parvisiaria, taken out oiihe Farva Logicalia.' Wooi-Gntch,
ii
727
8.
of Life
Mayor.
"
'The use
university
Church
for
purposes
seems to
have been fuUy established before the end of the thirteenth century, In 1273 the bells of St. Benet's, that most precious monument of ancient Cambridge, appear as being rung, as
a
summons
after,
Soon
my
performed by the
Mary's used and in 1275 we have a distinct account of a university grace passed at a congregation held in the church, In 1303 we begin to get notices of university sermons, and in 1347 a university chaplain was founded to celebrate daily masses in this church
for the souls of benefactors.' Article in Sat. Rev. July 8, 1871, on Sandar's Historical Notes on Great St. Mary's.
300
CHAP.
III.
~^^!^~^
the rich abbey of Oseney had erected with the express purpose of letting them for such uses. It was not until the
year 1480 that the divinity schools were opened; and then only by assistance begged from every quarter, and after the
lapse of
many
In
Superior ad-
thh rlspV^
the religious
orders.
remarkable not merely for their size and extent but for the know from a contemporary boauty of their details. poet how the whole effect must have been calculated to over-
We
awo and
how
the curiously
'
wrought windows, where gleamed the arms of innumerable benefactors, the pillars, gilded and painted, and carved in curious knots, the ample precincts with private posterns, enclosed orchards and arbours ^ must have fascinated many a poor lad whose home was represented by the joint occupancy of some obscure garret, and who often depended on public charity for his very subsistence; and we can well understand
the chagrin of the Mendicants at finding themselves prohibited from reaping the advantage which such opulence and
afforded
sures.
Thorpe, lord chancellor of England, and sometime master of Pembroke, had commenced the erection of the divinity schools*, which was carried to completion by the executors of his
Erection of
Schools
Md the grand
Schools, cKc.
But was not made until the latter half of the following century, when Lawrence Booth, the chancellor, resolved on raising a fund for the building of arts schools and schools for the civil law. Contributions were accordbrother, Sir "William de Thorpe, about the year 13,98'.
effort
on
those
'
who
Creed of Piers Ploughman, ed. Wright, 11 460, 461. Cooper, Annals, till. It is to be observed that the use of the plural does not imply more than one lecture'^
Toujours
'
Thurot,
'
mgme
i
sails unique.'
Ibid,
143.
KRECTION OF SCHOOLS.
civil law,
301
chap.
upon every resident religious, whetlier like the Benedictines and the canons recognised owners of worldly
wealth, or like the Mendicants avowedly sworn to poverty;
m.
._^i!^^
on the wealthier clergy, and on the higher dignitaries of the Church, though in the last case assistance was besought rather than authoritatively enforced. By efforts like these the xmiversity began to attain to a real as well as legal independence of the friars; and it was probably about this time that a statute was formed making it obligatory on all
who
lectured on the canon or the civil law, to hire the new rooms and deliver their lectures there ^.
Slowly, but surely and inevitably, the tide of learning ^S^^the was roUing on away from the friary and the monastery. '"^'^From an attempted combination of the secular and religious
St.
John
and Pembroke College, and a vigorous effort at independence on the part of the university like that illustrated in the foregoing details, we pass to a fresh stage in the same movement, the direct diversion of property from the religious orders
to the universities.
It
is
century a
new
feeling
began
minds of many
the feeling of with respect to the monastic foundations, There appears to have been as yet no distinct sen- The patrons despair.
. . .
timent of aversion to monasticism as a theory, but even the ^ lover of the monastery began to despair of the monk and it
' ;
of learning
f^^
"'"
is
began to rise at both universities are to be referred not to any dislike of the system which those orders represented, but to the conviction that the rule they had In the founreceived was habitually and wilfuUy violated. dation, at Oxford, of New College by William of Wykeham we
dations that
^^'^g",'^^
this
it
state of feeling,
The
college
^\f4
' Hence the frequent entries in the Grace Books, of payments pro See Grace Book scliolis injure eivili. A 6b; Grace Booh B p. 112. For a detailed account of the architectural
302
CHAP.
III.
foundations, retained
pline of the monastic
for the
designed.
monastery that tho college appiiars to have been Long before it was constituted, William of Wyke.souyht amoiif^
ham had
to find a less
sought in vain.
biographers,
'
says one
of his
where
at present observed
by
any of them\'
Tho
collcgo
endowed with
ihaBe/from
religious
houses.
he endowed his college with lands purchased from religious and though there was nothing in such an act which the most strenuous supporters of monastic institutions could directly impugn, inasmuch as the new foundation was designed for the secular clergy, we may be quite sure that liio alienation of the property from the communities to which it originally belonged, was a measure regarded by many with It needed the stainless reputation, distrust and suspicion. the noble descent, and the high position of the founder to sanction such an innovation, and the precedent probably had weight in those more decisive acts in the same direction which belong to the two succeeding centuries. But there was nothing of an arbitrary character in William of Wykeham's procedure; the land.s which he purchased from Oseney Abbey, the priory of St. Frideswide, and St. John's Hospital, were bought with the full consent of the proprietaries the signifihouses,
;
so potent
statutes of tho foundation.
among
The scheme
every existing college whether at Oxford or Cambridge, and was the first in our own country which could compare with
,
Life,
To
is tlie
'Not
Beveral orders but heoauee ho found that fow or none of them hvcd up to tlioir vows and profosBions.' Knight, Life of Culcl, p. 72.
;
NEW
branches of learning.
COLLEGE, OXFORD.
308
was to consist of a warden were to be students in arts or divinity, two being permitted to study medicine and two astronomy. The remaining twenty were to be trained for the law, ten as civilians, ten as canonists. All were to be in priest's orders within a fixed period, except where reasonable impediment could be shewn to exist. There were moreover to be ten conduct chaplains, three clerks of the chapel, and sixteen choristers. By rubric 58, one of the chaplains was required to learn grammar and to be able to write, in
society
fifty
The
and seventy
fellows, of
whom
From
this
princely and
'
Newciiiege
latest biographer,
subSquInt"
but subsequent founders derived the form of their institution. The annexation of a college in the university to a dependent
school,
at
John's College and Merchant Taylors' School; and by Queen Elizabeth at Westminster and Christ Church*.
The
Chicheley and Waynflete almost literally copied his statutes. institution of college disputations, external to the public
exercises of the university, in the presence of deans and moderators ; the cotemporaneous erection of a private chapel the appropriation of fellowships for the encouragement of
students in neglected branches of learning, were among the more prominent signs of that which must be viewed more as
a creation of a
in its decline*.'
new
^^e^e
=
further advance in the direction marked out by William of ^p7"^? Wvkeham- from the simple conversion, by purchase, of revenues of
ories.
were the
stage of direct and forcible appropriation. The ahen priories first to suffer, the wars with France affording a
And,
it
may he
added, at Trinity
"
CoDege, CaJfcridge.
and
304
These priories,' says Gough, were the religious houses in England which belonged to foreign monasteries for when manors or tithes were given to
to enrich the foreigner.
cells of
:
own
have faithful stewards of their revenues, built a small convent here for the reception of such a number as they thought proper, and constituted priors over them.
Within these cells there was the same distinction as in those priories which were cells subordinate to some great abbey; some of these were conventual, and, having priors of their own choosing, thereby became entire societies within themselves, and received the revenues belonging to their several houses for their own use and benefit, paying only the ancient
apport, acknowledgment, or obvention (at
to the foreign house; but others
first
the surplusage),
depended entirely on the foreign houses, who appointed and removed their priors at pleasure. These transmitted all their revenues to the foreign head houses; for which reason their estates were generally seized to carry on the wars between England and France, and restored to them again on return of peace. These alien priories were most of them founded by such as had foreign abbeys founded by themselves or by some of their family'.' The first seizure appears to have taken place in 1285, on Sequestraestates under the Outbreak of war between France and England and in
difFerent
monarchs.
1337 Edward III confiscated the estates of the alien priories, and let them out, with their tenements and even the priories themselves, for a term of 23 years but on the establishment of peace they were restored to their original owners. Other sequestrations were made in the reign of Richard II, and under Henry iv, in the parliament of 1402, it was enacted
;
....
;
that
all
alien
priories
should be suppressed"";
the Privy
Council indeed actually received evidence in his reign, concerning the different foundations, with the view of carrying
but the
final
' Some Account of the Alien Priories and of such Lands as they are known to have possessed in England and Wales. Lond. 1779. Pref. to Vol. i.
by Gougli in his brief sketch, where he speaks of the policy of Henry it as more faTorable to the maintei nance of the foreign interests,
ix, i.
'
is
omitted
THE ALIEN
Until the
PRIORIES.
305
in the reign of
Henry V
when
in chap.
hi.
^^
"
From
asserted that
it
Foundations
of
p Henry v to appropriate the whole of the revenues to the endowment of one great college at Oxford his son however
1 1
;
TT
Eton
,
^"^'''j^'"!
camSke,
.
colleges,
and that
of^""'
In turning to trace the origin of one of our greatest colleges and of our greatest public school, we are accordingly confronted by the names of those yet more ancient institutions, which superstition or philanthropy had reared on the plains of Normandy when the universities themselves had no existence. From the venerable abbey of Bee was wrested the priory of Okeburne, the wealthiest cell in England"; a manor at Tyldeshyde in Cornwall and another at Felsted in Essex, represented the alienated wealth of the abbey at Caen the monastery of St. Peter de Conches forfeited many a broad acre in Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and Norfolk estates in Lincolnshire, once owned by the abbey of St. Nicholas in Angers, and others that had enriched the priory
;
whence
of Brysett in Suffolk,
Limoges,
of Nobiliac near
estates of
minor impor-
' Only those priories were spared whioh had already shaken off their dependence upon the continental houses and, by electing their own head, had become independent monas-
death, his son King Henry ti bestowed many of the said priories on his college at Eaton and that at Cam-
Wood-Gutch,
'
565.
teries.
" Henry's intent, says Wood, was to have built a college in the castle of Oxford wherein the seven sciences should have been taught, and thereunto to have anneoted all the alien priories in England, and withal to have reformed the statutes of the
'
of the lands in England belonging to the cells of the abbey of Bee, and to other alien priories,
lege at Winchester.' Alien Priories, i 167. Purchase in the fourteenth century became confiscation in the
fifteenth,
20
306
St.
statutes of King's
College.
The
tion of the
way
were at
this time successfully contending for the predominance in ovir universities, and the principle asserted in the Barnwell
The
first
Process receiving
further
extension.
The commissioners
were ^Yilliam
Aiscough, bishop of
Commjssioneis.
WiUiam
William Lyndewode, keeper of the privy seal, John Somerseth, chancellor of the exchequer, and John Langton, chancellor of the university but in the year 1443
;
Their
resig-
commission was superseded, the king himself undertaking to provide the rule of the foundation. There seems
this
some way or other, command the commisthe proposed scheme had faded to sioners' approval, for it was at their own request that the
to be good reason for supposing that, in
to other
hands
But
it is
diflBcult to believe
that
the design of so important a foundation could have failed to be a matter of lively interest to the bishop of a neighbouring
diocese and to a chancellor of the university
;
and indeed we
know
of the
that Langton
first to
new
the
new
statutes,
WiUiam
Millington,
Provost
original foundation,
in his post
under the
name
Refuses his
assent to the
of provost; but
statutes
had received
the royal sanction, he found himself unable to give a conscientious assent to their provisions
new statutes.
Uia ejection.
ejected
'
by the commissioners'.
of
It will
The birthday
king Heniy
being on the feast of St. Nicholas. 2 Cole says, ' the true reason of his remoTal seems to proceed from himself and a point of conscience, he having taken the oaths to the chancellor of the Tmiversity before he was
provost, and which the new drawn statntes exempted him from; besides he was not thoroughly satisfied that the scholars shmild all coine Mr AViUiams, from Eton School.' who has careftilly investigated the
made
first
; ;
'
king's college.
307
hi.
The
elaborate nature
of the
code
now
its
given to the
endowments,
and presents a striking contrast to the statutes of the colleges founded at Cambridge in the preceding century. It is however entirely devoid of originality, being little more than a
transcript of the statutes
no
which William of Wykeham, after left to be the rule of New The statutes College'; but the minuteness of detail, the small discre- from those of New the governing body, the anxiety coUege. tionary power vested shewn to guard against all possible innovations, must be
less
... m
own
collegiate discipline.
The
Latinity,
it is
worthy of remark, is more correct, and copious to a fault and there is also to be noted an increased power of expression which makes it difficult not to infer that a greater advance must have been going on in classical studies during the preceding years, than writers on the period have been
inclined to suppose.
provost of Ms college, endorses this that the aceount, and observes, founder had nothing to do with his ejection, and was extremely sorry for it, is confirmed by a fact which Mr Searle has brought to my notice, viz. that in 1448, only two years after his removal, he was appointed, in conjunction with others, to draw up staand that "tutes for Queens' College this appointment was twice renewed.' See Notices of William MilUngton, First Provost of King's College, by
' ;
William
of Wykeham to the two kindred foundations of Henry vi. William of Wainfleet had been educated at Winchester, and on the first foundation of Eton (A,D. 1441) had been transferred, with half the Winchester scholars, to Eton College, as its first head master, and became (a.d. 1442)
Fellow of George WiUiams, e.d. College, Communications of Antiquarian Society, i 287. Cambridge Cf. Documents, iii 4. 1 Messrs Heywood and Wright attribute them to Chedworth (see Pref. to King's CoUege Statutes, p. vii). Mr WUliams, who is followed by Cooper (Memorials, i 182), says My
,
King's
second or third provost. He is to have enjoyed the confidence of the founder in the fullest measure, and Capgrave's witness to this fact, and the cause of it, may be stated, from the passage following that which relates to Millington Alter autem. dictus Majister Willielits
known
'
that the provost of Eton (Wainfleet) was the framer of the existing code, or, I should rather say, that he it was who adapted the statutes of the tjro foundations of
own belief
is
202
308
The
needy
college
is
scholars, -who
designed for the maintenance of poor and must be intending to devote themselves
'
so
weakened by pestilence, war, and other human calamities';' they must wear the 'first clerical tonsure,' be
severely
Attainments,
grammar^
of honest
Age.
and desirous of advancing in knowledge. A provost, and seventy scholars (who must have already been on the foundation of Eton for a period of not less than two years) whose age at admission must be between fifteen and twenty, are to be maintained on the foundation. The curriculum of study is marked out with considerable
conversation, apt
to
learn,
stu'JiM
permitted,
precision
theology
and
to
arts, of
superior
may
the
civil law,
pre-
we may infer, against the forbidden researches of the astrologer. The transition from the scholar to the fellow is
' These statutes are remarkable for their verbosity and pleonastic mode of expression ao prsecie. g. pue ut ferventius et frequentius Christus evangelizetur, et fides oultusque divini nominis augeatur, et fortius sustentetur, sacras insuper theologise ut dilatetur laus, gnbernetur eeclesia, vigor atque fervor Christianse religionis eoalescant, scientise quoque ac virtutes amplius convalescant, neonon ut generalem mor:
'
affeotamus et volumus quod numerus scholarium et sociorum in dicto nostro Begali Collegio Cantabrigise per nos superius institutus, plene et perfecte per Dei gratiam perpetius futuris temporibus sit completus ac eonsiderantes attente quod grammatica, que prima de artibus seu scientiis liberalibus reptitatiir, fnnda:
mentum,
janua,
et
origo
omnium
bum
quam
miseris, graviter vulnerari oonspeximus, desolatioui compatientes tarn tristi, partim allevare possimus, quem in toto sauare veraciter non valemus, ad quod revera pro nostrse devotionis animo nostros regies apponimus libenter labores.' Statutes, by Heywood and
ris, et
mundi
aliarum artium liberalium et scientiarum existit quodque sine ea easteras artes seu scientise perfecte sciri nou possunt, nee ad earum veram cognitionem et perfectionem quis;
Wright, p. 18.
*
poterit pervenire: ea propter, divina favente dementia, de bonis nostris a Deo coUatis unum aliud Eegale collegium in viUa nostra de Etona ut superius memoratur instituimus etc' Ibid. p. 21.
quam
It is
first
stage
king's college.
309
a three years' chap.
-
here
hi.
i^
^
"
the scholar be ingenio, capacitate sensus, morihus, conditioni6m, et scientia, dignus, habilis, et idoneus
ftato^o'f tSe"^^
fodecuS^to
"
"'''
pPj^-i^ge,
the king
aonaK?antrf
fountotion.
bishop of Canterbury, the bishop and archdeacon of Ely, and the chancellor of the university
and on the 31st of January, 14489, the university by an instrument under its common seal, granted that the college, the provost, fellows, and scholars, their servants and ministers, should be exempt from
but in
acts, exercises,
lectures,
degrees,
and the
and other
ofiicers (not
being repugnant to their peculiar privileges), they were, as true gremials and scholars of the university, to be obedient
to
scholars were.
it
To this grant was annexed a condition that should be void, in case the bishops of Salisbury, Lincoln,
Carlisle,
and
should consider
it
privileges,
had
object aimed
society.
ecclesiastical control, it
was an
now sought
versity;
to
new
foundation,
in
short,
independence similar to that enjoyed by the different friaries such was the provision to which William Miiliogton found
himself unable to assent
;
it
Cooper, Memorials,
192, 193.
MS. Hare
ii
139.
310
CHAP.
III. been in any way foreshadowed, could hardly have approved ^^~^ a proposal to render any college independent of the jurisdic-
tion
of'lmiam
Miuington.
he personally represented, and whose privileges he was bound to guard. Another and equally valid objection urged ^y M^illington, appears to have been the limitation of the advantages afforded by so splendid a foundation to the scholars of Eton exclusively. The countenance given to the new scheme illustrates,
not less than the opposition
it
encountered,
its
true nature.
after
cardinal Beaufort,
party',
bequesr^
bequeathed the large sum of 1000 to augment the already princely revenues of King's College and the foundation at Eton. His own student life had been passed chiefly
Ineffectual
efforts or tlie
where he was distinguished by his attainbut he had been a scholar at Peterhouse in 1388, and studied at Oxford in 1397, and the preference thus shewn for the new society over his own college is a fact of no little significance^. Within five years of these enactments the university
at Aix-la-Chapelle,
ments in the
civil
law
^n
its
rights oi j lunsdiction, o
i.
eSsivl
privileges,
This
up by the
lution'.
entered upon by the chancellor and the doctors regent and non-regent on the one hand, and the provost, fellows, and scholars of the college on the other and as the result of this
;
beate Marie de Eton juxta Windesor, et sancti Nioholai Cantabrigg', per dictum dominum meum Eegem ex siugulari et preeoipua sua doTocione
codicil,
9,
1447.
'
ad diviai cultus augmentum catholiceque fidei exaltaoionem sancte ac salubriter fundatorum, etc' Nichols,
Iloyal
3
and NoUe
Wills, p. 338.
:
Cooper, Annals,
205.
insignium collegiorum,
viz.
king's college.
concessions, in retaining those privileges
311
hi.
1-
own
.
day',
.
-li!^
Effect of
*'''"=
p"^-
J.h^^aotor'of
its
alleged justification in
uon!"'*''"
However
of
this
it
will scarcely
be denied by
Wykeham, that
and
victory,
character of a Cadmsean honour on the integrity and sagacity of its first provost that he protested so vigorously against so suicidal a policy. It would indeed be useless to assert that a society which has sent forth scholars like Sir John Cheke, Eichard Croke, Walter Haddon, Winterton, Hyde, and Michell, mathematicians like Oughtred, moralists
no
Cole,
added lustre
it
to the
university of which
useless to
forms a part
its
but
number and
celebrity of those
whom
it
has nurtured,
is
compared with that of other foundations of far humbler resources, its princely revenues and its actual services seem singularly disproportionate. For more than a century from
its
commencement
foundation was by far the In the survey of the commisParker, Redman, and Mey, in the year 1546, its
this
royal
1 A singular illustration of the immunities granted to the college during the lifetime of the founder is to be found in an act passed in the year 1453 for raising 13,000 archers for the king's serrice, wherein a elapse expressly exempts the provost and scholars of this foundation from the obhgation of furnishing their quota to the levy imposed on the county of Cambridge. Rot. Parliament, v 232. Cooper, Annals, i 205. " Hook, Lives of the Archbps., iv 4. It is certain that, in the spirit in which its statutes were conceived,
King's College" made a proach to the monastic than any other college at Somie of their most
'
closer
ap-
conception Cambridge,
remarkable
'were taken from the old monastic such as the wish to preserve the inmates from external connections, the extensive power given to the provost, the lengthy oaths at
discipline,
every step, and the urgent manner in which every member was desired to act as a spy upon the conduct of his fellows.' Preface by Heywood and Wright.
312
CHAP.
r
III.
!-
revenues were double those of St. John's, which stood second, and were only surpassed when the large endowment of Trinity arose at the end of the same year*. The comparative wealth of these three colleges remained nearly the same, until the far wider activity of the two younger foundations reaped a natural and honorable reward in the grateful munificence of their sons and the generous sympathy of strangers; while the foundation of Henry VI, shut in and
narrowed by endless restrictions, debarred from expansion with the requirements of the age, and self-excluded from cooperation and free intercourse with the university at large, long remained, to borrow the expression of dean Peacock, a a signal warning to founders splendid cenotaph of learning,'
'
Another royal foundation followed upon that of King's. x o In the year 1445 the party led by cardinal Beaufort had
succeeded in bringing about the marriage of the youthful
monarch with Margaret of Anjou, daughter of B;^n^, titular king of Sicily and of Jerusalem. It was hoped that the policy of the vacillating and feeble husband might be strengthened by the influence of a consort endowed with many rare qualities. The civil wars were not calculated for
the exhibition of the feminine virtues, but there
Margaret of Anjou.
is sufficient
name
by
is
associated with so
much
phase of
human
nature,
disposition or choice ^
was cruel rather by necessity than But whatever may have been the
dications of that unyielding spirit
' The revenues of King's College amounted to 1010. 12s. 114^. those
;
of St John's to 536. 17s. i\d. ; those settled on Trinity College, on the 24th of December in the same year, amounted to 1678. 3s. 9Jd. " There was nothing in her early years,' says a recent writer, ' which marked her out for an Amazon, though there certainly were some in'
which afterwards huiTied her into acts of perfidy, violence, and crime, "When goaded into madness by the
assaults of men who sought to blaoten her- chaste character, to insult her husband, and to bastardize her child, she mistook cruelty for firmness ; and she who, at this time, fainted at the sigjit of blood, could
unmanly
QUteENS' COLLEGE.
313
it is
hi.
^.^I
"^i;!"""
J''p''">*8-
her policy was systematically directed to the encouragement of friendly relations with her own country, in opposition to
the popular party represented by the duke of Gloucester.
It
lull in
when
the
civil
petition
war at home had not commenced, that the following was addressed by this royal lady to her husband
:
To the Kine mv souverain lord. < 1 Besecheth mekely Margarete quene of Englond youre humble wif, forasmuche as youre moost noble grace hath
T-i
1
newely ordeined and stablisshed a collage of seint Bernard in the Universite of Cambrigge with multitude of grete and faire privilages perpetuelly appurtenyng unto the same as in youre Ires patentes therupon made more plainly hit appereth In the whiche universite is no collage founded by eny quene of Englond hider toward, Plese hit therfoure unto youre
highnesse to geve and graunte unto youre seide humble wif
the fondacon and determinacon of the seid collage to be
called
thereof to have licence and powir to ley the furst stone in her
or ellis
that beside the mooste noble and glorious collage roial of our
saint Nicholas founded
founded the seid so called Quenes collage to conservacon of cure feith and augmentacon of pure clergie namely of the
imparesse* of alle sciences and facultees theologic.to the ende there accustumed of plain lecture and exposicon botraced* with docteurs sentence autentig' performed daily
*
>pr-
*buurested.
twyes by two docteurs notable and wel avised upon the bible
aforenoone and maistre of the sentences afternoone to the
afterwards command its effusion withBut when she was out remorse. alone in the world, no husband to protect, no son to fight for, her ori-
ginal disposition reasserted its asoendancy; and this was not malignant or selfish.' Dean Hook, Lives of the Archbisliops, v 183.
314
CHAP.
Pari
^V
II.
III.
religieus
men frely bothe seculiers and p i the magnificence of denominacon oi sucne a Quenes collage and to laud and honneure of sexe femenine,
publique audience of alle
,
.
,
-,
to
like as
two noble and devoute contesses of Pembroke and of Clare founded two collages in the same universite called Pembroke halle and Clare halle the whiche are of grete
reputacon for good and worshipful clerkis that by grete multitude have be bredde and brought forth in tbeym, And
of youre
immunities profits and comodites conteyned in the Ires patentes above reherced may stonde in theire strength and pouoir after forme and effect of the conteine in them. And
she shal ever preye
Fuiier'g
criticism.
'
God
for you\'
'
As
would not
g^ffgr Themistocles to
so this
strife
breach of duty
coiiEGEof
may
The
college of St.
made
in Margaret of Anjou's
institution.
first
it
We
find,
from
the
foundation preserved
'for
was designed
persons.'
But before it had taken external shape and form, the society had acquired land and tenements on a different site from
that originally proposed,
cloister court,
the
site of
the present
first court,
fellows' building of
Queens'
was accordingly returned into the chancery with the petition that it might be cancelled and another issued, authorising the erection of the college on the newly acquired site next to the house of the Carmelite friars,
College.
The
for future
G. Searle,
enlargements.
ffis(,
W.
St.
Margaret and
Bernard, by
queens' college.
315
was granted and another charter, that of chap. hi. August 21, 1447, was accordingly prepared, permitting the -^^^-Jfoundation of the college of St. Bernard on the new site. In this charter,' says Mr Searle, the king appears in some Pounded by
petition
' '
The
tiiesixtu.
exemption from
all corrodies,
pensions,
fundationis nostri)
colle-
gium predictum
It
existit^.'
was
was like its predecessor cancelled^ and the new site with the tenements thereon was transferred to the queen, with licence
to
'
make and
establish
St.
St. Bernard in the In exercise of the permission thus conceded the royal lady, hy an instrument bearing date 15 April, 1448, founded a new society, for a president and four fellows; she was at this time scarcely twenty years of age, but her abilities and energetic temperament, combined with her commanding position, had already made her perhaps the
Queen's College of
Margaret and
Foundation
university of Cambridge.'
coliegk
The
vie and
dregs.
as Virtue
is
is
mankind
God
declining,
and under
and immaculate mother,' iftider whose care the whole Church of England lately flourished,' is fast deteriorating, that Margaret of Anjou seeks to lay the foundation stone of the College of St. Margaret and St. Bernard. We have no evidence that any statutes were given to the new society during the reign of Henry vi, and it is probable that the
'
royalty to
wars called away the attention of more urgent matters; but in the year 1475, when the sanguinary struggle had been brought to a temporary
civil
^
outbreak of the
7.
'
Ibid. p. 16.
316
CHAP.
in.
Z^Jt
statutes
SuSbith
WoodviUe.
was given to the college by Elizabeth Woodville', the queen of Edward iv, who however reserved to herself, the president and five of the senior fellows, full power to alter or rescind any of the provisions during her lifetime. Elizabeth Woodville had once sympathised strongly with the Lancastrian party she had been one of the ladies r j a J in waiting attached to the person of Margaret oi Anjou, and
conclusion, a code
:
<.
her husband had fallen fighting for the Lancastrian cause it is not improbable therefore that sympathy with her former
;
tection.
Granted at
'The duties
'roquiro,
Anlrew
first Preai-
piety suggests,
we
Queens'.
^hc Safety of souls and the public good are promoted, and
poor scholars, desirous of advancing themselves in the knowledge of letters, are assisted in their need.'
request and special requisition' of
statutes
At the humble
'
the
and
de-
strengthening' of the
new
society.
The foundation
whom
^^ ^j^g ^^^^ ^f
election,
forMiow' 'P'-
a questionist
if
a student in
is
a scholar,
in theology.
When
^-j^^
^-J
elected he
bound
to
studies to
be pursued,
On becoming
Lectureships
attiie
oi turee years.
a master of arts he
as
it
is
which,
been
ST CATHERINE'S HALL.
is
317
is
its exercise,
chap. hi.
not obligatory, provided that the fellow's time be devoted to the study of the liberal sciences, or to that of the natural,
moral,
or metaphysical
'^
philosophy of Aristotle.
if
On
the
he
is
study of the
civil
or the
law
canon law
simply
p'^''"=*-
and the majority of the fellows, and the concessive character of the clause would incline us to infer that such a course would be the exception rather than the rule.
Respecting Andrew Doket, the
first
president of Queens',
character ot
we have
St.
Andrsw
us to surmise the
noket.
Bernard and subsequently in Queens' College during the He had before been principal of St. Bernard's hostel, and incumbent of St. Botolph's
thirty-eight years of his energetic rule.
church, and within four years from the time that the foregoing statutes were given by Elizabeth Woodville, we find
over which he presided and the Franciscans, whose foundaoccupied the present
site of
Sidney.
We
have
a hard student of the canon law, but nothing to indicate that he was in any way a promoter of that new learning which
already before his death was beginning to be heard of at
Cambridge'.
A far
royal
foundations.
Among
On
Chedworth's
elected to
.
S?''"' Woodlark,
.
when
the bishopric of Lincoln, Woodlark was appointed his successor, and under his guidance the college wrung from the
university those fatal concessions which have already engaged our attention. That he was an able administrator may
>
nut. of Queens'
College,
hy Eot. W. G.
318
CHAP.
V
III.
characteT''
be inferred from the prominent part assigned to liim on dinerent occasions. His name appears foremost among tnose of the Syndicate appointed for the erection of the new
Forbids the
St.
rine
cathes Hall.
he was clerk of the works at King's College, and the spirit with which he carried on the buildings during the civil wars, when Henry vi was a prisoner, earned him but an indifferent recompense for confiding in the fortunes of the house of Lancaster, and relying probably on his royal master for reimbursement, he was left to sustain a heavy deficit of nearly 400 which he had advanced from his private fortune\ Such public spirit would alone entitle his memory to be had in lasting remembrance in the university, but 'herein,' says Fuller, 'he stands alone, without any to accompany him, being the first and last, who was master of one college and at the same time founder of another.' There is little in the statutes given by Woodlark to the coUege which he founded, deserving of remark, beyond the fact that both the canon and the civil law were rigorously <p excluded from the course of study. The foundation was designed to aid in the exaltation of the Christian faith and the defence and furtherance of holy church by the sowing and administration of the word of God.' It appears to have been the founder's design that it should be exclusively subschools
;
:
j^
^^
'
Thefonndation intended
Servient to
.,
. .
toienefltthe
secular
clergy.
,,..
ir.ir.Ti
The
bis election,
shows how completely the whole conception was IteTn juro quod nun:
quam
unquam tempore
propter aliquem
gradum
piendum, prceterquam ad philosophiam sed pro posse meo resistam cum effectu'.
1 'In prosecution of the royal scheme, it was originally commanded that 1000 per annum should be paid to Woodlark out of the estates of the duchy of Lancaster; but owing to -the change of dynasty and other causes, a large balance was at last remaining due to the magnanimous provost.' Robert IFoodterft, by Charles
sacram theologiam,
^ Accordingly, in the library which Woodlark bestowed on his foundation, not a single volume of the canon or civil law appears. See Catalogue of tfte Boofcs, etc. edited by DrCorrie;
i.
'
819
ST CATHERINE'S HALL.
If in addition to this fact,
alterations introduced
we
iil
II.
by Chedworth,
Part
,
statutes given
by William of
Wykeham
New
College at
gjf t'|?|^artonhe"'
civil law were reduced from ten to two, and in the canon law fouSs to from ten to four, that in the statutes of Queens' College the excessive ^ devotion to study of both these branches appears to have been permitted Jije st^^J^f
and that in the statutes of Jesus which next demand our attention, the study of the canon law was altogether prohibited, while only one of the fellows was allowed to devote himself to the civil law, we shall have no difficulty in, arriving at the conclusion that at Cambridge, at least, a manifest reaction with reference to these studies had set in\ and thaf it had become
evident to those
'' ''"'
who sought
midst, that acquirements which well subserved the purposes of worldly ambition and social success needed but
little aid,
but that
it
was
far
when pursued
as
an
end in
1
itself
and bringing
its
own
reward^.'
Books
The following lists from the Grace of the number of graduates for
the years 1489 and 1499, in the different faculties, are worthy of note they have, probably by a clerical error, been transposed in dean Peacock's pages, Appendix A, p. xlix.
(1489)
Dixi paulo ante, eos qui juri civili et canonibus operam darent, reon
sciendi, sed luerandi cupiditate se ad eorum cognitionem oonferre. Ex eo Tidetis quantus fiat ad has disoip-
30 Determinatores in quadragesima
(B.A.).
84 Magistri artium. 22 Bacoalaurei juris canonici. 10 Intrantes ad lecturam sententiarum (B.D.) including one canon regular, two Dominicans, and one Franciscan.
(1499)
Unas concursus tanquam ad certam aurifodinam. At hi cum qua appellautor insignia dootorum (hcet plures sint indooti) suaceperunt, hoc est,
quastus et avaritise signa, scitis quam quam honorentur ab omnibus, quam colantur, ornantur quoque preoiosioribus yestibus, anuli aurei geetandi jus datum est, ut plane intelUgant homines id genus facultaturn solum ami oorrodendi causa susfrequententur,
32 16 12 8 3
2
Determinatores in quadragesima.
Inceptores seu professores artium. Intrantes in jure oanonico. Intrantes in jure civili. Commensantes in theologia
(B.D.).
oeptum.'
Basil.,
Avaritia, Opera, ed. In the year 1339 a scrutiny was held at Merton College, on which occasion we find a formal demand made by the fellows of the
p.
,
De
4.
commissioners,
'
320
CHAP. iiL
v_t^^
ofTs^of
1497.
The circumstances attendant upon the foundation of Jesus College, the fourth and last college founded in the fifteenth century, illustrate both the degeneracy and the
higher aims of the age.
^'^'^sss
'
Jt'lt'ShS
gund.
i^ tli6
if
Among the most ancient religious town was the nunnery of St. Rhadegund,
may be
trusted, referred
which,
so
tradition
back
its
origin
year 1133, or not more than forty years later than the foundatii-.n of the priory of St. Giles by the
far as tli
The nuns
of St.
"Rhadegund often
fair
have enjoyed a
and derived
. .
fheWshoV'
of Ely.
Qf ^jjg
^^^ William Gray, one of the most distinguished many able men who successively filled the chair of
all
Hugh
who
among the
Sn^with
thiflftlenth century.
and in the reign of Henry VII not more than ^^^ remained on the foundation, so that, to borrow the
profession;
Charter of
'
co"i
""ilsl
mercy and
primary
lore that the majority oared about in those days See Prof. Eogers, Hist, of Prices, ii
lists give the admissions of bachelors in oivU law and canon law in the latter part of the
Canon Law.
century
Canon Law.
1459... 9 1460... 8 1461... 1 1462... 2 1463... 1 1466... 12
1467... 8
Civil
_ _ _ _ _
Law.
_ _ _ _ _
i
U67... 2
Cooper, Annate,
908.
JESUS COLLEGE.
'
821
foundation and ordinance of their founders there used, Could chap. iii. Part TI.
the exertions of John Alcock, bishop of Ely, the nunnery 11-1 11 1 was accordingly suppressed by royal patent the bishop was
;
Joim
Alcock, 1L.D.
JftP^fiS
arts,
and to
his
his liberality
and
Mary and
own
chapel in the
still
and under
now
The
a fellow on the foundation in the seventeenth century, remarks that it appears to have been designed that, in form
at least, the
incfuded in
Cambridge.
new
and
of the
which long
the designation of
further contributed.
musarum
Cantabrigiensiv/m museum,
The
Early
the couege
the successor, one removed, to Alcock, in the episcopal chair at |j| Ely, and son-in-law of Margaret, countess of Richmond : JJoelSfe
illus-
rjlchoias
The new
1 Cooper, Memorials, i 364. Docwments, iii 91. Shermanni Historia Collegii Jesu Cantabrigiemis, ed.
Halliwell, p. 20.
' Alcock was also a considerable benefactor to Peterhonse (Cooper, Memorials, i 363) lie was tutor to the unfortunate Edward v until removed from that post by the ProBentham, Hist, and Antiq. tector. of Ely Cathedral, p. 182.
;
monasterium etiamnum referat, et quantum ad situm, id sane loci occupat, quod musis est accommodatissimum, viz. ab oppidanorum strepitn et tumultu remotissimum.' Shermanni Historia, p. 23.
Statuta insuper Jacobus [StemconsiUo suo condidit, qua Julius Secundus pontifex Eomanus, simul et coUegii fundationem, authoritate ApostoUoa sancivit. Joannes [Al'
'
ley]
* ' The college was to haye been called " the College of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, St John the Evangehst, and StBadegund, near Cambridge :" to be governed by such statutes as he or his successors should think proper to make and ordain. But the bishop having thought proper to add to this title, that of the holy name Jesus, it was even in his time commonly called Jesus College.' Ibid. p. 182. * ' Collegium ea figura ab ipsis
cock] episoopus, cujus nomen sit benedictionibus, vivendi ratiouem Bubministravit, Joanne morte repentina sublato, Jacobus dein vivendi noradhibuit: Nicholaus episcopus Eliensis Jaoobi statuta revisit, multa imqiutavit, revocavit nonnulla, cetera sanxit, et statutis ab eo con-
mam
hodie utimur, quorum etiam quatuor copias habemus, omnes sa7is date, imperfeotas quoque omnes, inditis
21
S22
statutes
Pakt
II.
however were in professed conformity with the presumed intentions of the founder'; it is consequently all the more significant that, though both Alcock and West were distinguished by their acquirements in the canon law,
of the twelve fellows to be maintained on the foundation
not one
permitted to give his attention to that branch of study, and only one to that of the civil law ; the others, so soon as they have graduated and taught as masters of
is
arts,
theology.
all,
shall look in
vain
own
university for
much
The tone
is
firomoters of earning at
this period.
Before however
will
this
sombre period,
to
survey the contents of the scantily furnished shelves as they appeared while the new learning still delayed its onward
flight
from its favoured haunts in Italy. In a previous chapter'' we have devoted some attention
Vivendi ordine, servanda statuta aut ordinationes aJiquas perfecte vel sufficienter ediderit:
Nos
igitnr
opus
tarn
pium tamque
devoti patris et
Ceterum quia tantus pater morte prseventus, quod pio conceperat animo, explere, et opus tarn memorabile absolvere nou potuit, quo
'
'
et spi-
et
temporaliter
'
firmiter
fit,
ut neo pro tauto numero sustinendo collegium prffidictum sufficienter dotaverit, nee pro bono studentium regimine ac recto et quieto
stabUiri
et
ments,
'
3.
CAMBRIDGE LIBRAEIES.
to the catalogues of
earliest
323
two
were
when the
;
chap.
iti.
universities
rising
into
existence
the
>_1^^_J.
period, that
to
is. to say, when so many of the authors known Bede and Alcuin had been lost in the Danish invasions,
but when the voluminous literature to which the Sentences, the Canon Law, the Civil Law, and the New Aristotle
respectively gave birth was yet
unknown.
comparison
Cambridge
of St.
Hugh
was on a certain seventeenth of November, the feast in 1444, that Dr Walter Crome presented to the
Foundation
versity Li-
slender stores of a
new room,
founded
the
common
library'.
earlier
part of
The library appears to date from the same century, and a Mr John
of Chaucer's translation of
Croucher,
Boethius
De
and in
this
we
Two cany
cataloguer.
comes one drawn up by Ralph Songer and Richard Cockeram, the outgoing proctors in the year 1473, containing 330 volumes. This later catalogue possesses a special value, for it shews us the volumes as classified and arranged; and we have thus brought The library before us the single room (now the first room on entering the library) where these scanty treasures lay chained and
possess.
Next
to this catalogue
stalls
upon the
rising walls
chapeL
^ Two Lists of Books in the University Ziibrary. Cam. Ant. Soc. Pub.
No.
XXII.
Comiauiiicated by Henry
212
324
addition of
some two hundred volumes, made by Thomas Kotheram very shortly after; but the liberality of that eminent benefactor of the university was already conspicuous in the completion of the library and of the east part of the quadrangle and the new buildings, bright as they appeared with polished stone and sumptuous to that generation,
;
'
splendourV were already evoking those sentiments of tude towards the illustrious chancellor, which, two later, led the assembled senate to decree that his should be for ever enrolled among those of the chief
factors of the university.
Early
catalogues of the libraries of Peterhouae, Trinity Hall,
grati-
years
name
bene-
evidence
esteemed at Cambridge, but other and ampler evidence remains. It was on Christmas Eve, 1418, exactly eight
years before Gerson drew
up
his
De
Concordia, that an
unknown hand
As
libraries, in thosei
days, were almost entirely the accumulations of gifts from successive benefactors, the most ancient college had, as we should expect to find, acquired by far the largest collection and possessed no less than from six to seven hundred distinct
treatises.
The
library given
by bishop Bateman
our notice'.
to Trinity
If to these col-
library of
we add a catalogue of 140 volumes presented to the Pembroke College in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries*,
^
'
one of the
ratio
Quoniain
humanitasque
requirere Tidetur ut superioribus nobis benefactoribus, etsi non condignas, saltern utcunque eongruas leferamua gratias, eisque juxta vilium exilitatem, ut possumus, meri-
obsequia reddamus. bine est quod merito cum probitatia turn bonorum operum exhibitione reverendus inChristo pater ae dominus dominus Thomas Eotheram divina miseratioue Lincoluiensis episcopus ao magnus Angliffl generalis hujusque almse
toria
novamque superivs libranam polito lapide, sumptuosa pompa, ac dignis csdificiis perfecerit, eamque, omnibus ut decuit rebus exornatam, non pauois vel vilibus libris opulentaan reddidit, plurimaque insuper alia bona eidem imiTersitati procuravit, etc' De exequiis Thomce Sotlieram, Documents, i 414. ' This catalogue is still in manufectum, scholas
rities of
universitatis prsecipuus dagnusque canoellarius et singularis patronus turn in bonorem Dei, inorementum studii, et uuiversitatis nostrse pro-
contained.
' *
CAMBRIDGE LIBRARIES.
1472', amounting to 224 volumes,
St. Catharine's
325
of the library of
citap.
iir.
and one
Hall
-in
volumes ^
our data,
1^
so far as
Cambridge
is
concerned, will
be
sufficiently
enquiry into the merits of each author, however interesting such researches might be, is evidently not needed at our
be desirable to state some of the general On conclusions to be derived from a more cursory view. referring to the contents of each catalogue it will be seen illustration that they represent, in much the same proportions, those additions to i J 1 learning new contributions to medieeval literature which have already Syiiese '=''**'''sumso long engaged our attention. Anselm, Albertus, Aquinas, Alexander Hales, Boethius, Bonaventura, Walter Burley,
hands, but
it will
s:
'
'
John of Salisbury, GrosseArmachanus against the and Richard Middleton Franciscans, Wodeford against Armachanus the discourses
Duns
teste,
fiercest
Historiw
mon and
manner
But
names
appear,
Evidence
respect to
af-
now
11 -1 ciwho have made a special study of this period. Again and again we are confronted by the representatives of that
those
great school of mediaeval theology which, though
less systematically to
it
memory
-IT
'hetheoiopcai stu''"^'
aspired
reconciliation of philosophy
influential
Aquinas.
and dogma, was scarcely less in these centuries than the school of Albertus and Divines from the famous school of St. Victor at
late Fellow of Queens' College. Cam. Ant. Soc. Pub.'So.-sy. ' A Catalogue of the original Library of St. Catharine's Hall, 1475 communicated by the Bev. G. E. Corrie, d.d. Cam. Ant. Soc. Pub.
the
Donors, during theFourteenfhandFifBythe Eev. G. B. teenth Centuries. Corrie, d.d., Master of Jesus College. Cam. Ant. Soc. Pub. No. iii. 1 Catalogue of the Library of oommuni-Queens' College in 1472 cated by the Eev. W. G. Searle, M.A.,
;
No.
i.
(4to Series.)
^26
Paris';
twelfth century/
who sought
and who
Hugo
though carried off at the early age of forty-four left behind him a whole library of annotations on the sacred writmgs. Not less in esteem than Hugo of St. Victor, was the Dominican, Hugo of St. Cher (or of Vienne), whose reputation, though it paled before the yet greater lights of his order, long survived as that of the father of the Concordantists and
While inferior to the author of the Speculum Mclesiw^ neither of these in fame or learning comes the Franciscan,
Nicholas de Lyra,
d. 1310.
Nicholas de Lyi-a, who died towards the middle of the fourteenth century in high repute both as a Hebraist and
a Greek scholar
literal,
conscious imitation,
whose
Absence of the Arabian commentators on Aristotle.
the familiar commentator of his day, commanded, even down to the eighteenth century, the same kind of regard that in a later age has waited on the labours of a Leighton or a Scott. In contrast
Postilla
to
period,
we may note
by Avicenna and
In the
of another
university library.
latter,
and
The Fathers
Tery imperfectly repre-
sented.
important also to observe how small is the element furnished by patristic literature. Ambrose, Gregory, Jerome, and Augustine, the four great doctors of the Latin Church,
It is
1 ' It would not be easy,' observes the archbishop of Dublin (who has ably -viridieated the Latin poetry of these ages from the contempt of the classioist), 'to exaggerate the iufiuence for good which went forth
this institution during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries upon the whole Church.' Sacred Zatiu Poetry, p. 55. " Fabricius, Bibliotheca Lot. Med.
et Inf.
from
^tutis.
CAMBKIDGE LIBRARIES.
'I
327
hi.
another
name
of importance appears.
.
The
entire absence
. .
.^^f*^
aence of
^
J
II
of Greek authors, and the almost equally entire absence of Entire nball that,
its
value <^^
""-
J
*
to
it is
comments on the learning that nurtured the mind of the Cambridge student at the time when medissval history was
drawing to
its close.
CHAPTER
IV.
Our
Ages are now approaching their completion. We have archm^a moderaS rived at the boundary line which, by general consent, has umesf been drawn between the old and the new order of things, the time when the traditions of the past began to give place to those widely differing conceptions which the fifteenth century ere it closed saw rising upon Europe. Momentous and startling as have been the changes of the present century, it may yet be questioned whether they do not yield
in importance to those that ushered in the Reformation.
The downfall
art,
and
was then
that the veil was lifted from the face of classic Greece, and
its
aid in
dis-
newly
The
habitable
and the lamps of heaven now glimmered with a But before we turn to trace out and estimate the changes thus brought about in the culture and mental tendencies of the
space
;
THE CAM.
age,' it
329
iv.
yet remains to attempt a somewhat more connected chap. view than we have as yet been able to gain of, the characof university
life
teristics
Hitherto
we have
passed by
many
interesting
minor
facts
more
the
ment
principle indeed
of the subject.
which has guided our whole treatWe shall now endeavour to bring
life
Such a piecing together will form, at best, but a very defective whole. The mosaic will be wanting both in colour and completeness. But we shall but share the difficulties that, beset all similar endeavours to revivify the forms and
fashions of a distant age.
A brief survey of
The nver Cam
,
outline of the
we
pectsofmediBsyal Catti-
formed by M'^Kest'te. the union of two minor streams; of which one, the Rhee, rises near Ashwell in Hertfordshire, the other at Little Henas the Grant,
known
ham
The point of junction is between Hauxton As it approaches Cambridge the stream The cam. widens, but rarely attains to much depth until the town is
in Essex.
and Grantchester.
it flows on in-greatly increased volume by Chesterton, Waterbeach, Upware, and Harrimere, until Ely is reached. At Harrimere it changes its name to that
stream
its
still,
at the present time the ; save on the occun-ence of unusual floodsj pursues
by way of Ely and Prick willow to Denver before a Ouse water mingles with its current. The cause of this deviation is an important fact in the history of the river system of the whole district. The tract known as the Fen The Fen
course
drop of
Country,
word kam, which long survived in English, means crooked. In Shakespeare's Coriolanus, Sicinius says of the logic of Menenius Agrip1
The
Celtic
pa's arguments,
'
This
is
clean ftam;'
speaks of a mind that is cam and crooked.' Works, iol. ed.,^. 562.
330
CHAp^. country
Ancient course ot ho
by the Nen, the Great Ouse, and the Of these the first, which now flows in a navigable stream by March, Up well, and Outwell, and discharges itself into the Ouse near Denver sluice, formerly on arriving ^t Peterborough turned to the right, and making a circuit ^jj^ough Whittlesey, Ugg, and Ramsey Meres, passed them in a nearly direct course by March to Wisbeach. The second enters the fens near Earith. At this place it formerly bifurcated: the larger stream flowing by Harrimere,. Ely, and Littleport, then by what is now called the Welney river to
traversed
Little Ouse.
Wisbeach, where in conjunction with the Nen it flowed on The other stream flowed towards the west, and to the sea.
as the West Water: its course is from Earith where it formed a junction with the Nen. At the present time however both these channels are closed to the Ouse, which is conveyed in a straight line by the Bedford rivers to Denver, where they form a junction with the Little Ouse and are conveyed in its channel to the sea'. Wisbeach*
is
now known
to Benwick,
known
as
the Bedford Level; and such was the 'plenteous Ouse' when
it
as coming
from land,
By many a city and by many a town. And many rivers taking nnder-hand
Into his -waters as he passeth dowse.
The Cle, the Were, the Grant, the Sture, the Eowne. Thence doth by Huntingdon and Cambridge flit.
My
He
mother Cambridge,
doth adome, and
gentle
is
whom
aa with a crowne
With many a
wit*.'
The Bedford
LoveL
to
Of the Bedford Level, the whole extent of which amounts some 400,000 acres, nearly half lies in the county of
Originally, it is
far
it
ton,
"
The name,
See paper by Prof. C. C. BabingCam. Antiq. Soc. Pub. ni 69. it has been plausibly
THE FEN COUNTRY.
less
831
chap,
'
and disastrous than those of a later period, has been conjectured, brought their science Others to bear upon the difficulty and mitigated the evil. have supposed that the gradual silting up of the channel directly communicating with the Wash sufficiently accounts
extensive
iv.
The Romans,
it
fif-
teenth, and sixteenth centuries. It would seem certain that with the suppression of the monasteries by Henry vill many of the precautions which the monks had vigilantly enforced were no longer observed, and the evil became greatly aggravated. The fens of England,' it has been said, 'enter largely into its early history,' and the remark is specially true of Cambridgeshire and its university. In Dugdale's elaborate work, the History of Embanking aid Extent of the
'
Braining, there
^..
is
mundatioua
>?
at
f"cr
seen
Downbam Market
to Mildenhall,
a few tracts of higher ground about Ely, Littleport, Soham, Haddenham, Wingford, Chatteris, and Whittlesea, appearing
like islands in the midst*.
On
Cambridge
stands,
now known
as Bridge Street
In the year above the bridge in. what is in 1290 the Carmelite Friars
removed from
Newnham
from their extensive precincts in the former locality by floods which frequently rendered their attendance at lectures or at
market impracticable; in 1520, Garret Hostel bridge, now known as the town bridge, was carried away by the waters. Even so late as the close of the sixteenth century, when
legislation
evil",
1 The termiiiation -ey or -y denotes in Saxon an island ; and such were formerly Chnderley, Denny, Ely, Homingsey, Eamsey, Suthrey, Thorney, Wittlesea, etc. ; while the pasture-laud called meare must once have been the bed of an inland lake. Taylor, Words and Places, p. 372.
' 'The most important work as to pnbho utility, prior to the Eeformation, was the great channel made by bishop Morton, which served the
double purpose of discharging the overflowing of the Nene, and affording the convenience of water-carriage from Wisbech to Peterborough.
332
CHAP.
IV. ''~~'
MEPI^VAL STUDENT
LIFE.
tradition was
to
wont to foretell that all Holland was destined be submerged by the waters of the Welland and the Ouse, and that the abode of learning would be transferred from
Cambridge to Stamford \
cmduai
town of Cambndge.
From facts like these we are better able to understand how it was that, in times before the university existed, the t> town that still represented the Cambontum of the Komans
'
I.
was confined
to the left
bank
of the river,
rising ground above, secure from inundations, rose the little church of St. Peter (St. Peter's juxta castra), which together
with some three or four hundred tenements, many of them fallen into decay, composed the Grantbrigge of the time of
Norman invasion. It is worthy of remark that there is nothing in Domesday Book that lends the slightest countethe
nance to the theory that anything resembling a university The Norman occupation gave howexisted in those days.
importance to the town. Twenty-seven were pulled down to make way for the new castle ,then followed the erection of the church of St. Giles by Picot, the sheriff of the county; and probably soon after, -that of the 'school of Pythagoras,' undoubtedly a structure ,of this period, and probably the residence of a Norman
ever
additional
-houses
-gentleman.
It
But the
attractions
has been said that after the dissolution of monasteries, the fenny
country became more overflowed than it had formerly been, the sewers and banks, which through the care of the religious houses had been kept in a state of good repair, having been neglected by the new proprietors of the monastic estates. The first project of a general drainage (which indeed was before the making of bishop Morton's canal) appears to have
shall see Stamford, though now homely hid, Then shine in learning, more then ever did Cambridge or
|
Oxford, England's goodly beames.' Spenser, Faery Queene, iv xl 35. The ' old saws ' here referred to are those mentioned by Antony Wood, seep. 135. 'Holland', or 'Little Hoiland,' as it was sometimes called, is a division of the county of Lincoln, the S.E. portion, having the North Sea on the east. The poet's meaning, I apprehend, is that inasmuch as an inundation of this country
been in the reign of Henry vi, when Gilbert Haltof t, one of the barons of the exchequer, who resided near Ely, had a commission for that purpose, under which he proceeded to make laws, but nothing effectual was then
done.'
1
could not
fail to
extend southwards,
and greatly to aggravate the evils to which Cambridgeshire was periodicaUy liable, the latter county would
be rendered comparatively uninhabitable; wMle Stamford, as lying without the Bedford Level and on the rising land above the Welland, would be beyond the reach of the waters.
'And
I
went, (which
all
Lysons' Gainbridgeshire,-p. 32. after him the fatal Welland That, if old saws prove true,
|
333
chap.
iv.
were all powerful, and by and bye a suburb was formed on the opposite bank this suburb gradually extended itself until it incorporated what was probably a distinct village
;
canons, founded
by
numerous
tions
hostels
were erected
succeeded;
and at
last
the
suburb^.
to explain
site of
locality came to be selected as the ["ty*^^" Compared with Stamford, Northampton, "^''or even Huntingdon, all of them seats of monastic education, Cambridge, to modern eyes, would have appeared an unhealthy and ineligible spot". It was the frontier town of a country composed of bog, morass, and extensive meres, inter-
JO
...
'.how such a
jocaiitj'
it still
remains
came
to be selecctid
how such a
a university.
spersed with occasional tracts of arable and pasture land, and presenting apparently few recommendations as a resort for the youth of the nation; the reasons therefore which outweighed the seemingly valid arguments in favour of a more inviting and accessible locality have often been the
subject
of conjecture.
understand
why
did not win for that town the preference of the academic authorities.
ampton
As
,
.
regards the
,
.
first
.
commencement
1
of the tmiversitv, an
Answer: no
definite Mt of selection ctcc
obvious explanation
probability,
is
to
be found
r.
all
no
Like
Somewhere
its
1 The combined population even towards the close of the thirteenth century does not appear to have exSee Cooper, Annals, oeeded 4000. I S8.
' In the sixteenth century writers begin to recognise this fact. ' Cam-
bridge,'
says Harrison, writing in somewhat lowe and neere unto the fennes, whereby the holsomenesse of the ayre there is not a little corrupted.' HoUnshed's Chronicle, 73 b.
1577,
'
is
334'
rise
;
monks
The
school prospered.
The canons
Why not
tlien re-
moved ?
and when at length, as at Paris and Bologna, a nucleus had been formed, its existence became an accepted fact-; royalty extended its recognition, and Cambridge became a imiversity. But when we enter upon the wider question, why the drawbacks to the situation did not finally cause the removal of the university to a less objectionable locality, we find ourselves involved in a more perplexing but not uninteresting It can hardly be supposed that at a time when the inquiry. university had acquired but little property in the town, and
of St. Giles lent their aid
.
when the
as described
of
men
from
at-
tempting
ing.
it.
The question
opposed on
principle.
was supposed
1348 undoubtedly
on Prague.
Prawbacla
in
We
it
on Paris, and which the foundaCracow in 1400 inflicted in turn shaU probably find the best answer to our
inflicted
from which
all it is
And
first
of
modern
eyes recom-
necessary to
remember how
mendations
in mediaeval times.
predominated in the early annals of both Oxford and Camalso how prominent a place among those ideas has always, at least in theory, held. The theory asceticism
bridge,
The
ascetic
and
theory.
mankind almost
monk from
; and so long as the locality produced his two chief requisites, timber and water, for fuel
3S5
and food, he professed to crave for nothing more. If we chap, iv, examine the sites selected for our earlier monasteries we jtee^nB of shall see that it was neither the bracing air nor the fertility S?J'nouo of the soil that allured the founders to the mountain summit founded with -11 reasons for or to the far recesses of the vale. It was not until the ti"? original selection of Church began to rival the temporal power, not until the^^";^""
PITT
asceticism
religious
societies
had been
life,
new
began to
and undulating plains whose fertility moved the envy of the wealthiest noble. It is indeed a common observation that the monk had a keen eye for the fattest land and selected the site of his residence accordingly but it is
rich slopes
:
questionable whether, in
many
cases,
effect
skill
mistaken
the
for cause,
and industry of
new
advantages and impart attractions which were afterwards supposed to be natural to the locality. Of such a conversion
in the
district
adjacent to Cambridge
we
find a notable
instmce
Matthew
Paris,
hardly be better rendered than in the quaint version by&thew ^''^' Dugdale : In the year 1256, William, bishop of Ely, and
'
Hugh, abbot of Kamsey, came to an agreement upon a controversy between them touching the bounds of their fens; whereof in these our times a wonder happened for whereas,
;
as antiently, time out of mind, they were neither accessible for man or beast, affording only deep mud, with sedge and
by
birds fyea,
much more by
devils, as
it
a place of horror and great solitude, began to inhabit there), is now changed into delightful meadows and arable ground; and what thereof doth not produce com or hay, doth abundantly
bring forth sedge,
borderers
'.'
appeareth in the
life
turf,
and other
p.
fuel,
929;
336
CHAP.
IT.
MEDLEVAL STCDEXT
LIFE.
There is good reason for believing that the motives which weighed with SL Guthlac were, in a great measure, those which chiefly inflneaoed the monk in his selection of places
The Fen
desciftid by tfaedirOQ' idezs.
Thomey, Bamsey, Crowland, and Ely, as sites of religious houses, aU probably originally scenes of 'horror,' but rendered not only habitable but inviting by patient toil'. The description given by the soldier to WUliam the Conqueror, as recorded iu the Liber Eliensis*, of the localities which he had visitcd, restmbles rather that brought by the spies to Joshua, than the picture which the name of the Fens is apt at the present day to suggest. Fertile islands, like those of Ramsey and Thomey, rose amid the meres, adorned with verdant plains, rich cornfields, and stately woods; timber was plentiful,
like
the ash in particular attaining to unusual dimensions; orchards abounded; the vine was successfully cultivated, sometimes trained aloft, sometimes extending on framework along the ground; the rich turf supplied abundant fuel, and, conv^ed np the river in boats, often blazed on the winter heartlLs at
Cambridge.
The
fertility of
the
s<jil
surpassed that of
all
The red
stag,
now
extinct in this
afforded
and har^,
ample
its tiny wave to the island shore, teemed with all kinds of fish, and yielded an nnfajling supply for the Cambridge market. Ely itself, if we may trust the authority of Bede, derived its name from the abnndance of
eels once found in the surrounding waters*. Perch, roach, bar^ The 'vigor0iis diction of Cobbeti, in his ecctmtiie History of the Protestant Reformation, has eSeetirdy
&e
illasfeiated iliis
^Tomable phase
: .
"Rnghsb
monastiidsin * The monasties built as veil as vrote for postenty. The ne!Ter.^;ing natoie of thar institations set a^de in all their imdeztakings ereiy calenlation
\eiy best manner: thmr gaidens. fiEhpcnds, farms, -srere as nei perfeetion as thev eonld make liieni in the vhole of their economy th^ set an examjde toiding to make tiie oomiby beaotifiil, to make it an objeet of piide vith the people, and to make ^e nation tznfy and pezma-
Whether
fliey
232.
built or planted, they set the geneions example of providing for ibe
ple&siire.
est,
the honour,
the vealth,
dem eapinntnr palndibns, nomen smnpsit ; sieiit Beda An^^lormn disertissimns doeet.'
p.rid. p. 3.
337
known
chap.
rv.
by the
nary
name
of
'
and the writer in the Hamsay Register declares, that though the fisherman and sportsman plied their craft unceasingly the supply seemed inexhaustible. With such resources at its command the fen country was in those days
size;
home
of the
monk
monasteries as affording the chief examples of the practice p^J^'5( of the ascetic theory. But as generation after generation ""^^ ^"^
little
pagan
literature'.
Its disregard
some
the
difiSculty in repelling;
life
of Poggio Bracciolini, a
affords
a singular illus-
now
occupied.
The dun
shewn to be
,
^^^^
and professing, as was always the case with new communities, a more than ordinarily austere life, attempted to erect in the neighbourhood of Arezzo a convent for their occupation. The rapidity with which these new branches were multiplying had however before this become the subject for serious consideration with the main order, and it had been resolved at a general assembly that no more such societies should be formed without the consent of the chapter. It accordingly devolved upon Poggio, who at that time filled the office of g^ii^ secretary to Martin v, to prohibit the new erection at Arezzo S^
until the pleasure of the chapter should be known.
^
Sw^
This
'*'*''**-
It
would be an interestmg
in-
qtdiy, -were we at liberty here to follow it np, whether the change in the aboye respect did not come in
with the Uendioants, vrhose profession certainly did not include the idea of isolation from manMnd.
22
338
CHAP.
"
MEDIEVAL STUDENT
LIFE.
IV.
interference,
at once
though simply a discharge of his official duty, for calumnies and invectives like
ordinary
defensive
weapons of the religious orders. It was notorious that he regarded the Mendicants with no friendly feelings, and the Fratres OhservanticB accordingly now began to denounce him as a foe to the Christian faith and a subverter of all religion. Their outcries and misrepresentations were so far successful that the good-natured Niccoli Niccolo was induced to address
to Poggio a few words in their behalf.
his reply to the Florentine Maecenas
self of
he
that Jove himself might envy, attracted visitors from far and
near.
But
who
professed
life
of austerity
of Christianity,
and poverty Plato, who had known nought had selected an unhealthy placefor his academy,
mind might
of the body and the virtuous inclinations have free scope. But these men, although professing to take Christ as their
example, chose out pleasant and delightful residences, and
these moreover not in retired spots but in the midst of populous neighbourhoods,
Epistola (ed. Mehns, FIorentia,1759). Lib. xxv 41, see also xxiv 8. With respect to Plato note ^lian, Varia if istoria, ix 10 : '0'n\irm>,vo<!epoS x"/"'"" ^n"'M^'">'' f^""" t^s 'Aita8i)|i*a'as
koX aviipovKfv6vTai> avrifi
tuv
larpiSv
to Aujceiox
viiv,
'
/leroiK^o-ot,
ovk ^^iuffer
el-
animus esset firnaior, et bones menti vaoaret. At isti, qui se Christum sequi simulant, looa eligunt amoena, voluptuosa', omni r'eferta juounditate, non in solitudine, sed in summa hominum frequentia, non ut menti vacent, sed oorpori.' Traversarii
fycjye ovk iv ouSi ^s rd too "AOu neripKijaa av vir^p tou naKpo^idrepos yei>i<r6at.' It is not unlikely how-
dXV
ever that Poggio had in his mind a passage in St. Basil, De legendis libris Gentilium, c. 19 Aid St; icai HKdrum
:
THEORY or EDUCATION.
It is certainly
339
find a
somewhat surprising to
man
of chap, rv/
recommended it as a place of education for undoubtedly that on which _ , , , youth; but the fact affords decisive evidence that such 'wasPj^othe theory then generally recognised. The mens sana was
ness of a locality
'
.
. .
of
education requires the simultaneous developement of the physical and mental powers, or rather teaches us to look
\ipon
them
as only
modes
of the
same
force,
force purely
physical in
its origin.
;
as antagonistic
In those days they were looked upon the mind, it was held, was strengthened by
Occasionally indeed
^
men
of
sounder
viewa held
We find Grosseteste, he who could cheerily suggest to a melancholy brother an occasional cup of wine as a remedy for over
depression, objecting on sanitary grounds to low and
districts';
""^y ^y
marshy
if
we may
on account of were certainly the exception, and the prevailing theory was that on which Poggio so unmercifully insisted'. Unreasonable
selected Oxford as the scene of their labours
But views
like these
T^K 'AKaSriidav (coTaXa/Seiv ^{eiririjSei, TTJi' dyar hiwiSaav tou aaiiwros, oZoi' dfiirfKov rijv tls rd irepiTTa ^topdv, irepiKOTToi. The writings of St. Basil were much studied at this time in connexion with the controversy between; the eastern and western Churches. 1 'Ipse dixit ei quod loca super aquam non sunt sana, nisi fuerint in sublimi sita.' Eccleston, in Monumenta Franciscana, p. 66. ' I think it very considerable what remains upon record in Magdalen College library, in an antient
tea
'
monntainoTis to the sonth and east by reason of the purity of the two former quarters in respect of the latter ; just as Oxford is situated which was selected by the philosophers that came from Greece." Plot's Hut. of Oxford, p. 330. ' The first distinct expression of a counter theory in connexion with university requirements is perhaps that of the Duke of Brabant, the founder of the university of Lonyain in 1426, who on announcing the papal sanction of the proposed scheme
'
manuscript of Walter Barley's, fellow of Merton (tutor to the famous Eing Edward ni and deservedly stUed doctor profundus), who upon the problem complexio rara quare savior, has these words concerning the healthy condition of Oxford and its selection by students for the seat
of the
describes the site as * loco vinetis, pratis, rivuUs, frngibns et fractibus, ac aliis circa victualia necessariis referto, in aere dnlci et bona temperie situato, loco quidem spatioso et jn-
incolamm sunt
les
sur
222
340
CHAP.
rv.
now
appears,
it
mil be
found, like
The theory
not without an element of
truth.
many other abandoned crotchets of mediaEvalism, to contam a germ of truth. The highest state of physical well-being
most favorable to severe mental application; and many a college tutor in the present day could probably bear testimoay, that the high tension of the nervous system
is
rarely the
produced by athletic training often materially interferes with the abUity of the student to devote himself to the sedentaiy
labours of an
TheuniTeraity originally
only a gtammar
schooL
seems necessary for our present purpose, our inquiry into the causes which may be supposed to have determined the localisation of the university, we may now proceed to examine the character of the stuas far as
course.
dent
life
necessarily follows
K then we accept the theory commencement of the university, that we shall be prepared also to accept
Greek philosophers nor
We
a later period.
The Latin
language, or
'
grammar grammar
'
school of
as
it
was
commonly read'-
There were probably some dozen or more separate schools, each presided over by a master of grammar, while the Magisrepresented the supreme authority. It is in connexion with this officer, whose character and functions sc
ter GlomericB
we have
an explanation of those relations to Ely, as a tradition of the earliest times, which formed the precedent for that ecclesiastical interference which was terminated by the Barnwell Process. The existence of such a functionary and of the
before the attack of Poggio on the Observantists : but on the other
hand
to be noted that it is the language of a layman, and that the tmiversity of Louyain was founded for all the faculties save that of tlieology. (See p. 282, note 2, andJBTrata.)
it is
lately in his HUtorical Sketches, as an illustration of mediaeval notions with respect to the best sites for universities.
^ Terence however par excellence; the grammar school, at a later period, seems to have been also known under the designation of the school of Te^
rence.
STUDENTS OF GEAMMAR.
341
us to un- chap.
iv.
grammar
Hugh
Balsham, an exertion of
under our notice, became necessary in order to guard against collision between the representatives of the old and the
new
orders of things,
of the
Master of Glomery and rights like those which, by one of our most ancient statutes, were vested in the regent masters
in the exercise of their authority over those students en-
on their books. If we picture to ourselves some few hundred students, of all ages from early youth to complete manhood, mostly of very slender means, looking forward to
rolled
among the
townsfolk,
grammar
schools, or
sometimes
and there receiving such instruction in Latin as a reading rom Terence, Boethius, or Orosius, eked out by the more
elementary rules from Priscian or Donatus, would represent,
we
shall
every
oonrso or
snedbythe
grammar-
dents.
for-
midable quadrivium, was far beyond both the ambition and His aim was simply
Smith or
Sir Brown', as distinguished from a mere ' hedge-priest,' and to obtain a licence to teach the Latin tongue. For this the degree of master of grammar was
larger Priscian in the original,
'
sufficient,
and the
qualifi-
Sir, the
e.g.
Ban
Chaucer.
342
CHAP.
IV.
MEDIEVAL STUDENT
LIFE.
public disputations on grammar, to have given thirteen lectures on Priscian's Book of Constructions, and to have ob-
'
learning,
and moral
character,' satisfied
the re-
quirements of the authorities'. His licence obtained, he might either be appointed by one of the colleges to teach in the grammar school frequently attached to the early foundations
pupils in
he might become principal of a hostel and receive grammar on his own account; or he noight, as a secular clergyman, be presented to a living or the mastership of a grammar school at a distance from the university.
;
or
With the
^"-^
c"T-d'
tnviv/m and
or
discipline
was not marked, it is true, by the same on the corresponding movements at Bois
numbers
or organization.
The
own
university, is
sufficient explanation of
On
the
we have already noted as taking place about the year 1229, can only be accounted for by supposing that the reputation of the university was by that time fairly
of Paris, which
teS"'
^^^.'
veisities.!
Of the frequent intercourse between Paris and the English universities in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and during part of the fifteenth century, we have already spoken.
established.
This intercourse, it is to be observed, is to be traced not merely in the ^direction assumed by the mental activity of
more
books.
* Statute 117.
JDe Incepturit in
374.
34(3
graduate had spent two or three years and perhaps taken chap, an additional degree at Paris, he should, on his return, be
inclined to
rv^*
comment on any
more than a
tran-
but the changes introduced at Paris among the different 'nations' were so numerous as materially to modify the course of study in the fifteenth century
when compared with that of the thirteenth. In many in- ^^^j"^* stances we find that these changes were subsequently adopted tookfo" the
at Cambridge, and, as the chronology of the statutes at Paris
is far
JSrifin'L"^
the
afford us valuable
Mtiqm-
English
it was subsequently called), in determining the relative antiquity of two statutes in our own code. For a considerable period the students and masters of inferio'.rau^ mation m grammar were probably, in point of numbers, by far the most ^^^i^
Nation Allemande as
Sd ta'cmn"
those of the
faculty of
arts-
The
is
to
be
by the
statutes of Paris
good reason
however
dents of
for
an
was
causes
wuch
new
With the introduction of that portion of the Organon which was known as the NovaArs, logic, the second branch of the trivivm, began to engross a much larger amount of the student's time. To this succeeded the Summulce of
Petrus Hispanus, and logic was crowned in
the mistress of
arts,
,the schools
as
In the mean
mented.
time the stores of Latin literature had been but slightly augDiscoveries like those with which Petrarch was
844
MEDIEVAL STUDENT
LIFE,
any
interest in the
northern universities.
The
splendid
which duke Humphrey bequeathed to Oxford, though received with profuse expressions of gratitude, was valued not for its additions to the known literature of antiquity but for
library
its
Hence the grammarian's and the study of logic oversixteenth century the
shadowed
all
the
rest.
With the
grammar student was correspondingly extended'. During the latter part of the Middle Ages however it was undoubtedly the dialectician's art that was the chief object of the scholar's reverence and ambition. A course of study, moreover, in but one subject and occupying but three years, was obviously not entitled to the same consideration as a seven years' course extending through the trivium and qiiadThus the masters and scholars in grammar gradrivium. ually subsided into acknowledged inferiority to those in arts, an inferiority which is formally recognised in the statute requiring that the funeral of a regent master of arts or of a scholar in that faculty shall be attended by the chancellor and the regents, and at the same time expressly declaring that masters and scholars of grammar are not entitled to iba gramma- such an honour". The grammarian indeed in those days was more than a uothmg more than a schoolmaster, and the estimation master. which that vocatiou was held had perhaps reached its lowest point. The extended sense in which the term grammaticus had been originally understood, and in which it was again
course of the
grammar
He
taught
only schoolboys, and they learned only the elements. It was sadly significant moreover of the character of his vocation
that every inceptor in
^
grammar
at
received a
'
palmer
'
(ferule),
The
last degree in
grammar
torum, 'iUis tantmmnodo exoeptis, qui artem solam decent vel andinnt granimaticam, ad quorum exequias nisi ex devotione non veniant supra dioti.' Documents, i iOi.
345
and then proceeded to flog a boy publicly in the chap. ir. Hence Erasmus in his. Encomium Morice, dear as jhe class as schools^. ' the cause of Latin learning was to his heart, does not hesitate iSiua. to satirize the grammarians of his time as a race of all men the most miserable, who grow old at their work surrounded
'
by herds of boys, deafened by continual uproar, and poisoned by a close, foul atmosphere satisfied however so long as they can over9,we the terrified throng by the terrors of their look and speech, and, while they cut them to pieces with ferule, birch, and thong, gratify their own merciless natures at pleasure.' Similarly, in a letter written somewhat later, he tells us what difficulty he encountered when he sought to find at Cambridge a second master for Colet's newly founded school at St. Paul's, and how a college don, whom he consulted on the subject, sneeringly rejoined, 'Who would
;
put up with the life of a schoolmaster who could get his living in any other way" ?'
From the career and prospects of a grammar student we Experiencesof Q and course may now proceed to examme those of the student m arts *5?5'.?L"',
.
As the university gathered its members from all parts of the kingdom and many of the students came from districts a
1 'Then Shall the BedeU purvay jor every master in Gramer a shrewde Boy, whom the master in Gramer shall bete openlye in the Scolys, and the master in Gramer shall give the Boye a Grote for hys Labour, and another Grote to hym that provydeth the Bode and the Palmer etc. de sinAnd thus endythe the Acte in gulis. that Faoultye.' Stokes' Book, Peacock, Observations, Append. A, p.
jam sexagenarium, qui ceteris rebus omissis, annia plus Tlginti se torquet ao discruciat in grammatica, prorsus fehcem se fore ratus si tamdiu heeat vivere donee certo statnat
\ik6i>,
quomodo distinguendie
tes orationis,
xxxvii.
' Seebohm, Oxford Reformers, 220^ See also Mr Anstey's remarlES, Munimenta Aeademica, p. Ixiii. It ia somewhat surprising, when such was the prevailing estimate of the grammarian's function, to find that there were notwithstanding enthusiasts in the purely technical branch of the
study. The following description for instanee might almost serve for the original of the character which Mr Browning has so powerfully deUneated in his Grammarian's Fvmeral:
exact conclusion with respect to the estimation in which the advantages of a university education were held in these times. Mr Anstey is of opinion that a lad was sent to Oxford or Cambridge when he seemed ' fit for nothing else.' Professor Eogers says, 'There was as keen an ambition in those days among the small proprietors to send one of their sons to the university, as there is now in Ireland to equip a boy at Maynooth.' Historieal Gleanings, 2nd series, p. 17.
'^oii
qVi&aSiXio. woKvrexyinaTQiVjOrcse-
S46
MEDIEVAL STUDENT
journey remote,
it
LIFE.
CHAP^.
was customary for parents to entrust their sons to the care of a 'fetcher,' who after making a preliminary tour in order to form his party, which often numbered upwards of twenty, proceeded by the most direct road to Cambridge. On his arrival two courses were open to
(v^eek's
the youthful freshman :he might either attach himself to one of the religious foundations, in which case his career or he for life might be looked upon as practically decided might enter himself under a resident master, as intending to take holy orders, or perhaps, though such instances were probably confined to the nobility, as. a simple layman. In no
;
case however was he permitted to remain in residence except under the surveillance of a superior^. Unless it was the design of his parents that he should follow the religious life, he would probably before setting out have been fully warned against the allurements of aU Franciscans and Dominicans, until a friar had come to be regarded by him as a kind of ogre, and he would hasten with as little delay as possible to put
The
less
disparity of
than at the
Master and
ischolar.
./
much
less
,
formal charac,
and the selection, so far as the scholar was concerned, a more important matter. A scholar from the south chose a master from the same latitude if he could succeed in meeting with one from the same county he considered himself yet more fortunate if aspiring to become a canonist or a civilian he would naturally seek for a master also engaged upon such studies. The master in turn was expected to interest himself in his pupil no scholar was to be rudely repulsed on the score of poverty if unable to pay for both lodging and
ter,
; ;
^ Statute 42, De Immunitate Schblarium. Indignum esse judioamus ut quia seholarem tueatur, qui certurn magistrum infra xv dies post ejuB ingreasum in universitate non habuerit aut nomen suum infra ternpus prffilibatum in matricula magistri Bui redigere non curayerit, etc'
'
Documents, i 332. This statute wHoh was promulgated in the fifteenth of Henry iii is evidently an echo of that of the university of Paris passed sixteen years before by Robert de Conrjon.
'NuUus
sit
soholaris Parisius
non habeal'
347'
humble
he often rendered an equivalent in the shape of very chap, it,, services he -waited at table, went on errands, and, if we may trust the authority of the Pseudo-Boethius, was often rewarded by his master's left-off garments. The aids ^gJY^^, scholars, held out by the university were then but few. There were
;
some nine
endowed foundations, one or two university exhibitions, and finally the university chest, from which, as a last resource, the hard-pinched student might borrow if he had aught to pledge*. The hostel where he resided protected him from positive extortion, but he was still under the necessity of making certain payments towards the expenses. The wealthier class appear to have been under no
or ten poorly
"^
When
therefore a scholar's
funds entirely failed him, and his Sentences or his Summulce, his Venetian cutlery, and his winter cloak had all found
hands as security for monies advanced, he was compelled to have recourse to other means. His academic life was far from being considered to preclude the idea of manual labour. It has been conjectured, by a
their
way
members
But however this may have been, there was a far more practice of popular method of replenishing an empty purse, a method the scholars, which the example of the Mendicants had rendered all but universal, and this was no other than begging on the public \
highways.
Among
And
so
it
1 This fund represented the acoumnlation of successive legacies to the university by persons of opulence each legacy appears to have heen
ViofeBeoiEtOg6iB,HistoricalOlecm-
and we find archbishop Arundel, on the occasion of his visit, instituting an enquiry,
known
as a chest,
'whether the common chests, with the money contained and the keys belongingthereto,werecarefullykept.' In the account of his visitation we have also a list of the different bene-
series, p. 44. Mr Anstey Those who left the university probably often walked home, and even begged their way about the country, being, as we find from other sources, quite a nuisance sometimes to the farmers and others at whose
ings, says,
2nd
'
Introd. to
Mmimenta Academica
p. c.
348
CHAP.
'
IV.
or the well-
way beneficed ecclesiastic or prior of a great house on his by to some monastery in the fen country, would be accosted
some solitary youth with a more intelligent countenance and more educated accent than ordinary, and be plaintively solicited either in English or in Latin, as might best suit the
case, for the love of
Our Lady to
assist
a distressed votary of
learning.
method
of re-
popular
Hestriotions
among university students, and it was considered necessary to enact that no scholar should beg in the highways
theprMtice Until
Dress of the
the chancellor had satisfied himself of the merits of each individual case and gi-anted a certificate for the purpose'. It would appear from the phraseology of the statutes that a
scholar always wore a distinctive dress, though
it is
uncertain
Assumption
thoseTot^
wear
it.
was probably both an unpretending and inexpensive article of attire, but however unpretending it is amusing to note that it was much more frequently f^lsoly assumed than unlawfully laid aside. In like manner
It
number who
should
and
resources, until
was left very much to his own diswhat seemed excess of costliness
of a generation that delighted in fantastic costume, called forth a prohibition like that of archbishop Stratford*.
1 Cooper, AnnaU, i 245, 343. The following authorization occurs among the ChaneeUor's Acts at Oxford in
the year 1461: 'Eodem die DionyBiusBurnellet Johannes Brown, pauperesBCholMeadeaula"Aristotelis," habuerunt literas testimoniales sub BigiUo officu ad peteudum eleemoBynam. Anstey, Munimenta Academica, ii 684. ^ Mr Anstey is of opinion that ' no
academical dress' was worn by those he terms 'undergraduates.' Introd. to Munimenta Academica, p. Ixvi. But in statute 42 of our Statuta AnUqua it is express^ required that aU qui speciem gerunt scholasHcam shall reaUy be scholars of the university. Documents, i 332. Munimenta Academica, i 360-
whom
DommenU,
*
402.
See
p. 233.
'
349
most probable that it was usual, in the fifteenth chap. iv. century, for arts students to have gained a certain acquaint- instruction ance with Latin before entering the university but it is to Sfom^" be remembered that instruction in such knowledge was not fimina^'to ~, the arts . _ easily to be had away from the two great centres of leammg. course.
; _
.
The
ecclesiastical authorities
cially
after
the appearance of
was systematically dis- JJ'^J^^ was penal for parents to cour^'ed"" send their sons to a private teacher. At length in 1431 theMumtiy. permission was granted for the creation of five additional ua?' schools, but these afforded only partial relief, and the numbers at the cathedral and conventual schools throughout the country were still inconveniently large'. Accordingly in the Foundation year 1439 we find one William Byngham, rector of St. John housb, 1439. Zachary in London, erecting a 'commodious mansion called God's House , and placing it under the supervision of the authorities of Clare Hall, 'to the end that twenty-four youths, imder the direction and government of a learned priest, may be there perpetually educated, and be from thence
creation of
schools
it
The
new grammar
'
Grammar
arts eourae.
,.
certain
it
is
given
in the earlier times nothing more perhaps was taught than what we have already described as included in the course of study pursued by a candidate for the degree of master of grammar; but in the fifteenth century there were
:
the com-
Cooper, AmnaU, 1 189. The conin. which the vocation of the grammaticits w&B then held seems to have cooperated with ecclesiastical jealousy: Bjflgham, in his petition for pemussion to found God's House,
tempt
founde of late over the est parte of the wey leding from Hampton to Coventre and so forth, no ferther north yan Eypon, seventie Soolea
voide, or mo, yat were occupied aU at ones, within fiftie yeres passed,
153, i,
350
*HAP.
IV.
MEDIEVAL STUDENT
LIFE.
some instruction in the rules of Latin versification^. The study of grammar was followed by that of logic and in this branch the Summulce was as much the universal text-book
also
:
hend
its
meaning''; Keuchlin
it
when he went
by the
of the
Freiburg found
university
to the
own
is sufficiently
indicated
occasional reference
Parva Logiaalia,
and
differs
a portion
work which
treats of
if
Mr
traiti de
Donat
of
grammar
somewhat from
that which I have given. He seems to me not to have given sufficient prominence to the fact that there existed simultaneously, (1) a distinct faculty of grammar for those who aimed at nothing more than a grammar degree ; and (2) grammar schools for those engaged upon an arts course. He has consequently represented the grammar school as altogether distiuot from the arts course, and the student as only an artist when he had entered upon the study of logic. The scholar, he says, in his valuable sketch, 'has completed his grammar school life and is now to enter upon his course of training as an "artist."' I cannot think fliat the first stage of the trivium was ever so completely dissociated from the other two. The existence of a distinct, faculty of grammar, similar to that presided over by our own Magister Glomerice, is clearly indicated in the Antiqua Ordinationes given in Mr Anstey's second volume, pp. 442 445, where the office of a regens in grammatica is distinctly adverted
to.
figures grammaticales, I'Organon d'Aristote, les Topiques de Bo6ce, furent tovjours au nonibre des livres que les candidats devaient avoir entendus.' De V Organisation, etc. p. 45. The Oxford statute, of the date 1267, requires that they should have heard the De Constructionihus Prisciani bis, Barbarismus Donati semel.' MunimentaAcademicafP.Si. The statute in our own Statuta Antiqua requires 'quod quiUbet determinaturuB audierit in scholis ordinarie, librum Terentii scilicet, per biennium, logicalia
sur
les
ad memoriter recolendum,
et si
nou
The
mentioned by Mr Austey towards the close of his sketch. He assigns to these Ordinances a date
briefly
much earfier.
grammar was
and probably
certainly part of the 'artist's' course. M. Thurot says that for determining bachelors, 'Le
statim inteUigant.' Opera, i 21. ' Geiger, Johann Reuchlin, p. 8. * The following passage gives the most satisfactory explanation of the origin of this treatise and its scope that I have been able to meet with ' Logica nova...dooet prinoipaliter de tota argumentatione et habet quatuor libros, etc Logica vetus agit de partibns argumentorum et habet duos libros apud Aristotelem (i.e. Cat. and De Interp.)..Ae proprietatibus
:
351
had reached the waters chap, iv? an unfortunate student in the year 1540, where along with the Pandects, the Oesta Bomanorum, a Horace, and the Encomium MoricB, the omnipresent Petrus Hispanus again appears, newly edited by TartaretusS In the lectures on logic the lecturer probably had most frequent recourse to the commentary of Duns Scotus. In his fourth year the scholar was required to attend lectures on some of the 'philosophical' writings of Rhetoric Aristotle, generally it would seem the Metaphysics or the
of the
Cam,
it is
Naturalia,
^where
.
Duns Scotus
or
Thecuadn'-
supplied the
office of interpreter.
The
;
and perspective
tainly
would
last
cer-
i^vance in
three J^*j%f^'
more was comprised than was to be found in the treatises of Capella and Isidorus, or that no advance had been made since the days of Koger Bacon, when accordsubjects nothing
We find
date for the degree of master was required to have read the
tician,
Theory of the Planets (a treatise by the Italian mathemaCampano of Novara), five books of Euclid, common
perspective, a treatise
on proportional
parts,
and another on
statute of the
university of Prague adopted by the newly founded universc. suppositique, appellatione, reStriotione, alienatione,Aristoteles specialea edidit, sed alii autores libros nou utilea traotatus edidervmt ex his, quse sparsim philosophus in suis Ubris posnerat, et ista sic edita dicuntur Paeva Looioaiia eo quod a minoribus autoribus respectu AristoFrom Preface to telis sunt edita.'
autem terminorum,
ampUatione,
Cooper,
ArmaU
letter of
More
Eraimi EjAstolai, ed. Leydeu, pp. 1897 9 ; and Vives, Be Causis, Opera vi
148 56. More, in his Utopia, speaks of the inhabitants of that island as ignorant of 'all those rules of restrictiona,amplifications, and suppositious
veryewittelye inuented in the small lio^caHeBiWhycheheareoure children in euery place do learne.' Transl> by Eobinsoa, ed. Arber, p. 105. ' " Eollai, Statuta Univeraitatis
J6hannes de Werdea's Exercitata ParvorumLogicaliumseevmdamViam Modemorum. EeutUngen, 1487 (quoted by Prantl, iv 204).
Wiennemis,
237.
852
CHAP.
IV.
MEDIEVAL STUDENT
LIFE.
which we have quoted in a preceding where such precedents were likely to be most influential at Oxford or Cambridge, the same subjects were introduced at nearly the same period, though it is not altogether clear how far they formed an obligatory part of the arts student's coursed It will be observed that we have avoided, in the foregoing account, referring to the student, at any stage, as an wndergraduate. We have abstained from the use of the term in order to guard against the misconception to which it might
sity of Leipzic in 1409,
chapter'.
We have
The
Bachelor.
lead.
The
probability
is
Original
meaning of
tlio
degree,
:
teno.
It
on
he w^s encouraged to attend the schools to be it was not until he had com-
as a
Sophia ter.
general sophister.'
was permitted to present himself as a public disputant, and at least two responsions and opponencies,' the defensive and offensive parts in the discussion of a qucestio, appear to have been obligatory, while those who shewed an aptitude for such contests were selected to attend upon the determiners, or incepting bachelors of arts, as their assessors in more
'
'
'
ardent disputes.
When
was completed, it devolved on certain masters of arts appointed by the university to make enquiry with respect to his
age, academical status,
^
and private
character*.
If they were
le
See p. 282, note 2 ad fin. " 'Leg rgformes de 1366 et de 1452 prescrivent pour la licence quelques
fivres
thfiologie
En
signi-
etc. p. 81. The same indefiniteness chaiacieiises' our own statutes on the subject.
'
this
take
353
iv.
the examination which he must pass before he could present himself %,s a questionist, ad respondendum qucestioni. This
^
ITT
tiio
exammed
:
luMtionist
by the
final
proctors,
it
'
posers,'
of arts
as a test
of proficiency
when
received, either
from
suppUcat to the chancellor and the senate. This suppUcat me having been favorably entertained he was allowed to present himself as a questionist. Of this ceremony, which was probably
little
of form,
we have an amusing
stokya*
account in St&kys Book, a volume compiled in the sixteenth ^ century by a fellow of King's College who had filled for J J o o many years the office of esquire bedell, and that of registrary
of the university.
uonut'
On
made
goe,'
and having assembled masters, bachelors, scholars, and questionists, and marshalled them in due order, proceeded to
As they
entered, one of
the bedells cried, Nostra mater, bona nova, bona nova, and the
father of the college' took his seat in the responsions' chair,
'
him
in order.'
Then the
licebit
cooperiri si placet.
Then the
father
proceeded to propound his questions to each of his children in order, and when they had been duly answered he summed
up
his conclusions.
its
purely formal in
he replied to any
performance brought with it the consequent appJause or disgrace, which seems' to have been the only guarantee that he should really exert himself.' Introd. to Munimenta Academiea, p. Ixxxv.
^
The
officer
who
represented the
college
named.
23
354.
MEDIEVAL STUDENT
LIFE.
and involved a feeble questionist in argument, being expressly provided that if he thus unduly lengthened the proceedings the bedell might knock him out,' a^ operation which consisted in hammering at the school doors in such
'
a manner as to render the voices of the disputants inaudible. When each questionist had responded the procession was again
formed, as before, and the bedell escorted
college*.
The
Determiner.
'
them back
to their
The above ceremony, it is to be observed, was always held a few days before Ash Wednesday on its completion the
:
became an incepting bachelor, and from being required respondere ad qucestionem, was now called upon
questionist
is,
SUire in
quadragesima.
which he had previously played the part opponent or respondent, in the language of dean Peacock, of to review the whole question disputed, notice the imperfections or fallacies in the arguments advanced, and finally pronounce his decisions or determination, scholastico more.' As he was required to appear in this capacity throughout the whole of Lent, he was said stare in quadragesima, and stans in
'
bachelor of arts
or courage of
allowed,
Determiners admitted to determine by
some youthful bachelors^ the determiner was he demanded such permission, to obtain the assistance of another bachelor and to determine by proxy. We
if
g^^ accordingly a
for
others,
statute
it is
which
whereby
services
least
were thus called into request should always be at a year's standing senior to those whom they represented'.
xm
A.)
" According to an early Oxford statute determiners were required to
and last days of their determination they disputed qutestiones, i. e. probably, debated points in the text of different treatises of Aristotle. See Anstey, Munimenta Academiea, i
first
when they
dispute logic every day except Friday, disputed or presided over disputations in grammar : and on the
246.
'
Statute 141.
De
bus,
pro
Aliis.
Documents,
Determinatorii 385.
THE ARTS FACULTY.
But while the timid
or incompetent
355
iv.
In the faculty of arts a scholar was aut lofficus aut 77 1 /v* 1 nuUus, and every eflort was made on these occasions to
powers.
I
importance
attached to the ceremony
an impression oi superior skill. A numerous "o"audience was looked upon as essential. Friends were solicited to be present, and these in turn brought their own acqup,intance indiscreet partisans would even appear to have sometimes placed themselves near the entrance and pounced upon passers-by and dragged them within the building, in order that they might lend additional dignity to the proceedings by their involuntary presence. One of the Oxford statutes is an express edict against this latter
J produce
-11
ofdetermina-
practice'.
Before the bachelor could become a master of arts, he must pass through another and yet more formidable ordeal, he must commence. On. iiotifying his wish to this effect to the authorities, either personally or through the regent by whom he was officially represented, he was required to
The inccptor.
tempore aut quando, inciperet. The day selected was, under inception tho ' -^ ^ * great event ia ordinary circumstances, the day of the Great Commencement, HJe^J''''"
''
Sub quo,
in quo
loco
aut ubi,
quo
it
was held not in the arts schools, It would appear that St. Mary.
on the preceding day other exercises took place in the arts which from their immediately preceding the day of inception were known as the Vesperice'. But the crowning day was undoubtedly that of inception. As the disputa- Account of tions were preceded by the celebration of the mass, the """ssacred edifice
1
assembly was convened at the early hour of seven, when the became thronged by doctors of the different
'Item, mhibet dominus cancelsub poena excomnmnicationis
lenter trahant, seu iis quamcumqu violentiam inferant, nee invite iBtrare compellant.' Munimenta Academica, i 247.
' Peacock, 06ert>ottons, p. 11, Afpend. p. xx.
larins,
et iucarcerationia,
ne
aliqni,
tempore
determinationis bacMlariorum, ante ostia scholarum stantes, seu extra per vices Tagantes, transeuntes vio-
23-2
356
MEDIEVAL STUDENT
LIFE.
spectators of ^il^L^' faculties, masters regent and non-regent, and every grade. When the exercises began, the incepting
Tho Father,
who
took up his position at an appointed place on the right hand side of the church. The father then placed the cap (pileum), the sign of the magisterial dignity, on the inceptor's head, who
would then proceed to read aloud a passage from Aristotle. From this passage he would previously have selected and submitted to the chancellor's approval two affirmations of
questions,
logical
on the
The PrsBvaricator.
youngest regent, his senior by one year, who was known from his part on these occasions as the prwvaricator^, to take
gauntlet. The inceptor, if placing a modest estimate on his own powers, would probably have selected some easily defended thesis, and the prcevaricator would find all his dia-
up the
He was
licence
more prominent
transactions
When
performance was over, and he had fairly tested the defensive powers of the inceptor, the proctor said Sufficit, and the place
of the regent was forthwith filled
by the youngest
had
non-regent.
On
the latter
it
tasked the ingenuity of the candidate, the youngest doctor of divinity stepped forward and summed up the conclusions.
last the
by the bedell
as Noster magister,
;
who
at
the same time pronounced his name he then retired from the arena, and the next incepting master stepped into his
place".
Heavy exSenses attenant upon the cere-
Such
formalities,
seem
somewhat trying
Cole
mony.
Ibid.
Append,
p. xxvi.
MSS. xin
220.
35?
man, but
it is
probable that in
less
many
been a
avowed
article
mental exertion should be relieved by occasional if not frequent festivities, and Cambridge and Oxford, even in those days of professed asceticism, were no exception to the rule.
The
different stages of
Limitations
penses im-
it university,
bachelors,
stantes in
was invoked
tria millia
to
than 41.
13s.
4d
'
English
money
of the period, or
some
five
hundred pounds
to a
sum
all
was considerable.
II
684.
'
'
453.
miUia
circa
inoepturi quod ultra tria Turonensium argenteorum seu eorum valorem in solennitate
cultate
habendum non
OTCTts, I 379.
Professor Maiden observes that this clause had its origin in a decree of pope Clement V, made in 1311, especially directed against It is the university of Bologna.
another instance of the intimate connexion that ejdsted in those days between Paris and Cambridge, that this statute appears to have been adopted without the slightest modification and even without the trouble being taken to express the foreign standard by its English equivalent, In Wood-Gutoh the oath requires 'quod non expendes in inoeptione
tua ultra tria millia Turonensium grossorum ; the grossi and Turonenses were the same. Peacock, Observations'-, Append. A. xxi.
'
358
MEDIEVAL STUDENT
LIFE.
the time being and the inceptor's personal friends, must at all times have involved a formidable outlay, and enables us
to understand
Incepting for
others.
how
it is
that
we
The Regent.
sometimes incepting for others, a phrase which probably implies defraying the expenses of the ceremony and therewith obtaining increased opportunities for the display of their dialectical skill in the public exercises \ When the year of his inception was completed the master
of arts
was required,
if called
upon,
to>
give an ordinary
:
while thus
he was known as a regent master of arts". Such then were the successive stages that marked the progress of the arts student that of the sophister, or disputant in the schools,
of the bachelor
:
of arts, eligible in
of the incepting master of arts who had received his licence to teach in any university in Europe, and of the regent master of arts
Lectures.
who lectured for a definite term as the instructor appointed by the university. It will now be necessary to enter upon a subject of some
difficulty,
The
tion, was, as
we have
office of
a lecturer
Lecturing ordinarie
cursorie and extraordinarie.
however he discharged this office while his own course of study was still incomplete, he was himself known as a cursor and was said to lecture cursorie ; we must be careful not to confound these lectures with the ordinary lectures given by masters of arts'. The staple mstruction provided by the university for arts students was given by the regents and as the funds of the university were not sufficient to pro;
as
Anstey,
Introd.
p. xci.
to
ilunimenta
Academica,
'
differs
Statute 134. De juramentis a Tnagistris in inceptionibus et solennibus resumptionibus prcestandis. i>ocuments, i 381,
' The meanmg whioli, under the guidance of M. Thurot, I have ven-
dean Peacock and Mr Anstey have been inclined to adopt. I have accordingly supplied in Appendix (E) the arguments for the view adopted
in the present ehajiter.
SYSTEM OF INSTRUCTION.
could afford to pay but a
to
trifling fee, it
359
chap.
iv.
make
it
turn, if so required,
the
fees paid
by the scholars
all
others.
an audience. They commenced and terminated on specified days, and were probably entirely traditional in their conception and treatment of the subject. It would frequently hap-
a prescribed course within the term, rendered it necessary to obtain the assistance of a coadjutor, who was called the lecturer's
[f this
'
he would be described as lecturing cursorie as well as extraordinarie; but in course of time the term cursorie began to be
applied to
all
to say,
Methods
the lectoerf
understand that at a time when students rarely possessed a copy of the text of the author under
shall readily
we
discussion,
made
to have been of two kinds, of which Aquinas's commentary on Aristotle and the Quwstiones of Buridanus on the Ethics may be taken
as fair specimens.
1
pursued was purely traditional and never varied. The lecturer The analytical J J commenced by discussmg a few general questions havmg method,
J.
pour
triae,
et
de s'exercer a
I'enseigiie-
360
ciTAp. IV.
and
rial,
mate-
formal, final,
and
;
efficient cause.
He
principal divisions took the first division and subdivided it divided again the subdivision and repeated the process until he had subdivided down to the first chapter. He then again
divided until he had reached a subdivision which included only a single sentence or complete idea. He finally Jook
this sentence
and expressed
it
in other terms
serve to
make
He
from one part of the work to another, from one chapter to another, or even from one sentence to another, without a
minute analysis of the reasons for which each division, chapter, or sentence was placed after that by which it was immediately preceded
;
toil,
single
mark
of punctuation.
To
call in
was deemed the quintessence of question the dicta of the author himThere were no
contained
'^^^
all
knew about
the subject,
perhaps even
diafecticai
'
was deemed possible to know, second method, and probably by far the more popular
that
it
method.
ojie^
y^g^g
Whenever
into
a passage presented
itself
was thrown
the foi-m of a quwstio, and then discussed pro and con, the
arguments on either side being drawn up in the usual array. It is probable that it was at lectures of this kind that the instruction often assumed a catechetical form, one of the
statutes expressly requiring that students should be ready with their answers to any questions that might be put, -according to the method of questioning used by the masters.
SYSTEM OF INSTRUCTION.
if
361
iv.
the
mode
own
interpretation
it
and defended
liable
:
it
which
might appear
and the student being thus furnished with a stock of qucestiones and arguments requisite
for enabling schools.
him
Hence the second stage of the trivivm, not only absorbed an excessive amount of attention but it overwhelmed and moulded the whole course of study. It was the science which, as the student's SummidcB assured, him, held the key to all the others, ad omnium methodorum principia viam habens. Even the study of grammar was subjected to the same process. Priscian and Donatus were cast into the form of qucestiones, wherein the grammar student was required to It was undoubtedly exhibit something of dialectical skill. method of treatment that disfrom the prevalence of this putation became that besetting vice of the age which the
opponents of the scholastic culture so severely
'
satirized.
'
They
before
;
and at
regent,
When
lectures
as
duties were at
an end.
He had
to give
him
vium
He had also discharged which he had been educated, and was henceforth known, if he continued to reside,
in
any university
in Europe.
' ' Item statuimus c[Uod, audientes textuin in quaounque facultate, pro forma in eadem facultate statuta et requisita rite eundem audire teneantur, una cum quffistionibus juxta modum magistrorum suorum in quffistionando usitatum, si modus legendi in eadem facultate qusestionem reStatute 138. Documents, i quirat.' Does not the phraseology of 383. this statute offer very strong proof that the term ordinarie did not imply, as Mr Anstey has conjectured.
the employment of the catechetical method?- Otherwise, why so much circumlocution to express what might hare been conveyed in a single word? See Appendix (E).
^
Be
Corruptis Artibus,
345.
362
CHAP.
''
rv.
as a iion-regent\ If he left its precincts he was certain to be regarded as a marvel of learning, and he might probably rely on obtaining employment as a teacher and earning a
Professional prospect of
Masterof'^
*^'""
He formed modest though somewhat precarious income. one of that class so felicitously delineated in Chaucer's poor clerke,' and, dark and enigmatic as were many of the pages of his Latin Axistotle, he valued his capacity to expound the But as in every age with the j-ggt and was valued for it. i those majority of students, learning was seldom valued
'
-i
days as an ultimate good, but for its reproductive capacity, and viewed in this light the degree of master of arts had but The ambitious scholar, intent upon a moderate value. worldly and professional success, directed his efforts to theology or to the civil or canon law. As this necessitated a further extension of his academic career to more than double the time necessary for an arts course, it V7as perforce the exception rather than the rule, and we consequently find, as
is
shewn by the
lists
bers of those
who
1 It will not escape the observation of the reader that the course of study above described must have been attended with considerable expense, and taken in conjunction with the numbers of those who appear to have annually incepted, with the
both
at
known
limits of the' town of Cambridge in those days, and with the ascertained numbers in the university of Paris at different and earlier periods, can hardly fail to disabuse, our minds of those exaggerated statements with respect to numbers hand-
Of the
university of Paris, M. Thurot says, ' Le nombre des itudiants de toutes Us FacultSs peut-etre eoaluS en nioyenne a 1500, et celui des mattres regents a 200, aux epoques Us plus fiorissantes de V Universite.' De V Organisation de I'Bnseignement, p. 33,
n.
1.
The numbers
at
Cambridge
include in the grand total all those attached to the university as servants or tradesmen, and with this fact before us we may perhaps read 3,000 for 30, 000 in the celebrated vaunt of Armachanus with respect to the numbers at Oxford in the commencement of the fourteenth century. A similar c[ualificatiou will be necessary in the statement quoted by M. Victor le Glerc (see p. ISO), with respect to the numbers at Paris. But the exaggeration of mediaeval writers in the matter of statistics is notorious. Mr Froude {Hist, of England, in* 407), has furnished us with some interesting illustrations of this tendency at a yet later period. Both M. Kenan and Mr Lecky have observed that it was not imtil the introduction of the exact sciences that men began to imderstand the importance of accuracy in such matters. 2 See pp. 319, 320.
' ;
363
iv.
much
some counterbalance
and money
lecture in their
an immediate source
before he
of
emolument, would
became
The requirements
course of
for the degree of doctor of divinity in these times deserve to '^^^ "'
be contrasted with those until lately in force. It was necessary (1) that the candidate should have been a regent in arts, i.e. he must have acted as an instructor in the ordinary course of secular learning (2) that he should have attended lectures for at least ten years in the university (3) that he should have heard lectures on the Bible for two years (4) that during his career he should have lectured cursorily on some book of the canonical scriptures for at least ten days in each term of the academical year (5) that he should have lectured on the whole of the Sentences (6) that he should, subsequently to his lectures, have preached publicly ad clerum, and also have responded and opposed in all the schools of his faculty'. It was properly the function of a doctor to deliver the ordinary lecture in this course, but the duty would appear to have often devolved upon the bachelors, and thus, though Bacheiorsof
; ;
own course of study for the doctorial 1 -IT T known as biblici ordinarii or simply as biblici; those of them who delivered the cursory lectures were known as biblici cursores or simply cursores; and those who lectured on the Sentences were known as the Sententiarii'.
stiU pursuing their
mmiio^'"''
lecture
-,
ordinaHe.
1 Statute 124, De Incepturis in Theologia. Documents, i 377. The following questions are among those which we find a doctor of dZvinity determining at Oxford in the year 1466 : ' Si est purgatorimn ? Utrum ignis purgatorius est materiaUs ? Utrum poena inflicta in purgatorio sit poena inflicta a Deo immediate Tel per ministros ? Si per ministros, an ima anima aUam punit? vel per angelos, et tune utrum per angelos
bonos vel malog vel indifferentes ? AnBtey, MunimentaAcademica,ii716. ' It would seem that admission to lecture on the Sentences was the intermediate step between lecturing cursorie and ordinaHe on the Bible Thurot says, Pour Stre admis k
'
Livre des Sentences, il fallait justifier qu'on avait fetudifi en thfologie pendant neuf annfees entiSre8,et fait deux cours sur la Bible.' (Sur I'Organiiation, etc. p. 141.)
364
CHAP.
IV.
The
Course of
faouiiy of the
In the former it was not imperativG that the candidate should have been a regent in arts, but failing this qualification he was required to have heard he lectures on the civil law for ten instead of eight years
law Were equally laborious.
;
must have heard the Digestum Vetus twice, the Digestum Novum, and the Infortiatum once. He must also have lectured on the Infortiatum and on the Institutes, must himself be the possessor of the two Digests and be able to shew that he held
in his custody, either borrowed or his
Course of study ni the
own
property,
all
the
caum^iaw*'
other text-books of the course*. In ^^w the Candidate was required to have heard lectures on the civil law for three years and on the Decretals for another three years
:
for at least
he must have attended cursory lectures on the Bible two years must himself have lectured cursorie on one of four treatises and on some one book of the Decretals^ In both branches it was also obligatory that the candidate should have kept or have been ready to keep, all the required
;.
It
is
to
book
of
(demands which he dared not disregard, for the papal anathema hung over all those who should neglect their study) was one of the chief causes of that neglect of the scriptures which forms so marked a feature in the theology of this period.
wliile,_
according to
oiu:
own
statutes,
sum
leoturmg sententiarie is made dependent on a certain course in arts and theology (see Statute 108, Documents,
I 370), and lecturing 6i6Mce is in tui-n inade dependent on having already lectured on the Sentences. (See Statute 112, Documents, i 372). Bulteus says, Baocalaru vero uon ante licentian poterant, quam Bibliam Senten-
tempug aliquod addictum. Ab eo vera docendi muncre tlieologicum mrsum suum ordiebantur nupen JBaccalarii cursores; ac postea sententiarum Petri Lombardi Ubros quatuor interpretabautur. Hinc nata ilia distinctio Baccal.-iriorum apud maiores, ut alii Biblici alii Sententiarii nun-
cuparentur
'
'
657 658
cuUatis Theologia:,
Tt^rtlfL
^'"-
S*'^*'^*^
122.
Documents
376-7.
865
In the subjoined statute will be found the requirements chap. iv. medicine \ The faculty character of the highest forms of cul- Th edu-'"' Such then was the ture aimed at in the Cambridge of those days and whatever *om^h of
;
may be
our estimate of
its intrinsic
The scarlet hood never graced the shoulders of one who was nothing more than a dexterous logician, nor was
title
the honoured
who had
Throughout the
whole course the maxim disce docendo was regularly enforced, and the duties of the lecture-room and the disputations in the schools enabled all to test their powers and weigh tbeir
chances of practical success long before the period of preparation
Baneful
it is theoiogTof
The example which Alberand Aquinas had set, of reconciling philosophy and theology, had gradually expanded into a uniform and vicious
impossible to speak with favour.
practice
logician.
of subjecting
all
men
thought
They
preferred
new and
more
minua
mmm
Kbrum
de theorica et
cina nisi priua in artibus rcxerit, et ad minus per quinquennium Mo vel alibi in uniTerBitate audierit medi-
cinam,
ita
quod
brum
viz.
medicinsB non commentatos, viz. liJohannicii, librum Philareti de pulsibus, librum Tbeophili de
urinis,
opposuerit et responderit, et quod ad minus per annum exercitatus fuerit in praotioa: ita quod ejus notitia in statura moribus et scientia tarn in theorica quam in praotica fuerit merito approbata ab omnibus magistris
ilUus faeultatis secundum depositionem de scientia eortmdem modo supradicto: et tunc admittatur cum
et quemlibet librum Isaac, librum urinarum Isaac, librum de dietis partioularibus, librum febrium Isaac, librum Viatjci. Item audiat semel antidotarium Nicholai item audiat bis libros commentalibrum Tegui Galieni, litos, viz. brum prognosticorum, librum aphorismorum, librum de regimine acutorum: et quod legerit cursorie ad
:
formam prsedictam
juraverit.
se
eomplevisse
Item statnimus quod nullus admittatur ad incipiendum in medicina, nisi ^er biennium exercitatus fuerit in practiea.' Statute 119. Documents, i 375.
366
CHAP.
IV.
obvious and clear, and valued only what called forth a con'The hearts of the learned were dried up in the study of the abstract and the uncertain
siderable intellectual effort.
devoid themselves of
not
how
fervour and unction they understood to address themselves to the hearts of their auditors;
all
the disputation
College
11/e.
left
them
Up
the hostels, which had superseded the lodginghouses, were, as we have already seen, far more numerous, though in their turn diminishing in number as the colleges
minority
multiplied.
As however the
may be worth
of a
career
scholar
Pembroke, Corpus,
or
when the
its
still
represented
it
existing discipline.
again the
dominant
theory.
becomes necessary to bear in mind that all-dominant conception which has already come so prominently before us. Asceticism, as it was then the professed rule of life with the monk, the friar, and the secular, was
here again
also the prevailing theory in the discipline of those
And
whom
they taught and trained for their several professions. The man fasted, voluntarily bared his back to the scourge, kept
long and painful vigils
to seek repose
the boy was starved, flogged, and sent where he might find it if he were able. Even
:
tender girlhood did not altogether escape the pains thus conscientiously inflicted.
From
entrusted
of parents,
down the days Lady mournfully plaintive over the bobs, and other nameless petty tortures by her own
refractory or negligent,
Jane Grey,
nips,
inflicted
But with the latter the severity of this Spartan discipline often approached a point where it became a struggle for very life. In justification of such treattion of the boy.
ment the teacher would appeal to instances, like those which occasionally come under our notice, of savage outbreaks on
THE COLLEGES.
the part of the taught,
367
chap. ^"^^
iv.
to
beneath the
stiluses of his
by
its
own
externes.
How
were the
sion
In one of his amusing Account KivBii by Erasmus has given a startling Eraamus record of his own experiences at Paris. The College de Mon- ^j^" taigu, or Montacuto, in that university, was a well-known school for theologians, presided over by one Standin or Standouk, a man whom Erasmus describes as notwanting in good
will not here stop to enquire.
we
of
been reared in the stem school of poverty and privation, it to be the best discipline for all over whom he ruled. The scholars accordingly lived, even in the depth of "winter, on a scanty dole of coarse bread, accompanied occasionally by rotten eggs, and wine, which from its resemblance to vinegar, caused the college to be popularly known by the name oi Montaceto, but their ordinary drink was a draught from a well of putrid water. Meat they never tasted. They slept on the floors of damp chambers swarming with vermin
self
believed
cesspools.
It
was
the professed aim of this regime to crush as far as possible the spirit of the individual^; unfortunately out the
life it
often crushed
as
well.
spirited youths, of
some became insane, some even lepers. He himself, rescued before it was too late by the generous hand of lord Mountjoy, brought away not merely pediculorum largissimam copiam, but a constitution impaired by all kinds of humours. Such is the description given by the foremost scholar of his age (in a volume that within a few years of its first ap1
'
Oxford Befomers, 210^-2. Withreference to the Coffige de Montaigu he says, 'Neque Tero hao commemoro quodmalevelimillieollegio.sedopertB
pretium esse judioavi monere, ne sub umbra religionis humana sssvitia corrumpat setatem imperitam aut
teneram.'
Ichthyophagia.
368
CHAP.
IV.
pearance had been read and discussed by numberless readers in all the universities of Christendom), of a noted college in
the most famous seat of
European learning, a college which could boast that it had sent forth not a few distinguished theologians and men of eminence. Among the number was the celebrated John Major, the author of the De Oestis Scotorum, who was resident at the college at the same time as Erasmus, and again resident within a few
His account
have caiied
deSa"'
months of the time when the foregoing description appeared Yet this dein the first edition of the Colloquies at Basel'. scription appears to have provoked no outcry or indignant denial, nor does there seem any reason for doubting that it had as good a basis of fact as those terrible delineations of monastic life and character from the same pen, which were then moving all Europe to 'laughter or alarm. With facts
like these before us,
sion,
we
mode
Our
early
designed only
students.
was certainly not below the average continental standard. There is perhaps no feature more uniformly characteristic of our early colloge statutes than the design of the founder to assist Only those who really required assistance and were intent on a studious
life.
The
and the preference to be given to those candidates who had already made some acquirements, must necessarily have excluded the idler and the lover of licence". It was designed that each collegian should be a model of industry and good
conduct to the ordinary student. Hence, while offering but moderate attractions to the wealthy, the college held out considerable advantages to the poor scholar
colleges of Paris, that of
afforded
was
far
compared with the Navarre perhaps excepted, the aid more liberal and the discipline consequently
:
Cooper, Athena:, i 92, 93. The wealthier class of students resided in the hostels; this ia clearly shewn Lever's sermon at St Paul's Cross, preached in 1550, where, contrastmg the state of the university at the time with that at an earlier part of the century, he says that many
I
of the eoholars who 'hauyng ryoh frendes or beyng benefyoed men dyd lyue of tlieym selues in Ostles and Innes be eyther gon awaye, or eUes fayne to crepe into CoUoges, and put poore men from hare lyuynges.' Lever's Sei-mons, ed. Arber, p. 121.
THE COLLEGES.
more
easily enforced.
369
for
The standanl
it.
from a moderate knowledge of Latin to an acquaintance with the whole of the friviuii^ It was ueoessarv that those CKttm
elected should have been
Lom
certain proportion.
Admission
some foundations
w;vs uot
for one
year
statutes
was administered to aU, and it was regarded as an unpardonable breach of fidelity if any divulged the secrets of
'
the house.'
It
Once admitted, the student's anxieties as to ways and means appear to have been, for a time, at an end.
is a proof of the Touth of those irenerallv admitted, that Knioe although a certain amount of piwious attainment was indis- S'SS^Jr **^ pensable, the average age was such as to call for the dis-
The
'
boys," as
were never permitted to go beyond the college gates unless accompanied by a master of arts; they were distributed through the coll^je in threes or fours as jouit-occupants of a single room, which served both as dormitory and study if convicted of any infringement of the college rules they were
:
With the
period of
BciKk>is.
to be
The room.
Rooms,
would always be eomfonJess and in winter often scarcely tenable. There was no fireplace and no stove, this luxury being reserved for the hall alone'. The wind whistled shrewdly through the crevices of the ill-made casescantily furnished,
Bncer, the Gimaii iet<amei, resided at the muTcisitT from 1^ to his deatli in lo,"'.^. found this form of hardship almost ini^pportaUe. Edvaid te, hearing of Ms ill health, pr^ented him with a German
>
vho
divd Bm^iley, vho died in the latter half vS Que exxteosth centnrr. that She gsTe a some of moucT lo the master of St. John's CoUedgi to pn>rare to have fvres in the hall of that
'
colledg
nppon
all r02;-:l!iv<
and
b':iUy-
Zmriek Letters, u 550. Eren hall a fire appears to have been reiy sparing indulged
stove.
in the
in.
coUe^
We
days betnxt the fei! of all S.-svaies and Candlemas, trhmm tier ritr ko ordimarg infra of the eha'p^ ttf ih, colledg.'
Baker-Hajror, p. 595.
-24
370
CHAP.
IV.
The college
library.
upon some greasy parchment page over which amanuensis and reader had alike laboured with painful toil The volume over which he pored was probably from the college library, and it was one of the most envied privileges of the coUegian that he had access to such aids as these. The library was accessible to aU the members of the college, but only fellows were permitted to take away volumes to their own rooms and an inspection of
as the student kept his vigils, intent
;
one of our earhest library catalogues, that of Peterhouse, affords interesting evidence, in the different proportions of the number of volumes thus withdrawn in each class of literature,
of the comparative popularity of different branches of study'.
Description of a college library of these times.
we should
little better than a haylofb, reached by a staircase composed of blocks of timber, placed
damp room
one above another, with rows of rudely constructed bookstands where the volumes lay chained, and where the young
might commence his acquaintance with Bonaventuia If the volumes were too numerous for the shelves they were stowed away in chests, and sometimes
scholar
or Aquinas.
exposed for
sale.
for the maintenance of a fellow never exceeded the weekly sum", expressed in modem money, of from sixteen to eighteen shillings ; in some colleges it was much
less.
Deacription of student
life by a master of St. John's in the year
The allowance
Lever, the master of St. John's, in an oft quoted passage, describes the scholars of his coUege, then the poorest it is to
versity, as
be observed in proportion to
ISSO.
its numbers in the whole unigoing to dinner at ten o'clock, content with a penny piece of beef among four, having a little 'porage' made of
' The volumes, as entered in the catalogue, are distrngnished as cathenati and divisi inter socios: the
17, divisi inter socios, also 17; libri naturalis et mcrralis philosophie ca-
1i;
divui inter socios are 29, those cathenati, also 29; the libH
libri logice
divisi
theologie cathenati, 137, assignati sociM, 41; the libri juris civilis ca^ thenati, 9, divisi inter socios, 15; the libri juris canonici cathenati.
inter socios, 3.
' The ' commuruB,' or commons, were the expenses of maintenance: all meals being at that time taken in
the
common
hall.
THE COLLEGES.
'
371
iv.
the broth of the same beef, with salt and oatmeal, and chap. nothing else.' After this slender dinner, he continues, they
'
be either teaching or learning until five of the clock in the evening, when as they have a supper not much better than their dinner. Immediately after the which, they go either to reasoning in problems or unto some other study, until it be
nine or ten of the clock, and then being without
to walk or run
their feet
fire
are fain
to get a heat in
when they go
be observed that
Tiiia
affe.irs,
dcscnp-
rapacity of courtiers and nobles, the college had been reduced S^^*^,. to the lowest ebb of its fortunes, and, to use Lever's own "'"fiaii*-
'
and
was addressing a wealthy congregation at Paul's Cross, and endeavouring to awaken their sympathy on behalf of the universities. We have however other evidence which may be taken without qualification, otheren* dence less There is abundant indirect proof that Oxford was at this ^g^"' period considered by far the more luxurious university and yet we find that, compared with the scale of living among the better classes of the time, Oxford fare was considered to rank somewhat low. Sir Thomas More, after the great
help.'
The
speaker, moreover,
'
But
will
my
counsel
is,
that
we
fall
not to
not therefore descend to Oxford fare, nor to the. fare of New Inn, but we will begin with In haU and in college generally the use use of Latin Lincoln's Inn diet.'
first,
we
conTeraaiion,
some of the earlier statutes, given at the time when French was the language of the legislature, the use of the latter
in
Lever'SiSrmon,ed.Arber,p.l22. conveys perhaps to most readers an impression of greater
'
1-
*^
_,
tat French
occ^onany
This account
was somewhat
better :
and
it is evi-
hardship than it really implies. The penny in the sixteenth century was quite equal in value to the shlQijig of our own day. Meat, on the other hand, was then far cheaper when compared with other provisions, and a 'penny piece' was probably not less than two lbs. Then it will be ob-
dent that the students had meat twice a day. As for fires, at a time when the use of coal was limited to the immediate neighbourhood of the coal mines, wood and turf being the ordinary fuel, these were a luxury with every class, * Peacock, Observatumt, p. 4, App. A, note 2, p. v.
242
372
CHAP.
IV.
An
Oxford statute
of
grammar students
language
author into both English and French, in order that the latter may not be forgotten*. It is evident that the
scholar or fellow
to
be in
residence,
Fellows re'"residence,
and
if
in residence to be studying.
If he absented himself,
unless
upon busiuess
weekly expenses was stopped. In the course of time he was permitted to be absent if he could shew good reason: the supervision of a parish, or an engagement as tutor in a noble
family, appears to have been accepted as a valid excuse
;
hut
couegesincreasing
in... m
^
the time of absence was always defined, and his return at its expiration, or a renewal of leave, was indispensable to the retentiou of his fellowship".
valuo, this lucrease '
If the
ftUowshS
was to be applied to the creation of ^^ ^^^ fellowships, not to be distributed among those already on the foundation. Lectureships were held in rotation, and as
^
tii
/.
to
uew
line of study.
On
college appears to
some of the
earlier foundations.
ofl&ce,
Though the
nomination to the
was vested in the fellows, and to be made from their own number, this privilege was often set aside by episcopal authority or by royal letter, and an entire stranger placed in authoThe office of rity over the society. In addition to this he was capable master fref t holdmg other emoluments, sometimes even at another 2iS"^th' College. Thus John Sickling, the last master of God's House, ferments!" held at the same time a fellowship at Corpus Shorten, the
i
-i
Munimenta Academica,
Mr Anstey
tuts,
It is, I
' The earliest instance that has come under my notice of such leave
presume, by a misprint that he IS made to speak of it in the preface (p. Ixx), as 'not one of the amcient statutes on grammar schools,' for the whole statute evidently relates to grammar students, and his marginal summary clearly impUes that such is
the case.
of absence is that of Eichard Whitford, the 'wretch of Sion,' who on the 23rd of March, 1497, received from the master and fellows of Queens' College, of which he was a fellow, five years' leave of absence
that he 'might attend upon Lord Mountioy in foreign parts.' Knight's Life of Erasmus, p. 64.
'
THE CAM.
first
373
was also a fellow of Pembroke. Like chap. it. Rotheram when master of Pembroke, Story when master of Michaelhouse, Fisher when president of Queens', the head of a college was often at the same time the holder of a bishopric'. sports and Of the sports and pastimes of these days we have little paatimea. r record but we know the use of the crossbow to have been a
master of
St. John's,
./
favorite accomplishment
common amusement
'
while
from certain college statutes requiring that no fierce birds shall be introduced within the precincts of the college, we may infer that many of the students were emulous of the falconer's art''. The river again appears to have possessed considerable attractions, though of a kind differing from those
of the present day.
Fishing.
1bemg
By
t 1
legal right 7
'
with
-in all
it
The
river
reallythe property of
and
let it
be added to their
men
of
Cam-
bridge,
chemical analysis of the waters of their native stream, nevertheless did their best to
attempt to treat
it
as a
common
town
In another
They
pro-
and in those days the right of fishing was as jealously guarded in our southern streams as it is to-day in the salmon fisheries of the north. Their rights however were but too often The rights of openly and audaciously ignored. Even the religious were rationaeat
duce
;
' '
^ The late Dr Ainslie, in his Inquiry concerning the earliest Masters of the College of Valence Mary, p.
276, a manuscript to which I have access, even raises the question whether the language of the earliest extant statutes of Pembroke College absolutely requires that the master
had
should not be a layman He quotes the expression qui nulli facultati sit astrictus: but he also observes that the onoission was supplied in the second edition of the statutes by the
!
object of the foundation itself that the Master was from the first a priest.' This conclusion enables him to deoide without hesitation that Eobert de Thorpe, the first master of the society, was not the same person as lord chancellor Thorpe, whom Blackstone expressly notes as haying been, contrary to custom, a layman,
^ The early statutes of Peterhouse specify falcons and hawks; St. John's statutes (1516), c. 21, canes aut rapaces aves; do." (1830 and 1545), o. 26,
words dum tamen sacerdos fuerit.. He adds I feel satisfied both by this and other passages and by the avowed
'
hounds, ferrets, hawks, singing birds, ' Cooper, Annals, i 353. * Ibid, i 258 et passim.
374
CHAP.
TV.
not blameless in this matter, and on one occasion the whole community was scandalized by learning that the pnor of
BamweU and
tain rights
of'
the mayor, after an angry altercation as to cerfishing at Chesterton, had proceeded to lay
to
have furnished by far the most pertinacious aggressors. It could never be brought to see that the Cam was not its own; and the patience of the burgesses was sorely tried as they saw
exultant undergraduates, in broad daylight, continually landing goodly perch and pike" to which they had not the shadow of a claim. As a last resource they farmed out their
rights piscatorial to a
it was would exercise a corresponding vigilance in protecting their property. But
number
the
no better than the original proprietors; were treated with derision j their nets were cut and broken; and they themselves, in the indignantly
'
poor
men
'
fared
'
many
times driven
out of their boats with stones and other like things, to the
^ke
companion.
Featnres of
tile
ancient
tovn and
uuiTezsity.
custom of the premight be supposed was merely a matter of obvious convenience, the daily walk with a single companion, was originally inculcated by college statute*, while this in turn is said to have derived its precedent from apostoUc example. The country in those days was soon gained. God's House, standing on the present site of Christ's College, looked out from behind over a wide extent of corn-land. The road
It is not uninteresting to note that a
it
From
es-
pecially TTheu of miusnal size, to have been regarded as a great delicacy, and the price it commanded in the
market most have made the right of fishing in waters where it was to he found one of considerable Talne. On
the occasion
visit to the
find in the proctors' list of expenses, ' for 6 great pikes, 33. id.'; on the occasion of a royal yisit in 1522 twelve grete pyks, 55s. 8d.' ; and in 1533, ' payed for a great pyke govyn in present to my lord Monnt Egle, 4s.'
these entries it wonld appear that a single pike would often command a higher price t>ian would be given for a turbot in the present day. ' Cooper, Annals, i 353. * ' wish that the fellows who are wHling to walk ont shoold seek each other's society, and walk together conversing witii each other in pairs on scholarship or on someproper and pleasant topic, and so return together betimes.' Statutes of Canterbury Hall giren by Simon ZsZip, 1366.
We
c.
70.
375
side
by dreary marshes,
chap.
iv.
away when liberated by the too cunning Beyond the river, at the 'Backs,' no houses were to be seen until Newnham was reached. Where many a good road now renders intercommunication an easy matter, there was only a nan-ow and often treacherous path traversing long tracts of oozing mud covered, by sedge and rushes. In the town itself, the ground between the river and the Hospital of St. John and Michaelhouse appears to have
'
miller.
new
buUdin^; the magnificent chapel rose amid a wide expanse of grass land, with a few private dwellings forming a frontage towards the street. The site of the present senate house was partly occupied by St. Mary's hostel and was partly a vacant space in front of the common schools, the latter being approached by a narrow lane known as University Street,
library
side.
known
from the
Jesus Lane, and then in a direction partly corresponding with the present Park Street across the common, until it rejoined
the river near where the locks now stand. In one instance land was to be seen where we now see only water, the river at the back of Trinity Hall flowing round a little island
known by
the
name
The nuuority
students actuated by the same motives aa
now
hasten to bring our sketch of student life in those distant o days to a close. In looking back at the various features of mofe^
that
first
life, its
arid culture
and
ascetic discipline, it
seems at
of
'""'''
how such a
excited
have
such
displays
men
376
CHAP.
"
IV.
But
in truth it does not require a very extended acquaintance with the history of learning to be aware, that the subject matter whereon precedent has decided that the intellectual
but
little
to
do with the numbers of those who may enter In every age there will always be a
memories, and" superior powers of mental application. Conscious of these natural gifts they will not fail to turn them to
fields where such qualifications come most prominently into play. The abstract value of the different studies wherein they are required to manifest their ability will be to them a matter of little concern.. The subject
account in those
matter
may
be congenial or
affected
it
may
be absolutely repellant
considerations,
to
be but
slightly
by such
and the
When
his object
is
of so
many
painful hours.
He
will not
small
amount
his studies
It may even be well if the race has not overtaxed his powers and left him for the remainder of his life enfeebled both in mind and body.
truth.
re-
nowned teachers, the ardour with which disputations were waged and the applause that they evoked, notwithstanding
the fortitude with which many students encountered great hardships, we see no reason for concluding that the intellec-
CONCLUSION.
377
iv.
knowledge was in any way of a higher order than that of subsequent periods. Whenever the eagle glance of genius, whether that of Roger Bacon, Petrarch, or Poggio, surveyed the
contests of the schools,
it
it
it
up
to lasting scorn.
seems equally reasonable to suppose that there was also a minority, however small, composed of those who had been attracted to the university by a genuine thirst for knowledge,
men
to
whom
to
it
live,
only
truth
new
if
is
and daily
And
it
such
Apossiwe
hard to
We cannot
but
what a mockery of true knowledge this mediaeval culture must have appeared to many a young, ardent, and enquiring spirit. The feats of the dialectician, whose most admired performance was to demonstrate by syllogism the truth of what even to the untutored reason was obviously
feel
false
the tedious
and
what
to
grow
in
mental
!
stature
imaginary We expenences
can picture to ourselves one of this despised minority, some fatter'nuiS' young bachelor standing in quadragesima, weary with the *"
Lent and harassed by his long probation. It is his last day, and his performance hitherto has earned for him but little credit, for he is one who finds more satisfaction in revolving difficulties within his own mind in his chamber than in attempting an off-hand solution of a quoestio in the schools. His 'determinations this afternoon are not felicitous, and now he is summing up after a hot disputation between two strapping young north countiymen, each ready of utterance, of indomitable assurance, and with most exausterities of
'
cellent lungs.
He
the eye of the opponent, that the latter feels confident that if he, the determiner, were in the respondent's place, he, the opponent, would have him in Bocardo before the act But at last the task is accomplished, though was over.
378
CHAP.
IV.
with but faint applause, and he hurries out of the crowded buzzing schools, thankful that he shall have to stand in quadragesima no more. Heedless of coUege statute and apostolic precedent, solitary and dejected, he seeks some lonely country path, troubled less by a sense of his recent failure than by a feeling of dissatisfaction at whatever he has yet learned or achieved. If this be all, he thinks, that Cambridge can do for him, it were better he were back at home, again guiding his father's plough or casting the falcon in the dear old fields. And so he wanders on, until the waning day warns him that he must be turning back if he would reach his college before
his final 'determination' is greeted
dark.
The duU
level landscape,
we may
sombre mood. Communion with nature is not for him the fountain at which he renews his strength. The painter's pencil and the poet's song have
small power to win
him
to a less
Yet even
what time
the sun,
now approaching
the horizon,
is
gathering new
splendour amid the mists that rise over the marish plain,
while tower and battlement gleam refolgent in the western
a city not made with hands. and ere he reaches his college gate the stars come forth overhead, he seems to see, very near, the mansions of the blest. He sees that mystic chain of sentient being of which Dionysiiis and Bonaventura have told, ^that chain of which he is himself a link, vanishing in the immortal and the divine. And he believes with a perfect faith, for which our modern scientific enlightenment seems but a poor exchange, that when a few fitful, feverish years are over, he too shall be admitted to those bright abodes, and the doubts and anxieties that have harassed him here shall be exchanged for full assurance and tmendsky,
^there rises
up a
vision of
And
ing peace.
CHAPTER
LEARXIXG.
V.
Part
I:
^Thb HuMA>asTS.
seen standing by a
books.
thnistiiig t'mil*'
Had
condemned
heresy,
and obstinate
student of their contents, been destined to perish martyrwise in the same flames, he could hardly have exhibited
more he witnesses his sorrow, and rescuing two of the volumes hands them to the lad. 'Take this,' he says, as he hands him back a Virgil, 'as a rare amusement of your leisure hours, and this' (the Rhetoric of Cicero), as something to aid you in your real work.'
emotion.
The
'
*^* In this chapter the sources of information to which I have been mainly
indebted, in addition to the original anthers whose works I hare frequently
and thronghont the chapter the reference to each author wiU. be given with merely Ms name: (1) Hody, Be Greeds lUuitribui Lingnce Grceca Instauratoribm (ed. Jebb), 1742; (2) Boemer, Be Doctis Hominihus Grcecis, lipsiaB, 1750; (3) AmbronilTraversarii GeneralU Camuldulensium Aliorumque ad Ipsum et ad Alios de eodem Ambrosio Latinis EpistoloB, etc. Accedit ejusdem Ambrosii vita in qua Sistoria Litteraria
consnlted, are the following,
FloTeiUina ab
nmtdum
editis
a Laurentio Mehzis Etrusca Academiw Cortonensis Of these three Hody is probably the best known in
England, but his work is a much less careful production than that of Boerner, who, as well as Mehus, writing somewhat later, has pointed out not a few important errors in the treatise of the Oxford professor. To these I must add professor Georg Voigt's very able volume Die Wiederbelebung det
Classischen Alterthums oder das erite Jahrkundert det Humanismus, Berlin,
1859.
380
CHAP.v.
THE HUMANISTS.
far
from tincommon in the on the part of the well-meaning but mediocre parent to recognise or to sympathise with the as yet undeveloped genius of its own offspring.
It
total inability
while the ardent intellect of the youthful Francesco was already being attracted, as by some magnetic power, to the
neglected and almost forgotten literature of antiquity.
Effects of the revival of
The new
directed
is
must now be
iw^ conpreo^tag*
influences.
outcome of the exigencies and corruptions of the Romish Church the civil law was the favorite study of the ecclesiastic and, in his hands, as we have already seen, was closely combined with the canon law; the New Aristotle had for the
;
most part been manipulated into supposed agreement with Christian theology the Sentences were nothing more than a
;
formal exposition of that theology as interpreted by four eminent doctors of the Latin Church. But the revival of
classical learning involved the
it
was of
ism
the cowl and the gown,' to use the language of Voigt, 'had to be flung aside for the ttinic and the toga;' and from the monotonous rounds and arid abstractions of the schools
' ;
m5n now
any
cern
other,
civilised
is
may be said to express the aims and aspirations of but not christianised humanity,whose whole con-
ira, voluptas,
with this new experience there awoke again a keen delight in the external world, an admiration of the beautiful in nature, and an art that fashioned itself upon nature. It
And
PETRARCH.
381
was
and bright spring day after a chap. v. v long and uninterrupted reign of wintry frost and gloom*. ExtrayapnIt was indeed time that some tew spirit breathed upon ^ ^ cies of the the waters over which the ancient darkness seemed threat- ^^wj^"^ ening to resume its reign. Scholasticism was reaching the length of its tether with the nominalism of Occam, while its method was being exhibited in all its impotence by the follies of the Averroists'. That method, as embodied in the writings of Aquinas or Duns Scotus in enquiries concerning the
as the shining of a soft
-
though it failed to establish a single conclusive result, might still perhaps be defended as an invigorating and elevating exercise of the human faculties: but when the pseudo-science
of the Averroists, while
it
tempt
demonstrating the logical consistency of the orthodox theology, proceeded to apply the same method
all efforts at
subject matter
ho longer shielded
it
The
scarcely
more encouraging
in other fields.
prospect was General deGleams of classic j^^"^,^ time engaged our *^"-
The Latin
litera-
ture was less and less studied; and Dante, happily for his
by
his contemporaries,
In the prose works of Francesco Petrarch we have the ,. , I'll 1 which the modem mind
has either tacitly or formally passed upon the method, the conceptions, and the aims of the scholastic era'; the verdict,
1
'
'
Die
Italiener,' says
Burckhardt,
BJBd die friihsten unter den Modernen welche die Geatalt der Landschaft als etwas mehr oder weniger
sciaftliche Seote nur au8 Petrarca's Sohilderung, und dieser hebt als ihr Gegner alleiu die negativen und anstbssigen Lehren hervor.' Voigt, p.
52.
What Voigt says of Petrarch in relation to his entire volume, I may apply to the present chapter: 'Die Saat, die er ausgeworfen, hat Tau-
Schdneswahrgenommenundgenossen haWn.' See his interesting sketch of th progress of this tendency in the chapter entitled Die Entdeckumg der Welt wrvd der Memehen, in Die
Cultwr der Renaissance, pp. 222 82. ' ' Leider kennen -wir diese wissen-
sende von Mensohen zu ihrer Pflege gerufen tmd Jahxhunderte zur Eeife
382
CHAP.
Pakt
V.
I.
THE HUMANISTS.
it
must be added, unaccompanied by those reservations and have been very forcibly urged by more dispassionate critics. It is perhaps almost
essential to success in a reformer that his censures should be sweeping and his invectives unsparing. When the work of reform has been well nigh completed and the last vestiges of
spirit of
much
that
is
valuable
Petrarch, it is evident, saw nothing in the whole system of scholasticism that he considered worthy to be thus spared. The labours of the school-
men
He was
altogether unable
logic, and believed even the most famous disputants in the schools to be actuated by no higher motive than the professors of the civil law, but simply to ply
and
of the
universities.
their trade for the love of gain\ The universities appeared ^ ^^ to him only 'nests of gloomy ignorance,' while he derided
.
On
one
be found adopting a less contemptuous tone, and styling Paris the mother of learning,' 'the noble university,' but this was when the poet's crown
true,
is
he
to
'
conferred
his brows.
Hisinfluence:
just descended on
It would be a difficult and almost an endless task, to endeavour to trace out all the different channels through which Petrarch's genius acted upon the succeeding age, hut
cio quid
der f olgenden Jahrhunderte erzahleu, wird der f einf iihlende Leser den Geist des neubelebten Alterthums und gerade in der Gewandung rausoben horen, die er dnrch Petraroa empfan_
majores oertatim ut divina looutuin laudibus ad cffilum toUunt; tinninnt interim oampansB, strepimt tubffi, TOlant
tici
annuli,
figuntui
osonla, verJ)iretus
rotundus ao magistralis
i
i
Opera,
iv 1.
apponitur; bis peractis descendit sapiens, qui stultus ascenderat.' De Vera Sapientia, Opera, 324.
PETRARCH.
attributable to his example,
383
^the
ship in connexion with the discovery and study of the writings of Cicero, and, though less directly, the
Italy to the value of the
,
awakening of (i)jJ''f^.
(2) as a reviver of the
Greek
result,
JJ^^^y'
commencement
Aristotle,
admit
An
to
is
be
by a
scholars
succeeding generation.
cimngemthe modern esti*'.
Their reverence and regard for his genius while he lived and
for his
dead, rested, as their language clearlv J o o shews, on a very different basis from that which has sus^ '
memory when
'
co^temj^rar
During the last three fame has been derived chiefly from his merits
''
view of the generations to whom he was more directly known, living as they did surrounded by the trophies of his Nor was it his own view. His poems were great triumph.
the productions of his ardent but immature youth, and he
never for a
verdict can
It
moment
Reason of
however be
services,
greatest,
rendered by Petrarch to the cause of learning, that he brought back the use of the Latin tongue to something more nearly
approaching a classic standard. From the days of Boethius down to the fourteenth century, we may seek vainly for any author who appears even to have aimed at an imitation of
the models of antiquity.
those models and set
scarcely therefore
|
'
up a standard
own.
It
can
be considered surprising that Petrarch himself failed, all unaided as he was, in reaching the highest His Latinity, though of Ciceronian elegance excellence. when compared with that of Matthew Paris, of Anselm, or of Dante, is still characterised by numerous defects. Gramma1
384
tical
THE HUMANISTS.
errors
and even barbarisms are not infrequent; the is often awkward and obscure;
the affectation of antiquity often clumsy and overwrought. Thus neither his letters, his essays, nor his orations can com-
later
of elegance attained to
by
Poli-
Bembo, or Muretus; and hence the undeserved neglect which they have been allowed to fall by those who, careless of their historical value, have chosen to set mere elegance It is only when we conof form above vigour of thought. sider that Petrarch's merits as a Latin writer were the result that his models were chosen with solely of his own efforts, no other guide than the intuitions of his ovm genius, and that his errors have evidently been greatly multiplied by the carelessness of transcribers and errors of the press, that we begin to perceive that his style, when compared with the barbarous idiom of the schoolmen, was, in spite of the severe criticisms of Erasmus and Cortesius', itself no inconinto
siderable achievement.
His serviceB
in relation to the works of CScero.
It
is
model; to Petrarch's
before the
that,
long
ceased to
more general revival, the great Koman orator had be any longer regarded as an ar/va)a-To<s 0e6<;, and
culminated under
first
Erasmus was
ture.
awakened
would seem
The"
list
up
to this time
had been
have been singularly meagre, but the frequent quotations and allusions to be found in other writers were suflScient to indicate the existence of
to scholars
known
numerous productions still buried in obUvion". From oblivion it was Petrarch's ambition to rescue them in
;
this
fact,
'
Literature of Europe, i^ 84. " The only orations of Cicero known in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, according to Voigt, were the Catilines, the Philippics, part of the Verriues, and the Pro Lege Manilla, with one or two other minor ones. This however is an inference from merely
negative evidence : 'So sohliesse ioh daraus, dass ichuur dieseWerke in Dante's poetischen und prosaischen Schrifteu erwahnt gefnnden.' Certain of Cicero's philosop. 23. phical treatises were of course known both in Italy and other countries at this period : see catalogue printed
supra
p. 101.
'
PETRARCH.
385
chap.
v.
le represented
very
much the
part of Kichard of
Bury
in
;emporary both in genius and learning and without entering ipon the question as to how far he is entitled to be considered
;
;he discoverer of
any one
treatise',
we may
safely
assume
;hat
:o
he was the
first
who
lis
countrymen that
Again to light so
many
it
^ jf
dem Sammlnngen
dieser Briefe
und
So
ist es
dass Cicero's Werke, auch Jiephilosophdschenundrhetorisohen, lurch Petraroa's Anregung unendich mehr copirt und gelesen wurden ila vorher; davon zeugt ihre Verbrei;ung im Beginne des folgenden Jahrlunderts. Aber um zwei Klassen lerselben hat Petrarch ein unmittelmres Verdienst, um die Eeden und Einen Codex, der eine Eeihe Sriefe. ron Eeden enthielt, copirt er Jahre ang mit eigener Hand, damit ihm licht die bezahlten Abschreiber den Mehrere einzelne Text verdvirben. Heden hat er auf Eeisen gefunden, loch besass er noch lange nicht alle Uejenigen, die wir jetzt lesen. Aber relehen Triumph empf and er, als ihm L345 zu Verona die seit dem 10 JahrZweifel,
hatte bereita die tullianiBohe Epistolographie in die ueuere Literatur eingeiiihrt, in der sie eine grossartige Eolle zu spielen berufen war, aber der neue Fund gab diesem wichtigen Belebuugsmittel des humanistisohen Verkehrs sofort einen erhoheteren Schwung und hat so eine un-
messbareWirkung geiibt,' p. 27. See also Mehus, pp. 213-20. " The manner in which Pilatus, whose knowledge of Latin was ludicrously
insufficient,
:
rendered
the
Iram cane Dea Pelidce AcMllis Corruptibilem, qua innumerdbiles Greeds dolores posuit. Multas autem
\
lundertvoUigverschollenensogenannen familiaren Briefe Cicero's in die Jand fielen. Zwar besass er wahrloheinlich damals schon diebeiden an-
robmtas animas Inferno antea misit Heroum ; ipsorum autem cadavera ordinavit canibus Avibusgue omnibus. lovis autem perficiebatur consilium, Ex quo jam primitus leparatim litigaverunt Atridesque Bex Virorum et Divus Achilles.' Mehus, p. 273.
\ | \
\
25
386
cHAP.v. join
THE HUMANISTS.
the noisy throng in the Lyceum, he turned aside to
'
explore the
dim
solitudes
of
the Academy.
;
His actual
He initiates
the struggle
knowledge of Plato, it is true, was but slight but, as Voigt observes, he was guided in this direction by a kind of instinct, an instinct awakened of course, in the first instance, by the study of Cicero's philosophical treatises. Like the geologist, though he himself sank not the shaft, he pointed out to his To the Arifollowers where the hidden wealth lay buried. stotelians of his time Plato was no better known than Pythagoras, and in fact they believed, for the most part, that the Timseus and the Phsedo^ were the only two treatises he had ever written. Petrarch however was the possessor of sixteen; and though these reposed on his shelves. dark as the utterances of the Sibyl, he knew that Cicero, Seneca, Apuleius, St. Ambrose, and St. Augustine had held them in high esteem, while the professed contempt of the AristoteHans served rather to commend them to his respect. In his highly ^ o J
^
suprem*y
Aristotle,
of
characteristic essay,
De
we
His position
Aristotie
with that of
Aqumas.
impending struggle between the modern partisans of the Platonic and Aristotehan schools of philosophy, which under varying forms may be said to have lasted to our own time, and to be even yet undecided. It is interesting in connexion with this controversy to compare the position of Aquinas with that of Petrarch. The schoolmau, in his endeavour to introduce the New Aristotle, had found his most formidable difficulty in the evident disagreement between that literature and traditional dogma; the Italian scholar, in his efforts on behalf of a more liberal
have the
earliest intimations of that
' '
^
by the
supposed
infallibility of
looked upon as heterodox! It was not much to say, ^but to say it in those days at Padua and at Venice was the height
of boldness,
ing,
^that
he was
learn-
' De sui ipsius et multorum ignorantia, Opera, H62. Voigt, p. 48. I presume that the Phaado was the second. Cousin informs us that the library of the Sorbonne contains a
Latin translation of this dialogue in a manuscript of the thirteenth oentury. Fragments Fhilosophiques, Abe' lard. Appendix,
PETR4.ECH.
387
The
he was now marks the singular " insensibility to hterary excellence of form induced by the scholastic training, that it was commonly believed that the works of the great master, even in the shape in which they were then known, were models of style and expression. &jid here again Petrarch ventured upon a decided demurrer, ieclaring that though Axistotle's discourses, as originally lelivered, might have been characterised by considerable jrace of style, no such merit was discernible either in the treatises which survived the fall of the empire or in those which had more recently been brought to light\ While, finally, even the ethical system of thg Stagirite failed to
the only airticle of the schoolman's faith that
It
ne attacks
the style of
'e?slj^^
a,
istic
md
in the poet's fervid and enthusi- He rejects ^ the ethical Mean appeared to him cold ^^tS
the Christian
morality,
The
as
new
learning, o'
Jiie Italian
Humanists
marking the
seemed to
chapter of
its
call for
Humanismus
if
time
is,
in
its
main
culture, and,
even
it
would be unne-
ment.
The
band of
enthusiasts who,
traditions
he had bequeathed to
them,
spirit
the
md
though
chiefly
mown
jholas V,
the
Bentm Memorand.
'
Opera, p. 1159.
252
388
CHAP.
THE HUMANISTS.
V. successive protection of Cosmo, Lorenzo, and their descendant ,I' on the papal throne (a care they so well repaid), the teachers
of Germany, France
tration at our
suffice to give
and England, aU these require no illushands and for our special purpose it will
;
a brief consideration to the labours of those few in the long array, whose names are most prominently associated with the revival of Greek learning and its consequent introduction into the Transalpine imiversities.
Fiorenceand
t^^"
was but one capital Europe that could vie with Florence in the combination
In the
fifteenth century there
in
of
the beautiful in art with the beautiful in nature, and that capital was the city of the Golden Horn. But while marked
by
Even
the believer in
human
progress and
S'to^"" ^enthwn- reuce then was, and what she afterwards became, without *"^ something of emotion. Alone among the Italian repubUcs
she
still
While other republics had become subject to a Genoa and Venice, were pursuing an isolated, ignoble, and selfish policy, Florence was still to be found the champion of the common weaL With a spirit of heroism that has often been deemed characteristic solely of a martial race, she combined a rare genius for commercial enterprise that had raised her to the summit of mercantile greatness. Her bankers ruled the markets of Europe. Her surroimding territory in its wondrous productiveness bore witness to the skill and industry of her agriculturists. Within
patriotism.
tyrant's yoke, or, like
round which the ancient glory still seems to linger, though her greatness and power have fled. In the desolation that followed upon the Great Plague the university had been broken up, but it had been refounded and endowed with ample revenues by the state and it is significant of the
:
FLOBENCE.
of
389
v.
many
*^
philosophy and rhetoric. It was fit that at such a centre the genius of intellectual freedom should gird itself for a conquest compared with which the proudest achievements of
Florence on the
field of battle
seem
insignificant indeed.
To
all
^^^'
a complete
was the tottering seat of a moribund dynasty. At the time that the palaces of the Medici reflected back the joyous spirit of the Tuscan capital, the home of the Palaeologi was haunted by gloomy forebodings
It
all
of youthful
new
world.
The sentiment
and little beyond that of a clever schoolboy, the scholarship is often of an order that many a modern schoolboy woiild. blush to own but the defects are those of immaturity not of incapacity, of ambitious talent rather than of hopeless mediocrity. Even its most serious blemish, its grossness, seems
strikes us as singularly trite
;
now
venial
at
a later
the
pedantic
despotism of the
it
in the
sixteenth century, or with the yet deeper degradation that ^when a greater than Petrarch befel it in a yet later age,
and lamented over the servile condihad there been brought, until 'the glory of Italian wits was damped,' and 'nothing written but In Constantinople, on the other hand, flattery and fustian'.' learning had deteriorated even when compared with the period
visited that classic land
attention,
when
Psellus com-
The capture
of the capital
by
the Crusaders in 1204, and the discouragem'ent to literary culture given by their barbarous rule, mark the complete
i
Milton, Arcoimijitica.
"
390
CHAP.v.
-
THE HUMANISTS.
disappearance of authors, or different works of authors, that ^^ had survived up to that time. In the days of Petrarch the
had regained its independence, but not its literary spirit. was again an acknowledged centre of learning, and attracted numerous students from far and near, but its culture,
city
It
in
many
had become mechanical in spirit and purely method whatever of genuine mental activity was to be discerned seems to have been mainly expended on those theological subtleties to- which perhaps the peculiar rej&nements of the Greek language offered a special temptascholasticism,
traditional in
;
tion.
Causes of
vanance be-
cMe""''"" political
marked must be added the great o Ever since that eventful day when Pope Leo placed upon the head of Charlemagne the diadem of the Roman empire, the attitude of the Byzantine emperors and their subjects towards the nations of western Christendom had been one of sullen aversion^; and ever since that inauspicious day in- the succeeding century, when Photius drew up the articles of faith that were to divide, it would seem for ever, the Churches of the East and the West, political estrangement had beeui intensified by theological
To
differences thus
elements of variance.
antipathies.
Italian scholars at Coastantiiiople.
towards the city of the Bosporus, for there were stiU treasured the masterpieces of a literature which he regarded with none the less veneration because it was to him so imperfectly known. Occasionally, like John of Ravenna, Philelphus, Giacomo of Scarparia, and Guarino of Verona, he was to be
seen in the streets, of Constantinople, seeking to acquire a
Pfailelphtf^,
6.
nsn:
d.1481..
knowledge of the language, and to gain possession of copies of the most esteemed authors. But instances like these were rare, and attended with but paEtial success. Philelphus thus
describes his
own experience
iu.
'
When
1 'The coronation of Charles was in their eyes an act ol unholy rebellion; his successors were barbarian intruders, ignorant of the laws and usages of the ancient state, and with
no claim to the BomEin name except that which the favour of an insolent pontiff might confer.' Prof. Bryce, Holy Soman Empire, 191'.
CONSTANTINOPLE.
here,'
391
and made diligent chap. v. y~learch for some one or other of the full and careful treatises )f ApoUonius or Herodian on grammar, which however were his account lowhere to be found. The text-books used and the intro- of Greek luction given by the lecturers in the schools are full of the coM&nnerest trifles, and nothing certain or satisfactory is to be"'"''^ jained from their teaching with respect to the grammatical ionstruction of a sentence, the qiiantity of syllables, or iccent. The iEolic dialect, which is that chiefly used by [iomer and Callimachus in their compositions, the teachers are altogether ignorant of. Whatever I have )f to-day earned of those matters has been the result of my own itudy and research, although I would be far from denying
he
says,
'
I studied hard
and
long,
,he
my
father-in-law,
me\'
and a native Greek crossed the Adriatic and anlounced in Italy his ability and willingness to impart the
pupils,
But from Barlaamo downwards these men were mostly impudent charlatans, and their pretensions were soon exposed even by those whom they pretended to The true commencement of a systematic study of teach '.
joveted knowledge.
areek in Italy, dates from the arrival in 1396 of Emmanuel ^'"^^^^ Dhrysoloras', a relative of the John Chrysoloras of whom^^^isPhilelphus above
makes mention,
as
smperor of the
Turks.
lis
Hia^h^ Chrysoloras was honorably distinguished from those of who had hitherto assumed- the literary cha- JJ'^^^^'JS.' countrymen
racter in Italy,
1
'
by
Hodv
p. 188.
^nea's Sylvius, in his Europa, o. of how tells an amusing story 52 a Benzi of Sienna, the learned party ahysioian, disoomfited a whole a formal phiif these pretenders in
osophio discussion.
I Many writers, among to the lotioe so recent a contributor Geiiterature of the subject as Dr from the rer have dated this revival
aU'of
justly observes of the Qiefk refugees on that oooasion, ' Sie waren in keiner Weise die Manner, von denen
whom
einetiefgi-eifendeBewegnnghatteausgehen komien. In der That wurde der Anstoss sohon bedeutend fruher duroh Ohi-yaoloras und seine SohtUer gegeben, unter denen wir die riistigsten Forderer beider Literatui-en finden, und anf dem Unionsoonoil wurde derFunkezuiFlaiome.' Voigt,
p. 330.
392
CHAP.v.
THE HUMANISTS.
v-^
Seil'ta"
oanguage,
To the man
mac
of the
world and the diplomatist; he was acquainted with most of the countries of Europe, and had visited our own court in
*^6 reign of Richard
li
in
an
official
capacity.
He
was,
claiming
for. their
emperor
lost
Roman
aU
he now
mastered
him
for
for five
it '. The literary fame of Chrysoloras had preceded Guarino of Verona bad studied the Greek language years undter his guidance at Constantinople, and he
now drew
and he soon found himself the centre an enthusiastic circle of learners. His success in the field of labour to which he was thus unexpectedly summoned was as conspicuous as his efforts as an ambassador were fruitless, nis eminence Most of thoso who had Hstcncd to Petrarch's famous pupil, as a teacher i c t of Gresk. his exposition of the Latm John of Ravenna, at Ferrara, literature, now gathered with many others round the new teacher of Greek at Florence. For their use he compiled a His Greek Greek grammar, the Erotemata, egregium liheUum, grammaticum, as Boemer justly terms it, the same that afterwards served Reuchlin for a model at Orleans*, that was used
university of Florence,
of
^ Voigt's language implies that Chrysoloras was tilready acqaainted with Latin, but the statement of Jnlianus is explicit Nam cum jam grandis esset, nullius pr83ceptoris anxiUo nostras perdidicit literas, neque sibi oneri visum est, cum tot annis philosophisB studiis vaoasset, ad puerilia Uterarum elementa re:
'
verti.'
"
Boemer,
p. 31.
See authorities quoted by Boemer, Geiger, Johann Eeuchlin, 19, p. 21. 20; Beuchlin himself compUeid a (Ji-^ek grammar, the /xiKpowaiSeia, for
own seholars. This however was never deemed worthy of being printed, and as the title suggests contained probably the merest elements, while the Erotemata went through many editions, -and was par excellence the Greek granmiar of the first century of theBenaissance. SeeHaUam,itrature of Europe,!^ 101. Accoringto Constantine Lascaris it suffered considerably from being often abridged
his
by ignorant compilers,
o6k
to fiipxior
oW
S^as
Twh
\airres Sii^deipop.
EMMANUEL CHRYSOLOEAS.
393
v.
by Linacre at Oxford and by Erasmus at Cambridge, and chap. long continued to hold its ground against formidable rivals. v Aretino has left on record the feelings with which he hastened to join the circle. He was at that time occupied in studying the civil law but now,' he exclaimed to himself, ' it was in his power to gain a far higher knowledge, an acquaintance with Homer, Plato, and Demosthenes, with all
; '
whom he had so often heard. Could he possibly let slip so glorious an opportunity ? For seven hundred years no. one in Italy had really understood the Greek language, though through that language well nigh all knowledge had been handed down to men. Of doctors of civil law there was plenty, of whom he might learn at any time, but of teachers of Greek this was the only one'.'
those poets, philosophers, and orators, in short, of
ins
visit
to
how, as he gazed from each surrounding eminence, he fancied himself again in his native city, until his eye was fain to
own home with ita cjrpresses and hanging garden*. In such useful but tranquil labours he would, it seems, have been well content to pass the remainder of his days, had he not suddenly been called away to duties of a more
seek out his
aosingyears ''"^''*'
arduous character.
The
the progress of
letters, is
deserving
and
If
we
may
the country of his birth, and his aims and sympathies had begun to centre in the land that had afforded him so generous a reception, and seemed destined to so glorious a future".
1
Mtiratori
Scriptores,
xix 920;
' 'Nam evunGifflcos nihil autparum Uteris buib auimum advertere sentiret,
39 4f
cHAP.v.
Part
I.
THE HUMANISTS.
efforts to
His
.
had begun
of Constantinople
little
was
more than a
when the
An
urgent
to,
summons had
recalled
Constantinople to receive
of the capital
Greek
instructions,
him
that the
fall
Unlike the majority of his countrymen, in their exile, he had been led to renounce the distinctive tenets of the Greek Church, and had given additional proof of his orthodoxy by a treatise on the chief
longer be averted.
much
question in dispute
^conrcrtt?
the Procession
fit
of the
his
Holy Ghost.
It
was probably
this fact,
combined with
was
designed that the union of the Churches of the East and the
Constant
tie Pope.
West should again become a subject of discussion. The project was one which commanded his warmest sympathies
i
aQ(j^
which that council was convened must have had for every Greek a peculiar significance. It was summoned not by the pope, but by the emperor Sigismund'. For the first time,
ne ipsorum stndiorimi
vettis ilia glo-
riadefioeret.inltaliamna-vigaTit.'etc.
Gibbon-Milmaii-Smith,
viii 28.
'NamoumBummuspontifexCon-
stantiam ire oonstitnisset, noimnllosque sxunmsB auctoritatis viros et sapientise, atqne erga banc nostram religionem insigni quadam pietate
afiectos
sibi
agitatse, divistB, laeerataBqae rdigionis nostrffi diviao prope affectu permotus, pontificibus maximis, qui ipsius gravitatem, prudentiam et vitam, tanquam cseleste oraoulTun venerabantor, concilii sententias, quantnm in se fnit, soscipiendas fore, snadeie
mm
conatus
est.
Bt nt ceteromm bono-
judiciis adhffireret,
omnem
iti-
delegisset,
Manuelem
riumque negotium ita omnem curam, studium, dihgentiamque contulit ut neque vim ullam, neque insidias, neque metus prospicere, nee seuectutis
Bute
videretur.
neria longitudinem, frigora, hiemes, viarum asperitates atque mortem, si opus esaet, perferre instituit. Quae cum, ut cogitarat, perfecta fnissent, inyeteratos Graecorum errores ad Eomanam religionem sua opera ao diligentia deduxisset.' Boerner.pp. 26-7. * It was on this occasion that Si gismuud declared himsell, as rex Bomanws, to be super grammaticam.
'
GUARINO.
395
the ruler of western Christendom had assumed the highest chap. v. Part I. prerogative of his imperial dignity, as the coequal or superior >y-
.
therefore, that
its
West was
ideal
that surrounded
and to Chrysoloras, who, as he gazed from the heights Rome had half imagined he beheld again the city of his birth, who had seen the literature of his native tongue, at the very time that it was dying out on the shores
;
it
may
sovereignty of
also
we have a
sufficient explanation
though advanced
they serve also to explain the bitterness of the disappointment with which he witnessed the sudden breaking up of that memorable assembly. He was seized. with ^j^^*^'
fear
and died
after a
few days
Julianus,
His remains
received
Dominican convent at Constance: and his epitaph, the declared that he grateful tribute of Poggio to his memory, had acquired in Italy that lasting fame which it was no His longer in the power of his native country to confer.
1 'It can hardly be said that upon any occasion, except the gathering of the council of Constance by Sigismund, did the emperor appear filling
urgente quam morbo, exoeseit e vita.' Juliani Funebris Oratio, Boemer, Unius is, of course, Sipp. 26, 27. gismund Chrysoloras was the par;
Prof. a truly international place.' Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, 253'. ' Sed cum, prseter suam opinio'^
nem
oium,
atque
omnium bonorum
communem omnium
judiliberta-
tern obsessam -rideret, et ad waiaa voluntatem redacta omnia, tandemque pontificem suum ad fugam redaeturn, assiduis febribus obsessus est, paucosque post dies, dolore magis
tisan of pope JoTin. Julianus's version of the story is worthy of note. Hody, who is followed by Voigt, represents Chrysoloras as sent by the emperor as interpreter to Constance, and as dying there before the council
396
THE HUMANISTS.
his
epitaph was not the only memorial reared by the scholar to memory. With the revival of the ancient literature there
His fbneTal
oiation by Jnliamis.
letters of that day and Rome, and by the fifteenth century it was rarely that any important public event was allowed to pass unaccompanied by some rhetorical effusion*. Among such efforts the funeral oration held a conspicuous place; and on the death of Chrysoloras an oration of this kind was pronounced in Venice, where he had once taught with such signal success, by Andreas Julianus, a
much
noble of that
city.
notice for its elegant Latinity and as a record of some interesting facts respecting the father of
Italy,
is
still
Greek learning in and making all allowance for the hyperbole of a Ciceronian diction and the parfciahty of private friendship, we may conclude that Chrysoloras had earned in no ordinary degree, both by his public and private character, the esteem and admiration of his contemporaries. Among the disciples of Chrysoloras Guarino was undoubtedly the one on whom the mantle of the master descended. His reputation as a teacher induced the authorities
extant;
him
to fix the
amount of
;
his
own
salary.
Nor was
their
teacber.
liberahty misplaced
for his
&me
that
him
the saying of
issued from his school than chieftains from the Trojan horse*.
Enunent
En^lisfamcfn
Even Englishmen,
this
little
as learning
among his
papiU.
cester,
For an accoont of the different forms wbich this spirit assumed, see Borckhardt, JMe Oultur der Renaissance, 180-7.
' This howcrer was a Mnd of stock compliment at this period: MaSei de Volterra applies it to John of Eavenna, Flatina to Bessanon.
OUARINO.
notary,
397
John
cu^P' ^^
induce the Italians to claim them as the work of their celebrated countryman, Poggio Bracciolini', John Gundorp,
and William Gray, afterwards bishop of Ely'. To the last named learning in England wa indebted for an important accession to its resources. On his return from Italy, Gray brought with him a collection of manuscripts, some of them of authors that had never before crossed the channel, and all of them well calculated to impai-t to the few scholars to be , found among his countrymen a notion of the movement in progress in the Transalpine universities. His collection in- ^^^f,^^ eluded the letters of Petrarch, and numerous orations by eS|L^ Poggio, Aretino, and Guarino, compositions that by their more classic diction and genuine admiration of antiquity could hardly fail to awaken a like spirit in the northern centres of learning a new translation of the Timcmis and another of the EuthA/phron were a contribution to an extended know-
ledge of Plato
by Cicero and
Quintilian,
Pammachius, on 'Origenism,'
is
first
have no m* collection a controversy of no ordinary significance*. bequeathed l ! 1 n direct proof that bishop Gray was actuated by leelmgs of resent- J? jj'^""' ment towards the university like those which Baker, as we have
rise to
1
/.
We
^ '
Johnaon,
Thomas
Hebrew
Acad. Oxon.
'
Bentham
of an ample to Ferrara, where he studied under Guarini of Veronp., with as great benefit to himself as credit to his master; especially in the Greek and
Rom. x
*
296.
Catalogue Codicum MSB. qui in Collegiis AuUsque Oxordensibus hodie adservantm: Conlecit Henrious 0. Cone, vi.h., Oxtoii, 1852. Pars i.
398
THE HUMANISTS.
as evidence the existence of such resentment It
is is
upon
far
from
improbable.
own
was bequeathed
to
to Balliol';
and
it
may
easily
whom
Old Bso
Ouarmo.
Leonardo
Bruni,
ii. 1882. d. 1443.
whose keeping these treasures had been confided, observed v and the Ultramontanists for the loss sustained by their own university. Like Isocrates, Guarino also attained to an advanced and vigorous old age, which found him still busied on his literary labours. His productions were chiefly translations from the Greek; and only two years before his death, at the age of 88, he completed a translation of the Geography of Strabo'. Not less eminent than Guarino, though distinguished in a somewhat different manner, was Leonardo Bruni, known
that they might thank pope Martin
from the place of his birth as Aretino, and by his learned contemporaries as 'the modern Aristotle.'
the
commencement
writings,
From him we date more intelligent study of Aristotle's an improvement which the increasing critical
of a
if
the authority of
were still to hold its ground. The conviction that forced itself upon Grosseteste and Roger Bacon in the
the Stagirite
thirteenth century was
now
il, though ignorant of Greek, was ready to declare that, if Aristotle w6re to come again to life, he would be totally unable to recognise as his own the HiB translations of Aristotle. thoughts for which he was made responsible by his Latin interpreters'. Among those who were attracted by the fame of Aretino, was cardinal Beaufort's great rival, Humphrey, duke He translates gf GloUCestor, He had already become acquainted with the FoUticB at HSmpTroy,"' Aretluo's translation of the Ethics, and he now be_sought him
Humanist.
duke
of
Gloucester.
copy
which had recently been brought from Constantinople by Pallas de Strozzi. Aretino acceded to his request, and laying
1 Bentham says that he also built a good part of the college library.
c. 71.
AEETINO.
aside
tlie
399
metfcod of traoslation
senseless
word-for-word
and totally disregarding the endless subtleties of the Arabian commentators, produced, after three years' labour, a version that with respect to clearness and elegance threw every preceding version into the shade. Scholars to whom criticisms like those of Petrarch had appeared unanswerable, began to say that they could now
hitherto in vogue,
understand
It
how
was the
first
though soon
it is said,
to
be
When
dedi-
cated the
work to duke Humphrey, and forwarded a copy to England. But his noble patron, immersed probably in the
anxieties of his political career, delayed his acknowledgements,
it
at
But
if forgetful
of Italy,
it is
Duke Humquests to
the
1439
and 1443,
Anstey declares
benefaction, before
donations were
-,
which
Mr
partly the
new
learning
members
of the community.
.
The
rt
-I
collections,
occupy so large a proportion oi the catalogues of these two would of course appear to the majority of the
;
but the students of the time the most valuable element above-named translations, by Aretino, both included in the earlier list, and a new translation of the Republic of Plato,
could scarcely
fail to attract
'
artists.'
known
must have
also
Voigt, p. 373.
Both the catalogues are printed by Mr Anstey in Munimenta AcaOnly three vodemica, pp. 758-72.
Itunes
are
still
to be found in the
PUny.andacopy'ofValeriuBMaximus.
400
THE HUMANISTS.
and novel habits of thought. The Verrines and Philippics of Cicero and the letters Ad Familiar es were an appreciable
addition to the stores of the Latin scholar
;
much
As
.
the
first
it
cry of the muezzin had been uttered from the loftiest tun-et of
St. Sophia.
jj^fyf'shtto
Though long
Prior impor-
Greek
literar
For a was forgotten that the hapless fugitives who came fleeing across the Mediterranean were schismatics, only to remember that they were Christians, and they were received with every manifestation of sympathy and respect. Among them there came a few scholars of eminence, Argyropulos, Chalcondyles, Andronicus Callistus, Consfantine and John Lascaris, bearing with them whatever literary treasures they had been able to snatch from destruction. The efforts of the preceding half century had fortunately abeady introduced into Italy many of the Greek classics the collection imported by John Aurispa in 1423 forming probably the most important contribution. He had brought, according to Traversarius, nearly all the extant works of Plato, and also those of Plotinus, Proclus, Lucian, Xenophon, Dio, Arrian, Diodorus
time
it
awaken
Calli-
exiles
^ament^of
was euormous.
Turks.
thousand volumes had been destroyed by the conquering In his eyes the loss would seem to have appeared not
itself
merely irreparable in
'
but
fatal to
'
401
language that seems the utterance chap. v. of a genuine emotion, that the literature 'which had given ~~^^^^
pi'edicts, in
and he
light to the
whole world, that had brought in wholesome and all other branches of a noble
be
lost to
men\ ^neas
Sylvius, in a
Predictions
syivius.
Germany
home
of learning,
now
wisdom
of Hellas
was destined
Poetry and philosophy,' he exclaims, in a letter written at nearly the same time, ' seem buried. There are, I admit, not
a few illustrious seats of learning
Rome,
Vienna,
Paris,
Bologna, Padua,
Oxford,
Sienna,
Cologne,
Salamanca,
Pavia,
Leipsic,
Erfurt,
but
It
these are all but rivulets from the fountains of the Greeks,
and
if
its
source
it
dries up'.'
mere rhetorical outbursts, and we may fairly suppose that the writers were in ignorance at the time of how much had already been doae towards averting a calamity like that
which they foreboded. '
a very
different future.
His They both lived to see the promise of tionspresic' ^ falsified The light in Constantinople was far *Jei'^''
_
dom
its
immediate
'It is
'how many
men became almost like Greeks bred in Attica and Achaia, in At their capacity for comprehending the Greek literature*.'
the very time moreover that the fugitives from Constantinople were hastening across the Adriatic,
it is
probable that
the sheets of the Mazarin Bible were issuing from the press
Hody, p. 191-2. Ibid. ' 'Qtiin Tero constat in urbe Constantinopoli, poetquam a Turcis capta fuisset, floruisse magno numero
'
tur
"
"plus iUio fuisse discipulontm quam decern millium, e Persia, Grsecia, Latio, et Judaismo."
listica, lib. i),
Ibid. p. 193.
*
Angelus Decembrius,
De
Litera^
26
402
THE HUMANISTS.
;
of Guttenberg at Maintz
and
was rescu-
Germany was
devising the
means
of
who
But, as Voigt
new
most part to have declined in proportion as the knowledge of their language and literafor the
ture increased
bers and yet
among
those
'
whom
'As
they continued,' he
says,
to arrive in ever-increasing
num-
vanished.
and of the ancient Athenian's were at first regarded altogether It was seen that they were totally unable to lay
aside their Byzantine arrogance; that they were surly and
life,
Men
they were to endeavour to adapt themselves to the customs of their new homes, to shave their white beards, and lay
in'ttegenS ^^ido
esHmation.
their
dull
affectation
of superiority.
They shewed
toil,
Of the former, but few, and these acquired any command, while
facility
and elegance
To
the Latins,
who
they consequently
The
sluggish By-
Even
Beem
guage
profecerint.
alii de nostris digui sumus testes, qui Latinam utoumque mediooriter in-
omatum
Boribere,
; ;
'
BESSARION.
antine temperament
haracter
:
403
v.
I.
ill
^v
Part
447)
rere
who
ensibly declined'.'
The
if
Besaariou^
d-
12^
Greek descent^ and distinguished by his patriotic zeal in His efforts t6 sustain the tot)ehalf of the national cause. ering empire had been of no ordinary kind, though he had
)een absent in Italy re
when the
final
catastrophe occurred
of its
was mainly due, and that the capital had Bessarion been there to animate the defenders'. Long after the event, he was still
those
is
his patriotic
bremost
among
who urged
he Turks, and he
!n
,0
and equipped
at his
fleet.
nis
efforts to
for it was,
he
cburohes.
of the East
and the
ihose
;he
which gave the infidel his chief advantage; it was differences that had brought about the overthrow of
md
emoved, he predicted that Europe would share the fate of Vfrica, and the Crescent everywhere be seen triumphant Such were the sentiments )ver the standard of the Cross*.
Voigt, p. 332. 'Ex vetere Grsecia oriundus, nausque in Asia, utriusque oollegit PlatinsB ;eneroBi spiritus semina.' This "anegyricus, Boerner, p. 82. much valanegyric, which contains uable material for the life of Bessa2
ilia
rum oaJamitatum gnari sunt, duo imperia nunquam fuisse eorruitura, si Bessarion, magni animi atque consilii vir, iUis in locis turn
fuisset,
cum
tempestas
est.
subsequent to the elevation of Pius ii, to the papal chair. lody, who had never seen it, speaks oration if it (p. 152) as a funeral 3 Constans est certe, Qtiirites, imnium bene sentientium opinio, et orum maxime qui sue periculo istaacts
lis
rival,
vigUantissimuB dormicntem Grtecam, armasset nimio otio languentes animos, ire in hostem suos, et a cervicibus tantam calami-
omnium
'
262
404
to
THE HUMANISTS.
which he gave expression in the year 1438, at the council On the convening of that assembly he had appeared as the advocate of the Greek faith, and had seen in the opposite ranks men like Quarino, Traversari, and Auof Ferrara.
rispa,
whom Pope
As
the
tenets.
Eugenius had deputed to defend the Latin debates proceeded Bessarion had been
brought to the conclusion that the chief question in dispute, that respecting the Procession of the Holy Ghost, turned on a merely verbal distinction; and had consequently, with a
western Church.
He was and twice during his lifetime it seemed more than probable that the supreme dignity of the tiara would also 'fall to his lot. The attempted union of the two Churches however it was beyond his power to bring
Romish
faith as the representative of his party^.
about.
He
communion, and
another convert of eminence, the cardinal of Kiew, was conspicuous in the throng of ecclesiastics at the papal court; but
his
His example
productive of
little result.
example attracted few or no followers. The great majorMs Countrymen still insisted with wearisome pertinacity on their distinctive views, which they vindicated by
ity of
It
was
dum
Ghristianae religionis prinoipes quid potissimum teueant inoertos -rident. Hine amissam esse Antiochenam eoclesiam, hinc Hierosolymitanam, hino
vexillo crucis pervenerint.' Ibid. p. 86. ^ Voigt says of the conduct of the representatives of the Greek party on this occasion: 'Sie kameu und suchten Hiilfe ; sohon in dieser eiufachen Situation war es stiUsohweigend ausgesprochen, dass sie bereit waren, sioh guten Preis den Dog-
um
Alexandrinam; Mno denique omnem ferme Asiam et totam Afrioam hano pestem ocoupasse, et, quod gravius est, Europse quasdam partes jamjam infeoisse ac longius evagaturam, ni,
propere sublatis tain perniciosis oontro-versuB ao pulsis Cliristianse reipubliose hostibus, in possessionem veterem labore vigiliiB ao sangmne
der lateinischen Kirche zu fiigen. Dennoch wurden erst lange gelehrte Scheingefechte eroffnet, mbohte nun der griechisohe Klerus nicht ganz so glaubensbereit sein wie der Kaiser oder moohte man auch nur den Schein retten wollen.' Hody, who has taken his p. 333. account entirely from Sguropulos, Sist. Cone. Florent., gives a somewhat different aspect to the proceedings, see pp. 137-42.
men
'
AEGYROPULOS.
405
v.
thus that, unhappily for the progress of classical learning and chap.
mind's of
the peace of the scholar, the Greek language became in the ^-f^L^
many J
and an opposition ^
'-
comes a380^'^Jlfy^"'
more
which the
New
Aristotle
had
Germany and in England. have already mentioned John Argyropulos as one Arevropuios. of the few men of learning in the promiscuous throng of 'ti48ii(?).
only in Italy but also in
We
from Constantinople. He was a native of that and of noble birth. Along with the majority of those whose attainments encouraged them to look for assistance at the hands of the patrons of letters, he betook himself to Florence, where Cosmo de Medici was then at the height Argyropulos was hospitably of his popularity and power. received, and the instruction of the youthful Lorenzo was
fugitives
city
The Medici
he thenceforth attached himself to the family of the Medici, and by the lustre which his numerous dedications, the expressions of genuine gratitude and admiconfided to his care
:
cast upon that noble house, m&,y be held to have more than repaid the many favours he received. His real learning, united to such powerful patronage, soon drew around
ration,
him a
distinguished circle
of scholars
seeking to gain a
whom the most eminent was undoubtedly Politian. Driven by the plague, from Florence, Argyropulos next took refuge in Kome, where his lectures on Aristotle still further enhanced his reputation.
knowledge- of the Greek literature, among
According to the testimony of his illustrious scholar, his range of knowledge was unusually extended, embracing not merely grammar and rhetoric but a perfected acquaintance
with the whole course of the trivium and quadriviwm}; he was however singularly disdainful of the Latin language and
He
devotes
improvini;
^riltouo.
and his efforts were almost entirely concentrated on promoting a more accurate acquaintance with the AristoPhilelphus, Cortesius, and Politian vie telian philosophy.
literature,
Admitted ex-
w^
Su-
m this field.
emphatic
Miscellanea,
Hody,
p. 199.
406
CHAP.
V.
THE HUMANISTS.
encomiums, taceo testimonia, quibus de imigni eximiaque Theodorus Gaza, -whose modest -worth stands in such favorable contrast to the vanity
and arrogance
his
of
many
own
heard that Argyropulos had also versions of them forthcoming'.. We realise the change that had come about since the
time of Petrarch, when we find the haughty exile declaring that Cicero, from whose writings Petrarch had chiefly
Cicero,
whose ascendancy over the minds of educated Italy was increasing with every year, had no true knowledge either of the Greek language or of the systems of the great Greek
thinkers^.
This jealousy of
all
Roman
interpreters of the
was however too often exhibited by these ungrateful dependants on Italian charity. Latinos, said Poli-
Greek
oracles
non
His uterary
labours.
Unlike Chrysoloras and Guarino, his rivals in professional ^ ^ fame, Argyropulos left behind him considerable contributions
^
^
to classical literature.
Aristotle,
They were chiefly translations from but translations which afforded such assistance to
Dissatisfied with the labours of Boethius
and Petrus Hispanus, he translated anew the Frcedicamenta and the De Interpretatione. Roger Bacon, if not completely reassured, would certainly have taken fresh heart could he have seen the versions that now appeared of the Posterior
Analytics, the Physics, the
De
Ccelo,
Metaphysics.
When we
find the
more
age disputing whether these translations are to be praised for their elegance or for their fidelity, it seems reasonable to conclude that both characteristics are present in a
Boemer, p. 146. Et ut homo erat omniuiu (ut turn quidem videbatur) acerrimus in disputando, atque aurem (quod ait
^ "
'
PerBiuB)mordaoilotuBaceto,pra3terea
quidem snis sectatoribus persuaserat, ita ut, quod pene dictu quoque uefas, pro coneesso inter nos haberetur, neo philosophicam Bcisse M. TulUum neo Grseoas literas.' Hody, p. 199.
ceteris turn
-EXEAS SYLVIUS.
407
marked degree. Their general excellence was rarely called ap. v. in question, and the\' altogether surpassed the versions that ^-l'
appeared under the auspices of ^'icbolas v, by Goige Trapezuntius, Gregory Tifernas, or even those by Theodore Gaza*.
At Rome Argyropiilos was wont to see cai-dinals, nobles, and others of high civic dignity assemble around him. Oua-k-iisi
one of these occasions, when he was on the point of commencing a lecture on Thucydides, a young m*n whose modest retinxie and address afforded a strong contrast to
Aigyropuios.
mauT of the august audience, stepped forward and introduced himself to the lecturer. He expressed in courtly phrase his sympathy with the exiled Greeks, and described
those of
Argyropulos,
him
to proceed with
Whether
was the "Funeral Oration' by Pericles we are not informed, but the lecturer was startled by the correctness of the new comer's pronunciation and the fidelity of his rendering. JVo^fro exUio, he exclaimed, Grcecia tra)isi'olavit
Tlie
fliffht
through the
visit
of
John Reuchlin
to
Eome.
Before the
Germany
alreadv welcoming, though not without certain manifestations of that detiaut spirit with which Teutonism has ever been prone to regard the fashions of the Latin race, in their
own
1
'
Preilich ist ihr Verdienst ?o wie das Bmni's in <ier Folge dnich Argylopnlos reidonkelt worden, xmd fitr ewige Zeitu habcn sie alle nicht 'Diveisa gearbeit<?t.' Voigt, p. 355. Argrropnli et contraria inter se de versionibus Tirorum doctomm sunt B- Volaterranns el^uiter indicia. magis qnam fideliter AriscoteBs 11-
Petrns
dem
esse,
illi
haadqnaqaam denegandam
Contra bros eum convertif >e censet. magis ea loach. Pexizonins fideliter illos ipsos qaam ornate eleganterqne
Huetins arbitrator.' Boemer,p. 149. See also Hodr. 20S-9. ' The anthoritv for this is MelanohihoA; see Ms Omtio df lohanne Cap.
nione, Declamationet,
i
625.
408
tHE HUMANISTS.
Of
is
this
movement j^neas
attached to the imperial court, aH around him seemed dull and mechanical as of old, and it was with but small success that he endeavoured to arouse the phlegmatic nobles to a
sense,of the higher pleasures
now
He
Gregory
Heimbiirg.
some thirty years before had 'They prefer their horses described the nobility of England. and their dogs to poets,' he says, 'and like their horses and It must their dogs they shall perish and be forgotten \' have been an agreeable surprise for him when he one day, at the court of Neustadt, heard a German voice boldly and forcibly defending the merits of the new learning. The voice was that of Gregory Heimburg, a sturdy Teuton, who though at that time, in the enthusiasm of his youth, led captive by the fascinations of the new school, lived to repudiate them almost entirely and to exemplify, in his career as a jurist, that nervous manly style of eloquence which he regarded as altogether preferable to what seemed to him the effeminate
describes ttiem
much
as Poggio
When
Heim-
^the
as
affording
Humanismus
Pope Pius
evi-
we have ample
like him,
efforts,
had not
been expended on a wholly ungrateful soil. Hegius, who combined in a remarkable degree the learning of the school1 In another of Ms writings lie thus contrasts the character of learning indemand in Germany -with that in Italy ' Teutones omnes oancellariffi aptos arhitrantur qui vel civiLis vel canonioi juris periti diountm-, aut quos Tocant magistros artium, flui
:
prseter
garrulam
et
loquacem
dia-
Florentini eos assumant, quiet Quintiliani prsecepta notissima sunt, poetarum et oratorum imbuti docti'inis atque eos si domi non iuTeniunt foris quserunt.' Sist. Friedrich III p. 327, (quoted by Prantl, iv 160.) ' Voigt, pp. 383-9.
oere.
bus Ciceronis
LEARNING IN GERMANY.
40d
man
an innorator, is to be found teaching chap. v. though his own knowledge of Greek was -_1^1_slender, strenuously exhorting his scholars to the acquirement 5^',,|'^'^' with the
spirit of
at Deventer, and,
of the language.
He
Agricola, and
as one of
One day Agricola was on a visit to his and the youthful Gerard was brought befose him whom the master entertained more thali ordinary
expectations:
the great teacher looked at the boy's bright eyes and weU-shaped head, and prophesied the future greatness of Erasmus \ At Munster we find the indefatigable
Rudolf von Lange watching with untiring greatness over nudoifvon famous school, introducing new text-books and discarding ' i|39the old, and remodelling the whole system of instruction, |j^jth; until the monks of Cologne were ready to denounce him as methoSsof '<^''<"'a heretic. The counsels of Agricola sustained him in j^ig
his
"work.
'
Your
efforts,'
wrote the
latter,
'
inspire
me
with the
we
shall one
day succeed in
and
shall
an unlettered race, with which she unceasingly assails us, and Germany shall be seen to be in learning and culture not In spirit a not unworthy less Latin than Latium herself I' compeer of these, the theologian, John Wessel, was- manfully John weaaei. advocating a less tame submission to the scholastic yoke, and << i9. sturdily asserting- that if Aquinas was a doctor he was a He disputes the authority doctor too, that he was conversant with three of the ancient of Aquinas, tongues, while Aquinas had known but one, and that imperthat he had gazed upon Aristotle in his native dress, fectly, Aquinas had scarcely beheld his shadow". while
'
(.
leitung,
2
Geiger, Johann Reuchlin, EinVon Eaumer, pp. x-xi. Geschichte dcr Padagogik, i 86-9.
1
et si
jactitant,
tarn
doctam
Germaniam
'Unuin hoc
157.
-rin-
410
THE HUMANISTS.
Of the foregoing, Agricola, short as was his career, attained to by far the greatest eminence His translations from the Greek were numerous and accurate; his Latinity was considered by so competent a judge as Vives, superior to that of Politian; and his treatise on logic became a text-book in our own university. It was not however by these perform'.
ances that he
His Be
exercised his
chief influence
is
on the
age.
it,
first
an 'epoch-making' treatise, the De Formando Studio, which appeared in the form of a letter to Jacob Barbirianus,
7,
dated June
1484
fail
Few
are certainly
by any great appearance of novelty. Agricola commences by observing that all students have to decide for themselves two preliminary questions, what they shall study, and how they shall study it. Some, as capacity
not
distinguished
or circumstances
may
direct,
choose the
civil
up
and riddles
which
for
many
Nevertheless
it is
;
'
his counsel to
make
only let
it,'
he
be a philosophy entirely different from that of the be the art of thinking aright and of giving
each thought".' Philosophy
;
schools, let it
Philosophy
defined.
fitting expression to
may be
diis
the former
iuoul-
cantque
in plerisque
meliorem
werden,
''
bo ist
es
gewiss Rudolph
Von Kaumer, i 62. Agricola.' ' Civile jus alius, alius pontifioum sanctiones, alius medicinic artom displerique etiam loquaces has et inani strepitu orepitantes, quas vulgo artes jam vocamus, sibi yindioant et perploxis disputationum ambagibus vol etiam, utverius dicam, ffinigmatibus diem teruut
;
in teneris Libellus De
cendam sumit
Studio, (Colonia;, 1532), p. itaUcised are worthy of note as corroborating the observations in the preceding chapter, on the extent to which the whole of the arts course was pervaded by the dia4.
Formando
The words
lectical element.
BUDOLPHUS AGRICOLA.
411
not to be sought exclusively in Aristotle, Cicero, and Seneca chap. is but to be gathered from the actions and examples which ^
history offers to our notice, and especially from the
Scriptures,
t.
Holy
and the divine and sure precepts they contain. In we find a right conception of the true end of life and perfect freedom from error. The science of nature 11 is less important than that of the moral law, and is to be re, garded as chiefly ancillary in its character he recommends however the study of geography, botany, geology, medicine,
IIP! ...
1-1
Natural
science ancuiary to
philosophy.
architecture
and painting.
we would
thoughts
the student on seeing a Latin word wiU gradually come to associate it directly with its equivalent in his vernacular. '
"'
What-
use of the
native lan-
ever,
may
must always first of all reduce to accurate expression in his own mind in his own language*. To write with purity and correctness must always precede any attempt at elegance.
Further on, he observes that there are three points to which
every student must give particular attention
:
(1) first
a clear
(2)
memory
(3)
adding
thought.
to
way to study a difficult author and to render the memory more tenacious, Agricola proceeds to amplify on the third point. If we our- Acquired
After giving a few hints on the
selves, he says, fail to bring to our acquired knowledge some- ','*"'Lj thing of fresh thought in turn, our learning lies, not like seed 12^3^" in the fruitful soil, but as it were dead within us and to
;
prevent
this- it is
necessary that
we
away
as
it
forget
but have
it,
may
erit,
always be able to
'Qmdqmd apnd
autores leges,
timnin
ntdlissiiiimn fuerit, id ipsmu qnam maxime propriis et idem significantibos verbis reddere vemacnlo ser-
siine rectissimeqne
mone ...
Si
qmd
intra animnTn tnum foimare, deinde Latinis pnre propiieque id sigmficantibus verbis explioare. Ibid. p. 8.
'
412
CHAP.
V.
THE HUMANISTS.
it
compare
with whatever
we may
ourselves discover
by
,^
original research.
heads; and also carefully to analyze every conception and In this way it on every side.
who
Beai novelty ofthoughtin
this treatise,
the student will acquire the facility of the ancient sophist, possessed the faculty of speaking impromptu on every
given theme.
The
,
is
1
now
almost as commonplacB as
scholastic
it
it is
deserv-
(1) a distinct repudiation of models and an appeal to the literary standards of antiquity, at a time when the schoolmen were still omnipotent in Germany (2) the necessity of an accurate connotation in
;
(3)
when almost
commentators.
His Be
Inventione.
In Agricola's
Be
Inventione Dialectica
we
'
are presented
eine ciceronisch-
The
species
discussing genus
and
A popular
manual
logic.
of
The
treatise,
though highly -praised by Melancththon as the best of his day, is not one to which Prantl concedes any real originality' it was however in general use long after the author's
:
1 'Aber beziiglioli des logisehen Gebietes denkt er ausschliesslich nur an eine Sammlung topischer Gesiohtspunlite, und die Dialektik ist
Sinne gibt er im 1 Buobe eine Aufzabluug der Topen, wobei er gelegentliob der Definition auf die Begriffe genus, species u. dgl.
kommt
ihm nureineMethode derWahrsobeindaber er imter den Schriften des Aristoteles, deasen unentwirrbare Dunkelbeit auob er, -wie die Uebrigen,
lichkeit,
und
der
siob veranlasst findet, betreJiitg Uuiversalien die tbomistiscbe Auffassung einer similitudo essentialis
in Verbindung mit des Scotus Hacceitat als den licbtigen Standpunkt zu bezeiobnen.' Prantl, Gesch. d. Lo-
beklagt, lediglioh die Topik beriioksiohtigt, und zwar dieselbe naoh dea
gik, IV 168.
RUD0LPHU3 AGRICOLA.
413
death, and appears to have been one of the most popular of chap.v,' v^, the two or three manuals that, up to the time of Seton,
logic*.
It is not necessary that we should here follow any further the progress of the new learning either in Germany or in
Italy
illustrate
a few important points in that progress, respecting which a certain amount of misapprehension has often prevailed.
It will
be seen that, so far from Aristotle being by the earlier Humanists, his works
engaged a large amount of their attention, and that we may date from the labours of Bruni and Argyropulos the com-
mencement
after a long
of that
more
and arduous
the schoolmen.
....
It will also
wantmg
be 'PI
oi
seen that, at
ths uses to
parading
man,
it
opening up a new field of doctrinal and speculative theology. With the Italian, it served to refine his style, to quicken his fancy, and to convert him into a meditative but generally urbane and genial man of letters or philosopher. The former
betook himself to the study of the early
fathers, especially
those of the Greek Church, and was thus gradually led to reconsider and purify his religious faith ; the latter, lost amid
many
in-
was exactly in harmony with these tenden- itauanana German scholar, content with acquirmg a fairly cies, J^^'^^^^p correct and vigorous Latin style, remained indifferent to those minuter elegances and nuances of expression which lend a
cared to
veil.
It
that the
German
charm
and Martial;
Von Eamner
[
414
CHAP.
'
THE HUMANISTS.
same
niceties, led
V.
to these
him
by whom
Hence, in his enthusiasm, imitated not only the elegance of the Latinity, but the ir purity of the thought. We are here under no necessity of illu
most successfully
cultivated.
trating, as
critic of
that
now som
what neglected
no
difiiculty in admittin
tl
From
Germany was
last,
for
and
the
men
and Erasmus,
couJ
recall
had never
Their respective
nities to
affi-
tl
Facetice of Poggio or
of Beccadelli
the Eeformation.
we pursue our comparison into the days of the E.( we shall find the above contrast still holdin The Humanists of Italy were for the most pai good.
If
j
.
lOrmatlOn
were in turn not unfrequently directed against both th learning and the licentiousness of the writers who adome the court of Lorenzo the Magnificent. In Germany, o
the other hand, though Protestantism was
still
far
froi
much moi
of Luther,
and had Savonarola lived to witness the ris he could scarcely have denied, that the victory wo
by those whom he denounced in Italy, largely contributed 1 the victory won by those who represented his spirit amon
the Teutonic race.
!
It
Ital
success in
less
possible, or
a Nicolas v,
it
Pius
II,
and a Leo
Humanists
chiefly
owed
that th
-V
i:
1 Von Eaumer (Gesch. d. Padagogik, i 109 n. 1) has, as it appears to me somewhat unjustly, compared the CoUoctuies of Erasmus to the FacetiiB of Poggio, and severely censures the former -writer for hia occa-
sional grossness.
But in the me] question of degree there can be r comparison between the two, and tl coarseness of the Colloquies is bi their accident, while that of ti
Facetics is their essence.
415
t.
odium theohgicum was not more powerfully and actively in- chap. voked against them, especially after the spread of Greek ^^^ learning had lent new force to the old arguments, from the supposed connexion of its literature with a formidable and
widespread heresy.
In reviewing these different features it is easy to perceive JJ^^, that the moot question of the advantages and disadvantages of classical learning was again already challengiug the atten- fied'bj^e tion of the world and it is impossible not therewith to be reminded of those warning voices which, some seven centuries before, had been so emphatically lifted up against the allurements of pagan genius. The evils which conservatism foretells are certainly not always mere chimaeras. Ve may feel assured that could Gregory the Great have revisited Italy at this ciisis, and have seen the Hcentious muse of the Italian scholars sheltering itself from censure by pleading the example of classic models, or could Alcuin again have trod the soil that once acknowledged the rule of Charlemagne, and have witnessed the changes that resulted from the teaching they would each have of Erasmus and the Reformers, pointed to what they beheld as affording the amplest justifi:
^S^^
And not merely have seen that the ancient power of the Church, to eradicate evils like those which had come to pass, was no longer hers. With the discovery of printing the tares sown by the enemy had acquired a new and irrepressication of their
this,
own
oft-repeated warnings.
^they
would
also
With the
rise of
the art of
criticism a new weapon had been brought to bear upon the defenders of the Church ; a weapon which, it has been aptly said, changed the whole character of the strife between mind and mind, as completely as did the invention of firearms that The student of pagan literature was of the art of war. no longer an isolated solitary monk, timidly and often fur-
page of Terence or Virgil, exposed to the sarcasms of his brethren or the rebuke of his superior, but
one of an illustrious band whose talents and achievements were winning the admiration of Europe. The bigotry of the
adherents to the old discipline found
itself
confronted
by
416
weapons
to
THE HUMANISTS.
which
it
could
ojOfer
no
effectual resistance
the
T^" Human-
re^oua
or-
its turn besieged by the combined forces of reason, eloquence, and satire. ^s might be easily conjectured, but few of the Humanists ^gj.g ^q jjg found among either the monastic or the mendicant Traversari belonged to the order of the Camulfraternities. dules Antonio da Rho was a Franciscan, arid Cardinal
Maffeo Begio
But
it
was
among the
The Hnmanists at
religious orders
the
nniYereities.
.......importance
As
,
regards the
, ,
We
have already
Progress of
nominalism
TerettieT"
^Leipsic,
were
At
Paris, as
we have
Voigt, 468-74.
Occam appears to itave been, in the opinion of many, the real cause the interminable warfare. Leoof nardo Brum in his treatise De DispMationum Vm,
inqnam, in
says, 'Quid est, dialeetica, quod non Bri-
sit?' It was in Ms eyes another proof of the degrading tendencies of the study of logic that it fonnd acceptance among a race so barbarous as our own, ' etiam iUa barbara quie trans oceanum habitat in iUam im-
petnm
fadt.' p. 26.
THE UNIVEESITIES.
berg, on the other hand, which was
417
chap.
v.
^~^
It
a centre
At
which
partus.
a Lapide, the
tained their ground. Freiburg, Tiibingen and Ingoldstadt appear to have arrived at a kind of compromise, each party having its own professor and representing a distinct nation.' At Maintz a manual of logic was published with the
'
was
.
period of inAltitude of
this
ternal discord might naturally be supposed to have favoured ^ the mtroduction of a new culture, but the attitude of the
'
univcr-
have been almost invariably hostile and both nominalists and realists laid aside their differences to oppose the common foe. To the Humanists, Prantl observes, two courses were open they could either insist on a restoration of the true logic of Aristotle and a general rejection of the misconstructions and unjustifiable additions made by Petrus Hispanus and his countless commentators, or they could denounce the whole study of logic, as worthless and pernicious, and demand that it should be altogether set aside and its place be filled by rhetoric'. In Italy, the latter course was unfortunately the one almost universally adopted, and the tone of the Humanists was irritating in the extreme. Looking again at the position of the universities, when compared with that when
to the
universities seems to
new
learning,
the
New
Aristotle claimed
admittance,
we
see that
two
centuries
its character.
They had
they possessed, in many instances, well-endowed chairs, whose occupants were tenacious of the received methods of
interpretation,
in favour
of
it
the
The
literature
which
was
27
418
CHAP.
THE HUMANISTS.
V.
'^
of licentiousness. Compromise accordingly appears to have been desired by neither party; and canonists and civilians
offered as hostile .a front as the logicians.
Bologna, jealous
new
comers.
On
the
'No
The
civil
it is
true, the
weakest point in
^^
to
assailants
it a central position which the seemed bound at almost any cost to carry, and it was consequently selected for their most energetic attack. It was the predominant school not only at Bologna but also at Padua and at Pavia: and when Valla received his appoint*
'
-*
ment
own
was
by that of
His pre-
calling had, as
The mercenary spirit in which they pursued their we have already seen, been sharply commented
;
but the criticisms of Valla in his Elegantioe, the foremost production of the age in the field of Latin
philology,
on by Poggio
had
wounded
their pride
much more
sensibly.
In pursuance of the general assertion which he had therein maintained, that the want of an accurate knowledge of the
Latin tongue obscured the true meaning of the writers of antiquity to students
iii
^he
had
on the Pandects with that of the more modern school, represented by Accursius, Cinus, Baldus, and Bartolus (the most
own
fell
day),
and had
pointed out
diction
how
and terseness of expression of the former. Most probably even Valla.'^notwith standing his dauntless and fiery nature, would not have cared to revive the controversy in the very heart of such a stronghold of the civil law ; but he
was not suffered to remain at peace.
jurist
of
some
THE UNIVERSITIES.
419
v.
emiuence in the same city proceeded to inveigh against the chap. y Humanists in a manner which could not be left unnoticed.
As
...
Instituted
comparion by
JJrii^e"'
He
wtSSS^ul
assumed the most irritating of all attitudes, the attitude of calm unquestionable superiority. To argument he did not condescend, but he laid it down as beyond dispute that the efforts of the greatest rhetorician could not compare with those of an average jurist. The most unimportant treatise to be found in the literature of the civil law, for example that by Bartolus, entitled Be Insigniis et Armis, was, he asserted, of far greater va^lue than the most admired
production of the
style
Roman
orator.
'
Incensed beyond
a copy of
it
by
Bartolus,
and
falling
upon
diatribe
'
Ye
gods
which he subsequently circulated far and wide. he exclaims, after a merciless exhibition of the
! '
triviality of
what folly, what puerility, what inanity is here One would think that the book had been written by an ass rather than a man!' In his Wrath he turns upon the whole body of commentators, until he seems to threaten even the awful majesty of Justinian. As
dissertation of the defunct jurist,
!
who
They
other
branches of a liberal education. They know nothing of that precision and refinement of diction on which the ancient
jurists
had bestowed such labour, and which must in turn be apprehended by the reader before the treatises of those Their poverty of writers can become really intelligible.
thought, their triviality of treatment are such, that he cannot refrain from commiserating the study they profess, since it
27-2
420
CHAP.
-
THE HUMANISTS.
rid itself of those
V.
to
who
at present prey
if
upon
it.
The
such
it
pieces
after
by the students of the civil law at Pavia^. had the whole straggle been waged manner of Valla and his antagonist it would have the
been as interminable as the controversy concerning uniStyle versus matter is to a great extent a question versal.
,
of taste,
and
so
long as
men by
continue to be read.
No
weapon of
was however
far
otherwise
when they
brought their
artillery to
commenor
tators,
impudent of
Poggio and
thecanonists.
Symloluw,,
myths,
when he
laid
^was unmistakeable.
less severely
...
Poggio, and from the same able pen there had also proceeded
exposure of the
fictitious character of
and
had given
rise to
the whole
of this literature.
The
when he found
lian cited as speaking the barbarous 'Latin of the twelfth century, and popes, who lived two centuries before Jerome
was 'bom, quoting from the Vulgate. In short, Poggio denounced the work of Gratian as that of a forger, and declared
that the chief result of his labours and those of his successors
had been
to
afford facilities
for
squabbKng
over
ecclesiastical benefices'.
1
Voigt, 451-2.
ygigt^ p_ 453^
421
offered
as
by the
Italian
chap.
r.
^-l^
aonfntho'"
univeraities far more persevering.
must have
himself master
,
of the field
while Erasmus,
who about
all
T
polite learning as
1
1
incomto
causes of tws
ditterence.
have been fain to imitate their barbarous Latinity in order to escape molestation' and Melanchthon, half a century later, was exposed to the full brunt of the ancient prejudice
;
at Wittenberg.
Of
But not
less
Difference in
of tiie
perhaps
. .
the different
constitution
.
uni- uon
versities.
In the
our
7,
respective
first
chapter ^
umversitiea
offers
and Bologna,
it will
have been
p^nauolTof
Italian universities
so those
been modelled on
that of Paris.
proportion as
a special
Germany and in England, the Humanists produced an impression which could not be withstood. One by one the strongholds of mediaeval culture and the idols of mediaeval credulity fell Grocyn, mounting the pulpit at St. Paul's before them.
But
as in Italy, so in
victories of
b'-
Letter to
iii 77.
422
^ p^^
THE HUMANISTS.
which r l^S"''^'^6'"ed treatise by Dionysius, the genuineness of v-^ he had in his first lecture so vehemently asserted, he was
unable on honest scrutiny to defend,
earnest searching gaze on
at Oxford,
Colet,
turning his
Erasmus
as they sat
communing
and disburthening himself of the conviction that had long been growing up within, that the decisions of Aquinas were characterised by both arrogance and presumption,
Erasmus,
College, ex-
posing the countless errors of the Vulgate and revolting from the Augustinian despotism,
^William
Tyndal
at
Cologne,
allegorical,
and affirming that Scripture has but one meaning, the obvious, literal sense, ^were each but indications of the revolution that was going on in every department of study,
its
CHAPTER
LEARNING.
V.
Part
'
II
Bishop Fishee.
'
it',
In the famous old cytye of Beverley, was born, about the year 1459, John
bishop of Rochester and,
as
Lydgate terms
quarter of the
chap.
John
fisheb. FiSHBI
b.
v.
Fisher, afterwards
^1!^^^
U59
during the
first
sixteenth century,
He was the son of Robert Fisher, mercer ofnisparentand Agnes his wife. It was the father's wish e^'y *athat the boy should receive a better education than ordinary, and John was accordingly sent to receive instruction in
Cambridge.
Beverley,
grammar
in the
It
at Beverley.
when he was
chancellor of
Cambridge, was provost of the church^ and it is not improbable that young Fisher, as a boy of promise, may even
thus early have attracted the notice of one whom he must have often met in after years. When Fisher was still a the latter was, 'it would lad of thirteen he lost his father
;
seem, a
his
man
numerous bequests
In the course of a few more years the son, then about eighteen, was entered at Michaelhouse, under William de Melton,
fellow
Entered at
college.
proceeded to his degree of bachelor of arts ; elected fellow, proceeded to his degree of master of arts in 1491, filled the office of senior proctor in 1494, and became
1
Kr'"
Coopex, Athena,
1 1.
424
BISHOP FISHER.
:
master of his college in 1497 facts which, as his biographer observes, sufEciently indicate the estimation in which he was held'.
It may be reasonably inferred that Michaelhouse had throughout enjoyed the benefits of good government and that its resources had been wisely administered, for not long after the time that Fisher succeeded to the mastership we
'
tho, condition
of other foun-
dauons.
respect to
foundations'.
revenue,
it
That Fisher himself was a conscientious administrator admits of little doubt; and at a time when the neighbouring hospital of St. John the Evangelist was sinking into decay under the reckless rule of William Tomlyn, until the very stones of the street were silent witnesses against him', and when the depredations of bishop Booth, as master of Gonville, were still fresh in
of college
the
memory
members
of Michaelhouse
may
Character
and Mows
ofFisiier
Bit
of their head.
On
we have nothing
_
to
XulS
was,
at
this
time,
an advocate of
f^""^-
AH
in fact that
we know about him would lead us to infer the contrary. He appears to have been generally, recognised as a man of exemplary life, signal ability, extensive learning, and unusual disinterestedness; but he was now approaching his
he had received his early education in a city and at a school pervaded by monastic influences, and his more advanced education in one of the most monastic and conservative of our English colleges; over that college he was
fortieth year
;
now
1
2
called to preside
it
Lewis, Life of Fisher, i 4. Cooper, Annals, i 370. s He was 'presented' at the Law Hundred or Leet of the town in 1502, for having the pavement in front of thecoUege'brokenandruinous.'Iftid.
I
258.
*
Booth, bishop of Exeter, master of Gonville, 1465-78, was charged with having most disgracefully made away with the best cup and the best piece of silver plate, together with as much money as he could scrape
'
HIS CAMBRIDGE CONTEMPORARIES.
425
^^
may be pointed out as men conferring honour upon their vmiversity, none of them, with the notable exception of Fox, seem to have been possessed by any new
not a few others,
ideas with respect to learning.
Bfltheram, munificent as
Rotheram.
were his benefactions, was rather a promoter of it in others than learned himseE John Barker, 'the sophister of King's,' and author of the Scutum Inexpugnahile, was a much
johnBarke
admired
the
first
dialectician,
who bore
the
president of
426
BISHOP FISHEE.
;
mentary on Duns Scotus he was also afterwards the first master of Jesus College, and is said to have been the chief
adviser of bishop. Alcock in his design of that foundation*.
John
Argentine.
d. 1S08.
His propoaed
Act
in the Schools.
and physician to the two some repute. extant from his pen a series of verses on all the (twelve in number), which he designed as subjects
of King's,
also a dialectician of
act,' as
It
quently discovered that it was indispensable that the subject for each disputation should be thrown into the form of a
qucBstio, and his elaborate preparation was consequently thrown away. The manuscript stiU remains in the library of Corpus Christi College, Oxford^, and may be regarded as a good illustration of the scope of the dialectical practice in the schools of those days. Hacomblene, the eighth provost of King's College, was known as the author of a commentary on the Ethics of Aristotle, but his text was the traditional text of the schoolmen, and his commentary continued to slumber in manuscript in the library of his Homeby, fellow of Michaelhouse, and afterwards college. master of Peterhouse, was distinguished as a high-minded and energetic administrator. But the limited views of these men and others like them are sufficiently shewn in the nature of the work they devised and carried out. The erection of the different schools, as narrated in a previous chapter', the commencement in 1479 of the rebuilding of Great St.
'
Robert Hacomblene.
d. 1528.
Henry Homeby.
d. 151S.
Cooper, Athence,
10.
'At theoommencement of thepoem is pasted a slip on -whicli is written in a different hand, Actus Mi^ Jo. Argentyn puilice habitus in universitate Cantabrigim contra omnes Regentes hujus universitatis quoad oppositiones, a.d. 1470. (The year is erroneously given in Nichols's edition
hontis (Mercury) ope mea fistula personet apte. Sic mihi crinitus cytharam concedat lopas Threiciam ut
| \
The following the same handwriting as the sUp, seem to indicate the ambitious design of the young inceptor: Neu sit turba Regens nostras tacitura per annos, Hinc canere est animo variis ludendo cicutis. Dulciaplectramihi tua porrige cantor Apollo At Stilof Fuller, as 1407.)
lines, in
| \
Chehjn) Phebeus spondeat Orpheus. Ac me sifoveat caute l^eto ubere mater Exigua ista suis modulabor carmina rivis Bt relit hue conferre pedem sacra turba Segentum Vtferat{^sciat)aiimotissociembene carmina ncrvis. I am indebted to the courtesy of the Eev. E. L. Hicks, M.A., librarian of the college, for the foregoing particulars, and also for two conjectural emendations of the Latin verse. ' See supra, pp. 300-1.
Thelim
(?
TOPfE OF
THE UNIVERSITY.
42'7
Mary's
and other
minor improveintellectual
chap. v.
^
xiio piieno-
of the university.
national
eaxly years
{^ f^^*,^^""
by '=''"'' many a tale of horror, and their maturer years saddened by the sense of exhaustion that came over the country when the long struggle was at an end. The flower of the nobility,
of Englishmen of that generation had been darkened
now
field.
In the more distant horizon the steady and ominous advance of the Turkish power, by land and by sea, was
striking terror throughout Christendom.
From
the general
dejection induced
'
by such circumstances the university was not exempt. Somehow, I know not how,' said bishop Fisher, Fisher-s de^ ^ scrlpUon of when in brighter days he looked back upon these times, ^^^/Jf'tJ'' whether it were the continual strifes with the townsmen, '""yand the wrongs they did us,or the long abiding of the
'
fever,
ordinary,
carrying off
many
of our learned
men,
few or no helpers and patrons of letters, ^whatever were the true cause, doubtless there had stolen over well nigh all of us a weariness of learning and study, so that not a few did take counsel in their own minds how that they might
departure so as it were not to their own hurt'.' The circumstances of the time indeed were precisely of the kind wherein we should expect to meet with a revival of the
effect their
1
or that
there were
Or yet longer
if
view of the matter: 'The mention of St. Mary's mindeth me of churchwork indeed, so long it was from the founding to the finishing thereof; as begun May 16th, 1478, when the first stone thereof was laid in the 17th of Edward rv; the ohuroh ended (but without a tower or belfry) 1619, in the eleventh of Henry viii. The tower finished 1608, in the sixth of King James; so that from the beginning to the ending thereof were no fewer than an hundred and thirty FuUer-Priokett & Wright, years.'
p. 180.
3
we take Fuller's
oontinuis litibus et injuriia oppidanorum (quibus eramus impUoati), sive diuturna plaga febrium, quibus
supra
modum
vexabamnr, (nam ex
Uteratoribus oomplmes amisimus, et ex ipso dootorum niimero deoem viros graves et valde eruditog), seu tertio bonarum artium fautores et benefaotores pauoi erant et prope nulli. Sive ms sive aliis oooasiouibus, profeoto literanim et studiorum
ffepit:
adeo
Cantabrigiie^
a.d.
1506.
'
sive
vm.
42^
BISHOP FISHER.
and the dreary spectacle of the unfinished structure of King's College chapel, which from the death of Henry vi until within a few years of that of Henry VII was almost
,tlie
Camsuch
sanction
to
But
depression, one
which
could be in some measure grasped by all, stood out in bright It was hard to believe contrast to the general gloom.
that the Old
to perish,
of
By
that discovery as
were an
electric
through the whole of Europe and the preconceived ideas of the ancient world and the faces of men, long bent with eager but wearying gaze to where the light of ancient tradition gleamed dimly in the east, were suddenly turned to
;
It
is
Humphrey J../
had bequeathed to Oxford. He must also certamly, we should imagine, have heard how bishop Gray's valuable collection had been left to Balliol College. But the interest that a. few isolated occurrences like these might awaken would soon be merged in a far deeper curiosity, as the intense and almost servile admiration with which Italian scholarship now began to be regarded in England plainly indicated, that it would be impossible much longer to ignore additions to learning and literature compared with which the New Aristotle seemed insignificant. Those few of our countrymen who, in the earlier part of the century, had been found among the hearers of Guarino, were now represented by a long array of names which will shortly claim more lengthened notice at our. hands. Italy herself was fully sustaining the reputation she had acquired. Guarino, Valla, and Bruni, it Argyropulos, if still living, was in is true, had passed away. extreme old age but his chair at Florence was ably filled by
;
PROGRESS IN ITALY.
Chalcondyles, an illustrious Athenian,
429
v.
''
and Linacre.
of
the teacher of Grocyn chap. , His laborious zeal had just given to the world
1488^
Florence
Homer
chondy6.
ig^t
ji'Jj'o^'^
'No more, as ouee in sunny Avignon, The poet-Boliolar spreads the Homeric pagCj
And
For now the old epic foioes ring again And -vibrate with the beat and melody Stirr'd by the warmth of old Ionian days.'
had been appointed in p",?^^, 1483 to the chair of both Greek and Latin in the same city, \}^^_ and the appearance of his Miscellanea, in 1489, was justly His uisceir regarded as marking an era in the progress of Latin criticism. Theodorus Gaza, the prot^gd of Bessarion, had died in Theodoras 1479, after teaching with eminent success at both Rome and <i.i479. Ferrara to him belongs the honour of having been the first to appreciate the varied excellences of Plutarch and the His rival, Georgius Trapez- oeorftius satiric genius of Aristophanes". o jr o
Politian, the rival of Chalcondyles,
:
untius, whose morose vindictive nature contrasted strongly f^^^ with the modest worth of Gaza, after forfeiting the favour of ^ ^^'
...
'
TrapezuH
Nicholas
V by
from the Greek Fathers, and that of Bessarion by a singularly venomous attack on Plato and his philosophy, had ended at E.ome his long and unhappy career; leaving behind him however a manual of logic that, as an effort at an eclectic ms Logic
system, attained to considerable popularity at the universities,
at
Cambridge
of
Duns
At Messana,
;
1 Boemer, pp. 181-91 Hody, pp. 211-26. See the glowing desoription of the typographical beauties of the volume in Maittaire, Annal. Typogrwph. i 183 ; ajid for facsimile of p. 1, plate 35 in Humphrey's ifjs*.
elegantite
128.
of Printing.
2
'
*
prra-
Plutarohum Chseronensem,
.
102-35. Dialectica, was often printed: see Georgii Trapezvmtii De Me Dialectica Liber, scholiis loannis Neomagi et Bartholo-
105-20;
Hody,
His
treatise
on
logic,
De Re
mat Latomi
illmtratus.
Lugduni,
430
reflected so
BISHOP FISHER.
much
the old Hellenic civilization, Constantino Lascaris was reviving with signal success the ancient admiration for the
George Her-
monymua.
Hermolaus Barbarus, at Venice, was rendering valuable service by the restoration of the text of different Greek authors, and his reputation as an elegant Latinist was second to that of none of his time. Nearer home, the Spartan, George Hennonymus, at Paris, was assisting, though in a somewhat mercenary spirit, and if the
masterpieces of Greek literature*.
is
to
the
efforts of
a knowledge of the Greek tongue'. The purely technical treatment of that language had also been considerably developed. The little grammar by Chrysoloras, owing to its admirable terseness and simplicity, still held its ground, but
had been altogether thrown into the shade by the appearance, in 1495, of the treatise by Theodoras Gaza, a production which competent judges at
in respect of scholarship
once recognised as superior to all other manuals of the kind, which Budaeus praised as a masterpiece of the grammarian's
caris.
and which Erasmus translated to his class at Cambridge and Richard Croke to his class at Leipsic^ As a mean between this and the work of Chrysoloras, Chalcondyles had compiled his Grammaticoe Institutiones Gtcbccb^; while Conart,
1559. Prantl speaks of the treatise as a medley of the Ciceronian rhetorical conception with the usual Aristotelian school tradition and a slight infusion of the treatment hy the Moderrd. The following extract will explain to the student of logic ' Nunc breviter dabimus its scope : operam ea' primo expouere quie Gripci voces, Latiui prsedicabilia, solent appellare, deinde de prffldicainentis et de prsedioatorio syUogismo
Uam
sedem
oseli
salubri temperie,
soU amcenitate, humanissimis ciyium moribus aUectus, quodque frequens esset navium appulsus Messanam ex
Oriente, unde suorum Utterse ultro citroque perferrentur facUius.' See Boerner, pp. 170-80. ' Boerner, p. 195, n. 4; Geiger, Johann Reuchlin, p. 17. ^ ' Id tamen plerique vere notamnt, proveotioribus et Grsecarum Utterarum gnaris magis illam inserrire quam Grssoa disoere incipientibus; et librum primum, brevitate
hypothetica
defiiiiitione et
et
de syUo-
divisione disseremus nee omuino ea prsecepta contemnemus, quae ejus rei, quam juniores obligationem vocaut, yim et natuiam complectuntur.' Prantl, OeecMchte der togik, iv 169. 1 Jerome of Eagusa in his EvXogia Sicttlorum b&jb: 'Postremo in Sici-
nimia obscuriorem, quartum vero, qui est de struotura sermonis et variis dioendi fciodis, et in quo ApoUonium maxima secutus est Gaza,
prioribus longe esse Boerner, pp. 130-1.
*
'
difficUiorem.'
Hano eo composuisse
videtur
PROGRESS IN ITALY.
431
stantine Lascarls had also put forth a treatise, less elaborate chap.
.
Pabt IL
,
v.
alone in merit^.
can hardly be in error in supposing that the master ^{jj^?[f of Michaelhouse and his contemporaries at Cambridge were o^Ke' frequently receiving iatelligence respecting the new studies iegSd^d
that were slowly fighting their
versities,
We
way
""^
"
but there
is
also
than emulation. They could not have failed at the same time to be aware, that those cities where the new learning
most flourished were also becoming the centres of a yearly more faintly disguised infidelity and a yearly more openly avowed licentiousness^ The religious tone which the example of Nicholas V had imparted to the circle of scholars whom he patronised had passed away; and the idea of a reconciliation between Christian dogma and the doctrines of the Academy, similar to that which the schoolmen had attempted on the
appearance of the
New
now
reinforced
timents of those
currently, as
is
which had already seemed at its worst, manifested a yet further So2 "' Machiavelli, no squeamish censor, openly declai'ed Testimony of decline. that Italy exceeded all other nations in irreligion and de^ and savonapravity*. The young Savonarola, when he fled to the Dominican convent at Bologna, declared in his letter to his father,
that he could no longer endure the 'enormous wickedness'
of his countrymen,
consilio ut
the right
GrrsB-
auditorum suorum
oas literas ab ipso discentium eonsuleret utilitati, ita videlicet comparatum, ut et plenior sit 'Bpar:^/jLan ChrysolorsB et intelleotu faoilior institutionibus GazsB.' Ibid. p. 187. 1 ' Inter Grsecos grammaticos ne-
by Bnrek-
piozimum mea
sententia
432
CHAP.
Part
BISHOP FISHEE.
'
V.
It.
To
'
facts like
these,
,
that
could not but awaken the alarm of the more earnest and consciontious leaders of the university, must be added those
toiSttii"'"
learning.
apprehensions which aroused the hostility of a tar more numerous and prejudiced section, actuated only by a dull
antipathy to
all
change.
as
common jealousy,
Both sections again? were united by a they became aware that the Humanists
were waging a war of something like extermination against all those studies to which their own best years had been devoted, and wherein whatever academic reputation they possessed had been acquired. They must expect, if teachers of the new school once gained a footing in Cambridge, to have aU those subtle distinctions, in which they had so long delighted, treated as the creations of a perverted ingenuity, those latent meanings of Scripture which they had laboured
to evolve, characterised as unauthorised tamperings with the
plain
and
literal sense,
their
own
nugatory,
confess
each
That
upon
to
commencement
Behold these men,' had been the cry of Petrarch at the very of the struggle, as he exulted in the prospect of a certain victory, who devote their whole lives to wrangling and to the cavillings of sophistry, wearying themselves un'
'
my prophecy
concern!
ing them
all
For
Of the
^ The position of Savonarola with reference to the Humanists in Italy is worthy of note, as illustrating the entirely diflerent spirit in which the revival of learning was there carried on from that which characterised the scholarship of Germany and England. "When he became prior of St. Mark he kept entirely aloof from the court of Lorenzo ; and the scheme of government that he drew up during his short supremacy as ruler of the destinies of Florence, was merely a somewhat servile transcript of the
Aquinas.
Italian Humanists Borokhardt truly observes, ' Dass Menschen von einem so besohafEenen Innem nioht taugen, eine neue Kirohe zu bilden, ist unlaugbar, aber die Gtesehichte des abendlou^chen Geistes ware unvoUstandig ohne die Betraohtnng jener Gahrungszeit der Italiener, wahrend sie sioh den Bliok auf andere Nationeu, die am Gedanken keinen Theil hatten, getrost ersparen darf.' Ibid. p. 413-4.
nm
SYMPTOMS OF PROQEESS.
their
433
name and
his
And
trumpet note of
same sepulchre shall suffice' I' chap. v. Part IT. defiance had been echoed by almost v
bridSo.
Remediis utriusque Fortunce. The manuscript p^'^^^ was the property of one Robert Alne, who, in his will dated JI/SiT'"
treatise
De
24 December, 1440,
which
it is
directs that
In
in a preceding chapter ^
we
among the
volumes enumerated, though it is not one of those few that have been preserved down to the present time. We have no evidence that Fisher ever read this treatise, but the fact that it had been borrowed from the owner by a former master of Michaelhouse, shews that there were some among the influential members of the university who were beginning to take an interest in the writings of the Humanists. Perhaps after the volume had been deposited in the common library,
comparatively pure Latinity with the uncouth diction to which they were more accustomed, or as
vague rumours of great battles reached the half-deserted university, while Red and White were contending for the
^ 'Eespice lios, qui in altercationibns et oaviUationibus sopliisticis totiun vitSB tempus expenduot seque inauibns semper quaestiuBoulis exagitant, et prsBsagium menm de omnibus habeto: omnium nempe cum
nomini ossibusqne
Familiar,
'
i
Buffioiot!' Epist.
57]
See snpra, pp. 324, 370. ' See Paper by Mr. Bradshaw in Cam. Ant. Soc. Com. n 239-40. * See supra, pp. 323-4.
ipsis
28
434
mastery,
BISHOP FISHER.
gathering
consolation
one Caius
Aubcrinus, resident in the university, writing Latin letters ^^ formal occasions for a fee of twenty pence each, and also
giving by permission a Terence lecture in vacation time\ we shall have before us nearly all the existing evidence that,
with the commencement of the sixteenth century, may be held to shew that there was at Cambridge a certain minority,
Ksher
at
however small, to whom it seemed that the prevalent Latinity was not altogether irreproachable, and who were conscious that a new literature was rising up which might ere long demand attention, even to the displacement of some of the scholastic writers and mediasval theologians. y^g have already mentioned the election of Fisher to the
senior proctorship in the year 1494.
office at
The
duties
of the
He attrMts
the notice
motherlSIr-
auco at court, and in his official capacity Fisher was sent r j ' dowu to Greouwich where the royal court was frequently
It
t^of^Rkh- held.
was on
"'
Richmond.
'
he
recalls the
I need sav nothing of so great a name she was daughter of J o o O John Bcaufort duke of Somerset, grandson of John of Gaunt,
and
so
descended from
of
consort
of
Richmond, son of Catharine of France, and so allied to the crown of France and mother of Henry the Seventh, king of England, from whom all our kings of England, as from his elder daughter Margaret, who bore her name, all the kings of Scotland, are ever since descended. And though she herself was never a queen, yet her son, if he had any lineal title to the crown, as he derived it from her, so at her death she had thirty kings and queens allied to her within the fourth degree either of blood or affinity, and since her death she has been allied in her posterity to thirty
'
Cooper, Annals,
240; Athen<e,i
9.
435
v.
moreV
own
heart,
It
l^]!-^
pota^/fer
'^'*""'-
Cambridge
is
for to the
one and the enlightened zeal and disinterestchiefly indebted for that
new
and prosperity which soon after began to be perceptible in its histoij. 'As this honourable lady,' says Lewis, ^''='=was a person of great piety and devotion, and one who made
life
it
life
to do good,
and employed
the chief part of her noble fortune for that purpose, this her
confessor, who was a man of the same excellent spirit, soon became very dear to her, and entirely beloved by her. Thus Mr Fisher, a good while after, very gratefully remembers her affection towards him. He styles her an excellent and indeed incomparable woman, and to him a mistress most dear upon many accounts; whose merits whereby she had
obliged
still
further to
recommend ^ vfc"''"
Soi?""''"'
Fisher to the favour of his university, and in the year 1501, when he had already commenced D.D., he was elected vicechancellor.
J'/'t*^'"'
him her
confessor (though
to his influence is
how far her design is attributable uncertain) we find her obtaining a royal
p/ofeSof^^^' ^^^
each university
of
Duns
Scotus, given
common divinity schools at Oxford', and certain payments made for the deKvery of a similar course at Cambridge*, are
suffici^t evidence that the
effect.
however, in connexion with each readership, do not appear to have been given before the year 1503, when the deed of endowment was executed". In
final regulations
1
The
= '
i 5.
'Edmund
Wylsford,
doctor of
'
Cooper, Annals, i 247. = The countess, according to Wood, for several years maintained a reader
divinity and fellow of Oriel College, tegan to read this lecture on the morrow after the Trinity, ann. 1497.' Wood-Gutch, II 828-9.
without any settled revenue on him and his successors. At length making a formal foundation according to law by her charter, beai-ing date on
28-2
436
CHAP.
y.
BISHOP FISHER.
it is
not
difficult
to
^^^^j conjecture
would hardly
fail
however there w^as one corporate body in England that from feelings of gratitude towards the countess, from its Th^e revenues reputation for sanctity, and its enormous wealth, might be supposed superior to such temptations, it was the gi-eat abmstatasto! bey of Westminster and to this society the administration of the estates and the payment of the salaries were enIf
;
The salary
attached to the office,
must have seemed a liberal amounted yearly to 13. 6s. 8d. it was, that is to say, more than three times that of the Eede lectureships (founded twenty years later), considerably more than that of any of the parochial livings in Cambridge, and
trustcd*.
Thg
it
Edmund
As
so considerable
mand
an endowment might be expected to comthe best talent of the university, and as the instruction
was to be entirely gratuitous, the theological students must have looked upon the newly-created chair as no slight boon, and it is deserving of notice that the regulations laid down seem to have been singularly well adapted for guarding
choslS''r"
toVe'subjfct
Each
^^^^^
^j.
"was
bound
uonltTe'
authorities,
to every one thither resorting, without fee ^ther reward than his salary, such works in divinity as the chancellor or vicechancellor with the 'college of doctors,'
leniter, et aperte,
should judge necessary, for one hour, namely from seven to eight in the morning, or at such other time as the chancellor
the Feast of the Nativity of the blessed Virgin (18 Hen. vii 1502), did then agree with the abbat and convent of Westminster, (to whom she had, or did then, give divers
lands and revenues) to pay to the reader, and his succesBors of this lecture, a yearly pension of twenty marks.' Wood-Guteh, ii 826. Lewis, Life of Ks/ier, i 7.
'
437
to read euerw chap.
Paet
v.
II.
He
was
accustomed day in each term, and in the long vacation up to A lecture to the eighth of September, but to cease in Lent, if the chan-^'^ven
ceUor should think
fit,
m preaching.
He
cease from reading: in any term for more than four days, unless licensed for reasonable cause, to be approved by the
111
more than fourteen mean time by a sufficient deputy to be paid by him. The election was to The election to be biennial, 7 77 ,.1 take place biennially, on the last day of the term before the and vested in > the doctors.
days,
and
111
and
/-
t'
-^
long vacation, in the assembly house, the electors being the ^nd^Sechancellor
or,
vicechancellor,
regents in arts),
who were
It can
first
be a matter of
little
fell
upon John Fisher. By the regulations given in 1503, it' was provided however that the reader, if elected to the office
either of chancellor or vicechancellor, should vacate his chair
within a
month from the time of such new academic year, Fisher accordingly
election.
With the
office,
His succes-
resigned the
and Cosin, master of Corpus, was elected in his stead. Cosin, at the expiration of two years, was succeeded by Burgoyne, afterwards master of Peterhouse, and he in turn by Desiderius
Erasmus.
clause in the second provision, directing that lectures Neglect of
practice of preaching at
The
shall
be discontinued during Lent, in order that both the reader and his class may devote themselves to preaching, is
deserving of special note as the corollary to the main object
of the lectureship.
"'' p^iod.
The
revival
home
and abroad.
Cooper, Annals,
271-2.
438
BISHOP FISHER.
seemed in danger of general neglect. At the English universities, and consequently throughout the whole country, the sermon was falling into almost complete disuse and however truly it might, in a later century, be affirmed of the
;
laity,
'
Preaching
dis::ouiite-
naaced on
account of
the fear of
Fisher.
the description was never truer than in the days of bishop By some indeed the usefulness of preaching was
LoUardism.
openly denied
to abuse
or rather
its
it
its liability
outweighed
by the Church,
tice,
his views
on
Consequent
rarity of
sermons.
was one remedy, let him resign his benefice". The activity of the Lollards had brought all popular harangues and discourses under suspicion, and a secular found preaching without a licence was liable to summary punishment. Thus the sermon had ceased to form part of an ordinary religious service. The provincial clergy were directed to preach once a quarter to their congregations, but no penalty appears to have attached to the neglect even of this rare duty; and Latimer tells us that, in his own recollection, sermons might be omitted for twenty Sundays in succession
without fear of complaint '.
in that
many
an admirably
left
the ser-
'
Series), ix
"
7881. sermon
pendious olde treatyse shewynge howe that we ought to havx the scripture in Englysshe, Arbor's ed. of Bede me
that begynneth, Scriptum est de Le" Yf any prieste saye he can: not preache, one remedye is resigne he uppe his benefyce. " See 4 comvitts
'
and
3
u.
he not lorothe, p. 176. Blnnt, Hist, of the Beformation, 4 ; Latimer, Sermons, i 182.
'
439
mon
In the universities, for one chap. v. altogether unrecognised'. master of arts or doctor of divinity who could make a text of ,^l!J^iL
Scripture the hasis of an earnest, simple and effective homi]y, ^^SL*"'* there were fifty who could discuss its moral, anagogical, and t^^^t^g figurative meaning, who could twist it into all kinds of un- ^'
imagined
cation.
significance,
and give
it
Rare as was the sermon, the theologian, in the form of a modest, reverent expounder of scripture, was yet rarer. Bewildered audiences were called upon to admire the performances of intellectual acrobats. Skelton, who well knew the Cambridge of these days, not inaptly described its young scholars as men who when they had 'once superciliously caught
'
sieiton's descnption of
JlJeo^ogSs
"^'^
'''
'A
A A
leBse
lumpe
of logicke,
Then forthwith by and by They tumble so in theology, Drowned in dregges of diuinite, That they juge them selfe able
To magnitye
their names'".'
The efforts made towards remedying this state of things fj^^ had hitherto been rare and ineffectual. We find in the year ^n^be1446, one
forty
pounds
payment
to the end that encouragement might be bestowed upon divinity, now at a low ebb' ; while in 1503, pope Alexander vi, in response to a special application, Buiiof aicx^'' issued a bull, empowering the chancellor of the university iws!'
long as the
money
lasted,
'
Utopia, ed. Arber, pp. 163-7. Beplycacion agaynst certayne yong Scholers abjwred of late, etc. Skelton-Dyce, I 206. These lines, it
1 ^
true, were reaUy aimed, some twenty years after the foundation of the lady Margaret preachership, at the young Cambridge Reformers: but they describe with perfect aeis
curacy the ordinary theological training of the time. Petrarch's corresponding criticism on the theolo-
gians of Italy in hia day, is worthy of note: 'Erant olim hnjus scientite [theologis] professores; hodie, quod indignans dico, eaorum nomen- profani et loqnaoes dialeotici dehonestant; quod nisi sic esset, non hiEo tanta tam subito puUulasset seges inutUium magistrorum.' Z>eiJemcdiis utrimque Fortunes, p. 45. * Cooper, Annals, i 198 ; Wood-
Gutch,
596.
440
CHAP.
V.
BISHOP FISHER.
^^^^
yearly to appoint under the university seal, twelve doctors or masters, and graduates, being priests, most capable of preach-
word of God in all parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland, both to the clergy and the people, notwithstanding any ordinance or constitution to the coning, to preach the
trary'.'
spirit
too sternly repressed for merely permissive enactments to Men began "to surmise that, in seekrestore it again to life.
ing to extirpate the 'tares,' the rulers of the Church had also torn up much of the good wheat and to some it seemed that
;
the certainty of an uninstructed and irreligious laity was a worse evil than the possibility of heretical preaching. Among
these were the lady Margaret and her adviser.
Foundatirn
Like One of
old,
Margaret^
Preacher^^p-
wanderinsT and fainting for want of the shepherd's care. The , i i lady Margaret preachership was the outcome ot no pedantic
,.
.
effort
it
;
was an
and it /eminently practical design for the people's good / reflects no little credit on the discernment of bishop Fisher,
Double aim
?evive the
rrmthh
on the part of the most enlightened reformers of his own and *^ succeeding generation, from moderate Anglicans, like
meac^!
Nor was
he was
Teathnony of EraamuB.
his
also
aim confined
anxious,
.
as
,.
we
learn
Erasmus,
whom he
^^
De
those
who were
word of God gravely and with an evangelical spirit, and recommend it to the minds of the learned by an efficacious
eloquence",'
Keguiationa
preachership.
By
the regulations
now given
new
"
10, 277.
441
two years
chap. v.
on some Sunday at
.^^
some college ; by a clause subsequently added the preference was to be given, ceteris pariJrus, to memben; of Christ's The preacher was to be resident in the university College. and to hold no benefice. The election to the office was vested in the vicechancellor and heads of colleges, the vicechancellor having the right of giving a casting vote. The appointment was to be made trienniaUy, the salary being The ^ipiAitfixed at ten pounds per annum, payable by the abbat andg**convent of Westminster'.
On
pwi'<
the
provision for"^'a*
university,
^the
the
laity,
gelical
and the introduction of a more simple and evanmethod of scriptural exposition, we can scarcely
deny
his
Fisher's claim to
own and
Ru-
dolf
von Lange, and Rudolphus Agricola, and those other eminent men whose services have entitled them to the
He
the
elected
Both at the university and at court Fisher continued to grow in favour. In the same year that the foregoing preachership was founded, he was elected chancellor of the univer'
nmr""
nomfnawd
Cooper,
AnnaU
8ays
273-1.
'The
pro-
Wood-
preacher,'
Wood, ''was
442
sity,
BISHOP FISHER.
and at nearly the same time was promoted to the The circumstances under which he succeeded to the latter dignity were of an exceptional and more than ordinarily gratifying kind. In those days the royal
bishopric of Rochester.
court,
Court,
or as
^was
Wolsey began
to
grow in
influence,
Hampton
won
succeeded?o
the bishopric.
and it would seem that no one was more taken by surprise ^^^^ Fisher himself, when, without solicitation or expectation ^^ j^^g ^^^ part, as yet unbeneficed, and still somewhat under the age when long service might be held to mark him out
_ .
for
the account given by Lewis, authenticated by the express statement of Fisher himself, proves that the initiative was
taken by king Hemy desirous, it would seem, as he approached the close of life, of redeeming many an ill-considered act of preferment by promotion that shewed a more
careful consideration of the personal merits of the individual.
Fisher's
^th
the"
C0llDt6SS
The influence of Fisher on behalf of his university now began to make itself still more distinctly perceptible. In the scheme of the foundation of the professorship, Oxford, as we have seen, was an equal sharer in his patroness's bounty and in that of the preachership, Anthony Wood has endeavoured to prove that it was her intention to have equally befriended the sister university". That his assumption is entirely unwarranted by the facts is clearly shewn by Baker, and Cooper's industrious research has discovered nothing that gives it countenance. It seems accordingly not unreasonable to conclude that the university was chiefly in1
'
erim, qui
nunquam
quium
nibtis liquido constaret illorum causa id factum esse . . Te nullius aut viri
Et quam ob rem
aut feminsB preoibu3 adduotmu ut id faceres asserebas.' Lewis, Life of Fislier, ii 270.
*
Wood, Annals,
ii
827.
443
debted to Fisher for the latter benefaction; while, in the chap. v. Pakt II. > design that next claims our attention, the foundation of a
new
college,
'"
it is
the most noticeable characteristics of the mu-^*^^,4 ""^'* '^'' nificence of nearly all founders of great institutions in these prse-reformation times, is one on which it would perhaps be
Among
unwise to
really
generous
much
wealth.
It
is
never themselves sought to disguise the fact that their own spiritual welfare entered largely into their calculations.
Through-
out the Middle Ages, the Augustinian theory, set forth with
that, so much emphasis by Peter Lombard in the Sentences, good deeds are to be performed, not from conformity to any abstract conception of right and wrong, but as acts of obedience to the mandates of the Great Disposer of earthly events and human destinies^ was the all-prevailing doctrine and this principle. Conjoined with the belief in purgatory, not unfrequently imparts to the designs of genuine benevolence an air of deliberate calculation that might seem, to a super-
ficial
observer, to divest
efficacy
them
The
up
of prayers offered
was
it
held,
And
thus
was
was
built, or
a monastery,
many masses
and of Both the lady Margaret professor and the lady Margaret preacher were bound to pray at stated seasons, and whenever they took part as celebrants in the mass, for
their families.
^
4.
444
BISHOP FISHER.
the souls of the countess and certain of her relations. While respecting king Henry, we learn on the authority of Fisher,
that notwithstanding his habitual parsimony,
his realm no virtuous
man
;
formed of, but he gave him a continual remembrance yearly and daUy to pray for him some ten marks and some ten ?outa" pounds\' But the prayers of the secular clergy were never ^th the " so highly prized as those of the regulars, and over the mind Westminster, of the devout countess the great community of Westminster,
with
its
ancient sanctity,
new
nisation, appears to
have exercised no ordinary fascination. in the abbey church, which perpetuates the memory of her royal son, was already commenced, and it was designed that at his side she too should find her earthly resting place and though the wealth of the abbey was enormous and had been already largely augmented by her liberality, it would seem that her remaining charities would have
sua(M*by'the
rlhS.*^
"*
^ecn similarly bestowed, had it not been for the disinterested That,' in the and unanswerable remonstrances of Fisher. language of Baker, the religious house at Westminster was already wealthy enough (as it was the richest in England), and did not want support or maintenance, that the schools of learning were meanly endowed, the provisions for scholars very few and small, and colleges yet wanting to their maintenance, ^that by such foundations she might have two ends and designg fit once, might double her charity and double her reward, by aflFording as well supports to learning as encouragements to virtue',' were cogent arguments that for' '
and brought
it
omeimver- Swelling the coffers soon to be plundered so mercilessly', was ^ ^' given to the foundation of two societies, which, after having
gi-aced the university for
'
30.
Nothing
the force of the shook that followed, than the upheaving even of the solid rock of the Abbey as it came on.
god's house.
445
contributing with un- chap.
v.
many
still
diminished efficiency to
fulness.
reputation, adornment,
and use-
The foundation
grammar
g|,=a'?/{i^,
under the government of the authorities of Clare and in the immediate vicinity of the college, has already come under
Shortly after its foundation, in consequence of the numerous alterations involved in the erection of King's College, it was removed to St. Andrew's parish"; here it
^X^'"""
our notice'.
appears to have attained to independence of Clare College', being aided by a grant from Henry vi of property once in
two cottages formerly belonging to the abbey and a tenement adjoining which had formerly belonged to the abbess of Denny, with gardens adjacent.' We Design of learn indeed from the charter of Christ's College, that it was the design of the good monarch to have endowed the society
possession,
'
of Tiltey
'
with revenues
maintenance of sixty
scholars,
In the second of Edward iv we find the society receiving a Accessions to *^' revenues 1.1 r slight accession oi revenue in the shape oi arentoi ten marks ottiie society. which the prior of Monmouth used to pay to the chief lord of the priory in foreign parts,' and also a rent of forty shillings which the prior of Newstead-upon-Ancolme used to pay to the abbat and convent of Longvillers". Such was the foundation Design of tiie '"*" which the lady Margaret, acting under the advice of Fisher rot as above described, resolved to take under her protection,
/.
'
and
to raise
arts.
The
collegium vulgariternimcupatum Goddesfwus (given 20 Henry vi), in Documents, iii 155-9. ' The fact that Christ's College stood in this parish is said to have decided the historian, John Major, in his choice of a college (St. Andrew being the patron saint of his nation). He resided at Christ's for ahout a Cooper, Athena, i'93. year.
Cooper, Annals,
189; Nichols,
Eoual Wills, 369. The society was afco endowed with certain revenues from
the monasteries of Monmouth, Totness, Newatead, Sawtrey, and Cau%well in South Wales; with the priory of Chipstowe, the priory and manor of Ikeham, and the advowsons of Fen Drayton and of Naumby in Lincolnshire. Documents, iii 168-9. ' Documents, i 59. The same grants had been made in the preceding reign {Ibid.-p. 56);therewouldoonsequeutly appear to have been a resumption.
'Thereisnomentioninthelioence,
given 24 Hen. vi, of the master and scholars of Clare Hall; but the head of the society of God's House is still
446
CHAP. V. of
-
BISHOP PISHEK.
Paet
V
II.
grammar
The
a double conversion,from monastic uses to those of a sohoolj and from those of a grammar school to those of a college.
precise time at
which Fisher resigned his mastership is not recorded, but in the year 1505 we find one John Fotehede elected to the post^ and Fisher's retirement was therefore probably somewhat earlier. Though
at Michaelhouse,
such as he could for the most part easily delegate to his subordinate, and the affairs of his bishopric and the necessity
for frequent attendance at court
may
him
to
make
and
Fisher electof
it
College, as
Queen
which now took place, was not improbably designed, Lcwis suggests, as a means of providing him with a
12,1606^
College ".
The
Thomas Wil-
and his place for the next three years was filled by There can be little doubt that while the latter rendered important service to the rising society, it was in no way at the expejise of the one over which he presided, for
countess',
Fisher.
we
find that
fellows
that,
when he resigned the presidency in 1508, the were unanimous in their expressions of regret, and at their urgent request, he undertook the responsibility
Cooper, Athenm, i 23. Lewis, Life of Fisher, i 16. ' Wilkinson had succeeded Andrew Doket in the presidentship in 1484, and was probably at this time
1
"
dence,
am elderly man.
*
'
He
died in 1511.
The
man
a desire to be their president, as they had of continuing him.' Lewis, Life of Fisher, p. 26.
CHRIST'S COLLEGE.
it
447
was notified that king Henry, at the representations of his chap. v. mother and other noble and trust-worthy persons, -percaris- -J:^^ simce matris nostrce necnon aliorum nobilium et fide dignorum and having regard to her great desire to exalt and increase the Christian faith, her anxiety for her own spiritual welfare, and the sincere love which she had ever borne 'our uncle' (Henry vi),
while he lived,
had
to enlarge
who should be
grammar
and faculties or in sacred theology. The arrival of the charter was soon followed by the intelligence of the countess's noble benefactions and the university next learned that the humble and struggling society hitherto known as God's House, had received, under its new designation as Christ's College, endowments which placed
or in the other liberal sciences
;
it
among
existing colleges'.
Estates
Mary de
Pratis, at ^''^^""j^
Margaret,
Creyke in Norfolk, with licence to assign the same to this college, to which it was subsequently granted with the
The king, fey other letters patent of the same date, empowered the countess to grant to the
sanction of the pope.
advowson of Manobre in Pembrokeshire, which She also granted the manors of Malton, Meldreth, and Beach, with lands in those places, and in Whaddon, Kneesworth, Oakington, Orwell, and Barrington,
college the
1 It is
new
college
pression of the original institution. the developement of a grammar school into a college for the whole coiuBe oiibetrivium and quadrivium. The mode of procedure was therefore altogether different from that whereby the nunnery of St. Ehadegund was converted into Jesus College, and the house of the Brethren of St. John into St. John's CoUege of this the expressions addere, annectere, used with respect to the elecvmire, tion of the new scholars by the exist-
and the appointment John Sickling, the proctor of God's House, to the masterslfip of Christ's, are evident proof. Baker, in his History of St. John's College, speaks of the old society as having been 'stippressed upon the founding of
ing society,
of
'
Christ's College,' and considers that this 'suppression' was the reason
that 'we meet with so few degrees in grammar after that foundation.' He also, with equal inaccuracy, speaks
See Baker-Mayor
p.
30
448
in Cambridgeshire,
there,
BISHOP FISHER.
the manor of Dilesworth, with lands and in Kegworth, Hathem, and "Watton, with the advowson of Kegworth in Leicestershire, also the advowson of Sutton Bennington in Nottinghamshire, and the manor of
Roydon
I
in Essex, and procured the appropriation of the churches of Fendrayton and Helpstone. By her will, she directed that the college buildings should be perfectly finished
and garnished
other bethecouege.
at her cost
16
that
100
or
more should
be deposited
ma
which she gave a moiety of her plate, jewels, vestments, altarcloths, books, hangings, and other necessaries belonging to her chapel and that the manor-house at Malton should be sufficiently built and repaired at her cost, "soo that the maister and scolers may resort thidder, and there to tarry in tyme of contagiouse siknes at Cambrige, and exercise their lernyng and studies^."' Before the close of the year 1505 the countess honoured ^ftsS'-^ the university by her presence. We have no details of this iMsr"" visit, beyond the fact that she was met at a distance of three miles firom the town by the dignitaries and other members of the community, whose gratitude she had so well deserved' but in the following year we find her repeating her visit, accompanied by her royal son. King Henry, with that ostentatious devotion wherewith in his latter years he strove
;
many
Her second
visit,
with !''?Henry,
mlSOS.
was on his way to visit the famous shrine of St. Mary at Walsingham. He was met, in the first instance, at three .? ., 1 1 milos distance from the town, by the civic authorities as he approached within a quarter of a mile, he found awaiting
PI
1
first
members
of
1 '
Cooper, ^nnob,
It
'
was perhaps on
that the incident recorded by Fuller occurred : ' Once the lady Margaret came to Christ's College to behold it when partly built; and, looking out of a window, saw the dean call a faulty scholar to correction; to whom
she said Lente, lente! "Gently, gently," as accounting it better to mitigate his punishment than to procure his pudon : mercy and justice making the best medley to offenders.' 'This,' says Fuller, 'I heard in a clenivi from Dr Collings.' Fuller Priokctt & Wright, p. 1S2.
THE ROYAL
VISIT.
449
As
the'
monarch
passed along he stooped from his saddle to kiss the cross borne
by each order, and at last arrived where the university cross was planted, with a bench and cushion beneath. Here the chancellor, with the other doctors, was stationed to give him
welcome
;
receluo"'^''
proposithereupon delivered what Ashinole terms a oration, which has tion,' or in other words, a short Latin
little
we
should expect to meet with the most severe fidelity to historic truth
;
but, after
making
all
may have
felt
does more honour to his heart than to his head, and affords
a noteworthy illustration of that intense and credulous reverence for tradition, which, notwithstanding his natural good
sense and
exhibited in the
,
course of his
pressions
The speech opens with the usual ex- His eMessivo adulation. of fulsome adulation. King Henry is complimented
,
on his
skill in
on
and grace of
and
But however
this
may
be,
it
impossible not to
and from
the plots and treasons that at a later period, had endangered the stability of the throne.
the orator holds, were to be found in the prosperity of the kingdom, the warlike prowess of the people, and the monarch's
enormous wealth.
upon
but
Empson was
29
450
university',
BISHOP FISHER.
and
it is
may have
believed
him
Then
follows a recital
some of the most extravagant fables respecting the origin of the university. Cambridge was founded by Cantaber, a king of the East Saxons, who had been educated at Athens. The archives, unfortunately, that should have preserved the records of this illustrious commencement, had been lost in the 'carnage, conflagrations, and plunderings' of a former age. But other facts in the early history of the university were attested by independent evidence. It was notorious that Cambridge had been known as a seat of learning long
before the time
copies, sub letter
of Honorius, 'for
we
he expressly refers to times far more ancient than his own.' Honorius again, as every one knew, was pope sixty years before Charlemagne founded the university of Paris ;' nor could it be reasonably doubted that Paris owed its origin
'
to Cambridge,
when we know
that Alcuin,
here,
John
Scotus,
Gaguinum
;
and
testem
the orator turns to the less questionable records of the successive benefactions of former
monarchs
and
recalls, in
how
whom he
life
new
Fisher's ac-
follows
knowledge-
ment
in lethargy and despondency. Then an undoubtedly genuine expression of feeling, Fisher's acknowledgement of the benefactions he had himself received at the royal hands; and finally the oration closes with a devout prayer that length of days, an undisputed succession (prince Henry appears to have been standing at
when sunk
Cooper, Athena, 1 14. GagaiutiB was an accepted anthority at this time. He was the author of De Origine et Geitis Francorwm, a chronicle of French history from the time of Pharamond down to 1491, and held a chair of rhetoric in the university of Paris. His account of contemporary history has
1
'
generally been regarded as trustworthy. See Potthast, Bibliotheca Histonca Medii JEvi, ed. 1862, 240, 325. Erasmus speaks of tiJTn in the highest terms, ' Robertus GaguinuB, quo uno litterarum parente, antistite, principe, Francia non injuria gloriatur.' Opera, ni 1782. * See supra, p. 427.
THE ROYAL
his father's side),
VISIT.
451
spiritual blessing chap.
v.
may
pabi il
The
">
prooession through
This ceremony over, the king remounted his horse, and the procession moved on
;
.-'.='
it
appears to nave
College
made a kind
'o-
Emmanuel
now
stands,
It was he had already, in 1497, during the presidency of Wilkinson, been entertained under the same roof. After resting for an hour, he again rose and
monarch alighted
not his
first visit
'
did on his
example
King Henry
attends the
being followed by
1
and then mounting his horse rode in solemn state to King's. line IP The chapel there, commenced half a century before, was at
this time only half completed';
^!^9*j5,i
Edward IV the work had either altogether stood still, or JJe bS^. been carried on in a spiritless and inadequate fashion, owing As yet the red rose of Lancaster to the want of funds. gleamed not from the variegated pane the rich details of the architecture, wearing the greyhound of Beaufort and the portcullis of Blanche of Navarre, were still mostly wanting
;
' King Henry vi had set apart, from the revenues of the duchy of Lancaster, a special fund for carryBut after ing on the building. Edward IV was proclaimed King,' says Cole, which was on 5th March, 1460, an entire stop was put to the works, for the duchy of Lancaster and the whole revenue of the college was seized by him, part of which was regranted to the provost and scholars for their maintenance, but nothing from the duchy for the building 147983. 1296. Is. 8d. were expended on the works, of which 1000 was given by the King, and 140 by Thomas Eotheram, bishop of Lincoin and chancellor of England, and formerly feUow of the ooUege Thomas ClifE was by Eic. in 1483. appointed overseer of the works, and
' '
seems to have been carried up to the topof the B.ipFindow, and the two first vestries towards the E. on the N. side were covered in, but the battlements over them were not set up, and thus the building stood sloping towards the W. end, being carried no higher than the white stone rises, tUl 28th May, A. r. 23 Henry vii, from which time the work went on at the expense of Henry vii and his executors, tUl the case of the chapel was finished, which it was 29 July, a.d. 1515, A. B. 7 Hen. viii.' Cole MSS. i 105-7. The roofing of the chapel was not commenced until a.d. 1512. The clause in the royal will relating to the completion of the chapel is printed by Cooper, Annals,
i 28990/ A further sum of 5000 was given by the executors in 1512 13. The windows, according to
continued so
lowing,
A. B.
time 746. 10s. 9^d. vfas expended on the works, of which the King At seems to have given 700 this time the E. end of the chapel
f
contract of 1526, were to be after 'the form, manner, curiosity, and cleanness of those in the King's new
chapel at Westminster."
292
'
452
CHAP.
BISHOP FISHEK.
Sufficient progress
V.
had
however been made to admit of the performance of divine service, in which Fisher took part as chief celebrant.
'* ^^ ^* um-easonabie to
visit,
and personal observation of the fate that seemed threatening to overtake an unequalled design, may have roused him to his after liberality in behalf of this great memorial to the
holy Henry's shade.' He had at one time, it is said, intended that the body and reliques of his uncle of blissful
'
'
memory
own
chapel at Westminster,'
but this design was never carried into effect: perhaps, in abandoning it, he conceived the idea, which he carried out only on his death-bed, of proving his regard for the memory
by finishing, work that Henry vi had commenced at Cambridge. However this may have been, within three years after the above visit, he left those princely bequests
in noble fashion, the
of Splendid completion. *
^
^uestefor"
sum
that
tton'onlo^ chapeL
and
additional
for the
'
perfect finishing*
of the whole.
We
when we
-^
find
tottie'i^-*
veriity.
that a gift of one hundred marks to the university, and aiiotJier of a hundred pounds towards the rebuilding of
Great St. Mary's, made by king Henry before his departure from Cambridge on the foregoing occasion, were hailed as
indications of special favour in one
notorious.
is some reason for conjecturing that, among those followed in the royal train on this oceasionS was Desiderius Erasmus, for we find that he was in England during
There
BEASMus.
.1.1536.
who
Dr John Cains
Cant. Acad.
directly asserts
p.
j^tst.
.
127),
that
Erasmus was living at Cambridge at the time when King Henry -risited the uniTersity, quo tempore Hen'
etiam Septimus Angliae rex pnidentissimus Cantabrigiam iBvisit:' but this statement appears to be without sufBfiient authority. See Knight's Life of Erasmus, pp. 85-8.
ricus
'
453
that he was, chap.
we
also
know
v.
-'
grees of bachelor and doctor of divinity of the university'. d.I^S. He was already well known to Fisher, whose guest he after- anl guest of
wards became at the lodge of Queens' College it is therefore far from improbable that in the statutes of Christ's College given about this time by the lady Margaret, the influence of
;
effect,
and
that,
in the
clause which provides for the study of the poets and orators
is
to
and his
illus-
But be
this as it
may,
it
is
certain that in
the statutes that now invite our attention we have a more important and interesting code than any that has hitherto
come
before us,
presenting
who had
endeavour to
leader in
introduce a
new element
of culture,
by a distinguished
the university,
more
illustrious
it
was
first
In the commencing chapter we miss the ordinary preamble respecting the motives and designs of the foundress,
it
is
to
:
be looked
House
and
it is
new
rule.
The
Thia fact
is referred to
by dean
tatur baooalaureua in
'
eadem et intret libros Sententiarum bedeUisque satisf aeiat. Liler Gratiar. B, fol.
229
b.
The sermo
examinatoritis,
Anno 1505 conceditur dispute Des. Erasmo ut unicum vel si exigantur duo responsa una cum duobus
; '
according to Caius {Antiq. Cant. Acad., Lib. ii), was so called, ' quia ante a dootoribus theologiois examinabatur quam de suggesto pronunciabatur propter Wicliffi dootrinam.' The fear of LoUardism was evidently
Epistolam ad Bomanos, vel qutevis alia, sufficiant sibi ad incipiendum in theologia sic quod prius admit-
454
BISHOP FISHER.
In the statute which follows next, relating to the duties and authority of the master, a contrast to preceding codes is observahle in the numerous limitations imposed. Hitherto
the main object would seem to have been to secure obedience to his rule; no apprehension is manifested lest he should overstep the proper bounds
interests while
and prove
;
promoting his own and he is generally to be found enjoying what was virtually almost unrestricted liberty
Conditions
.
of action.
We
find, it is true, in
compared
witli those
imposed at
Jesus Col-
required to take an
oath that he will neither alienate, pledge, nor mortgage any of the property without the consent of the visitor and the
majority of the fellows; and he
is
with the fellows in rebus et negotiis arduis^- But these obligations are vague and easily evaded when compared with
those here imposed.
To the master
of Christ's
it is
forbidden
any complaint
or concession,
dues, or
to
bestow any
office, fee,
to present to
Residence
strictly en-
any of the college livings, and finally, to enter upon any matter wherein the college may be liable to suffer disgrace or detriment, until all the fellows have been summoned and the consent of the majority obtained.' It is also requii'ed, 'inasmuch as it is not fit that the head should be separated from the body (the statute here following up the metaphor originally instituted), that the master shall be resident two months out of every three throughout the year,
'
forced.
exceptional circumstances.
He
is
and
The
fellows, twelve in
of their election, to
eligible
from the
Documents,
m 98.
455
among
be not forthcoming from chap. t. from the whole university: at .f^^Lli). the number of these, no time are there to be more than two who are not in priest's Quaiiflorders. The northern sympathies of both the foundress and tiona re^ her adviser are evinced in the statute requirmg that at least ?JJ{^^j^?Jj_
*/ , ,
half,
but not more than nine, of the fellows shall be natives beg^e'"
Dur- trynw""' ham, Westmoreland, Cumberland, York, Richmond, Lancashire, Derby, and Nottingham; no one of these counties however is to be represented by more than one fellow at a time. The remaining three fellows to be from any three of the remaining counties of the realm. In connexion with both the mastership and the fellow- Form of oath ^
^ ^
atelecbon.
ships there
is
calls
for special
notice,
namely the form of oath administered at the time of election. In the statutes of Jesus College we also find forms of oath
.
imposed, but between the oaths prescribed at the two colleges ^'^*bed in there is an important difference; as regards the point in j^^'co"question, a comparison of the ty^o fellowship oaths will
The
is
required to swear,
'I
suffice.
'***
will^^'jai,.
f'""*"'' hold and maintain inviolate all and each of the statutes and ordinances of this college, without any cavilling or wrongful or perverse interpretation whatever, and as far as in me lies I will endeavour to secure their acceptance and observance
by others \'
swear,
and scrupulously observe all and each of the statutes which Margaret, the mother of our most illustrious king Henry vii and foundress of this college, has either herself or by her advisers given for its rule, and will as far as in me lies enforce their observance by my brother Thus far the oaths are evidently substantially the fellows^'
'I will truthfully
1 Ego N. in verum et perpetuum sooium hujus collegii electus, admissus et institutus, juro ad bseo sancta Dei evangelia, per me oorporaliter taota, quod omnia et singu'
Similarly the
fello'fr
of Christ's
is
required to
''
'
^nullam
ullo
tempore adver-
mala aut
sinistra
interpretatione,
inet
sus aliquod statutorum Fundatricis nostra sive adversna hoc juramenturn meum dispenaationem impetrabd, nee ourabo impetrari, neque ab aliia impetratam aooeptabo ullo modo.'
456
BISHOP FISHER.
same, but in a subsequent clause of the oath administered at Christ's we find this addition, I will at no time seek for a
'
dispensation with respect to any one of the statutes of our foundation, or this my oath, neither will I take any steps for
way
accept
it
PFecedent
for this clause in statutes of
if
King's Col-
be observed that this latter clause has a precedent in the fellowship oath administered at King's College (which in dean Peacock's opinion Fisher had taken as his model) ', that it is inserted in the oath adminisobtained by others.'
It is to
by Fisher
in the years
drawn up
^tbat it is
retained in
and in those that received the royal sanction in the twelfth of Victoria. It is also to be observed that at each of the above three colleges, as also at Queens', Clare HaU, and
Pembroke', the queen in council has always been the supreme authority; and that to this authority there has always belonged, as either iinplied or distinctly asserted in tbe
several codes,
an unquestioned right to
alter,
rescind, or
ill
In dean Peacock's view we are consequently here presented with raised by dean Peacock a most difficult question.' How,' he asks (in discussing the connexion
Questfon
' '
with this
clause.
clause as
it
'
could
the authorities of the college, the provost and fellows, consistently with the oath
Observations, etc.
Early Statutes of St. John's Col308 and 600. 'In Gains, Corpus, Downing,
Trinity HaU, Catherine Hall, it ia the queen in council or in a court of equity. In Peterhouse, Jesus, Magdalen, Sidney, Emmanuel, the visitors, ae representing the founders and deriving from them peculiar jurisdiction and authority, would either be competent to sanction such changes, or at all events to authorise an application to the queen in council or in a court of equity.' Peacock, Dean Peacock observes with p. 101. reference to Christ's College, There is no power expressly reserved by
'
'
'
jam
Ibid.
1878.
Ibid. p. 96.
457
chap. t.
In other words, how could the crown reserve to itself a right to alter, and the master or the fellow swear at the same time It is known,' he never to accept any alteration whatever.
.
Pabt
,
it
'
subsequently adds,
tions
'
were repeatedly granted by the authority of the crown, and it was never contended, nor even conceived, that the same royal authority which in those days was considered competent to dispense with or alter the whole body of the statutes, could be controlled in the exercise of a temporary dispensation of one or more of them, in favour of any specified individual. But if it be admitted that the same power which
gave the statutes, did not, from the moment of the completion of that act, abdicate and renounce
its
authority, but
it
in the modi-
and dispensation of
its
own
laws,
by the crown,
those
it
may
dispensations which
it
was designed
to exclude,
by subjecting
who sought for or accepted them perjury?' The answer which he gives
raises is
it
to the imputation of
somewhat
unsatisfactory,
when
men were
from the distinct obligations of oaths which were so readily granted and accepted, both in the university and elsewhere'.'
It is obvious that this latter observation
is
not applicable to
The
ciaiue
the prse-Reformation period, and we are consequently under aiS at^ the necessity or enquirmg what may be supposed to have Monsirom
framed in the
factory evidence that these precautions were, in the first instance, aimed at dispensations from Borne. In the twentieth of the statutes given
Christ's
College,
we have what
is
entitled
'
Forma
et
Conditio Obliga-
Ibid. p. 97.
458
tionis
BISHOP FISHER.
and by this statute the master is required to execute a bond for the payment of 200 to the provost of King's and the master of Michaelhouse. So long however as he abstains from obtaining literas aliquas apostolicas dispensatorms releasing him from his own oath, and also refuses to allow the acceptance of any such letter by any of the fellows, the bond is to remain inoperative
qua Magister
sive Gustos obligabitur:
{nullius roboris^).
were papal dispensations from, an oath of obedience to the royal authority; and the spirit in which the prohibitory clauses were enacted was identical with the spirit of the law which
to
made it high
of a legate
England,
^the
Probable
explanation of the retention of the clause in subsequent
revisions of the Statutes.
by the crown in the prosecution of Wolsey. So far therefore from this clause presenting any 'great difficulty,' as enacted before the Act of Supremacy, it would appear to be entirely in harmony with the legislation of the period. The difficulty, if such it can be termed, belongs to times subsequent to that Act, when of course the oath became almost unmeaning, and, as we learn from Baker, who found many of these bonds among the archives of St. John's, the name of the king was inserted instead of that of the pope^. After this alteration the statute necessarily wore the appearance, to which dean Peacock adverts, of direct contradiction to the founder's reservation of a right to alter or rescind any statute in the future. But it is sufficiently notorious that statutes of every kind are frequently to be found embodying clauses which, whatever may have been their original utility, have in the course of time lost much of their significance and effect. If however any explanation can be given of the
action
iii 188; see also St. John's, p. 64. fellows at their admission were to take a strict oath for the observance of the statutes, and withal to give a bond of 100 not to obtain or cause to be obtained, directly or indirectly from the pope, the court of Eome, or any other place, any licence or dispensation contrary to their oaths, or to accept or use it so obtained. Many of which bonds are yet extant; only the pope was soon
Documents,
Early Statutes of
'
'
after altered for the King, or else the bonds run in general expressions.'
The
In Baker's opinion these bonds were a just and reasonable security,' and such as it were to be wished had been continued.' Baker-Mayor, By what refinement the felp. 99. low was supposed to be debarred from obtaining a dispensation dispensing him from his oath not to
'
'
tend to explain.
'
459
v.
down
suggested by the above writer would certainly appear to be the most probable, that the object was 'to prevent the juror from seeking, by any direct or indirect exertions of his own, to procure a dispensation from the obligations and penalties
II.
tunity of procuring
tration of the laws\'
it
In the statute relating to the scholars (discipuli scholares). The scholars:" " to be aufti find that they are to be students of promise, as yet neither cientiy m1 structed m bachelors nor in holy orders, able to speak and understand |n""' the Latin tongue, and intending to devote themselves to a^^ir ^*' literature (bonas artes), and theology, and the sacred profes- * sion. They must be competent to lecture in sophistry, at least; in elections the same preference, under the same re-
we
,.
'
'*''
strictions, as in
is
to be
shewn
to
Throughout the statutes we find not a single reference to civil law or to medicine, and the master is bound by his oath not to allow any of the fellows to apply himself to any other faculty than those of arts and theology.
the canon or
The canon
and medidne
The admission
termed,
is
Pensioners to
required that who are of good characexercised in admitting only such as '" special vigilance shall be
first
;
here
provided for
and
it
is
are probatce
vitce et
famce
invi'olatce,
strict
is
is
daily in the hall ; one on dialectics or sophistry, another on pointed. logic, a third on philosophy, and a fourth on the works o/his lectures "^ to include 7 2 ml i.1 ihe other provisions, it is to be "''^"p the poets and orators .
. .
.
noted, also
make a much closer approach towards bringing the college course into rivalry with that of the schools.
=
g^t'Jj7''
harum
faciiltatum
sit
expositurus, et
bitrio reliuquimus quoad ipsi conducibilius auditorio fore judioaverint.' Documents, iii 201.
et
deoanorum
ar-
460
BISHOP FISHER.
There are to be 'oppositions' every Monday and "Wednesday, between twelve and one; sophistry exercises every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, between three and five; a problem in logic every Monday after supper until seven;
five;
Lectures to be given in the Long YacatiOQ.
a problem in philosophy every Friday between three and and in the morning a disputation in grammar between nine and eleven; and in the long vacation, in addition to all the foregoing, there are to be sophistry exercises on Monday,
Tuesday, and Wednesday, from eight to ten, in quibus omiiibus,
says the statute, diligentia
et
episcopus,
In the statute relating to the visitor, Joannes Roffensis nimo universitatis Gantahrigice cancellarius, is apoffice for life'.
pointed to the
Another provision among those contained in these statutes, though apparently a mere matter of detail, is probably as significant a fact as any that the statutes present.
We
Allowance for commons.
have already had occasion to notice in connexion Avith earlier foundations the sums allowed for the weekly expenditure in commons": and
it is
to
means
in their
power
for
proved the bane of the monasteries. table were extolled and sought with
ruder times, and
if
The pleasures
little
of the
disguise in these
was mainly
while the
under definite
restrictions,
tions*
prescribed, abuses
have crept
in.
The house
unchecked extravagance of this character. At Peterhouse, where no amount had been prescribed, 'the whole being left indeterminately to the judgement of the master,' the bishop of Ely found, when on his visitation in 1516, that 'no little
1
DocimcnU,
iii
'
and 370.
461
chap.
v.
-^^^^^-L^
weekly commons should not in future exceed fourteen pence'. The amount now fixed upon for Christ's College by bishop Fisher was only twelve pence: and when we consider that the same amount had been assigned for the maintenance of the fellows of Michaelhouse more than two centuries before, we can only infer that he regarded an ordinarily frugal table as an indispensable element in college discipline. It is to be The same o i amount subobserved also that he prescribed the same amount for the ^^^^^ij^'y^ commons at St. John's, and maintained it, notwithstanding o^gfj^'},?j_
*._^
prices, in
la
byrSho""
1530^
Long
after
fellows of the
same society found that this compulsory economy had done them good service for when the greedy hand of the courtier was stretched out to seize the property of the college, king Henry refused to sanction the spoliation, observing that he thought he had not in his realm so many persons so honestly maintained in land and living, by so little land and rent'.' The university had scarcely ceased to congratulate itself Proposed on the foundation of Christ's College, when, it became known of st John's College, by -nr that the lady Margaret was intent on a somewhat similar the laay Mar;
'
The Hospital
threnofst
John.
thren of
In this case however the original stock had gone too far in decay to admit of the process of grafting, and the society, as we have already noticed, presented a more
St.
John.
than usually glaring instance of maladministration. Throughout its history it appears to have been governed more with
1
See supra p. 254, n. 2 ; Fulp. 57. ler mentions the fact that archbishop
Arundel, in 1405, granted a faculty for increasing a fellow's weekly commons to 16d. ; and this is the amount prescribed in the early statutes of
maintained at the same sum up to the reign of Edward yi, when, in consequence of the great rise in
prices, it
Jesus College.
Early Statutes (ed. Mayor), pp. 153, 320, 379. Farker Correspondence (Parker Society), p. 36: quoted in BakerMayor, p. 572. The allowance was
"
strance to the protector Somerset, representing that the price of everyr thing was enhanced, but their income was not increased insomuch that now they could not live for twenty pence so well as formerly they could do for twelve pence.' Lewis, Lif o/
;
Fisher,
248,
462
Bishop fisher.
few than to extended utility; though possessed of a revenue amounting to nearly onethird that of the great priory at Barnwell, a house of the
for
same
order, it never
ttuhc^m-"
f7hix-'
tury.
"'
sumptuous living, often supported five or six times the number'. But with the commencement of the sixteenth century, under the misrule of William Tomlyn, the condition of the hospital had become a scandal to the community, and
in the language of Baker,
who
had gone
so far
and were
ita
proposed
and did not well know how to go farther; but their last stores and funds being exhausted and their credit sunk, the master and brethren were dispersed, hospitality and the service of God (the two great ends of their institution) were equally neglected, and in effect the house abandoned'.' Such being the state of affairs, the bishop of Ely, at this time James Stanley, stepson to the countess, had nothing
of the
society
were altogether
in-
who proposed
to erect
new college.
King Henry
ent.
^ *^^ Same site and to endow a new and splendid college, ^^^ gj^^ accordingly found herself under the necessity of revoking certain grants already made to the abbey at Westminster. To this the consent of king Henry was indispensable; and the obtaining of that consent called for the exercise of some address, for the monarch's, chief interest was now
centred in his
own
were wont to style him, was now entering upon the 'evil days' and years in which he found no pleasure : he responded however to his
of his age
hospital at to 80. Is. lOd.: those of the priory to 256. lis. lO^d. (Cooper, AnnaU, i 370.)
1
men
its dissolution
Baker in estimating the latter, by what he calls 'a middle eomputatioB,* at 300, has placed them too high,
'
Baker-Mayor,
p. 60.
463
v.
''
was so much appayi-'d that 'he declares on his faith "that he had been three days or he could make an end of his letter.'" His consent having been readily given, nothing more was wanting to enable the countess to proceed with her design, and everything would seem to have been progressing towards a satisfactory accom-
Baker informs
his sight
'
up and ratified, king Henry died, and, within little more than nenth of two months after, the countess also was borne to rest by his ^pr. 22ofisns. Ueftth tlio side in the great abbey. Erasmus composed her epitaph'; [^J^j*'^^jj Skolton sang her elegy'; and Torrigiano, the Florentine ^*'''" sculptor, immortalised her features in what has been characterised as 'the most beautiful and venerable figure that the abbey contains'.' Upon Fisher, who had already preached the funeral sermon for the son, it now devolved to render a
'
'
memory
of the mother.
A large
gathering at
he described,
Fisher
preftdios
her funeral
Mabgabet;. EicHEMoNDiiE. Septimi HenBici. Matri. Ootavi. Atis. Qv.E. STiPENDii CoNSiiTvrr. Tiub. Hoc. CoENOBio. MoNACHis. Et. Dootoki. GraumaiiOES. Apvd. Wyhborn.
Quem
locus iste sacer oelebri oelebrat polyandro, UKus en geuetrix hao tumulatur hiimo Cui cedat Tanaquil (Titus bono super asti-a reportet), Cedftt Poiielope, caTus UUxis amor ; Huic Abigail, velut Hester, erat pietate seounda En trea jam proceres nobUitate pares 1
!
| I |
etc. etc.
'
Dean
164
than
M.D. IX. III. KAL. iTLii. > In his capacity of laureate, in the year 1516, of which the following lines may serve as a spefeimen of the standard attained at Cambridge in Latin elegiacs at that time:
Aspirate meis elegis, pia tnrma sororum, Et Ifaigaretam oollaorymate piam; Hao sub mole latet Henrioi regis celeberrima mater
|
|
in any. of her numerous portraits, her effigy well lies in that chapel, for to her the King, her son, owed evetything. For him she lived. To end the Civil Wars by his marriage with Elizabeth of York she counted as an holy duty. On her tomb, as in her life, her second and third husbands have no place. It bears the heraldic emblems only of her first youthful love, the father of Henry vii. She was always " Margaret Biohmond."
Ibid. p. 165.
t
'
464
whicli
BISHOP FISHER.
none could doubt, the manner of her life'. On the ears of the present generation, much that most edified and moved
falls
doubtless
somewhat
strangely.
We
hear with more of pity than of admiration the details of her devout asceticism, of her shirts and girdles of hair, her early risings, her interminable devotions and countless kneel-
ings,
her long
fasts
and ever-flowing
tears,
but
charity
we
and her open hand, may be discerned the outlines of a character that attained to a standard not often reached in that corrupt and dissolute age.
execu-
In conjunction with seven others he had been appointed executor for the purpose of carrying out her designs his coadjutors were' Richard bishop of Winchester,
:
and Charles Somerset lord Herbert Thomas Lovell, Henry Marney, and John St. John, knights and Henry Hornby and Hugh Ashton, clerks. On the ninth of April, 1511, the executors proceeded to draw up the charter of the
; ;
ad numerum
it
et
oraturarum:
master.
be a body corporate, might plead and be impleaded, and purchase or receive lands under the same name. At the same time Robert Shorten was elected first master, and James Spooner, John West, and Thomas Barker, fellows, on the nomination of the bishop of Ely, of the said coUege'.' Of the above-named executors, the four laymen appear
should have a
common
seal,
by
edited
Dr Hymers.
Baker-Mayor,
p. 68.
ST.
JOHN'S COLLEGE.
4G5
to
or no active interest in the scheme, chap. v. by Cavendish in his Life of Wolsey as a ^^!^^^ very sage counsellor and witty',' was probably well able to lovou. render good service, for he stood high in the royal favour but he was throughout his life a busy politician and was at
little
have taken
Lovell, descrihed
'
this time
much
Of the
by
far
fox.
have been expected to interest himself in an undertaking on which his services could be so easily bestowed. But he had
received
-,.-
his
earlier
which subsequently found expression in the foundation of Corpus Christi College, were already beginning to declare themselves. He was also the intimate friend of Wolsey, who was believed to be adverse to the design of the lady Margaret, while with Warham, who warmly befriended that design, and who was generally to be found in opposition to Wolsey, he was at this time engaged in an irritating lawAshton, who had also received his education at Asiiton. suit'. Oxford, though afterwards a distinguished benefactor of the college, seems to have possessed at this time but little power to afford eifectual aid. Hornby, formerly fellow ofnomby. Michaelhouse and noy master of Peterhouse, alone appears to have entered heartily into the scheme*, and it soon became evident that on Fisher would mainly devolve the Tiie burden of carrving p ""' arduous task of bringing to its accompushment, in spite of sigu ""e de^ devolves the dishonest rapacity of a few and the indifference of many, '"' ''''*''"
. .
. . .
..
His oiford
sympathies.
the final and most important design of the greatest beneBut at the very factress that Cambridge has ever known.
outset,
The revenues of the estates bequeathed by the lady Margaret, together with those of the hospital, amounted annually to
nearly -500, an income second only to that of King's in the
list
^3
com"
?6venue*be-
of college foundations.
It
1 Cavendish, Life of Cardinal Wolsey (ed. Singer), p. 71. * Cooper, Memorials, i 30.
527.
p. 78.
Baker-Mayor,
30
466
it
BISHOP FISHER.
cany
scheme, which, though there could be no doubt of the executrix's design, had never received the final legal ratification; the
*
AppsKui
connadictionin the
young monarch, to use the langu^e of Baker, ties of duty and affection, was under no obligation to make good his father's promises ; and having an eye upon the estate, had no very strong inclination to fe,vour a design that must swallow up part of his inheritanceV The executors indeed already found considerable cause for
not having the same
perplexity in the
to,
fact,
granted Aug.
7,
new
society
mortmain notwithstanding '), over and above the revenues of the hospital, was limited to fifty pounds. But as the hcence also permitted the maintenance of fifty fellows and scholars, and it was evident that so large a number could not possibly be supported on an income of 130 a year, the executors were fein to hope that the royal generosity would provide the most favorable solution of the difficulty thus presented, and determined on the bold course of carrying- on the works as
to hold ('the statute of
was permitted
Bishop
Stanlej opposes the
djisolation of the Hq9pitaL
though nothing doubting that the intentions of the countess new difficulty however met them in would be respected. quarter, in the reluctance e^ibited by Stanley to another
take the
to bear
final
upon him, and though as the promulgator of the statutes of Jesus CoU^e and founder of the grammar school attached to that'foundation, it might have been hoped that he would not be wanting in sympathy with the new scheme, he was evidently little disposed to favour it. The fact that he was visitor of the hospital, and that its suppression might
appear to reflect on his past remissness, partially accounts perhaps for his disincUnation, but the explanation must mainly be sought in his personal character. From his boyhood
His character.
he had evinced
if
Baier-Mayor,
p. 62.
ST.
John's college.
467
chap.
v.
it
illiterate,
-i^i^J-
Indolence endeavored to gain the assistance of Erasmus. on the back of genius. promised itself an easier journey
But the
tion of a pupil
who
could bring
him no
credit,
and the
for
was the worst thing,' says Baker, that she ever did.' The diocese soon began to be scandalized by the bishop's open immorality and, with all the meanness of a truly ignoble nature, he now thought fit to exhibit his gratitude to his late benefactress by thwarting her benevolent design. The dishonest, self-indulgent Tomlyn was a man far more to the heart of James Stanley than the austere and virtuous Fisher. The necessary steps for the dissolution of the hospital were met by repeated evasions and delay. It was found necessary to have recourse to Rome. A bull The cmottors obtain was obtained. When it arrived it was discovered that abuii from Home. certain omissions and informalities rendered it absolutely J^^^j^^ nugatory, and application was made for a second. The latter A ?f?* was fortunately drawn up in terms that admitted of no """^ For this pope,' says Baker, (it was Julius Exclusns), dispute. was a son of thunder; it struck the old house at one blow, did both dissolve and build alone, without consent either of the king or of the bishop of Ely.' And so,' he adds, the old house, after much solicitation and much delay, after a long and tedious process at Eome, at court, and at Ely, under an imperious pope, a forbidding prince, and a mercenary prelate, with great application, industry, and pains, and with equal expense, was at last dissolved and utterly extinguished DisBoiutioo '"" on the 20th day of January, an. 1510, and falls a lasting piiaL monument to all future ages and to all charitable and reIt
;
...
'
'
'
'
'
Baker-Mayor, p. 66.
302
468
BISHOP FISHER.
all this
During
The
and Shorton, in his capacity of master, was rendering valuable service by the energy with which he pushed on the erection. of the new buildings, while
pensions, lodging in the town;
by
At
first
The cause
of the
Warham,
Decision in the Court of
England and
archbishop, rendered
gujt in
Chancery in
favour of the
college.
...
them good service. At last a tedious . chancerv termmated m the legal recognition oi the o o
, ,
*'
and
it
difficulty
the courtier should be found heavier than the thigh of the monk. Through the influence of 'some potent courtiers,'
The
ex-
^^
The
beneficent bequest
Fuller,
in recording this
it,
'
vents
But
was gene-
flumce.
Wolsey had been the leading aggressor^. years after, the college assumed it as unquestionable that their loss had been mainly owing to his It may seem singular that one to whom the hostility ^ learning of that age was so much indebted, should have advised an act of such cruel spoliation. But the sympathies
many
the college to John Chambre, m.d. The college, writing {Ibid. p. 349). in 1531, the year after Wolsey's death,
solicit his aid in a suit with which they are threatened by Lord Cobham. The cardinal,' they say, 'had before robbed them of lands to the yearly value of 400.'
'
ST.
JOHN S COLLEGE.
'
469
were chiefly with his own chap. v. university, and very early in his career of power he seems to ^^^^-Jof the
'
boy-bachelor of Magdalen
have detected, with his usual sagacity, the presence of an element hostile to his person and his policy at Cambridge, Along with Fox, he may also have grudged to see the latter
university
wwch^towas
'^'
f^ted!'^
thus
enriched
when
Oxford,
if
we except
had received no addition to her list of Magdalen CoUege rose in the year 1457. It was only through Fisher's direct application, and even then not without considerable dififieulty, that, as some compensation for the heavy loss thus sustained, the revenues of another God's House (a decayed society at Ospringe in Kent), with me exemseveral other estates, producing altogether an income of 80, the Hospuki were made over to the college by the Crown. 'This,' sayss''P'^'i^ o compensation of Brazenose,
colleges since
t/
fi
Baker,
'
Ber.a ob"'''
foundress' estate at
by her
other
will
little
Fordham which was charged with debts Eo'st"^ came so charged to the. college, with some'* and things purchased with her moneys at Steukley,
lost),,
was the
first
upon which the college was opened; and whoever dreams of vast revenues or larger
original foundation
Her
lands put in
much
of such a dis-
covery.
of
Maxey and
may have
tion,
the hundred of AUerton in the county of Devon, though they a very good title to them, which I will not ques-
yet whenever they shall be piously and charitably disposed, they cannot bestow them more equitably than by
leaving
them
to St. John's^'
>
Baker-Mayor,
p. 74.
470
BISHOP FISHER.
Such were the circumstances under which the college of John the Evangelist was at last opened in July, 1516. tag*!!?" Fisher presided at the ceremony and was probably thankful si^joHHTHE that they now knew the worst. He had not anticipated Jujy, 1616. being present, for he had been delegated to the Lateran Couucil at Rome, and was already counting upon the comccpenfon?' panionship of Erasmus in the journey thither, when he was tode'ollre'^'* the statutes, To j-gg^^gfj ^y some fortunate chance at the last moment*. his presence in England at this juncture, the college was
St.
solely indebted for the partial
it
He now came up
new
full
powers, delegated to
him by
society
Thirty-one
fellows
elected.
Alan Percy
succeeds
and to arrange the admission of additional fellows and scholars. Thirty-one fellows were elected, and Alan Percy was appointed master in the place of Shorten. The
from some reason not recorded, voluntarily retired, carrying with him no slight reputation as an able and vigorous administrator, and was shortly after elected to the mastership of Pembroke Coltege. His successor, a man of
latter,
Shorton as
master.
The
statutes
when he in turn gave place to Nicholas Metcalfe, whose long and able rule, as we shall hereafter see, contributed largely to the consolidation and prosperity of the college. The statutes given by Fisher were, as we have already
identical
in
their
tenour
with those
of
Christ's
now
mencing their existence at Cambridge, under a rule which regarded as almost the exclusive embodiment of his views and aims with respect to college education. It is not
may be
^
iter,
Mennium igitur adornaram comes futurua E. Patri D. loEpisoopo Boffensi, viro omanni
'Ante
mus's Novum Instmmentum, and hehastened to acknowledge it. 'Etsi plorimis negotiis impediar (paro enim me Gantahrigiam iturum pro collegia nunc tandeminstilMendo), jiolmiamea ut is tuus Petrus meis litteris vacuus ad te rediret. Ingentium gratiarum debltorem me constitnisti ob Instrumentimi Novmn, tua opera ex Grseoo traductum, quo me douaveras. Erasmi Opera, in 1587.
'
'
STATUTES OF
difficult to recognise in
ST. JOHJf'S
COLLEaE.
471
at once the
life
the
diflferent provisions
chap. v.
His
pre-
significant proof,
Jhey afford
men
from
ohaiacte"
As
And
consequently,
we
here
find, side
by
upon the
exist-
Nor can it be accepted as vague jealousy of succeeding administrators, that herein he only imitated the example of
all
as Wainflete
had imitated
it
at
The
men
at the time
very
old
diffei'ent
of a century before.
The age
thought at so significant a crisis were specially called upon, not only to recognise this fact in their own policy, but to
foresee the possibility,
if
could thus rightly interpret the signs of the times, we may n 1 ITT' f pomt to one illustrious example. Witnm two J years after
*
i.
the day
when
temporary of Fisher,
life,
in
was formally opened, a con- J}U;|^. no way his inferior in integrity of pauvs'**"
^'"''"
'prophetic liberality,' as
it
was
so signally deficient,
drew up a body
had consecrated
following clause,
'
we
find the
provision which every would-be beneanished and excluded,' and 'to increase knowledge and worshipping of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, and
Essays, p. 105. School was founded by Colet in the year 1510, as a school ' where the Latin adulterate which ignorant blind fools brought into this world' should be 'utterly ab* St. Paul's
Dean Milmau,
good Christian
life
and manners
among
472
BISHOP FISHER.
he seeks to ensure
great law of
change,
any institution immunity from the human progress, the law of frequent and constant lest securities devised against imaginary evils prove
for for
down
'
another
written,
And
which I have declared my mind and will; yet became in time to come many things may and shall survive and grow hy many occasions and causes which at the making of this book was not possible to come to mind; in consideration of the assured truth and circumspect wisdom and faithful goodness of the merceiy of London, to whom I have confided all the care of the school, and trusting in their fidelity and love that they have to God and man, and to the school and also believing verily that they shall always dread the great wrath of God Both all this that is said, and all that is not said, which hereafter shall come into my mind while I live, to be said, I leave it wholly to their discretion and charity: I niean of the wardens and assistances of the fellowship, with such other counsel as they shall call unto them, good lettered and learned men, they to add and diminish of this book and to supply it in
;
:
every default'.'
Erasmus.
6. 146T(!). d. 1536.
The presence of Erasmus in Cambridge in the year 1506, and his admission to the doctorial degree, have already come under our notice. Of his visit on that occasion there is nothing mere to be recorded, as none of his extant letters
were written during his
stay, or
His second
visit to
Cam-
bridge, 16091510.
1509 or 1510, he repeated his visit, and resided for a period of not less than four years. His lengthened sojourn at the university on this occasion, is
probably to be attributed to the inducements held out by
Object of his
visit.
whose influence appears to have obtained for him the privilege of residence in Queens' College, though Fisher himself was no longer president of the society ; and a room
Fisher,
. ^
465".
EKASMUS.
at.
473
~
the top of the south-west tower in the old court was, chap.
,
v.
1-
So
far as
his
was to gain a position, at once independent and profitable, as a teacher. He seems, at one time, to have imagined that he might be at Cambridge what Guarino had been at Florence or Argyropulos at Rome that he might there gather round him a circle of students, willing to learn and well able to pay, such as his experience of the generous Mountjoy and the amiable young archbishop of St Andrews had suggested that he might find, "and, while thus earning an income that would amply suffice for all his wants, at the same time prosecute those studies on which his ambition was mainly centered. That his project ended in disappointment, and that his Cambridge life was clouded by dissatisfaction, despondency, and pecuniary difficulties is undeniable and we shall perhaps better understand how it was so, if we devote some consideration to the previous career and personal character; ;
istics of
be an enquiry not without interest, if we first of orcumexamine the circumstances that led to Erasmus's selec- fed tcf usTetion of Cambridge, as the field for his first systematic effort Cambridge, ^ in preference as an academic professor, at a time when France and Italy, * Louvain and Oxford, were all, according to his own express statement, either willing to welcome him or actually making overtures to prevail upon him to become their teacher. It would seem that Paris, as his alma mater, might have fairly paeis,
It will
all
*'
^
claimed his services, but the considerations against such a choice were too weighty to be disregarded. It was not the dismal reminiscences of his student life that repelled her
former disciple;
for, to do him justice, Erasmus always speaks of that ancient seat of learning in terms of warm if not exaggerated, admiration\ But in truth, the university
'
Quffi
non
aliter
quam Bomana sedes ClmstianaB reUgionis prinoipatum.' Opera, iii 600. ' Parisieusis academia, certe in hoc
in 536.
'
rum omnium
iii
AoademiaIbid.
regiaa Lutetia."
127.
474
of Paris, at the
BISHOP FISHEE.
commencement
we have
Louvain was now competing with her, not unsuccessfully, as a school of theology; and to the maintenance of her theological reputation Paris had subordinated
she had once been.
every other branch of liberal culture.
The new
learning
Erasmus, in his thirtieth year, and almost entirely ignorant of Greek, had been sought out as the ablest instrucWhen in quest, in turn, of a teacher tor in the university \
had been compelled to fall back on his Her students had perhaps regained nearly their former numbers, but they were drawn from a The nations of Europe no longer far more limited radius^ assembled round the Sinai of the Middle Ages but, already leaving behind them the desert wastes of scholasticism, and
of that language, he
own unaided
resources.
'
;'
IiAir,
The fame that deserted had undoubtedly been transferred to Italy, and Italy had offered to Erasmus a friendly welcome and a permanent home. Notwithstanding his satire of the Roman court, in
in the fair prospect that. lay before.
Paris
his
Encomium
of letters,
what-
lie readily
men
of learning
Germany
De
*
or France*.
In a
letter
V Organisation de VEnseignemettt,
fessores
bonarum litterarum in
tota
etc. p. 2.
existere,
qui vel eruditius posset, vel fidelius dooere consuesset.' Ehenanus, quoted by Knight, p. 13 n. 1.
"
'Au commencement
du
xvi"
sifiole, I'universitfi
de Paris comptait
;
peut-4tre plus d'StUdiants qu'elle n'en avait jamais eu mais elle avait perdu sa puissance et sa
grandeur. Au lieu d'etre le s^minaire de la cbr^tient^, elle tendait S. devenlr une institution purement nationale. La r^forme de 1598 ne fit que sanctionner des changements acoomplis depuis un si6cle.' Thurot,
'Equidem faveo glorias ItalisB, vel ob hoc ipsum, quod banc sequio rem experiar in me quam ipsam pa triam. ' Letter to Wm. Latimer (1518), 'Exosculor ItalisB Opera, in 379. candorem, qute favet exterorum in geniis cum ipsi nobis invideamns. Letter to Bartholinus, Ibid, hi 635, See also bis letter to More in 1520, in 614-5. * GalluB aut Germanus cum Kalis, imo cum Musnri posteris inire cer tamen, quid nisi sibilos ao risum luorifacturus ?' Letter to Arribrosius Leo, Ibid, in 607.
ERASMUS, from expressing his envy at the
forward to passing his
life
475
one who could look chap.
city,
v.
lot of
in that splendid
surrounded
But Italy, at the time of Erasmus's own residence there, had been the scene of civil war Mars, to adopt old Fuller's phrase, was frighting away the Muses. She had moreover recently lost her most distinguished scholars while her Latin scholarship was becoming emasculated by a fastidiousness of diction and foppery of style, which, as a kind of heresy in learning, all the most eminent teachers, ^Politian and Hermolaus Barbarus among her own sons, Budseus in France, and Linacre in England, in turn deemed it their duty loudly to disavow. How Erasnoble*.
;
mus
by which it was most effectively assailed, is a familiar story*. But the learning of Italy also lay under another and graver imputation, one moreover to which its
shafts of ridicule
^the
imputation a sincere
of infidelity
all his
antipathy to
life
should also rebuild' the temples of paganism". If to considerations such as these we add, that the light-hearted and
witty scholar, in whom, discretion of speech was by no means
how
it
His frequent
visits to
was that Italy wooed Erasmus in vain. Louvain would seem to prove that that
him
considerable attractions.
case.
It
Louvain was on more than once, in high terms of the courteous manners and studious
He
speaks,
reto
Pagauitas.'
Letter
istic ease aXXo^vXous, intra siuum nrit, quod nego quicquam esse facundum, quod nou
'
Snspicor
O[uos
sit
Germanus Brixius, Opera, in 1119. Unus adhuc scrapiUus habet animum meum, ue sub obteutu priscas
caput erigere conetur Pagamsmus.' Letter to Capito (1518), Ibid, in 186.
*
litteraturce renasceutig
Christianum...
Verum
adversus
istos
est,
omni, quod aiuut, pede staudum qui moliuntur ut sub isto titulo
Jortin,
31.
476
habits of
its
BISHOP FISHER.
youth, and its freedom from turbulent outbreaks which he had witnessed at Paris and at Oxford'. was charmed by its pleasant scenery and genial climate.
at
like those
He
But
Lou vain,
were as
of
yet all-predominant
in after years
we
find
him speaking
;
the university as the only one where an unyielding opposition to polite learning
was
still
maintained^
it
prided
itself,
vain.
Under
these circumstances
it
how
it
to Oxford.
among the most grateful in his a home in the house of his order, the
at
Friends of E-
^versity.
'
an age when new friendships have still a charm, he had been brought into contact with some of the noblest spirits in England, ^with the genius of More and the fine intellect of
1 Nusqnam est academia, quae modestiores habeat juvenes, minustumultuantes, quam hodie LoTaque Tiinm.' Letter to lodocus Noetius, Opera, in 409.
'
Ceterum illud saepe meoum admiror, quum omnes f eime totius orbis academiee, veluti resipisoentes, ad sobrietatem quandam componant
'^ '
sese, apud solos" Lovanienses esse, qui tarn pertinaciter obluctentur meHoribus Uteris prassertim quum neo in hoc sophistioo dootriuffi genere
;
'
very little to his taste; they read and argue coldly, -ffhat they call with modesty, but they are lazy and tedious. 'Parisiis clamatur vere sardonioe ; et voce (quod dicitur) stentorea, fremunt aliquando ad spumam usque et dentium stridorem.' He would liie something between the two. Like Erasmus he admires the beauty of the scenery, but he dislikes the habits of the people. They are
great gluttons
feet,
and
drinkers.
They
magnopere
prsBcellant.'
LudoviciiS Vives III 689. 2 See an interesting letter, written from Louvain, 1522, by one fellow of St. John's to another, giving an amusing account of the university (Harleian MSS. 6989, f. 7; Brewer, Letters and Papers, Hen. viii, in 880-1).
go on draining fresh cups till hands, eyes, and tongue refuse their
office; and you are an enemy if you don't keep up with them. Their food is coarse and greasy, et (ut ita
Nicholas Daryngton tells Henry Gold that he finds the theological exercises
loquar) ex 07nni parte butyratus: a dinner without butter would be thought monstrous. ' Ecce descripsimus tibi felieitatem Teutonicorum See also Ascham's very similar testimony, SchoUmaster (ed. Mayor), p. 220.
! '
ERASMUS.
Colet;
477
knowledge of Greek, he chap. v. had been aided and encouraged by the able tuition and ex- ^-^^^^ ample of men like Grocyn, Linacre, and William Latimer. We have it on his own statement that Oxford would have been glad to welcome him back, and yet we find that he preferred
in acquiring a further
while
down
to
Cam-
According to Knight' his chief reason for this pre- f^'"na''of*7i?s ference was the removal or death of most of his former S^or^"'" friends at the sister university ; but our information respecting Oxford at this time, together with the few hints to be
And
here
outline of the
introduction ^ Greelc into
ttiT'flfteentii
be necessary to turn aside for a while, to trace out the successive steps whereby the study of, Greek had, in
will
^
soil.
'y-
Among
the
earliest, if
not the
first,
of those
who
in this
country caught from Italy the inspiration of the Grecian muse, was William Selling, a member of the recently founded wmiam Scuand singularly exclusive foundation of All Souls, Oxford, d! U96.
and subsequently one of the society of Christchurch, Canterbury. His own taste, which was naturally refined, appears in the first instance to have attracted him to the study of the Latin literature, and this, in turn, soon awakened in him a lively interest in the progress of learning in Italy ^ He resolved himself to visit the land that had witnessed so wondrous a revival, and having gained the permission of his chapter to travel, partly, it would seem, under the plea of adding to his knowledge of the canon and civil law, lost no
At
Bologna,
it studiosGreek
Po'iSn"!"*''''
he formed the acquaintance of Politian, and forthwith placed himself under his instruction ^ From this
'^
Life of Erasmus,
'
-s.
Viz.
Ecce Bubito
illi
observabatnr Italia,
post Grseeiam,
et
bonornm ingeniorum
thority of Johnson. If, as Anthony Wood implies, SelKng was a fellow at All Souls at the time that Linaere
-was
Leland (quoted parens by Johnson), Life of Unacre, p. 6. ' I give this statement on the auet altrix.'
478
BISHOP FISHER.
eminent scholar he gained a knowledge of Greek, while his leisure was devoted, like that of Wi lliam G ray, to the collection of numerous manuscripts. On his return to England,
Selling bequeathed these
,
treasures
to
his
own
convent,
I
I
Greek and genuine admiration for the Greek literature became the germ of the study in England. His attainments as a scholar now led to his appointment as master of the conventual school, and among
his
and
acquirements in
Thomas
his
pupils was
Thomas Linacre.
instruction
From
Selling,
Linacre
at the
dim
^
seniifg"at*
Teceived his
first
in Greek,
and when,
christchurch,
was probably with a stock of learning that, both as quality and quantity, differed considerably from the ordinary acquirements of an Oxford freshman in those In the year 1484 he was, like Selling (to whom days. he was probably related), elected to a fellowship at AU Souls, and became distinguished for his studious habits. Like Gains Aub prini^p at Cambridge, there was at this time, and of viteiii at Oxford, a Icamod ItaUan of the name of Gnrnfilins yjj^i
regards
old preceptor.
It
so
happened that
acquirements as a scholar had marked him out for a diplomatic mission to the papal court, and he now gained
He
accompaabout
nies Selling to
Italy,
^ (jn
uis
amval
m t^ he Italy,
introduction to Politian,
him on his ioumey. i, p ip -i obtamed tor his former pupil an who, removed to Florence, was
some time
Becomes a
pupil of
t>olitian.
where he was honoured by being admitted to share Eolitiaa's instruction along with the J younsr O o
at Florence,
Medicean
princes,
Linacre
proceeded
to
Eome.
In the
ment
many
them
and authority
to
any
lib. ii p.
177.
ERASMUS.
that
it
479
find.
One day
chap. v.
-.^'y
-"
by a stranger
with which he was occupied and from this casual interview sprang up a cordial and lasting friendship between the Makes the * o X quaintance of young English scholar and the noblest Italian scholar of the f ^J^^^^^t
period,
ox
became Linacre's privilege ^'""' to form one of that favored circle in whose company the illustrious Venetian would forget, for a while, the sorrows of exile and proscription he was a guest at those simple but
.
Hermolaus Barbarus
;
It
now the
expedition
of the Argonauts,
Aristotle
;
probable way sr J
grew around.
It
seems
important
results of
">.
quent
=."*'inter-
""'-
and of the Linacre lectureships at Merton College, Oxand at St. John's College, Cambridge. From Home Linacre proceeded to P adu a, whence, after studying medicine for some months and receiving the doctorial degree, he returned to England. His example, and the interest excited influence of by his accounts at Oxford, proved more potent than the ex- at'oxforJ on ">* l'"'"ample of Selling. Within a few years three other Oxonians, Willi am Grocyn. Wilham L ily, and William Latimer. also
ford,
more or less competent acquaintance with Greek, returned to their uniset out for Italy, and, after there acquiring a
versity to inspire
in Greek-literature.
Differentcan-
England
is the
uti"
of
i^.
any one of the four to this special honour are not so easily That Grocyn was the father of the new to be determined. study, is in Stapleton's opinion incontestable, inasmuch as
''"''
480
BISHOP FISHER,
first
CHAP.
V.
he was the
subject'
; '
.!^;^
if
who publicly lectured at Oxford on the he who first publishes to the world the fruits
'
award to Liriacre
not be
questioned'';' while Polydore Virgil considers that Lily, from his industry as a teacher, ought to be regarded as the true
Such Were the men from all of whom Erasmus, when he Came to Oxford in 1498, received that guidance and assistance in his studies which he had so vamly sought at
,
Paris,
and of whom, in
his letter to
in oft-quoted terms
of enthusiastic
But
to
may
gratefully recognise
an
important link in the chain that connects her Greek learning with the scholarship of Italy. Oxford indeed has never
Debt
of
Cam-
o^lrd."
Gibbon's dictum.
he has described Jlirasmus as there acquiring the Greek which he afterwards taught at Cambridge. The statement however, like many of the epigrammatic sentences in which
the great historian has epitomised his judicial awards,
to
is
r^
not
It is
certain,
'
1 Eecens tunc ex Italia venerat Grocinus, qui primus ea Eetate Grfficas Utteras in Angliam invexerat Oxoniique publice professus fuerat, a cujus sodaU Tho. Linaero (Moms) G-reeoas litteras Oxonii didicit.' Tres Thorrue, in Thomas Mori Vita,
Life of Linacre, p. 152. His translation of the Sphere of Proclus,' Johnson adds, ' was the first correct version of a Greek author executed in this country after the revival of letters, and in this the justice of his
'
c. I. "
resting
on no
:
e-ridence'
{Lit.
of
claim is vested.' ' Historia Anglica (Basel, 1570), lib. XXIV p. 618. ^ Coletum meum cum audio.Tlatonem ipsum mihi videor audire. In Grocino quis ilium absolutum dis'
Europe, i^ 237) the following passage in a letter from Erasmus to Latimer in 1518, can hardly be otherwise understood than as implying that he had formerly benefited by his correspondent's instructions as well as those of Linacre sed ut ingenue dicam quod sentio, si mihi contingat Liuacrus aut Tonstallus prseceptor, nam de te nihil dicam, non desiderarim Italiam.' Opera, ni 379.
:
'
ERASMUS.
481
it is
to
Oxford;
left
v.
'^ , he did not know much considerably less, that is to say, than he knew when he ^X' 1entered upon the duties of instructor in Greek to our own Srknow-' university. In the year in which he left Oxford, we find G^ek. him speaking of an acquirement of the language as still the object he 'had most at heart, and of himself as yet unpossessed of the necessary authors for his purpose'. Nearly twelve years elapsed from that time before he gathered round him a Greek class at Cambridge, and it was undoubtedly during
Part
II
Writing to Colet in
1-504,
he describes
himself as having been for the last three years intent on the
study, as he found he could do nothing without it^
3'^ear
1507 he spent in
Venice,
^where
Italy,
at
Marcus
r-ii-1
work
it is
evident,
own inde- ciiiefiy indebted to his accomplished the main part o eff<"^-
Till
But
his
of the
and
own
chief instructor*.
progress of
at Oxford,
During the time that Erasmus was resident at Oxford, the study of Greek appears to have gone on among the few earnest students by whom it was pursued, quietly enough. There was as yet nothing, in the application they seemed
disposed to
make
was an innovation. Linacre, who was Aristotelian to the backbone, and heartily despised the Platonists, was occupied in translating Galen while, in conjuncit
;
^'AdGrascaslitterastotumanimum
applioui; statimque ut peouniam acoepero, Graecos primum auotores, deinde Testes emam.' Letter to Jacobus Battvs, Opera, iii 27.
2
'
nullis in
Letter to Colet, Ibid, 96. ' Italiam Jortiu, i 28. adivimus GrsBoitatis potissimmn causa, verum
tate.'
^
hio
tracto, fortassis humiliorem, tamen dum in Grfficorum hortis versor, multa obiter deeerpo, in posterum ustii futura etiam sacris in litteris.
To
iii
Nam
31
482
p"tfii^'
V
BISHOP FISHER.
had conceived the vast deversion of the whole writings\ Neither Grocyn' nor Latimer gave, by
new Latin
and
it
century had elapsed, that the growing jealousy of the continental theologians began to find expression
^^ England. omioQiSi.
among theologians
it
In the
first
has
how
by the belief which was concurrently Greek could not fail to be heretical; and it is easy to understand that such a conviction must have operated with no little potency in universities like Paris, Oxford, Maintz and Loiivain, whose reputation, as yet, was
diffused that
Up
however we hear but little of this distrust and during the pontificate of Clement V, in the The study of year 1311, Greek had been expressly sanctioned as an orthoGreek sane*^-^ study, by a decree for the foundation of two professorfourteOTth'"'
'
'
impai'SeMee.
like provision
was made
for instruction in
at a later period,
suf-
The
earliest
somewhere in the
subsequeDt
fifteenth century, it
to,
Greek
ta the
the provision for the study of Greek had been silently withdrawn, while that for the three Other languages was retained.
' '
Clementines,
The subsequent
See his Letter
673.
to
ii
cyn's friendship.
a monk, Jortin,
'
was such, that More, writing in 1519, considered it no little proof that Erasmus was sound in the faith, in that he had been honored by Gro-
De
Gausis, iv 141.
ERASMUS.
483
assert, that
commentators on the Clementines had the hardihood to chap. v. Greek had never been included in the original i^Ljdecree that received the pontiff's signature'
;
but the
testi-
his
among
which
scholars;
and
his
to be found)
is.
new
diminish as
its literature,
began to be better known. An acquaintance with the early Greek fathers awakened in many only additional mistrust and that acquaintance was now more easily to be gained.
;
. . .
known.
George of Trebizond had given to the world translations of some of the treatises of Eusebius. But the chief alarm Their mfiuwas undoubtedly excited, not by the direct study of these and vie of emi
-1
by the tone
of thought
-1
and occasional
'" Human^sts.
who were able to form their opinions on the subject without the aid of translations. Sentiments were now to be heard which sounded strangely in the ears of
bold expressions of those
Vitrarius,
and in whom alone, Erasmus could recognise a genius that might compare with thatofColet, ^preferred Origen, Arian though he was called, to any of the other fathers' Erasmus Erasmus, himself, who entertained a decided preference for the Greek theology, declared that Jerome was worth the whole of the
vitmrius.
' Oonstitutiones Clemcntinie PapcB Quinti, una cum Apparatu loannis Artdrea (Venice, 1479); Johannes de
Letter to Christopher Fisher, Opera, 99. Erasmus, it is to be noted, speaks of provision being made orijinally for instruction in only three languages, of which however Greek was one.
iii
Quo
' Miiller,
p.
consilio
Grascam linguam
146.
312
484
Latin fathers
;
BISHOP FISHER.
and even ventured to point out how far, by virtue of his long and arduous stiidy of the Scriptures and his real knowledge of Greek, he was entitled to rank as an authority above Augustine, who knew but little of the language, and whose labours had been carried on amid the coict. onerous duties of his episcopate^ Colet, though ignorant of Greek, shared the same views, and, of all the fathers, seems Heuchiin. to havo liked Augustine the least; Reuchlin confessed to an admiration for Gregory of Nazianzum far exceeding that which he felt for any of the oracles of the western Chu^ch^ True cause of It is hardly necessary to point out that none of the early shewn toGreek fathers could fairly be charged with the special heresy Greek Church, for they had lived and written long byTta o'p" f ^^ posite party. ^jgfQpg ^ho doctrino of the FiUoque became a subject of dispute nor can it be said that they gave countenance to the Reformers, by affording authority for rejecting the method of
;
:
for, as
well known,
it
was
this very
same
works of the Alexandrian fathers, that Porphyry singled out for special attack; nor did they necessarily encourage an appeal from the ceremonial traditions of the Romish Church, as countenanced by Isidorus and the Decretals, for Laud and Andrewes are to be found among their chief admirers in the Spirit of the seventeenth century. The gravamen of the charge against *^^' ^^ ^he days of Erasmus, was, that they favored rebellion theoio""contrasteC
The
theologian, as he
;
new atmosphere he
dominated in the
that favored the
Roman
'
the
mind,
'forensic_justification,' 'satisfaction,'
;'
imputed righteousness
spirit,
he found
;
little
doctrine of predestination
a tolerance of
alarmed compared with Augustine, these early Greek fathers stood for the most
of letters
less
it
man
no
than
Nor was
it
possible to
deny
that,
p. 362.
Geiger,Johann Beuchlin,
p. 99.
ERASMUS.
part
485
and were more nearly chap. v. but ethnically and geographi- .ill^^ cally, to the most ancient Christian Churches that some of them, a fact singularly calculated to win the reverence of
closer to apostolic times,
much
mediaeval minds,
'
had
very land
Over whose acres walked those blessed feet Which fourteen hundred years ago were nailed For man's redemption to the bitter cross,'
and
so unsuccessfully contended.
*>
It
Position as-
sumed by the
ventured to maintain that Augustine, and not Origen or Euse- Jg^^^, bius, was the real schismatic, and such was the position taken up by those who at a later period advocated the
doctrine of free-will.
'I follow the doctrine of the
Greek
tine's influ-
and whether we consider the teaching of Luther Romish or of the Lutheran Church, it must be admitted that Augustinianism has held its ground with remarkable tenacity. The educated few and the philosophic divine have from time to time risen in revolt against its sombre tenets; the eminent school of Platonists that graced the university of Cambridge in the seventeenth century, were distinguished by their advocacy of a different doctrine; but with the systematic theologian and the rigid dogmatist, not less than with the illiterate multitude, the traditional theory has always commanded by far the more ready assent.
or of Calvin, of the
There
is
which certainly had its moral for the theologians of Oxford and Cambridge in Erasmus's day. Dionysius, it seems, was
in the habit of reading the works of heretical writers, being
desirous of
of those from
whom
he
them.
An
him on
this practice,
486
CHAP.
V.
BISHOP FISHER.
^t^^
becoming contaminated by the specious reasonings of error. Dionysius admitted the justice of the rebuke, and would
have probably for ever turned aside from such literature, had he not been reassured by a dream from heaven (6pa/j.a ExaOeoireiJi-KTOv), and heard a voice utter these words
:
'
hands for thou art able to doctrine, and the foundations of thy Perhaps if this story faith were laid even in this manner'.' could have been brought under the notice of those who, at
into thy
;
this time,
sities
of Germany, France,
were denouncing the study of Greek in the univerand England, it might have been
not without avail in inducing them to reconsider the reasonableness of their opposition. But unfortunately the passage
lay hid in that very literature which they so greatly feared
and the Grecian muse, as, to use the expression of Argyroseems to have pulos,,she winged her flight across the Alps, been regarded by the great majority as little better than an Erasmus himself, ardent as was his love of Greek studies evil Spirit. regarded as learning, was well-niarh turned back in his youth from the heretical. \. , i pursuit of lore which might expose him to the imputation ot heresy; he could not forbear giving expression to his surprise, on hearing Vitrarius praise Origen, that a friar should thus admire a heretic to which the gentle Franciscan could only reply, that he would never believe that one who wrote with so much learning and fervent piety could be otherwise than divinely inspired. Even the application of a knowledge of Greek to the text of Aristotle was looked upon by many with suspicion and Keuchlin tells us that when he Ueuciiiin'a Base""' first attempted such a method of treatment at Basel, and was already diverting large numbers from the disputations of the schools, he was vehementlj'- assailed by the seniors of the
university,
who
an
It
spirit
prefixed to his
De
hann Beuchlin,
p. 17.
ER-iSMUS.
487
In chap.
v.
that was
now beginning
no doubt, those who were loudest in their out- i^^-J. cries against Greek, would have been quite unable to prove, ^^o"' by the citation of a single passage, the existence of those tJ^.'""*" heretical tenets in the Greek fathers from which they professed to shrink with such alarm and it may serve as evidence how little the much-vaunted logical training of those times availed to preserve the judgement from error, that the majority of the dialecticians at both Oxford and Cambridge saw no inaccuracy in the framing of a syllogism, which, hav-
many
cases,
major premise the admitted heterodoxy of cerGreek authors, deduced from thence the necessity of excluding the whole body of Greek literature. At Oxford however, as we have already explained, these prejudices were most active and it is in every way probable that the knowing for
tain
its
;
ledge of this fact materially influenced Erasmus in his election between the two universities\
his first essay as
great scholar, some attention to the peculiarities of his character will perhaps be of service, in enabling us to form our
It is impossible t
deny
to
Erasmus the
attribute
and sympathetic rather than creative in its manifestaHe could appreciate and assimilate with remarkable power whatever was best and most admirable in the works of others, and it would be difficult to name a scholar, whose
order,
tions.
influence has been equally enduring, gifted with a like capacity for recognising true excellence in whatever quarter it
But nothing that Erasmus himself designed or executed, strikes us as of more than secondary merit He left behind no such finely-wrought conception as the Utopia of More ; he lacked altogether the prophetic instinct of Colet in his boldest enterprise, his Xooum Instnimentum, he was inspired by Valla the most powerful passages of the Encomight appear.
;
Si?e infra, p.
496, n. 3.
488
CHAP.
,
BISHOP FISHER.
pale
V.
mium Moriw
Julius Exchisus.
itSS
hia letters,
side of the fury and the scorn of the In his letters we naturally look to find the man; and however much they may increase our sympathy for him in his career, it can scarcely be said that they tend
by the
The proud,
all
sensitive
and
amid
He
but his philosophy was often discredited by a querulousness somewhat below the ordinary measure of manly fortitude. He wished to be thought indifferent to applause, but the
praise of others,
the
'
praise,
be
it in
was his most cherished reward Erasmus,' said Luther, who, though unable 'Erasmus
j and charity that termed one ot antagonist's character*, clearly saw
impuisive-
nms'scharac-
wishes to be thought contemptuous of the world's opinion, but wants the contempt to be all on his own side^.' His temperament was singularly impulsive a few courteous phrases, a dexterous tribute to his reputation, together with a very moderate amount of substantial kindness, at once gained his good
opinion and drew from him profuse expressions of gi-atitude'. But when the temporary impression thus produced had subsided,
left to contrast
vague assu-
Of
all
the
eminent
men who
befriended
him
1 We may searoli in vain through Luther's writings for such a truly Pauline sentiment as the following: ' Saoris quidem litteris ubique prima debetur auotoritas, sed tamen ego
Ccmvi-
'Pecuniae studium nunquam me famse gloria nee tantiUum tangor.' Erasmus to Servatius, Opeattigit,
nonnunquam
oftendo qussdam vel dieta a veteribus, vel soripta ab ethnicis, etiam poetis tarn caste, tarn Bancte, tarn divinitus, ut mihi non poBsim persuadere, quin pectus iUorum, quum ilia scriberent, numen
aliquod
bonum
agitaverit.
Et
for-
quam nos
1527. At ille sic contemnere gloriam voluit, ut contemptus esset non ab aliis sibi illatus sed apud sese oogitatus.' (Luther, quoted by Miiller, Leben des Erasmus, p. 296.) * Erasmus, whose tongue maketh of little gnats great elephants, and lifteth up above the stars whosoever giveth biTii a little ^exhibition.' Tyndale-Walter, p. 395.
ra,
'
'
ERASMUS.
489
exceptions,
chap.
v.
"
whom,
is
after
he
Hence the
contradic-
contradictions so glaring and so frequent, Mor his cri71 ' o o ticisms; that both the panegyrist and detractor of the men and ten-
aboimd
'
we seek
and deliberate
esti-
mate
we
are con-
by the fact, that almost every complimentary phrase in his letters has to be weighed against an equally uncomfronted
Ciceronianus.
When
he leftonBomeana
Rome,
in 1509, his
Encomium
due honour'.
ity ;
is
as a country of barbaric ignorance and the grossest sensualsooner, he asserts, take up his abode among the Phseacians of antiquity'; while on another occasion,
he would
when
countrymen to the
On
:
England
on England
nothing could exceed his delight at the climate, the men, the learning, and the manners in writing to his old pupU, Robert Fisher, he assures him that he has found at Oxford
1
Jortin,
35.
Knight, p. 137.
See quotations supra p. 474. ConBult also his letter to More, -w-ritten
*
1520. Opera, in 614-5. 'tJebrigens sind seine XJrtheile iiber Bom und
an verschiedenen Orteu seiner Schriften sehr ungleich. Hier nennt er die Italianer das Yolk das ihm am besten gefallen, dessen Umgang ihm jun angenehmsten gewesen sei; an einem andern Orte spiicht er Ton ihrem ganzlichen Mangel an Aufrichtigkeit; einmal riihmt er ihre grosse Gelelursamkeit und ihren ^uhenden Eifer fur die classische Litteratur, und anderswo sagt er, er habe geItalien
glanbt mehr Gelehrsamkeit, ein lebendigeres Leben in den Wissenschaften daselbst anzutreffen; ja er fttgte hinzn, er wiinschte Italien mehr scholdig zu sein, als er ihTti sei; denn er habe eher neue Kenntnisse und Bildnng dahin gebracht als daraus znriick genommen.' Muller, p. 195. " ' In Hollandia fere
bimestres non
sedimus quidem, sed, uti in ^grpto canes, assidue cuourrimus ac bibimns. Eqnidem malhn vel apud Fhaiacas vivere.' Jacobo Tutori lu
35.
'
MiUler, p. 222.
490
CHAP.
Pabt
V.
BISHOP FISHER.
II.
have
lost half
their
tells
he
he only knew England, he would long to exchange the boorish society in France for a land so highly
him
that, if
adorned with every attractive grace'; and yet within five years later, before any additional experience of our coun-
be found lavishing, in a deliberately composed pronounced in the presence of a distinguished audience, the most unbounded praise on France and its
is
he
to
oration,
capital,
and ranking Englishmen with the Scythians and Swayed by the mood of the hour, while that mood in turn often reflected only some petty disappointment or delusive hope, he left on record each tranCarians of antiquity'.
sient impression
;
little
deeming,
we may
charitably suppose,
how each
distant generations.
details of his more familiar intercourse, by the fact that he rarely seems to have added to his reputation by his personal presence. It was not merely that his modest stature, with the blue eyes and flaxen hair that bespoke his Batavian extraction, was not imposing
In studying the
we
are struck
of
far
and even
his
who
much
and admired
Lavater,
spell.
who
by Lavater.
Compared
all
five portraits of
that they
1
2
See supra,
'
p. 474, n. 3, 4.
bis,
inter merdas Gallioas oonseneseere?... Quanquam siBritannisB dotes satis pernosoes, Fauste, noa tu alatis pedibus huo aoourreres : et si podagra tua non sineret, Dtedalum te fieri optai'es.' iii 56. 3 ' Annon videmus, ut inter feras, ita et inter natioues hominum, fero-
nasutum
but
at least possible that Erasmus meant to refer to the ancient Britons. See also Knight's observations, p. 121.
ERA.SMUS.
characteristics.
491
chap.
v.
,.
mouth
the quiet
the nose,
shaped chin, indicating a meditative nature, equally removed from indolence and from violence. In the Unes that crossed
the forehead the physiognomist saw traces of a less favorable
kind, a
combative nature \
his career,
who hu
first
im-
ture at
Cam*
^"^ee-
round him at Cambridge a small circle of auditors to whom he offered instruction in this same Greek language, the study of which they all had probably heard both violently abused
we may
yet
ple.
Hispastcareeran examp'etothestu-
friars of
Herzogenbusch, to
'
'
all
that
Quoted by Miiller, pp. 108-9. portrait by Holbein, now the property of the earl of Eadnor, recently on view at the Eoyal Academy of Arts, has the disadvantage of having been taken when Erasmus was in
Qoippe qm jam
annum solidum
The
adversis ventis, adverso flumine, irato cselo naTigem.' Opera, iii 83.
'
Cum me mens
Ibid,
492
BISHOP FISHER-
down the intellect among the sensual composed the community at Stein,
the pestilential precincts, unwholesome fare, and merciless floggings of ' Montaceto,' in whom an excruciating malady, that left him only with his life, marred the
very enjoyment of existence, and who yet, triumphant over every difliculty and every disaster, had risen to be an oracle
in Europe, to gain the favour of princes
finally to inaugurate
less fame.
new
religious
Such was Desiderius Erasmus, as, with the little grammar of Ch rvsoloras in his hand, he stood confronting the emgaze, half curious, half reverent, of his Cambridge class,
lampada tradunt.
In endeavouring to connect together the few disjointed UnccrtMn chronology of facts that have reached us respecting Erasmus's Cambridge Cambridge letters. experience, we find an additional source of uncertainty in the
liis
Ammonius
of Lucca.
6. 1477.
d. 1517.
/
Erasmus's first Greek
lecture at
Cambridge.
however as the correct dates are to be inferred from it seems probable that his earliest Cambridge letter is one to Ammonius, written from Queens' CoUege, wherein he speaks of himself as in but indifierent health and even deferring work with pupils until more thoroughly recruited". Ammonius of Lucca was a courtly, refined, and kindly hearted Italian, who, by virtue of his attainments as a scholar, was afterwards appointed to be Latin secretary to Henry vili and also ,held the post of collector of the papal dues in England . He seems to have taken a special interest in Erasmus's Cambridge prospects, and throughout the period of the latter's residence there, to have acted the part of a generous and sympathising friend. It is in a second letter to Ammonius, accordingly, that we find the oft-quoted passage, in which Erasmus states that he has already lectured on the
So
far
the contents,
^ On the chronology of Erasmus's earlier letters see Prof. Brewer's observations, Letters and Papers of the
cupiens valetudini inservire.' Opera, 108. Knight, pp. 132-3 ; Jortin, i 35-6 Brewer, Letters and Papers, ii 4, 139. Ammonius was the successor of Polydore Vergil when Wolsey had thrown the latter into prison.
feci,
ERASMUS.
493
grammar
'
of Chrysoloras, but
has
chap. v.
I shall ..l^^^
it is also
theology*.'
no other and in this than that recently founded by the lady Margaret, respect his hopes were realised; for he was not only ap-Heiaappointpointed lady Margaret professor, but was re-elected at the ^are^ pro-
The
is
expiration of the
y-w
first
two years and continued to fill the post But with respect to his
1
1
Greek class he was doomed to almost complete disappomt- t^hw ' ment. The elaborate treatise by Theodoras possessed no/ more attractions for Cambridge students than the more elementary manual by Chrysoloras. In fact, it is evident from Erasmus's own occasional observations, that the few students who were disposed to occupy themselves with Greek learning were not sons of wealthy families, but comparatively poor men seeking to add to their store of marketable knowledge, and of course totally unable to shew their appreciation of his services after the fashion of lord Moujitjoy, Grey, and the young archbishop of St. Andrews. Erasmus had looked forward to receiving handsome presents, and appears to have stipulated for no fees'. He was accordingly chagrined beyond measure, when his pupils literally interpreted his courteous refusals of the ordinary payments, and,
if
FaUureofhis hopes as a
they learnt
His acconnt
but
little,
paid
less.
'
of
making money,
for
how can
I pomhneS^
demand
it
of
men
am
not
lorsB
grammatioam auspicabimur;
sis
piemns,namidnuncagitur.' Opera,iu 110. See also supra, pp. 392 and 430. ' Fisher, Funeral Sermon for the Countess of Richmond (ed. Baker and Hymers), p. 63.
' It is most .probable that his profession, as an Augnstinian canon, rendered it difficult for him to teach
(Opcra.iii 1529.) Whatever oonstruction we may put upon this assertion, it certainly contrasts, strangely with his complaints quoted in the foUowing notes.
494
CHAP.
BISHOP FISHER.
V. Mercury entirely unpropitious'.' 'The gain is too contempti/ ble to be worth taking into account',' he writes somewhat later to Ammonius; while in a third letter, he seems to imply that he might get pupUs if he were disposed to tout for them'. At one time he had quite resolved to leave for London, but the plague had broken out there, and he was
Cambridge by the hopes of shortly receiving which he had earned*. Then the plague travelled on to the university; most of the students dispersed, Hisfanureon and his hopes of pupils grew fainter than ever. If indeed we
also detained at
some
thirty nobles
Cambridge, solely from his own statements during the period of his residence, we should infer that his projects were attended by unredeemed failure. It is only when we turn to note the eventful changes that followed upon his teaching,
long after his voice was no longer heard from the professorial
chair, that
we
tive of important
and lasting
results.
even
"''Si
^^* gain.
jjjg
;
resident.
gtudy and to his labours there, the men of his generation were indebted for his two most notable achievements,
^}^q
Theirraat
importance.
his edition of
Jerome^
By
/
way
for the
Reformation ; by
mihi fervet animus, ut afflatus a Deo quopiam mihi videar. Jam pene toturn emendavi collatione multormn
ac veterum exemplarium. Atque id ago incredibili meo sumptu.' To the same. Ibid. To these labours we may add a collation of certain manuscripts of Seneca's writings, Porro
'
'
si quia
'
quam
CantabrigisB nacti veteres aliquot codices, adgressi somus Senecam oratorem, magnis quidem laboribus nostris, sed quorum editio j)arnm feUciter cesserit.' The manuscript was entrusted to a friend and lost. Jortin (Appendix), u 424. Cooper (4n-
chaelis
'
exspecto.'
To Ammonim,
^i^'-}" ^^^the latter work he applied himself with more than usual ax-
To
De
dour
: Ad Hieronymum emendan'
dum
et
seholiis
Ulustrandum,
its
duringhisresidence; buttheworkhad certainly been written long before; see Jorttn, i 15 ; Knight, p. 87.
ERASMUS.
495
the other he guided the student of his age to that juster chap. v. estimate of the value and authority of mediaeval theologians, -^tfJ^iL
which so largely, though less immediately, conduced to the same great revolution. In brief, we cannot perhaps better express the importance and significance of his work, than when we say that the new Margaret professor, whom,
during the greater part of his residence at Cambridge, we may picture to ourselves as thus toiling away iu his chamber,
first
court of Queens'
was mostly engaged in investigations the result of which was to be the eventual consignment to neglect and oblivion of nearly nine-tenths of the literature on which the
theologians in the university around
as
he
a
^W
letter of
which
Hofmy^atimn^'
and described by
Mr Seebohm
as
'
no
on
record of
his part
approaching to a collision with the opposite party during the time that he filled the professorial chair. We can hardly
suppose that, in the discharge of his
oflSce,
i>ri''i!o''o'<>-
attempt to conceal his views, especially when we remember how those views began to operate soon after he had quitted
the university;
his habitual
it is
want of
Very soon
College,
after
we
find
he could have managed to more familiar intercourse. he had taken up his residence at Queens' him intimating in a letter to Colet, that he ^cS"^
p.
4.
quam
rioris
gives some account of the letter in his Oxford Reformers, pp. 97-8. The letter is also translated at length by Miiller, Xeben des
Mr Seebohm
quam nonnunquam
expediat,
'
Erasmns, pp. 247-59. " ' Ut ingenue quod verum est atear, sum natura propensior ad jocos
metior enim alioium animos ex meo.' (quoted by Knight, p. 321). Ammoniua non ignorabat quanta libertate soleam apud amicos effutire quicquid in buccam venerit.' Opera, in 1459.
496
BISHOP FISHEE.
was beginning to be aware of the presence in the university of a certain class of men respecting whom his friend had forewarned him*. They were probably men of the same intolerant character as those who, a few years later, at one of
the colleges, prohibited the introduction of his edition of the New Testament. That their opposition was not more
is
The
latter indeed
;
he had been regularly term of office, ever since his first election and it would have been perhaps impossible to find, in an equal degree, in any one of his contemporaries, at once that moderation, integrity^of life, and disinterestedness of purpose, which left the bigot no fault to find, and that liberality of sentiment and earnest desire for reform, which conciliated far bolder and more advanced Over Erasmus, whose wandering career had not, thinkers. his own ingenuous confession, been altogether free from by reproach^, a character so saintly and yet so sympathising Of all the men whom he ever exercised a kind of spell. Hi3 4mira- know, Fisher seems to have most inspired his reverence and Msher's cha- regard. To Fisher's influence he attributes all that is most
almost o mnipotent
atXlambridge
;
Cam-
bridg e jw as inde bted for the peaceful introduction of the study of Greek', and for that salutary eSbrt on behalf of
the l adv Margaret profes sorship, to which he had himself been appointed he praises with special emphasis the design of the lady Margaret preachership,
theological learning,
;
mean,
neither
haudquaquam
giam
inoelebres,
Cantabri-
de re plura coram.' Opera, in 109. ^ ' Voluptatibus, etsi quando fui inquinatus, nunquam serviTi.' Ibid, III 1527. See also letter 671, Ibid,
III
790.
"
'
hrigia tranquille, quod ejus scholfe prinoeps sit Johannes Fiscberius episcopus Eoftensis, non eruditione tantum, sed vita theologica.' Jbid.
iii
407.
ERASMUS.
.tional studies aside';
497
whom
were chap. v.
^v-?
influcncoof
and in whom every virtue that became a bishop was combined in an extraordinary degree'. On the other hand, it is equally evident that Fisher was not less influenced, though in a different manner, by his successor in the professorial chair. Of the moderation which Erasmus so much admired
racter,
^
Erasmus on
i'""*"-
in his patron, he was himself a conspicuous example. The good bishop took heart in his advocacy of the new learning, when he found the foremost scholar of the age not less ready to denounce the profiajiity of the Italian sceptics than the degeneracy of the mendicant orders, and able both to discuss with masterly discrimination the merits of classical authors'
and
to recognise
or St. Jerome.
The
Thomas we find
seem and through Fisher over Cambridge at large, was far greater and more enduring than their respective biographers would lead us to suppose. In their views with respect to the necessity for a thorough reform in the prevailing style of preaching, they were so far at unison, that Fisher, as we have already noted, could think of no one better qualified than Erasmus to propare a manual of the preacher's art'. After Erasmus had left Cambridge we find Fisher writing to tell him that he had, on his recommendation, bought and read Agricola's Be Inventione*, and only regretted that he had not himself had
to indicate that Erasmus's influence over Fisher,
had never read anything at once so elegant and masterly". Under the same influence again Fisher was led to conceive
Lewis, Life of Fisher, i 12. ' Vir uuus vere episeopus, vere theologus.' Letter to Vives {a.j>. 1521), 'Vir omnium apisOpera, in 6yO. copalium virtutum genera cumulatissimua.' Letter to cardinal Grtjmanus (a.d. 1615), Ibid, iii 142. 'Vir Letpietate dootrinaque aingulari.' ter to cardinal St. George (a.d. 1515),
' '
' 'Perlegimus, Eraeme.his diebuB Eodolphi Agrioolse DialecUcam: yenalem enim earn reperimus inter bibliopolaa Faucis dioam, nihil unqiiam, quantum ad artem illam pertinet, legimus jucundius et eruditius, ita singula quidem puncta ex-
Jiid.
' *
Ill
145.
pressisse videtur. Utinam juvenis prsBoeptorem ilium fuissera nactus! Mallem id profecto, neque sane mentior,
quam
quern.'
ali-
32
498
cnAP.Y.
BISHOP FISHER.
that respect for the learning and character of Reuchlin, ^i^JiL which made him not only a student of his works, but a warm sympathiser with the great scholar in the struggle in which
inflnenMot Krasmus on
tt^^t^ei'"^"
he afterwards became involved'. Nqv wa8 Erasmus's influence at Cambridge confined to ^^^^ which he exerted through its chancellor. Other and younger men sought the acquaintance of the illustrious foreigner, and recalled, long after he had left, and with no
little satisfaction,
It
is
eviless
a more or
genuine interest in his work, were likely to become his friends and it may be safely inferred that these were only to be found among the most able and promising men in the
;
The whole
were
his]
He
again, on the
other, there
while,
on the
were few with whom he conversed at Cambridge, but must have often shocked his ears by their uncouth Latinity and The one of whom, next to Fisher, strange pronunciation.
HmryBuid. 1625.
hc speaks in the most emphatic pitdse, is perhaps Henry Bullock (whose name, after the usual fashion, he Latinised yinto BoviUtis), a fellow of Queens' College, mathematical lecturer in the university, and afterwards vice-chancellor*. In him Erasmus found an enthusiastic pupil during his residence , and a valued correspondent when far away. Bullock too it was, who along with one or two others, sustained the tradition of Greek learning, in the perilous interval between their preceptor's departure
and
the~-advent of
Richard Croke; and somewhat later, we find his talents and attainments earning for him the notice of Wolsey, by whom he was induced to enter the lists against the Lutheran party, and was rewarded by a chaplaincy in the cardinal's
household.
Another student
for
whom Erasmus
Athena,
i
seems to
^ ' Ei (Johannes Cndlius) oommendavi codioem, in quo erant BeuohImioa quie misere desidernbat Roffen-
33-4.
MS.'
Erasmus
to
More
(a.d.
1517),
ERASMUS.
499
have entertained a real regard, was William Gon ell. also chap. v. afterwards one of Wolsey's household^ and at one time tutor ^^1^|1, in the family of Sil-Thomaajlore'. There was also a young ^H!* *'"
fellow of King's,
mus,
whom
of
he
styles
of
the
name
Jq^ii_^ryan,
john Bryan,
attracted to himself no
little
an
assertor of the
more genuine
on the same foundation, donned his bachelor's hood, was Robert Aldrich, the juvenis Robert blandcB cujusdam eloquentiw, who accompanied Erasmus on (t isss. his femed expedition to Walsingham, ^to interpret for him on the journey, to quiz the guardian of the relics, and to make fun over the 'Virgin's milk;' who lived however to become bishop of Carlisle, to sit in solemn judgement on the rites and ceremonies of the Church, and to be a commissioner against heretics in queen Mary's reign'. There was also one
JohnWatson.
would seem, so friendly to the new learning as Erasmus rallies him as a Scotist, but to whom he was attracted by the fact that he had travelled in Italy, and numbered among his friends there, some with whom Erasmus was also well acquainted*. There is still His letter to Erasmus. 1 -rrt extant a pleasant letter, to the latter, written by Watson from Peterhouse, informing him that the writer has just been presented to the living of Elsworth, only seven miles from there is a capital rectory,' he adds (somewhat Cambridge in the mood, apparently, to fancy himself passing rich on twenty pounds a year), but I shall have to spend half my
scarcely, it
'
'
'
first
year's
it is
however,
it
is
completely at your service whenever you may be disposed to Among other of Erasmus's acquaintance were two come^'
Ckmper, Atherue, i 94. v Ibid. I 87; Knight, p. 146. 3 Enight, p. 144; Erasmus, Peregrinatio Beligionu Ergo; Cooper,
* *
p. 143. * 'Nactus
som sacerdotinm intra septetu millia a Gantabngia, tedes habet pnkhras, et mediocriter ad
Tictam
utile est; porro
Atham,
*
Wet
viginti
omnia annua
32-2
500
fellows' of
BISHOP FISHER.
Queens' College, of maturer years,
Dr Fawne,
his
Richard
Sainp9on.
d. 15S4.
Whitford (to whom he dedicated his translation of Lucian's Tyrannidda), confessor to lord Mountjoy, and chaplain to bishopFox, and lastly, of greater note than either of these, there was Richard Sampson of Trinity Hall, another of Wolsey's
clients, afterwards
much
to his
mind
as any-
It
was customary
new works issued from the presses on the continent, the necessary knowledge of books was During some part of his rarely possessed by Englishmen. seem indeed that Erasmus was resident with stay, it would Gerard, for we find him speaking of him in one letter as his
host';
and we picture to ourselves the great scholar as often dropping in, to while away a tedious hour, and discussing with the worthy bookseller the typographical merits of the. last production of the press at Venice or Basel, or the possibility of getting a respectable Greek fount at Cambridge, or
Bed hoc anno nunc primo fere dimidiata portio fundetur in reparationem domus ; hoc si tibi aut voluptati, ant ulli Usui esse potuerit, tuum erit,
tibique
polos,
et erit quicquid et aliud est meum.' Erasmi Opera, 1882. 1 Cooper, Athence, i 22, 79, 119; Knight, p. 43.
The booksellers were also rewhom the suppression of heretical books was to be generally carried out. In a petition presented by the university to cardinal Wolsey in 1529, in the matter of Dr Cliffe, considerable importance is attached to the selection of those ap-. pointed unum istud nou leve momentum habere credimus, ad ejusmodi in perpetuum profligandos er'
garded as agents by
'
rores (quod tamen, sine tusB celsitudinis ope^ efficere non valemus), nempe si regia indulgentia conoedatur
homines probos atque graves, qui Sacramento et mulcta grand! adstringautur, nullum vel importare vel vendere Ubrum, quern non prius viri aliquot absolutae eruditionis (qnos censores huic rei prseficiet academia), talem pronunciarint ut qui tuto vendatur. Quos turn bibliopolas, quoniam e re nostra magis erit, alienigenas esse, sic enim conswletur libroruvi pretiis, svinme credivius necessarium, ilia uti libertate et immunitate gaudere, quibus indigent tuie fruuntur, ita provinciali jure donati, ut Londini aliisque regni hujus empoliis, ab exteris negotiatqribus libros emere possint.' Fiddes's Life of Wolsey, Collection 25. ' 'Salutabis diligenter meis verbis amicos, qnos animo mecum circumfero, Dootorem Phaunum, doctissimum Joannem Brianum,...ac veterem Jwspitem meum Gerardum bibUopolam.' Opera, in 130.
ERASMUS.
perhaps the commercial prospects of his
editions of the
501
own forthcoming
Greek Testament and St. Jerome. But though Erasmus undoubtedly found at Cambridge some staunch friends and not a few admirers, while Fisher's
chap. v. partti.
it
would be contrary
to all that
we know
counter to the traditional teaching. The school of theology o oj with which his name is identified, was in direct antagonism
^
to. the
whole system then in vogue. The hist orical_glemen<f ato"!*^*^ in the Scriptures, the existence of which he clearly discerned and so ably unfolded, was precisely that element which the
mediaeval theologian, with
all
his
elaborateness of interpretation,
Novum Instrumentum appeared a pedantic impertinence while men of real ability and learning, like Eck of In goldstadt, were shocked when they heard of the non-classicality of the New^ Testament Greek and of erroneous quotations
fi-om the Septuagint.
literature, again,
patristic
nisestimata
fathers,
st.
accepted at
ceived
all
only father of
Of St. Chrysostora, the the eastern Church who appears to have reSt.
airyso.
much
be ranked
far
below
Jerome,
whom
he
st.
Jerome,
styled theologorum
Origen,
omnium pnnceps^, while with respect to then but little known and much suspected, he de-ongen.
more
sostom
In some
of his letters Erasmus speaks of this father in .terms of high admiration; see Opera, iii 1343, 1432. * Ibid. Ill 146. boo una ' in
ut aiunt, conjunotum fuit, quicquid in aliis per partes miramar...poterat hie unus pro cunctis sufficere Latinis, vel ad vitsB pietatem, vel ad theologiose rei oognitiouem, si modo integer ac in. columis exstaret.' Jortin, ii 630,631, Append. 52. See alsa Opera, hi 142.
<rXX^(35r)K,
eximinm
fuit,
502
CHAP.
V.
'
BISHOP FISHER.
Of
st. Hilary.
subsequent edition of that father's works, there occurred what was perhaps to the scholastic theologian the most a passage that roused galling passage Erasmus ever wrote,
^Q
Ytis
the doctors of the Sorbonne to a man. It is that wherein he contrasts the reverent and moderate tone in which St. Hilary
approaches the mysteries of Christian doctrine, with the fierce and shallow dogmatism and unhesitating confidence shewn by
the interpreters of such subjects in his
Nicholas de
own
time".
Towards
Lyra and
Hugo
Hugo
of St. Victor.
whose pages were more diligently Cambridge than those of any other mediaeval studied at theologian, Lombardus alone excepted, he shewed but scant respect. He considered indeed that the errors of De Lyra might repay the trouble of correcting, and of these he subsequently pointed out a large number, and challenged any writer to disprove the arguments whereby he impugned their accuracy; with regard to Hugo however, he declared that his blunders were too flagrant to deserve refutation '. But
of mediseval theology,
Aperit enim quasi fontes quoset rationes indinat artis tbeologicsB.' 95. Opera, " ' Subinde neoessitatem hanc \de talibus pronunciandi] deplorat sanctissimus vir Hilarius haudquaquam ignarus quain periculi plenum sit, quam parum religiosum, de rebus
^
'
dam,
ineffabilibus eloqui, inoomprebensiscrutari, de longe semotis a captu nostra prouuneiare. Sed in boo pelago longius etiam provectus est divus Augustiuus, videlicet felix hominis iugenium, quasrendi voluptate, velut aura seoundiore, aliunde alio prolioiente. Moderatior est et Petrus Lombardus, qui sententias alienas reoitans non temere de suo addit aut si quid addit, timide proponit. Ees tandem usque ad impiam
bilia
'
mus, qute, citra salutis dispendium, vel ignorari poterant, vel in amhiguo Doctrina Cbristi, qusB relinqui? prius nesciebat Xo7o/iaxfa>', coepit a pbilosopbisB praesidiis pendere: hie erat primus gradus eeclesise ad deAccreverunt teriora prolabentis. opes, et accessit vis. Porro admixta huic negotio Csesarum auctoritae, non multum promovit fidei sinceritatem. Tandem res deduota est ad sopbisticas conteutiones, articulorum myriades proruperunt. Hinc deventum est ad terrores ac minas. Quumque vita nos destituat, qiium fides sit in ore magis quum in animo, quum solida ilia sacranim Litterarum cog-
audaciam progresaa est. Sed veteribus sit Tenia, quam preoantur, quos hue adegit neeessitas. Nobis qua f route veniam posoemus.qui de rebus longe semotissimas a nostra natura, tot curiosas, ne dicam impias, inove-
tamen terroribus hue adigimus homines, ut credant non creduut, ut ament quod non quod amant, et intelligant quod non intelnitio 'nos deficiat,
ligunt.' Ibid,
*
in 693, 696.
mus
qtiamtionea;
'Qui qnioquid Lyranua soripse.. rit oraculi instar haberi volunt, tu* eantur ilium in illis locis in quibus ab eo dissentio. Nam in Hugone quEerere quod reprehendas, stultissi-
ERASMUS.
the most unpardonable offence of
all,
503
in the eyes of the chap.
v.
critical
Dionysius.
its
half mystic,
and glowing speculations, inspired the student with a rapture and an ecstasy which the passionless and of doctrinale of the schoolmen could never awaken,
It is true
demanded the total sacrifice that there were some of these views which
Erasmus had not as yet put forth, beyond recall, through the but it is in every way probable that they were press already perceptibly foreshadowed by his tone and conversa;
tion
and,
if so,
that,
throughout the
and
sus-
while
it is
many
Disap-
respects,
an
irritating
disposed to take a
He professed to be scanwhere a decent amanuensis could not be met with at any price^. He disliked the winter fogs'; he Hiscam^ ^ bridge experigrumbled sadly over the college ale, which aggravated his =e3of at^vcomplaint, and was always writing to the goodnatured Ammonius for another cask of Greek wine'. Unable, from
his ignorance of their language, to converse with the towns-
he probably misunderstood them, and, being in turn misinterpreted, encountered frequent annoyances, which led him to denounce them as boorish and malevolent in the
people,
mum
arbitror.
Paucula
tantiim
insigniter absurda, quonimirum cautiores redderem eos, qui hujusmodi seriptores summa fiducia nuUo judieio legunt.' Ibid, III 128.
annotavi,
sed
pro vino bibimus vappam, et quid vappa detenus.' (Ibid, 105.) Cerrisia hujus loci mihi nuUo modo placet, neo admodum satis'
'
'
si
' 'Ethio (0 Academiaml), nullus inveniri potest, qui ullo pretio vel medioeriter serttai' Ibid, iii 120. " ' Nam hie sestivare quam hibernare.' Ibid, iii 112.
maUm
faciunt viui; si posBis effioereut uter aliquis viui Grseoanici, quantuw potest optimi, hue deportetur, piaue bearis Erasmujn tuum, sd (mod alienunj ait n cluloe^ne,' Ibid, iii 108.
S04
extreme'.
BISHOP FISHER.
When
pacing up and
down
the
Many a
far
friar in
from friendly
a staunch
Many
tum
(;[je
community of
his
own order
he received no
such flattering attentions as had been paid him by prior Chamock at Oxford and there were probably not a few of
;
the members
his
who thought
it
With
ordinary prudence,
;
income must have more than sufficed for his wants he received from his professorship over thirteen pounds annually he had been presented by Warham to the rectory of Aldington in Kent *; and, though non-resident, he drew from thence an income of twenty pounds*, to which the archbishop, with his usual liberality, added another twenty from To these sums we must add an annual his own purse. pension of a hundred florins from Fisher, and a second pension, which he still continued to receive, from his generous friend, lord Mountjoy". His total income, therefore,
;
cum summa
Fuller).
'
rustioitate
summam
malitiam conjunxei'e.'
(Quoted by
the recipient was not too heavily mulcted by those through whose hands the moneys passed. In a letter written some seventeen years
later,
he says:
'B
duabus Anglite
lege, p. 14.
"
(ed. Ben-
nett), p. 77.
*
An
exception to
Warham's
prao-
circumstances, to both. See Knight, pp. 158-60. s Jortiu, I 56; Knight, p. 159; Opera, iii 1528-9. The statements the text are, of course, made in under the supposition that these sums were actually paid and that
ad me pervenit accisa, nonnunquam usque ad quartam partem, interdum et intercipitur.' in 1292. He was however one of the few foreigners who in the heavy tax imposed on the clergy in 1522 was allowed to pay
only as natives did.' Bumet-Poi 53. To the notice of those who hold up this age to our admiration, as one of rough but honest virtues, I would commend the fact that, at no period in our national
'
cock,
ERASMUS.
could scarcely have been less than 700 in English
literary labours
SOo
money
of chap.
v.
^^
'*'"""
a considerable outlay
Ammonius
for further loans, as he preferred to call them, though he appears to have taken a flat refusal with perfect good temper. An acute attack of his chronic complaint completed the long list of his misfortunes.
At
last
distance, again
made
It
its
appearance at Cambridge'.
flight,
The
left
university
sought safety in
almost alone.
to
was then
Ammonius, he gave full vent to his distress and despon- bridge letter, dency. 'For some months past,' he writes, 'I have been living the life of a snail in its shell, stowing myself away in college, and perfectly mum over my books. ' The university is a solitude most are away through fear of the plague, though even when all are here, I find but little society. The expense is past enduring the gain, not a farthing. > Believe me, as though I were on my oath it is not five months since I came back and I have spent sixty nobles, while I have
; ;
:
my
pupils,
my
and that not without much I have decided not to winter, and in fact to throw out
part.
my sheet-anchor.
if
my
nest here;
not".'
otherwise, I shall
wing
my
flight,
whither I know
est.
history, not even after tteBestoration, have vpe more frequent evidence of contemptible swindling and corrupt practices pervading all
Sumptua
dem.
Puta
classes.
'
In consequence of
this, a grace
for dispensihg with the ordinary lectures, and those in divinity and sophistry, until
toribus
quibusdam
depreoans
aocepi,
eumque
multum
Nos,
ac recusans. Certum est his hibernis mensibus vdvra. \l8of Kiviiv, planeque saoram, quod aiunt, anooram solvere. Si sucoedit, nidum aliquem mihi pa-
aliquot plane cochleae vitam vivimus, domi contracti conditique mussamus Magna hie solitudo: In studiis. ftbsunt pestilentisB metu plerique, quanquam quum adsunt universi,
rabo
sin minus, certum est hinc ; avolare, incertum quo : si nihil aliud, certe alibi moriturus. Bene vale.'
Opera,
iii
116.
This
letter,
in the
Leyden
Nov.
506
BISHOP FISHER.
The
last
Spre'of
Cambridge,
is the final glimpse that we gain of Erasmus Cambridge: it is that of a solitary, isolated scholar, prematurely old with anxiety and toil, weighed down by physical suflfering, dejected by disappointment, and oppressed with debt; rarely venturing beyond the college gates, and
Such then
at
while
around there waited for him an invisible foe, the pestilence that walketh at noon-day; often by night, in his study high up in the south-west tower, 'outwatching the
Bear' over the page of St. Jerome, even as Jerome himself had outwatched it many a night, when transcribing the same pages in his Bethlehem .cell, some eleven hundred years before. Then winter came on, and, towards the close of each shortening day, Erasmus could mark from his window the white fogs rolling in from the surrounding marshes, reminding him of the climate he most of all disliked, -the climate of his native Holland; while day after day, the sound of footsteps, in the courts below, grew rarer and rarer. At last the gloom, the solitude, the discomfort, and the panic, became more than he could bear and, one night, the customary lamp no longer gleamed from a certain casement in the south-west tower. And when the fear of the plague was over, and the university returned, it was known that Erasmus had left Cambridge and no doubt many a sturdy defender of the old learning said he was very glad to hear it, and heartily hoped that all this stir about Greek, and St. Jerome, and errors in the Vulgate, was at an end.
would be obviously unjust to interpret the hasty expressions used by Erasmus, when embittered by a sense of
It
and the reply of Ammonius 164), is dated Nov. 24, in the year. The internal evidence however clearly proves the assigned year to be erroneous, for both letters
28, 1511,
(ill
Latin verse, and to the great amnse. ment of both scholars had made the
same
contain a reference to the epitaph by Carmilianus on the death of the King of the Scots at Flodden, and must consequently have been written subsequeat to Sept. 9, 1513. Carmilianus thought himself a master of
return after one of his journeys to London, which he appears to have visited more ^han once during his residence at Cambridge; I have accordingly translated the votis agreeably to this sense.
"
'
ERASMUS.
failure
507
course, as
his chap.
v.
and
>_t^Ll.
him
far
may
fairly
be regarded
Ammocountertesti-
There are
there,'
he
says,
speaking of Cambridge in
..
left rasmus
fevourof Cambridge,
were you yourself a witness thereof the comto despise the houses of the
parison would
letter,
years '
Progress theology at
t^e umver-
is flourishing at Paris and at Cambridge more than at any other university. 'And whence,' he says, is this ? Simply because these two universities are adapting themselves to the tendencies of the age, and receive the new learning, which is ready, if need be, to storm an entrance,- not as an enemy but courteously as a guest".' And again, in
soundi theology
'
a third
letter, to
sixty-fourth year,
when
his recollections of
Cambridge must
rA
have begun to grow dim, he yet recalls with special delight 'those three colleges, where youth were exercised, not in dialectical wrestling matches, which serve only to chill the heart and unfit men for serious duties, but in true learning
and sober arguments ; and from whence they went forth to preach the word of God with earnestness and in an evangelical spirit,
and
to
commend
it
to the
minds of men of
'Sunt
tantum
struant,
si
Tideas.
Opera, iii 1529. _ " LutetiiB Oantabrigiseque sic floret theologisB studium, ut nunquam alias seque. Quid in eausa ? Nimirum quod sese acoommodant seculo alio ee fleetenti, quod has meliores litteras, vel
vi irrumpere oonantes, non repellunt ut hostes, sed ut hospites comiter ftmpleotuntur.' Ibid, iii 677.
Ihid.
it
is
508
BISHOP FISHER.
Nevertheless, judging from his
own account and from the must be admitted that Erasmus appears to have regarded his sojourn at Cambridge as a failure, and the language used by his different biographers implies apparently, that such was also their opinion. He had
silence of contemporaries, it
almost totally failed to gather round him a circle of learners way worthy of his great reputation; respecting his lectures, as divinity professor, not a single tradition remains
in any
efforts, as
a teacher of Greek,
ignored by the university, that on the occasion of Richard Croke (his virtual successor in this respect) being appointed
to the office of public orator a few years later, the latter
was
honored by admission to certain special on the ground that he 'had been the
His failure apparent rather than
leaL
privileges, expressly
first
introducer of
university'.'
But on a
careful examination
short
time after
Erasmus's departure,
we
shall
abided his time, he might have been rewarded by the realisation of substantial success,
his
directly associated
name with
movement
that Cambridge
immeupon his residence, we are met by indications of a mental and speculative activity that is almost startling when compared with the lethargy that had reigned only a few years before, and we can have no hesitation in assigning his Novum Instrumentwm as the centre round which
has ever originated.
diately following
It is certain, that in the years
The Novum
is
tum.
f avore principmn regbonse litterie, viget honesti studium, exsulat aut jacet, cum fucata personataque sanctimonia, futiUa et insulsa doctrina quondam airaiSeuTws ireiraiSsvuivav.' Letter to Richard Pace (a.d. 1517), Opera, in 237. ' quia ille primus invexit litteras ad DOS Grseoas.' Stat. Ant. p 112.
: '
lowing ubi
England at large, we can ask for no more farorable verdict than the fol-
'
ligenter ab
dire-
nant
'
509
known to every scholar, from the printing press of chap, y, Frobenius at Basel, on the 1st of March, 1516; but, as Pro- ^^^^^^ fessor Brewer observes, ' it was strictly the work of his resi- of'his workin dence in England (that is at Cambridge). In the collation S-S?,i!""'
'
'
and examination of manuscripts required for the task, he had the assistance of Englishmen; Englishmen supplied the funds, and English friends and patrons lent him that support and encouragement without which it is very doubtful whether Erasmus would ever have completed the work,... The experiment was a bold one, the boldest that had been conceived
'"' "'"'^^"'
professor
criticism.
many
centuries before
it.
We
are
accustomed to the freest expression of opinion in Biblical criticism, and any attempt to supersede our English version,
to treat its inaccuracies with scorn,
to represent it as far
below the science and scholarship of the age, or as a barbarous, unlettered production, made from inaccurate manuscripts,
and imperfectly executed by men who did not understand the language of the original, would excite little apprehension To explain the text of Scripture exclusively by or alarm. the rules of human wisdom, guided by the same principles as
are freely applied to classical authors,
to discriminate the
from the genuine, and decide that this was ca^might, perhaps, be regarded as nonical, and that was not, Yet all this, and not less than this, did Erasmus audacious.
spurious
propose to himself in his edition and translation of the New Testament. He meant to subvert the authority of the Vulgate, and to shew that much of the popular theology of the
day, its errors and misconceptions, were founded entirely on
onibusquselectoremdooeant, quid qua ratione mutatum sit. Quisquis igitur amas veram theologiam, lege, cognosce, et deinde judica. Neque statim ofiendere, si quid mutatum offenderis, sed expende, num in melius mutan-
Jerome:
modum
turn
'Nee intelligunt ad eum aliquoties loqui divum Hieronymum, nee legisse videntur Augustinum, qui doeet aptius dioi Imtrumen-
dum
sit.'
Erasmus
fiunt.
Nam Testa-
Instrumentum to Testamentum on the inentiun essetj etiamsi nullum exground that it more fittingly express- staret scriptum quum enim Deed the deed or written document minus dioeret, " Hie est calix Novi containing the Testament, and he Teatamenti," nullus erat liber Novi defended his preference by citing Testamentiproditus.' Opera, in 1006.
510
CHAP.
V.
BISHOP FISHER.
It
'v^
up the
his
cism connected with them, to the level of that scholarship in day which had been successfully applied to the illustration
all
rules of interpretation
on faith and authority, and replace them by 'the philological and historical. And it was piecisely for this In this respect the ^ reason that Luther disliked the work. New Testament of Erasmus must be regarded as the foundation of that new school of teaching on which Anglican theology professes exclusively to rest
;
but the most direct enunciation of that Protestant principle which, from that time until this, has foimd
type of
its class,
its
"The
Bible alone
is
the
Whatever can be read therein or proved thereby, is binding upon all men; what cannot, is not to be required of any man as an article of his faith, either by societies or by individuals. Who sees not that the authority of the Church was displaced, and the sufficiency of aU men individually to read and interpret for themselves was thus asserted by the New Testament of Erasmus^ V
religion of Protestants."
Defects and errors in the ^'it-
the work,
If from the foreffoiug general estimate of the influence of o o o we turn to the consideration of its abstract merits,
^
we may
discern,
more
clearly than
either
its
Nor
is
deny the existence of numerous and occasionally serious errors and shortcomings. The oldest manuscript to which Erasmus had access, was probably not earlier than the
possible to
tenth century; the typographical inaccuracies are frequent; the very title-page contains a glaring and singularly discreditable blunder''; he even shews such ignorance of ancient
'
lolloping way. Erasnms had ol Theophylact on Matthew, with this title ToO Beo^iXeffTOTou 'ApGeo^ux""''"'*^''''"' BouXyajoias Kvpiov Xditrou e^ria-is eh rb Kari, MarSaiov 'TS.va.yyfXiov. In his haste he took QeoipvKdKTov for an epithet, while for 'BbvXyaptas he must have read BouX7tt-
the
a copy
'
Sll
'
geography as to assert that Neapolis, the port. Where the chap. v. apostle Paul arrired on his journey from Samothrace to ,^"Philippi, was a town in Caria; and even in subsequent
he stubbornly maintained, in opposition to his Matthew were the soldiers of Herod the Great But even en-ors like these become trifling, when weighed in the balance against the
editions,
critics,
its great
to
the criticisms,
the cause of
singles
Luke
On
ceptor
the work, Bullock wrote from Cambridge to inform his old pre-
Greek was being studied at the university with considerable ardour the Novum Instrumentum was in high favour and Erasmus's Cambridge friends would be
certainly encouraging.
;
;
more'.
It is
evident indeed that by all, whose good opinion was most worth
having, Erasmus's performance, even on
its first
appearance,
was regarded as a highly meritorious achievement. Fisher Favorable had throughout steadily promoted the scheme. Warham was the somm
emphatic in his praise. Fox, ^whose opinion on such a^gj|j^jB subject carried perhaps as much weight as that of any hving men.
.
Englishman, publicly
name
-which he converted from the of a country into the name of a man, and translated " Vulgarius " ;
ceptor doctissime, est oiambus amicis tuis Canlabrigianis oppido quam gratus super ceteros tamen mihi longe
:
and under this name Theophylaot was quoted in his notes. To make matters worse, he attributed to Vulgarius a reading which is not to be found in Theophylact, and in one place grossly misconstrued him-.' See an article, Ute Greek Testament of Erat-
veutum
tuffi
in Novum
Testamentum editioni
dii boni,
1
ms,byE.B.Drummond.
Beview v. 527. 1 'Tuus in Angliam
Theological
quam
reditus, pre-
512
CHAP.v.
BISHOP FISHER.
,^
Cuthbert Tunstall, just created Master of the was an avowed patron of the undertaking. The fact indeed that the dedication of the work had been accepted by '-^ ^' ^iglit alone seem sufficient to disarm the prejudices
mentators'.
Kolls,
^jf ^j^g
uiQg^ bigotcd.
But the
lulled to sleep
and
in Erasmus's reply
Aug. 31 we find
,
Cambridge of a very different spirit from that which Bullock had reported* In the Novum Instrumentum the opponents of "^^ ^ Greek had recognised, as they believed, the opportunity for which they had long been watching and having now more definite ground whereon to take their stand, they were endeavouring by mere force of numerical superiority to over.
whelm
It
would however be unjust not to admit, that the opponents of the work had more definite grounds for their hos^ tility than a mere general aversion to the special culture with which that work was identified, and that their opposition was not, as Erasmus himself alleged, commenced and carried on
in utter ignorance of the contents of the volume.
Merits
and
we have
already adverted,
of their criticism
lay, it is true,
Sarcastic ai-
commentory
but there was in the commentary another feature, which touchcd them far more closely, and this was the frequent application, which the sarcastic scholar had taken occasion
imtrumm-
to
make
and generally
raoSand
andtiie sclioolmen
all attacked,
of the times. For example, he had progressed no further than the third chapter of St. Matthew, before he contrived to find occasion for dragging in a slur upon the whole r oe> o
priestly order^j in
1
commenting on Matt.
xv. 5,
he censures
'Wintoniensis episoopus, vir nt prudentissimus, in celeberrimo eoetu magnatum, qnum de te ao tuis luoubrationibua iacidisset sermo, testatus est omnibus approbantibus, versionem tuam Novi Testamenti, vice
Bcis
" It is when speaking of the MSS. of the Gospels to which he had had access at the College of St. Donatian at Bruges. ' Habebat ea bibliotheca,' he goes on to say, ' complures alios libros antigiuitatia venerandffi, qui
esse
sibi
commentariorum
decern,
neglectn
quorundam
perierunt,
tantum
afferre lucis.'
613
chap.
v
monks and
friars for
the
artifices
on the wealthy
v.
he indulges in a tirade against the bishops Mark vi. 9 Christ, affords an opportunity for attacking the Mendicants, he says, never belonged to that order when he conies to the mention of Dionysius the Areopagite, in Acts xvii. 34, he does not omit to tell, with evident relish and in his very best
while in
a note on Timothy
schools,
i.
6,
he
and supports
his criticisms
by a long
list
of qucestiones,
Whatever, accordingly,
may
be our opinion of the policy that imperilled the success of a work of such magnitude, by converting it into a fortress from whence to shoot singularly galling darts against the enemy, there can be no doubt that it was by criticisms like
the foregoing that the active hostility of the conservative
and that they have recourse to acts of retaliation like that a letter referred to in the following letter from Erasmus'', that affords perhaps the most valuable piece of contemporary evidence with respect to the state of the university that reparty at Cambridge was mainly provoked,
were induced
to
mains
1
to us of this period.
letter is
The
-ri
and Erasmus commences by saying, in response to isullock s expressed wish for his return, that he would be only too glad to resume his old Cambridge life and to find himself again
magis incumhere patinis quampaginis, et potiorem habere curam nummorum quam voluminum.' (Quoted by Jortin,
II
T-.
11
206.)
1
'
ini,
inco'mparabilis
Willelmus
Grooinus, ut theologus summus, ita in nulla disciplina non exquisite doctus et exercitatus, auspioaturus Londini in jede Divo Paulo sacra
enarrationem Coelestis Hierarohiie, meditata prsfatione multum asseveravit hoc opus esse Dionysii Areopagitaa, vehementer destomaohaus in eorum impudentiam, qui dissenAt idem priusquam operia tirent.
oonfeeisset, ubi gustum attentius cepisset, ingenue coram auditorio f asBus est, sibi verso oalonlo non videri id opus esse Dionysii Areopagitm.' I6id. ii 211. In the present day, it has seemed fit to the modern representatives of Erasmus's antagonists, to maintain that Grocyn's first view was the right one " Epist. 148, Opera, iii 126. This letter, by an evident anachronism, is dated in the Leydeu edition 1513 : but a very cursory examination of its contents will shew that it is a reply to Bullock's letter of Aug. 13, 1516. Ibid, iii 197.
'
dimidium
33
514
^aIt'iT'
V
'^
BISHOP FISHKE.
^ delightful
^S
is
circle of friends,
but at present he
looking forward to wintering at Louvain. He is delighted to hear that his Novwn Instrumentwm finds favour with those
is
most to be desired
'
but/ he goes on
is
one most
Of what
;
^^
^7 n^turo
which soothes
them who are so implacable that no apologies can soften them 1 Who, what is yet more to their discredit, condemn and mangle a book that they have never read, and could not understand if they had. Who know nothing more than what they may have heard over their cups or in public gossip, that a new work has come out with which it is designed to hoodwink the theologians and
even wild beasts, only
;
aimed at rendering service and the book, from whence they might themselves reap no small advantage^.' After pointing out what excellent precedents for his performance were to be found in the productions of different scholars at various times, he t'li'iis to the new translations of Aristotle as his most perSif by^ap'!''" 'What detriment,' he asks, 'did the PSen?"'* tinent illustration. thenewyer- Writings of Aristotle suffer, when Ai-gyropulos, Leonardo totie. Aretino, and Theodorus Gaza brought forth their new verhis protracted labours has
who by
all
to
students,
^ Quod genus hoc hominum, usque adeo morosum, ut offioiis irritentur, quibus mansuesount et ferse bellusB tarn implacabile, ut eos neo tam
'
tics, disse
aut in eonciliabulis
fori,
pro-
multse apologise lenire possint 1 immo (quod est impudentius), isti damnaut ao laoerant librum, quern ne legerint quidem, alioqui neo intelleoturi si legant. Tantum audierunt inter oya-
sen cornicibus, oculos tentet ao mox meris oon-viciis inseotautur et auctorem qui tantis vigiliis studiis omnium prodesse studuerit, et librum, unde poterant proologis,
oonfigere
fioere.'
iii
126.
I
THE NOVUM INSTRUMENTUM.
515
suppressed and destroyed, simply in order that the old interpreters of the Aristotelian philosophy
defers to the
may be
regarded as
omniscient?'
He
then
falls
work had gained the warmest approval of Warham Capito, professor at Basel, and Berus, at Pans, two of the most eminent theologians oi the day, had been equally emphatic in their praise so had Gregory
argument ad verecundiam :
; ;
approval hfs*
Already ob-
Reischius,
who was
'
listened to as an oracle in
'
Germany
so
had Jacob Wimpheling. But to say nothing of others,' he continues, you yourself well know what a distinguished man
the bishop of Rochester, your chancellor,
character and attainments.
is,
as regards
both
And
men
what one of such disFinally,' he .tinguished worth both sanctions and reads? I can claim adds, if with one man learning has most weight, the approval of the most learned if with another, virtue, have that of the most virtuous if with a third, authority, I have the support, not only of bishops and archbishops, but of the supreme pontifif himself.' But perhaps,' he goes on to say, they fear lest, if the comparcstho young students are attracted to these studies, the schools jsis Jj* Why do they not rather reflect on ^o*^.'"" will become deserted. this fact. It is scarcely thirty years ago, when all that was taught in the university of Cambridge, was Alexander', the Little Logicals^ (as they call them), and those old exercises out of Aristotle, and quoestiones taken from Duns Scotus. As time went on, polite learning was introduced; to this was
to hurl reproaches against
'
ashamed
'
'
j^.^
1 LeTpis {Life of Fisher, i 27) explains this, as referring to 'Alexander de Hales ', called doctor irrefragabOis, Expositio in libros Metaphysics Aris-
Alexander de Villa Dei yraa the SMthoT of the Doctrinale Puerorum, for some
centuries the most
common text-book
totelis.'
{Queens''
p. 13) say, 'the middle-age poem of Walter de CasteUis.' Neither of these, I think, is right, and
Coll.,
who, in his ii/e o/ Z/a4imer (p. 19), suggests Alexander of Aphrodisias, is still further from the mark. It was more probably the 'Alexander, a gander of Menander's pole,' Speke referred to by Skelton in his Parrot,' (ed. Dyce, ii. 89, and 347,) as a common text-book at Cambridge.
'
Mr Demaus
Alexandrum grammaticum
nelli poetae fabulas et
unquam
meas luoem
332
516
BISHOP FISHER.
added a knowledge of mathematics; a new, or at least a regenerated, Aristotle sprang up then came an acquaintance with Greek, and with a host of new authors whose verynames had before been unknown, even to their profoundest doctors. And how, I would ask, has this affected your uni;
? Why, it has flourished to such a degree that it can now compete with the chief universities of the age, and can
versity
boast of
school
men
in comparison with
whom
seem only the ghosts of theologians. The seniors of the university, if candid men, do not deny this; they congratulate others on their good fortune, and lament their own loss. But perhaps these friends of ours are dissatisfied because, since all this has come to pass, the Gospels and the Epistles find more numerous and more attentive students; and, grudging that even this amount of time should be subtracted from studies to which, forsooth, all the student's entire time ought to be devoted, would prefer that his whole
life
He hopes
his
But
little
regret
my
midnight toil. It is notorious that hitherto there have been ^ theologiaus who have altogether neglected the Scriptures and o r o more, ana to t^** *' ^^ ^^^ *^ purposo of Studying the Sentences, nor 8eivea''ie3s" indeed with a view to any other single thing save only the (Imim!'"^'
J
:
_
dilemmas of
should be
qucestiones.
summoned back
to the fountain-head?
I long,
my
to
general good,
all... It
toil
of no ordinary kind,
fruitful of benefit
is
my
among
in
has,
my
case,
evoked
dislike.
A
_
do
him more
tuture.
iime, while
,...
it
deprives
them
ot
may perhaps bestow it on me. This do 1 confidently predict whatever may be the merit of my literary labours, they will
be judged with greater impartiality by posterity '.'
1
'
triginta, nihil
prseter
ut vocant, et Vetera
GREEK AT CAMBRIDGE.
517
Erasmus's prediction was abundantly fulfilled ; and, chap. v. , within a few years from the date of the foregoing letter, he saw the publication of his Novum Instrumentum attended uon?uifiiied.
by
effects of botTi
his calculations,
and even
when
laboring over
At present
however it is sufficient to note the satisfactory evidence above afforded of the progress of the new learning at Cambridge; more trustworthy testimony can scarcely be required than that thus incidentally given, in a confidential letter, written by an emeritus professor to a resident fellow. The movement in favour of the study of Greek and the JJ'gJ^^a. opposition it excited, continued, it would seem, to be the d?" th^cwrf chief subject of interest at Cambridge for some years after ^bn'ij^e. Erasmus thus wrote. In the year 1518, Bryan, his former pupil, ventured upon a startling innovation on the traditional method of instruction. On succeeding to his regency, as master of arts, he not only put aside the old translations of Aristotle, but had recourse to his knowledge of Greek in his
exposition of the
new
versions.
add that in adopting this mode of treatment, he found little time for the discussion of the prevalent nominalistic disputes.
Probonte Utterie ; accessit matheseos cognitio accessit novas, ant certe noyatns, Aristoteles; accessit Grfficanim litteraiam peritia; acoessei'unt aactores tarn multi, quomm olim ne nomina qnidem tenebantni. neo a summatibns illis larchis. Quaeso, quid hisce ex rebus accidit academise vestrse ? nempe sic eflSoniit, ut cum piimis hujus sfficuli scholis certare possit; et tales babet yiros ad quos veteres iUi collati umbrae theologorum videantur, non theologL Non inficiantur id majores, si qui sunt ingenio candido. AJiis suam felioitatem gratalantar, suam comploraiit iufeUcitatem. An hoc istos male habet, quod postbac et plures legent EvangeUcas Apostolioasqae litteras, et attentius et vel hoc temporis his studiis decidi dolent, quibus onme tempos oportebat impartiri; malintqus nniverdiotata Scoticasqne qusestiones.
aSu
Tersioas.
sam
argaidis conteri
nomine non admodum poenitet me mearmn vigiliaram. CompeTtom est haotenns quosdam fiiisse theologos,
nnnquam legerant divinas nt nee ipsos Sententiaixun evolTerent, neque qnicquam omnino attingerent praeter qnasstionnm gryphos. An non expedit ejusmodi ad ipsos revocari fontes ? Ego, mi Boville, labores quos certe non mediocres omnibus juvandis suscepi, enpiam omnibus esse frugiferos
qni adeo
litteras,
libros
et spero futurum, ut quod nunc placet optimis, mox placeat plurimis. Aliis gratiam conciliavit novitas, at buic operi novitas invidiam
peperit. Proinde diversum opinor aceidet. lUis tetas favorem adimit, nuhi fortassis apponet. Ulud certe preesagio de meis laonbrationibas,
turam posteritatem.'
Ojjera,
ml30.
518
^'p
-
BISHOP FISHER.
yo^'^g regent incurred, of course, a large
^ri7'
'^^
amount
of
he probably felt more than compensated by the cordial praise and increased regard of his old
instructor'.
theiMe
In the Same year, the foundation of the Rede lecturegave additional sanction to the new learning. Sir lectureships. _^ A.D. 1518. Robert Rede, who, at the time of his death, was lord chief justice of the Common Pleas, had formerly been a fellow of King's Hall and in his will, he bequeathed to the university certain revenues, payable by the abbey at Waltham, of the apnual value of 12. This gum he directed to be divided among three lecturers, appointed by the university, in philosophy, logic, and rhetoric^. , Sense of the In the mean time, Fisher's zeal in behalf of the study importance of ^ Greek appears not only to have remamed unabated, but to Greek's ^^^^ l^^eu Considerably enhanced by his sense of the growing controversy" Smart importance of a knowledge of the language, as he watched
sirBobert
ships
^,
,,
-niii
"*'
""
Novum
Instru/mentum.
That great
event in literature had indeed aroused not a few to a and Colet, while perception of the value of the study bewailing his own ignorance, declared that not to know
;
Erasmus
again visits
Greek was
to
be nobody.
In the
England.
He
was everywhere
and consideraBoth king and cardinal appear to have held out to him tempting inducements to remain. Warham, whose deeds, as usual, went beyond his words, made him a munificent
received with
tion.
marked expressions
of respect
present.
^
'
The
Aristotelem pnblioe per bienpublicia in scholis, non ex epinosis realium et nominalium (quorum" turn altercationes academiam perturbabant) subtUitatibus, sed ex ipsis fontibus proponebat. Quo nomine multie factua invisior, at Erasmo, eruditissimo illi ingeniorum ceneori, cariBBimue est effeotus.' MSS. Tenison (quoted by Knight, p. 147). Compare the similar course pursued by Melanchthon at almost exactly the same time at Wittenberg. On
nium
Cooper, Annals,
301.
'
HIS DESIRE TO
LEARN GREEK.
519
v.
He
^^_J.
the close of the year to Berus, he again bears testimony to Hiateati""'y '" "* the remarkable and decisive change that had come over the ^^g^Ji^ spirit of the university, and encourages his correspondent
1
Till
.
will,
was
durinff
on
,
.
this
e^"'si "'
fifty-
two years of age, to receive instruction in the language and there is still extant an amusing correspondence between Erasmus, More, and Latimer, on the subject. It appears that the former two were endeavouring to prevail on Latimer The triumvirate however Embarrassto become Fisher's Greek master. all betray an uncomfortable foreboding that the undertaking. Mends. as likely to end in failure, would probably prove less agreeable than might be desired. They seem to have thought that the good bishop himself only half apprehended the difficulties of the enterprise, especially to one of his advanced years
'
Expertus disoes
quam
was the sentiment that doubtless often rose to their lips, but regard and reverence checked its utterance. Moreover, was there not the encouraging precedent of Cato, to be
pleaded in justification' ? The pressure put upon Latimer was not slight, but he backed out of the engagement by
classic
Latimer de'"^'
declaring that he had not opened either a Greek or Latin taS^ the
for
th-e
last
atructor.
instructor
1 2
should be sought in
It appears indeed
Jortin, 1 110.
'
Videbis eas ineptias magna ex parte explodi. Cantabrigia mutata: hseo scbola detestatuT frigidas illas argutias, quss magis ad rixam faoiuut quam ad pietatem. ^ Brasmi Opera, in 1573, 1574. * ' Sed cum ooto aut novem annos in aliia studiis ita sim versatus, ut
vix nllam interim pagiuam, rel Graevel Latinam attigerim, quod vel me tacente has litterae tibi facile declarabtmt, quid debui, aut etiam quid potui vel Moro roganti, vel tibi postulanti promittere, quando etiam vehementer pudet, xprj ydp olyuai rd\ri$h direiv, vel ad te Bcribere, hominem, ut nihil aliud dicam, dissertis-
cam
520
BISHOP FISHER.
more than donbtfal whether Fisher ever acquired the knowledge he so nrnch coveted*.
Shortly after this, Erasmus left England for L.3nvain. In the following year Ammonius Yras carried off by the sweating sickness and in the year after that, Colet als:' was taken from the world. In them Erasmus lost his two dearest friends, and he never again visited the English
;
shores.
^t^
In the mean time, the nniversity was. like its chancellor, lacking a teacher of Greek; and it was especiaHy desirable that when the whole question of this study was,, as it were, on its trial, the chief representative of such learning at Cambridge should, like Erasmus, be one whose eminence could not be gainsaid. Bryan and Bullock, though yoiing men of parts, do not appear to have acquired a decisdve reputation as Grecians; and the friends of progre^ now b^an to look somewhat anxiously round for a successor to the great scholar who had desened them some three years before. The battle was still undecided. Xo chair of Greek
had, as yet, been estebhshed in the university
;
while of the
^-otaisop-
unabated
I)arty,
hostilitv
M^^**
Oxford, just
and unscrupxdousness of the opposite at this time, had given to the world a
notable iUustratioiL
As we have
before
had
than those of Cambridge, and the tesult was naturally a correspondingly more energetic resistance to a study, which, as it was now clearly understood, was likely, if it gained a permanent footing, completely to revolutionise the traditional
Bunnm?
Qnapropter si
tem, velati in canis relinqtias.' EEiasini^ 3dl-5. and ilore, it may be addd bv way of
vis
ntpro-
cedat episcopns, et ad aliqnam in his rebas fmgem perreniat, fac peiitnin aliqnem lerain ex Italia accersat, qni et manere tantisper com eo Telit, donee s<; tarn firmum ac Talidum senserit, nt non repere solorn, sed et erigere sese ac stare atqne etiam ingredi possic. Nam hoc pacto melins. mea seJitentia, fntnise
lasmi Oytm,
explanation,
hamm
to
undertake the
qnam
si
montli. jnst as an experiment. ' The sole eviaence in favonr of the afGimatiTe adduced by L^ms (i 61). the presence of a Greek qnotatic nan the title-page of the l>ish<qp's ckq hazdlr treatise against Luther, be considered Eatis&ctorj.
"
GREEK AT OXFORDl
theolc^ of the
ioh.x>!^
?-1
this time,
It
was exactlr at
more-
^^\[-
over. Hisrt a K^l.i dedaratiwn of fvliiy. < the part of one rf the diief iv-ppcriers of Greek at OxfcrvL had roased ilie
api^Tthv::<:ons
of their
ar.T;.g\ rijis
to
an imwonied
pitch.
In the resur 1516. bi>h<>p Fox had foonded the coU^ege of r uiri i Corpus Chrkii. Thoagh aA the time still master of Pern- ttMm o>** bK4:e, his Oxfisd sympathies ^fsedominatei or he perhaps ---^
tio-iiriii.
had
little
need
tlie
<rf
his aid.
up the
s:ai":e;
fisr
the
new
cTed in
same
spirit as
by FSsh-
at Gamtri.i^.
by
whom
of their
indeed they
details^
we
sabeeqnently
adopted in
manr
^weie also
fimnd to onbody a &r mwe bold and emphatic dedaiation in &TX>ar of the new leairdi:^. The editor and tran^ator of lisi::p Foxs s-oT':it ii;\s indeed not tesiiaied to maintain, that Fox was the true leader of r>j::rEi a: Osfiod at this pmod, and that Wolsey was linle mce iLsn ' an ambitioiK
It is oertara that and inciLHistant impiovrar npiim his hints few OxoniansL. at that day, could hare heard with indibnaice that at F:ss new coilece. t-esiies a ledtarer on the Latfin das^cs^ and another on Greek*. liere w^as a^p to be a
"'.'
^^^
5::.T.-.'J
./
A"-
iH
Vaj. Trmmj&Uti Mte gi^irt, wHk Z:-V af tk Fmatiir. Bf T.. JT. imtt /Mbr tf ITe.-.-:. itf^ M^..
i>i?. T. sSL * Tbe rsi l^-TtiT^r. ^h: if to tie *&e ~c-;r;r aoa pbnta- of ih Latia 9ia&ito ie(ts - to nantae^a:.' osr foQi- mot <Ml baitoAT it ^udeo. and east it lank. at aay ie fti. i iiiate ihfr;^' He -v^ n^niel to nad 'CSeero^ Bfi-
C*-;.-rs
ieai
i^
I-i^Tt-ii-s TaUas, or lie Ani; I.-.-:r..ti:^ of AcIt:^ >>iri^.orQ>8 3QeiInaes of ftifiitaa.' ii.e.3a.
' -BaAOittst^iLUm^i^t <iizz P'Ujr :> to be, ind to ke oUai, ite TTralfW of tke (^eosts uid of d>e
Trimitf
Vfl>.-?- S--
vie
have
Ae
bo^ ^oaU
?s;-j% OfeatiaBS, ct- OSces. S-iZ- n. VsleEias IfaxJMMs, cr ?-;-:;:2!^i TTaBtfaSSaB; ext,'^!>(<; Oeao li: Ar^, IV OriToiTf. Ae I&sii=ii-' 0atoria of QoiwglMm; aext, ^iigil, CKli. laeaa, Jvccnal, Tlaiatee, c^
pbKeii ia ccr fae^-gwi^ ejcrrvs-sly lnsMene &e kajtr euMos ksve eaili-irc. wmi (ramwmitieA. noet f-^^ ^hfy f:T r.vi Mtocs iizii Ouistias fitcntme c^ecialtT, tkai f>th :uii one skodi aev^ be vantiBC in lii Biiinia^a<Ox:.-r.i' [ike i^araxe is iHiHj, to the ~ic~t1 dsaes ia
i
Ae CViiiiiiaii
P- *SJ"
of 1311,
1.;
~^
5-7 ri.
'inlike ;t. as in fcne fev cihs ^ost ~ft~:-< places of kazninsHe is to nad on ll.iJars. Wetoa Ts, and FrljaTs, ise part of the'gneKau of Tiiec^
522
'^itrn
,
BISHOP FISHEK.
on
*^^*^ lecturer,
familiarise the
not only a
lecturer
classics,
fathers
.
whom
it was to be, not only to minds of the students with those very Greek so many were violently denouncing, but also
,
,.
,.
the Latin
and
i-
who
i_
tteG?^ leS^Si
read the
all
the college
as only inferior
is^ressSr" to
^^Mid to
"S^tuis.
that of St. Augustine himself. With that fondness for metaphor which characterises the language of many of our early college statutes. Fox spoke of his college as a garden, ^ ^^^ students as bees, and of his lecturers as gardeners. 'Lastly,' he accordingly goes on to say, .'there shall be a
third gardener,
whom
it
be called and be the we have ever holden of such importance, as to have constructed this our
shall
who
a study which
its sake, either wholly or most chiefly; and we and in virtue of our authority command, all the bees to strive and endeavour with all zeal and earnestness, to engage in it according to the statutes. This our last and /divine gardener is, on every common or half-holiday throughout the year, beginning at two o'clock in the afternoon, publicly to teach and profoundly to interpret, in the haU of our coUegp during an entire hour, some portion of Holy Writ,to the end that wonder-working jewels which lie remote from view may come forth to light... But in alternate years, that is, every other year, he is to read some part of the Old Testament and some part of the New, which the president and major part of the seniors may appoint and he imist
apiary for
pray,
but on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, he is to read Aristophanes, Theocritus, Euor Philostratus
;
ripides, Sophocles, Pindar, or Hesiod, or some other of the most ancient Greek poets, together with
some portion
of Demosttienes,
Thu-
cydides, Aristotle, Theophrastus, or Plutarch; but on holidays. Homer, the Epigrams, or some passage from
the divine Plato or some Greek theoAlso, thriee every week, and four times only, at his own option, during the excepted periods of the vacation, he shall read privately in some place of our college, to be assigned for the purpose by the president, some portion of Greek grammar or rhetoric, and also of some Greek author rich in various matter, to all of the household of our colStalege who wish to hear him.'
logian.
tutes,
by Ward.
GREEK AT OXFOED.
holy
523
Grreek,
and ancient
doctors, both
Latin and
and especiaUy
chap.
,
v.
Jerome, AusUn, Ambrose, Origen, Hilary, Ghrysostom, Damascenus, and that sort, not Liranus, not Hugh of Vienne, and the rest, who, as in time so in karning, are far belotv
the
The
gardeners,' ^'Z^"^"'
and the formal declaration of a crusade against Xicholas de Lyra and his school, must necessarily have occasioned, when they were startled by another and equally bold manifestation, In the beginning of the ^this time from without.
year 1519, appeared the second edition of Erasmus's Xovum Instrumentum. So far as the title was concerned, they were
it had been altered back more orthodox designation of Novum Testamentum; but, on further inspection, it was discovered that this was but a delusive siga of the author's real intentions, and that the volume was in reality the vehicle of a more serious innovation than any that had yet been ventured on. The Latin / text of the Novum Instrumentum was that of the Vulgate that of the Xomim Testamentum was a substantially new translation by Erasmus himself, for which the venerable While, to fill up the measure He discards Vulgate had been discarded of his offence, he had prefixed to the volume a discourse tnuisieoii. entitled Ratio Verm Theologice, wherein, in opposition to the whole spirit of mediaeval theology, he insisted yet more em-
study of the Scriptures that historical method which had so long been neglected in the schools'.
The new learning, it was now evident, was about, to use Erasmus s own expression, ' to storm an entrance, if admission could be obtained on no other terms and the theologians of Oxford were called upon to decide whether they would impose so stem a necessity on its supporters. TJn;
state of
feeling at
o^ord.
1 3
Ibid.
Mr Seebohm's
this edition,
524
BISHOP FJSHER.
was still considerable Greek intense. And it was not accordingly until the students had signalised themselves by an act of
their influence their hatred of
egregious
folly,
such as
is
The
earlier
teadiers of
Oreeli
DO
longer resi-
dent
Greek an unmolested admission to the student's chamber and a tranquil tenure of the professorial chair. The men whose character and reputation had upheld the study in former years, were no longer resident. Grooj-n, now a palsied old man, was living on his preferment as warden of the collegiate church at Maidstone. Linacre, as court physician, resided chiefly in London. Pace was immei-sed in political life. Latimer had subsided into the exemplary and unambitious parish priest. More, the youngest of those who, twenty years before, had composed the academic circle that welcomed and charmed Erasmus, had long ago removed to London; his interest however in the progress of his university was unabated and it is to his pen that we are indebted for the details of the tactics whereby the
;
now endeatlie
voured to
tlie
make head
Conduct of Oxford
It
sity,
students.
and resolved on the employment of simpler Invective had weapons and more summary arguments. been found unavailing, and recoui'se was now had to ai-ms against which the profoundest learning and the acntest logic were equally powerless. These youthful pai-tisans formed
adversaries,
name
of
'Trojans*.'
One
of their leaders, to
whom
;
years
brought discretion, dabbed himself Priam othei-s the names of Hector and. Paris; while all gave ample
^ 'in Trojauos istos ajitissime quadrore videtnr vetus iUud adagiiim, siTo aapiiint Phryges,' was More's
Eai-onstio
Jortin,
GREEK AT OXFORD.
dence of their heroic descent, hy a
insults to every inoffensive student
series of
525
tmprovoked chap.
exhibited a
v.
who had
^^^
weakness
for Greek.
mobbed its adherents in the The unfortunate Grecians were in sore straits; Fox's 'bees' dared scarcely venture from their hive. They
from the
streets.
were pointed at with the finger of scorn, pursued with shouts of laughter, or attacked with voUies of abuse. To crown aU, one preacher, a fool even among the foolish, delivered from the pulpit a set harangue, in which he denounced, not only Greek, but all liberal learning, and declared that logic and sophistical theolt^ were the only commendable studies^ I cannot but wonder, when I think of it,' says poor Anthony Wood, at his wits' end to devise some excuse for what could neither be denied nor palliated*. More was at Huntingdon, in attendance on the king, when he heard of that sermon. He was watching with no
'
the progress of events at the university, and had already been informed of the conduct of the 'Trojans'; but this additional proof of their bigotry and stupidity was more than even his gentle nature could endure, and roused hiTn to earnest though dignified remonstrance. He lost no time in addressing to the authorities at Oxford a formal letter, written March 29, 1519, wherein, after a concise recital of the above facts as they had reached him, he proceeded to , implore them, on grounds of the most obvious prudence, to More i put a stop to so senseless a crusade. You already see,' he i>e>niira5y at the conclusion of a cogent statement with'***"'' writes, " the Gred&ns. respect to the claims and merits of Greek, 'that there are many (and their example will be followed by others\ who have b^un to contribute considerable funds in order to prolittle interest
'
Jartm, n 663-1, Wood-Gntcli, 16-17. ^ M. Lanrent, who in Ms snggestiTe work takes occasion to tell this 'Ces gnerres nons story, observes: paraissent aajonid*Imi dignes de celle grenonilles chants par Hodes m^re ; an qoinzifeme sifeele, on ne cYtait en Tentendait paa ainsi
1
lealiU la hitte da catfaoliei^ne oontre la cmlisation modeme. La premi^ie iacnlU de th&>Iogie de la chr^ent^ la Sorbomie osait dire devant le parlement, que e'en etmt fait de la religion ti on pemutiaU Fetude du gree et de rhSireu.' Histoire du Droit det Gens, Tome La Heforme, p. 392.
Tm
526
CHAP.
'
BISHOP FISHEE.
in your university,
will
V.
'
mote the pursuit of studies of every kind and particularly tlj^t of Greek. But it
indeed,
if
be surprising
chilled,
He
n'rasta
when
b^the'ol
unbounded ridicule. Especially, when at Camwhich you were always wont to outshine, even those who' do not learn Greek are so far actuated by a common zeal for their university, that, to their credit be it told, they How far contribute to the salary of the Greek professor\' these temperate and unanswerable remonstrances might have availed unaided, we can only conjecture; but fortunately both More and Pace, from their presence at court, were able to represent the matter, in its true light, to king Henry himself And one morning all Oxford was startled Aroy^wtoby the arrival of a royal letter, commanding, under the tt^&Ss severest penalties, that all students desiring to apply them-
tS^nd^
hri^imj,^^ bridge,
SJuSSSS. selves to Greek studies, should be permitted to do so without molestation. This was in the year 1519 ; and in the
followiuff vcar, Wolsev, ^into whose hands the university had aJ J' y^fomis already surrendered itself, tied and bound, for a complete revisal of its statutes according to his supreme wiU and
woisey, in
the foUoTring
y >
o^^
pleasure,
Then, even to
the diiUest
the whole
question of this
new
lore
assumed another aspect. The Priam, numerous defections, and ultimately disbanded. Hector, and Paris retired into private life. It began to be imderstood that Greek was the road to favour at court and to preferment, and consequently probably, after all, a laudable and respectable branch of learning. 'And thus,' says Erasmus, who narrates the sequel with no little exultation,
Trojans suffered sorely
from
'
'Praeterea mnltos
videtis,
alii,
sertim
quum
Cantabrigice,
cut
vos
prcelucere
mnltam boni yestro conferre gynmasio, quo et omnigenam literatoram promoTcant et modo nomiiiaiam Graecam. Qnormn nunc fervidnsinTosaSectasmirmnnifrigescat, si tam pinm propositnm smnmo Indibrio istbic faaberi sentiant.
Free-
semper eonsuetistiSj ilii quoque qui non dUcunt Greece, t<fm commuiti suae seholee studio ducti, in stipendium ejus qui aliis Grteea pralegit liritim
perquam
buunt.'
'
Jortin,
htmeste contri666.
Opera, in 408.
RICHARD CROKE.
527
testimony
above chap.
v.
II
'>
Part
,
Anthony Wood
.
endeavours to
"will
be more to our purpose, if we direct our attention to the appearance at Cambridge of this new professor of Greek, who, wearing the mantle of Erasmus, was the fortunate
recipient of so
much
larger a
support.
Among
sent
up
to
Richard
King's College, early in the century, was one Richard Croke, JtS.'"* ^ a youth of good family and promising talents. He proceeded
to his bachelor's degree in the year 1509-10;
and then,
having conceived a strong desire to gain a knowledge of Greek, repaired to Oxford, where he became the pupU of Grocyn. It would seem that before he left Cambridge, he Befriended "^ had already made the acquaintance of Erasmus for we find ^ the latter subsequently giving proof of a strong interest in
;
his
welfare,
even endeavouring to
His career
tinent
obtain for the young scholar pecuniary assistance from Colet^ From Oxford Croke went on to Paris ; and having completed there his course of study as an
'
artist,'
and acquired a
Germany
in
He
Camera-
who was one of his class at Leipsic, was wont to teU in after life, how he had suddenly found himself famous simply from having been the pupU of so renowned a teacher*.
Wood-Grutch, n 16-17. Opera, in 131. _ ' Crocns regnat in academia Lipsiensi, publicitus Grsecas docens litteras.' Letter from. Erasmus to Linacre
'
perdisei
iUam posse,
et
quid momenti
'
doctrinae eruditionem atque cnltum hujus cognitio allatuia esse videretnr, nostri homines sese intelligere arbitrareutur. Nos quidem certe ita statnebamus, banc esse viam
-rirtntis
ad
omnem
quanqnam admodum
rectum cum
menferebarinooulis,quiaaudiveram Ricardum Crocum Britannum, qui primus putabatur ita docuisse Grsecam linguam in Germania ut plane
turn humanitatis et landis in hao vita et in tends.' Joacb. Camerarii, Narratio de Helio Eobano Hesso (ed! Kreyssig, Misense, 1843), p. 5.
528
CHAP.
BISHOP FISHER.
V.
Emser, writing to Erasmus, informs him, that the young Englishman's professorial career, during two years, at DresIt was from den, had won for him the highest regard.
Dresden
H^retui-ns to Cambridge, and proceeds
Richard Croke
returned to his
u A.
in 1S17.
university; he there proceeded to his ^ master of arts degree, and at about the same time was o
own
'
'
'
Lectures on
"Diversity in''
appointed instructor in Greek to king Heniy. In the year 1518 he Commenced a course of lectures on the language at
1519, is ap-
Greekreader.
Cambridge*. These lectures however, like those of Erasmus and John Bryan, were given without the direct sanction of the authorities; and it was not until the year 1519, that Croke received his formal appointment as Greek reader to the university. It was then that, about the month of July in the same year, he inaugurated his entrance upon the duties of his oflSce, by an oration equally noteworthy as an illustration of the ability and individual characteristics of the orator, and of the learning and (we may perhaps add) of
the ignorance of his age.
His antece-
dents better
^^ am'hoBtmVy
ErasmuB^^
Apart from the numerous indications that the opponents ^ Greek were fighting a losing battle, it is evident that ' there was much in the new professor's antecedents that was calculated to thaw the icy hostility of the dullest conservative. He had not, like Erasmus, to confront the antipathies of insular prejudice. It was no satirical, povertystricken, little Dutchman, ignorant and disdainful of their
^
vernacular, that
now pleaded the cause of the Grecian muse with the Cambridge m^n; but one of their own number,
have well remembered in his undergraduate days, and have occasionally heard of in his subsequent
career. A youth of ancient descent, educated at their most famous public school and at one of their most distinguished colleges, he had gone forth from their midst into the world and wherever he had gone he had added to the fame of his university. While Erasmus had been teaching Cambridge, Croke had been teaching Germany. And they might even find satisfaction in noting that while the former had failed in England, the continental career of the latter bad
'
Cooper, Athence,
178.
'
o29
From
v.
it.
now returned
up
his abode
Pakt
.
among them.
verging upon
.scarcely thirty,
hope and vigour, and flushed with well-earned success. In after life, an act of base ingratitude towards their great patron and protector lost for him much of the esteem of all honorable men but as yet nothing had arisen to cast a shadow on the fair fame of Richard Croke. He appeared as that patron's delegate, to urge them on to new paths of intellectual effort. And, as thus accredited, au^ai omand laurel-crowned from the chief seats of continental learn- ippnintment ing, the young orator sought their attention, and proceeded reader, dewith an effective eloquence and a choice Latinity, thatisw. bespoke however the influence of Quintilian rather than of Cicero^ to urge upon them the claims of that learning of which he was their chosen representative, it is reasonable to suppose that he saw around him a far more sympathising and numerous audience than it had been Erasmus's fortune to find some eight years before.
^full
man
of
The
those to
by
whom
the original
may
sent not a few points well worthy of note as illustrative of the learning and rhetoric of the period:
It is with a somewliat elaborate occupatio benevohntue that the orator commences he would not, lie declares, have ventured to address so formidable an audience, had he not well known that it was composed of those who looked rather at the matter of a speech than its diction. There were those in the university on whom his task might have much more fitly devolved ; but he reminds them, that they have often listened not only with deference but with pleasure, when the delegates of princes have spoken before them in a barbarous and even ludicrous style; SetttSon simply out of feelings of deference for those whom the speakers """sandjOn the same grounds he too claims a like con- delegate of represented. ^for he represents their chancellor, one unsurpassed cefior!''"''' siderationj
:
^ Croke had perhaps heen led to form this preference through LinErasmus, in his acre's influence; Ciceronianus, tells us that the latter
'
'
little
For the perusal of this very rare volume I am indebted (as for
many
similis
quam
Ciceroni.
34
530
BISHOP FISHER.
on him the
task uf ex-
Greek
studies.
iu -watchful care for their intei-ests, and to whom they owe those two distinguished ornaments of the university, Christ's College and St John's. It would be nothing else than signal ingratitude, were they to withhold a ready hearing from the representative of one to whom they already owed so much What then is the message of my lord of Eochester 1 "Why, he exhorts them to apply themselves with all diligence to the study of Greek literature, ^that literature in praise of which so many able men have recently sent forth dissertations. The exhortation of one who had never urged them to aught but what was most profitable, might alone suffice ; but it has been specially enjoined upon the speaker to explain in detail the advantages of
The study
of
first of all, he rests the claims of such learning, is the preeminence of the race whom it represents. The Greeks surpassed all who came after them, in wisdom and in
invention, in theoretical sagacity and in practical ability. What city or what republic could compare with Lacedsemon, in the administration of justice, in religion, in morality? what city, with Athens, in genius and learning 1 what, with either, in dignity and Cicero, it was true, had ventured to assert greatness of soul 1 that these last-named features first appeared at Rome ; and had cited as examples, the Camilli, the Decii, the Scipios, the Catos. But let them compare these heroes with Codrus, Themistocles, Leonidas, Pericles, Aristides, Xenocrates, and wUl it not rather seem that moral greatness was a legacy fi-om Greece to Rome? Let those who praised the pietj', sanctity, and other Spartan Comparison virtues of Numa, consider how much more conspicuously the same between Lythe former raised to kingly qualities shone forth in Lycurgus curgus and I^uma. power on account of his character for justice, the latter preferring the one ennobled by a crown which he justice even to a throne, would have fain declined, the other by his voluntary resignation of the sceptre which he already swayed, the former so distinguished by his virtues that he was deemed worthy of the supreme power, the latter so distinguished by his contempt for power, that he seemed above the sceptre itself Numa again had but restrained the heroic ardour of his people, Lycurgus had augmented it; for the latter expelled from Lacedsemon not bridles, swords, and spears, but banquetings, costly attire, and the cursed lust of gold.' And herein alone it might be seen how far Greece excelled not only other nations but Rome herself, in that she had driven from her midst not simply vice but its parent cause. Admitting, again, the truth of Livy's assertion, that in no republic had luxury and profligacy made their way more slowly than at Rome, ^it must also be added that nowhere did they take root more deeply. If indeed of Grecian origin, they so grew in Italy, as to owe far more to their nurse than to their parent. Lycurgus had expelled them from Sparta when that state was already weakened by their pre:
'
croke's inaugural oration.
valence, a feat that at Rome surpassed the even in the stage of their early growth.
531
what
then proceeds to apply the conclusion which these some- The language labored antitheses were designed to establish. These illus- aLmTs'to trious Greeks had dignified not merely their country and their be diffused, race but also their native tongue. It is remarkable that it is on to the inthis ground alone, the superior moral excellence of the Roman ^ventivesupeople, that he asserts the claims of Latin over French or Celtic, penority. It is by the superiority of the race, he says, that their language becomes diffused. Persia and India first received the Greek tongue when they experienced the weight of Alexander's arms ; and the Latin language was learned by the subjugated nations, only when they had submitted to the sway and received the institutions of Rome. Marius had despised the study of Greek, because he looked upon it as disgraceful and ridiculous to bestow toil upon a literature the masters of which were slaves. lofty impulse urges the mind of man to that which is associated with the supreme. Greece had conferred on mankind by far the most precious boons, the weaver's art, the architect's ; to plough, to sow all, in fine, that has raised man from the savage to a civilized state, he owes to Greece. In summa quicquid habemus in vita eommodi, id totum care bestowGrcecorum beneficio /labemus. people thus devoted to the arts cten/areeS and refinements of life were not likely to be neglectful of the study jj^jj*)^ of language. The testimony of antiquity is unanimous with re- guage. spect to the care with which they elaborated and polished their native tongue. What Cambridge man was there who knew not the Horatian verse,
He
Musa
not Cicero, again, affirmed that if Jupiter were to deign to preference speak in mortal tongue, he would use the Greek which Plato ^J^jg^Jf au for wrote t Let them note too how writers of all nations had pre- na'ionaover urf6GK Phavorinus the Gaul, their own ferred Greek to their native language ^'' Porphyry the Phoenician, Jamblichus the Syrian, Philoponus the Egyptian, Ammonius the Phrygian, Simplicius the Thracian, Philo the Jew, and Musonius born at Volsinii near to Rome, Trismegistus, Musseus, and Orpheus ; the historians, Josephus the Jew, ^lian the Roman, Arrian, and Albinus,^ ^Albinus whom Cato could never pardon for his assertion that it was evident that the Latin tongue when brought into rivalry with the Greek, must He then quotes, from the Noctes AtticcB inferiority of disappear and die out. '" of Gellius, a passage wherein the writer points out how inferior, * on careful comparison, the Latin comedies are found to be to their Greek originals, CsecUius to Menander. How harshly again Latin How vastly superior grates on the ear when compared to Greek What Latin writer in power of expression ig the Attic dialect could find a single word that served as an equivalent to iro\v<j>i>ua,
:
Had
iro\vTrpayiJ,o(Tvvr], qOotravit.opo'i
How imperfectly
did
any amount
342
532
BISHOP FISHEK.
of periphrases enable the Romans to express what the Greeks often conveyed in a single word How absurdly moreover did they blunder, who, ignorant of the large infusion of Greek in the ancient Latin, actually supposed that the vocabulary of a language was a matter at the arbitrary discretion of individuals, and despised the aids afforded by the Greek'. Itespect To turn to another aspect of the case. How often had even language by tliose who wore the Roman purple clad themselves in the eloempM quence of this mighty tongue ' Julius Csesar, Augustus Germanicus, Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, Vespasian, Severus, Theodosius. Favours To come nearer to their own time, how had Leo, the supreme iWhKnand pontiff, and the emperor Maximilian, shewn their regard for those ^^^*"^ devoted to the new learning, by interposing to rescue the innocence of Reuohlin and Erasmus ' from those double-dyed younger brethren of the giants !^' He would name too George, duke of he felt it was beyond his power to render due had h^seff Saxony, but that experienced, praise to one who had recommended him to Henry vill and defrayed the expenses of his labours with princely munificence. Then again there was the bishop of Mayence', one of the wealthiest ecclesiastics in Germany, whether as regarded his mental endowments or worldly fortune, who had given him no less than sixty nobles -for an inscription of Theodoras IV- To say nothing, again, of his grace of Canterbury, my noble and chief Maecenas,' or my lord Cardinal, 'my lord bishop of Rochester is a host in himself Extreme anLook again at the antiquity of the Greek tongue. Allowing that, in this respect, the first place must be conceded to Hebrew, Greeifian^"*^' the lingua Attica is certainly entitled to a second. Other cities boasted of their founders; but Athens had no founder, for her sons were avroxdovK. All the reverence that waits on antiquity is
! !
'
fairly hei-'s.
utility of
GreS^kftiie^
Btudies of the
He passes on to shew the utility of the study; and here he is almost wearied by the mere contemplation of the field, ipsa susceptce provincice coaitatione pene de.fatiqer. To commence with the ' ,., i t trimum and quadrivium, and first of all with grammar, which ' inflated with many, a vain pretence of knowledge,' cavil at, as
. ,
i/.?n.i
flicta,
' ' Neque sustinuit consoius sibi dissimulari id gratissimiis Lucretius qui igitur multia se dicit Grseois usum, quod Latine ea dioi non possent. O quam parum istud putant, qui ignorant veteri sermoni Latino plurima Grteoa fuisse immixta, quique arbitraria omnia vooabula sic esse volunt, ut quovismodo a se fiota authoritatern habitura fidant, supino quodam Graaci foutis contemptu, ex quo si non veniant detorta, nemo, nisi cum risu, uovatiouem admittat!' " ' Cujus innocentia ab dibaphis
tandem snccubuisset, nisi fessis dootissimi et optimi hominis rebus Banctitas Leonis et Maximiliani pietas The interference of suconrrissent.' Leo x between Eeuohlin and his antagonists, a virtual triumph for the reform party, had taken place in the year 1516. See Geiger, Joliann Bmchlin, pp. 290 321. ' Luther's primate, and one of the seveir Electors of Germany; but a faithless and unscrupuloiis politician, See Brewer, Letters and Papers, ni
xiii
xvii.
jstis
Gigantum
a
:
533
and sterile, he offers to point out a few facts from which chap. v. they will perceive that it is of higher excellence than all other '^^'^ " branches of knowledge. What does the name of 'grammarian' p^^^^^^l^f imply? He quotes the passage in Suetonius', to shew that the 'ho ancient grammarian with the Greeks was the litteratiM of the Romans, that is, the man who, either orally or by his pen, professed to treat on any subject with discrimination, critical knowledge, and competent learning. Properly however those who expounded the poets were designated as grammaiici; and what a range of acquirements such a function would involve, might be seen from LucreHe reminds them how Aurelius tius, Varro, and Empedocles. Opilius voluntarily abandoned philosophy and rhetoric for grammar, and how Cicero, fresh from, the prsetorship, was found at the
school of Gnipho
;
how
liberally, at
schools
were encouraged and the professors remunerated. Again, the Greek very Latin alphabet was borrowed from the Greek ; its k wa.s the lS.''' representation of the Greek Ka-mra ; the aspirate (h) so often found in Latin words, denoted a Greek origin ; the reduplication in such words as poposci, totondi, momordi, was nothing else than the vapaKci/jLevov of the Greek verb ; many constructions in Cicero are If we turn to be explained by a reference to the Greek idiom. to etymology, the debt of Latin to Greek is found to be yet greater Priscian, the most learned of the Latins, was chiefly a compiler from Apollonius and Herodian. With respect to rhetoric, it is
needless to point out, how the use of metaphor, the frequent sententiousness of the proverb, and the exact force of words, reAs for a deflnitioa ceive their best illustration from a knowledge of Greek. mathematics, it was notorious that no mathematician could detect "8tored''to
the grave error that
had found
its
way
0/ sense by
of
straight line, until the collation of a Greek codex exposed the blunder'. Boethiiis too compiled his Arithmetic from the Greek.
is
a Greek
'^
Even music
indebted for its nomenclature to Greece ; while as names of Hippocrates, Galen, and Dioscorides^
uauty
of
are sufficient.
The utility of Greek in connexion with the trivium and quadrivium having been thus vindicated, he passes on to theology,
{heolorfanl"'
He
like
begs in the
first
many men of
theological
foe to
place that they will not consider him to be, his school (plerique mece farincB homines), learning. loves Mayronius, he admires hc
He
declares
Erigena, he esteems Aquinas, and the subtlety of Duns Scotus he actually embraces ; he only desiderates that culture which imparts brilliancy to all the rest. Let them only add to the study of these authors the cultivation of Greek and Latin literature, and learn to speak in such fashion that their diction may recall
See supra, p. 7, n. 2. De mathematioa iatud dixisse suffioiat, priusquam bonorum dili1
forto'the"
schoolmen,
'
'
neminem ejus
professiouis
534.
Bishop fisher.
!
the city and the youth of Rome But, some one might sny, the schoolmen spoke Latin. Latin aye, but who of the orators or poets ever spoke as they did? No dotibt those on whom polite learning had never smiled, saw no harm in a man using the phraseology that pleased him best. But what a gross absurdity was this! They laughed at the man who mingled Scotch or French with his native speech, while wisliing themselves to be at liberty to import into Latin any barbarism they might think fit. For his own part, he had no wish to seethe disputations in the schools abulished, but he did not like to see men growing old in them for subtleties like these were harmful, not to those who studied them only for a time, but to those who were conEvils result- tinually engaged in them. When the mind was thus exclusively/ ing from excessive atten- concentrated on extremely minute distinctions its poicers were wasted tion to logical and impaired, and the student was diverted from more useful learning, disputes. from the Pauline Epistles, from, the Evangelists, from the whole The Bible neglected. Bible: and these had a paramount claim on the theologian, whose true function it was, so to guide the minds of men as to draw tJiem away from, the things of earth and fix tliem on those above. The example of many of the fathers, like that of the great men at Kome, is next held \ip as a further incitement to classical studies and a few additional considerations, derived from the importance of Greek to those engaged in historical researches, conclude the argument drawn from the abstract merits of the literature. He implores An appeal to the spirit of emulation holds a prominent place
! :
' The Oxford men, in his peroration. whom up to the present time ye have outstripped in every department of knowledge, are betaking themselves to Greek in good earnest. They watch by night, sxifier heat and cold, and leave no stone unturned, to make this knowledge all their own. And if that should come to pass, there will be an end of your renown. They will erect a trophy from the spoils they have taken from you, which they will never suffer to be removed'. They number among their leaders the cardinals of Canterbury and Winchester, and in fact all the English bishops,
Eochester and Ely alone excepted. The austere and holy Grocyn on their side, the vast learning and critical acumen of Linacre, the eloquence of Tunstal, whose legal knowledge is equalled by his
is
^
'
ad
Grseoas perfugere, vigilant, jejunant, sudaut et algent ; nihil non faciunt ut eas oooupent. Quod ai contiugat, actum est de fama vestra. Erigent enim de vobis trophceum nuuquam sucoubituri.' Croke's meaning appears to be that if Oxford once succeeds in gaining the reputation of being tlie school for Greek, students will get into the habit of going there to learn the lan-
guage; just as mathematicians, in the present day, generally prefer Cambridge. Compare with the words in italics, More's observation, addressed to the Oxonians, already quoted: Cantabrigia, eui vos prcehicere semper consnevistis. Perhaps we may reconcile these diametriciJly opposed statements, made in the same year, by inferring that neither university had real reason for priding itself on superiority to the other.
much
ceoke's inaugural oration.
535
chap.
v.
V',
the pure and polisljed elegance of More, the erudition and Z^^" genius of Pace, commended by Erasmus himself, unsurpassed as a judge of learning, Erasmus once, would he were still, your own Good heavens Greek professor I have succeeded to his place. And yet, lest I how inferior to him in learning and in fame^ should be looked upon as of no account whatever, permit me to state that even I, all unworthy though I be, have been recognised by the leading men, doctors in theology, law, and medicine,
besides masters of arts beyoni^ counting, as their acknowledged teacher; and what is more, have, in most honorable fashion, been escorted by them from the schools to church, and from church to the schools. Nay, still further, I solemnly assiire you, gentlemen of Cambridge, that the Oxonians themselves have solicited me with the offer of a handsome salary besides my maintenance. But feelings of respectful loyalty towards this university oxfoM wantand especially towards that most noble society of scholai's, King's himbut^ho College, to which I owe my first acquirements in the art of J^'^'^^^^^ eloquence, have enjoined that I should first offer my services to versity. Should those services find favour in your eyes, I shall you. esteem myself amply rewarded ; and I shall conclude that such is the case, if I see you applying yourselves to the studies which I advise. To imitate what we admire, such is the rule of life. And, in order that you may clearly perceive how much I have He promises your interests at heart, I shall make it especially my object, so to pfis''to'tii8 adapt myself to each individual case, as to run with those who p^^g"'''''' I shall run, and stretch out a helping hand to those who stumble. adapt myself to the standard of each learner, and proceed only when he is able to keep me company. And if, perchance, there should be some to whom this learning may appear to be beset with toil, let them remember the adage, that the honorable is diflScult. It is nature's law, that great undertakings should rarely be speedy Great things in their accomplishment, and that, as Fabius observes", the nobler omShe( Let races in the animal world should be longest in the womb. them reflect too that nothing worth having in life is to be had without considerable labour. Wherefore, gentlemen of Cambridge, you must keep your vigils, and breathe the smoke of the lamp, practices which though painful at first become easier by habit.
The name
it
rentlyhavinganidea who was meant. There can, however, be no doubt that Croke intended Stokesley, principal of Magdalen Hall, and afterwards bishop of London. Compare the encomium of Erasmus, Joannes Stokleius, prfflter scholasticam hanc theologiam, in qua nemiui cedit, trium, etiam linguanim haud vulgariter
'
him thereon, in the best possible spirit: 'Gratulor tibi, mi Croce, professionem istam tarn splendidam, non minus honorifioam tibi quam frugiferam aoademise Cautabrigiensi, oujus oommodis equidem pro veteris hospitii consuetudine peouUari quodam studio faveo.' Letter to Oroke (April, 1518), Opera, iii 1679. " Quintilian, x iii 4.
late
peritus.'
Opera,
iii
402.
53G
BISHOP FISHEK.
Nerve yourselves, therefore, to courses such as these, and ere long you will exult in the realisation of the words of Aristotle, that the muses love to dwell in minds emulous of toil. But if some, after the manner of smatterers, should shirk the inevitable amount of effort, or some again (which I hardly look for), of the theological
or philosophical faculties, I mean those crotchety fellows, who seek to make themselves pass for authorities by heaping contempt on every one else, should dart back when they have scarcely crossed the- threshold, it does not follow that you are, one and Greek not of all, to become despondent of thij learning. Let each of you Scuitf""" reflect that the mind of man has enabled him to traverse the seas, to know the movements and to count the number of the stars, It cannot be, then, that a knowledge to measure the whole globe. of Greek is inaccessible or even difficult to a race so potent to accomplish the ends it has in view. Do you suppose that Cato would have been willing to devote himself to this study when advanced in years, had it presented, in his eyes, much of difficertain order however is necessary in all things. culty?... The wedded vine grasps first of all the lower branches of the tree, and finally towers above the topmost; and you, Sir, who now discourse so glibly in the schools, once blubbered over your book, and hesitated over the shapes of the letters. Therefore, gentlemen of Cambridge, bring your whole minds to bear upon this study, here concentrate your efforts. The variety of your studies need prove no impediment ; for they who plead that excuse, forget that it is more laborious, by far, to toil over one thing No hann in long together, than over a variety of subjects. But the mind, forsooth. Cannot safely be employed in many pursuits at once, Btudies.'^ why not then advise the husbandman not to cultivate, in the same season, ploughed lands, vineyards, olive-grounds, and orchards ? Why not dissuade the minstrel from taxing, at once, But, in truth, there is his memory, his voice, and his muscles ? no reason whatever why you should not come to me, when deaf with listening to other teachers, and give at least a share of your attention to Greek. Variety will pleasantly beguile you of your weariness ; for who among you can have the audacity to plead the want of leisure 1 should lack no time for learning, were we only to give to stady the hours we waste in sleep, in sports, in play, in idle talk. Deduct from each of these but the veriest trifie, and you will have ample opportunity for acquiring Greek. A last appeal But if there be any who, after listening to my discourse, blush not to confess themselves blockheads and unteachable, let them be off per piide. to the desert and there herd with wild beasts With beasts, did I say 1 They will be unworthy to associate even with these. For only the other day, there was an elephant exhibited in Germany who could trace, with his trunk and foot upon the sand, not only Greek letters but whole Greek sentences. Whoever then is so dense as to be unable to imbibe a modicum of Greek culture, Ift him know, that though more a man, he is in no way more
We
choke's inaugural okation.
537
humane', aS regards his educated faculties, than .the dullest brute. ^^^^\j' I. , You see, gentlemen of Cambridge, there's no excuse for you, the capacity, the leisure, the preceptor, are all at your command. Yield not then to the promptings of indolence, but rather snatch Otherwise, believe me, it will the opportunity for acquirement. seem either that I have pleaded with you in vain to-day, or that you have been unmindful of the saying of Cato, Fronte capillata
post
JicBG
occado calva.
its Latin garb, the foregoing oration will appear occasionally wanting in the gravity that becomes the academic chair but those familiar with the licence
Stripped of
often indulged in on
period,
will
like
occasions,
up
to
much
later
time.
serious
The
allowance for the fashion of the age of Grote and Mommsen may smile at a
make due
'
attempt to compare the merits of Numa and Lycurgus, or at the assemblage of names, mythical and historical, adduced to prove the estimation in which the Greek tongue
ora"""-
times.
Many
standard at
was the only true boundary of the grammarian's province in the realm of the Muses. Many a learned sententiarius, we may be well assured, listened with ill-disguised vexation at the claims set up in behalf of strictly biblical studies. But it was not easy to call in
the line which, he declared,
question the general reasonableness of the orator's argu-
ments and, at a time when the study of Greek is again on its defence, as an element in the ordinary course of study at our universities, it might not be uninteresting to compare the claims put forward three centuries and a half ago for its admission, with those which at the present day are urged on behalf of its retention. A comparison however The orauon
;
may be
/.
found,
compared . p if 2^*^14''^^
contrast Croke's oration with the far better ^"^tfj**"" '''*' ^^*' entitled De Studiis Corrigendis, delivered by
young Philip Melanchthon, before the university of WittenNor will the comparison be berg, in the preceding year^
1
'
Quisquia
magis
oundum quidem naturam editam humauum quam imperfectissiqueeque animajia.' It may perhaps appear scarcely fair to compare the oompositiou of a
'
igitur adeo hebes es, ut nihil Graeoarum Utterarvmi imbibere queas, soias
te
esse, sed
ma
no
se-
;:
538
cHAP.v. altogether to
BISHOP FISHER.
the disadvantage of the
'
Cambridge orator. To many indeed the oration delivered by the German professor will probably appear to be the expression of more
and philosophic habits of thought \ The admirable outline in which he traces out the progress of learning from the fall of the Empire up to his own day, an outline that contains scarcely a sentence that the modern
strictly logical
critic
would deem
it
necessary to expunge,
indicates
the
his.toric spirit to
;
an
extent far
beyond
anything of the kind in Croke nor is there any one passage in the Cambridge oration that can compare with that wherein
Melanchthon touches upon the intimate affinities between unrolling,' as the new learning and religious thought, it has been eloquently said, 'the hopeful picture of an approaching new era shewing bow the newly discovered mines of antiquity subserve the study of the Scriptures how every art and science would, through the refreshing
'
an ennobled human existence'.' Thought of somewhat beyond the range of Croke's symif
pathies.
be really mainly to persuade, and the object of both Philip Melanchthon and Richard Croke was to prove to those who
listened to them, that the study of
Greek was
not, as
many
believe,
it
may be
fairly
more likely to produce Melanchthon commends itself to the reason by its real learning and thoughtful, modest, earnest tone, that of Croke, by its copious and
delivered at Cambridge was not the
effect.
If the oration of
youth of one and twenty witli that of a man of thirty ; but Melanchthon was a singularly precocious genius. 1 Compare, from Melanchthon's own account, the arguments employed against Greek at Wittenberg with those used at Oxford and at Cambridge; Germauicam juventu-
'
tem paulo superioribus annis alicubi conatam in hoc feUx oertamen litterarum desoendere, jam nunc quoque non pauci, velut e medio cursu com-
reliquis i 16.
convioiis.'
DeclamatioTies,
'
539
of an elegant
*iJ^'*^'^-J'
-
its far
greater
command
its
the rhetorician,
must, we and even its broad humour, cannot but think, have been the better calculated to win the suffrages of an enthusiastic and for the most part youthful
audience.
after
^but
croke'sae-
cond oration.
made
to
induce
them
It contains
.
worthy passage, wherein he speaks of Oxford as colonia Oxtoii' Cambridge , , ^ ^ a (Jantaorigia aeducla, and again exhorts the university not colony.' to allow itself to be outstripped by those who were once its disciples. It was this passage that more particularly excited the ire of Anthony Wood, and induced him to rake up, by Ke'ort of way of retaliation, the venomous suggestion of Bryaa ^^ Twyne, that the Trojan party at Oxford were the real Cambridge colony an assertion that certainly finds no countenance from anything in More's letter, and that may be looked upon as entirely gratuitous. That Croke's exertions found a fair measure of accept- instituuon of * the office of ance with the university may be inferred from the fact, that ^"''1522"'" when in 1522 the office of Public Orator was first founded, Croke was elected for life while it was at the same time aoke elected provided, that when he had ceased to fill the office it should be tenable for seven years only. As a mark of special honour it was Screed, that the orator should have precedence of all other masters of arts, and should walk in processions and have his seat at public acts, separate from the rest'. The salai-y however was only forty shillings annually a place,' (to use Fuller's comment), 'of more honour than profit.'
.
.
'
'
'
With regard to the amount of success that eventually attended Croke's efforts to awaken among the Cambridge students an interest in Greek literature, and to stimulate
them
to
305.
540
BISHOP FISHER.
pen of the poet Skelton. la a satire composed atout the year 1521 or 1522, the writer represents, though with evident poetical exaggeration, this new growth of learning as overshadowing and blighting all the rest. The poet, who at this time was probably more than sixty years of age, was one who had won his earlier distinctions in the old paths he had proceeded to his degree of master of arts so far back as 1484, and had subsequently "been laureated not only at Cambridge but also at Oxford and Louvain. Few who have read his compositions with attention will deny that he possessed true genius. Erasmus, indeed, styles him unum Britannicarum litterarum Iwmen et decus ; but this was written
;
during his
tained
little
first visit
to England,
when
unjust.
the attention
now given
to
Greek
at Cambridge,
are
evi-
Greek
at
Cambridge.
For Grace fari bo ocoupyeth the chayre, That Latinum fari may fall to rest and slepe. And syllogisari was drowned at Sturhrydge fayre': Tryuyals and quadryuyals so sore now they appayre. That Parrot the popagay hath pytye to beholde How the rest of good lernyng is roufled up and trold.
'Albertus'' de
modo
significwndi,
And Donatus
Frisian's
1 For a complete coUeotion of facts respecting this ancient fan-, the existence of which is to be traced back as far as the thirteenth century, see
Life of Ambrose Bonwicke, ed. Mayor, It was, in Skelton's pp. 152 65. time, and long afterwards, mvioh resorted to by the undergraduates, and
; ;
WOLSEY.
And
inter didascolos is
541
fole
rekeued for a
With Be Consales', is cast out of the gate. And Da Racionales^ dare not shew his pate''.'
tiie year following upon that in which Croke delivered two orations the university was honored by a visit from cardinal Wolsey. Hitherto Cambridge had endeavoured with Thomas but little success to ingratiate herself with the o^'^ipote'^t ^ "ot isso minister. In the year 1514, Fisher, on his appointment as. one of the royal delegates to the Lateran council, had deemed it necessary to resign the chancellorship, to which he had been regularly re-elected for ten successive years, and at his suggestion Wolsey had been solicited to accept the office. His relations We shall scarcely be justified in inferring from this fact, that '>"*8e. Fisher himself did not attribute the heavy loss that St. John's College had sustained to the cardinal's influence"; but he doubtless felt that the power of the-royal favorite had reached a point at which it became almost indispensable that the university should conciliate his good will, and, with his usual spirit of self-abnegation, waived his personal feelings out of regard for the general welfare. Wolsey did not accept the He declines In a letter, wherein the pride that apes lorahip. proffered honour. humility is conspicuous in almost every sentence, he declared that his numerous and important engagements rendered it
In
his
impossible for
at the
him
same time, he intimated that he should be glad mark his sense of the honour done him, by serving them
1 i.e.
to
for Alexander see supra, p. 515, n. 1. The poet seema to have confounded the Mffiauder with the Cayster. See Iliad, ii 460. * The Concilia or Canon Law. * Logic, * Spci;ePa7Tot,Skelton-Dyce,ii8-9, 5 In the revised editions of the statutes of St John's College (given by Fisher in the years 1524 and 1530), Wolsey's name is included in the list of benefactors for whom the prayers of the college are to be reguThis is probably larly offered np. attributable to the fact, that he used
his influence to obtain for the college the estates of the nunneries of Eigham and Bromehall, as a partial compensation for the loss of the estates bequeathed by the founders a loss, as we have seen, laid at his door. The forgiving spirit shewn by the college was certainly politic; but it is to be noted that the list of ' benefactors ' also included the name of James Stanley, bishop of Ely, cujus coneessione domus vetus et attrita in collegium, quale nunc est, eximium sane, cornmutata est. (!) Baker-Mayor, p. 88. Early Statutes of -St John's (ed. Mayor), pp. 92, 310. * Cf. supra, pp. 466-7.
542
CHAP.
,
BISHOP FLSHEK.
Accordingly, as Fisher, in the sequel, office, the
V.
Ksherdect-
University thought it could do no better than re-elect the former to the chancellorship for life ; and thus, for nearly thirty years, John Fisher continued to represent the chief
authority in the
served.
woisejTisits
community which he
so ably
and
faithfully
152a
" ^
The visit of the great cardinal to Cambridge was probably gladly hailed as a sign of his favour, and every eflFort
was made to shew him an amount of respect in no way inferior to that which ordinarily greeted royalty itself. The streets were cleansed' the pavement was repaired swans and huge pike were brought in to grace the feast and a temporary platform was erected at the place of his formal reception'. Imperial ambassadors and sundry bishops followed in his train. In the preceding year he had received the appointment of sole legate ; and his power and wealth, and it must be added his arrogance and ostentation, were now nearing their culminating point. TVe have no details
; ;
;
it
may
be presumed
it
was marked by
his
^/
pompe
incredible,'
Stndebo igitnr non Bolmn grqnas possom masimas Testris humanitatibus agere sed etiam dabo operam, nt quam ssepissime (si quibus in rebus possim), non tarn Tobis pro meo viiili gratificari, quam de
1
'
tias
was expected, special care was taken to cleanse the streets and S they were usually dirty and unscayeii^ed as those of an oriental
of rank
;
et singulis vestrse universitatis, ubi locus et tempns emnt, bene mereri.' See Fiddes, Collections, xxviii and xxix, p. 50.
'
omnibus
Mr Demaus
observes,
in con-
-visit,
'Not
this
menon
pheno-
common receptacle for the debris of the town, it is not surprising that the occasional stirring of tiiis accnmnlated litter should beget a plague.' Life of Latimer, p. 18. It is certain' that, in this instance, the pieTalence of the epidemic prevented for a time the reassembling of the students in the following year. See Cooper, Annals, i 304. Cooper, Annals, i 303. The reception, judging from the close of Bullock's oration (see infra, p. 547), was at Great St Mary's,
city,
the
filth
and
; -
woLSEV.
543
may
casion.
y>-'
But in the academic throng that went forth to meet the was not to be seen and the fact
Fisher .hsnt
ssod.
much
was probably weU known that, within the last two years, the relations of Fisher to Wolsey had assumed a cha- Reiatioiis of racter which must have made it equally difficult for the Woisey. former to give utterance to the customary phrases of congratulation and flattery, and for the latter to receive them through that channel as the expressions of even ordinarily genuine sentiments of r^ard. In the year 1518, Warham, whose efforts towards counteracting the widespread corruption of the clergy were strenuous and sincere, had summoned a council of the suffiragans of his diocese for the purpose of discussing future plans of reform. But though Woisey himself had only four years before received, at Warham's consecrating hands, his admission to the see of Lincoln, the
cardinal and the legate a latere could not endure that any
summoned without
his sanc-
his
and he accordingly compelled the archbishop to recall mandates\ In order however to meet the views that
forcible expression in influential quarters,
found
he subse-
by Warham
to
and Fisher, who looked upon the matter as one of paramount importance, had even deferred his journey
;
in order to be present. When therefore the council Fish,the r cound] of at last met, and it was evident that nothing practical was i?^,^the designed, but, to quote the language of Lewis, ' the meeting F^S^* the
Rome
Lewis, Life of Fisher, i 68. Wolsey's language to 'Warham is 'worthy of note: 'My lorde, albeit such and many other things, as be specially expressed in yonr said monicyons, be to be reformed generally through the chnrche of England, as well in my province as in yoore, and that being legate a latere to me chiefly it apperteyneth to see the leformacyon of tiie premyssis, thongh hyderto no in time coming. I hare ne
execute any jmiscBctyon as legate a latere, bnt only as shall stands with the King's pleasure; yet assured I am, that his grace woll not that I shnlde be so lytle estemed, that ye shnlde enterpryse the said reforms cyon to the express derogacyon of the said dignitee of the see apostolike, and otherwise than the law woll sofEre yon, without myne advyse, consent, and knowledge.' WUMns,
Concilia,
m 660.
544
BISHOP FISHER.
authority of the lord legate, than for any great good to the
clergy,'
Church, in reforming the abuses and irregularities of the his disappointment was intense, and, rising from
\y
which were shared by not a few of those around. In language that admitted of but one construction, he proceeded to inveigh against the growing luxury, pride, covetousness, aiid How were they,' he deworldliness of the superior clergy. flocks to shun the pomps and vanities manded, to warn their of the world, while they themselves minded nothing more ? What had bishops to do with princes' courts ? If really desirous of reform on the part of their humbler brethren, they must first themselves, in their own persons, set an example The high, of holy living and true devotion to their calling*.' spotless, character of the speaker gave irresistible force the Cambridge had never, perhaps, better cause to his appeal. for priding herself on her chancellor, than on that day and many then present must have afterwards recalled the scene The attention as One of the most memorable in their lives. of the most careless observer could scarcely fail to have been arrested by the striking contrast between the characters of the great cardinal and the good bishop. Both high in the favour of the monarch to whose wrath they were rdtimately alike to fall victims, but having won it by strangely dissimilar careers . The one so unsatisfied in getting,' that he was
' ' ;
!
'
the other so
it
came
to hinn unexpected/
and unsolicited. The one with his visage so disfigured by a vicious life*, that Holbein could paint him only in profile the other with a face so emaciated by habits of long asceticism, that the same pencil has preserved to us the features of a mummy'. The one seeking to overawe the assembly, by the same energy of will and arrogance of demeanour that
'
'
Boy
(ed.
Axber), p. 58.
3 ^his face, hands, and all his body were so bare of flesh as is almost incredible: which was occa-
sioned in a great measure by the strict abstinence and penance to which he had long accnstomed himLewis, self, even from his youth.'
ii
215.
WOLSEY.
;
54o
had disconcerted even the majesty of France the other chap. v. pleading the cause of virtue and religion, with the calm dig- '^"J' ''nity and graceful elocution that had so often charmed the
,
ears of royalty
'
the cardinal's state seemed not to become him so well' and we can well understand how it was that Fisher was not now among those who hastened to
of Fisher's biographers,
;'
Upon
Bullock, at that
it
whereby Wolsey most startled not only woiaey weii understood the university but all England, were still in the future, his at Cambridge, character must, by this time, have been tolerably well understood his haughty nature and insatiable greed of flattery were notorious and his state policy and administrative merits could not fail to be a constant topic of discussion at both Oxford and Cambridge. That his sympathies were chiefly with his own university is undeniable, it was but natural that it should* be so and that learned body exulted not a little at the prospect of all the benefits which his favour might confer while to its annalist, the name of Wolsey appears surrounded by a halo of virtues that language must From mere policy however, fail adequately to describe. Wolsey was not altogether disregardful of the sister university, and his household already included not a few Cambridge men. His subsequent biographer. Cavendish, had been educated at the university, and was now his gentleman usher. Burbank, the friend and correspondent of Erasmus, was his secretary, and a follower on this occasion in his train. In that train was also to be found Richard Sampson, another friend of Erasmus referred to in a preceding page, who was one of the cardinal's chaplains. Out of compliment to their patron, both Burbank and Sampson were now admitted to
acts
. . .
Though the
made dean
1 '
Baily (quoted by Lewis, i 71). Cooper, .4 ftcre<E, 1 41,119. Fiddes mentions also Dr Taylor, archdeacon
of Buoldngham, as receiving the same honour on this oooasion, and lays considerable stress on the compli3.J
546
BISHOP FISHER.
;
within four years afir, we find Wolsey availing himself of his assistance in connexion
for,
BoDock's
oi3XioD well suited to the
with his magnificent foundation at Oxford. Whatever may be our opnion of the merits of Bullock's oration in other respects, it can hardly be doubted that it was well calculated to win the favour that it was designed
to conciliate.
nnjHwiess of hisSaaeiT.
Wolseythe
gnaxdiaii of
thepocr.
volume or in coarser fumes. In Wolsev the orator recognises not only the youth who at Oxford outshone all competitors, the man in whom all the virtues, prMtag, tnnocentia, pudor, integritas, rdigio, were blended, the masterly n^otiator whose ability attracted the discerning eve <rf Henry "vn, the counsellor whose excellences had earned sudi loving fevour from the reigning monarch, ^the ecdesiastie whose services to the Church had been s.j highly hontsed by the supreme pontiff but he salutes him as the universal bene&ctor of his race. Wobey it is, who ^elds tie humble from the powerful, tlie needy from the rich, who rescues the innocent and simple from the meshes woven by the <aafty and unscrupulous he it is, who rebuilds the
men, who gives back to the husbandm^ the fertile acres by mercenary owners into sheep-walks. 2vor is his power confined to Britain; it has extended its benign mfluence over the whole of Christendom. If,' says the orator, 'we ransack the past annals of the Church, the
converted
'
lives of pontdffe, in whom the virtues of cardinals so often again meet our view, we shall find that neither all the cardinals in any one age, nor jmy one cardinal in all the ages, achieved within so short a time such sigmd services
Ertonedbf
foreign oatiODS.
to Europe. This Italy herself admits, prone though she be to praise only her own sons, and ready to yield to other nations anything rather than renown; this Germany confesses, where the conunon voice proclaims thee worthy of the pontiff's chair; this France acknowledges, whose most
ment thns paid to 'WoUct, these doetors being admitted fredj andfnlly,* as if they had performed the usual
'
WOLSEY.
547
to half
his
^^^iL
tellus,'
'
quse te
.
Buiiock-s
peroration,
feli-
est.
Et
felicitatis
partem videmur adepti, non solum quod huic nostrse academiaj tam impense faves, adeo ut nonnullos ejus alumnos huic tuse nobilissimse adscripseris familise, beneficiisque non mediocribus cumulaveris
;
hand
facile fuerit
quam
sesti-
hilari vultu,
quam
ingenti
Ipse vidisti
quam
es.
quam quam
exporrectis
incredibih
omnium
exceptus
pectoris testimoniis,
Hi
modo gestire sed et serio gloriari sese nobilitatos tali hospite. Utinam haec nostra prsecordia, has animi latebras, hos affectns,
istis tuis
deprehenderes,
quam
sinceriter,
nuUo
asciticio colore,
nuUis
Ut enim
aliis
opibus, aedium
superemur, nemini
omnibus
mus
te
in usus publicos
quam
lumem*.'
The
Wolsey,
original,
love of flattery
if
language like
woiscy's
universuies.*
permitted
left
him
1
still
dissatisfied.
352
548
CHAP.
V.
BISHOP FISHER.
^^^^
Stafford,
Cambridge, having made splendid but indefinite promises. In the following year, the university learned that one of its
former scholars and distinguished benefactors\ the courtly, ^had perished on the scaffold, munificent, chivalrous Stafford,
Buckiiigbam.
the victim as
this
'
it
of
The
and
skeiton.
saw one of
its
most
brilliant
the poet
there to end his days, a fugitive from the wrath of this eminent protector of the weak against the powerfuL While
at nearly the
same time,
it
was
told at Oxford
how one
of
Pare.
the most accomplished and blameless of her sons, the amiable Richard Pace, -whose virtues almost merited the praise that
object of
until, in poverty
to all
who should
venture to cross the path of one so powerful and so merciless*. But to the great majority, proofs such as these of the
cardinal's
to prove
Stafford was generally looked as the founder of Buckingham (atterwardsilagdalene)College, where his portrait is still preserred. Cooper notices however that the college was certainly called Buckingham College bef ore the duke's time. In the Uni. versity Calendar the foundation of Magdalene College is incorrectly assigned to the year 1519; but the fonndation of Baron Audley belongs to the year 1542 (see Cooper, AnimU,
^
Polydore
'
Vergil;
'from
upon
whom,' he says, the calumny was derived and rests on no other authority.'
also denounces Tergjl's narshews to be incor' a tissue of misrepresentation, exaggeration, and falsehood, devised by this partial historian to gratify his hostility to the cardinal.' (p. ccxL) But, without layrative, which he rect in detail, as
He
I 404),
of the college is given in the present volume. " FnUer-Priokett Ss Wright, p. 198. This was certainly the general belief at the time: of. Eoy's comment, ' Also a ryght noble prince of fame Henry, the Ducke of Buckingham, He caused to die, alas, alas.'
ing any stress on the saying attributed to Charles v, it is certain that Eoy's satire was published about 1328 wMle the first edition of Vergil's Historic Anglica, in which Ms account of Wolsey is to be found, was not published until 1534. ' Bichardus Pacseus qui regis sui nomine legatus ad nos venit, vir est
;
Arber), p. 50. Prof. Brewer (Preface to Letters and Papers, iii cxvi) has represented this view of the duke's fate as taking its
(ed.
plusqnom niad gratiam et amicitiam natus.' (Erasmi Opera, lu 441.) Pace lived however to survive his persecutor, and to regain, to some
sincerissuna, moribus
veis, totus
WOLSEY.
549
and at Cambridge it appeared of supreme importance to ^-^^^-Jshew that the university was in no way inferior to her rival in solicitude for his good will and in deference to his univerauthority. Oxford however had recently set an example of The of J i sity Oxford slavish and abject submission which it was not easy to p^^^^j'^^'^^ outvie. In the year 1518, that venerable body had, to quote Kstobe the language of Wood, made a solemn and ample decree, in ptire? a great convocation, not only of givjng up their statutes into the cardinal's hands to be reformed, corrected, changed, renewed, and the like, but also their liberties, indulgences, privileges, nay the whole university (the colleges excepted), It to be by him disposed and framed into good order'.'
'
'
might appear impossible that such a demonstration of abject servility, as the surrender of the laws and privileges of an ancient and famous corporate body into the hands of one man, could be surpassed by the sister university. Cambridge, it- might have been supposed, could but add to a like act of sycophancy the reproach of servile imitation. According however to Fiddes, the terms in which a similar measure, Tim example followed by 1 that passed the assembly or regents and non-regents in the the university year 1524, and received the common seal, was expressed, '"'isc i52i appear yet stronger, more specific and diversified.' To shew Fiddes-a ^ o criticism on further,' he adds, 'how much they desired to augment the 'e tone of o ^ the letter or cardinal's authority, and to render it, if such a supposition j-'ty'''' might be made, yet more despotic, they complain as if they wanted words to denote the powers wherewith they moved he might be invested, and the absolute conveyance of their rights and privileges as an incorporable body to him,... They desire their statutes may be modelled by his judgement, as by a true and settled standard. They consider him as one sent by a special divine providence from heaven for the public benefit of mankind, and particularly to the end they might be favoured with his patronage and protection. They salute
,,
.,
'
'
-^
'
'
i.
'
'
extent, both Ma mental powers and former emoluments. Erasmus writ-' ing to congratulate him on his reooyery,
just after the cardinal's
fall,
says,
'
numen
quod
'
et
dejioit.'
Wood-Gutoh,
15.
550
CHAP.
V.
BISHOP FISHEK.
title
him by a
-t^^i-
which even appears superior to that of but the proper force of which cannot, I believe, be expressed by auy word of the language wherein I write. Though an extract of several other passages might be made from this submission, which discover the profound deference and esteem which that university then entertained of the cardinal, yet... I shall only observe that the powers here vested in him, were not limited to any determinate time; or such whereby himself, when he had once executed them, should be concluded, but they are granted for a term of life, and under such express conditions, that he might exercise them as often, in what manner, and according to what different sanctions he might think most
" majesty" from the other university,
expedient'.'
The above a
htuniliating
It
correctness of Fiddes's
representations cannot be denied. An examination indeed fffi^'S*' of the original document" rather tends to enhance the im^ia"
pression
When we
'
find his
'most pious benignity' implored ^not to spurn or desert such humble clients,' or to turn a favoring regard upon his most
humble and obsequious slaves',' we feel that the phraseology of flattery must have been well-nigh exhausted. Our deduction from the facts must however differ somewhat from that of the Tory historian. This unmeasured self-abasement of two ancient and learned bodies, while forming a humiliating
passage in their histoiy, can surely tend but Httle to enhance our estimate of the cardinal himself. The sense of honour, the moral nature, must have been hopelessly blunted, in one
who
'Nos
coUegionim semper
salvis),
eidem
WOLSEY.
551
v.
measure having remained altogether inoperative, absolves us from the necessity of further discussing its scope and
character.
It only remains to
1
1
time that the loregoing supplication was agreed upon, a^ujtedfor letter was also forwarded to the cardinal informing him that Cambridge,
the university, from feelings of gratitude for the many favours
be noted, T
same
Yearly obsetjuies
ap-
he had bestowed upon them, proposed 'to appoint yearly obsequies for him, to be celebrated by all graduates, with the greatest solemnity.' In what these favours consisted does not appear. Cambridge possesses no foundations, scholarships, or exhibitions, that perpetuate the
name
of Wolsey.
It
is
is
intended rather to
members of the university to appointments in his household or other posts of honour and emolument, like those mentioned by Bullock in his perorathe promotion of individual
tion,
porate body.
than to any permanent benefits conferred on the corThe presence of queen Catherine at the
Boyai
visita
university in the
same year as Wolsey's visit, and that of bridge. king Henry himself, two years later, may perhaps be looked upon as indications that the favour of the cardinal had not been sought in vain. But he could scarcely have loved the university where Fisher was the man most potent and most esteemed. His genuine regard for learning, one of the bright
phases of his character, found
its fullest
expression elsewhere;
that he was erecting
Foundation
coUcge, oxford, 1525.
and
it
soon became
known at Cambridge,
at Oxford a
new and
dented magnificence. By the royal licence, he received T5er^ .. mission to endow it with a yearly revenue of 2000 nearly
,..,
' See Brewer, Letters and Papers, IV 670. The following contributions, levied upon different colleges at Oxford and Cambridge for the royal loan in 1522, are probably a fair index to their relative resources: Oxpokd.
Corpus Christi, 133. 6. 8 Lincoln, 100 ; Oryal, 100 University 50 Exeter, 40 Bayly 40 Queen's, 40. Cambridge. King's, 833.6.8;
; ;
, ;
King's Hall, 333. 6. 8; Queens', 200; Benet, 66. 13. 4; St John's, 100; Christ's 100. liid. ill 1048.
552
ciiAP.v.
BISHOP
FIH-I-IEE.
-i^^>/
I
was not drawn from bis own plethora of wealth, hut represented, an ominous sign for the monks, the revenues If any jealousy were felt of sundry suppressed monasteries'.
at Cambridge, it
was probably
to
some extent
allayed,
when
the intelligence arrived that the cardinal was desirous of placing on his new foundation some of the most promising
Scholars
tewg^pteied
'"''
young scholars of their own university, in order that the infant society might from the first be distinguished by the presence of men of ascertained ability, and be known as a
school of the
dation.
new
learning.
How
scheme
difficult
was viewed
college, the
"
but
it
was
sole legislator of
In
many
respects, again,
Wolsey,
who
was able by
and even those who regarded with distrust were reassured when they recalled that his admiration for Aquinas had gained for him the
the conservatives
his partiality for Greek,
epithet of Thomisticus''.
And
here before
we turn
to note
posed the
little
Cambridge colony
at Cardinal College,
it will
to pass through a
new
experience, which,
it
though
be,
bripf,
tragigal,
and blood-stained
is
records, the
of that important part which she was ere long to play in the pol^cal and theological
contests of
j
commencement
Cardinal College itself was found. site of the suppressed monastery of St. Frideswide (BurnetPooock, I 55). This was ahold step at that day. Even Jeremy Collier seems half suspicious that an apology If, he says, 13 needed. we consider the new application, there will be no reason to charge the cardinal with sacrilege. For he did not alienate the revenues from religious service, but only made a change in the disposal. Now evorybodv knows.
^
ed on the
'
nunneries at
(see
measure, Fiddes,
252
'
CHAPTER
VI.
With
we
enter chap.
vi.
upon a period -when the contentions of opposing theories of the uepoe" philosophy in the schools, and the warfare between the supporters of the old learning and the new, were for a time to
be
in
lost sight
struggle,
its
more extended in its, action and more momentous results than any that mediaeval Europe had known.
It is significant of the complex character of the questions Different which the Reformation opened up, and of the variety of specting its ^ origin. the interests it affected, that even at the present day there
-^
''
regarded as the inevitable and natural result of that increased ^ intellectual freedom, which, commencing with the earlier
^ ^
_ ^
11
and
1-
essential character.
-11
By some
1
writers 1/.1.
it
is
a consummation of
preceding
movements.
'
schoolmen and deriving new vigour from th^ habits of thought encouraged by the Humanists, culminated in a general repudiation of the mental bondage that had attended
the long reign of mediaeval theologians'.
Others maintain,
'
that
it
dogmas and the speculation of the preceding ten centuries, and was a simple reversion to the tenets of primitive Christi- a return to
anity^.
*
A third
little
it,
so far at ^Slanity.
least as the
movement
political
outcome of
England is involved, as chiefly the feeling, and having in its commence- a political
"^""
ment but
1
554
CHAP.
VI.
THE EEFORMATION.
lopement'. That it rose out of a deep-rooted antagonism between the Latin and Teutonic races^ that it was the assertion of the principle of individual freedom and individual responsibility", that it was a revulsion from the widespread and utter corruption of the age, are views which the
A friars'
squabble.
A misconception.
essential
the
and
La commission
view recently reiterated by Holy Roman Empire, p. 326^ See HaUam's sensible observations on this theory, Lit. of Eu'
Prof. Bryce,
'
'
Historisoh
ist
nichts
unrichtiger, als die Behauptung, die Reformation sei eine Bewegung fiir Gewissensfreiheit gewesen. Gerade das Gegentheil ist wabr. Fiir sich
selbst freilich
revolution.
Si tout le
Nord
se s^para
Calvinisten, ebenso wie alle Menzu alien Zeiten, Gewissensfreiheit begehrt, aber Andem sie zu gewahren, fiel ihnen, wo sie die
Bchen
Starkeren waren, nicht eiu. DolUuund Kirchen, p. 68. * 'Personne n'ignore que ce z61e de r^forme taut vautfi, et sous le prdtexte duquel on a bouleversd I'EgUse et I'Etat dans une graude partie de I'Burope, a cu pour principe une
'
ger, Kirche
mis&able jalousie entre moiues mendians au sujet de la prediction des indulgences. L^on x fit publier en 1517 une croisade centre les Turcs, et il y attachait des indulgences, dont
de Rome, c'est qu'on vendait trop cher la deiivrauce du purgatoire a des ames dont les corps avaient alors trfespeu d'argent." Quoted by Laurent, La Reforme, p. 431. ' Neither authentic documents, nor the literature and character of the times, nor, if national ethics are essentially connected with national art, its artistic tendencies, wan-ant us in believing that the era preceding the Reformation was more corrupt than that which succeeded it.' Brewer, Introd. to Letters and Pa'
pers,
III
ccccxvi.
30.
THE REFORMATION.
555
vi.
An
ries,
amount
of truth that
each embodies, would obviously be a task beyond our province it will suffice to note the illustration afforded by our special subject of the real nature of the movement in our
;
gained
Nor can it be said that the light thus to be dim or uncertain, or that at this great crisis our Cambridge history still lies remote from the main current of
own
country.
is
no exaggeration to assert that the -origin ,of the Reformation in England is to be found in the labours of the lady Margaret professor of d ivinity at Cambridge from the years 1511 to 1514', while its first extension is to be traced to the activity of that little band of Cambridge stuevents ; for
it is
JJJ^^y^^"'-
gJ;Ji. Cambridge,
dents
iand reflexion.
Notadevelardism,
rity to J
shew that the Reformation was not a contmuation Though the term Lol
served, at the
commencement
of the sixteenth
the movement
itself
had been
effectually repressed.
It has
morning star of the Reformation ;'J and to such an epithet there can be no objection, if, at the same time, we are not required to acquiesce in the old fallacy of post hoc, propter hoc, and are at liberty to hold that Wyclif was no more the author of the Reformation, than the morninsr star is the cause of day. It was the New Testa- tut to be 11. 1^ tracedtotho ment of Erasmus, bought, studied, and openly discussed oy ^t'^f'*" countless students, at a time when Wyclif's Bible was only Erasmus.
Til
^ ' It was not Luther or Zwinglius that contributed so much to the Eeformation, as Erasmus, especially among us in England. For Erasmus was the man who awakened men's understandings, and brought them from the friars' divinity to a relish of general learning. He by his wit laughed down the imperious ignoranee of the monks and made them the scorn of Christendom: and by his learning he brought most of the
Latin fathers to light and published them with excellent editions and useful notes, by which means men of parts set themselves to consider the ancient Church from the writings of the fathers themselves, and not from the canonists and schoolmen.' Stillingfleet (quoted by Knight, p. vii). See to the same effect Bumet-Pocock, i 66-7. ^ ggg gupra, pp. 274-5.
]
i
I
'
556
CHAP.
VI.
THE REF0E3IATI0X.
whose hands
it
that
Bilney's testimony.
was discovered
relit
connecting link
forth
'
but at the
he says, I hearde speake when the New Testament was first set
last,'
by Erasmus.
to be elo-
than for the word of God (for at that time I knew not what it meant), I bought it, even by the providence of God, as I doe now wel understand and perceive ^.' Those who may have occasion to consult the work to
Proclamation of in-
dulgences
by Leo
x,
which our own obligations have been so numerous, Cooper's Annals of Camhridge, will find that there is but one year in the sixteenth century, the year 1517, under which the indefatigable compiler could find nothing that he deemed deserving of record. And yet, in this same year, the whole university was startled by an event as notable and significant In the preceding year, as is well as any in its history. known, Leo X had sent forth over Europe his luckless pro-
A.D. 1S16.
clamation of indulgences.
ment
of their
own
some time more and and were exceptionally intensified by the lavish expenditure of Leo. His proclamation was a last expedient towards replenishing an exhausted treasury. Each copy of the proclamation was accompanied by a tariff of the payments necessary for the expiation of every kind of crime and though by many of the Humanists the proceeding was treated with open ridicule, the great majority of the devout only saw therein a
possessions of the Church,
had been
more sensibly
felt
by each successive
pontiff,
A copy of
tlie
heaven-sent opportunity for securing their religious welfare. Copies were of course forwarded to aU the' universities ; and
pro-
clamation
aflLced by Fislier to the
pate nf the
on the arrival of a certain number at Cambridge, it devolved on Fisher, as chancellor, to give them due publicity. The good bishop received them, apparently nothing doubting, and
1
common
schools.
Foxe-Cattley, it
63.5.
PETEU
ordered that,
]>E
VALENCE.
557
among other places, a copy should be affixed to chap. vi. the gate of the common schools. The same night, a young ActofPetor Norman student, of the name of Peter de Valence, wrote over de Valence.
'
_
est
nomen Domini
spes ejus,
in vanitates
et
When
was
intense.
Fisher
summoned an
named a
On the appointed day Peter de Yalence did not appear, and Fisher with manifestations of the deepest grief pronounced the dread sentence'. It is asserted by one ofiiisoxcommunicatioii. Fisher's biographers, a writer entitled to little credit, that eventually De Valence did come forward, made open confession of his act, and received formal absolution''. The statement however is not supported by any other authority, nor
tion.
is
the question of
its
pose.
by the
story
same year
at Wittenberg,
when, on the
through
thfe
noon
The whole
when the
Prospects of
*
* ""
Up
rate
1
'
to that time,
it is
much
who looked forward to a modeand gradual reform within the Church, by means of the
ther case is there any reason forinferring that the one suggested the other. There had long before been observable in the universities a orowingl
distrust of this superstition.
A book which when lately in manuthen more prized for the rathan since it is now printed I
soript, I
rity,
Both
Fullertrust for the verity thereof.' Prickett & Wright, p. 196. * There seein to be no data for determining whether Luther's or De Valence's was the prior act; but in nei-
JaooB^TOir Juterbrook at Erfurt, and John Wessel, Es disciple, at Maintz and "Worms, attacked the doctrine in! more than one treatise. See Dorner,i Hiit. of Protestant Theology, p. 75.
;
558
CHAP.
VI.
THE REFORMATION.
and sounder learning. Erasmus, records in triumphant tones the
significant indications
i
n
Xpistoice
rirorum.
Pomponatius
tditak!"'''
and more developing in antagonism not merely to specific It doctrines but to the whole spirit of mediaeval theology. the Novum was, as we have already seen, the year in which Instrumentum of Erasmus appeared, in which ReuchUn triumphed over the machinations of his foes, in which Fox, at Oxford, so boldly declared himself on the side of innovation. In the same year there had also appeared the famous Epistolce Obscurorum Virorwm, that irdpeSpo'; to the EncoiTiium MoncB, which, emerging from an impenetrable obscurity, smote the ranks of bigotry and dulness with a yet heaeffected for vier hand which, in the language of Herder, Germany incomparably more than Hudibras for England, or Garagantua for France, or the Knight of La Mancha for Spain.' Then too was given to the world the Be Immorialit^te AnimcB of Pomponatius, wherein a heresy that involved aU other doctrinal belief, was unfolded and elaborated with a
;
'
could not
While finally, in the Utopia of More, the asceticism of the monk was rejected for the theory of a life that followed nature, and the persecutor, for the
shield
from punishment'.
first
time
Amid
indications like
^though
Humanists.
Mendicants were for the most part hostile to true learning, there were yet not a few sincere and enlisrhtened Catholics
Europe
^ 'Nunc nulla est natio sub Christiana dicione in qua non omue dis-
ciplinarum genus (musis bene fortunantibus) eloqueutise majestatem eruditionis utilitati adjungit. ' Erasmi Opera, 350. ^ Pomponatius did not, as has often been asserted, himself deny the immortality of the soul. He simply
reargued more at length the question which had already been discussed by Averroes (see supra, pp. 115-7). His denial extended only to tlie philosophic evidence, and he readily admitted the authority of revelation. His book was however burnt by the inquisitors of Venice and placed in the Index.
A.D.
1516.
559
while, on the one hand,
""ill^XIi-"
of a
community
of
belief,
Learning and the arts, protected and countenanced by the supreme Head of the Church, would in turn become the most successful propagandists, and would exhibit to the nations of Christendom the sublime mysteries of an historic faith in intimate alliance with all that was best and most humanising in the domain of knowledge. Such at least was
undoubtedly the future of which
others were dreaming
men
like
Erasmus, Melan-
many
when athwart
and the whirlwind and when after the darkness light again returned, it was seen that the old familiar landmarks had disappeared, and like mariners navigating in strange waters, the scholar and
their fancy there rushed the thundercloud
;
lines,
and were compelled to read the heavens anew. Turning now to trace the progress at Cambridge of that movement of which Peter de Valence's act was perhaps the
first
overt indication,
really
we
young Norman
marks the commencement of a new chapter in our university history. Hitherto it would seem to have been the pride of Cambridge that novel doctrines found little encouragement within her walls. A formal theology, drawn almost exclusively from mediaeval sources,, was all thatwas taught by her professors or studied by her scholars. To
Oxford she resigned alike the allurements of unauthorised speculation and the reproach of Lollardism. It was Lydgate's
boast that
by reoorde all olarks seyne the same Of heresie Cambridge baie never blamed'
'
left
the university,
Cambridge was attracting the* attention of all England as the centre of a new and formidable revolt from the traditions of
the divinity schools.
1
Seo Appendix
(A).
560
CHA P. Yi
.
THE REFOEMATION.
Among
Norfolk, one
Thomas Bilney
who
to the reputation of an
two
less
The
to be generally
known
as
'
little Bilney','
of being possessed
by an aversion
.
to
amounted to a monomania. It is a story told by ~-' Foxe, that the chamber immediately under Bilney's was occupied by Thi^eby, afterwards bishop of Ely, who, at this time at least, was as devoted to music as Bilney was averse and whenever Thirleby commenced a tune, sprightly or solemn, on his recorder, Bijney, as though assailed by some evil spirit, forthwith beiook himself to prayer. Even at
miisic that
moved him
church the strains of the T&_J)eum and Benedictus only and he was wont to avow to his to lameniation
;
of worship
civi-
By
and canonists of Trinity Hall, it was probably only looked upon as a sign that Bilney's craze had taken a new direction, w"hen it became known that he was manifesting a morbid anxiety about his spiritual welfare, ^that hejasted often, went on lengthe ned p ilgrimages, and expended all that
his
gences.
and
to his fellow
been a
less
how completely
'
In an oft-quoted passage he has recorded in touching language, the only remedies then known in the confes-
and penitent
failed to give
Tunstal, 'upon whom that woman which was twelve years vexed had consumed all that she had, and felt no help, but was still worse and worse, until suq^ time as at the last she came unto Christ, and after she had once touched the hem of his
* In this respect Bilney resemtled his celebrated contemporary and fellow-worker, Faber or Lefevi-e, the reformer of Paris, to whom indeed
_
he presents in many respects a singular likeness. See Bezse Icones. ' Foxe-Cattley, iv 621.
T^HOMAS BILNET,
561
chap.
vi.
garment through faith, she was so healed that presently she| felt the same in her body. Oh mighty power of the Most Highest which I also, miserable sinner, have often tasted and felt. "Who before that I could come unto Christ, had even likewise spent all that I had upon those ignorant phy!
sicians,
that
is
in me, which
little
knowledge or understanding for they appointed me fastings, watching, buying of pardons, and masses in all which things, as I now understand, they sought rather their own gain, than
:
the salvation of
my
sick
and perishing
soul'.'
There
J.
.
is
lormation in England, that has been more frequently cited Buney T. o perhaps than this, by those whose aim has been to demonstrate the JJeh existence of an essential difiference between the spirit of the by'protestent
./
.Viiiiii
i-i
The contrast
'"'"'"ted by
mediaeval and Romish Church, and the spirit of Protestantism, between the value of outward observances and a mechanical performance of works, and that of an inwardly
'*"-
active and living faith. But it may at least be questioned whether this contrast has not been pressed somewhat beyond its legitimate application. That the clergy throughout Europe, for more than a century before the Reformation, were as a body corrupt, worldly, and degenerate, few, even among Catholic writers, will be ready to deny and as was the manner of their life, such was the spirit of their teaching. But that this corruption and degeneracy were a necessary consequence of mediaeval doctrine is far from being equally
;
certain
this
nor can
we
a Kempis, or Gerson, he would not have found in considerable measure the consolation that
But men like these were not to be found among the priestly confessors at Cambridge in Bilney's day, and he accordingly was fain to seek for mental assurance and repose
elsewhere.
It
was at
1
we have
already
267.
36
562
THE BEFOBMATIOK.
by
his tastes as a scliolaT tlian
truth,
by tbe
Tesbment of
Kovum
TestojB&itum of Erasmus.
^^ein Ins
life. He became a etsrennous opposer of the he had b^ore so assidnously practised; and, though he retained to the last his belief in purgatory and in tTansubstantiation, was soon known as a student and admirer
in his spiritual
superstitions
rtf
T.^jJTAr
Notwithstanding his
commanded
their
Sympathy. ' *
''
'I
such,'
wrote I^timer
'
so prompt and so ready to do every man good after his powCT, both friend and foe noisome wittingly to no man, and towards his enemy so charitable, so seeking to reconrale ihean as he did, I have known yet not many, and to be short, in sum, a very ample good soul, nothing fit or meet for this wretched world*.' By Foxe be is styled 'the first framer of the universitie in the knowledge of Christ;' and he is undoubtedly to be looked upon as, for some years, the leading spirit of the Cambridge Eeformers. In his own collie Bihiey's converts were not numerous ^^^?* ^''^ nor should we look to find a keen inter^t in theological
to Sir
Edward Baynton,
:
J5^
any open declaration of novel opinions would there have soon been met by repressire measures, for among the more influential members of the college at this time, was Stephen Gardiner, already distinguished by his attainments not only in the canon and civil law but also in the new learning; who in 1525 succeeded to the mastership*. We meet however with a few names that indicate the working of Bihiey's influence. Among these was Thomas Arthur, who in 1520 migrated to St John's, having been elected a fellow of that society on the nomination of the bishop of Ely', and who about the same time was
It
is
also probable
that
latimer-Come,
330.
'
Cooper, Afhena,
139.
Ibid. I 46.
"
THOMAS BILNET.
appointed master of St. Mary's Hostel
563
There was
also
a chap.
vi.
family,
named William
and a watchful guardian of its iaterests. He is said to have delivered a course of lectures in the college on Melanchthon's Rhetoric, and to One have actively circulated Luther's earUer writings '. perhaps completes the a^ mchjirf Richard Smith, a doctor of canon law,
lord high steward of the university
list
of Bilney's followers
among
his fellow-collegians.
Ing^^^
Local associations, as
we have
before o^roniity
even among
and Bilney, as a
and suppcHters among Norfolk men'. Among this number was Thomas Forman, a fellow of Queens' College, and sub- Thomas Fomuui of __ sequently for a short time president of the society. He was (taeaa: somewhat Bilney's senior, and his position in the university enabled him to be of signal service in secreting and preserving many of Luther's works when these had been prohibited by the authorities*. Li the year 1521, the governing body of the same college received firom queen Catherine a letter desiring them to elect to a vacant fellowship another Norfolk man, a native of Norwich, of the name of John joim Lambert. He had already been i^dmitted bachelor and his q,^La: attainments were considerable, but &om some unassigned cause his master and tutors declined to give the usual certificate of leamiiig and character. The election however was ultimately made, and Lambert was soon numbered among
In so doing, it ironld seem {hat have managed to erade detection at the time, for he was snbseqqently taken by Gardiner into his honsehold, when the latter became
I
generally.
'
he
jnxist
bishop of Winchester. See Cooper, Atherug, 1 221. ' See supra, p. 239. ' It is of course also to be remembered that Sfil&lfci f>^om its traffic with the continent, was one of the counties that first became acquainted with Luihar'a doetiines. but this would apply to the eastern eonntie^
says, Some pan of his diocese was bonnded with the sea, and Ipgsich and Yarmonth, and other yiacea of considerable traffic, were nnder his jurisdiction. And bo there happened many merchants and mariners, who, by conTerse from abroad, had reoeired knowledge of the tmth, and brought in divers good books.' Me-
morialt of Cranmer, p. 42. * Cooper, Atherus, i 37; FullerPrickett and Wright, p. 202.
3G
564i
THE REFORMATION.
converts,
Bilney's
part
and subsequently played a conspicuous connexion with the new movement*. Another Norfolk man, of about Bilney's academic standing, waa
in
'
Nicholas
ShaxtoQ of GonvUle
HaU.
Gonville
theRefonuera.
Cambridge he seems to have boldly advocated Lutheran doctrines, and under his influence the college probably received that bias which caused Nix, the malevolent and worthless bishop of N orwich, to declare at a later time, that he had heard of no clerk coming from the college 'but
savoured of the Jrying-pan, spake_he never so holUy".'
From
Pemknown
JohnThixtillof
Pembroke.
broke, a
warm
aU those who, from their intercourse with Bilney as his countymen, were led to adopt his religious opinions, was
body.
undoubtedly Robert Barnes, a Norfolk man from the neighbourhood of King's Lynn, and at this time paor of the community of Augustinian friars' at Cambridge. The Augustinians would seem at this period to have generally deserved the credit, whatever that might be worth, of being the least degenerate, as they were the least wealthy*, of the four Mendicant orders. They shewed evidence of
being actuated by a more genuine religious sentiment and
1
'
Cooper, AtheruB,
Ibid.
1
67.
Nix was a member of Trinity HaU and founded three fellowships in that society. 'A viciOTis and dissolute man, as Godwin writes.' Strype's Memorials of Cran158.
the
be of service here to disbetween the Augnstuiian canom (or canons regular), and the Augustinian friars, as existing at this period at Cambridge. The former were represented by the priory at Barnwell and the dissolved community of the Brethren of the Hospital of St. John; the latter, over whom
^
It
may
tinguish
grants from the crown. See Brewer, Letters aitd Papers, n 365.
EGBERT BARNES.
665
chap.
vi.
were distinguished by a more unselfish activity. At Oxford they had almost engrossed the tuition of grammar', and at one time were noted for giving their instruction gratuitously*. The houses of their order in Germany had listened to many a discussion on grave questions of Church reform, long before
either Luther or Melanchthon made their appeal to the judgement and conscience of the nation. At Cambridge
reformer,
gave audience on more than one occasion to the voice of the when all the other pulpits were closed against him while tradition attributes to a former prior of the same house,
John
<
one John Tonnys. the credit of having aspired to a knowwhen the study had. found scarcely a single advocate in the university'. In the year 1514
ledge of Greek, at a time
Barnes, then only a lad, had been admitted a member of this community ; and, as he gave evidence of considerable promise,
isw.'
was soon
fcff
remamed
it
some yeaxs
where he
Bamea
^^' *** study
at loutsui.
The
-I
it
The founder
of the college,
Jeoune
Jerome
well
Luxembourg, was distinguished as a patron of letters and known to most of the eminent scholars of his age. BQs
reputation
among them not a little resembles that of our Eichardof Bury, and Erasmus describes him as omnium librorum emacissimus^. It need scarcely be added that, with
he was an ardent sympathiser with the rvjundation Humanists in their contests at the universities. Dying in pJwm writhe year 1517, he left provision in his wiU for the foundation ini*'""
tastes like these,
1
Anstej, Introd.
to
Munimenta
scholarmn
tris
grammaticsB conveTtatnr ad
usmn
fratres
apad fratres Angostinenges, in disputationibas ibidem habitis, sine mereede graves sustinent labores, magistri antem grammaticse sine laboiibns ad onus nniversitatis salaria percipinnt, ideo statoimns et oidinamas, q,aod ipsa smuma data magis-
Ibid,
74.
NSve, Mimoire Ristorique et Littiraire sur le College des Trois-Lan^ giies d V University de Louvain (1866),
p. 40.
"
566
THE BEFOB3ATI0S.
^milar in
its
design
bolder
effort,
m fayogr ^
Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. The measnre was sii^nlaiij^ opportune; for the party whom it was designed to aM, ^edneyof thoBgh now inspirited bv the presence of FirasiTiiis in iitw
midst,
was
sojoinn at Lonvain,
<
si-
the new the thecdogians, of je^gusy and alarm, almost as sensdes and nndi^ified as tlic5? of which Oxford "w^as at the same time the scene'. He remained l<Hig ^loagh howerra- to see ' the s^T of the Homanists manifestly on the ascendant ; and
bnt a small minoritj ; and Barnes, during his must have witnessed not only the rfee ol college, bat also many demonstratioiis, on the part of
still
^^g^^^ retained
to Cambridge an arowed champitm of the cause and with largety alimented stores of learning. With him catne also one 'WjlJi^m Fa^ieQ, who had be^i his popil at lioavain, and who now coop^sted with him as a teach at
Under
feiais
many
first
a yoimg stodent now bstened within its walls, for the time and with wondering deligfat, to the p^te LatLnity
and graceful sentiment of Tecgnce, Fl^Dtns, smdC^onx It is eyident however that a fidlows' o Erasmus cooM scarcdy
rest ccmtent within tiiese limits of innovation
:
the lectores
on the dassics were soon followed by le<^mes aa the Scjipta^l^^ tares and Barnes, in the language rf Fose, 'pattii^ aade ^^^<* Dons and Dorbel'," ^this is to say the schoohnen and the
:
>
'QnaiKi lenoaveaDCoflfgeToiait
moltilradinoos rommexitatais
cfi
Fe-
des srts.
tm? Hispanos. Prantl (Gnek. i. i^fiK ^ ^'St speaks <{ him as vn vi^ gt^esoMT imd KSnfig Iwnnta^^r
Atuor. "w^eii^ ^aljgic^^i^i tv3i so&er Erlanst^niEg d^s Sentaikiaiics ati der azisSotdis<jiai Fh^rsik) zn Fi^ziB HispmiLs einaiimisehialieiideBBni sn^cioii im Kinifhi i^ehlkli be-
FaktUtf de leor msicv:? oa bieai par lem m^pijsnataielponxInbeDes-letties, pienaient jdaisii i crier paitc-:: Sot mom fjfnatair Lattrntstt di f^jo Piaamm sed hqmimitr Ijttimwm mtatris
'^
mastra r\seuUatit.'
IbU.
p.
0.
Idmrnden
ConuiKmtaz
Tcrf&fsK.*
'
Dcxbdfais sav; in
Ms ^i^xe,
Joxta
Cvop<fr.Mfike, i 7S.
one
oi the best
oj"
:iie
doefaHis siibalis Scoti meatan aliqaa logicalia pio juTetic'is super sBmmnlAS I^tzi W?gp"i iKenter enodabo.' In one of his ptebees e
'
GEORGE STAFFORD.
Byzantine
Epistles.
It is evident
logic,
667
ceiap. ti.
^next
commanded
but whatever might have been the views of the academic authorities, the lecturer was beyond thoir control. There is however good reason for believing
by
more successful innovation, shortly afterwards commenced by George Stafford within the university itself. This eminent Cambridge Reformer was a fellow of Pembrok e and distinguished by his attainments in the three learned languages' and on becoming bachelor of divinity was appointed an
'
oooreo
m.jA^"-
*,
or4ijary
'
lecturer in theology.
gether to discard
tlie
a measure
criti-
^^"^
but the unrivalled reputation and popularity of the lecturer seem to have shielded him-from- interference, and for four years, from about 152-i to 1529, he continued to
expound
and
^;uslies.
Among
was a Norfolk lad the celebrated Thomas and perhaps with something of the sccon-s exa^seration that often accompanies the reminiscences of tiw raiue of
his hearers
S^iOn, who
in after years,
the tnvtum
and
jner-Oorrid,
ii
889.
'A man of Tery perfect life, and the Hebrew, npprovedly learned Greek, and Latin tongaes.' Beoon,
568
THE EEFOR5IATIOS.
a doubt, whether Stafford's debt of gratitude to St. Paul was not fully equalled by St. Paul's obligations to Stafford, eo
successful was the latter in exhibiting, in all their native vigour and beauty of thought, the divinely inspired elo-
by the
'foolish fantasies
and
elvish expositions of
doting doctors'.'
Uie difiuily
acliool&
Concurrently with these efforts both Barnes and Stafford ventured on the yet bolder course of challenging for their new method of instruction the attention of the schools. The
by zeal than discretion^ and shortly before Stafford commenced his act as bachelor (rf divinity, b^an to appear as
'
'
a disputant on quoestiones bearing on Christian doctrine, and' taken in all probability from the Xew Testament. According to "Foxe, Stafford, as a bachelor kee^nng his ' act in tiie schools, was called upon to reply to Barnes and was the
'
tyrologist,
' Which disputation/ sa vs the Mar'was marvellous in the sight of the great blind doctors, and joyfiil to the godly spirited'.'
new
learning,
and
was
easy,
perhaps
inevitable.
pricH-
was himself in
turn, called
It was upon to
bofimd to bl^^ed Paul ior leavisg thoee godly epistles behind him, to instmet and teach the congzegation of God, whereof he was a deax member, or that Paul, which before had eo many years been fofled wltti the foolish fantasies and ehrish expositions of certain doting doctors, and, as it were, drowned in Qie dirty dregs of the drowsy dancers, was rather bonnd unto him, seeing that by his industry, lahpnr, pain, and diligence, he seemed of a dead man to make him aliTe again, and pntting away iJi unseemliness to set him forth in his natiTe colonrs so that now he is both seen, read, and heard not withont great and singnlar pleasures of them that tfavaU in the stndies of his most godly epistles. And a^ he
;
beantified the letter of blessed Faal with his gDdly esposHaoE, eo likewise did he leamedfy set ioiGi in his leetmes Qie native sense and tme nnderstanding of the four erangEiisis, virely restoring unto as the ^iggtles mind, and the mind of those holj writerB, which so many years before had lien onknown and ob-
scored throa^ the <iT-tTipiis and mists of the Pharisees and papists.' Becon, Jetrel of Jog (ed. Ayie), 426.
For an
I
illastration of Stafford's
me-
Foxe-Cattley,
t 413.
; ,
LUTHER'S WORKS.
listen to
569
chap.
'
arguments whicli Tie found it hard to refute, and was added to the number of Bilney's converts. Under the Bilney, combined efforts and influence of these three, Barnes, and Stafford, the work of reform went on apace while at the same time the introduction of new contributions to the literature of the cause began to give to the movement at Cambridge a more definite aim and a distincter outline. In the vear 1520 appeared those three famous treatises i T -J by Luther wherem by general consent is to be recognised the commencement and foundation of the doctrines of the From their first appearance it was seen that Reformers'. the religious world was now called upon to choose not merely
vi.
Appearance
01 Luther's eariy
Thesewere
(1)
370-80.
lichen Adel deutscher Nation (an address to the nobles of Germany on the Christian condition) ; (2) The De Captivitate Babylonica; (3) The Von der Freiheit eines Christenmemchen. In the first of these Luther attacks the Eomish distinction between the rights of the laity and of the clergy in the Church; developing, in contradistinction, the idea of the independent Christian state on the basis of a universal Christian priesthood. He also disputes the claim of tiie pope to be the sole interpreter of Scripture, and denies his exclusive right to convene oeeumenical councils. He next proceeds to indicate propositions of reform to be discussed at a general free councU; and, in particular, demands a reformation of the whole system of education, from the grammar school to the university, and the displacement of the Sentences for the Bible. He also advises the rejection of all Aristotle's writings that relate to moral or natural philosophy, but is willing that the Organon, the Rhetoric, and the Poetics should continue to be studied. The whole host of commentators are however to be abolished. The studies he most strongly recommends are Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, mathematics, and history, of which last he says, ' welche ich befehle verstaudigen, und sich selbst wohl geben wtirde, so man mit Ernst naoh eincr Reformation traohtete ; vmd f tirwahr
viel darau gelegen
ist.'
The De Captivitate Babylonica was a fierce attack on the special dogmas of Romanism; instead of seven sacraments Luther admitted only three, ^baptism, the
Lord's Supper, and repentance. A lengthened analysis of this is given in Lewis, Life of Fisher, c. xi. The third treatise is comparatively free from the polemical element, and is devoted to an exposition of the working of faith and love as living principles in the true believer. Ai able criticism of each work is given by Dorner, Hist, of Protestant Theology
(Clark's series),
^
'
97-113.
Ref orrnation proclaimed in these writings and no other, which the German nation has accepted.' Dorner, Ibid. 'In diesen Sohriften thut sich zwischen der neuen Lehre und der alten Kirche ein Abgrund auf der nioht mehr uberbriickt werden konnte. VerweriungderganzenkirohHchen Ueberliefemng und jeder
It is the
kirchlichen Autoritat, Aufstellung eines Dogma fiber das Verhaltniss des Mensohen zu Gott, von welohem der Urheber selbst bekannte, dass es seit den Zeiten der Apostel bis auf Urn der ganzen Kirche nnbekannt geblieben sei, diese Dinge traten unverhiiUt hervor. Die Forderung lautete nicht mehr wie bis dahin: dass die Kirche sich reformiren solle
an Haupt und Gliedem, sondem aufIdsen solle sie sich, und das Oericht
der SelbstzerstSnmg
hen.'
p. 67.
am,
sich vollzie-
Dbllinger, Kirche
und Kirchen,
Waloh, x
670
THE EEFORMATION.
between conservatism and reform, but between conservatism and revolution, and that a new path, altogether independent
These
WLitings
of that of the Humanists, had been struck out, leading ^few could venture to say whither. At Paris, these writings were
handed over
to the
Borbonne
for examination.
handed over for examination to the doctors of the Sorboune, and Crevier represents all Europe as waiting for the decision of that learned body\ But in England the decision that was most anxiously awaited was undoubtedly that of the London Conference. The rapidity with which the new doctrines were spreading in this country, soon became a fact that it was impossible to disguise, and fully justified the confidence with which th* Lutherans in Germany anticipated the responsive echo on the English shores. We will send them to England,'
'
said the
German
printers,
when
sent.
The commercial
Lutheran
doctrines in
the eastern
counties at Cambridge.
and
districts,
of the
became
doctrines'.
Wolsey
adverse to
extreme measures.
luther
bums the
papal bull at Wittenberg;.
Wolsey howwould be a system of violent ever, -who repression amid such unmistakeable proofs of the tendency of popular feeling, shewed little eagerness to play the part of a persecutor, and pleaded that his powers from Rome did not authorise him to order the burning of Lutheran books". But on the tenth of December, 1520, Luther still further roused the fury of his antagonists, by publicly burning the papal bull, along with sundry volumes of the canon law, at WittenIt was then that Wolsey convened a conference in berg.
diocese, called loudly for repressive measures.
saw how
impolitic
1519 they had penetrated into Prance, England, and Italy; and Erasmus
writing bo early as
April 21, 1521. 2 The rapid spread of Luther's writings in Europe is remarkable. The writer of the able article on the Reformer iaJlerzog's Heal-Encyklopadie (viii 578) states that even in
May
15, 1520, to
CEcolampadius, states tiiat they had narrowly escaped being burned in England. Brewer, Letters and Papers, III 284. s Ibid. Ill 455.
lutheb's works.
London, to
*
571
Sorbonne had long been sitting, in ^^^^j^T iudgement on the obnoxious volumes. In these proceedings wouey a convenes some of the most influential men at Oxford and Cambridge ?^'^^^^ took part, and about three weeks after the Sorbonne had Ji|gortonno
sit,
as the
-^
given
its decision,
i^don
mther's
books burnt
^i'^''
verse conclusion'.
The Lutheran
m
.
iTin
Cross^
^ff/j?;^'^^-
the presence of Wolsey and numerous other magnates, not only denounced the condemned volumes as heretical and
pernicious, but in his excess of religious zeal
^^
i'""'^'-
and indignation,
shewn that he would have burnt the pope too had he been able. The sajing was not forgotten and a few years after, when Tyndale's New Testament was treated in like fashion,
;
the translator caustically observed, that the bishops in burning Christ's word had of course shewn that they would willits Divine AuthorWithin two days after Fisher's sermon, Wolsey issued WoUey auto take order his mandates to all the bishops in England, f^^^\ ^ that any books, written or printed, of Martin Luther's errors ^'wi,! and heresies, should be brought in to the bishop of each respective diocese ; and that every such bishop receiving such books and writings should send them up to him*.' And be- Luther-s books burnt p T, tore the Easter term was over similar conflagrations were ^2"^^ instituted at both universities, that at Cambridge being '>"<*8e. held under the joint auspices of Wolsey, Fisher, and Bullock .
'
..,.'
Whereupon after consultation had, they [the authorities at Oxford] appointed Thomas Brimknell, about this time of Linoohi College, John Kynton, a Minorite, John Eoper,
'
'
zer, the
'
maker and contriver thereof, and his books also burnt both here andatCambridgo.'Wood-Gutch^il9. " Brewer, Letters and Papers, in
^
485.
College, and John de Coloribus, doctors of divinity, who meeting at that place divers learned men and bishops in a solemn convocation in the cardiual's house, and finding his doctrine to be for the most part repugnant to the present used in England, solemnly condemned it a testiniony of which was afterwards sent to Oxf ord and fastened on the dial in St.
lately
of
Magdalen
ii
21 ; De-
p. 150.
Strype, Memorials, i 55-6. * Wood (see supra, note 1) is right in placing these conflagrations in 1521. Cooper (Annals, i 303-4), who took his extracts of the proctors'
accounts from Baker and has reguthem at the beginning of each year,, has thus left it to be iuf erred that the burning at Cambridge took place in 1520-1 ; and K. Parker
larly placed
"
57i
CHAT. TIL Tben, in die
THE SErCXMATLOS.
f>!Io'<rir^'
jeat,
kbk^oki
^^ edf^Mated
Com/mfoitio.
Li"" i':~er.
pcJ^nie,
Cantm
iz.
Yez sdlL
relL^TOfxi
tLe
Tn.->T=-rr .^^
g:s.^h.6r rxe^i^-tii.
andtotliesistiematiesbidj'of liieSei^ptnec
di^: of the LctI- 3:3^:1 doctaiiies.
iej-TreTear
".;
tbae
It
T^;.;
ncT a.ii*i
as
was not
p'lssTJe
'jf
Sobk^
pwfiir-.-.^
die aeticn of
^e
sn-JLizi-^-is
lae
Ec^IanL -villi s^ i&iiKrenijt Eke tha; wkieii. had eB:Lir.n-ed tL^ d-aLomuEis of !&aanas s Xe^r TfrtawfiHt, and a pdi^ of It was -jirs\z^ and seeree^ L^i now beeome indi^eaBlile.
a.:-o;riinzi.T res:- jr^i
-;,;
E-
appi-i-;
a riaee
oe nee^fiL^ wfcese
&-
cnsiz^Li
nigtr he fadd in
caiwpairatiTe n;ei;rs
&aat iLe
e^mage of iLe c-z-^r-s^. On iirLe pp^ait ate :<: "ie Bsl Tnw or dosefy a-ijaoen:: t ; h, diae 5^:<;i in dieee da^ the ^^zl-.i H;r5e Ihil at that time the pcopexij of 'rarLsfne Hall^. A lane, k^;^^ s.^ 2>rill Sir^^aa:- jaased then as now \a rLe rear 1^ tlie \ir.' "r^zj 'r ^^; fejosei die main stre^ and a5:rie^i ro the students fiam "le ':-iZ.=^z'Sl in the t,?^r-i part of die t.>wTi. the iBeaBs of -zsj^tjlz tLr twi> wi& Las li^ of ceerr-aiza". Tlie White Hc-rse wss a-:-?:rifr^li- deieat *c^ flaee of t^zs^tt-sis: : and lie :meetii^ hs&its: Iw.g
:
(Bi^.^C4irin^,
-.i:-'~,aeiBai%'
-tire
^7;-rViir= -rz
acciare yial'
xpesM Semmn
"fetsn^
p-i^m
i^-rTr:',;:
"-eiT^rp
K^
*I:^aii
ill-
SiZTfe
II
ij
fii
n^ma
Car:^;i."" e
CsBCESaoe csai
iiipiiiillj *-5n r aa
i
111
CaSene
pea-
Kygrmtm Jmmgrit PrseSsr^: - Tfaw aabi thKBiEi BoE&i^e pn ^^^i^s Tawiiriii CBca eostiBaasBaBi Isi^rBns '. iz-iisaSs, Si. 4dJ -IseK iseGsci Csb=j pr: e^en^ easoEiili w^atia^ 5Sf. H^ *'ia^m. ieicMiri^c^ WaffisB c^ ?.'ii '-t zr: -it: c >-ii
"ris^
n>tiil
.
liliiiiTu Tiiiii
irrt^r-
Hoise,
lift ii
Hi
-was ance
i
iM^OTtA^-gmm
Sn^^
mA
q^
'
ib
iiiiiiiiiidiiiii
Oe
'
r.?:ar of Cat^sime moE ~^i^z^. Hjrc^e saaoA - itl ^se sst asm oee^aeA 7* Timu'it^t ^feASffi^ ^id
H^,
Ae
1&
"-iin.
"*
"
li
iiM
Quj je,
573
'
became notorious in the university, and those who frequented ^^them were reported to be mainly occupied with Luther's writings, the inn became known as Germany,' while its ^^^ frequenters were called the Germans.' With these increased Jq^^j^.. fecilities the little company increased rapidly in numbers.
'
'
to defy the academic g^SS"*'' censures, but there can be no doubt that Bilneys diminu- ^JJ^en^
tive form was the really central figure. Around him were Fonmn, gathered not a few already distinguished in the university Bemn,
him
^^^
From Gonville Hall came not Crome the president of that society,
like Shaxton, to
life,
J"*'^
^arow, ami
of master,
^^i^*
"*'"*'-
warm
in,
friend, in after
of the
Anne
Boleyn.
Under-
in the
company of masters
Among them John Rogers (the protomartyr of queen Mary's reign) from Pembroke, with John Thixtill of the same collie, the latter already university preacher, and one whose ipse dixit was regarded as a final authority in the divinity schools. Queens' College perhaps, as Strype sug-
gests,
scholar
who had once there found a home, sent Forman its him Bilney's ill-feted convert, John Lamalso afterwards president
first
English
in from Christ's;
from King's; Tavemer, a lad just entered at Matthew Parker, just admitted to his bachelor's degree, came perhaps under the escort of William Warner, 'up'
living.
many
earlier
Germany.'
inn, as at the
In the old-fashioned
tive Christians,
character ot
c<iui.
the
574
CHAP.
VI.
foar
THE BEFOBMATIOS.
fiist
the
time, the
noUe thoughts
of Luther sank
deqdf
heart; while his doctrines, if not invanably ccepted\ vere tested by honest and devout enquiry and hy
into
many a
known many
a weair vigil over the fuicifiil and arid subtleties of Aquinas or Nicholas de Lvxa, this grand but simple teaching came home with power. Turning from a too absorbing study of tessellated pavement, elaborate ornament, and cimning tracery, their eyes drank in, for the first tim^
the sublime proportions of the whole. The wranglings of the theologians and ti clamour of the schools died away and
were forgotten in the rsqpture of a more perfect knowledge. ' So oft,' said one of the yotmgest of the number, as in after years he looked back upon those gatlierii^s, ' so oft as I was in the company of these brethren, methonght I was quietly placed in the new glorious Jerusalem*.' It was a fevorite mode of expressing contempt among
those
who
disliked the
movement
at the time, to
mod^n writers,
met, and of the Cambridge Keformers generally, as 'young men;' but the ages of Barnes, Coverdale, Arthur, BefianB9 Orome, Latimer, and Tyndale, are sufficient to shew that tiie DotaU reproach thus impUed of rashness and immaturity of judgement was &r &om being altogether applicable. And on the other hand it is to be remembered that it is not often amoi^ men in middle life, in whom the enthusiasm of youth has subsided, whose opinions are fiilly formed, and round whom social ties have multiplied, that deigns like those of th^e Cambridge students are conceived and earned out. That Graunsttat pladi their those deigns were not adopted until after long and earnest nd in Mutr nexioawitli coimsel and thotight will scarcely be denied ; and if in the their subsequent final ordeal some lacked the martyr's heroism, it is also to be cueer. remembered, that as yet the sentiments which most powerfully sustained the resolution of subsequent Reformers were partly wanting, and that religious conviction was not as yet reinTheOis-
who thus
'Bmes (see infra, p. 580) appears, at least while at Cambridge, not to give his assent to Luther's dcwtrinal tiieology, and this was ceitaiDlf the
f with
>
Beeon-Ajie,
u 436.
575
chap.
vi.
by the political feeling with which the Reformatioa afterwards became associated, when the Protestant represented a widespread organisation actuated by a common policy, which it was regarded as treachery to desert. It was not long before intelligence of the meetings at the White Horse and of the circulation of Luther's works in the
university, reached the ears of the ecclesiastical authorities
Their meet-
S^Lou&on.
and some of the bishops are said to have urged the appointment of a special commission of enquiry, but the proposal was negatived by Wolsey in his capacity of legate\ ^^^Jj^^Wherever indeed the cardinal's personal feelings and in- ^PP^I'ston terests were not involved, it must be acknowledged that his"'""*""^acts were generally those of an able, tolerant, and sagacious It is probable moreover that in the designs which minister.
in London,
he had already conceived in connexion with the property of the monasteries, he foresaw the opposition and unpopularity which he should have to encounter from those whose interests would be thereby most closely affected he would therefore naturally be desirous of enlisting on his side the goodwill of the opposite party, and at Cambridge the sympathies of that party with the new doctrines were too obvious to be ignored. Unfortunately it was not long before he was compelled to
;
and the indiscretion of the leader Cambridge soon gave their enemies the
;
On
BameschnBtmas
Eve, A..
i^^^-
We
shall hereafter
be better able
was that he was preachmg there instead His text, taken from of in the church of his own convent. the Epistle of the day', was one which might well have
how
it
1 'When reports were brought to court of a company that were in Camhridge...that read and propagated Luther's books and opinions, some bishops moved in the year 1523, that there might be a visitation appointed to go to Cambridge, for trymg who were the fautors of heresy But he, as legate, did inhibit there. it (upon what grounds, I cannot imawhich was brought against gine), him afterwards in parliament (art. 43
of his impeachment).' Bumet-Pocock, i 70. ^ It will be observed that by preaohing in a parish churchBameB brought himself under the chancellor's juiisdiction.
' Phil, rv 4 'Eejoioe in the Lord alway: and again I say, Eejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men.' Foxe adds that he 'postilled the whole Epistle, following the Scripture aniLuther's PostiW (Foxe:
576
CHAP.
VI.
THE EEFOKMATION.
caused him to reflect before he indulged in acrimony and satire. But controversial feeling was then running high in
and among his audience the prior recognised some who were not. only hostile to the cause with which he had identified his name, but also bitter personal enemies. As he proceeded in his discourse, his temper rose he launched into a series of bitter invectives against the whole of the
the university
; ;
priestly order
rity
;
he attacked the bishops with peculiar sevenor did he bring his sermon to a conclusion before he
;
'
Articles
lodged
vnththe'rfS chanceiior.
in sarcastic and singularly impolitic allusions and poleaxes' of Wolsey himself \ We Can hardly doubt that these censures and allusions ' Constituted the real gravamen of his offence, but the pasg^ges notcd by his hostile hearers served to furnish a list of no less than five-and-twenty articles against him. Among these he was accused of denouncing the usual enjoined observance of holy days and of denying that such days were of affirming that of a more sacred character than others,
had indulged
to the
pillars
men
decried as heretics,
of
the
'
was reported to have said, was more like to knocke swine and wolves in the heed with, than to take shepe Wilt thou know what their benediction is worth ?they had rather give ten benedictions than one halfpenny ^'
;'
'
Barnes
is
confronted
Mcuam
rfce-'chaJf-
^ information
chaucellor,
Early in the ensuing week Barnes learned that articles ^ had been lodged against him with the vice-
and
he should
be- allowed
sciioois"
to.
Cattley, v 415) another of those incautious statements of the Martyrologist that so often land us in doubt and difficulty. Compare Barnes' own statement, infra p. 580. ' See Cavendish, Life of Wolsey
(ed. Singer), p.
Mede me
'
In every poynt most curiously, On eaohe syde a poUaxe is borne Which in none wother use is
worne, Pretendynge some hid mistery.'
a Cooper, Annals,
i
men
secular,
And
313-5.
BARNES SEEMONr
following Sunday,
577
Unfortunately the vice-cliancellor for that year, Natares, master of Clare, was avowedly hostile to the Reformers Foxe indeed does not hesitate to style him, a
; '
<^^;^
He
by inhibiting hixsi from preaching altogether, and summoning him tq answer the allegations contfiinpd in the foregoing articles. The matter was heard in the cojnmon schools and according to Barnes' own account, the doors
s
were closed against all comers, and he was left to contend single-handed with Natares, Ridley (the uncle of the Reformer), Watson, the master of Christ's, a Dr. Preston, and a doctor of law, whose name, at the time that he composed The articles having been his narrative, 'he had forgotten'.
read over, the prior gave in a general denial of the respective
he admitted having used some of the phrases he said, had been most unfairly garbled. "Would he submit himself?' was the peremptory demand of the vice-chancellor; to which he replied, that if he had said aught contrary to the Word of God, or to the exposition of St. Augustine, St. Jeyome, or of 'the four holy doctors,' he would be content to recall it. Or to the laws of the Church,' added Ridley and Preston but to this he demurred, on the plea that as he was not a doctor of law he knew not what was included in that phrase. At this stage of the proceedings there came a loud thun- Tiieproceecidering at the doors. It had become known throughout the p'd ^y demonstrauniversity that Barnes was undergoing the ordeal of an ""rto? tho examination, and that his judges and accusers were denying "''*"'him a public hearing; and the students, now hurrying en masse to the common schools, demanded admittance. The bedell endeavoured to pacify them, but in vain. Then Naallegatiops;
or expressions that they contained, bvit even these,
' '
,
but,
fair
words,'
said
it
his remonstrances
They
appertfiined to learning,
;'
and they were the body of the university hearing of the matter was adjourned.
'Theire was also one mayster Jooke, and mayster Tyrell whiche was
and
the
316.
37
578
CHAP.
He is
Clare,
THE REFOEMATION.
Within a few days
after,
VI.
tlie
again
the lodge of
lodge at Clare College, and subjected to a further crossexamination by the same authorities ; and again a similar
.
and
ot
wptei""'"
An
interval of about a
month
followed,
He
refuses to
durins: which no further overt measures were resorted to but during that time Watson and Preston prepared a form of revocation to which they called upon Barnes to affix his signature; but as the document implied the correctness of the articles originally preferred against him, he declined to
cation.
first
and the
result of his
Wolsey
re-
energetic
measures.
Search made
for
Lutheran
books.
Barnes
rested
is
ar-
and
conveyed to London.
enemies had not been idle in and when Wolsey heard how his pillars and poleaxes had been singled out for scorn, his tolerance was at an end. A Dr. Capon and a serjeant-at-arms named Gibson were forthwith despatched to the university with instructions .^ to make strict search for Lutheran books and to bring the prior to Loudou. On their arrival they were enabled, by * j j information treacherously supplied, to go straight to the different hiding places where the poor Germans' had concealed their treasures. They were however forestalled by Forman, the president of Queens', who gave private warning to his party and when the inquisitors entered the different college rooms, and took up planks and examined walls, the objects of their search had already been removed. Barnes, who had either received no warning or scorned to fly, was arrested in p t the schools and brought to London and soon found himself
London
'
'
'
'
Wolsey
At
first
justice
Even
which the boldest were wont to quail, he still defended his theory of bishoprics, and dared to say that he thought it would be more to God's honour if the cardinal's 'pillars and poleaxes' were 'coined and sfiven in alms.' But *^ interview with Wolsey was succeeded by the public ordeal jj^ ^.j^g chaptcr-house, before six bishops (of whom Fisher and
before
...
; ;
BARNES' TEIAL.
Gardiner were two), and other doctors.
679
vi.
So far as may be chap. view of the matter and when the first article, charging Barnes with contempt for the observance of holy days, was read over, he declared that he for one 'would not condemn it as heresy for a hundred
inferred, Fisher inclined to a favorable
pounds
;'
'
but,'
prior,
'
it
was a
fool-
On the other hand, Clerk, bishop o'f Bath and "Wells', who had recently been promoted to that see in acknowledgement of his services against the Lutheran party, was evidently little disposed to mercy, and pressed more than one point with
vindictive unfairness against the accused.
The
proceedings,
extending over three days, followed the course almost invariably pursued
and at
at
roll
of his recantation.
story cannot
own words
Then was
all
For in the other thre dayes, was there no man suffered conclusion, to here one worde that I spake. So after theyr commandement that was gyven me, I red it, addyng nothyng to it, nor saying no word, that might make for myn excuse, supposyng that I shuld have founde the byshops the better. 'After this I was commaunded to subscribe it, and to make a crosse on it. Than was I commaunded to goe knel downe before the byshop of Bathe, and to require absolucion of hym, but he wolde not assoyle me, except I wold
me.
he shuld So did I swere, not yet suspectynge, but these men had had some crom of charite within them. But whan I had sworne, than enjoyned he me, that I shuld retoume that nighte agayne to prisone. And the nexte day,
first
enjoyn to me.
'
He had
appear.
37-2
580
CHAP. VL
THE REFORMATION.
'And that the worlde shulde thynke that I was a merveylous haynous heretyke, the cardynal came the nexte daye, with all the pompe and pryde that he could make, to Paules Church, and all to brynge me poor soule out of conseite. And moreover were ther commaunded to come all the hyshoppes
that were at London.
sainte Mary's Spittal,
And
all
of
and another monke, whyche I thinke was of Towre Hylle, were ther also in theyr myters. And to set the matter more forthe, and that the worlde shulde perfytly knowe and perceive, that the spiritual fathers had determined my matter substancially, the byshop of Rochester must preaehe ther that same daye, and all his sermon was agaynst Lutherians, as ihoughe they had convicted me far one: the whyche of truth, and afore God, was as farre from those thinges as any man coulde be, savynge that I was no tyraunt nor no persecutour of God!s worde. And al this gorgyous fasyng with myters and cros-staves, abbotes, and piyours were doone, but to blynde the people, and to outface me. God amende all thyng that is amisse'.' In the sequel Barnes was sentenced to imprisonment in. the house of his order at Northampton. From thence, after nearly three years' confinement, he effected his escape and fled to Germany. Here he made the acquaintance of many of the leaders of the Lutheran party. It is evident however, that, though his career was terminated at the stake, he only partially embraced the doctrines of Protestantism and from the time of his recantation his history can no
.
But before Barnes was lost to the cause, there had been added to the reform party another convert, who, if inferior to
the prior in learning, was at least his equal in courage and oratorical power, and certainly endowed with more discretion
L^fmer
Aisil.''''
^"^^ practical
Latimer.
>
At
sagacity. This man was the famous Hugh the time that Barnes preached his Christmas
etc., (quoted
The SMSpKcoeiono/(focor5o77ie,
by Cooper,4nnate,i322).
HtTGH LATIMER.
l!ve sermon, Latimer
581
chap, vl
was probably over forty years of age, and his adhesion to the new doctrines had not been given in until long after the time when such a step could justly be
represented as that of a rash and enthusiastic youth. fellow of Clare College, he was distinguished in the earlier h^^^'J^
part of his career by everything that could inspire the conficharacter.
He
;
was studious,
ascetic, devout,
and
of irreproach-
and without being altogether unversed in the new learning, he nevertheless shewed a far greater liking for the old he looked upon Greek with suspicion, nor does he appear indeed ever to have made any real attainments in the language he inveighed with warmth against Stafford's innovations, and even went so far, on one occasion, as to enter the schools and harangue the assembled students on the folly of
able
life
; ; '
Wittenberg
first
learned throughout Europe, he availed himself of the oppor- He attacks tunity afforded when keeping his act for the degree of chthML
'
all his power by the young German Keformer^ There were not many among the party whose cause he had espoused who combined high character with marked ability, and the authorities lost no opportunity of
He
was invested
His position
versity.
preachers annually appointed as directed by the bull of Alexander VI; nor are other indications wanting to prove
that he was regarded as a
sity in negociations of
fit
an important and confidential nature". Among those who listened to Latimer's harangue against Melanchthon was 'little Bilney.' He perceived that the He is conorator was zealous without knowledge,' and determined, if Bitaey.''^
'
possible, to
^ =
open
582
CHAP.
VI.
THE EEFOEMATION.
"'"^
was judiciously conhe sought out Latimer, not as an antagonist in the schools, but in the privacy of his college chamber; not as one who by virtue of superior wisdom assumed the office of a spiritual instructor, but as a penitent who sought his counsel and direction. He asked Latimer to hear his confession, and Latimer acceded to his request and in his own words, spoken long afterwards, learned more than before in many years\'
in order to accomplish his purpose,
ceived
'
In short, the confessor became the convert of him to whom he listened and it was soon known throughout the university, that the saintly crossbearer, the denouncer of Luther and Melanchthon, had himself gone over to the Germans.' In Latimer's own quaint language, he began to smell the Word of God, and forsook the school-doctors and such fooleries.' The date of his conversion is assigned by his latest biographer
;
'
'
He becomes
Bilney
s in-
MToofaite.
] 524, and from that time he became the intimate friend and associate of Bilney, in whose company he was now generally to be found one particular walk where they were frequently to be seen, engaged in earnest converse, was known among their satirists as the Heretics' Hill.' Together they visited and comforted the sick
'
'
unimpaired
;
as it
Barnes,
his
re-
and frequent
of Bilney's confession would be. Latimer had just been denouncing the study of the Holy Scripture as dangerous to the soul, and had reoommended his hearers to seek for peace and spiritual lite in implicit obedienoe to the teaching of the Church and the prescriptions of herministers. In reply to all this, Bilney would repeat the touching story of his own spiritual conflict, how he had gone
and
HUGH
West, who at this time
sixty years of
age.
filled
LATIMER.
the see of Ely, was
583
now
nearly chapjh.
His university education had beenNkhoiu. bp.^of e^^, received at King's College, of which he was for some time fellow; and his later life had been largely devoted to political
affairs
late
and the discharge of important embassies. As a prehe was distinguished for his ostentation, and for a
splendid style of living, inferior only to that of Wolsey himOne morning when Latimer as the appointed preacher self.
for the
day was about to commence a sermon at St. Mary's Church, the audience were startled by the sudden and unThe manoeuvre, for anticipated appearance of the bishop.
west^attendi
such it undoubtedly was, failed to disconcert Latimer, but it ^J^w roused his spirit. Gravely observing that the advent of so
august an auditor called for a change of subject, he selected
another text, and proceeded to discourse from Hebrews
ix.
theme the
and the
satirists of
West listened with attention, disguised his chagrin, and, when the sermon was over, sent for Latimer, and thanked him for the admirable manner
practice of their great Exemplar. in
office.
There was but one favour that he had yet to beg of him.
'What
said
?'
the
'Marry!'
'
'that
no requests
Latimer to
"^
and
his doctrine.'
'
My
lord,'
replied Latimer,
'
am
not
^^^^^ ^""'"
me
written, nor what opinion he holdeth. Sure I am that I have preached before you this day no man's doctrine, but
God out
of the
Scriptures.
And
if
Luther do none otherwise than I have done, there needeth no confutation of his doctrine. Otherwise, when I under1
584
CHAP.
VI.
THE EEFORMATION.
stand that he doth teach against the Scripture, I will hi ready with all my heart to confound his doctrine as much
as lieth in me'i'
The
sure
irre'
'
pan: you
will repent
was accordingly not long before the against Latimer at Barnwell bishop's voice was Latimer from preaching. inhibited him from preaching any Abbey; and he finally where in the diocese or in any of the pulpits of the university. Latimer It was then that Barnes invited Latimer to preach in the preaches at church of the Augustinian friars, where the episcopal veto the AuJSsti-' man friars, could uot reach him and it was thus that, as before narrated, on Christmas Eve, 1525, Barnes happened to be
one day.'
It
West
inhibits
uplifted
...
Latimer
is
before woi-
^-
preaching at St. Edward's Church, his own pulpit being filled by Latimer. Eventually Latimer too was summoned before Wolsev in Londou. But his language had throughout been far more discreet than that of Barnes, and he was also, what was much more in his favour, guiltless of having
uttered aught that touched the cardinal himself.
accordingly a fair and even a courteous hearing.
He
found
Wolsey's
brow relaxed when he found that the accused was well read in Duns Scotus he cross-examined him at some length with
;
woiseyii-
preach."
and Ely cannot abide such doctrine as you have here repeated, you shall have my Ucence, and ^^^^ preach it unto his beard, let him say what he wiU.' And from this ordeal Latimer returned unscathed and
;
If the bishop of
Sir
Thomas
high stew-
triumphant to Cambridge''. Towards the close of the year 1525, the high stewardship was offered to and accepted by Sir Thomas More, who continued to hold the
1
Latimer-Corrie, pp. xxviii, xxix. Demaus, Life of Latimer, pp. 55-58. 3 More was to have been elected the preceding year, but Sir Eiohard
2
Wingfield, 'a sad and ancient Knight' (see Cooper, Athena, i 32), had set his heart upon succeeding to the honour, and More, at the request of king Henry, retired from the caudi-
-EUROPE IN 1524.
for chancellor,
585
dis- cHAP.vr.
new
learning could
now have
felt
little
misgiving
respecting
so long
the
ultimate
been engaged. Humanists were for a time lost sight of in the graver struggle that had supervened. The writings of Luther absorbed almost the whole attention of educated Europe, and created a demand
battles of the
Absorbing
fj^^^*^?'
^J^'Eu"op|^
oif
the publishing
by Erasmus to Vivos in December, 1524, we find that the latter had applied to Frobenius, to know whether he would undertake the printing of a new edition of his works. The illustrious Iberian was then at the height of his reputation; but the printer sent word that it was useless at that time to print anything but what bore upon the Lutheran controvery. It is said that there were nearly two thousand pamphlets circulating It was a against the doctrine of transubstantiation alone. season of deep disquiet, fierce excitement, and gloomy forehodings; and the universal anxiety and agitation told sensibly on men of earnest and reflecting minds. Melanchthon, writing to Erasmus from Germany, complains that he is a prey to constant sleeplessness Pace makes a preletter
From a
written
ill at Rochester and doubtful of the sequel, writes to Erasmus, urging him
cisely similar
De
Ratione Concionandi,
him
still alive'
dature. 'Wingfield was accordingly elected; but his death, at Toledo in July of the following year, left the
office
quam maxima oupit cum litteratia musarum cultoribus familia.Et hasc res tarn serio agitur, et tarn grato atque adeo
. .
ritatem oontrahere.
elected his successor. From the following extract from a letter written by Latimer to Dr Green, who was master of Catherine Hall and vicechancellor in 1523, it appears that a Salary was at that time attached to the ofSce: '...non quod tantillo sa-
tam
quum
Moro datam causari supererat nobis jam Morus, sed regia id quidem (ut fertur) interoessione, ut
exoretur
opus tam honorifico viro' [Wingfield] ' et rerum omnium afSuentia tam insiguiter looupletato, sed pro Uberali sui animi generositate
lario sit
^Wynfyldo cedat, liceatque nobis citra omnem ignominias notam ^Wynfyldi votis obseouudare.' Latimer-Corrie,
ii
467.
i
'
586.
THE EEFOBMAHOlf.
age and his superiority to it were cddly blended, declares that omens so dire and so fireqnent as those he saw around him, cannot but be looked upon as
earthly
destinies';
while amid the deepening tumult and alarm there rises up the rugged re&ain chanted at Strassbuig by Eoy and
Barlow,
The world
is
Alas^
alas
Torse than erer it was, Kevet eo depe in misraabfe deeaye. But it cannet thus endnre alsaye,'
^mi
tie-
\;V'ith
The
predictions of the
almanac-makers intensified the prevailing dread. The year 1524 it had been foretold would be marked by wondrous conjunctions of the heavenly bodies and by events of awfid moment to all living beings ; and the author (rf a lugubrious production, entitled Epistola Cantahrigiefisis, took occa^on
and depravity of the and chanted once more the forebodings of an Augastine and a Gregory concerning the approaching end of all things*.
to descant on the universal corruption
age,
ritu
T^io
dixeris in saeramentalissima confessione. Caveat sihi qnisqne; Dominns TeniL' Letter to John Ctesarau, (aj). IS-li) Opera, 841. ' After detailing the signsof the corruption of the age, especially of the clergT, the writer goes on to say,
saltttifera
imo vicetimo quarto eupra wuUenmam memini me ita I^isse, " Hoe annonec soils nee Itnue edipsim conspieabimnr; sed pnesenti anno sydenim
habitndines mitata dignisrams accident ; in mense enim Febmario
viginti
'
aniibns peccatornm nostronmi hozrida vox qnotidie damat, enmqae &d nltionem proTocat; iraseantnr qnippe et astra ipsa nobisqne propinqmun minantnr interitiun. Dodnm sane in qnibusdam ephemeridibos, sen. diariis, qaod Toeant' (here Brown Etontly annotates in the margin, notCantdbrigiense* non tolenuu, ut plurimum, multum almanaeoffraphU tnbuere ; quodevmque hie bomu n'r e Monteregio college-
irascitor, in cajni
mediocres, turn magn^ aceidait, qnamm sedecim signnm aqnenm possidebnnt, qns oniverso fere orbi, ehmatibns, re-zds. proTindis. sta^bos. dignitatibos, bmtis, bdfaiis
maTTmig (ninctl=qne terrae nascendbns indobitatam mntationem, variationem, ae alteiatitmem sigmfieabant, talem piofecto qoalem a plnnbns secnhs ab historiogra^his aot nata
is
WILLIAM TTNDALE.
'
587
chap. vi.
Such were the characteristics of the times, when in England a new element of controversy, lighting fresh bonfires and evoking renewed denunciations, still further intensiThe day had come when fied the all-prevailing excitement. the scholar and the priest were no longer to be the sole students and interpreters of Scripture, and their dogmas and doctrine were to be brought home to an ultimate test by those whom they had neglected to teach and whose judgement they had despised. If the priest was incompetent or too
indolent to instruct the laity in the Scriptures,
might not
the laity claim the right to study the Scriptures for themthe appearance of William Tyndale's
was the simple question to which ApMsraac* New Testament gave ^^'^'^ a question answered even by men of noted liberality rise, and moderation of sentiment, like Fisher, More, and Tunstal, with so emphatic and passionate a negative. Nor will their
selves
1
Such
in reality
vehemence appear
less surprising if
we
recall,
that exactly
New
in
had carried out had been a volume to which these eminent men had given an unreserved sanction and encouI totally ragement, ^the Novum Instrumentum of Erasmus.
England, the idea which he
suggested and enlarged
upon
'
his tranaia-
dissent,' said the lady Margaret professor, in his admirable I totally dissent from Paracleds prefixed to the work,
'
4tat Bras-
P'|^,'a|.
*"" *"
those
who
"^
lated into
learned, as if Christ
The
mysteries of kings
it
but Christ wishes his I could mysteries to be published as widely as possible. wish even all women to read the Gospels and the Epistles
were
perhaps better
to
conceal,
mortalibua;
audivi
jam nuper ex
relatu esse ea ecientia
graYissimoram
viromm
modemos aUqnos in
probatissimos qui tantam tamque mirandam ex oelestium corporum influxiona augnrantur brevi eventuram
vol.
ii.
588
CHAP. VL of St. Paul.
THE REFORMATIOir.
And
all
languages of
all people,
sing parts of them at his plough, that the weaver may chant them when engaged at his shuttle, that the traveller may
with their narratives beguile the weariness of the way'.' It cannot be doubted that these words were noted and pondered
alike
by
Fisher, More,
and Tunstal
there
is
accordingly but
Reason of
with
one explanation of the change which had come over their views when, in 1526, they loudly condemned what, in 1516,
it
which
sarded.
they had implicitly commended ; and that explanation must be, the alarm that Luther's attitude and doctrines had
awakened thi-oughout Christendom among all those who yet clung to the theory of a one supreme visible Head and of a one universal and undivided Church. In exact
correspondence with this change of
Erasmus
writes
sentiment,
we
find
Erasmus
the
lists
De meroArbiLutber.
doctrine. of predestination
inexorably asserted
by the
fathers,
was
far
from being
by the great
communion. It
recall
His enemies denounce
raSe*of the
Keformation.
is
much unfairncss, the undeniable connexion between the new doctrines and the new learning. In the opinion of not a few
out, not altogether
... pomtmg
some of the sentiments to which he had given exHis enemies were now never tired
i
he had sown the wind and was reaping the whirlwind or, in the homelier metaphor of the day, he had laid the egg and Luther had hatched it.' It was in vain that the alarmed scholar protested and disclaimed, declaring that he had laid
;
'
only a harmless hen's &gg, while that which Luther had hatched was of an altogether different bird", the monks and
' *
clusit.
lana
WILLIAM TYNDALE.
friars
589
only reiterated their assertions yet more loudly, and at chap. vi. ^"^"^^^ Louvain, it would appear, he was at one time even reported to be the author of the
Be
Captivitate Bahylgnica.
But whatever might have been Erasmus's later sentir ments, the noble sentences above quoted had been given to
the world past recall ; they had been read by Bilney at Cambridge, and it is in every way probable that they had been
It
has been supposed by some writers that Tyndale was one of ^i,^n, Erasmus's pupils at the university but this supposition rests l^umtn on very insuflBcient evidence, and other facts would rather incline us to believe that Tyndale did not go to Cambridge It is certain that nothing in until after Erasmus had left'.
;
about probabiy a Tyndale was resident in the university; and SroLeVt it may safely be inferred that he was among the number of "s. those who listened to Croke's inaugural oration and subsetwo'.
1514 to 1521,
quently profited
a student at
by his teaching. He had originally been Magdalen Hall, Oxford, where he had already
office of lecturer,
performed the
pulte dignum.
gal-
linaceum, Lutherus exclusit pulltun longe dissimilUmiiiii.' Opera, iii 840. ^ Canon Westcott, Hist, of the EngUsh Bible, p. 31; Demaus, Life
of William Tyndale, p. 29 ; Mr DemauB himself assigns the period of Tyndale's residence at Cambridge to
iUum reciperet verDei, conflrmaretur in fide Eucharistica contra Vicleficam eeotam. Qaaip solUcite isti tractant hoc negotium, tanquam illis delegasset Deus
bum
between the years 1514 and 1521 and Erasmus, as we have already seen, left at the close of 1513.
^ The sole reference to Tyndale in the Epistolos of Erasmus with which I am acquainted, is the following passage in a letter from More, written about 1533 ; Eex videtur adversus hsEreticos acrior quam episcopi ipsi. Tyndalus, hsereticus nostras, qui et nusquam et ubique exsulat,
instituendum
et
mdimeutis
!
fidei
im-
buendum orbem
There
is
'
' Opera, ni 1856. certainly nothing in this language, nor in the way in which Tyndale speaks of Erasmus (see supra, p. 488, n. 3), that would lead us to infer that the Beformer was an old pupU of the great scholar. As
he waited on Tunet^^ because Erasmus had praised the bishop's munificence so highly,
it is
scripsit
esse
encomiums
may have
590
CHAP. VL recorded,
'
THE KEFOEMATION.
Hiuremini^
tord.
and the language of Foxe is hopelessly vague. he removed from thence to the university of Cambridge.' It in however at least a reasonable hypothesis, that he quitted Oxford from the same motives that probably weighed with Erasmus when he gave the preference to Cambridge, ^in order to escape the persecutions of the 'Trojan' party'. In after years we find him referring to persecution of this kind in terms that could only apply to Oxford, and which are evidently the vivid recoUec'Remember ye not,' tious of a painful personal experience. his famous 'Answer to Sir Thomas More, written he says in 1.5-SO (and More, we may well believe, must have remembered very well indeed), how within this thirty years and far less, and yet dureth to this day, the old barking curs. Duns' disciples and like draff callerl Scotists, the children of darkness, raged in every pulpit against Greek, Latin, and Hebrew ? And what sorrow the schoolmasters, that taught the true Latin tongue, had with them; some beating the pulpit with their fists for madness, and roaring out with open and foaming mouth, that if there were but one Terence or Virgil in the world, and that same in their sleeves, and a fire before them, ihey would bum them therein, though it should cost them thtir lives; affirming that all good learning decayed and was utterly lost, since men gave them unto the
Spying
his time,' says that writer,
'
'
Latin tongue'.'
At Cambridge, according to Foxe, Tyndale 'further ripened in knowledge of God's Word.' Though his writings
contain no reference to the
in 1521.
fact, it is
But
in the
same
year,
See nipra, pp. 487, 524-6. Work$, III 75. D'Anbign^ aggnres ns that Oxford 'where Eraemiu had BO many friends' (at thia time he liad scarcely one there left; was the city in which his Kew Testament met with the warmest welcome.' Blft. of the JUformation (transl. by White), T 220. gome notion of the conedness of thi8 writer's account of die
' '
'
Ecformation in England nmy be fonncd, vhen we state that, in on short chapter, he represents BUney as a fellow of Trinity College thirty years before its fonndation, Tyndale as lecturing at Oxford on Erasmns** New Testament years before the first edition appeared, and as conrerting Frith at Cambridge three years after the former had left the nniTentty.
/ f
O0THBERT TUNSTAL.
poverty, for
591
;chap. vi.
have held no fellowship, he went down to his native county u^uxnT of Gloucester, to be tutor in the family of Sir John Walsh. Sisau" We hear of him there as bringing forward for disctission,
clergy
who assembled
at Sir John's
His
life
at
''^y-
Cambridge, and as winning easy victories over well-beneficed divines whose learning was of another century, and incurring
of course their dislike
and
suspicion.
It
commenced his great design of translating the NewTestament into the English vernacular^. From thence, after about two years' residence, we trace him to
conceived and perhaps
London
where in
citizen
so
The memorable interview between these two eminent Cambridge men has often been the subject of comment, and affords perhaps as striking an illustration as any incident of the kind, of the widely different spirit and aims by which at this critical period the mere Humanist and the Reformer
were actuated.
Cuthbert Tunstal,
senior,
years Tvndale's
cuthijcrt
him
to quit Oxford,
and learning attracted his chancellor, and from that time his rise in life was rapid and continuous^ For that kind of success which depends on personal popularity and social advancement, he was, no doubt, eminently quahfied. He had a stately presence", a winning courtesy of manner, and consummate tact. His virtues, if not of an heroic His ciuirachis return to
On
England
his talents
the attention of
""
i_ See the interesting Bketoh of thia period in Tyndale's history in Mr. Demans's second chapter.
Cooper, AthencB,
199.
'A man
right
nient, as
Warham
592
.
THE EEFORMATIOS,
?^^- ^- that tempestuous age. Naturally averse to Tiolence and contention, he was equitable, humane and merciful ; his bitterest enemies could not denv 'that his feet were never swift to shed blood whUe among all his contemporaries the character of none stood higher for prudence and moderation. But all these advantages, natural and acquired, were marred ]^j^J*^ by an excess of caution ill-suited for stirring times and precisely at those junctxrres when his influence might have been exerted with appreciable benefit to the state, he was to be seen himself drifting with the current. He wrote in favour of the divorce, and then sought to conciliate its opponents by pleading the queen's cause he preached agaiujt the Act of Supremacy, and subsequently g-ave it his unqualified support;
;
foremost
HisTOtings. lie
among the patrons of Erasmus's Greek Testament, gave Tyndale's translation to the flames. His literary performances were characteristic of the man, of that safe
for
an author a
him
him in controversy. He published hymns and sermons, a small volume of devotional exercises, a synopsis of the Ethics of Aristotle, of whose doctrine of the Mean he was himself so eminent an example, and lastly, though not least, an admirable Arithmetia By this last work indeed there can be no doubt that Tunstal rendered a genuine service to his age. The science of numbers was then still in its infency, and in an age familiar -w-ith the knotty questions of Duns Scotus, a teacher like IMelanchthon found it necessary, in order to incite his scholars to the study, to reassure them, on the one hand, with respect to its difficulty, and, on the other hand, to allure them by pointing out its uses with reference to astrology' The treatise Be Arte Suppidandi has been
entertain
ambassadors
and
other"
noble strangers at that notable and honorable city of London, in the absence of the king's most noble
Hook's Lives, ti 913. For this amusing oration see Melanohthonis Declamationts i 38291. After pointing out some of ttie uses of arithmetic, he continues 'Yigrace.'
'
,
dete qnam late pateat nsns arithmetioes in oeconomia et in Bepnbb'oa. Aristoteles soribit Thrsces qnosdani esse qui uumerando non possimt progredi ultra quattuor; qnieso te, an tiUibns putes conmiendaudam esse
gabernationem, non dice magni mercatns ant renariuu metallioamm sed alicujus mediocris ceconomiie? Exis-
TTJSSTAL
censared
AXD TTNBALK.
593
by Deschales for insufficiency in demonstration ; chap. ti. quote the late profesor De Morgan's comment., ' Tun- hss zv A,tf but, to *"' st&l is a very Euclid l>v the side of his contemporaries.' ' The
wonder i^' obserr^ the same critic, ' tbat after his book had been reproduced in other countries, and had become generally
trifling speculations of
the Boethian school should have excited any furtlier attenFor plain common sense, well expressed, and learning tion.
most
visible in
been rarely
it treats'.'
had formed, Tunstal's book has surpassed, and never in the subject of which
the habits
it
carrying Cuthbert Tunstal Tvndale now waited, with him his translation of Isocrat^s. in the hope that tiie bistu^ might iM>t be unwilling to extend to him a helping
On
Tjndi
TBsti.
was his object to obtain firom Timstal aid of a kind Toadaed by wealthy ecclesiastics to men of letters in those days, a chajJaincy in his household, ^which would have secured to the needy scholar the requisite leisure for carrying on his literary labours. His hopes were high for Erasmus had lauded the bishop's generosity to the skies, and,
hand.
It
iineqaaidy
tt]ii>as pcsse mtkmes putolnm modo intncAtas evolvi et opGeari? Xeqnaqnam. Srd honmi
tiisemaaie
ope snblati in eehim, InsaniTeisam lenuu hatorau. cemene spMia metasqne maxi.
Hanuu
bare
oenlis
Jlmcom siiuilef sunt in niagnis ntiooibos et okscoxis omnef qui desDtati font hnjas aitis ptssidio.' iSsei having simibdj' TCCommended fin sla% of gebmetiy to theix mttentian, he aidds, 'His qpii in stndiis TersajQtnT et perfeetam doetrinam eiqsetant, iDajn sihi ntilitatem proponnnt, qood ad doetrinam de i^cs eidesSibTi> nnlhis atas patet nisi pa arithmetieam et geometnam. t qadem tuita tis est aiithnietiees in ikictrina de rebos eelestibos. nt meocri aiithmetieo peme omnia in ^KimuL rermn cKleistinm snnt pervia ; certe ma^xiam partem ejus doetrina sine nlkinegotioassieqiiii potest. Jam vide qnam exigoo iaboie qnantnm pietiam opers possis &eere. Kihil fMihns est qoam has (Ut tocant) spedes, in arte niuneranda disoere. His medioeiita' eognitis, frftm>oiiim (roiN>nta ttatim
morom
falnlff
dottfu^ eammt rfrum marimtamm gii<r im tae Aeaij. Huaa vUm aecidimt^ aniamdrfrtfre fobook,' aJiis De Koigaii, 'iras a faievell to the sciences on the antbi>r's appointmoit to the see of Loudon. It iras paUished (that
is,
caiporaia, fOHgrrtsHs,
ridfre
sidfmm
teritis." ^ 'The
Mm
the colophon is dated) on the 14th of October, and on the 19th the eonseciation took place. The book i.^ deeidedlv the most ria-SKiral vhieh ever vras written on the sabjeet in Latin, Ixtth in parity af st^e and goodness (rf mDTter. The aathox had read eveirthiug on the sabjeet in evexr language which he knew, as he a^ers iu his dt'dicatoiy letter to Sir Tliomas More, and he spent mnch time, he saj~N ad urfi (x^t^ltim, iu licking wht be found into shape.' Aritimftifal Bookt, p. 13.
.pffvipi
ant
ss
594
CHAP.
VI.
THE EEFOBMATIOX.
from a scholar like Tyndale, a request for a chaplaincy was but a modest petition. It has been assumed by some writers
that he explained to Tunstal the precise character of the undertaking he had in view, and that Tunstal then and there
'
perilous
'
an
'
emprise.'
But there
nothing in Tyndale's narrative to sanction such an inference, and it seems therefore more reasonable to conclude that,
not informed of from improbable however that Tunstal maj^ already have heard something about his visitor from other quarters, as a man of very advanced opinions,' and consequently have r^arded him as a dangerous
'
'
person to patronise.
Nor can we
was
'
own
description of himself,
and without grace in the sight of men, speechless and rude, V.duU and slow withal^'^ ^the courtly ecclesiastic instinctively recognised an uncongenial spirit, and one little likely to
pftove
It is certain
that he
Tunstaideeist
refusal.
met The
resentment, described
him.
1
him,
many
years after, as
still
up and down
.'
.
ing hypocrite
bishop
said,
; '
made
to dissemble.'.
SSted?"'
he had more than he could well find (i. e. proand he advised Tyndale to seek in London, ' where,' he said, I could not lack a service.' The poor scholar went forth from Tunstal's presence dis* -^ heartened and humiliated, and it was left for a generous layman to afford the aid which the cautious bishop had withvide for)
'
held.
were,
The reasons that dictated the decision of the latter we may be sure, of a kind that would have commended
themselves to the approval of not a few ; bxit nevertheless as we turn to compare the subsequent achievements of these
two men, it is difficult altogether to avoid the conviction, that though prudence and common sense are doubtless in'
'
1 ^
TtrSSTAL
AXD TTXDALK.
595
and junctures
fails
in chap.
vi.
which
'
sadly as the
;
guide of action.
Bishop Tunstal
livevl
to
and though even his circumspect policy and foresight could not secure for him complete immunity from the rude shocks of the times, he reaped his reward in the fowuoss of his
and died in a mild and houon^ble imprisonArithmetic went tlirough se\-eral editions; but in 1552 there appeared the gn\tly superior work of Becord and swept it to oblivion. Williaan Tvndalo passed, as is well known, the remainder of his lito in woarv But he accomplislied the exile, and died a martyr's death. work on which he had set his heart, and it has won for him the gratitude of countless thousands and of long distant
personal foes,
ment
His
excellent
generations
than three centuries, the divine and the scholar are eloquent
the wide globe, wherever and ; and throughout whenever the representatives of the English race are gjathered
in his ^aise
in the
fidl
temples of Protestantism, the words of Scripture that upon their ears recall the priceless service to his countrymen rendered by William Tyndale.
seeks a little thing to do. and does it: This high man, with a great thing to porsne. Dies ere he knows it... That has the woild here shonld he need the
'That low
Sees
man
it
next,
Let the world mind him This, throws himself on God, and onperplezt
!
Seeing
Iioftf designs
must
Loftilf Ifing,
Ijeare
him
still loftier
The story of Tyndale's life, from the time that he left Trndiirt Cambridge, belongs to a wider current than that of uni- "" Knsland. 1 versity hist-ory ; and his journey to Hamburg, his subsequent
intercourse with
of the printing of his
by
up the
finally the
appearance of numerous
382
596
CHAP.
VI.
THE REFORMATION.
1526,
work in England
in the spring of
^are
facts that
last
however one point which cannot here be dismissed entirely without comment it seems certain that Tyndale was mainly indebted to Cambridge for whatever Greek scholarship he possessed, and the question of his acquirements in this respect is consequently one in which the reputation of his university
:
is
Bis ments as a
attain-
to
It
not a
little
remarkable that
it
scholar misrepresented
by More,
whose
translation, it is to be borne
version, from the charge of being a servile reproduction of the German version by Luther and of the Vulgate. The
for
rise
such
it may fairly be termed, seems to have with the assertion of More, who affirmed that
New
Testament was
is
merely a translation of
part
of
so
Luther's version*.
prejudiced a judge
Fuller,
Misrepresentation on the
following century
we
Church History,
implying that Tyndale, in his translation of the Old Testament, owing to his ignorance of Hebrew, was almost entirely
dependent
Herbert Marsh,
on the Vulgate'.
and Haiiam,
Same view'
^
and
still
of
HaUam
'Whiche who so
ealleth the
it
Church History, ni
by a wrong name, excepts they wyU call it Tyndal's Testament or Luther's Testament. For so hadde Tyndale' after Luther's oounsayl corrupted and changed it from the good and wholesome doctrine of Christ to the develishe heresyes of their own, that it was cleane a contrary thing.' A Dialogue concei-ning Heresies and Mat-
Testament, ealleth
See Walter's Letter to Marsh, the Independence of tft Authorized Version of the Bible (1823). 'While I enjoyed the advantage of attending your lectures, a painful
On
Works
(ed.
'He rendered the Old Testament out of the Latin, his best friends not
entitling
him
to
any
skill at all in
impression was forced upon me that I must, for the future, cease to view the authorized version of the Bible in a higher light than as a secondary translation.... It was the combined effect of your language and manner which induced me to believe, that Tyndal... instead of translating directly from the original Scriptures,
WIIXIAM TYNDALE.
and the pages of an eminent
597
From
the
of canon
triumphantly vindicated the character both of the translator and of his work* ; and the annals of Cambridge at the
lustre, since
the heroic
who
so
exhibited in
and conscientious scholar, whose great achievement has merited and received the following high eulogium. ' Before anon
Tyndale began,' says canon Westcott,
he had prepared himself for a task of which he could apprehend the full difficulty. He had rightly measured the momentous issues of a vernacular
'
sunuuary.
version of the
Holy
Scriptures,
it
for all
efforts
end he availed himself of the best help that lay it as a master and not as a disciple. In this work alone he felt that substantial independence was essential to success. In exposition or exhortation he might borrow freely the language or the thought that seemed best suited to his purpose, but in rendering the
this
To gain
sacred text he
of a scholar.
From
and
remained throughout faithful to the instincts fiist to last his styk and interpretation
in the originality
of Tyndale
it
is
included in
For
Old Testament (in all probability) and of New, but he established a standard of Biblical translation which others followed. It is even of less moment that by far the greater part of his translation
the whole of the
^IMT*?"^*
*~'"
*"
but be endeavored in
and App. tiii; HalSm, HUt. ofLiUr<U^,i< 886 Froude, Hut. of . '
;
Jond, c. xu.
598
THE REFORMATION.
CHAP.VL remains intact in our present Bibles, than that his spirit
^~~'
He toiled
who
faithfully himself,
and where
he
failed
he
left to
those
success. The achievement was not for one but for many but he fixed the type according to which the later labourers worked. His influence decided that our Bible should be
that so
by
its
simplicity
manence.
He
felt
of
dol't^e"'
later
may be
wise in
Prologues clearly shew, he completely submitted himseK to the teaching, of the great Reformer*. And hence, although the Cambridge Reformers undoubtedly derived their
inspiration
first
from Erasmus, under the new influence their theology soon diverged from that of Rome to an extent which Erasmus had never anticipated, and on some points altogether discouraged that latitude of belief which he had sought to establish. Both the German and the English Reformer upheld in its most uncompromising form the
The Cambridge Reformers consequently
doctrine
of
predestination.
treated
respect. ^
thloii^'
SrnvlZ
Luther indeed stigmatised the former as a heretic, and declared that he hated him more than any of the wouldbe teachers of the Church'. And these views, though not perhaps adopted by all the early Reformers*, were certainly
'
those that
^
now
els in
but the worst heresies picked out of Luther's workes, and Luther's worst wordes translated by Tyndall and put forth in Tyndal's own name.' More, English Works, p. 228. ' 'Hieronymus soU uicht unter die Lehrer der Kirchen mit gerechnet noch gezehlet werden, deun er ist
effect,
Walch, xxii 2070. of George Joye, fellow of Peterhouse, seems to point to contrary tendencies. In his narreden,
*
The testimony
rative of his interview with Gascoigue, Wolsey's treasurer, he says: ' I came to Mr. Gascoing, whyche I perceyued by his wordes fauored
ttndale's
new testament.
599
vi.
Among
the
first
of Tyndale's
Testament began to spread abroad, was Edward Lee, at that time king's almoner and afterwards
archbishop of York,
New
EdZ^dTII,
"'
yort'''
fit
by a dishonest
and despicable attack on Erasmus's Novum Testamentum, and had nearly quarrelled with Fisher on account of that
prelate's
friendship for
Henry
to apprise
him
need not,' he said, to advertise your grace Lee sounds what infection and' danger may ensue hereby if it be not the appearwithstanded. This is the new way to fulfil your realm with Z^^^"'^ All our forefathers, governors of the Church '"'Lutherans of England, have with all diligence forbid and eschewed
I
'
Church of England".'
Spalatin, in
Germany,
his diary
that
the
were
Demand
England.
for
money
tion of the
of its pages.
its
appear-
marked that
Novum
an innovation upon the current theological notions, and there was the direct hostility to the volume itself as the vehicle of much that was
the abstract hostility to the undertaking as
distasteful.
It
and he rebuked
I studied Arigene [Origen] wbycbe was an beretike, said be; and he saide that I helde such opinions as did BUney and Arture.' Quoted by Maitland, Essays on the Reformation,
p. 9.
of Fisher,
"
85
Lewie, Life
ii
Froude,
of England,
SI,
600
CHAP.
VI.
THE REFORMATION.
The Greek words
'
doctrinal teaching.
Anti-Romish
"?tataGree'k
of the Vulgatc had been translated as equivalent to 'church,' 'priest; charity,' grace,' confession,' penance,' had in Tyn' ' '
gpi>nt
dale's version been rendered by the words 'congregation,' 'elder,' <" Ridley, the uncle love,' 'favour,' knowledge,' repentance.'
' '
'
Warham's
chaplain, complained
'As
if,'
he
says,
'so
many Turks
tion,
except he wishes
'
them
also to
be a church.'
'
Ye
shall
It is accused
The volume.
Paul's Cross,
and damned by the consent of the prelates and learned men'.' Wolsey advised Henry to condemn the v'olume to be burnt, and the royal mandate to that effect was forthwith issued.
Cuthbert Tunstal, who presided at the burning at Paul's Cross, declared in his sermon on the occasion, that the
versiou Contained two thousand errors
9
,
while More, at a
-i
somewhat later period did not scruple to assert, that Tyndale's New Testament was the father of all the heresies by reason of his false translating'.' Such was the reception originally afforded by the ecclesiastic and the man of letters to the
'
' Westcott, Hist, of the English So also More in Bible, p. 42, n. 2. hia Dialogue (bk. iii c. 8), 'Now dooe these names in our Englishe toungue neither expresse the thynges that be ment by them, and also ther appeareth (the circumstances wel considered) that he had a mischievous jninde in the chaunge.' English Works, p. 229. ^ Westcott, p. 43. Or, according to Eoy, a yet larger number : 'He declared there in his fmious-
like
now gnaw out their mother's bely, that the bare names of those bookes wer almost inough to make a booke,
and of every sort of those bookes be some brought into this reahne and kepte in hucker mucker, by some shrewde maisters that kepe them for no good. ^Besides the bokes of Latin, French, and Dutch (in which there are of these eviU sectes an inuume-
nes
in the trans-
rable sorte), there are made in the English tongue, first, Xindale's Newe Testament, father of them al by reason of hys false translating. And after bookes of that, the fyve Moyses, translated by the same man, we node not doubte in what maner,
Rede me,
More
and
for
falsely translated
Of these bookes of heresies ther many made within these fewe yeres, what by Luther himself and by his felowes, and afterwards by the new sectes gprongeu out of his, which
be so
Gonfutation of TynEnglish Works (1532), p. 341. 'For he had corrupted and purposely chaunged in many places the text, with such wordes as he might make it seme to the unlearned people, that the Scripture affirmed their heresies
it selfe.'
Jbid. p. 310.
601
volume which must he looked upon as essentially the same chap. vi. ^''~^'~~' with that over which the foremost biblical scholars of our
country are at the present time engaged in prolonged study
and frequent consultation, and while aiming at the removal of whatever is obsolete in expression or inaccurate in scholarship,
are none the less actuated
by reverent regard
for
what
is
at
monument
In the mean time the erection of Wolsey's college at p . Oxford had been rapidly progressing. As the scheme ot a
_,,,,
11,
single foundation it
ficence,
unprecedented magni- J}^"'*" and when in the year 1527 the university took
scale of
was on a
numerous
new
theme
'
was certainly no insignificant compliment to Cambridge that Wolsey paid in inviting some of her most promising young scholars to transfer themselves as teachers and lecturers to the new
and order' that pervaded the whole design*.
It
Motives that
^ ""Yth
J^*ni^^
we ask for more unequivocal testimony and reputation of the younger members of the reform party than the fact that it was almost exclusively
foundation-5 nor can
to the character
1
WUkins, Concilia,
m 709.
'The
plan in this benefaction was large and noble, as appears by a draught of the statutes sent to the society tinder his hand, and seal. By this scheme, there was a dean and sub-dean, threescore canons of the first rank and forty of the second, thirteen chaplains, twelve clerks, and sixteen choristers ; to which we must add, lecturers or professors in
cardinal's
186. And lastly, there was a revenue settled for the entertainment of strangers, the relief of the poor, and the keeping of horses for college business. As to the building, it was
canon law, civil law, physic, logic, and humanity. There were likewise four censors of manners and examiners of the proficiency of the students there were
divinity,
philosophy,
in
all,
magnificent in the model, curious in the workmanship, and rich in the materials; and if the cardinal had lived to execute the design, few palaces of princes would have exeeeded it. Neither would the library have been short of the nobleness of the structure; for the cardinal intended to have furnished it with the learning and curiosities of the Vatican, and to have transcribed the pope's manuscripts for that purpose.' CoUier-Lathbury, iv 57.
602
CHAP.
VI.
THE EEFOEMATION.
fell.
It
is
who then
Thoaidtims
given to
'g^jSj^^
Buperfluous.
College and to whom was well aware of what was going on on the other side of Trumpington Street within so short a distance of his own lodge, and he may even have often noted Rogers and Thixtill stealing out from the college to join the conferences of the malcontents. But he may also not improbably have thought that for a number of young men whose heads were full of crude notions, and who were stiU in the first ardour of their attachment to a cause they had but just embraced, there could be nothing better than removal to a distant and busy scene of action, where their minds would be absorbed in active duties, and where, with the responsibility of instructing others devolving upon them, they might consider more dispassionately the opinions they had embraced. Nor is it impossible that Wolsey, whose acknowledged leniency towards the Reformers had not yet been exchanged for a harsher policy, may have been a participant in this view and have applauded Shorton's discretion^ But however ^ ^ this may have been, we certainly cannot assent to the representations of Antony Wood', who would have us believe that learning at Oxford at this time was in so prosperous a state that the aid thus afiforded by Cambridge to the sister university was altogether superfluous. The men who had most promoted the new studies some twenty or fifteen years before, had
ablost scholar of
them
all,
Oct
20, '1524
Cambridge students were transferred to Cardinal College. His will, dated October 12, 1524, gave ample proof that his attachment to the cause of science was stiU unabated*; and it is certainly not to be attributed to any defect in his
design or in his liberality that the founder of the College of
' Strype {Life of Cranmer, p. 3) mentions Dr. Capon, master of Jesus College, as also acting on Wolsey's
Wood-Gutch,
ii
25.
behalf in the matter. 2 According to Dr. London's statement to Warham (Troude, u 46),
LEARNING AT OXFORD.
Physicians failed to identify his
603
vi,
name with the rise at both chap, * Oxford and Cambridge of schools of medicine that might have rivalled the fame of Salerno and of Padua. Unfortunately
his executors,
though
men
of unquestioned integrity,
',
scheme remained for a long time inoperative and the universities were wantonly and ultimately the Linacre foundations, originpillaged ally designed and not inadequately endowed as the nucleus of an efficient school of natural science at both universities, dwindled to two unimportant lectureships, each at the disposal of a single college, and offering in the shape ofiiie
ability
'T
B
.
Linacre Lectureswps.
Cambridge.
' The management of Linacre's bequest has been criticised by Dr. Johnson in his life of the founder, published 1835, in the following
: ' Amongst the many instances of misapplication and abuse on the part of feoffees of funds, the appropriation of which has been specifically prescribed, a more glaring
terms
one has seldom occurred than the following, which recent enquiries have been the means of exposing to the world. Tunstal.. .seems on this occasion either to have sacrificed the consistence of his character to private friendship, or to have been diverted from his duty by arguments against which his old age and imbecility of mind rendered bim a very unequal opponent. It is evident from the tenour of the letters patent that the inheritance of the ample estates, which Linacre had assigned to his trustees, was intended to be vested in the university of Oxford, for the performance of the obligations which the letters specified. Wood admits that the trustees meditated such a disposal of them, but that owing to the great decay of the university in the reign of Edward vi.
the survivor was induced to settle in Merton College, and that he was induced to this disposition of the funds by Dr. Eainhold, the warden, and by the preference which that college had long enjoyed over others in the university, as a foundation whence inceptors in physic generally proceeded. By an agreement between these parties, dated 10th of December in the above year, a superior and inferior reader were appointed, the one with an annual salary of 12, the second with a salary of 6. The appointment to these lectures had been originally vested in the trustees, but it was agreed that it should be transferred to the college. .The same influence which prevented the intention of the founder from being carried into effect at Oxford, prevailed equally at Cam-
them
. .
bridge. The remaining lecture was there settled in St. John's College, in whose statutes the reader is expressly mentioned, and the duties It is of his ofSce defined at large. provided that the lectui'e should be publicly delivered in the schools, unless a sufScient reason to the bontrary should be assigned by the master and a majority of the eight seniors. The lecturer was to explain the treatises of Cralen De Sanitate
Tuenda and De Meth^do Medendi, as translated by Linacre, or those of the same author De Elementis et Simplicibus. He was to continue in office three years and a half ; but his
604
CHAP.
VI.
-THE REFORMATION.
history of those
Oxford.
Cambridge students who accepted Foxe and D'Aubign^, and has been retold, with all his wonted felicity of narrative, by Mr.' Froude. The principal names that have been preserved to us are those of John Gierke', Richard Cox, Michael Druram, John Frith, Richard Harman, Thomas Lawney, John Salisbury, and Richard Tavemer. Though acting with greater circumspection and secresy, they appear to have formed at Oxford a society like that they had left holding its meetings at the White Horse at Cambridge and the infection of Lutheran opinions soon spread rapidly
"Wolsey's invitations forms a -well-known chapter in
The
Wolsey's treatment of
the young
to other
colleges.
The
authorities
lapse of
ings,
Reformers
Cardinal
College.
at.
two years, became fully apprised of their proceedand the movement was clearly traced to the activity of
comers,
of
'
the
new
warden
New
College,
Would God,' exclaimed Dr. London, the when he learned that these pestisociety
lential doctrines
my
master and seniors had a power of election from some other college. An election was to take place immediately upon a vacancy, or at least twenty weeks previously to the commencement of the lectures, that time might be afforded to the reader to prepare himself for his duty. At the expiration of his term a reader might
Johnson, Life of Linacre, pp. 276-7. It wiU be seen from the foregoing extract that Johnson's censures apply to mismanagement of very ancient date. Of late the appointment of Linaore lecturer has been sought rather as a recognition of acknowledged proiessioual ability than ou account of be re-elected.'
emoluments. In the statutes sanctioned by the queen in Council, in 1860, it was ordered by statute 41 that the election should be vested in the master and seniors of St. John's College ; that the lectures should be open to any student of the university ; and that the lecturer should receive all'payments to which hewas entitled by the foundation, together with any other advantages or emoluments which might be assigned to him by the master and seniors. The advantages thus resulting to the university, in the shape of most competent
scientific instruction,
have undoubt-
edly been fuUy commensurate with the moderate salary that still represents the original foundation. Further information on the subject will be found in Appendix B to Lord
Brougham's Commission.
' It is doubtful, as there were several of his contemporaries of the same name, whether this John Gierke
the same as the one whose death prison was attended by such touching circumstances. Mr. Cooper {AtheruB, i 124), inclines to the ne gative conclusion.
is
in
605
vi.
had never motioned to call any Cambridge man to his most chap. It were a gracious deed if they were tried godly college
'
!
and purged and restored unto their mother from whence they came, if they be worthy to come thither again. We
were clear without blot or suspicion
they came'!' But at time he was compelled to admit that the proselytthe same the most towardly isers had found their converts among
till
'
'
young
men
in the university.'
Wolsey's chagrin
at
the
discredit thus
and those students who were convicted of having Lutheran volumes in their possession were treated with barbarous
cruelty.
They were thrown into a noisome dungeon, where and protracted duration of their
Of the
all
latter
number however
In the
it is
subse-
marked distinction in life. meantime a rigorous enquiry had been going on at ProMedings Cambridge and as the first result, towards the close of the ^^^"1" *' year 1527, George Joye, Bilney, and Arthur, were summoned George joye. by Wolsey to appear before the chapter at Westminster to
quently attained to
;
many
own language,
'
among
so
was not over hasty to thrust himself in among them.' Perceiving that he was circumvented by treachery, he successfully outmanoeuvred his enemies, and efiiected his escape from London to Strassburg. On arriving there he lost
many
wolves,'
His
flight
to
no time
in
Newnham
of the
Abbey, by
heresies
whom
His subsequent
(ed.
1 Dr. London to Warham, Eolls House MS. (quoted by FroUde, ii For Dr. London see Wood, 46).
Colleges 188.
*
and Halls
Gutch), p.
"^^
CHAP. TL disLDgenuous
His
THE
EEFOBSIATIOJf.
dune-
performances in connexion with Tyndale's **ew Testament, and Tyndale's description of his character*, will perhaps incline ns to conclude that the severity with which Dr. Maitland has commented on his want of veracity,
in
^^g^
^^^^
^^
^">^-
that of other of the early Reformers, is in mstance not altogether undeserved*. With Arthur and BUney, whom Joye had left undergcnng their examination at the chapter-honse, it fared much the same as with Barnes. The indictments against Arthur were not numerous ; and of these, while he admitted some,
this
common with
He denied that he had exhorted the people to pray for those in prison on accoxmt of
he had preached against the
having used bold language in favour of lay preaching; to having declared that every layman was a priest*; and more
a sermon before the university on Whit Sunday, 'that a bachelor of divinity, admitted of the university, or any other person having or knowing the gospel of God, should, go forth and preach in every place, and let for no man of what estate or d^ree soever he were: and if any bishop did accuree them for so doing, his
especially to having said, in
EHKoiiia- curses
harm
of himself'
Of these latter
^*
n=x-
he now signed a revocation and submitted himself to the judgement of the authorities \ Bilney, who was i^aided as the archheretic, and who probably felt that on his firmness the constancy of his followers materially depended, gave more trouble. He had offended
articles
veil, priour of
Kewnham Abbey
be-
sydet Bedforde, $ent teeretly to the bishope of Lyneolne, in the yeare of OUT Lord 1527. Wheer in the sayde priour aecuseth George Joye, that tyme being feUnc of Peter College in Cambryge, of fotcer opinyons : itith the ansaere of the sayde George unto the sayde opinyons. Strassborg. ' I believe the date from Strassbnrg to be merely a blind, and that the book was printed in Iiondon.' ^^aitl^^^1^^ Etsays on the Reformation, p. 12. 1 Canon Westcott, Hist, of the
in wamdum , pradiomni ereatune; bf anthotitr etery man may preach.' (Second Artide, FoxeCattley, iv 623). ArOmr's inference almost enggeste a donht whether he rightly translated Hie Latin, 4 Cooper, AnaaU, i 325; FozBCattley, it 620-3.
eate erangelium
He sa^ Euntes
which
JOYE, ARTHUR,
against the authority of the
AND
BILNEY.
607
chap.
vi.
The
voice
friars
had twice dragged him from the pulpit; his had been heard at Christchurch and St. George's in
inveighing against pilgrimages and the pretended
Ipswich,
miracles of the
day
had been no
vehement though less in his attacks on the pride and pomp of the superior clergy; and finally, he was a relapsed heretic\ At first it seemed that he was resolved to iacur the direst penalties rather than abjure a second time. When urged by Tunstal he
less
three times
refused his
submission;
an act of recantation.
He recants a
committed to prison
abjured by Wolse)' ;
examined and
and
months' imprison-
bridge,
Hill
,
ment regained tis liberty, and was once more seen at Camwalking and conversing with Latimer on Heretics'
It
it
.sieiton-a sa-
to
this
that
^J^se
Bilney denied that he had wittinglytaiightanyof Luther'Eopinions. ' Then the cardinal asked hiin, whe-
had not once made an oath that he would not preach, rehearse, or defend any of Luther's opinions, but would impugn the same everywhere ? He answered that he had made such an oath hut
ther he
tefore,
;
not lawfully.'
Begister).'
'
Bumet-Pocock,
70.
men can testify; There lyke a sorte of sottes, Te were fayne to bear fagottes, At the feeat of her concepcion Te snfEred suche correction?' Skelton-Dyce, i 211. It wiU not be
possible to reconcile this reference to Bilney's recantation in 1527, vrith
written Why come ye Courtet' But this objection rests entirely on the assumption that Wolsey identified Skelton thus early as the author of that satire, of which we have no evidence while there is certainly no other act of penance on the part of Cambridge Reformers recorded as having ta^en place in a prior year, on the 8th of December, i. e. the Feast of the Conception,
608
THE REFORMATION.
the most contemptible of his extant "^^ compositions, ^whereby he sought to second the terrors of the law by the lash of satire. In his Replycacion against certain yong Scholers abjured of late,' dedicated to his former patron, we meet neither with the poetic fancies of the Garlande of
'
'
Coarseness of
Laureir nor the vigorous irony of 'Colyn Clout' or of 'Why come ye uat to Courte?' but a mere outpouring of coarse invective and rancorous spite. He grudges the poor scholars
the exhibitions which their talents and industry had gained
for for
them
^a
singular charge
a theologian of the old school to prefer, ^that they so 'cobble and clout' the Gospels' and Epistles, that the
laity are
Beathot
It does not appear that Bilney on his return to Cambridge was regarded with less esteem by his friends, but he was a humiliated and saddened man, and his sufferings from selfreproach were such, that it was for some time feared that his reason would give way. It is certain that he no while, in the same longer assumed- the part of a leader he returned, his party sustained another serious year that blow in the death of the eloquent and highminded Stafford. It was in the generous discharge of the offices of Christian charity that the latter met his end. During the prevalence of the plague he had the courage to visit one of
;
the infected,
master of
.arts
of Clement's hostel.
This
man, whose name was Henry, although a priest, was known under the designation of 'the Conjuror,' owing to his reported
addiction to the study of necromancy.
1
'Some
of yon had ten ponnde Therewith for to be foande At the unyrersyte Employed whiche might have be
pellere.'
' Ibid,. 1 217-S. It will be observed that these are precisely the practices against which Bilney directed his attacks. There can be no doubt that it is to Bilney's trial that More in Ms Dialogue (written 1528) refers; for the same heretical tenets are there animadverted upon in connexion with a recent and important conviction for heresy. See his Eng-
Moche
2
Skelton-Dyce, i 213. 216. It may be noted that it was on account of their attention to the Grospels rather than to the Sentences, that the early Reformers were often designated as ' GosIbid.
I
Ush Works
LATIMER'S CARD SERMONS.
609
vr.
not improbably, was regarded as a special judgement ; and chap. Stafford, seizing the opportunity, urged upon him the unlawful nature of his studies with such effect, that before
'
he had been consigned to the flames. left the His purpose accomplished, Stafford went home, and was himself attacked by the plague and carried off in a few hours'. With Stafford dead, Bilney discredited, and Barnes in |^J^^j_[^^ prison, the Cambridge Keformers might have lacked a leader, %l.^ii had not Latimer at this juncture begun to assume that prominent part whereby he became not only the foremost
conjuring books
'
man
but
'
Reformation
in England.
His
two celebrated discourses at St. are a notable illustrati9n of the freedom of simile ber, 1529,
and quaintness of fancy that characterise the pulpit oratory Delivered moreover on the Sunday before of bis age. Christmas, they had a special relevancy to the approaching
was customary in those days for almost every card-piaying a general f^, card-playmg at Christmas time. g^'f Even the austere Fisher, while strictly prohibiting such
season.
It
household to indulge in
conceded per^
and
St.
John
thus to
John sat
thi3
By
aleis,
Fnller-Priekett & Wright, p. Cooper's conjecture {Annals, i 327 n. 5), that the conjurer was perhaps only a mathematician, seems
'
hseo
nemo sociorum
tesseris,
206.
thematioal studies were held at this time ; nearly a century before, John Holbrook, master of Peterhouse, had compiled and bequeathed to that society a complete set of astrouomical tables; while Melanchthon, as we have already seen (supra, p. 592), had openly commended the study of astrology. For Holbrook's labours, the
Tabulce Cantabrigienses, which belong to the history of mathematical studies in the university, see Mr. B.a,l&we\i.'a Catalogue of tlie Contents of the Codex HolbrooManus 1840. " The scholars were forbidden to play even at Christmas time. 'Ad
ohartis aliisve ludis jure canonico Tel regni prohibitis utatur, prseterquam solo Nativitatis Christi tempore, neque turn in multam nocfern aut aHbi quam in aula, atque id duntaxat animi remittendi causa, non quaestus lucrive gratia. JHscipule/rum vera neminem dictos ludos exercere ullo unquam tempore permittimus, aut intra collegium aut Early Statutes of St. John's extra.' (1530), ed. Mayor, p. 138: for statutes of 1524 see Ibid. p. 834. Latimer does not seem to have in any way hinted disapproval of the practice ; but the Reformers, generally, denounced it ; and at the Council of
taxillis,
Augsburg it was decreed that those who countenanced any game of chance should not be admitted to the communion. See Taylor's Hist,
89
610
THE REFORMATION.
(;bat^. having recourse to a series of similes drawn from the rules of primero and 'trumpV Latimer accordingly illustrated
his subject in a
manner that
for
some weeks
after caused
and his Card Sermons became the talk of both town and university. It need hardly be added that his similes were skilfully converted to enforce the new doctrines he had embraced more especially, he dwelt with particular emphasis on the far greater obligation imposed on Christians to perform works of charity and mercy than to go on pilgrimages or make costly offerings to the Church. The novelty of his method of treatment made it a complete success and it was felt, throughout the university, that his Among those shafts had told with more than ordinary effect.
gathering
;
who regarded
attemptoa"
his
Buckonham, the
like
vein.
of
i^^er.
from
from dice; and as the burden of the former's discourses had been the authority of Scripture and an implied assumption of the people's right to study the Bible for themselves, so the latter proceeded to instruct his audience how to throw cinque and quatre to the confusion of Lutheran doctrines the quatre being taken to
cards, the prior took his
denote the
'four doctors'
passages in the
New
the occasion".
Mntofyerey"
intheimiver-
-^^* ^^ imltatiou is rarely as happy as the original, nor ^g^ Buckonham in any respect a match for the most popular and powerful -preacher of the day; and his effort at reply only served to call forth another and eminently effective
of Playing Cards, pp. 249-88, for the at cards in vogue at this period. Seven of the cards in the Jeu de Mantegna were named from the subjects of the trit/ium and juadrivium. From the French triomphe : so Latimer in his first sermon: 'The game that we will play at shall be
games
called the triumph, which, if it be well played at, he that dealeth shall win; the players shall likewise win and the standers and lookers upon shall do the same.' Latimer, Ser^otm (ed. Corrie), p. 8. For the game of La Triomphe, see Taylor, p. 372-3; it is, he says, the parent of &art^.' = Demaus, Life of Latimer,-^. 97.
'
LATISIER.
sermon, by
way
and
at Barnwell.
against
West again entered the lists against the Reformer, John Venetus, a learned foreigner, preached him from the pulpit of St. Mary's \ St. John's
was rumored under Fisher's influence, distin-
College, it
guished
itself
by a peculiarly
bitter hostility
and
it
was
ilot
^?^^'
TenttoS**"
the royal
Mr. Vice-chancellor, I hastily commend me imto you, adversame that it hath been greatly complained unto the kinges highnes of the shamefull contentions used now of late in sermons made betweene Mr Latymer and certayne of St. John's CoEege, insomuch his grace intendeth to set some ordre therein, which shttlde not be greatly to yours and other the heades of the universities worship. Wherefore I prey you to use all your wisdom and authoritie ye can to appease the same, so that no further It is not unlikely that they of St. complaints be made thereof. John's proceedeth of some private malice towards Mr. Latymer, and that also thei be anymated so to do by their master, Mr Watson, and soche other my Lorde of Rochester's freendes. Which
'
tising the
malice also, peradventure, cometh partly for that Mr. Latymer fweoureih the kinges cause, and I assure you that it is so reported to the kinge. And contrary, peradventure, Mr Latymer being by them exasperated, is more vehemente than becometh the very evangeliste of Christe, and de industria, speaketh in his sermons certen paradoxa to offende and sklaunder the people, whicli I assure you in my mynde is neither wisely donne ut nunc aunt Ye shall therefore, in tempora, neither like a goode evangeliste. my opynyon do well to commaunde both of them to silence, and that neither of them from henceforth precheuntyll ye know fiirther of the kinge's pleasure, or elles by some other waies to reduce them in concordance, the wayes how to ordre the same I remyt to your wysdom and Mr. Edmondes, to whom I praye you have me heartily commended, trustinge to see you shortly. At Loudon, the
xxiiiith
day of January.
Your
lovinge freende,
Edward
'
Foxe".'
Cooper, Athena,
40.
p. 14.
392
612
CHAP.
VI.
important controversy then dividing the sympathies of the English nation, and in connexion with which the universities played a prominent though little
honorable part,
of the Royal Divorce. When was holding out inducements to the ablest scholars in Cambridge to transfer themselves to his new foundation at Oxford, there were some who, doubtless from good and sufficient reasons, declined his tempting
refers to another
the question
1524>,
Tliomas Oranmer.
i>. 1489. (.1S56.
Tlie
*Dolplim.*
and, characteristically enough, among this number was the wary and sagacious Cranmer. Cranmer was at that time in his thirty-fifth year and a fellow of Jesus College. The circumstances under which he had been elected were peculiar, inasmuch as he was a widower and had vacated a former fellowship by marriage. At the Bridge Street end of All Saints' Passage there stood in those days a tavern of good repute known by the sign of the Dolphin. From its proximity to Jesus Lane it was probably especially patronised by Jesus men; and Cranmer in his visits fell in love with the
offers;
Cranmer's
marriage.
whom his enemies in after years were under the designation of 'black Joan'.' His marriage soon after he had been elected in 1515 a fellow of Jesus College, involved of course the resignation of his fellowship, and for a time Cranmer maintained himself by
landlady's niece, to
to refer
wont
His wife's
death.
as 'common reader' at Buckingham College. But within a twelvemonth his wife died; and it may be looked upon as satisfactory proof both of the estimation in
officiating
which
his abilities
A second
time elected
Teilow of Jesua Col-
lie.
maritos vel maritatos. last harbarous word was not, or was not taken notice of, in Jesus College statutes. Cranmer herein is a precedent by himself, if that may be a precedent which hath
nostras
It
esse
seems this
Anecdotes of Archbp. Cranmer, in Nichols, Narratives of the Reformation, p. 269. 2 'I know
none to follow it.' Ibid. p. 203. A recent election, to a fellowship on the foundation of the college of the
houses run
same name
has
CRANMEE.
613
at Cambridge
In the long vacation of 1529 the outbreak of the plague chap.vi. had driven away the members of the university, o^^Ii^^ and among the number Cranmer had taken refuge with two ^S'that
pupils, also relatives, of the
name
SSe^Sd
lespecung
tii'""*-
house at Waltham.
happened that during his residence there, the same epidemic had compelled the court to leave London ; Waltham had likewise been selected for the royal retreat and Fox, the writer of the above letter, then provost of King's College, and Gardiner, then master of Trinity Hall, were lodged at Cressy 's house. Cranmer was probably already well known to both, and as his reputation as a canonist was
It so
;
Henry's mind,
the
to
be trouoft-told
It
story, under the shadow of earl Harold's foundation, that nobly conceived innovation on the monastic monopoly of
leamiag',
that the
and
carried out
by Henry, was
unnecessary that
we
ments of a controversy respecting which, amid all the ^^^^ sophistry and ingenuity that have been expended on it, few
candid students of the period are probably
,.
'iiii*^
much
at variance;
and the latter, though its details are correctly described by Mr. Froude as not only wearying but scandalous,' lies too directly in our path to be passed by without comment. The question propounded to the universities, it is to be observed, was very far from embracing those considerations of expediency that have been urged by different The loss by death writers in extenuation of Henry's policy.
'
of one after another of the royal children, the possibility of a disputed succession and of the revival of civil war, were not matters of which the pundits of Oxford and Cambridge
>
614
THE REFORMATION.
supposed to have any cognisance.
CHAP^,
The question, which and theologians they -were called upon to decide, was simply whether a man may lawfully marry his brother's wife, after that hvther's death without issue^ ; and there were possibly some half-dozen men of education and intelligence
^gj.g
as canonists
in the
kingdom who
these learned
bodies would be
in
scrupulous conformity
with what they found to be the preponderance of authority in the Scriptures, the fathers, the canonists, and the schoolThe question
really involv-
men.
It
all
edtLatofthe\yas
supreme au-
tacitlv
*/
thorityofthecQj-Qiiary
Pope had granted a dispensation for Henry's marriage with Catherine and every effort on the king's part to prevail on Clement to annul this dispensation had been unavailing"; in referring the question to the universities it was therefore obvious that Henry was tacitly reviving the fifteenth
to
that which
Julius
II
Fallacious
thejxpedient.
century theory of oecumenical councils that of an authority which could control the pontifical decrees. Apart therefore from the known sympathies of Ann Boleyn with the Reformers, the appeal to the universities at once evoked in the most direct manner fresh demonstrations of that party spirit which Cambridge had already seen raging so hotly under the influence of Latimer. On the Continent, as at home, it soon became evident how small was the probability that the different centres of learning would consent to adjudicate upon the question on its abstract merits, as tested by the authority of Aquinas or Turrecremata. In Germany the Lutherans, partly from hostility to Henry, partly from fear of the emperor, were almost unanimous in opposing the divorce. Italy under
the machinations of Richard Croke
1
proved
more
favor-
'An
sit
prohibitum ne frater ducat in uxorem reliotam fratris mortui sine liLingard, whose account of heris.' the conduct of the universities in relation to the question appears to be in other respects correct, has made a serious omission in leaving
out the words in italics. See Eist. of England, iv' 593, Append, m. Burnet himself admits that 'to condemn the bull of a former pope as unlawful, was a dangerous precedent at a time when the pope's authority was rejected by so many in Germany.' Burnet-Pocock, i 81.
'-^
THE DIVORCE.
able to the king's wishes.
615
-*^p- bicrokein
That eminent scholar, who was llow Greek lecturer at St. John's, had been sent out, at the suggestion of Cranmer, to collect the opinions of the most distinguished foreign canonists -and jurists. Of the candour and impartiality with which he might be expected to discharge his mission he had recently given the university no encouraging promise. In the preceding January it had been decreed by the senate that a solemn annual posthumous service should be celebrated at St. John's College in commemoration of the great benefactor of the university, its Croke had some six years before chancellor, bishop Fisher.
been elected a fellow of the college, and there were few of
its
members who lay under greater obligations to him whom it was now decided thus to honour from motives however which are not recorded he did his best to discourage the proposal, and even declared that Fisher was intent on usurping the honours due to a founder, 'in derogation of the right and honour of the lady Margaret.' His contemptible meanness and ingratitude only served to draw from Fisher an earnest and unanswerable letter of self-vindication, and at a
;
later time,
He was now
in poring
to
engaged
passages
bearing on the all-engrossing question, or at Bologna and Padua, whence he reported endless conferences
;
but his more serious His activity m bribing the coUectmg subscriptions, duly recognised u;^^p'"8 by an adequate honorarium, to an opinion favorable to his royal employer^
with various professors and divines
_
.
business consisted in
Baker-Mayor, p. 97. For a detailed account of Croke'a mission see Bumet-Poeock, 1 151-8.
1
'
find however larger sums quoted but the most conclusive evidence is perhaps to be gathered from Croke's
:
Burnet quoting the sums named by Croke in his letters, thinks they can hardly be looked upon as bribes, from the smaUness of the amounts 'they' [thereoipients]hesays, 'must have had very prostituted consciences if they could be hired so
cheap.'
Cotton MS. Vitelhus of Cavendish {Life of Wolsey (ed. Singer), p. 206], is perhaps as trustworthy as that of any independent contemporary, and
letter book.
B 13.
The statement
InDodd-Tierney (i201), we
he says 'there was inestimable sums of money given to the famous clerks to choke them, and in especial to
616
CHAP.
VI.
THE KEFOBMATION.
King Henry
oiford.
At home, though there is no evidence of bribery, there was Undeniable intimidation. The very first letter that Henry addressed to the university of Oxford, where it was
well
known that there existed a large and influential party opposed.to the divorce, contained a distinct and intelligible threat^; in a second, written when it had become apparent
that the anticipated opposition was likely to result in an unfavorable verdict, the threat was yet more plainly repeated';
and in a third letter, written after the Cambridge verdict had been made known, the example thus set was appealed to
in order to quicken the irresolute counsels
university'.
of the sister
to a theory of the
Mr. Fronde's
comparison
of the con-
by Henry solely from honorable and conscientious motives, Mr. Froude, in comnecessary measure,' and conceived
.
^.
..
j-ii
c^^^lMge.
entirely to the
The conduct of the English universities,' he says, was what their later characters would have led us Cambridge, being respectively to expect from them distinguished by greater openness and largeness of mind on this as on the other momentous subjects of the day than the sister university, was able to preserve a more manly bear' '
precisely
ing,
and escape
direct
humUiationV
that our
sach as had the goTemance and custody of their uniyerElties' seals.' See also Tiingard, Hist, of England,
IT^ 593.
'
muTersitf of Cambndge
and
the same : but hath also eight days since sent unto us their answere
assured that we, not without great cause, shall so quicUy and so sharply look to your nnnatural misdemeanour herein, that it shall not be to your quietness and ease hereafter.' Froude, i 258. ^ ' And if the routh of the university win play masteries as they begin to do, we doubt not but they shall
well
'
under common
nmiing,
etc.'
many
thunderclaps
of
his
dis-
Anthony Wood, * had been enough, if our famous university had not been consecrated to eternity, to have involTcd our colpleasure, ' says
perceive
that
non
est
lonum
leges
among
irritare erabrones.'
Ibid, i 262.
257, 262.
THE DIVORCE.
Without entering upon the question how
'
617
far the
com-
chap.vi.
parison thus drawn is to be justified on a consideration of . ^ His cnticism the continuous history of the two universities, it may be documentoy
T^
worth while to examine to what extent Mr. Fronde's eulogium of Cambridge is borne out by the documentary evidence.
"'''-
The following royal letter, the first formal step in the proceedings, was received by Dr. Buckmaster, the vice-chancellor,
a fellow of Peterhouse, in February, 1529
'
:
To our
trusty
Regentes
'
Vice-chcmceUor, Doctors,
Universitie of Cambridge.
and
KingHenry's
um'veiSty'of Cambiidge.
By the King.
'
we grete you well. And wherematrymonie between us and the Quene, uppon consultation had with the gretest clerks of Christendom, as well without this our realme as within the same, thei have in a grete nomhre affermed unto us in writing, and thereunto subscribed their names, that ducere uxorem fratris mortui sine libekis sit prohibitum jv/re divino et naturali, which is the chief and principall point in our cause ; we therefore, desirouse to knowe and understande your myndes and opynions in that bihalfe, and nothing dowtinge but like as ye have all wayes founde us to you and that our universitie favourable benivoleut, and glad to extend our auctoritie for youre wealthe and benefite when ye have required the same, ye will nnw likewise not omytt to doo anything whereby ye shulde ministre unto us gratuite and pleasor,
Trusty and well beloved,
as in the matter of
a cause so nere touching us your prince and soveraine lorde, oiu: soule, the wealth also and benefite of this our realme, have sent hither presently for that oiu: purpose, our trusty and right well beloved clerkes and counsaillors, Maister Doctor Gardyner our secretary and Maister Fox, who shall oon our bihaulf further open and declare unto you the Wherefore we will and require circumstances of the premises.
specially in declaration of the truthe in
you not oonly to gyve ferme credence unto them, but also to advertise us by the same, under the common seale of that our universitie, of such opynyon in the proposition aforesaid as shul be then concluded, and by the consent of lemed men shall be agreed upan. In doying whereof, ye shall deserve our especiall thanks, and geve us cause to encrease our favor towards you, as we shall not fail to do accordingly. Geven imder our signet at Yorkes Place the xvith daye of February'.'
Some months
before
crannier's
>
p. 19.
618
'
THE REFORMATION.
^^^f
"
^^^ against the divorce by the appearance' of Cranmer's on the lawfulness of marriage with a brother's wife', and its judgement, so far as that might be supposed to be amenable to the influence of abstract reasons, had thereby undoubtedly been biased in favour of the king's cause.' It is evident indeed, on a comparison of the above letter with the
^^^
treatise
'
first
of those that
Henry addressed
ready assent to his wishes at Cambridge. Under these circumstances it is therefore of special interest to note the following
report
made
to
of the proceedings
:
on the course
coMequent
rS)t of
bridge.
the royaiietter
Pleaseth it your highness to be advertised, that arriving Cambridge upon Saturday last past at noon, that same i^ight and Sunday in the moi:niug we devised with the vicechancellor and such other as favoureth your grace's cause, how and in what sort to compass and attain your grace's purpose and intent ; wherein we assure your grace we found much towardness, good will, and diligence, in the vice-chancellor and Dr. Edmunds, being as studious to serve your grace as we could wish and denevertheless there was not so much care, labour, study, and sire dihgence employed on our party, by them, ourself, and other, for attaining your grace's purpose, but there was as much done by others for the lett and empeachment of the same ; and as we
here
assembled they assembled ; as we made friends they made friends, to lett that nothing should pass as in the universities name wherein the first day they were superiors, for they had put in the ears of them by whose voices such things do pass, midtas fabulas, too tedious to write unto your grace. Upon Sunday at afternoon were assembled after the manner of the university, all the doctors, batchelors of divinity, and masters of arts, being in number almost two hundred in that congregation we delivered your grace's lettei's, which were read openly by the vice-chancellor. And for answer to be made unto them, first the vice-shancellor, calling apart the doctors, asked their advice and opinion ; whereunto they answered severally, as their affections led them, et res erat in multa confuaione. Tandem they were content answer should be made to the questions hy indifferent men ; but then they came to exceptions against the abbot of St. Benet's, who seemed
:
1 It is remarkable that not a single copy of this treatise is Imowu to be in existence, and even its exact title
is
a matter of doubt.
1
See Cooper,
Athence,
146.
THE DIVORCE.
to
619
vi.
come for that purpose ; and likewise against Dr. Eeppes and chap. * Dr. Crome ; and alao generally against all such as had allowed Dr. Cranmer's book, inasmuch as they had already declared their said thereunto, that by that reason they might opinion. except against all, for it was lightly, that in a question. so notable as this is, every man learned hath said to his friend as he thinketh in it for the time ; but we ought not to judge of any man that he setteth more to defend that which he hath once said, than truth Finally, the vice-chancellor, because the day afterward known. was much spent in those altercations, commanding every man to resort to his seat apart, as the manner is in those assemblies, wiUed every man's mind to b6 known secretly, whether they would be content with such an order as he had conceived, for answer to be made by the university to your grace's letters ; whereunto that And forasmuch as it was then night they would in no wise agree. dark night, the vice-chancellor continued the congregation till the next day at one of the clock ; at which time the vice-chancellor proposed a grace after the form herein enclosed ; and it was first denied ; when it was ashed again it was even on both parties to he denied or granted ; and at the last, hy labour of friends to cause some to depart the. house which were against it, it was obtained in such form as the schedule herein enclosed purportheth ; wherein be two points which we would have left out ; but considering by putting in of them we allured many, and that indeed they shall not hurt the determination for you.r grace's part, we were finally content therewith. The one point is, that where it was first that quicquid major pa/rs of them that be named decreveri^ should be taken for the determination of the university, now it wherein we suppose shall be no diffireferred ad duas pa/rtes, culty. The other point is, that your grace's question shall be
We
openly disputed, which we think to be very honorable ; and it is agreed amongst us that in that disputation shall answer the abbot of St. Benet's, Dr. Reppes, and I, Mr. Fox, to all such as will object anything, or reason against the conclusion to be sustained for your grace's part. And because Mr. Dr. Clyff hath said, that he hath somewhat to say concerning the canon law ; I, your secretary, shall be adjoined unto them for answer to be made therein. In the schedule, which we send unto your grace herewith, containing the names of those who shall determine your grace's question, all marked with the letter (A) be already of your grace's opinion ; by which we trust, and with other good means, Thus we beseech to induce and obtain a great part of the rest. Almighty God to preserve your most noble and royal estate. From Cambridge, the day of February.
subjects
and servants,
Stephen Gardineb,
Edward
Fox.'
620
THE REFORMATION.
The Grace.
'
(A) Vicecancellarius
Doctores
(A) Heynes,
Mylsent, de
ratur.
islo
bene spe-
(A) Shaxton, ^A) Latimer, Venetus,cfeis<o6enepera<Mr.(A) Simon (Matthew), Longford, de isto beiie (A) Edmunds,
ratur.
spe-
Thyxtel,
Nicols,
Hadway, de
ratur.
isto
bene spe^
Bey, Bayne,
(A) (A) Duo Procuratores, ha^eant plenam facultafem et aut/writatem, nomine totitis universi' talis respondendi litteris Regim Majestatis in hoc congregaiione lectis, ac nomine totius universitatis definiendi et d^erminandi qucestionem in dictis litteris proposifam. Ita quod quicquid diue partes eorum prcesentium inter se decreverint respondendi dictis litteris, et definierint ac determinaverint super qu<Bstione prceposita, in iisdem Jiabeatur et reputetur pro responsione definitione et determinatione totius universitatis,
et
quod
definitione et deter mi iiatione concipienda sigiilum commune universitatis apponere : sic quod disputetur qucestio publice et antea
tium
may
perceive
already
as be requisite, wanting only thi-ee good hope of four ; of which four if we get two
many
and we have
obtain of
and
another
Such were the means by which, on the ninth of the following March, a decision was eventually obtained favorable to the divorce but even then the decision was coupled
;
fS^^n by an
dodstonof
if
'
it
important reservation, that the marriage was illegal could be proved that Catherine's marriage with prime
ii
plS"""""'
22. Cooper,
AnnaU,
337-9.
THE DIVORCE.
621
Arthur had been consummated^. It was however no slight *'"-^p- ^'^ achievement to have gained thus much from the university and when Buckmaster presented himself at Windsor as the Baci<master's hearer of this determmation, he was received by Henry with J^^ ^a every mark of favour, and Cambridge was praised for the "' """^ vrisdom and good conveyance' she had shewn. The only point indeed with respect to which the king intimated any dissatisfaction was the omission of any opinion concerning the legahty of pope Julius's dispensation. Having received a present of twenty nobles the vice-chancellor took his leave, I was glad,' he says in a letter to but Ul at ease in mind.
.
.
'
'
Dr.
was glad that I was out of the courte, wheare many men, as AU the I did both hear and perceive, did wonder on me * world alinost cryeOie oute of Cambridge for this acte, and
^
andoftho
indications ol
p"''^^^"''
on me, but I must bear it as well as I maye.' He ^"''^"sthen goes on to narrate how on his return he found the Fox's servant university scarcely in a more pleasant mood. had been beaten in the street by one Dakers, a member of St. Nicholas's Hostel and Dakers on being summoned before him (the writer), had demurred to his authority, because I was famylyer, he said, with Mr. Secretary [Fox] and Mr. Dr. Thereupon he had ordered Dakers into custody, Thirleby.' who on his way to close quarters efifected his escape from the and that night there was such a jettyng in Cambedell bridge as ye never harde of, with such boyng and cryeng even agaynst our colleage that aU Cambridge might perceave it was in despite of me'.' "Whatever accordingly may be our opinion of the expediency of the course whereby Cambridge escaped, in Mr. Froude's words, 'the direct humiliation' that waited upon Oxford, it seems impossible on the foregoing evidence to Pacts wMdi tend to ~ deny, that this end was attained by tlie nomination of aa^ij^Mr. commission which, if we examine its composition, can only miogium. be r^arded in the light of a packed jury, that the nominaspecially
; ' ; *
.
'Quod
dncere
liberis
nxorem
frfttris
moitni sine
viro
cognitam a priori
percamalem
copnlain....est pro-
Cooper, Annals,
340-2.
622
CHAP.
Ti.
THE RFOiarATION.
was
at the outset opposed
by the
on the
on the
first
division
non-placeted,
to stay away,
even of this commission, thus composed and thus appointed, it was found neeessaiy to perfinally its decision
himself, and that by an important reservation, which, if the testimony of queen Catherine herself independently of other evidence, was entitled to belief
member
to absent
was
qualified
It
is
He
was throughout a
which beclouded the last vear of his life now began to gather thickly round his path. But neither increasing anxieties, the
afiairs of his bishopric,
render
him
forgetful of Cambridge.
more
particidarly,
solicitude,
1
and in
its
utility
The statement
of Lingard in the
that matter appears undeniable both Clement and Henry \rere sensible ibat. 'independentiy of other
considerations. ' the decisions of the nniyersities did not reach the real merits of the qtiestion; for all of tiiem
were founded on the supposition that the marriage between Arthur and Catherine had actually been consummated, a disputed point which the king was unable to prove and which the queen most solemnly denied.' Sift, of Enguind, i^ 551. The general feeUug of the two universities is worthy of note in counexion with ilr. Fronde's assertion that " in the sixteenth century, queen Catherine was an obstacle to the establishment of the kingdom,
that of the anthor of the Dttctor Dubitautium ; the second, thai of Dodd, Who [i.e. the Catholio historian. the learned men of the time] upon that occasion, gave too great testimony, \rith how great weakness men that have a bias to determine questions, and with how great force, a king that is rich and powerftil, can make his own determinations. For
'
an incentive
to
treason.ible hopes.
having marHfil Catherine by nrtHt of" that disptnsatioit, and lived near
tdcrtii-nre years vithhtr ashisnife, could" not lawfully and in conscience be parted from her, that he might marrvanother.' (written 1737). Dodd-
husband's
fickle appetite.'
Perhaps side by side with this representation we may be permitted to place a .^ci-enteaith century and eighteenth century view : the first,
94.
Tierney,
i '231.
fisher's STATrTES.
his best rewsurd.
623
vi.
o'
The promotion
six iety.
ship in lolS
interests of the
jHoficient in the
new
Metcalfe was himself indeed no JS&mstudies ; but in Fiillors phrase, thouirh ""*'"'*
knew how
to
make a
a great one' and before Fishers death, the overdowing numbers of the students, their conspicuous devotion to learning, and names hke those of Ascham and
httle ocUege
:"
college? to
the university'.
had drawn up a new code as the nde of the foundation, modelled to a great ext-:'nT upon that of Fox at Corpus
Christ! College.
statutes in
gitve
a third body of
Of
the
feet,
fortv-six Ksiws
J^"^
1530 ocotipy nearly a hundred and thirty. Alanued at the signs of the times and timorous with old age, Rsher seems to have sought with almost feverish soHoitude to provide for every possible contingency that might arise. Of the new provisions some. such as the institution of unitmiidt; * aad efabole*irers in Greek and Hebrew, and the ohli^-ation im- itas of lli details posed upon a fourth part of the fellows to occupy them-
...
are
selves
un-
doobtedly entitled to
pnise
on master, fellows, and and the introduction of innumerable petty restrictions, which it is difficult to suppose might not s;ifely have been left to the discretion of the acting authorities from
time to time.
It
'
iUusTmes the
.t
fallacious nature
of
such elaborate
HpUul^r
FTi2fT-Prifi;n
:
Wri^t,
p.
^27
-
624
CHAP.
The
VI.
THE REFORMATION.
statutes
stonlardof
withrespeot
^^'''
^he
yet
nevertheless
omitted altogether
to
make
provision
with
staE.
that
contain
pensioners',
and that it was therein required, as also in each the three codes given by Fisher to St. John's, that students thus admitted should have previously furnished
satisfactory
Unfortua similar
nately
it
requirement with respect to attainments, and an inlet was thus afiforded at both colleges to a class whose ignorance was only equalled by their disinclination to study, and who,
as
it
a scarcely
less
formidable
element of demoralisation than the riotous and dissolute. In less than twelve years after Fisher's death we accordTestimony
of
ingly find
ilf
om"thi"s
Ascham in writing to Cranmer (then archbishop), informing him that there were two things which proved
'
laiity.
;'
and of these one was occasioned by such as were admitted, who were for the most part only the sons of rich men, and
'
perfection in
by a slighter and more superficial knowOf the general concurrence of the college authori(ed.
^^"''2/ "_
Statutes
Mayor), p.
Dr.
Ainslie,
in his
See supra, p. 459; though pensioners are not recognised by coUege statutes, they existed in practice long hefore the sixteenth century. When the number of feUows on the different foundations was but smaU, it was common for members of the university, generally masters of arts, to rent a chamber of the college, for which they
earliest
Mas-
of the College of Valence Mary, p. 297, notes an example of this practice, in the case of "William Huniberston, vicar of Tilney, as early as the fourteenth century, Strype, Memorials of Cranmer, i
242.
625
we have
by king
tho omission
repaired at
st.
Henry to St. John's in the year 1545, an endeavour is made r ^ to remedy the above evii (so tar at least as the college was o concerned), by the insertion of a clause requiring that no
111
^
-I
/ ^
iTi
john-s
who
him
to profit
by
impediment to the progress of others*. It must however be acknowledged that Fisher's mistrust tbb llKIVKaaiTT of the tendencies he saw around him was far from singular, ps3and the action of the university in reference to one important matter, at about the same time, sufficiently proves that a policy of repression and coercion was rapidly gaining ground. It was soon seen that Tunstal's plan of burning the Lutheran writings was of but small avail, and the efforts
.
method,
that of
stifling
The
:
first
Cambridge printer was Erasmus's friend, John Siberch and in the year 1521 he printed seven books, one of which,
Xinacre's translation of Galen
joi
Be Temperamentis,
claims
preto
be the
first
characters.
book printed in England containing Greek In the following year he printed two more
we
'Maximum itaque quod formidamus ex his provenire malum potest, quosdam prsBter hunc numerum si
*
leginm
Integra conversatio ceteros inficiat, atque ita sensim reliquo corpori pernicies inferatur. Magnopere etiam coUegii iaterest ut adolesoentes,
priusquam in collegium admittuntur, aliquam progressionem et oursum in litteris factum habeant. Debet enim
nonnihil inter ludos litterarios et academiam interesse, ut nisi fundamentis bene jaotis e scholis grammaticorum ad academiam non procedant. Et fere cemitur eos postea maximum fructum studiorum percipere, qui ante in linguis mediocriter profeeerunt, Itaque nuUus in
progressionem, ut postquam
Hoc fruotu in Aristotele ponant. nisi fiat, permagnam in logica disfaoient, et eruditio cenda jaoturam ea qua necessaria propter usum est insuavis propter iHorum in discendo tarditatem erit.' Early Statutes of St. John's (ed. Mayor), p. 85.
40
626
CHAP.
VI.
THE KEFOEMATION.
of the publishing trade in those days often led to the publisher, bookseller, and printer being
when
covered an effectual means of excluding heretical literature, in the year 1529 they petitioned Wolsey that only
licence of
Cambridge, who should be men of reputation and ' gravity,' and foreigners, with full authority to purchase books of foreign merchants\ The petition appears to have received no immediate response; but in the year 1534 a royal licence
was issued to the chancellor, masters, and scholars of the university to appoint, from time to time, three stationers and
printers, or sellers of books, residing within the university,
who might be
The
stationers or
empowered to print all manner by the chancellor and his vicegerent, and to seU them, or any other books,
Nicholson.
whether printed within or without the realm, which had been allowed by the above-named censors. If aliens were appointed to the office, they were to be reputed in aU respects as the king's subjects. In pursuance of this grant, Nicholas Speryng, Garrat Godfrey, and Sygar Nicholson, were appointed stationers of the university. The licensed press was however singularly sterile and for more than half a century, from the year 1522 to 1584, it would appear that not a single book was printed at Cambridge.* Of the three booksellers above appointed, the third, Sygar Nicholson, had been educated at Gonville Hall, and
;
by
so strongly
in 1529 with holding Lutheran opinions and having Lutheran books in his possession. He had consequently been for some
time imprisoned, and, according to Latimer, was treated with cruel severity'. That a member of the university should
'
Cooper, Annals
2.
(Feb.
1860),
by Mr.
i
Thompson
supra, p. 500, n.
"
See an
article,
The Cambridge
51; Latimer-
321.
DEATH OF FISHEH.
627
vi.
have engaged in a trade so directly and honorably associ- chap. ated with learning calls for little comment; but it is not
undeserving of notice that
callings that
ture.
it
was
far
had much less direct affinities to academic culNor does it appear that any discredit attached to
it is certain at least that thus turned their energies into a different channel
;
many who
saw no necessity for seeking a distant scene of action. The disputant who perhaps made but a poor figure in the schools
of the university,
singular
relations of
"JJ^ersi'T-
With
on
clerical attire,
commenced
business as an innkeeper,
and substance.' Though naturally might have contemplated his endeavours with tolerable equanimity, had he pursued a consistent course, and shewn his readiness to bear his part in the civic burdens and imposts. But the habits of the schools were still strong upon him, and he too
getting thereby great riches
often eluded the bailiff's appeals
profits
with Protean
facility.
Qua
and emoluments he was a townsman; qua taxes, attendances, and contributions, he was a master of arts of the
university.
The indignation
In the meantime significant events in the political world Fisher-s '^ last days. came on in rapid succession and not long after Fisher had drawn up his last code for St. John's College, it began to be evident to all that the care and vigilance he had so often exercised in the cause of others would soon be needed in his own behalf The credence which he, in common with so many other able men, gave to the pretensions of the Maid of Kent, aaid his subsequent refusal to take the oath imposed
_ _
Cooper, Annals,
347.
402
628
MAP.TL Tower.
stition
THE BEFORlLmOS.
Superstitions
he might
be, but
whrae
his super-
sagacious,
and
his conscience
and
his intellect
The
foresight
displayed was indeed in striking contrast to the indifference shewn by his episcopal brethren, by whom a question of
really fundamental importance
was treated
as
but of smsdl
tiiat
moment.
The
belong
admirably told by Mr. Fronde, are still &esh in the memories of our readers, and require no further iUustration at our han^is. When it was known at CamlHidge that the chancellor was under arrest, it seemed
as
thou^ a dark
and
letto' te 5-
coDse.
which had been his peculiar care the The men who, evex since their academic life b^an, had been conscious of his watchful oversight and protection, who as they had grown up to manhood had been honcnred by his fiiendship, aided by his bounty, stimulated by his esample to all that was commendable and of good report, could not foresee his approaching fete without bitter and deep emotion and rarely in the correspondence of collies is there to be found such an expression of pathetic grief as the letter in which the society of St. John's addressed thar beloved patron in his hour of trial*. In the hall <d that ancioit foundation his portrait stUI looks down 'upon those who, generation after generation, enter to reap where he sowed. Delineated with all the severe fidelity of the art of that
at those colleges
we may discern the asceticism of the ecclesiastic blending with the natural kindliness of the man, the wide
period,
tor, legislator,
ne adhne qnidsn niam in nos benefieentaam asscqoeiemnr. Quaze (reyerende pater)' qaieqiiid noefcrmn est, obeecramns, ntere nt tno. TmnnesS
eritqiieqiiicqmdpo^iiiniis,f]zionmes gnmns oiiniisqae toti.' (Qiuited in
Baker-Uayor, p. 463
Life of FiiJier,
>.
See^o]jei%
n 356-S.
629
have since been wont to assemble not a few who have risen c tap. vl But the college of St. John the to eminence and renown.
Evangelist can point to none in the long array to
whom
her
debt of gratitude
ingly or
is greater,
who have
more
who
by a holy life and heroic death are more worthy to survive in the memories of her sons Yet a few more months and both at Oxford and Cambridge the changes that
carried
by argucromweu
Kaher
"^s.
were enforced in ampler measure by the authority of law. Cromwell sueceeded to the chancellorship at Cambridge; and a ruder ^ o
'
chancellor
hand than that of Fisher or Wolsey ousted the professors of the old learning from the academic chair, and gave the pages At both universities Duns of scholasticism to the winds. Scotus, so long the idol of the schools, was dragged from his
pedestal with an
ignominy that recalls the fate of Sejanus. The memorable scene at Oxford, as described by one of His commia. sioners at CromweU's commissioners, though often quoted, we shall ^l^^^"^ venture to quote once more: 'We have set Dunce in Bocardo,' writes commissioner Leighton, and have utterly ban- Leighton's O account of And PfJJ|^' ished him Oxford for ever, with all his blind glosses the second time we came to New College, after we had de-
'
'
'
clared
your injunctions,
And
all the great quadrant Dunce, the wind blowing them there we found one Mr. Greenfield,
we found
same book
leaves, as
he
said,
to
in the
as well
as
the university also conveyed the following Eoyal Injunctions, imposed upon 'the chanthis
second appointment to
cellor,
vice-chancellor, doctors,
all
other students
and
Strype, Memorials,
324.
630
CHAP.
VI. nities,
THE EEFOEMATION.
benefices,
and stipends,
or expulsion
sity:'
The Royal
ofisss?'""^
' (1) That by a -writing to be sealed with the commoh seal of the university and subscribed with their hands, they should swear to the king's succession, and to obey the statutes of the realm, made or to be tnade, for the extirpation of the papal usurpation and for the assertion and confirmation of the king's jurisdiction, prerogative, and preeminence. (2) That in King's Hall, King's, St. John's, and Christ's Colleges, Michaelhouse, Peterhouse, Gonville, Trinity, and Pembroke Halls, Queens', Jesus, and Buckingham Colleges, Clare Hall, and Benet College, th6re should be founded and continued for ever by the masters and fellows, at the expense of those houses, two daily pvMic lectitres, one of Greek the other of Latin. (3) That neither in the university or any other college or hcUt, or other place, should any UcPwre he read 'upon any of the doctors who had 'Written Upon the Master of the Sentences, (a) but that all divinity lectures should be upon the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, according to the true sense thereof, and not after the manner of Sc'Otus, etc. (4) That all students should be permitted to read the Scrip tures privately or to repair to public lectures upon them. (5) That as the whole realm, as well clergy as laity, had renounced the pope's right and acknowledged the king to be the supreme head of the Church, tto one shoidd thereafter publicly read the canon law, nor Should any degrees in that law be conf&rred. (6) That all ceremonies, constitutions, and observances that hindered polite learning should be abolished. Tliat students in arts should be instructed in the ele(7) ments of logio, rhetoric, arithmtetic, geography, music, and philosophy, and should read Aristotle, Eudolphus Agricola (j8), Philip Melanchiihon, Trapezuntius (y), etc., and not the frivolous questions and obscure glosses of Scotus, Burleus (S), Aiithony Trombet (e), Bricot {Q, Bruliferius (rj), etc. (8) That all statutes of the univeraty or of any college, haJlj house, or hostel, repugnant to these articles and injunctions should be void.
That all deans, presidents, VSi-dens, headS, mastfets, recand officers in every college, hall, house, or hostel in the university, should On their admission he sworn to the due ajid
(9)
tors,
Cooper, Annals,
MilantermigdLeT Quodlibeta des Sootus soWeb tmter dem Titel in ScoM Formalitates und dnen hochst tasfiihrlichen oontrovertirenden Comtaentar zu 'Sii-edtus Verfasste, wobd er im Hinbliolie auf die unerlassliobe Eeinbeit der Parteistellnng die Ansicht Brulifer's schon ziemlich
; ;
CONCLUSION.
631
of Duns Scotus fluttering "hap. vi. quadrant of New College, may be regarded as marking c^^i^!^ in the the downfal of scholasticism in England ; and here, if any- "e^weraiS
where,
may he drawn
from the modern age. Yet a few more months, and Erasmus, weary of life and even of that learning to which his life was given, sank painfully to rest at Basel Tyndale died at the stake at Vilvorde and the inaugurators
divides the mediaeval
;
of the changes
now
The men
of
of that generation at
witnesses
too
They saw the authority of the scholastic more rudely shaken by Ramus in the schools than it had ever been shaken before they saw in the foundation of Trinity Collie the rise of a new conception of college discipline under distinctly Protestant auspices; and with the Statutes of Elizabeth they saw the constitution of the university assume that form which with but few modifications has lasted to our own day. But wift these changes we find ourselves in the presence of new characters and new ideas and the final triumph of the Humanists seems to mark the point at which this volume may most fitly close. In recording the fall of that system which in its unceasing aad yet monotonous activity has so long engaged our attention, and against which the preceding pages have been a more or less continuous indictment, our inclination is less to
important.
Aristotle
;
common
verdict
on
its
merits,
than to
which amid
Ibid, it 200.
Si-
deutlich aJs ztun Thomismus hiimeigendverdachtigte.'PrantljGescMcte Aer Logik, 2&9. (f) Textustotiuslogicespermagistrum Thoinam Bricot abbreviatus et per eumdem novissime emeTidatus.
Another oommentator on
{Basilece,
1492),
'
zeigt
sich
uns
rectus; printed in different editions of that author, Tenet. 1501, 1514, 1526, 1588. He labored to reduce the distinctio to two kinds, ^the dietinctio formalis, and the distinctio
derselbe als einen rasonirenden und zugleich rechtfertigenden Auszug aus dem aristotelischen Organon mit Einschluss des Porphyrins, so dasa wir jede weitere Bemerknng iiber diese an sich nntergeordnete Arbeit
net.'
Ibid, iv 198,
632
CHAP.vt nrach extravagance,
'-~'^'~~'
coscLCsioy.
and much bi^tiy, We would &in remember how dim was the age in which it rose that its chief names are still the beacon lights whereby, and whereby
much
puerility,
Roman
culture
and Athenian thought across centuries of barbarism, ignorthat at a time when the ancient ance, and superstition literature had been either forbidden or forgotten, and the modem literature was not, it foumd at once a stimuliis Mid a career for the intellect, and generated a wondrous, fsirreaching, and intense, if not altogether healthy, activity; that with a subtlety and power not inferior to that of the best days of Hellas, it taught men to distinguish and define and left its impress on the language and the thought of Europe in lines manifold, deep-graven, and inefeceable; that the great contest in philosophy which it again initiated gtill perplexes and divides the schools that the studT it most ardently cultivated and in which it had, as it were, its being, has after long n^lect been revived at onr universities and pursued with develop^nents of system and method of which Aquinas and Duns Scotus never dre^ned; and thus while unhesitatin^y acknowledging that scholasticism mostly led its followers by bitter waters and over barren plains, and that its reign can never be restored, we may yet recognise therein a salutary, perhaps a necessary,
; ;
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
(A), pp.
66
&
559.
Lydgat^s Verses on the Foundation qf the University of Cambridge (From the copy in Stokys' book f. 80 seq. in the registry, Cambridge.)
Johannes Lidgatus.
1
By trew recorde of the Doctor Bede, That some tyme wrotte so mikle with his hande, And specially remembringe as I reede In his cronicles made of England Amounge other thynges as ye shall vnderstand, Whom for myne auothour I dare alleage, Seith the translation and buylding of Cambridge.
With hym accordinge Alfride the Croniclere, Seriouslye who lyst his bookes to see, Made in the tyme when he was Thresurere Of Beverley an old famouse cytie, AflBrme and seyne the vniuersitie Of Cambridge & studye fyrst began
By
3
He rehersing first for commendacion. By Iheir writinge how that old cytie Was stronglie whalled with towers manye
Builte and finished with great libertie
one,
As their aucthors accordinge sayne the same, Of Cantabro takyng first his name.
4 Like as I finde reporte I can none other. This Canteber tyme of his lyvynge To Pertholyne he was germayne brother Duke in tho daies in Ireland a great Kyngc,
ChiefFe
&
The wall about and towers Was set and builte vpon a
636
5
APPENDIX.
Xamed Cantebro a large brode lyrer. And after Cante called Cantdiro,
This famons
Citie, this
Cambridge; rehersing ^e also In their booke ibeir aucthors bothe twoe Towching the date, as I rehearse can. Fro thiike trme that the worid began
Was
called
And
Fewer thowsand complete by accomptes three hnndretii by compotacion Joyned tfaerto eight and fortie yeare,
TVhoi Cantebro gave ihe fimdacion Of thys cytie and this &mon8 towne
clere
And And
Cante.
Of kynges reconed
Fro Iherosalem to babylon Twoe hmidretJi wynter and tiiirtie yeares told. Thus to writte myne ancthonr maketh me bold,
"VThen Cantebro, as it well knowetii.
At
8
AQe
To hare acqnayntannce by great affection With folke experte in philosophia From Atfaeines he brought with hym downe
Philosophers most soTereigne of renowne
is
the case,
With many other myne Ancthonrs doQte fare, To Cambridge &st can hym spede With phflosoi^ers, & let for no cost spare
In
tiie
Schooles to staddie
&
to reede;
Of whoes
And
10
teadiinge great profit that gan spreade great increase rose of his doctrine;
first
shyne
As
chieffe schoole
&
vniuersifae
Ynto
this
tyme
fro
tilie
daye
it
b^an
By
cleare reporte in
maoye a
fiill
far coantre
of CassibeDan,
knyghtlie man.
As
sayne cronicles, who witii his might{ie] hand Let Jnlins Cesar to arryve in this lande.
APPENDIX.
11 Five hundreth yere full thirtie yer6 Pro babilons transmigracion
637
&
twentie
To increase that studdie of great affection, I meane of Cambridge the vniuersitie, Pranchized with manye a libertie.
12
By the meane of his royall favor From countreis about manye one
Divers Schollers by diligent labour
Made
To that stooddie great plentie there cam downe, To gather iruites of wysdome and science
And
13
And as it is put eke in memorie, Howe Julius Cesar entring this region On Caasybellan after his victorye
Tooke with him clarkes of famouse renowne Fro Cambridg and ledd theim to rome towne, Thus by processe remembred here to fome Cambridg was founded longe or Chryst was borne,
14 Five hundreth yere thirtie and eke nyne. In this matter ye gett no more of me,
[as]
at this tyme.
To be preferred of longe antiquitie For which by recorde all clarkes seyne the same, Of heresie Cambridge bare never blame.
(B), p. 136.
Nearly
all
that
is
university of Stamford,
a. o.
its
the Carmelites in England, and its final dispersion in 1335 (according to Wood 1334), is to be found in the Academia,
Tertia Anglicana, or Antiquarian Annals of Stanford, compiled by the laborious antiquary, Francis Peck, himself a native of Stamford. Whether the foundations there can be held to have constituted a university as Peck {Lib. viii. p. 44) claims, may perhaps be questioned Wood hesitates to decide; and the language of the letter of Edward commanding the return of the Oxford students, 'we not being minded that schools or studies should in any sort be any where held within
638
APPENDIX.
our kingdom, gave than in placet where there are now uninersities^ certainly implies the contrary. All the fom- mendicant orders had foundations there, and respecting the activity of the Carmelites and the importance of their college there can be no doubt. ' It was,' says Peck, ' a royal foundation, as is evident by the arms of France and England quartered, and insculped in the stone work of the gate, yet
remaining.
It was sitoate in the east suburb, and by the out walls which are yet standing,' {written 1727) 'appears to have been near a mile in circumference. If we may believe tradition it was a very magnificent structure, and in particular famous for its beautiful church and steeple, which last, they say, was very like that fine spire now belonging to All Saints' church in the mercat place at Stanford. As
was always made use of for reception of our English prince, who were lodged and entertained here, in their progresses and other journeys into or out of the
north.'
{Lib.
vin
p. 44.)
'
Certain
it is,' it
as
happy
in the
were remarkable for the strictness of their discipline.' he names William Lidlington, John Burley, John Bepingdale, Walter Heston, Ralph de Spalding, John Upton, Nicholas Kenton, and William Whetely. Of the last-named, styled by Leland 'Boetianus,' Wood tells us that he 'was governor of the schools' (at Stamford) 'five and twenty years and above, before the Oxonians received commands from studying and abiding there, as it appears from a note at the end of his commentaries on Boetins, De JHiciplina Scholarium, going thus, Explicit liber Boetii de diseiplina scholarium in hunc modum ordinate ac compHatus per quendam Magistrum qui rexit scholas Stamfordiae, anno ab incamatione Domini MCCCIX' Wood-Gutch, I 431. This commentary, on a
house
itself
still preserved among the MSS. Pembroke College Library, commencing Mondnum natura multipliciter est. The note quoted by Wood belongs, according to Peck, to a copy preserved at Merton College, Oxford. See Camb. Ant. Sac. Communications, n 20 ; Peck, Hist, qf Stanford, Lib. x p. 3.
in
(C), p. 220.
The
Mm. 4.
41),
none
of the contents of which can well be later than the 14th century, while
may probably be
is
The handwriting
it,
assigned to the reign of Edward the same as that of the treatises immeit
and
it is
was copied
made.
into this
which
it
was
first
APPENDIX.
Statuta Universitatis Gantebrigiae.
639
aliquam principalitatem alicujus hospitii ad dominum hospitii illius in die Sancti Barnabae apostoli ; quia ab illo tempore [11 Jun.] usque ad Nativitatem Beatae Mariae [8 Sept.] possunt ofFerri cautiones et admitti, et nullo
Si aliquis velit habere
alio
tempore anni. Item qui prior est tempore prior est jure ita, qui prius offert cautionem domino domus, stabit cautio ; et ilia cautio debet praeferri
;
coram cancellario. Item scholaris ille qui dare debet cautionem ipse debet venire domino hospitii in praedicto die vel infra illud tempus, sed quanto
citins
duorum
est, vel
cum
effectu, si velit
ita videlicet
cum
effectu, vel
duos fidejussores vel unum librum vel aliud tale ; et, si non admittatur, ille scholaris debet statim adire cancellarium et sibi exponere cautionem in praesentia illorum testium et dicere qualiter dominus hospitii
te minus juste recusavit in cautione recipienda
larius statim te
;
invito
domino
ille
hospitii.
Item
cedere nee alicui clerico scholar! socio renuntiare juri suo, sed tantum
quod
fieri
non debet.
alicujus hospitii,
Item
si
aliquis
sit
principalis
et aliquis alius
tanquam
tibi,
principalis in
eodem
dominnm
dicens:
hospitii
si
Domine,
placeat
peto
me
admitti ad principalitatem
hospitii tui
in ilia
et principaliter et
immediate
principalis
possim
fuerit.
sibi succedere, si
dum
exponas cautionem cancellario, ut te admittat ad illam conditionem quod quandocunque non fuerit principalis, quod tu possis esse principalis et sibi succedere in eodem hospitio prae omnibus aliis ; et cancellarius te admittet invito domino et invito
Si
non
vult,
principali.
Item
illius
dicit
dicit
dominus dicit alicni scholari Yis tu esse principalis mei ? Scholaris dicit quod sic sed dominus hospitii quod non vult quod hospitium taxetur aliquo modo; scholaris quod non curat scholaris ingreditur tanquam principalis et
si
aliquis
hospitii
accipit sibi
possunt adire cancellarium et facere hospitium eorum taxari invito principali et invito domino, non obstante contractu inter dominum et
principalem, qui contractus privatorum non potest praejudicare juri
publico.
640
APPENDIX.
principalinisi
modo
supplantare,
dummodo
solvit
pensionem,
dominus
pitiura alienaverit.
(D), p. 234.
the university.)
et futuris, Hervicus de Stanton clericus salutem, ad perpetuam memoriam subscriptonim. Celsa Plasmatoris omnium magnifice bonitatis immensitas, creaturam suam
Universis
Christi fidelibus
prsesentibus
rationalem
quam
sue similitudini
superna pietate disposuit creaturam ipsam fulgere virtutibus et doctrinis, ut creatorem et redemptorem suum fideliter credendo cognosceret, et
eidem, absque criminis contagione mortiferi, deserviret.
divini cultus
Cumque per
obsequium et scripturse sacre documentum juxta sancQuibus ab excellentiones canonicas sancta mater extollatur ecclesia. tissimo principe et domino reverendo, domino Edwardo Dei gratia rege Anglie illustri, devotione saluberrima pensatis, Idem dominus rex ad lionorem Dei et augmentum cultus divini michi gratiose concedere dignatus est, et per literas suas patentes concessit et Ucentiam
dedit pro se ac heredibus suis, quod in
tinentiis in Cantebrig
:
per-
feodum
adquisivi)
scola-
rium, capellanorum et aliorum, sub nomine Domus Scolarium Sancti Michaelis Cantebrig per quondam magistrum ejusdem domus regendam
juxta ordinationem meara, instituere et fundare possim et assignare predictis niagistro et scolaribus, habendum sibi et successoribus suis pro eorum inhabitatione im perpetuum. Super quo venerabilis pater dominus Johannes Dei gratia Eliensis episcopus, lod diocesanus, in hac
parte, precibus meis,
de consensu
capituli
sui,
salubriter annuendo,
Domum Scolarium
me fundari et firmitate perpetua stabiliri. Quapropter convoeatis in presentia mea magistro Roberto de Mildenhale, magistro Waltero de Buxton, magistro Thoma de Kyningham, et Henrico de Langham presbiteris; Thoma de Trumpeshale et Bdmundo de Mildenhall presbiteris et baccalauriis in universitate
per
S. 3.
Cantebrig
dictam domum in Sancte et Individue Trinitatis, Beate Marie matris Domini nostri Jesu Christi semper Virginis, Sancti Michaelis Archangeli, et omnium Sanctorum venerationem, sub nomine
studio intendebant
Domus Scolarium
sancti
APPENDIX.
Waltero, Thoma, Henrico, Thoma, et
facie, ordino,
641
scholaribus de piano
Bdmundo,
in
magistrum
preficio:
et
ipsum
magistrum
ad salubre
et
eorum
successoribus,
meo
filio
predicto
cum
quod
Rogero
ordinandum
duxi et statuendum:
sint presbyteii,
scholares in
eadem dome
saltern baccalaurii in
qui in artibus liberalibus seu philosophia rexerint, tc] eadem scientia existant, et qui in artibus iucipere
postquam cessaverint studio Theologiae intendant. et quod de cetero in societatem dicte domus admittatur preter presbiteros, vel saltem in sacris ordinibus constitutes, infra annum a tempore admissionis sue in domum prsedictam, ad ordinem sacerdotalem canonice
teneantur, et
nullus
saltem
eadem
scientia
existant,
stitute
Quibus magistrum preesse volo, et eidem magistro, seu subab eodem, (cum legitime impedimento ipsum magistrum abesse,
quam
alios subesse, et
eidem
Et quod magister et
habeant, in
mensam com-
mimem
domo
poterint, quorum qnilibet in ordine presbyterus constitutus quinque marcas, et quilibet in diaconum aut subdiaconum ordinatus quatuor marcas tantummodo, de me et rebus meis annuatim percipiat i
commode
donee, Dei sufiragio, pro ipsorum sustentatione, in tenementis, redditibus, seu ecclesiarum appropriationibus provideatur; unde possint in forma predicta sustentari. Ita quod singulis septimanis sumptus cujuslibet
eorundem
dictis
in esculentis et poculentis
necessaria et honesta,
non excedat.
juxta ordinationem predictam, distribuatur inter socios dicte domus pro equali portione. Habeant insuper dicti scolares duos famulos ad minis-
trandum
sustentatione sua in
642
APPENDIX.
latricia,
si
pro stipendio vero eorundem duorum famulorsin, et barbitonsoris et percipiaut dicti scolares qnadraginta solidos per annum, et
pro minori stipendio inter eos conrenerit, quod residuum fuit inter
domus, per magistrum deputandmn vicissim ac altematim, et inde, singulis diebus Veneris aut Sabbati, coram magistro et sociis fideliter computetur. Nee aliquis in societate dicte domus ponatur sen admittatur S. 8. nisi per magistrum et scolares dicte domus ; qui per scrutinium socios eligendos in virtute juramenti sui, eUgant simpliciter meliores; non
sociis dicte
ad studendum; seu
in divini cultus miuisterio, juxta status sui exigentiam et ordinationem predictam, negligens aut remissus notabiliter extiterit; seu aliunde substantiam ad valentiam centum solidorum
annuorum in temporalibus seu spiritnalibus consecutus fuerit; cesset ex tunc omnino in ejus persona exhibitio in domo predicta. Ita quod nichil inde percipiat in futurum. Quod si publica turpitudinis nota eorum aliquem involverit, aut in ipsa domo per eorum aliquem grave scandalum fuerit suscitatum vel adeo impacificus et discors erga magistrum et socios, seu jurgiorum aut litium creber suscitator extiterit; seu de
;
tinentia super lapsu camis notorie diffamatur; ita quod, per socios dicte
domus
omnino
non
Nee
alicui
a domo pre-
domus aut
seu quoscunque alios de dicta domo, agendo, appellando, conquerendo, sive in integrum restitationem petendo; nee aliquibus Uteris seu impetrationibus, in foro ecclesiastico seu seculari subveniatur: hujusmodi Uteris seu impetrationibus, quaJitercunque optentis,
utendo.
S. 11.
Et ne
litibus, placitis,
hantur, per aliquem seu aliquos societatis predicte, aut in nsus alios
convertantur, minuantur, aut dissipentur; sed dumtaxat in pios usus
stabilio,
ne qui in dicta.
APPENDIX.
sustentatione aut bonis dicte
Bibi
643
domus proprietatem
dum
adeo et modesti ut magister et socii dicte domus eorum conversationem et societatem laudabilem approbaverint, et inde decreverint se contentos
in
forma predicta.
Hoc autem scolares dicte domus diligenter inter se attendant, S. 12. nt Dullus eorum, extraneos aut propinquos inducendo, dicte sue societati,
onerosus existat; ne per hoc aliorum turbetur tranquillitas, aut contentionis seu
domus suborta,
modis quibus poterit opportunis. Sed ingruente super hoc correptionis seu correctionis importunitate, dominus episcopus Elyensis qui pro tempore fuerit, Tel cancellarius nniyersitatis Cantebrig. juxta factorum contingentium' qualitatem, si necesse fuerit consulatur. Preterea visitetur dicta domus per canceldiligenter corripere et sedare, Tiis et
Et
si
mee predicte
diebus
festivis
ad matutinas et
alias
cum
nota
commode vacare
poterint, celebrandas.
decet.
dicant
Hoc semper
Missa
obser-
vato
quod
heate Vir-
ginis et
MUse defunctorum extra festa majora, perpetuo celebrentur. Et quod quilibet in ordine sacerdotali constitutus quinquies in septimana
celebret,
mbsam
cum commode
tempore inceptionis hystorie que dicitur Deus omnium usque ad adventum Domini, celebretur Missa de Trinitate. per singulos autem dies Lune, Missa de Sancto Michaele Archangelo. Et quolibet die Martis, Missa de Sancto Edmundo Rege et Sancto Thoma Archiepiseopo Cantuariensi Martyribus et omnibus Martyribus. Quolibet die Mercurii, Missa de Sancto Johamne Baptista et alia Missa de Sancto Petro Apostolo et omnibus Apostolis. Quolibet die Jovis, Missa
omnibus Virgitiibus. Missa de Sancta Cruce, et quolibet die Sabbati, Missa de Sanctis Nicholao, Martino, et omnibus Confessoribus. Et
de Sanctis Etheldreda, Katerina, Margareta, et Quolibet die Veneris,
quod
ille
misse
speciales,
extra
dicte
festa
dupplicia,
celebrentur
per
capellanum
quem magister
domus ad hoc
4.12
644
naudum, prout ad
celebroudas.
APPENDIX.
raissas illas speoiales Iioris captatis intondere potorint
Per hoc autom intentionis moo non o.\isUt, ipsorum scolarium 17. cnpoUanorum oliqueni ultra possibilitatom suam congruiuu, super hi\jusiiiodi missarum colebratlouibus faciondis, oiienu'o, quo niiaus Icetioiubiis,
disputationibus in scolis, sivo studio valeiuit vacai-o coiupotcutor ; et
lioc
tcutiales
oadom ipsorum consoientiis duxi roliuquondiu Psalnios voro penicum psalmis qiiindocim, scilicet Ad Dominain cum tribularer,
usualibus
:
et
aliis
.et
oriuo, pro
statu
universalis
Bcclesio, et pace et
regis,
domini
domine
Isabollo
regine,
domini
Edwardi
loci,
dicti
regis
primogeiiiti, et
aliorum ipsius
con-
Elyonsis, prions et
Mea, magistri Rogeri Butetourte, Dore de Waddyngle et omnium parentum amicorum, et bencfactorum meorum: et ipsorum cum ab hoc seculo migravorint, animabus, et omnium rogum Anglie animabus necnon specialiter pro animabus dominorum RadulpU do Walpol et Roberti de Oroford quondam episcoporum Blyensium; Johannis de Northwolde quondam abbatis de sanctu Edmundo; Johamiis de Berwisco, Henrici de Guldeford, Johannis de Vivon, Ade de Ikelyngham, Galfridi de Kyngeston, Johannis de Ely, Parentum et bonefaotorum
ventus ejusdem
meorum
19.
et
omnium
fldelium defunctorum.
De
cameram
iirincipalem, et
quo ad
cartis, scriptis, et
quarum uuam claveni custodiat magister ilicte domus, et aliam clavem unus capoUanorum, et tertiam clavom alius capollanus, per magistrum et scolares ad custodiam illiun doputandi. 21. Cedonte voro aut doeodonte magistro dicte domus, alius magister ydoneus, providus, ot circumspectus, iu ordino s.icordotiUi constitutus,
et clavibus;
saltern
domus
sou
partem oorundom secundum numorum, do soipsis aut aliis, oligaturj ot hvyus modi oloctio cancellai-io uuivei-sitatis Cantobrig: notificotur, simpliciter, approbanda, sod non examiuimda. Ncc per hoc haboat cancoUarius dicte univcrsitatis potestatem sivo jurisdictionem dictaiu olootionoui quassaiidi, sou do statu dicte domus aliqualitor ordinandi, sou aliquem iu sooietatom dicte domus pouondi,
contra
22.
majorem
vol decodonte magistro ojusdem, alium magistrum ad rogimon dicte donms, infra duoa
formam ordinationis nico supradicto. Quod si forsan scholaros dicte donuis, codonte
APPENDIX.
645
monges a tempore oesaionis aut docossus magistri, eligere neglezerint time Btatim post lapsum illorum duovum monaium, dominua opiscopus Elyonsis, qui pro tomporo flierit, magiatrum profioiat et doputot ad
regimen aiitodictum; ot hi^jus modi profectio magiatri, facta per prediotum domlnum opiscopum, cancollario notificetur, modo suporius
annotato, salva
aempor
dlctis
acolaribus
elootione libera
magiatrum
oontingentlbua in fulurum.
23.
Cum autem
ad sociotatem dicto domus sit reclpiendua; modi rccente, coram magiatro [vel]
et atatuta, ut predicitur,
presidente dicto domua, et soclis, jurabit, inapectis sive tactis aacroeanotis evangeliia,
omnibua diebua vite mee, prediotis ordleaadem miuuere, nmtare, doclarare, et iiiterpretari prout et quando, aecundum Doum, michi placuerlt et videbitur expedire. In quorum teatimonium prosontibus aiglUum mourn apposui, 25. testibus domino Ffultono Priore de BernwoUe, Roberto Dunning miyoro Cantobrig: Eudone de Impringham, magiatro Henrico de Trippelowo, Joiiauno Morria, Roberto de Cumborton, Petro de Bermingham, Adam de Bangeye, Willelmo de Iloywarde, Roberto de Brunne, Reginaldo de Trumpoton, Bartholomoo Morris, Johanno Pilat, et aliis. Datum apud Oantob. die lovia proxima ante featum Sancti Michaolis Archangcli, anno Domini millesimo trecentiaaimo Ticealmo quarto, et regni domini regis Edwardi fllii regis Edwardi decimo octavo.
24.
Cotorum
liceat mihi,
nationibua addcro et
(E), p. 358.
have
A distinction
those
is made in tho statutes of all universities between who read ordinarie et cursorie, though it is not very easy to
discover in
it is
probable how-
ever that whilst cursory lectures were confined to the reading of the simple text of the author, with the customary glosses upon it, the ordinary lectures included such additional comments on the text, as the knowledge and researches of the reader enabled him to supply.
The ordinary lectures would thus appear to have required higher than tho cursory lectures, a view of their character which is confirmed by a statute of the univeraity of Paria, ordering that "Nullus magiater qui leget ordinabib leetiones auaa debet finiro OCKSORiB.'" Peacock, Obiereations, App. A, pp. xliv, xlv.
qualificationa
GiQ
'
APPENDIX.
What
we can
we should
:
call
Anstey, Introd. to
Munimenta Academica,
que
la mati^re, la
que par
les Maitres.
au
libre arbitre
de chacun.
Elles pouvaient etre faites soit par des mattres, soit par des bacTieliers.'
De VOtganisation de FUnseignement, etc. p. 65. M. Thurot then quotes in a note the phrases lectiones cursoricB, legere ad cursum, lectio cursoria, legere cursorie; cursory lectures being, he supposes, nearly identical with extraordinary lectures, the view which I hare adopted in the text. In support of this yiew, and also to shew that the original use of the terms ordinary and cursory had no reference to any special mode of lecturing, I would offer the following considerations: (1) The meaning I have assigned to these terms harmonises with the etymology; but if ordinarie be supposed to have reference to a peculiar method of lecturing, what sense is to be assigned to the
Thurot,
(2) In the few early college statutes that no such distinction is recog^iised yet some of these statutes specify not only the subjects but the authors to be treated. On the other hand, the view indicated by M. Thurot, that the cursory lecture was an extra lectuyej^iven in most instances by a bachelor, whose own course of study was stiU incomplete, and upon a subject which formed part of that course, derives considerable support from the following facts: (a) Cwrsory readers had, in some instances,
eiTi.-ffVBsAonextraordinarie?
them by the reader in ordinary. Thus in statute 100 {Documents, i 365, 366), De cursorie legentibus in jure canonico, we find the cursory reader required to swear se leeturum per duos terminos infra biennium in lectura sibi assignanda per ordinarie legentem. That is, according to Mr Anstey's theory, the lecturer engaged upon the more elementary part of the instruction determined what should be read by the lecturer who taught the more advanced pupils 03) Those incepting either in medicine, in civil or
their course of reading assigned to
!
ments
requisite
lecture,
375377); but to have lectured ordinarily is never made a prefor before a lecturer could be deputed to deliver an ordinary he must have passed through the whole course of the faculty he
:
represented,
(y)
Among
own
university
we
find
the following:
APPENDIX.
647
(Statute 142,
Documents
tibus
;
i 385).
entitled
De
if
therefore the
is difficalt
title be taken in conjunction with the statute, it not to infer that lecturing by bachelors was what was usually
;
ably edited
majorem partem ad minus alterius termini immediate sequentis, nee cesset a lectura ilia donee illam rite compleTerit, nisi in casu quo fidem fecerit coram Cancellario et Procuratoribus, quod non poterit commode et absque damno
narie metaphysicam, earn legat per terminum anni et
dum tamen
pleturos lectnram:
licenter
quod si Magister alius tunc in ea non legeiit, poterit per Bachilarium aliquem compleri quod dimlttitur de lectura,
non obstante
It
ordinatione priora'
Munimenta Academica,
'
:
p. 423.
remains to
examine the evidence for Mr. Anstey's theory contained in the following
statute,
Cum
statntum fuerit ab
mationi Scholarium snonim, es debito juramenti vel fidei prsestitse, sonunopere intendere debeant et vacare, quidam tamen eorum lucre
et cupiditati inhiantes ac propriae salutis
eorundem Scholarium
et prsecipue
quam non
tantum frivolam sed damnosam profectui dictonim juniorum reputat, suspendendo statuit quod, quicumque scholas grammaticales deinceps
teuere voluerit, sub poena privationis a reginiine scholarum, ac sub pcena
incarcerationis
ad libitum Cancellarii subeundae, ab hiyusmodi lectura quod nee in scholis suis, nee alibi in Universitate
hujusmodi cursus leg^t, nee legi faciant per quoscunque, sed aliis omnibus praetermissis, instruction! positivae Scholarium suomm intendant diligentius et insudent.
erint,
si
volu-
hujusmodi cursus
as
' '
legant,
prout
antiquities fieri
consuemt.'
{Munimenta Academica,
Mr Anstey
restrictions.'
This statute is referred to by pp. 86, 87.) one forbidding cursory lectures except under certain
is,'
he adds,
that
it
not
uncommon
!
parsing
'
(Introd. p. Ixix.)
The whole of
we
observe that
648
certain
APPENDIX.
mode of delivering them : this appears to be beyond doubt if carefully note the expressions italicised; and finally the title of the statute, Qiwmodo legi debent lectiones cursorice in gcholis gram-
we
maticaHbug, evidently signifies that cursory lecturers in grammar are to observe a certain .method, not that cursory lectures are to be discontinued. In &ct, in another statute, which seems to have escaped Mr Anstey's notice, it is expressly required that cursory lectures in
grammar shall
be given,
INDEX.
A
Abbo, of FlenryiBnstains the tradition of Alcnin's teaching, 69; his pnpils, 70 Abelaid, pnpil of WUliam of Champeanz, S7, 77, n. 1; asserts the lights of reason against authority, 68 ; attacked by Gualtems, 62 Accnrsins, of Florence, his labours in connexion ynth the civil law, 37 ^gidios, gnpports Aqninae against tiie Franciscans, 121 ; a stndent ' at the university of Paris, 134 iBlfred, Mng, statement of respecting the knowledge of Latin in England in his time, 21 ; exertions of, in restoring learning, 81 foundation of the university of Oxford by, now generally rejected, 83, n. 3 Age of students at the university of Paris in the Middle Ages, 131; limitation vrith respect to, in statute respecldng admission of students at King's HaU, 253 ; average, of the arts student at time of entry, 346
;
still bears his name, ib. n. 3; discrepancy in statements respecting time of his arrival in Paris, ib.; known as the 'ape of
which
108; method of intercompared with that of Aquinas, ib. ; obligations of, to Avicenna, ib. n, 1 characterised by Prantl as a mere compiler, ib. n. 2 a native of Swabia, 113 supports Aquinas against the Franciscans, 121; theory of, with respect to the subject-matter of logic, 181 Alcock, John, bp. of Ely, procures the dissolution of the nunnery of St. Bhadegnnd and the foundation of Jesus College, 321 a benefactor to Peterhouse, ib. n. 2 Alcuin, diversity of opinion respecting share of, in thd revival of learning under Charlemagne, 11; chaAristotle,'
pretation
of,
racter of,
compared
12
;
vrith that of
Charlemagne,
draws
up a
Agricola,
Budolphns, prophecy of, concerning the spread of learning in Germany, 409; scholarship of, 410 ; the Be Formando Studio of, ib.; outline of the contents, ib. ; the Be Inventione of, 412; the latter
recommended
Fisher, 497
;
by
Erasmus
to
a prescribed text-book
Marie
of education for the emperor, 13; retires to Tours, 14; condemns YirgU, 16; and aU pagan learning, 17; library at York described by, ib. n. 1; death of, described byMonnier, ib.n.2; teacher of BabanuB Maurus at Tours, 54; tradition of the teaching of, 69 Aldrich, Bobt., fell, of King's, a friend of Erasmus at Cambridge, 499 Aldhehn, archbp. of Canterbury, his knowledge of Latin and Greek, 8 Alexander of Aphrodisias, extensions given to the psychology of Aris-
scheme
^x-la-Chapelle, decree of conncU at, A.D. 817, 19 Albertus Magnus, commentary qf, on the Sentences, 62; commences to teach at the vmiversity of Paris, .107 ; reputation of, as an ex-
Alexander
pounder of Aristotle,
ib.;
street
650
INDEX.
Antony, St., the monachism of, compared with that of the Benedictines, 86 Aquinas, St. Thomas, commentary of, on the Sentences, 62; one of the
pupils of Albertns at Cologne, 107; method of, in commenting on Aristotle compared with that of Albertus, 108 obligations of, to Aver;
Alexander, de Villa Dei, author oi a common text-book on grammar used at Cambridge, 515 and n. 1 AUiacuB, cardinal, unf aTorable to the teachmg of Aquinas, 123 AJne, Robert, owner 6 o, treatise by Petrarch lent to a master of Michaelhouse in the 15th cent., 433 Ambrose, fomider of the' conception of sacerdotal authority in the Latin Church, 3 Ammonius, the friend of Erasmus,
492
letters
from Erasmus
;
to; t6.
505 and n. 2 498, n. 3; 503, u. 3 Ampfere, view of, with respect to Charlemagne's design, 13 Analytics, Prior and Posterior, of Aristotle, not quoted before the twelfth century, 29 Anaxagoras, the vous of, the basis of the theory of the De Aniina,- 115 Angers, migration to, from Paris in 1228, 107 Anjou, Margaret of, character of,
roes, ib. n. 1 ; combination of Aristotelian and Christian philosophy in, 110; influence of, on modem theology, 112 ; difficulty of his position with respect to the New
Aristotle, 113; sacrificed Averroes in order to save Aristotle, 114; adopted the method of Averroes, ib.; philosophy of, attacked by the FraJiciscans, 120 ; unfavorable criticism of the teaching of, prohibited, 122 ; canonisation of, ib.; vision Summa of, 123 of, in Dante, ib. method of, condemned by various mediseval teachers, ib. ; method of, as compared with that of Lombardus, calculated to promote controversy, 125 ; commentaries of, preceded the iwva translatio of Aris-
Ultramontane sympathies 312 of, 313 ; petition of, to Mng Henry Ti for permission to found Queens'
;
.
College,
a.
Annunciation of B. V. Mary, coUege of the, GonvUle Hall so called, 245 gild of the, at Cambridge, 248 Anselm, St., successor to Lan&anc in the see of Canterbury, 49 grow; ;
matter of
logic,
ing thoughtfuhiess of his times, considered that nominalism was necessarily repugnant to the doctrine of the Trinity, 55; his Latinity superior to that of a subhis death, ib.; sequent age, 57 character and influence of his writings, 63; perpetuated the influence of St. Augustine, ib.; his theology characterised by E^mnsat, 64, n. 1 none of his writings named in the catalogue of the Ubrary of Christchuroh, 104 Anstey, Mr., on the supposed existence of the university of Oxford before the Conquest, 81, n. 1 on the probable adoption of the statutes of the university of Paris at Oxford, 83, 84; objections to the theory of, of the relations of 'grammar' to the arts course, 350,
ib.;
; ; ;
Aristotle, their interpretations bring about a condemnation of his works, 97 Aretino, see Bruni. Argentine, John, provost of King's,
Arabian commentators on
426;
his proposed
''act'
in the
schools, ib.
Aristotle,
varied character of tiie influence of, 29 known from sixth to thirteenth century only as a logician, ib.; Categories and Periermenias of, lectured on by Gerbert at Eheims, 44 ; his theory of universals described in translation of Porphyry by Boethius, 52; Pre;
dicamenta of, ib.; supposed study of, at Oxford in the twelfth century, 83 ; the New, when introduced into Europe, 85; respect for, inspired among the Saracens by Averroes, 91 ; philosophy of, first
n. 1
Antichrist, appearance of immediately to precede the end of the world, 10 Antichristo Libellm de, erroneously attributed to Alcuiu, 16, n. 1; its resemblance to Lactantius, ib.
known
to
bian commentators,
Categories and
of,
only the
INDEX.
phito the schoolmen before the thirteenth century, 94; never mentioned in the Sentences, ib.; all the extant works of, known to Europe through Latin versions before the year 1272, ib.; writings of, on natural science first known through versions from the Arabic, 95 ; comparative accuracy of the .versions from the Latin and those from the Arabic, ib.; numerous preceding versions through which the latter were derived, ib.
O^ieek,
ib.;
651
of
St.
how
distinguished,
losophy
of,
not
known
Mary's Hostel, 563; before the chapter at Westminster, 605 articles against, 606 recantation of, ib. Arundel, archbp., his visitation at Cambridge, 258; commission appointed by, ib. his character, 259, n. 1; constitutions of, 272; when bp. of Ely asserted his jurisdiction over the xmiversity, 288; Fuller's comments on his visitation, ib. n. 1 Ascham, Scholemaster of, quoted, 59, n. 3; testimony of, to evils reter
summons
;
of,
sulting
Uie New, difficulties of the Church with respect to, 97; varied character of its contents, ib.; scientific treatises of, condemned at Paris, ib.; and again in 1215' and 1231,
98 ; Dominican interpretation of, a notable phenomenon in the thirteenth century, 108; psychology of, 115 ; translations from the Greek text of, 125 Nova Translatio of, 126; Ethics of, newly translated under the direction of Grosseteste, 154; worthlessness of the older versions of, ib.; the New, first effects of on the value attached to logic, 179 ; works of, studied at Prague and Leipsic in the fifteenth century, 282, n. 2; authority of, attacked by Petrarch, 386 Arithmetic, treatment of the subject by Martianus, 26; treatise on, by Tnnstal, 592 ; the study of, recom;
mission of pensioners, -624 Ashton, Hugh, executor to the countess of Richmond for carrying out foundation of St. John's College, 464 Astronomy, treatment of the science of, by Martianus, 26 Augustine, St., founder of the dogmatic theology of the Latin Church, 3 theory contained in the De Civitate Dei of, 4 juncture at which the treatise was composed, 10 obligations of John Scotus to, 41 influence of upon Anselm, 49; his spirit revived in Ansehn, 63; trans;
;
how
dis-
mended by Melanchthon,
ArgyropuloB,
ib. n. 1
John, 405
improve-
ments
of on the interpretation of Aristotle, ib.; declared Cicero had no true knowledge of Aristotle,
translations of, from the ; Greek, ib. admitted excellence of these, 407; lecture of, attended by
406
when introduced at Cambridge, 342 Arts, faculty of, the first instituted at Paris, 77 Arts student, course of study pursued by the, 345 ; his average age at entry, 346 ; his relations to his 'tutor,' ib.; aids afforded him by the university, 847 ; aids afforded to
bypublic charity, ib. his prospects on the completion of his course, 362 Arthur, Tho., a convert of BUney, 562; paigrates from Trinity Hall to St.' John's, ib. appointed mas;
tinguished from those of a later period, 93 Platonic tendencies of, an element in- the literature which Aquinas attempted to reconcile, 113 little valued by many of the Humanists, 484; regarded by Burnet as a schismatic, 485 ; tenacity of the influence of, ib. Augustinian canons, prioiy of at Barnwell, 139 hospital of, founded at Cambridge, 223 Augustinian friars, their house near the old Botanic Gardens, 139; character of as a body, 564; site of their foundation at Cambridge, engrossed the tuition of ib. n. 3 grammar at Oxford, 565; at one time taught gratuitously, ib.; church of, at Cambridge, not included in the episcopal jurisdic;
tion, ib.
Aulus GeUius, Lupus of Ferriferes intends to forward a copy of, 20; the class lecturer at C. C. C. Oxford ordered by bp. Fox to lecture on,
521, n. 2 Auvergne, William of, condemnation of a series of propositions from the De Causis by, 114 Averroes, familiarises his countrymen with Aristotle, 91; entirely ignorant of Greek, 95; extension
;;
652
INDEX.
Balliol College, Oxford, a portion of Bichard of Bury's library transferred to, 203, n. 2; Wyclif master of, 264; his efforts on behalf of the secular clergy at, ib. Balsham, the village of, formerly a manor seat of the bishops of Ely,
given to the psyoholo^eal theory of Aristotle by, 116 hia theory of the Unity of the Intellect, ib. the first to develope the psychology of Aristotle into a heresy, 117; criticised by Aquinas, ib. followed by Alexander Hales, ib.; influence
; ; ;
exercised by, over the Franciscans, 118; differs from Aristotle in regarding form as the individualising principle, 120; his vmtings rare in the Cambridge libraries of the fifteenth century, 326. Avignon, university of, formed on
224, n. 3
elec-
the modet of Bologna, 74 Avignon, subserviency of the popes at, to French interests, 194 effects of the papal residence at, ib.; influence of the popes at, on the university of Paris, 215
;
B
Bachelor, term
of,
did not
ori^aUy
tion to the see, 223; lus struggle with Adam de Marisco,224; a Benedictine prior, ib. ; an eminently practical man, 225; his merits as an administrator, ib. ; his decision between the archdeacon and the university, ib.; confirms the statute requiring scholars to enter under a master, 226; introduces secular scholars into the hospital of St. John, 227; failure of hia scheme, ib. ; his bequests, 228, n. 2 Barnes, Bobt., prior of the Augustinians at Cambridge, 564; sent when young to study at Louvain, 565; returns to Cambridge with Paynell, 566.; lectures on the Latin classics and St. Paul's Epistles, ib. ; disputes with Stafford in the divinity schools, 568; presided at the meetings at the 'White Horse, 573; his sermon at St. Edward's Church, 575; is accused to the vice-chancellor, 576; is confronted privately with his accusers in the schools, ib.; refuses to sign a revocation,578; is arrested and examined before Wolsey in London, ib. ; is tried before six bishops at Westminster, ib. ; signs a recantation, ib.; his narrative of the conclusion, ib. ; diaclaims being a
many,
Barker,
ib.
King's,'
John, 425
'the
sophister
of
attached by him to linguistic knowledge, 158; and to mathematics, ib. probably not a lec;
turer at Merton College, 159, n. 4 his philosophic insight rendered less marvellous by recent investigations of Arabic scholars, 170; his account of the evUs resulting from excessive study of the civil law, 209 Baker, Tho., his observations on the estates lost by St, John's College,
Barnet, bp. of Ely, omits to take the oaths of the chancellors of the university, 287, n. 2 Barnwell, priory at, a house of the Augustinian canons, 139 Barnwell, the prior of, appointed by pope Martin v to adjudicate upon the claims of the university in the Barnwell Process, 289; fight between and the mayor of Cambridge, 874 Barnwell Process, the, terminates the controversy concerning jurisdiction between the bishop of Ely and the university, 146; bull for.
469
;; ;
INDEX.
issued by pope Martin v, 288 real character of, 290 and n. 2 Baseli conncil of, new theory of papal power eBtabliehed by the, 281 BaBing, John, assists Grosseteste in translating the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, 110 the discoverer of the manuscript atAthen8,i6. Bartolue, a writer on jurisprudence attacked by Valla, 419
; ;
653
Bateman, Wm., bp. of Norwich and founder of Trinity Hall, 240 his
;
his funeral at Avignon, ib. n. 1; his design in the foundation of Trin. Hall, 242 account of library presented by, to Trin. Hall, 243; assistance given by, to Gouville HaU, 244; alters the name of the Hall, 245 Bayeux, College de, in Paris, a foundation of the fourteenth century, 128 designed for the stui^ of medicine and of the civil law, ib. Beaufort, cardinal, bequeathed 1000 to King's College, 310 ; his attainments as a canonist, ib.; his Ultramontanism, ib. n. 1 Bee, monastery at, catalogue of its library, 101 lands taken from to found King's College, 305; lands
character,
241;
motives to which the formation of new branches of the order is attributable, ib. and n. 3 degeneracy of the whole order, 86 Benet College, Corpus Christi College formerly so called, 249, n. 4 Benet's St., bells of, used in the 13th century to convene university meetings, 299, n. 3 Berengar, view of, respecting the Lord's Supper, 46; his controversy his mental with Lanfrano, 47 with compared characteristics those of Lanfranc, 48; his subCouncil, ib. mission to the Lateran Bernard, St., of Chartres, character of the school over which he presided, 67 Bernard, St., of Clairvaux, complains of excessive devotion of the clergy to the civil law, 39; alarm of at the progress of enquiry, 58 Bessarion, cardinal, 403 his patriotic zeal, ib.; his efforts to bring about a union of the two churches, ib.; his conversion to the western Church, 404; his example produc; ; ;
Beverley, town
of,
Fisher
purchased by William of Wykeib. n. 3 Becon, Tho., his testimony to the value of Stafford's lectures, 567 Bede, the Venerable, his writings the text-books of subsequent ages, 9; a reputed doctor of divinity of the university of Cambridge, 66 state of learning in England subsequent to the time of, 81 Bedell, special, attendant on the master of glomery, 226, n. 1 attended the Bedells, originally schools of different faculties, 144 Bedford Level, the, 380 Begging, a common practice with students in the middle ages, 347 restrictions imposed on the practice by the university authorities, 348 Benedictine era, the, 2 Benedict, St., monastery of, on Monte
of,
ham,
Bible, the, lecturers not allowed to lecture on, untU they had lectured on the Sentences, 363, n. 2 Biblici ordinarii and eunores, 363 Sidellus, an officer in the university of Bologna, 73 Bilney, Thos., testimony of to the influence of Erasmus's Greek Test., S56 ; his eccentric character, 560 his account of his spiritual experiences, ib. ; his character, by
562; converts of, ib.; his influence as a Norfolk man, 563 summoned before the chapter at Westminster, 605; recants a second time, 607; penance of, at Paul's Cross, ib. ; returns to Cambridge, 608 Bishops, list of, in 1500, who had
Latimer,
;
been educated at Cambridge, 425 Blackstone, Sir B., inaccuracy of his account of the early study of the
civil law,
209
Cassino, 5 Benedictines, the, culture of, 3 schools of, 13 ; destruction of the monasteries of in the tenth century, 81; rapid extension of the order of, under Cnut and Edward the Confessor, 82; different principal foundations of, ib. ; growing laxity of discipline among, 85;
Boethius,
a text-book during the Middle Ages, 21; the allegory in the De Congolatione of, probably in imitation of Martianus, 27 his
;
services to learning, ib.; his treatise compared with that of Martianus, ib.; not a Christian, 28; commentaries of, on the Topiea of
654
INDEX.
bury, 100, n. 1; his criticism on early statute relating to hostels quoted, 220 n. 1
44; the same as Manlins, i&. note 1; his commentary on the trans-
Porphyry by Victorinus, translation of Porphyry, ib. ; change in his philosophic opinions, ib.; importance attached by, to the question respecting nniversals, ib.; difference in his views with respect to nniversals as expressed in his two commentaries, 53; his conclusions with respect to the questioii adverted to by Porphyry, ib. ; does not attempt to decide between Plato and Aristotle, ib.; reason, according to Consin, why he adopted the Aristotelian theory, ib.; translations of Aristotle by, how distingoished from those of a later period, 93 ; passed for a Christian writer in the Middle Ages, 96 ; the philosopher and the theologian confonnded in cata^ logne of hbrary at Christchtirch, 104; Chaucer's translation of the Z)e Gonsolatione of, the commencement of the mriversity library, 323 Bologna, nniversity of, the chief school of civil law in Europe in the twelfth century, 71; official recognition of, by the emperor Frederic i, 72 ; provisions contained in chaxter of, ib.; constitution of, 73 ; compared with nniversity of Paris, 75; numbers at, in the thirteenth century, 130 ; professors of civil law at, dressed as laymen, 210 ; first received a faculty of theology, 215
lation of
51
Ms
Bradwardine, Thomas, Ms De Causa Dei, 198 the treatise a source of Calvinistic doctrine in the English Church, ib.; its eccentric method, the work criticised by Sir 199 Henry SavUe, 199, n. 1'; referred to by Chaucer, ib.; edited by Savile, ib.; its extensive erudition, 200; had access to Bichard of Bnry's chaplain to the same, library, ib. 203 ; apocryphal authors cited by, ib. n. 1; compared with Occam, 205, n. 1 styled by LecMer a prce; ; ; ;
nuntim ReformatioiUs, ib. Bresch, Jean, Essay on the Sentences by, 60, n. 2 Brewer, professor, observations of, on the Latinity of mediaeval writers, 171, n. 1 ; criticism of, on Erasmus's New Testament, 509 Bromyard, John, Ms Summa Prcedicantium, 293 ; a Dominican, ib. ; character of Ms work, 294; contrasted with Pecock, ib. Bruni, Leonardo, Ms services to the study of Aristotle, 398 Ms translations of the Ethics and the Politics, ib. ; his dedication of the latter to the duke of Gloucester, 399 Brucker, unsatisfactory decision of, with respect to the Latin transla;
Bonaventura, commentary of, on the Sentences, 62; a native of Tuscany, 113 character of the genius
;
118; indifferent to Aristotle, ib. n. 1 Boniface vni, pope, defied by William of Occam, 187; rapacity of alienates the English Franciscans, 194 Booksellers, at Cambridge, required to suppress heretical books, 500, n. 2; generally foreigners, i6.; licence
of,
tions of Aristotle, 92; condemnation of the scholasticAiistotleby ,123 Bruliferius, the umversity forbidden to study, 630 Bryan, John, fell, of King's, a pupU of Erasmus at Cambridge, 499; rejected the scholastic Aristotle, ib.; takes the Greek text of Aristotle as the basis of Ms lectures,
517; not an eminent Grecian, 520 Buckenham, prior of the Dominicans, sermon by, in reply to Latimer, 610
Buckmaster, Dr,
letter of to
fell,
of Peterhouse,
Dr Edmunds on
the
of 1534 for, 626 Booth, Lawrence, chanc. raises the funds for building arts schools and civil law schools, 360 Bouquet, Dom, describes the benefits of the system introduced by Charlemagne, 14 Bouigogne, foundation of the CoUfee de, 129 Bradshaw, Mr. H., his opinion with
,
.
BuMe, theory
of,
from Arabic translations, 93 Bullock, Henry, feU. of Queens', a pupU and correspondent of Eras-
mus, 498; patronised byWolsey.td.; letter of to Erasmus, 512 oration of, on Wolsey's visit to Cambridge,
;
INDEX.
Bnibank, 545
655
20; considers portion to have
ib.
Wm.,
secretary to Wolsey,
of,
BnridainiB, his Qucestiones a good illustration of the common mode of lecturing, 359 Burley, Walter, defends the reaUstio doctrines at Oxford, 197 ; his Expositio super Artem Veterem, ib.; his statement that the site of Oxford was selected by philosophers from Greece on accoimt of its healthiness, 339 and n. 2 ; his Logic forbidden at Cambridge, 630 Bury, Eichard of, tutor to Edward III when prince of Wales, 200 ; his important services to his pupil, ib. his subsequent career, 201 ; not a man of profound acquirements, ib. ; his interview with Petrarch at
270
Caius Auberinus, a lecturer on Terence at the university towards the close of the 15th century, 434 Cam, the river, 329 route described in its course, ib. its present point of junction with the Ouse, ib.; meaning of name, i6. ij. 1 formerly held by the town corporation of the crown, 373 Cambridge, the town of, totally destroyed in A.D. 870, 81; and in ancient appearance o^ 1009, 82 332; its gradual growth, ib.; why chosen as a site of an university, 333 aspect of in the 15th century,
;
; ;
Avignon,
;
ib.;
he disappoints the
poet, 202 his knowledge of Greek, ib. ; his real merits, ib. ; his mania for books, ib. n. 2 his wisdom in book collecting, 203; fate of his library, ib. his rules for the management of Durham College library, ib. ; the rules almost identical with those of the Sorbonne, 204, n. 1; slight distinction between the two, ib. his Philobiblon, ib. n. 2; his account of the students of his day, 206; on the degeneracy of the Mendicants, ib.; his declaration respecting the civilians, 211 ; his indifference to the canon law, ib. ; his opinion of the university of Paris in his day, 214 his testimony to the lethargy that there prevailed, ib.
; ; ; ;
; legends respecting early history of, 66; scantiness of our information respecting the statutes of, before the college era, ib.; modelled on the university of Paris, 67; probable origin of, 80 earliest legal recognition of the, 84; students from Paris settle in the, 107; presence of students from Paris at, 133;
known
legal recognition, 1
St. EcUaund's, contest at, between the monks and the Franciscans, 149 Bnsleiden, Jerome, founder of the collegium trilingue at Louvain, 565 Bis family and character, ib. Byzantine logic, the, in^uence of, 175 its presence in Duns Scotus, 180; important results that followed upon the introduction of, 184; important results of, with respect to nominalism, 188; instrumental in introducing the theojy of the Svppositio, ib.; its rapid spread in the 15th century ,416
; ;
Bury
migration from the, to Northampton, 135 first recognised as a sttidium generate in 1318, 145; advantages resulting from this recognition, 146 chancellor of, present at council of Constance, 276; regarded as deteriorating in theology in the fifteenth century, 315 originally only a grammar school, 340 ; period when the arts course was introduced at, 342 ; fables respecting 'early history of, retailed by Fisher,4S0; tribute paidby Erasmus to its fame, 507 ; progress of Greek
; ; ;
511; declared by Erasmus in 1516 to be able to compare with the most celebrated universities, entire change at, 519, n. 516; 2 favour shown by to the study of Greek contrasted by More vrith the conduct of Oxford, 526; had always outstripped Oxford, 534;
at,
;
Wolsey constituted
C
Caen, abbey of, lands taken from to found King's College, 805
CsBsar,
the statutes
of,
549
of letter of, to the cardinal, 550; contribution of colleges of to the royal loan, 551, n. 1 royal visits to,
;
;;
; ; ; ;
G56
eapoiise
INDEX.
only portion of his logic studied prior to the 12th century, 29 Cavendish, Wolsey's biographer, educated at Cambridge, 545 Chalcidius, Latin translation of the Tinueus by, 41 Chalcondyles, successor to Argyiopulos at Florence, 429 his edition
;
mar, 430 Champeaux, William of, opens a school of logic in Paris, 77, n. 1 630 , Chancellor of the cathedral at Paris, Camerarius, testimony of, to fame of his hostility to the university, 80 Eichard Croke at Leipsio, 527 Chancellor, office of the, in the uniCanon law, study of, founded on the versity, 140 his election biennial, Decretum of Gratian, 36; simply ib. elected by the regents, ib. permitted at Merton College, 167 duties attached to the office, 141 permitted but not obligatory at his powers ecclesiastical in their Gonville HaU, 240 how a&ected by origin, ib.; originally not perOccam's attack on the papal power, mitted to delegate all his duties to 259 four fellows allowed to study the vice-chancellor, ib. ; his powers at King's, 308; study of, simply permitted at Queens' College, 317 distinguished from those of the forbidden at St. Catherine's Hall, regents, 142; first becomes vested with spiritual jurisdiction in the 318; and at Jesus College, 822; admission of bachelors in, from university, 146 his authority asA.D. 1459 to A.D. 1499, 320; doctor serted by the Barnwell Process exof, former requirements for degree clusive of all ecclesiastical jurisdiction, 289 of, 364 lectures on and degrees in prohibited, 630 Chancellors, two at the university of Canterbury, destruction of the hbrary Bologna, 73 Charlemagne, fosters learning in at, A.D. 1009, 82 both the monasteries at, professed the Benedictine conjunction with Alcuin, 9 effects rule, ib. of his rule on the conception of mode of Ufe at monaslearning, 10 his Capitulajies, 12 tery of St. Augustine at, described by Giraldus Cambrensis, 87 his letter to Baugnlfns, ii. inCanterbury HaU, Oxford, efforts of vites Alcuin over from England, Simon Islip at, 266; expulsion of 13 twofold character of his work in education, ib. his mental actiseculars from, ib. vity, 14; questions in grammar Cardinal College, Oxford, foundation propounded by, to Alcuin, 15 his of, 551 its princely revenues, ib. views in relation to learning comscholars from Cambridge placed on the foundation, 552; founded pared with those of Alcuin, 17 on the site of St. Frideswide's Charters university, supposed loss monastery, ib. n. 1; magnificence of, 81, n. 1 of the design, 601 and n. 1 Chicheley, archbp., directs the conCards, playing at, allowed to fellows fiscation of the estates of the aUen at Christmas time, 609 always forpriories, 305 bidden to scholars, ib. n. 2 Christchurch, monastery of, CanterCarmelites, the, their house near bury, a mixed foundation, 100; Queens' College, 139 distinguished from that of St. AuCassiodorus, treatise of, a text-book gustine's, Canterbury, ib. n. 2; during the Middle Ages, 21; his contrast presented in catalogue of account of the Arithmetic of Boelibrary at, with that of a hundred thius, 28, n. 1; escapes the fate years later, 105; the monks of, of Boethius under Theodorio, 29; nearly driven from the city by the his Gothic History, 30; his EpiDominicans, 150 stles, t6. ; his treatise DeArtibus, ib.; Christchurch, Oxford, see Cardinal copy of, at the libraiy at Bee, 100 College Categories of Aristotle, the, along Christ's College, foundation of, 446 with the De Interpretatione, the endowments of given by Margaret
;
relation to the question, compared by Mr. Froude with that of Oxford, 616; letter to from King Henry, 617 decision of, on the question, criticised, 621 ; royal injunctions
to,
of
Homer,
ib.;
; ,
; ;
INDEX,
Bichmond,. 447 ; original Btatutes of, 453; qualifications of fellows at, 455 ; oath taken by fellows of, ib. ; powei- reserved by statntes of, of making alterations, 456, s. 3; error of dean Peacock on this point, ib. clause in oath administered to master of, 458; requirements for fellows at, 459;
of
;
6o7
in long vacation at, 460 ; allowance to fellows for commons at, ib. Chrodegang, bp. of Metz, founder of secular colleges in Lorraine, 160 Chrysoloras, Emmanuel, his charac-
the study of, often united with that of the canon law in England, ib. studied by Lanfrano at Bologna, 47 ; why discouraged at Paris, 75 periods during which the study was encouraged or prohibited in the university of Paris, ib. n. 2 none of the volumes of the, louud in the library at Christchurch, 104 studied at the College de Bayeux in Paris, 128; conditions under which the study of, was permitted at Merton College, 167; absorbing attention to, in the 14th century,
its tendency to confound distinctions between laity and clergy, 209; inaccuracy of Blackstone's account of the study, ib. ; Beginald Peoock on the evils resulting from the study, ib. ; importance of the code, shewn by William of Nogaret, 211; the Avignonese popes distinguished by their knowledge
208
391 ; he acquires the Latin tongue, 392; his eminence as a teacher of Greek, ib.; his Greek Grammar, ib. and n, 2 his visit to Borne, 393; his death at Constance, 895 his funeral oration by Juliauus, 396 Chrysostom, St., disparagingly spoken
ter,
; ;
of
Chubbes,
logic, 425; an adviser of bp. Alcock in the foundation of Jesus College, 426 Cicero, Lupus of EerriSres asks for the loan of the Bhetoric of, 20; Topica of, expounded by Gerbert at Bheims, 44; studied as a model under Bernard of Chartres, 57; styled by Niebuhr a 8eos Ayfuarot in the Middle Ages, 96 numerous treatises of, in the library at Bee, in Normandy, in thirteenth century, 104; Petrarch's model, 354; orations of, known in the twelfth
on
study of, looked upon by the artists ' and theologians at Paris as a trade, 255, n. 1; evident desire of founders to check the excessive attention paid, in the 18th century, to the, 319; spirit in which it was studied in Italy entirely mercenary, ib.; admissions of bachelors to degrees in, from a.d. 1459 to 1499, 320; the study of, especially attacked by the Humanists, 418 Clare College, foundation of, 250; designed to repair the losses occasioned by the pestilence, 251 ; liberality of sentiment in the early statutes of, ib.; conditions to be observed in the election of fellows at, 252 ; sizars at, ib. ; its reputation in the 15th century, 314 Clement vii, pope, his opinion of the theologians, 212 Clergy, the, their participation in secular pursuits in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, 165 Clerk, probably synonymous with
of, ib.
' ;
of,
its relation to the canon law explained by Savigny ib. n. 8 ; its general prevalence at the close of the 12th century, 39;
;
Clerke (or Clark), John, one of the Cambridge Beformers, 604, and n. 1 Cluniac branch of the Benedictine order, 85 Cnut, Mng, converts the canonry at Bury St. Edmund's into a Benedictine monastery, 149; favored the creation of secular colleges, 160
42
9 ;
' ;
658
INDEX.
1453, 401, n. 3 exiles from, their character in Italy described, 402 Constantinople, College de, circumstances which gave rise to its foun;
Oobbett, Wm., his tribute to the work of the monasteries, 336, n. 1 Cobham, Tho., his bequest to the university library at Oxford, 203, n. 2 Cocheris, M., his edition of Eichard of Bury's Philobiblon, 204, n. 2 Cook-fighting, a common amusement among students, 373 Colet, John, his spirit as a founder contrasted with that of bp. Fisher, 471; his small liking for Augustine, 484; letter from Erasmus at
dation, 126, n. 4
Copemican theory,
tion
of,
partial anticipa-
Cambridge
to,
493
Collage, Tho., bequeaths a fund for the encouragement of preaching at the university in 1446, 439
in the treatise of Martianus, 26, note 1 Corpus Christi CoUege, destruction of the archives of, 137; foundation of, 247; its peeuHar origin, ib.i motives of founders of, 249; statutes of, borrowed from those of Michaeliouse, ib. and note 5; requirements with respect to
College de Montaigu, account given by Erasmus of the, 367 Colleges, of small importance in the university of Bologna, 74 supposed by BuIbbus to be coeval with the university at Paris, 76 foundation of, at Cambridge, the commencement of certain information respecting the university, 216; almost invariable design of the founders of, 368 intended for the poorer class of students, ib.; standard of admission at, 369; age of students
; ; ;
268, n. 1 Corpus Christi College, Oxford,manuscript of Argentine's proposed 'act in She library of, 426 and n. 2 foimdation of, 521 statutes of, ib.; duties imposed upon readers of divinity at, 522 Cosin, master of Corpus, succeeds Fisher as lady Margaret professor,
;
374
Councils of the fifteenth century, representatives from the universities present at, 276 Counties, limitations in elections to fellowships with respect to, 238 Cousin, M. Yict.,his dictum respecting the origin of the scholastic philosophy, 50; the passage quoted, ib. n. 1 ; his opinion that Boethius attached small importance to the dispute respectinguniversals doubtful, 51, n. 3; his account of the controversy respecting universals as treated by Boethius, 53 his conjecture with respect to the teaching of the schools of Charle-
increase the number of their fellowships, 372; survey of, by Parker, Eedman, and May, ann. 1545, 424, n. 5 College life, sketch of, in the Middle Ages, 366; asceticism a dominant
notion in, ih. Cologne, university of, formed on the model of Paris, 74 Commons, liberal allowance for, to fellows at King's Hall, 254 ; aUowancea for, at other colleges, ib. n. 2; allowance for, at Christ's College, 460; long unfixed at Peterhouse, ib. amount prescribed for, at St. John's College, 461 at Jesus College, ib. n. 1 Conringius, his conjecture with respect to the origin of university degrees, 77 Constance, council of, representatives from both universities at, 276; Emmanuel Chrysoloras at, 394 Constantinople, state of learning at, in the eleventh centm-y, 175 and n. 1 ; in the 15th century, contrasted with Florence, 388; account given of its scholars by Philelphus, 390; fall of, 400; state of learning at, after capture in
; ;
fell,
;
of Jesus, univer-
marriage
of, ib.;
to
gestion of, with respect to the royal divorce, ih. ; his treatise on the question, 618 Credo ut intelligam, dictum of St. Ant elm, 64 Croke, Rich., early career of, 527; his continental fame, ib.; instructor in Greek to king Henry, 528 begins to lecture on Greek at Camformally appointed bridge, ib.; Greek reader in 1519, ib.; his inaugural oration, 529 ; his Latin style modelled on Quintilian, ib.; had received ofEers from Oxford to
INDEX.
become a
his oration
dis,
659
Eliz., foundress of Clare
professor
there,
5B4;
De Burgh,
537 ; Ms second oration, 539 elected public orator, ib. ; ingratitude of, to Fisher, 615 ; activity of, in Italy, in gaining opinions favorable to the divorce, ib.
of a brother of, enables her to undertake the design, ib. n. 1 De Causis, the, a Neo-Platonic treatise, 114; attributed to Aristotle, ib. n. 1; considered by Jourdaiu to have been not less popular than the Pseudo-Dionysius, ib. ; the work described by Neander, ib. Decretals, the false, 34; criticised by
MUman, ib.
n. 1
Degrees, origin of, conjecture of Conxiugius respecting, 77 ; real origiual significance of, 78; obligations involved in proceeding to, ib.; number of those who proceeded to, in law or theology, smaller than might be supposed, 363
De
De
259
Interpretatione of Aristotle, along with the Categories the only por-
D
D'Ailly, Pierre, bp. of Cambray, educated at the college of Navarre, 128 Damian, Peter, hostile to pagan learning, 18 Damlet, Hugh, master of Pembroke,
tion 'of his logic studied prior to the 12th century, 29 Deterndne, to, meaning of the term explained, 354 ; by proxy, ib. Dialectics, include both logic and metaphysics in Martianus, 25 Dice, playing at, forbidden to the fellows of Peterhouse, 233 Diet of students in mediseval times,
367
Dionysius, the Pseudo- ,Celestial Hierarchy of, 41; translated by John Scotus Erigena, 42 ; character and influence of the treatise, ib. ; Abelard questions the story of his apostleship in Gaul, 58; scholastic acceptance of, as canonical, 109; supplanted the Bible in the Middle Ages, ib. n. 2; Grocyn in lectiuing on, discovers its real character, ib. ; the work described by
opposed to Reginald Pecock, 295 Danes, first invasion of the, fatal to learning in England, 9 and 81; second invasion of, 81; losses inflicted by, 82 Daneus, observation of, that Aristotle is never named by Peter
foundation attributed by Crevier to the twelfth century, 126 Dante, tribute paid by, to memory of Gratian, 36 D'Assailly, M., on the formation of the university of Bolfegna, 73 the universities of Bologna and Paris
its
;
Mihnan,
ib.
Erasmus's account
of Grocyn's discovery, 513, n. 1 Dispensations from oaths, clause against, in statutes of Christ's College, 455; and in statutes of St. John's, 456; question raised by
compared by,
76, n. 1
D.C.L., former requirements for degree of, 364 D.D. and B.D., requirements for degrees of, in the Middle Ages, 363; the degree formerly genuine in
character, 365
Disputations in parvisiis, 299, n. 2 why so termed, ib. Divorce, the royal, 612; question with reference to, as laid before the universities, 613; what it really involved, 614 fallacy of the
;
422
C(iO
ISDEX.
Doctor, origin of the degree of, 73; its catholicity dependent on the pleasure of the pope, 7S Doket, Andrew, first president of Queens* College, his character,
E
Eadgar, king, numerous monasteries founded in England during the reign of, 81; im&ToraUe to the secular clergy, 161 Eadward the Confessor, prosperity of the Benedictines undo-, S2 Edward n, letter of, to pope John
317 Dominicans, the, institation of the order of, 89; open riro schools of
theology at Paris, 107; their discomfiture at the condemnation of the teaching of Aqninas, 1^ ; their house on the present site of Emmanuel, 139; Uieir riTaby with the Franciscans described by Matthew Paris, 148; establish themselTes at DnnstaUe, 150; actiTity
of, at Pads, 262 Donatns, an authority in the Middle Ages, 22 Dorbellns, a commentator on Petrus Hispanus, 566, n. 3 Dress, estiaTagance of students in, 232; clerical, required to be worn by the schol^ of Peterhonse, 233 a distinetiTe kind of, always worn by the onirersity student, 3:18; often worn by those not entitled to wear it, ib. DrogD, sustains the tradition of Alcuin's teaching at Paris, 70; his
and Oxford, 213, n. 1; maintained 32 king's scholars at the university, 252; properly to be regarded as the founder of King's Hall, 253, n. 1 Edward m, commands the Oxford students at Stamford to return to the uniTersity, 135, n. 1: refoesented by Gray as the founder of King's Hall, 253 ; bnilds a mansion for the scholars of King's Hall, ib.i ccmfiscates the estates of the alien priories, 301
XXII, respecting Paris
pupils, ib.
Eg^nhard, letter to, from bishop Iiupns, 20 Egypt, called by Martianns, Atite caput, 26 Elenchi Sophistiei of Aristotle nerer quoted prior to the 12th centurr, 29 Ely, origin of the name, 336 and n. 3 Ely. archdeacons o^ claims of jurisdiction in Cambridge asserted by, 22-5 ; nominated the master of ^k>meiy, ib. Ely, bishop of, exemption from iiis
jurisdiction first obtained by the tmiTeisity, 146; this exemption
underrated by Macaulay,
ib.
Scotus, his commentary on the Sentences, 62; a teacher at Merton Collie, 169; difficulties that preclude any account of his career, 172 ; his wondrous fecundity, 173, n. 2; task imposed upon luin by the appearance of the Byzantine logic, 178; Byzantine element in the logic of, 180 ; exaggerated importance ascribed to logic by, 183; limited the application of logic to theology, 181; compared with Boger Bacon, 185; long duration of his influence, 186; great edition of his works, ib.; fate of his writings at Oxford, 629 ; study of them forbidden at Cambridge, 630 Dunstan, St., revirer of the Benedictine oiiler in England, 81 Durandus, his commentary on the Sentences, 62 Durham College, Oxford, founded by
Duns
ib.
his
and nndaimed,
287
maintained by Arundel, ib.; abolished by the Barnwell Process, 288: blow given to the authority of, by the BamweU Process, 290,
:
n. 2 Ely, scholars of, the fellows of Peterhouse ori^naDy so termed, 231 Empson, minister of Henry th, highsteward of the uniTersitT in 1506,
449
Emser, testimony
of,
to
feme
of
Bichud Croke
at
Dresden, 528
End of the world, anticipations o^ 45 ; influence of this idea upon the age, 46 Kngland, state of learning in, in 15th centurv. 297. 298
;,
rSDEX.
'gnoKali
GOl
nation' in Uie tmiveisitf of first eaQed Qte Gernun * nation,' 79, n. 1 SfUtola CantabrigiattU, Que, 0-56: ^hMunj prognosticatians o^ ii. n. 2 Sfitlola Obteimnim Vircrum, appearance o^ 3oS Siasmos, exam^e set by, of ridieoling the meAodof the fchoohneE 109; Meoont giren bf, of Qte College de Montaign. 367; bis descciptkm of file Seotists at Pans, 421; bis testinxmy to Usher's rieirs vith ies|ieet to the pulpit oiatour t the time, 410; poliaps Tisited Cambridge in 1^ tiain of Hoi. th
'
vosity, 501; his estimate of the &thers, ib. ; and of the medisTal theologians, 503; his Cambridge experiences of a trying character, SOS; his description of the townsmen. 504, n. 1; his want of economy, 504; his last Cambridge letter. 505; Lis deliberate testimamy &Torable to Cambridge, 507 iaa^ormm IitttntmeHtum, 508; this strictly Cambridge work, 509; iu defects and merits, 510; bis lep^ to a letter &om BnUoek, olS; his third visit to En^ard. 51S: endeavours to persuade WTm. Latimer to teadi bp. Fisher Greek, 519; leaves Rn^and for Loavain, 5M; inl306,433andn.l: admittedBJ)/ his Xoraai Tett., 533; befriends ami D.D. in 1305, 453 and n. 1; Croke, 537: congratnlat^ Croke bis intimacy ^itb fisher at this on his appointment as Greek reader : epiti^ on Margaret of time, A. at Cambridge, 535, n. 3; his infinBiebmand if, 4SS, n. 1 refuses enee in prranoting the Beformation to imdertake &e instnietion of in Kngland, 356; his assertion reStanley, aftervards bp. of EIt. 467 speecmg the progress of the new l^ter from hp. Fisher to, 470, n. learning, 558; letter ol to Viv^ re3: seeond risit of, to Cambridge, specting pnldieation of his wcnks, ^73; his object on this occasion, 383; letter to, from Fisher, respect^73; drenmstanees that led to his ing the De Ratiome Coneiomamdi, dtc^ee of Cambridge, tb.; reasons ib.; fliinks the end of the w<Id vlry he ^\e it the preference to is at hand, 386 : advocates a transOxfisd, 477; his testimonT to the lati<m of the Scriptnres into the selxdarshipoif Oxford, 4-80; his oUivemacolar, 5^7 ; writes De Libera ex:eni of gati<His to Linaere, ib. Arbitrio against Lather. 588; debis dd>t to (Xxford, 481 ; Ms prefernies all spnpathv with Lntiier, ib. ence ot Jamae to Augnstiiie. i*3 death o^ 631 and 501; character of. 4$7: his Erfurt, tmiversity oi styled Hororum Teak piKnts as noted bj Liiiher ani omnium portttt, 417 ^fsd^le, 4$$ and n. 3 ; contradicErieof Anxerre, Sustains the tradition torr characser of his criticians on of Alcnin's teaching, 69 places ami men, 489; his personal Erigena, John Scotos, an exception ai^earance, the portrait of, 3i^ to the philosophical character of 490; criticism of I^Tater on first his agei, 40; his De Dirisioiie Xaketore of, at Cambridge, 491; CamturiB, 41 ; his affinities to Platonbridge lexers o^ -ix! their nneerism, ib. ; his phOoeophy derived tun dmmolagy, ib. ; his aeeonnt of bom AngDstine, ib. ; translates the his first experiences of Cambridge, Psendo-Dionysiiis, 43 4%; he is ^ipranted l&dj itaiE ton CoUege, foondation o^ by Henrv gaiet pnrfessor, A. ; faihire of his VI, 305 e^eetations as a teacher of Greek, ib.; letters O^ to Ammmiina and Endid, translation of four books of. Colet,- O).; his labonrs at Camby Boethins, :2S: definition in, rebridge, 494; faiGvamed by Coli\ stored by collation of a Greek he aTmded eoDisian vith Ote conMS., 533 Bngenios m, pope, raises Gratian serfative party, 495; protected by Fisher, ^6; bis admii^&m im to the bishopric of Chiiisi. 36; leetnres on the canon law institatei Fishers diaiaGtei; ib.; mflnence he exerted oyer F^iia, 497: his by, 72 Eogenios iv. pope, confirms the influence over other members of Barnwell Process, 290 themuTeiaty, 498; bis Cambridge Enst :iins, stoiy firom the Pr-rparatio fn ds, A.; bis views contrasted Trifli those prevalent in the tmiEramjeliea of. i-=5
Fans, vbrai
062
BustacMus,
INDEX.
to the bishopric of Roches442; his influence with the lady Margaret on behalf of Cambridge, ib. resigns his mastership at Michaelhouse, 446 elected president of Queens', ib.; delivers the address of the university on the royal visit in 1506, 449; obtains the consent of king Henry to the endowment of St. John's College, 462; preaches funeral sermon for the countess of Bichmond, 463 the task of carrying out her designs at Cambridge devolves upon, 465; presides at the opening of St. John's College, 470; gives statutes to the college identical with those of Christ's, ib. letter from, to Erasmus, ib. n. 2 character of statutes given by, to the two colleges, 471 obtains for Erasmus the privilege of residence at Queens' Coll., 472 Erasmus's admiration of his character, 496 allows Erasmus a pension, 504; supports Erasmus in his design of the Novum Instrumentmn, 511; his approval referred to by Erasmus, 515 aspires to a knowledge of Grreek, 519; Croke announces himself a delegate of, at Cambridge, 530; resigns the chancellorship of the university, 541 is re-elected for life, 542 absent from the university on the occasion of Wolsey's visit, 543 why BO, ib.; his relations to the cardinaJ, ib. he attacks the pride and luxury of the superior clergy at the conference, 544; his character contrasted with that of Wolsey, ib.; affixes a copy of Leo's indulgences to the gates of the common schools, 556 excommunicates Peter de Valence, 557; presides at the burning of Luther's works at Paul's Cross, 571 ; his observation on the occasion, ib. his treatise against Luther, 572; inclined to leniency to Barnes at his triaJ, 579; writes to Erasmus urging the publication of his De Rations Concioruindi, 585; inlater gratitude of Croke to, 615 statutes of, for St. John's College, 623 death of, 628 Fishing, a favorite amusement with students in former days, 373 complaints of the corporation with respect to, 374 Fleming, William, a translator of
fifth bp. of Ely, his benefactions to the HoBpital of St. John the Evangelist, 223 Eutychius, the martyr, appearance of, to the bishop of Terentina, 7 Exhibition, earliest nniversity.fotmded by Wm. of Kilkenny, 223 Expenses of students when keeping 'acts,' limited by the authorities,
moted
ter,
357
'Father,'
the,
in
academic cere-
monies, 356
Fathers, the, very imperfectly represented in the mediseval Cambridge
libraries,
326
500 Fees paid by students to the lecturers appointed by the vmiversity, 359 Fellows of colleges, aUowanoes made
to, for
to
be in residence, 372; required to go out in pairs, 374 and n. 4; Cranmer's election as a, when a widower, 612, n. 3 (for staadard of requirements at^ election of, see under different cbHeges) Fen country, the, 329 extent of inundations of former times, 331; changes in, resulting from monastic occupation, 335 description of, iu the Liber Eliemis, 336 Ferraxa, university of, founded in the 13th century, 80
;
Fiddes, Dr., criticism of, on letter of the university to Wolsey, 649 Fires at the universities, losses occasioned by, 136 Firjs, absence of arrangements for, in college rooms, 369 Fisher, John, bp. of Eochester, his parentage and early education, 422 entered at MichaeUiouse, ib. ; elected fellow, ib. elected master, 424; his views and character at this period, ib. ; his account of the tone of the university at beginning of 15th century, 427; goes as proctor to the royal court, 434 is introduced to the king's mother, ib.; appointed her confessor, 435
; ; ;
and
lady Margaret professor, 437 aims at a revival of popular preaching, 4 10 ; his claims to rank as a reformer, 441 ; elected chancellor, ib. ; pro-
INDEX.
Aristotle, attacked
663
by Soger Bacon,
155
Florence, in the fifteenth century, contrasted with Constantinople, 388; cnltnre of the scholars of, 389; relations of, to Constantinople, 390 Fordham, John, bp. of Ely, makes over to Peterhouse the church at
Hmton, 230 Foreman, The, fell, of Queens', one of BUney's converts, 563 his ser;
nisation between their house and Queens' College, 317 Frederic ii, the emperor, patronises the new Aristotle, 98; accused of writing De Tribug Impostoribus, ib. ; sends translations of Aristotle to Bologna, ib., n. 1; his letter on the occasion, ii.; employs Michael Scot as a translator, ib. Free, John, one of the earliest translators of Greek authors in England, 397
Freeman, Mr. E. A., on the prevalent misconception respecting earl Harold's foimdation at Waltham, facts which may tend to 162 slightly modify his view, 163, n. 1 Freiburg, university of, compromise between the nominalists and realists at the,' 417 French, students permitted to converse occasionally in, 371 students required to construe an author into, ib. Frost, name of an ancient family at Cambridge, 223 Froude, Mr., comparison drawn by, between Oxford and Cambridge in connexion with the royal divorce, 616 his criticism tested by documentary evidfuce, 617 Fuller, Tho., his view with respect to conflagrations in the university, his account of the early 137 hostels quoted, 218; his comments on the visitation of archbp. Arimdel, 288
; ; ; ;
Fotehede, John, elected master of Michaelhoose, 446 Fonnders, motives of, in mediaeval times, 443 Fox, Edw., bp. of Hereford, letter by, as royal secretary, to the tmiverreports to king Henry on sity, 611 the progress of the divorce question at Cambridge, 618 Fox, Bich. bp. of Winchester, bishop exeof Durham in 1500, 425 cutor to the countess of Eichmond, Oxford sympathies of, 465 464 praises Erasmus's Novum, Testafounds Corpus mentum, 511 Christi College, Oxford, 521; a leader of reform at Oxford, it.; innovations prescribed by, at the college, 522; his statutes largely adopted by Fisher in his first revision of the statutes of St. John's
; , ; ; ;
College, ii.
Pembroke
College, 239
Franciscans, the, institution of the order of the, 89; their rapid success in England, 90 ; settle at Cambridge, ib.; at Oxford under Grosseteste, ib. ; views espoused by, with reference to Aristotle, 117; more numerous and influential than the
an
historical
Dominicans in England, 138; establish themselves at Cambridge, {&.; their house on the present site of Sidney, ib. their rivalry with the Dominicans described by Matthew Paris, 148; two of the order empowered to levy contributions in 1249, 150 their interview with
; ;
Grosseteste, 151 ; inclined in their philosophy to favour the inductive method, 185, n. 4; eminent, in England, 194; eminence of the English, at Oxford, 213, n. 1; their tendencies in England in the loth century, 261 ; deed of frater-
praised by Gairdner,l&.,his opinion on LoUardism quoted, 274 Gardiner, Stephen, an active member of Trinity Hall, 562 ; elected master of, ib. reports to king Henry on the progress of the divorce question at Cambridge, 618 Gaza, TheodoruB, his estimate of the translations of Aristotle by Argyropulos, 406 his success as a teacher, 429 his Greek Grammar, 430; the work used by Erasmus at Cambridge, ib. Geography, errors in Martianus with respect to, 26 Geometry, nearly identical with geography in Martianus, 25
;
;
GW
41
INDEX.
God's Honse, foundation of, in connexion with Clare Hall, 349; removed to St. Andrew's parish, 445; receives a grant from Hen. n,ib.; and of the revenues of alien priories in reign of Edw. rv, ib. ;
Christ's CoU^e a developement of, 447 Godeschalchns, significance of doctrine respecting predestination
Generi&Te, St., school attached to the chnrch of, the germ of the nniversity of Paris, 75 Gerard, a bookseller at Cambridge, friend of Erasmos, 500 Gerbert (pope Sylvester n), edition of
his vorks by )I. OUeris, 42 ; his system of notation identical -with that of the Saracens, 43 ; but not derived from them, ib.; derived his knowledge solely from Christian writers, ib. n. 2; his method of instmction at Bheims, 44 Germany, the country where secular colleges were first founded, 160; learning in, in the 15th century, 407 ; its character contrasted with that of Italy, 413 Germans,' {be early Cambridge Beformers so called, 573 Gerson, Jean Charlier de, his preference of Bonaventnra to AqninaE, 123 ; educated at the college of Xavarre, 128; the representative of a transition period, 277; his De Modi* and De Concordia, 278 ; illastration they afford of the results arrived at by sch(dastic metaphysics, >&.; these results little more ibaa a return to Aristotle, 279; views of, respecting the relations of log^ to theology, ib.; circumstances under which these treatises were written, 280; his ecclesiastieal policy opposed at Basel by the English UltramontanistB, 281; objected to boys being taught logic before they could miderstand it,
maintained by, 40 Gondisalvi, translations of Avicenna by, in circulation in the twelfth century, 94 Gonell, Wm., a pupil of Erasmus at
Can^mdge, 499
Gonville, Edinnnd, founder of Gonville HaU, a friend of the Dominicans, 236 Gonville Hall, foundation of, 239; original statutes of, 240; these statutes contrasted with those of Trinity Hall, ib.; design of the founder of, ib.; name of, altered to that of the College of the Annunciation, 245; agreement between scholars of, ^id those of Trinity Hall, 246; statutes given by bishop ateman to, ii. ; fellows of, required to lecture ordinarie, 247; must have attended lectures in logic for 3 years, ib. ; allowance for fellows' commons a^ 254, n. 2; a noted stronghold of the Befdimers,
564
Gospellers,
were so
called, 608, n. 2
350 Gibbon, his dictum respecting Erasmus's debt to Oxford, 480 Gilds, numerous at Cambridge, 247 Tonlmin Smith's description of their character, 248 Masters' de;
Grammar, how defined by Martianus, 24; taught in a less mechanical fashion by Bernard of Chartres, 57; a knowledge of, a rare acquirement at the Conquest, 82 ; special provision for the tuition o^ at Merton College, 167; first included in college course of study, 238; students at Bog's Collie required to hare learned, before coming up, 308, n. 2 ; course of 'study pursued by the student of, 341 ; students of, held in less estimation, 343 ; the province of, neglected for logic until the 16th century, 344; present made to inceptors in, ifi. ; always included as a branch of the arts course of study, 349 paucity of teaebeis of.
:
them open
to excep-
Giraldns Cambrensis, his Ijatrnity superior to that of a subsequent age, 57; his comparison of the monk with the secular priest, 86, n. 1 ; description by, of the mode of living at St. Augustine's, Canterbury, 87 ; a stndent at the university of Paris, 134 Glomeiy, master of, received his appointment from the archdeacon of Ely, "226, n. 1 see Mag. Glom.
;
;; ; ;
INDKX.
ISth century, ib. n. 3 schools, fonndation of, discoiiraged in the 15th century, 349 general decay of, ib. n. 3 CrTaimjMticus, the^ at the university in the Middle Ages, 844 ; Erasmus's description of the life of, 345 Grautbrigge, the ancient, 332
in the
;
6C5
St.
Catherine's
Hall, letter to, from Latimer, 584, n. 3 Gregory the Great, his conception of education, 6 he anticipates the speedy end of the world, ib. ; his character too hars-hly judjed, 7
;
Gregory
rx,
letter
to,
from Eobt.
Decreium of, 35 ; general scope of the work, ib.; divisions of, 36 ; its general acceptance throughout Europe, 6. ; lectures on, iustituted by Engenius in the 12th century, 72; not found in the library at Christchurch, 105 Gray, the poet, Installation Ode of, criticism on passage in, 236, n. 1 inaccuracy in, 253, n. 1 Gray, Wm., bp. of Ely, grants a forty days' pardon to contributors to the repair of the conventual church of St. Rhadegund, 320; a pupil of Guaiino at Ferrara, 397 brings a valuable collection of
(jratian,
Grosseteste, 90 ; f oroius the study of Aristotle's scieutitic treatises at Paris, 98; interferes on behaU of the university of Paris, 119
Gregory
xiii,
pope,
expunges the
more obvious
cretmn of Gratiau, 35 Greiswald, university of, less distracted by the nominaiistic controversies,
416
MSS.
to
elements,
Balliol Oollege, ib, Greek, known to Aldhelm, 8; but slightly known by John of Salisbury, 57, n. 3 Laufranc ignorant of, 104, n. 3; grammar found in the catalogue of the library at
;
Christchurch, Canterbury, 104 scholars invited to England by Grosseteste, 154; authors, entire absence of, in the medieval Cambridge libraries, 327; authors imported into Italy in the 15th century, 400; learning, becomes associated in the minds of many with heresy, 405 ; study of, jealousy shewn of, in fifteenth century, 482 ; decreed by Clement v in 14th century, ib. ; opposition shewn to, at Basel, 486 ; more peacefully pursued at Cambridge than at Oxford, 496, n. 3; progress of the study of, at Cambridge, 511 ; authors ou which the classical lecturer of C. C. C, Oxford, was required to lecture, 521, n. 2; Croke appoiuted reader of, at Cambridge, 528; arguments used by Croke in favour of study of, 530 Greek fatiiers, influence of, on eminent Humaiiists, 483 ; translations of, in 15th century, ib. ; spirit of their theology, 484 ; ordered by bp. Fox to be studied at 0. C. C, Oxford, 523
Grenoble, university of, formed on the model of Bologna, 74 Grocyn, Wm., claims of, to be regarded as the restorer of Greek learning in England, 479 Grosseteste, Robert, 'the age of,' 84 scant justice done by Hallam to his memory, 84, 85 Mr Luard's testimony to his influence, 85 ; his testimony to the rapid success of the Franciscans in England, 90; his translation of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, 110; a student at the university of Paris, 134 ; his interview with the Franciscan messengers, 151 his death, 153 testimony of Matthew Paris to his character, ib. ; invited Greek scholars to England, 134; despaired of the existing versions of Aristotle, ib. ; ignorant of Greek, 156 good sense of, in sanitary questions, 339 and u. 1 Grote, Mr., his essay on the Psychology of Aristotle, 116, n. 1 Gualterus, his denunciation of the Sentences, 62 Guarino, the disciple and successor of Chrysoloras, 396 his success as a teacher, ib. his death, 398 Guilds, see Gilds
;
;
Hacomblene, Bobt., provost of King's College, author of a commentary on Anstotle, 426 Hales, Alexander, an Englishman, 113 the first to comment on the
;
Sentences, 117, n. 3 ; a teacher at Paris, 117; commentary on the Jletaphysics not by, ib. his Sum;
666
ma,
INDEX.
451 his bequests towards the completion of the edifice, 452; gives his assent to the revocation by the lady Margaret of her grants to his Westminster Abbey, 462 death, 463
; ;
46.; the 'Irrefragable Doctor,' 118; a student at the university of Paris, 134 Hallam, Ms retractation of credence in accounts respecting the early history of Cambridge, 66; scant justice done by, to Jourdain's researches upon the mediseval Aristotle, 93; his observation on the character of English literature during the Middle Ages, 152 Hand, refutation by, of the theory that Boethius was a martyr in the defence of orthodoxy, 28, n. 2 Haroourt, the College de, restricted to poor students, 130 Harmer, Anthony, his testimony to the character of WyoUf, 267 Harold, earl, favours the foundation of secular colleges, 160, 161; his foundation at Waltham, 161 ; how described in the charter of Waltham, ib. his conception at Waltham revived by Walter de Merton, 168 Heeren, theory of, that the mediaeval knowledge of Aristotle was not derived from Arabic translations, 93 Hegius, schpol of, at Deventer, 409 Heidelberg, university of, formed on the model of Paris, 74; division into nations at, 79, n, 2; triumph of the nominalists at, 417 Heimburg, Gregory, defends the new learning at Neustadt, 408; subsequently rejects it," ib. Henry ii, kmg, expels the seculars at Waltham, 162 Henry iii, writ of, to the sheriff of Cambridge, 84; invites students from Paris to come and settle in England, 107 Henry v, his design to have given the revenues of King's College to Oxford, 305 and n. 2 Henry vi, resolves on the foundation of Eton and King's College, 305 supersedes the commission for the statutes of King's College, 806; provides new statutes for the col;
viii, refusal of, to sanction the spoliation of St. John's College, 461 disinclined to surrender the estates bequeathed by the lady Margaret, 466 decrees that those who choose to study Greek at Oxford shall not be molested, 526; treatise of, against Luther, 572; stops the controversy between Latimer and Buckenham at Cambridge, 611; menaces Oxford, 616; letter of, to the university of Cambridge, 617 Henry, sir, of Clement's hostel, a reputed conjurer, 608; visited by Stafford, 609 burns his conjuring books, ib. Heppe, Dr., on the state of education in the monasteries of the 13th century, 70, n. 2 Heretics' Hill, a walk frequented by Bilney and Latimer so called, 582
; ;
;
Henry
Hermann, a
translator of Aristotle
attacked by Eoger Bacon, 155 Hermolaus Barbarus, his services to learning at Venice, 430 the friend of Linacre at Eome, 479 Hermonymus, George, a teacher of Greek in Paris, 430 Hervey de Stanton, founds Michaelhouse, 234; statutes given by, to the foundation, Append. (D). Herwerden, quotation from a Comvientatio of, 16, u. 2 Heynes, Simon, president of Queens' College, attended meetings at the White Horse, 573 High steward, office of, formerly accompanied by a salary, 584, n. 3 Hildebrand, pope, protector of Berengar, 49
;
HUdegard, fulfilment of her prophecy respecting the Mendicants, 149 Hinomar, archbp. of Eheims, accepts
the forged decretals, 34 ; his consequent submission to Eome, ib. Histoire Litteraire de France,, criticism in, on the Sentences, 64, n. 2 Hodgson, Mr Shadworth, his essay on Tivie and Space, 189, n. 1 ; his agreement with Occam, ib.; quotation from, on Gerson, 279, n. 1
had nothing to do- with lege, ib. the ejection of MilUngton, 307; attachment to the memory of, shewn by Margaret of Eichmond, 447 Henry vii, gives permission to Mar;
garet of Eichmond to found Christ's College, 447 ; visits the university in 1506, 448; attends divine service in King's College chapel,
INDEX.
Holbrook, John, master of Peterhouse and chancellor, appoints proctors in the matter of the Barnwell Process, 289 Tabulce Canta;
667
Holoot,
Bichard, distingnishes
theological
;
be-
tween
ib. n.
truth, 197
2 ; on the neglect of theology for the civil law, 211 Holland, a part of Lincolnshire formerly so called, 332, n. 1; Erasmus's observations on, 489 Holme, Richard, a benefactor to the university library in the fifteenth century, 323 Honorius I, pope, according to the Barnwell Process a student at Cambridge, 239, n. 1 Honorius in, pope, forbids the study of the civil law at Paris, 38 Horace, lectures on, by Gerbert, at
286 Huobald, of LiSge, instructor of the canons of St. Geuevifeve in Paris, 69 Hugo of St. Cher or of Vienne, his writings frequently to be met with in the Cambridge libraries of the 15th century, 326; the divinity
lecturer at C. C. 0., Oxford, ordered by bp. Fox to put aside,
523
Hugo
of St. Victor, his writings frequently to be found in the Gambridge libraries of the 1.5th century, 326; contempt of Erasmus
Bheims, 44 Hornby, Hen., executor to the countess of Eiohmond for carrying out the foundation of St. John's College, 464; his zeal in the undertaking, 465 Hospital of the Brethren of St. John,
formerly stood on the site of St. John's College, 139; foundation of, 223; secular scholars introduced into, 227; separation between the seculars and regulars at, first nurtured the college 228 conception, ib. its- rapid decay under the management of Wm. Tomlyn, 424 character of the administration at, 461 condition of, at beginning of 16th century, 462
;
;
spirit of their studies contrasted with the preceding learning, 380 ; few of, to be found among the religious orders, 416; their position and poHcy with respect to the old learning, 417 ; victories of, 421; hopes of, prior to
Humphrey, duke
the Reformation, 559 of Gloucester, induces Leonardo Bruni to translate the Politics of Aristotle, 3^8 ; his bequests to Oxford, 399
dissolved by Julius ii, 467 Hostels, definition of the term as originally used at Oxford and Cambridge, 217 ; account of early, from Fuller, 218; early statute respecting, ib. and Append. (C) the residences of the wealthier students, 368, n. 2 Hotham, John, bp. of Ely, probably the organiser of the foundation of Hichaelhouse, 235; his character, ib. and n. 2 Huber, misconception of, with respect to the attention originally given to the civU law at Oxford and Cambridge, 244, n. 2; his description of the English universities after the suppression of LoUardism, 275 errors in his statement, ib. ; his observations on the effects
; ;
mony, ib. heavy expenses incurred at, 356 for others, 358 Ingulphus, discredit attaching to the chronicle of, 66, n. 3 Injunctions, the royal, to the university, in 1535, 629 Innate ideas, theory of, rejected by the teachers of the early Latin Church, 192 Innocent in, pope, forbids the study of the civil law, 38 Innocent rv, pope, subjects the Mendicants at Paris to episcopal authority, 119; empowers the Franciscans to levy contributions, 150 Intentio secunda, theory of the, 181; Arabian theory of, ib.
; ;
Irnerius, his lectures at Bologna on the civil law, 36 ; the real founder of that university, 72 Isidorus, a text-book during the Middle Ages, 21; the Origines of, 31; novel feature in, ib. ; De Officiis of, 33; copy of, at the library at
6G8
INDKX.
his investigations, ib. ; conclusions arrived at by, 94 Jourdain, M. Charles, testimony of, to the completeness of his father's researches in reference to the Latin translations of Aristotle, 93, n. 1 Joye, George, fell, of Peterhouse, accused of studying Origen, 598, n. 4 ; his flight to Strassburg, 605 ; character of, 606 Julianus, Andreas, pronounces the funeral oration of Chrysoloras,
to diBtiuguish the use and abuse of astronomy, 159 Islip, Simon, archbp. of Canterbury, plan of, resembling that of Hugh Balsham, 265; attempts to combine seculars and regulars at Canterbury Hall, 266; expels the
monks,
Italy,
ib.
universities of, formed on the model of Bologna, 74; progress of learning in, in the latter part of the 15th century, 428;. general depravity of, in the 16th century, 431 ; praise bestowed by Erasmus on, 474 ; character of her scholarship in the early part of ICth century, 475 and n. 3
396
Julius
II, pope, dissolves the pital of St. John, 467
Hos-
James,
The.
(Bodleian
librarian),
Justinian, code of, survives the disruption of the Empire, 36 Juvenal, lectures on, by Gerbert at Eheims, 44; four copies of, in library of Christchurch, Canterbury, 104
his extravagant estimate of the fourteenth century, 205, n. 2 Jerome, St. originator of monastioism in the Latin Church, 3 ; Vulgate of, much used in the Middle Ages, 22 preferred by Erasmus to Augustine, 501 ; denounced by Luther as a heretic, 598 and n. 3 Jesus College, foundation of, 320; succeeds to the dissolved nunnery
,
K
Kemble, Mr., on the Benedictines in England, 81 Kilkenny, William of, a benefactor
of the Hospital of St. John the EvangeMst, 223; founder of the
earliest university exhibition, ib.
Kilwardby,
archbp. of Canterbury,
condemnation of doctrines of Averroes under, 121 ; a student at the university of Paris, 134 King's College, scholars of, forbidden to favour the doctrines of Wyclif or Pecock, 296, n. 4 ; foundation of,
of St. Ehadegund, 321; the site originally not included in Cambridge, ib. n. 8 ; statutes of, given by Stanley, bp. of Ely, 321 ; sub-
sequently considerably altered by ib. ; oath required of master of, 454; oath required of fellows of, 455 election of Cranmer to a fellowship at, when a widower, 612, n. 3 Jews, the, instrumental in introducing the Arabian commentators into Christian Europe, 91 Johannes k Lapide, maintains the reaUstio cause at Basel, 417 John of Salisbury, see Salisbury John Scotus Erigena, see Erigena John the Deaf, pupil of Drogo, 70; instructor of BoscelUnus, ib. John XXII, pope, recognises Cambridge aa a studium generate, 145 Jonson, Ben, his allusion to WilUam Shyreswood, the logician, quoted, 177 Jordanus, general of the Dominican order at Paris, 107 Jom-dain, M. Amable, his essay on the Latin translations of Aristotle, 93; method employed by him in
bp. West,
;
by Henry
vi,
305 ; endowments
of,
largely taken from the alien priories, ib.; statutes of, 306; commissioners appointed to prepare the statutes of, ib.; their resignation, ib. ; William Millii^on first provost of, ib.; his ejection," t6.; statutes of, borrowed from those of New College, 307 ; their character, ib. ; attributed to Chedworth by some, by Mr. Williams to Wainfleet, ib. n. 1 ; provisions of the statutes of, 308; verbosity of the statutes of, ib. n. 1; students at,
must have already gained a knowledge of grammar, ib. n. 2 ; special privileges and exemptions granted to, 309; bequest to, by cardinal Beaufort, 310; struggle between the scholars of, and the university, ib. ; final victory of the college in 1457, ib. ; effects of these privileges on the character of the foundation,
311
;
its discipline
more monastic
;; ;
;; ;
INDEX.
than that of any other Cambridge college, ib. n. 2; wealth of the foundation, 312 and n. 1; Woodlark, provost of, 317; precedent contained in statutes of, for oath against dispensations, 456
King's College chapel, erection of, 451, n. 1 King's Hall, foundation of, 252; early statutes of, given by Biohard 11, 253 ; limitation as to age in, ib. ; other provisions in, 254 ; the foundation probably designed for sons of the wealthier classes, ib. liberal allowance for commons at, ib.'; not visited by commission of archbp. Arundel, 258, n. 1 ; irregulaiities at, in 14th century, 288
669
the
classical
lectiuer
of
C. C, bp.
Lambert, John, fell, of Queens', one of BUney's converts, 563 alderman of Lancaster, duke of, the gUd of Corpus Chiisti at Cambridge, 249 Lanfranc, archbp. of Canterbury, hostile to pagan learning, 18 lus
' '
;
opposition to Berengar, 47; his views contrasted with those of Berengar, 48; his Latinity superior to that of a subsequent age, 57; founds secular canons at St. Gregory's, 163, n. 1 Langham, Simon, archbishop of Canterbury, expels the seculars from Canterbury Hall, 266 Langton, John, chancellor of the university, resigns his appointment as commissioner at King's College, 306; his motives in so doing, 309
Langton, Stephen, a student at the university of Paris, 134 Languedoc, its common law founded upon the civil law, 38, n. 1 Laon, College de, a foundation of the 14th century in Paris, 128 Lascaris, Constantine, his success as a teacher at Messana, 430; his
166, n. 1 Lechler, Dr., his comparison of Occam with Bradwardine, 205, n. 1 on Wyclif's original sentiments towards the Mendicants, 269, n. 1 Le Clerc, M. Victor, his favorable view of the knowledge of Latin literature in the Middle Ages, 21, n. 1 ; statement by, respecting the prevalence of the civil law, 38, n. 1 ; on the continuance of the monastic and episcopal schools subsequent to the vuniversity era, 70, n. 2; on the secular associations of the university of Paris, 79, 80 his account of the early colleges at Paris, 12931; his argument in reply to Petrarch quoted, 214, n. 1
teenth century compared with that of those of a later date, 171, n. 1 its colloquial use among students imperative, 371 ; authors on which
Lectures, designed to prepare the student for disputations, 361; ordered to be given in Christ's College in long vacation, 460 Lecturing, ordinarie, cursorie, and extraordinarie, explained, 358 and Append. (E) ; two principal modes
of,
359
; ; ;
;; ;
670
INDEX.
preferred Quintilian's style to that of Cicero, 529, h. 1 ; death of, 602 Lisieux, Oollfige de, foundation of,
Lee, archbp., alarm of, on the appearance of Tyndale's New Testament, 599 Legere, meaning of the term, 74
Leipsio, university
' ' ;
129
'Little Logicals,' the, much studied at Cambridge before the time of
of,
division into
nations at,79, n. 2 ; fomidation of, 282, n. 2 adopts the curriculum of study at Prague, ib. ; less distracted by the nominaUstio controversies, 416 fame of B. Croke at, 527 Leland, John, on the intercourse betvfeen Paris and Oxford, 134 Leo X, proclamation of indulgences by, in 1516, 556 Lon Maitre, on the decline of the episcopal and monastic schools, 68, n. 1 ; his theory denied, 69
;
89 regarded by Lanfranc as to be subordinated to authority, 47; pernicious effects of too exclusive attention to, 48 proficiency in, required of candititle,
conclusions
of,
Lever, Tho., master of St John's, his sermon at Paul's Cross quoted, 368, n. 2 ; quoted in Ulustratiou of col-
370 Lewes, Mr. G. H., his supposition respecting the use of Lucretius in the Middle Ages, 21, n. 1 his criticism of Isidorus, 31 criticism of his application of Cousin's dictum respecting the origin of the scholastic philosophy, 50 his misconception of the origin of the dispute respecting Universals, 54 and n. 2 notice of Eoger Bacon's opinions
lege
life,
;
;
dates for fellowships at Peterlyjuse, 231; works on, less common than miglat be expected in the mediseval Cambridge libraries, 326 ; increased attention given to, with the introduction of the Nova Ars, 343 and with that of the Summulee, ib. baneful effects of excessive attention formerly given to, 365 ; trea;
ed by Theodore, Hadrian, and Benedict by the Danes, 81 college, their contents in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, 325, 370 see University Library Library presented to Trinity HaU by bishop Bateman, 243 Lily, Wm., regarded by Polydore Virgil as the true restorer of Greek learning in England, 480 Linacre lectureships, foundation of, 603 ; misapplication of estates of,
;
extravagant demands of the ; defenders of the old, 516 at Cambridge, 259; extravagances of the later professors of, 273 not the commencement of the Beformation, 274 biings popular preaching under suspicion, 438 Lombard, Peter, the compiler of the Sentences, 59; archbp. of Paris, ib. ; accused of plagiarism from Abelard, ib. n. 2 thought to have copied Pullen, ib. ; honour paid to his memory, 63; a pupil of Abe-
412
LoUardism
;
lard, 77, n. 1
Lorraine, foundation of secular colleges in, 160 Louis of Bavaria, shelters Occam on his flight from Avignon, 195 Louis, St., his admiration of the Mendicant orders, 89 Louvain, university of, foundation of, 282, n. 2 site of, chosen by the duke of Brabant on account
;
ib. n.
2 cerning,
Linacre, Wm., pupil of Selling at Christchnreh, Canterbury, 478; and of ViteUiatOxford,i6.; accompanies Selling to Italy, ib.; becomes a pupil of Pohtian at Florence, ib. ; makes the acquaintance of Hermolaus Barbaras at Eome, 479 probable results of this intimacy, ib. his return to Oxford, ib.; his claims to be regarded as the restorer of Greek learning in England, 480; obligations of Erasmus to, ib. ; a staunch Aristotelian, 481;
;
its natural advantages, 339, 3 praised by Erasmus, 476 character of its theology, ib.; foundation of the collegium trilingue at, 565 conduct of the conservative party at, 566 and n. 1 Lovell, sir Tho., executor to the countess of Bichmond, 464; his character by Cavendish, 465 Luard, Mr. on the forgeries that imposed upon Grosseteste, 110
of
n.
INDEX.
Lupns, bishop of Ferridres, hia lament over the low state of learning in his age, 20; his literary
activity, ib.
071
Luther, Martin, his observation on Erasmus, 488; early treatises of, 569; advises the rejection of the Sentences, ib. n. 1 and also of the moral and natural treatises of Aristotle, ib. rapid spread of his doctrines in England, 570; his writings submitted to the decision of the Sorbonne, ib. ; condemned by them to be burnt, ib. n. 1; Wolsey considers himself not authorised to burn them, ib. ; burns the papal bull at Wittenberg, ib. his writings submitted to the London Conference, 571; condemned by the Conference, ib.; burnt at Paul's Gross, ib. and at Oxford and Cambridge, ib. ; absorbing attention given to his writings throughout Europe, 585 his doctrines frighten the moderate party into conservatism, 589; his controversy with Erasmus, ib. Lydgate, John, verses of, on Foundation of the university of Cam; ; ; ;
lege de Montaign, 368; alleged reason of his choice of Christ's College, 445 Maiden, prof., on the various applications of the term Universitas, 71 on the sanction of the pope as necessary to the catholicity of a university degree, 78 Malmesbury, William of, his com;
ment on the
Maulius, see Boethius Mansel, dean, his dictum respecting nominalism and scholasticism, 197 Manuscripts, ancient, preservation
of, largely due Map, Walter, a
to Charlemagne, 15 the Cistercians, 86, n. 1 Margaret, the lady, countess of Bichmond, her lineage described by
satirist of
bridge,
Append. (A)
Baker, 434; appoints Fisher her confessor, 435 ; her character, ib. founds a professorship of divinity at both universities, ib. ; founds a preachership at Cambridge, 440; her design in connexion with Westminster Abbey, 444; founds Christ's College, 446; visits the imiversity in 1505, 448 ; visits it a second time in 1506, ib. ; anecdote told by
;
Lyons, council of, decrees that only the four chief orders of Mendicants shall continue to exist, 228 Lyttelton, lord, causes to which the aggrandisement of the monasteries in England is attributed by, 87
Fuller respecting, ib. n. 2; proposes to found St. John's College, 462 ; obtains consent of king Henry to the revocation of her grants to Westminster Abbey, ib. her death, 463 her statue in Westminster Abbey, ib. her epitaph by Eras; ; ;
M
Macaulay,
lord,
fluences in
Conquest, 67 Macrobius, correction of copy of, by a correspondent of Lupus of Ferri6res, 20; numerous copies, of, in libraries of Bee and Christchuroh, Canterbury, 104 Magister Glomeria, duties performed by the, 140; nature of his
functions, 340 Maimonides, Moses, his Dux Perplexorum much used by Aquinas, 113
ib. ; funeral sermon for, by Fisher, ib. ; her character, 464 her executors, ib. Margaret, lady, preachership, founded, 440 ; regulations of, ib. Margaret, lady, professorship, found-
mus,
435 original endowment of, 436; regulations of, ib. Mariseo, Adam de, a teacher of Walter de Merton, 163 nominated by
ed,
; ;
Hen.
223; with
Ill to
his
Hugh Balsham,
bp.,
warmly
Maitland, Dr., his defence of the mediaeval theory with respect to the pursuit of secular learning, 18 Maitre, Ldon, on the revival at the commencement of the eleventh century, 46, n. 1 Major, John, a resident at the Col-
2 misconception of, with reference to Tyndale's New Testament, 569 and n. 3 Martiauus, Capella, his treatise De Afuptiis, 23; course of study described therein, 24; his errors in geography, 26 ; compared with Boethius, 27 copies of, at Christchurch, Canterbury, 100
ib. n.
Marsh,
;; ;
672
INDEX.
university statutes claimed by, ib. n. 1 ; advantages possessed by, over the university in respect of
Martin t, pope, issues the bull in the Barnwell Process, 288 Mass, the, fellows required to qualify themselves for celebration of, 243 Master of a college, Hmited restrictions originally imposed on the
authority
of,
accommodation for lectures, 300; immunities claimed by, perhaps formed a precedent for those claimed by King's College, 810
Mercator, forgery of Decretals by,
combined with other preferments, ib. ; restrictions imposed on his authority at Christ's College, 454
oath required
ib.
of,
34
Merlin, his prophecy respecting Oxford and Stamford, 135 Merton College, foundation of, 160; distinguished from monastic foundations, 166 ; character of the education at, 167 ; designed to support only those actually engaged in study, 168 ; its statutes the model for other colleges, ib.; eminence of its students, 169 Merton, Walter de, revives earl Harold's conception of secular colleges, 163; his character, ib.; nature of his design, 164 MetoaUe, Nich., prosperity of St. John's College under rule of, 623 Michaelhouse, foundation of, 234; early statutes of, the earliest college statutes in the university, ib. ; printed in Appendix (D), i6. n. 2; qualifications required in candidates for fellowships at, 234; prominence given to religious services at, 235; John Fisher entered at, 422 ; prosperity of, in the 15th century, 424 Michaud, on the influence of the
at Jesus College,
Mathematics, importance attached to the study of, by Roger Bacon, 158 studies in, in 14th and 15th centuries, 851 Maurice, prof., his view of the influence of the schools of Charlemagne, 40, n. 1; criticism of the philosophy of John Scotus Erigena by, 41 ; twelfth centiiry characterised by, 58 ; his criticism of the Sentences quoted, 61; on the contrast between the Dominicans
and Franciscans,
89, n. 1
Mayence, archbp. of, a patron of Eiohard Croke, 532 Mayronius, a scholastic text-book in the English universities, 186 M.D., former requirements for the degree of, 365 Medicine, a flomishing study in Merton College in the fifteenth century, 168 see Linacre Lectures Melanchthon, Philip, oration of, at Wittenberg, 537 ; arguments of, in
;
Cambridge, 630 Milton, Wm. de, master of Michaelhouse, 422 Mendicant orders, institution of the, 88 91; spirit of the, compared with that of the Benedictines, 89
at
Crusades, 88, u. 1 Migrations, from Cambridge and Oxford, 134; from universities, op-
posed on principle, 334 Millennium, anticipations excited by close of the, 45 MiUington, Wm., first provost of
King's,295; his character, ib. andn, 3 ; opposed to Reginald Pecock, ib.; refuses his assent to the new statutes and is expelled, 306; his reasons for dissatisfaction, accord-
contrasted by prof. Maurice, 81, n. 1 ; rapid extension of, 90 ; their conduct at Paris, 106, 119; rapid deoUne of their popularity, 146; their conduct as described by Matthew Paris, 147; their contempt for the m6nastic orders, 149; their rapid degeneracy, 151; their proselytism among young students, 221 ; their policy at the universities, 262; their defeat at Oxford, ib. ; statute against them at Cambridge, 263; their appeal to parliament, ib. ; the statute rescinded, ib. ; exclusive privileges gained by, 2G4; nature of exemptions from
ing to Cole, ib. n. 2; appointed by king Henry to draw up statutes of Queens' College, ib.; unable to assent to the proposed independence of the university claimed by King's College, 306, 309 Milman, dean, criticism of the False Decretals by, 34 ; on the influence of the Pseudo-Dionysius, 42; on the inevitable tendency of philosophic speculation to revert to inquiries concerning the Supreme
INDEX.
Being, 49, n. 3 ; on the evangelism o{ the Mendicant orders, 90 Sloerbecke, William of, his translation of Aristotle, 126 his translation of Aristotle attacked by Soger Bacon, 155 Monasteries, origin of their foundation in the west, 2 ; monastery of Monte Oassino, 3, 5; of Malmeshury, 8; destruction of those of the Benedictines by the Danes, 81; superseded as centres of instruction by the universities, 207 ; the patrons of learning begin to despair of the, 301 Monasticism, its origin in the west, 2; feelings in wMch it took its rise, 5; its heroic phase, 9 ; asceticism the professed theory of, 337 Monks, contrasted with the secular clergy, 86, n. 1; the garb of, discontinued, 87, n. 3 Monnier, counterstatement of, with respect to the episcopal and monastic schools, 69 Montaoute, Simon, bp. of Ely, mediates between the Hospital of St. John and Peterhouse, 229 ; resigns to Peterhouse his right of presenting to fellowships, 230; gives the college its earUest statutes, ib. Montaigne, College de, student fare at, 130 MontpeUier, civil law taught at, before foundation of university, 38, n. 1; university of, formed on the model of Bologna, 74; founded in the 13th century, 80 More, sir Tho., quoted in illustration of standard of living at the universities, 371; endeavours to persuade Wm. Latimer to teach bp. Fisher Greek, 519 ; his interest in. the progress of learning at Oxford, 524; his letter to the authorities of Oxford on the conduct of the ' Trojans,' 525; Utopia of, 558 appointed high steward, 584 ; Tyndale's 'Answer ' to, quoted, 590 saying of, respecting Tyndale's New Testament, 600, n. 3 ; reference of, to BUney's trial, 608, n. 3 Music, treatment of the science by Martianus, 26; treatment of the seience of, by Boethius, 28
;
673
Barnes in his capacity of vicechancellor, ib. 'Nation,' German, at Paris, when first so called, 196, n. 2 ' Nations ' in the university of Paris, 78 Navarre, college of, in Paris, 127; its large endowments, ib. ; Jeanne of, foundress of the college known by her name, ib. ; the chief college at Paris in the 14th and 15th centuries, 128 ; injurious influences of court patronage at, ib. n. 2 Neander, his criticism of the De Cavsis, 114, u. 1 Nelson, late bp. of, his criticism on Walter de Morton's design in found-
New
of
271, n. 2; an illustration of the feelings of the patrons of learning with respect to the monasteries, 802 ; endowed with lands purchased of religious houses, ib.; statutes of, ib. ; these statutes a model for subsequent foundations, 303 Nicholas i, pope, accepts the forged Decretals, 34 Nicholas de Lyra, his writings frequently to be met with in the Cambridge libraries of the 15th century, 326; his long popularity with theologians, ib.; not much
at,
'
WycUf's doctrines
the divi-
nity lecturer at C. C. C, Oxford, enjoined by bp. Fox to put aside, 523 Nicholson, Sygar, stationer to the university, 626 ; character and career of, lb.
Nicomachus, Arithmetic of Boethius taken from, 28 Nix, bp. of Norwich, fell, of Trinity HaU, declaration of, respecting GonviUe Hall, 564; foimder of three fellowships at Trin. HaU, ib. n. 2 Nominalism, the prevalent philosophy of the ninth century, 55, n. 1; new importance acquired by, from
its
application to theology,
ib.
its
N
Natares, master of Clare, an
to
tendency opposed to the doctrine of the Trinity, 56 ; triumph of, in the schools, 188 ; would not have appeared with Occam but for the Byzantine logic, ib. doctrines of, forbidden at Paris by Louis xi, 196 and n. 2 ; its adherents oppose the corruptions of the Church, ib. ; its
;
triumph according to Mansel involved the abandonment of the scholastic method, 197
43
; ;
674^
INDEX.
Learning, 18 ; pupil of Bemy of Anxerre, 69 ; sustains the tradition of Alcnin'e teaching, ib.i acquires a reputation as having read throng Priscian, 104, n. 1 Olleris, If., his edition of the works of Gerbert, 42 ; his view respecting intercourse of Gerbert with the Saracens, 48, n. 2 Ordinarie, feQowE of GonviEe Hall required to lecture, for one year,
Non-regents, gradoally admitted to share in TmiTereity leginlation, 142; the term explained, 361 Norfolk, connty of, many of the Cambridge Beformers natiTes of, 563 Normans, inflaence of the, in England prior to the Conquest, 67 Northampton, migrations to, from
pagan
343
of Erasmus, ii. n. 2; defects and errors in, 510 ; its great merit, 511 ; its patrons, S>. ; dedicated to Leo z, 512 ; Eareastic aUa> sions in, ib. ; name changed to
Nmmm Testamentum,
O
523
Oath, administered to regents of Oxfond, and Cambridge, not to teach in any other English nniversity, 135, n. 1 ; of submission, taken by chancellors of the nnirersity, to the bishops of Ely, 287, n. 2; imposed on masters and fellows of
colleges, 454,
247; lecturing, meaning ;of the phrase. Append. (E) 'Ctdinary' lectures, meaning of the phrase, 358 and Append. (E) Oresme, Nicolas, master of the college of Navarre, 128; his remarkable attainments, ib.n.1 Origen, highly este^ned by Erasmus, 501 ; studied by some of the Cambridge Beformers, 398, n. 4 Orleans, migration to, from Paris in 1228, 107 OrosiuE, a text-book dnring the WitlHlH Ages, 21; his 'Histories' characterised by Ozanam, 22 prepared at the request of Augustine, ii. ; description of the wor^ 23 Ottringham, master of Michaelhouse,
:
borrows a treatise by Petrarch, 433 Onse, the river, its ancient and present points of junction with the Cam, 329, 330 its course as de;
455
Obbarios, his opinion of the religion of Boethins qnoted, 28, n. 2 Oblati, the term expl^ned, 19, note 2 Occam, William of, his D< Potestate opposed to the papal claims foonded on the canon law, 36, 187;
'the
demagogae of
scholasticism,'
extends the scholastic enquiries to the prOTince of nominalism, i&.; his chief service to philosophy, 189; disclaims the ap;
a.
plication of
difficulties,
logic
to theological
191; falls under the papal censure, 195; his escape from Avignon, 6.; styled by pope John xxn the Doctor Invincibilis, 196 ; compared with Bradwardine, 205, n. 1 his attack on the political power of the pope strack at the study of the canon law, 259; his De Potestate, 260 Odo, bishop of Bayeus, regarded none but Benedictines as true monks, 82 Odo, abbat of Clugni, hostile to
;
scribed by Spenser, 330 Oxford, controversies in tiie schools of, described by John of Salisbury, 56; nniverratyoi^ probable origin of, 80; town of, burnt to the ground in 1009, 82; early statutes of, probably borrowed from those of Paris, 83; teachers from Paris at, ib.; students from Paris at, 107 intercourse of, with university of Paris, 134; monastic fotrndatums at, in the time of Walter de Merton, 165; inteUeetnal activity of, at tile commencement of the 14th century, 171; in the 14th century compared with Paris, 196; takes the lead in thon^t, in the 14th century, 213; her claim to have given the earliest teachers to Paris, t6. n. 1 ; resistance offered by, to archbp. Arundel, 259, n. 2; a stronghold of Wydifism, 271 schools of, deserted in the year 1438, 297 and n. 2 ; want of schools for exercises at, 299 ; diviiiity schools at, first opened, 300; friends of Erasmus at, 476; Erasmus's
; ; ;
INDEX.
490; state of feeling to the new learning, 523; changes at, 524; Greek at, ib. unfavorably contrasted by More with Cambridge, 626; chair of Greek founded at, ib. outstripped, according to Croke, by Cambridge, 534 eminent men of
of, at,
675
account
mth reference
;
law, 38, n. 1; in the 12th century, 68; the model for Oxford and Cambridge, 67 ; supplies important presumptive evidence with respect to their early organisation, 68 chief school of arts and theology in the 12th century, 71 ; first
known apphcatiou
'
of
the
term
learning who favored, ib.; styled by Croke, colonia a Cantabrigia deducta, 539 resigns its statutes
;
into Wolsey's hands, 549 contributions of colleges of, to the royal loan, 551, n. 1; Luther's writings burnt at, 671 ; spread of the reformed doctrines at, by means of the Cambridge colony, 604; un;
university' to, ib. ; compared with that of Bologna, 75 ; theological character of its early teaching, ib.; its early discipline, 76 ; students not permitted to vote at, ib. n. 2 commencement of its first celebrity,
its
77;
its
favorably compared with Cambridge by Mr. Froude in connexion with the question of the royal divorce, 616; Cromwell's oonmussioners at, 629
by M. V. Le Clerc, ib. ; conMct of, with the citizens, in 1228, 106; colleges of, ib. ; sixteen founded in the 13th century, ib. n. 4 ; suppression of the small colleges at, 129; medieval education would have been regarded as defective unless completed at, ib. ; number of students at, towards the close of the 16th century, 130; its influence in the thirteenth century, 132 ; studSnts from, at Oxford and Cambridge, 133 ; whether a lay or clerical body always a disputed qneBtion,166,n.l;nominalisticdoctrines forbidden at, 196 ; transference of leadership of thought from, to Oxford, 213; indebted for its first professors to the Oxford Franciscans, ib.TL, 1 ; regains its influence in the 15th century, 276 ; cessation of its intercourse with Oxford and Cambridge, 280; ceases to be the supreme oracle of Europe, ib.; causes of decline of, ib.; efforts made by the popes to diminish her prestige, 282 ; subsequent relations of, to the English universities, 342 assistance to be derived from its statutes in studying the antiquities of Oxford and Cambridge, 343 ; mathematical studies at, in 16th century, 362; reputation of, at com-
'Oxford
fare,'
Face. Bich., pleads the cause of the Grecians at Oxford with Henry viii, 526 ; one of Wolsey's victims, 548 ; his character as described by Erasmus, ib. u. S
Facomins, the monachism of, contrasted with that of the Benedictines, 86 Padua, university of, its foundation the result of a migration from Bologna, 80 Paget, Wm., a convert of Bilney, 563; lectured on Melanchthon's Bhetorie at Trinity Hall, ib. Pain PevereU, changes the canons of St. Giles to Augustiniau canons,
163, n. 1 ;
well, ib.
removes them to
Bamlife
mencement
ceases to be
of
16th cent.,
474
European in
its ele-
ments,
ib.
n. 2
Horse, 573
Parker, Rich., error in his History of Cambridge with respect to the date of the burning of Luther's books, 571, n. 5
432
;; ;;
()7G
INDEX.
respectingEoger Bacon, {&. quoted, on Walter de Merton's design in the foundation of Merton College,
;
in Mere's Utopia, 351, n. 1 Paschasius, Eadbertus, his lament over the prospects of learning after the time of Charlemagne, 19 ; significance of the doctrine respecting the real presence maintained by,
40
Peacock, dean, his observations on discrepancies in the different Statuta Antiqua, 140, n. 1 ; question raised by, with reference to dispensation oaths, 456 ; inaccuracy in lu3 statement with respect to Christ's College, ib. n. 3 Pecock, Eeginald, an eclectic, 290 mistaken by Poxe for a Lollard, ii. ; really an Ultramontanist, ib. his belief in logic, 291 ; asserte the rights of reason against dogma, ib. ; repudiated the absolute authority of both the fathers and the schoolmen, 292; advocated submission to the temporal authority of the pope, ib. ; denied the right of individuals to interpret Scripture, 293 ; disliked much preaching, 294; his eccentric defence of the bishops, ib. ; offended both parties, 295 ; attacks the doctrines of the Church, ib. ; his enemies at Cambridge, ib.; his character by prof. Babington, ib. n. 2 ; possibly a political sufferer, 296 his doctrines forbidden at the university, ib. and n. 4 Pembroke College, foundation of, 236 ; earliest statutes of, no longer extant, 237 ; outline of the revised statutes of, ib. n. 2; leading features of these statutes, 238 ; scholars, in the modem sense, first
;
by Gerbert at nine copies of, in library of Christchurch, Canterbury, 104 Peter of Blois, account attributed to him of the university of Cambridge, spurious, 66 Peterhouse, foundation of, 228; becomes possessed of the site of the friary De Pmnitentia Jesu, 229; final arrangement between, and the brethren of St. John the Evangelist, ib. ; prosperity of the society, ib. patronised by Fordham, bp. of Ely, ib. ; early statutes of, given by Simon Montacute, 230 ; early statutes of, copied from those of Merton Colcharacter of lege, Oxford, ib. ; the foundation, 231; sizars at, ib.; aU meals at, to be taken in common, 232; the clerical dress and tonsure incumbent on the scholars of, ib. ; non-monastic character of, 233 fellowships at, to be vacated by those succeeding to benefices of a certain value, 234 ; its code compared by dean Peacock with those of later foundations, ib. n. 1; allowance for fellows' commons
Bheims, 44;
;
at,
in 1510,
254, n. 2;
cardinal
;
Beaufort a pensioner at, 310 catalogue of the library of, ann. 1418, 324; illustration afforded by the original catalogue of the library of, 370, n. 1 ; evUs resulting from extravagant living at, 460; Hornby master of, 465
Petition of
so
named
at, ib.
grammar
limitations of fellowships to different counties at, ib. ; preference to be given to natives of France at, 239 its reputation in the 15th century, 314; early catalogue of the library of, 324; Fox, bp. of Winchester,
master
of,
465
first
Pensioners,
admitted by statute,
at Christ's College, 459; evils resulting from indiscriminate admission of, 624 Percival, Mr. B. F., his edition of the foundation statutes of Merton College, 159, n. 4; his assertion
Petrarch, notice of the infidelity of his day by, 124 and n. 2; compares the residence at Avignon to the Babylonish captivity, 195 his interview with Eichsird of Bury at Avignon, 201 ; his reproach of the university ot Paris, as chiefly ennobled'by Italian genius,214 ; scene in the early youth of, 379 ; his estimate of the learning of the universities in his day, 382; his influence, ib. ; change in the modem estimate of his genius explained, 383 ; his Latin style, ib. ; his services to the study of Cicero, 384, 385, n. 1 ; his knowledge of Greek,
;
; ;
INDEX.
S85; his
inetincti-re
677
his quarrel with the Fratres Observantice, 337; exposes the fictitious character of the Decretals,
appreciation
of Plato, S86; he initiates the struggle against Aristotle, ib. ; hia position compared with that of Aquinas, ib.; rejected the ethical system of Aristotle, 387; successors of, ib. ; his prophecy of the fate that awaited the schoolmen, 432 copy of his Letters in the original catalogue of the library of Peterhouse, 433
420
Politian, professor of both Greek and Latin at Florence, 429 ; his Miscellanea, ib.; the classical lecturer at C. C. C, Oxford, ordered to lecture
Petrus Hispanus, 176 ; not the earliest translator of PseUus, ib. ; numerous editions of his Summulce, 178 ; theory enunciated by the treatise, 180 ; its extensive use in the Middle Ages, 350 PhHelphus, his statement respecting Greek learning at Constantinople in the fifteenth century, 175, n. 1 account given by, of Constantinople in the year 1441, 390 Philip Augustus, decUne of the episcopal and monastic schools commences with his reign, 68 Philip the Fair, of France, his struggle with Boniface viii, 194
Pioot,
sheriff,
though
Norman,
St. Giles,
163, n. 1 Pike, regarded as a delicacy in former days, 374, n. 2 Pisa, council of, representatives from both the universities present
at,
276
founded in the 13th century, 80 Plague, the Great, 241 its effects on the universities, ib. Plague, the, often followed upon the visits of illustrious personages,
Pisa, university of,
;
on the work, 621, n. 2 Polydore Vergil, not the sole author of the statement that ascribed the death of Stafford to Wolsey's resentment, 548, n. 2 Pope, the, reason why his sanction was originally sought at the foundation of a university, 78; at Avignon, opposed by the English Franciscans, 193; oaths imposed in early college statutes against dispensations from the, with respect to fellowship oath, 468 Porphyry, Isagoge of, lectures on, by Gerbert at Eheims, 44 scholastic philosophy owes its origin to a sentence in, 50; the passage quoted, ib. ; the passage known to the Middle Ages in two translations, 51 ; influence it was calculated to exercise on philosophy, 53 Prcevaricator, the, in academic exercises, 366 Pragmatic Sanction, the, secures to France independence of Eome, 281 Prague, university of, formed on the model of Paris, 74 division into nations at, 79, n. 2; founded in connexion wjth the university of
;
Oxford, 215;
its
prescribed course
translated into Latin by Chalcidius, 41 ; his theory of TJniversals described by Porphyry as translated by Boethius, 52 ; Titrueus of, probably meant in catalogues of libraries at Bee and at Christchurch, Canterbury, 104;
of,
tained by IParis in consequence of the creation of, 334; less distracted by the nominalistio controversies,
416
Prantl, Carl,
Frederic to the
of, brought by Wm. Gray England, 397 Pledges allowed to be given by stu-
Dialogues
to
new Aristotle, 98, n. 1 ; his condemnation of the scholastic Aristotle, 124 ; the author's obligations to his Oeschichte
Poggio BraccioUni, visits England in the 15th century, 297; nature of his impressions, 298 his description of the spirit in which the civil law was studied in Italy, 319, n. 2;
;
der Logik, 175; his observations on the extensive influence of the Byzantine logic, 179 his estimate of Occam's philosophy quoted, 189 Preaching, neglect of, in the 15th century, 437 Prichard, Jas. C, on distinction between use of the false Decretals by Hincmar and Nicholas, 34, n. 1
;
; ;
; :
678
ISDEX.
QninJalian, Institutes of, Lnjuis of Ferriferea writes for a copy of, 20;
Piianes, alien, appro priation of the rerennes of, to endow colleges, 303 Gongh's account of, 304; fiist neqnestration of their estates, i6. act for the Boppiession of, in 1402, ib.; confiscatum of, hj arehhp. Caueheley, 303 Friscaan, an aathority in the Kiddle Ages, 22; nnmeroos c</pie= of, at Chiistcbnreli, Cantertmrv, 104 Proctors, the two, coUectel the Totes of the i^ente, 143 ; empowered to can a congregation, ib., their different functions, 144 Profes&ors at the nmreraty of Bologna, 73 Frovisors, Etatnte of, its operatioii nnfavorable to the nniTersity, 2&4; Hnber's comments^ on tie fact, 286; Lingards ditto, ib., n. 1 Psellns. Michael Constantine, IT'S; his treatise on logic, ib. ; translation <rf the same by Petrns His-
studied as a model mider Bernard of Chartres, 57; style o^ imitated by Croke, 529; preferred by Linaere to that of (Heero, i6. n. 1 Qoirinne, his honent on the destruction of the Uteraty treasnres of Constantinople, 400
Babanus Maxuns, pnpil of Alcnin at Tours, 54; ^oss 1^, cm BoetUns, erroneously quoted by >Ir. Lewes,
ii.;
ti. n.
2 ; his
eranmentaiy on Boetfains, according to Couffln, proves that the dispute respecting TTnivaEals was familiiir to the ninlh century, 55, n. 1; sastains the tradition of
Aleuin's teaching, 69; according to bp. Fidier, edocated at Cambridge, 450 Bonc^, De, his attack on the study of
pazra^ ib. Pi^lic Orator, Siehard Crolte elected first, 539; privileges of thoBce,
ib.
Uie classics, 18
Pollen, Bobt, his work sapposed to have suggested the Seiitence^. 59, n, 2; tis SeBteut-ei compared with those of Peter Jximbazd, 9S; nse to which his name is pni by Anthony Wood. ib. ; account of his teacMng by the same, ib.; a stadait at tbie muTersity of Paris,
Batramnus, opposes doctrine of real presence maintained by Paseha^ns, 40; Eidley's t^timony to Ms infiuence, ib.ji.3
134
'Pythagoras, the school of,' period to wloeh it belongs, 832
Bealism, doctrines of, &v<xed a belief in tLe doctrine of the Trinity, 55 Season, tie. inadequacy of, according to Aquinas in attatmng to tni&. Ill Sectors at the univeisity of Bologna, 73 Bede, sir Bobi., fellow of King's
Hall,51S
QitadriTium of the
Soman
schools,
Bede
lec-roreships.
foundation
of,
of, forbid-
518 Beformati
I;
Eng-
den
Vj en^brace I'm
2f<7,
Wydif or Pecock,
atum
of,
doctrines of n. 1 : ionnd-
312;
Queen's
CoUege
statnte^ of,
land, partly from opposition to the canon law, 36 ; its relations to the new learning in Italy and in Ger-
difierent
Woodrille in 1175.
perlT srried
eSarutes
Andrew
Jj-^k!:!,
it.
~-,irn-:-=
and
letniTeships at, ib. : earlr catalogue of tibe librarv of, 324; bp. FUber
appointed
'
tfct
presidencv of,
4-iC
r^dene<e of Erasmus at. 472 Qnestitnist. it-, meaning f :be t'jTm explained, '^^yl ; ceiem-: ht observed
by, 353
not a developanent lobe traced t , the infinenee of Erasmus's Greek Testanietit, ib.; its spread in the eastern counties tXS, n- 3 Beformers, the Cambridge, meeting of, 572 ; chief names among, 573 cLara/iter of tie proceedinfs of, ib. ; not ail young men, 574 ; their meetings reported in Ixmdrm. 575:
:
55-
from
Le-'JardisTn, .555
IlfDEX.
desert the theology of Erasmus, 598; treatment of, by Wolsey at Oxford, 604; proceedings against, at Cambridge, 605 Begents, distingnished from the nonregents, with respect to their legislative powers, 142 ; the acting body of teachers in the university, ib. ; their admission to the governing body forfeited on their ceasing to teach, 142, 145 ; position of, in relation to the academic body, 358 B^mnsat, M., his description of the theology of St. Anselm quoted, 64, n. 1; observation on portion of the catalogue of the library at Bee, 100, n. 1 Bemy of Anxerre, sostains the tradition of Alcuin's teaching, 69 Benan, M., his account of the numerous preceding versions through which the Latin translations of
Aristotle from the Arabic were derived, 95, 96; enumeration of the Arabian heresies by, 117; his criticism on the doctrines condemned by Etienne Tempier, 121, n. 1 Benchlin, John, attends a lecture of
679
54
;
traditional,
new importance
given by, to such views, 55; a pupU of John the Deai^ 70; his
pupils,
ib.
Botheram, Tho., his benefactions to the university, 324 ; provost of the cathedral church at Beverley, 423; A promoter of learning, 425 Bothrad, bp. of Soissons, supported in his appeal from the decision of Hincmar by the false Decretals, 34 Boy, Wm., his description of TVolsey's pomp, 542 ; his statement
that "Wolsey was the author of Stafford's death, 548, n. 2 Bud's Hostel, made over to the brethren of the Hospital of St. John the Evangelist, 228 BudoU von Lange, 409 ; his school
at
Monster,
ib.
St.
members
486
of the uniyer-
Perils of the Last Times, ib. ; arraignment of, before the archbp. of Paris, ib. ; his book burnt, 120 his retirement into exile, ib. St. Basil, his statement ihat Plato selected the site of his Academy for its unhealthiness, quoted, 338,
n.
sity of Basel,
as treated of
taught by Gerbert at Bheims, 44; taught in a less mechanical fashion by Bernard of Chartres, 57 ; a lecturer on, appointed in statutes of Christ's CoDege, 459 Bichard.abbat of Preaux, his writings found in the catalogue of the library at Christchnrch, 104; his works, ib. n. 2 Eicherus, his History of his Times, 42; his account of Gerbert's method of instruction at Bheims, 44; his misconception respecting the Topica of Cicero, ib. n. 2 Bidley, Bobt., uncle of the Eeformer, one of Barnes' opponents, 577 Bidley, Nioh., complaint of, respecting Tjlidale's New Testament, 600 Borne, Erasmus's observations on,
in Martianus, 25
the church of, probably once the centre of a distinct village, 333 St. Bernard, foundation of college of, 314 ; charter of its foundation rescinded, ib. ; founded by Henry vi, 315 St. Catherine's HaU, foundation of, 317 ; study of canon and civil law forbidden at, 318 ; contrast in the conception of the college to that of Trinity HaU, ib.; the college designed to educate the secular
St. Benet,
clergy, ib.; library of, ann. 1475, .325 ; the ^Ybite Horse Inn originally
St.
belonged
to, 572, n. 1
of,
his statement respecting state of letters at the accession of Charlemagne, 11 foundation of secular St. Giles, canons at, by Picot, 163, n. 1 St. Guthlac, lived in the fens for
solitude, 335
GaU, monk
;; ;
; ; ;
680
St. Hilary,
INDEX.
from the study civil law, 212
of the
preface by Erasmus to his edition of, 502 St. John the Evangelist, hospital of, gee Hospital St. John' s College, life at, in 1650, 370 statutes of, req^uire from fellows an oath against dispensations from their oath, 456 ; amount fixed for fellows' commons at, 461; fortunate results of frugality at, ib.;
canon and
proposed
foundation of, by the lady Margaret, ib. ; charter of the foundation of, 464; Shorton first
De
Causa
Dei
revenues bequeathed to, by the lady Margaret, 465 ; the revenues seized by Henry viii, 468 ; partial compensation gained by, 469 ; formal opening of, in 1516, 470 ; clauses in early statutes of, contrasted with one in Colet's statutes of St. Paul's School, 471 foundation of Linaore lectureship
master
of, ib.
at, 603, u. 2; Fisher's later statutes for, 623 ; grief of, at Fisher's fate, 628; letter from, to him in prison, ib.
quoted, 199, n. 1 Savonarola, his horror at the depravity of his countrymen, 431; his position with reference to the Humanists in Italy, 432, n. 1 Scholar, the term originally equivalent to fellow, 167 ; first distinguished from that of fellow, 308 Scholars not under a master forbidden the university, 226 Scholars, foundation, first instituted at Pembroke College, 238 Scholasticism, progressive element
in, 173 ; its services, 632 Schoolmen, the, difficulties
Mary's (Gt.) church, formerly used for academic exercises, 299 Commencement formerly held at, 355 ; rebuilding of, 426, 427, n. 1 St. Paul, Marie de, foundress of Pembroke College, 236 ; a friend
St.
to the Franciscans, ib. ; memoir of, by Dr. Ainslie, ib. n. 1 St. Paul's School, foundation of, 471, n. 2 St. Peter's church, appropriation of, made over to Peterhouse, 228
St.
Ehadegund, nunnery
of,
320
specially protected by the bishops of Ely, ib. ; dissolved in the year 1496, 321; its revenues given to found Jesus College, ib.
St.
with 124 those of, compared with of modem scholars, 172; Croke professes his admiration of, 533 Schools, of the Roman Empire, 2; character of instruction imparted at the episcopal and monastic, 11 of Charlemagne, 13 thrown open to the secular clergy, ib. ; episcopal and monastic, how far subverted by the universities, 68 ; their tradition one of mere conservatism, 70; their deterioration, ib. n. 2; of arts and medicine, when formed at Bologna, 73; of theology, when founded at Bologna, ib.; at Oxford, prior to the thirteenth century, 83 ; the common, of the university, 299; first mentioned in reign of Edw. in, ib. n. 1; divinity, 300; arts and civil law,
of,
respect to the
new
Aristotle,
the views
ib.
Science,
a,
and an
art,
distinction
between, 179 Scot, Michael, his ignorance as a translator of Aristotle, 155 Scrutators, their functions, 143, 145 Selden, John, his explanation of
hostility shewn by king Stephen to the study of the civil law, 38 SeUing, Wm., fell, of All Souls, Oxford, 477 his scholarly tastes, it.
;
INDEX.
studies under PoUtian at Bologna,
ib.
681
Wm.
Linaore, pupil
of, ib.
sino so styled by the Benedictines, ib. n. 2 Sinker, Mr., his essay on the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
cited, 110 Sizars, first instituted
Sentences of
Peter Lombard, 69; characterised by Sohwegler, ib.; description of the work, ib. meaning of the title, ib. n. 3; anticipation of Paley in, ib. n. 4; dialectical element in, 60 its method of treatment, according to Cousin,
;
by statutes of
more severely logical than that of any preceding writer, ib. n. 3 testimony to its character by prof. Maurice, 61 avowed object of the compiler, ib. and u. 1 opposed on
; ;
appearance, 61 ; its extensive influence and voluminous literature, 62; its method censured by Gualterus, ib. n. 1 speculation encouraged by the expounders of, 77; excessive attention to, censured by Eoger Bacon, 167 ; reits first
;
jected by Luther and Stafford for the Scriptures, 667, 569 Sententiariw, the, 363 Shaxton, Nioh. fell, of GonviUe Hall, 664 his connexion with the reform party at Cambridge, ib. attended the meetings at the
, ; ;
Clare HaU, 262 Skelton, John, elegy by, on Margaret of Richmond, 463, n. 2 university career of, 540 ; extravagantly praised by Erasmus, ib. his sympathies with the old learning, ib. his verses attacking the respect paid to Greek at Cambridge, ib. ; faUs into disgrace with Wolsey, 648; satire of, on the Cambridge Beformers, 607 and n. 2 Smith, Eich., a convert of Bilney at Trinity Hall, 563 Sorbonne, the, regulations of, imitated at Oxiford and Cambridge, 67; College de, founded in the thirteenth century in Paris, 126, n. 4 a theological college, 127 the model for our earliest English colleges, ib.; poverty an es;
sential characteristic of, ib. n. 3; rules for the library of, copied at Durham College, Oxford, 204, n. 1 decided that Greek and Hebrew were subversive of religion, n. 2 condemns Luther's 625, writings, 671 Sorbonne, Robert de, founder of the college known by his name, 127 Spain, comparatively free from invasion under the Visigoths, 31; universities of, formed on the model of Bologna, 74 Spalatin, testimony of, to the de; ;
for Tyndale's New Testain England, 599 Spenser, Edm., his description of the course of the Ouse, 330; ancient prophecy recorded by, 332,
mand
ment
n. 1 Stafford, Bdw.,
duke
of
Buckingham,
Eoger Bacon,
ib.
Siberoh, John, first Cambridge printer, 626; his edition of Galen, ib. Sickling, John, master of God's House, at same time a fellow of
Corpus, 872
Sigebert, king of East Anglia, a reputed founder of the university of
Cambridge, 66
'
the supposed victim of Wolsey's resentment, 648; generally regarded as the founder of Buckingham College, ib. n. 1 popular belief that his death was brought about by Wolsey, ib. n. 2 Stafford, George, fell, of Pembroke, 667 his lectures in theology, ib. discards the Sentences for the Scriptures, ib.; his services to St. Paul as estimated by Becon, ib.; his disputation with Barnes in the divinity schools, 568; visit of, to
; ;
682
Henry the
of,
INDEX.
'conjnrer,' 608; death
609
from rmiTer-
Sturbridge
sity of Oxford, 135 ; false derivation of the name, ib. n. 1 ; existing remains of colleges and halls at,
prophecy that the nniversity would one day be transferred to, 332 Stanley, James, bp. of Ely, gives the
ib.
;
original statutes of Jesns College, 321 and n. 5; gives his assent to the dissolution of the hospital of St. John, 462; subsequently opposes it, 466 ; his character, ib. ; name of, appears in list of benefactors of St. John's College, 541, n. 5 Stare in quadrageHma, meaning of
C. 0. C, Oxford, ordered by bp. Fox to lecture on, 521, n. 2 Summulas, see Petrus Hispanus Supplicat, the, nature of, 353 Suppositio, the, theory of, 188 ; a contribution of the Byzantine logic,
ib.
Sylvester n, see Gerbert Sylvius, iBneas, his lament over the fall of Constantinople, 401; his efiorts to awaken a love of learning in Germany, 408 ; his character contrasted vrith that of Gre-
the phrase, 354 StatUmarii, the booksellers of the universitf, 144, n. 1; fraudulent
practices of, ib. Statins, lectures on,
T
by
Grerbert at hostels,
Bheims, 44
Statute,
early,
respecting
218 (see also App. C); its provisions compared with those of
statute 67, 221; forbidding friars to receive into their order youths under eighteen, 222 Statute of ProvisoTs, 266 Statutes, ancient, of the university, contradictions to be found in, 140, n. 1; earliest college, at Cambridge, 234 Stephen, king, forbids Vacarius to lecture on the civil law, 38; his
be at variance, 114, n. 2 condemnation of Averroistie opinions by, 118 Terence, lectures on, by Gerbert at Bheims, 44 TertuUian, an objector to pagan learning, 16 Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs,
;
motives explained by Selden, ib. Stokesley, bp. of London, his reputation for learning, 535, n. 1 Stokys' Book, account extracted from, of ceremony observed by the questionist,
353
Stratford, archbp., order of, with respect to the dress of university students, 233 Stubbs, prof., on the destruction of
translation of, by Grosseteste and John Basing, 110 ; a spurious production, ib. ; Mr. Sinker's investigations with respect to its genuineness, i6. n. 1 Theiner, his theory with respect to the decline of the episcopal and monastic schools called in question, 69 Theodorus, archbp. of Canterbury, his services to education, 8 Theodosius, code of, survives the disruption of the empire, 36 Theology, preliminaries to the study of, at Merton College, 167 ; study
of, neglected for
tween the two monasteries at Canterbury quoted, 100, n. 2 ; quoted, on the monks and seculars, 161, n. 2; on the foundation of secular colleges, 161, n. 3 Students at Oxford in the twelfth century, not supported by pecuniary assistance, 81, n. 1 Studies, design of founders in the 15th centurv that thcv should not
canon law in the 14th century, 211 and n. 2; faculties of, when given Gonto Bologna and Padua, 215 ville HaU designed by the founder to promote study of, 240; students of, at Cambridge in the 16th
;
; ;
; ;
INDEX.
683
century, described by Skelton, 439; in Italy, by Petrarch, ib. u. 2 Thierry, William of, his alarm at the progress of enquiry, 58
ThixlaJl, John, fell, of
ings,
Pembroke, one
of
Pembroke, commences the divinity schools at Cambridge, 300 ; executors of, complete the erection of the divinity schools, ib.
Tiedemann, theory of, that the mediaeval knowledge of Aristotle was derived from Arabic translations, 93 Tomlyn, Wm., his reckless manageof the hospital of St. John the Evangelist, 424 Tonnys, John, prior of the Augustinians at Cambridge, 565 ; aspires to learn Greek, ib. Topica of Aristotle, never quoted prior to 12th century, 29 Toulouse, civil law taught at, before foundation of university, 38, n. 1 university of, formed on the model of Bologna, 74; founded in the thirteenth century, 80 Tournaments, celebration of, in the
ment
V
Vltramontani, foreigners so named in the university of Bologna, 73 Ultramontanists, English, at the council of Basel, 281 ; their influence paramount at Cambridge in the 15th century, 287 Undergraduate,' the term inapplicable to students during the greater part of the Middle Ages, 352 Unity of the intellect, theory of the, 117 Uuiversals, controversy respecting, prevalent in the schools, 66 ; every science, as such, can deal only with, 190 Universitas, real significance of the term, 71 ; its first application to Paris, ib.; the term employed in Univfrsitas various senses, ib.; vestra, singular meaning of the
expression, 72, u. 1
and civilians, ib. ; formerly a hostel belonging to the monks of Ely, ib. n. 1 ; conditions imposed at, with
respect to elections of a master and fellows, 243 ; library given to, by the founder, ib. ; certain statutes of, substituted for those of Gonville Hall, 246; its early statutes an echo of the traditions of Avignon, 255 ; Bilney's converts at,
Orford self-named, 524 Tubingen, university of, compromise between the nominalists and realists at, 417 Tunstal, Cuthbert, patronises Eras-
684
INDEX.
Venetus, John, preaches against Latimer at St. Mary's, 611 Vercelli, university of, founded in the 13th century, 80 Verses, memorial, on the trivium and quadrivium, first found in Dorbellus, 566, n. 3 Vioenza, university of, its foundation the result of a migration from Bologna, 80 Victoriuus, his translation of the Isagoge of Porphyry used by Gerbert at Eheims, 44 ; passage in translation of Porphyry by, 51 quotation from same translation, 52 Vienna, university of, fonned on the model of Paris, 74 ; division into 'nations' at, 79, n. 2; statute of, quoted, ib.; 'the eldest daughter of Paris,' 215; mathematical studies required for degree of master of arts at, in 14th century, 361 Virgil, lectures on, by Gerbert at Bheims, 44 three copies of, in library of Ghristchurch, Canterbury, 104 Vischer, Dr. his observations on the progress of nominalism in the Middle Ages, 196, n. 2 Vitelli, Cornelius, teaches Greek at Oxford, 478
;
,
Universities, spontaneity of the growth of the early, 72 ; classification of those formed on the model of Bologna and of Paris respectively, 74 ; centres of reform in the 14th century, 271 on the model of Paris, comparative number founded in 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, 282 and n. 2 ; jor different imiversities see under respective names University College, the earliest college foundation at Oxford, 160, n. 1 University education, conflicting opinions as to the value in which it was held in the Middle Ages,
;
345 University Hall, Clare Hall originally so called, 250, n. 1 251 University library, foundation of the, 323 ; benefactors to, ih. ; two early catalogues of, ib.; first library
;
building,
ib.
University library, Oxford, when comn. 2 ; original statute respecting its management, ib. University press, the, 625; its inactivity in the sixteenth century,
menced, 203,
626
Urban
ii, big object in authorising the Crusades, 88 Urban iv, pope, orders the Franciscans to quit Bury, 150 Urban v, use of benches and seats at lectures forbidden by, 131, n. 1
483
Vives, Frobenius declines to publish the works of, in consequence of absorbing attention commanded by the Lutheran controversy, 385 Vulgate, the Latin, errors in, pointed out by Eoger Bacon, 168 ; discarded by Erasmus in his Nov.
Vacarius, lectures at Oxford on the civil law by, 38 and n. 2 Valence, Peter de, writes a denunciation over Leo's proclamation of indulgences affixed to the gate of the common schools, 657; is ex-
Tea., 523
W
Wainfleet, Wm., provost of Eton, probably prepared the second statutes of King's College, 307, n. 1 Waltham, eail Harold's foundation at, 162 Warham, arohbp., presented Erasmus to the rectory of Aldington, 604; munificence of, to Erasmus, 518 Warton, his explanation of the decline of the monasteries as centres of education, 207 Watson, John, fell, of Peterhouse, master of Christ's, a friend of
Valerius Maximus, the classical lecturer at C. C. C, Oxford, ordered by bp. Fox to lecture on, 521, n. 2 Valla, Laurentius, his contests with the civilians of Pavia, 418 ; his controversy with an eminent jurist, 419 ; the classical lecturer at C. C. C, Oxford, ordered by bp. Fox to lecture on the Elegantice of,
621, n. 2
269
INDEX
Exasmns at Camlnidge, 499
;
GSo
letter
from, to Eissmos, i6. ; one of Barnes* opponents, 577 "Wendovex, Boger of, testimony of, to the successful pieaohiug of the Franoiscans, 91 and n. 1 Wessel, John, rebels against the anthorit.T of Aquinas, 409 West. NioJioias, fell, of King's, bp. of E'iV. rmodels the statnts of JesHS College, 321 and n. 5; does so in professed conformity to the design of Aloook, S'2r2 and u. 1 : tlion^h an eminent canonist forbids tlie study of the canon law at Jesas tSoUege, 322 : ostentatious character of, 5S3; attends Latimer's sermon before ihe univeisity, ib.; asks him to preach against Luther, ib. ; inhibits him from preaching, 5S4 Westeott. canon, his estimate of Tyndale's Xew Testivmeut quoted, 597 Westminster Abbey, estates of the lady Margaret professorship entrusted to the authorities of, 436 VThately, archbp., his recognition of the need of a Historv of Louie, 174 Vrhewell, Pr.. his obserration on
Bog*r Bacou combated by later writers, 170, n. 1 White canons, the, their house opposite to Peterhonse. 1.^9
the, 572
site of,
n. 1;
known
a
as 'Germany," 573
of Queens" Colto,
Whitford, Bich.,
lege, leave of
fell,
absence granted
benefactors of St. John's College, ib. n. 5 : his -nsit to Cambridge, 542; his character contrasted with that of Fisher, 544 ; his relations to Cambridge, 545; virtues ascribed to, in Bullodc's oration, 346 ; his victims at the universities, 548; is constituted sole reviser of the statutes of the university of Oxford, 549; is invested with similar powers at Cambriilge, ib. ; obtains the king's hcence to endow Cardinal College, 551 ; invites scholars from Cambridge to the new foundation, 553 ; his soholsstie learning, ib. ; pleads that he is not authorised to bum Luther's early treatises, 570; orders active search to be made for Luther's works, 571 ; declines to appoint a commission to enquire into the doiugs of the Cambridge Beformers, 575 ; is attacked by Barnes, 57t) summons Barnes to Loudou.578 smhorises Latimer to preach in defiance of the bp. of Ely. 584 Wood, Anthony, respecting the loss of the most ancient charters of Oxford, SI, n. 1; on the intercourse between Paris and Oxford, 134; censured by ilr Anstey, 160, n. 1 ; his explanaBOD of the decline of the ardour of the universities in the 14th century, 20S; his obsenation that uearlyall the bishops came from Oxford. 425 his retort on Croke's assertion that Oxford was coloHia a C.tnt ibrigia lUducUi,
; ; :
372, n.
533
make way
King's College.
I'ft.;
his ability as
:
an
a.lministrator, 31S forbids" the study of the canon and civil law
Wittenberg, arguments used at, against the stadr of Greek, 538. n. 1 WolseT, cardinal, the reputed author of the spohatiou of St. John's College,468; sympathies of,mainly with Oxford, iSS ; an imitator of bp. Fos in his innovations at Oxford, 521 founds a chair of Greek ;-.i Oxford, 626 ; is solioited to accept the oi oe of chancellor and declines, i& ; his name appears in the list of
at St. Catherine's, ib.; no books subjects in the hbraiy he gave to the sooit ty, ib. n. 2 WoodviDe, Eliz. (queen of Edw. iv), give? the stamtes of Queens' Col-
on these
lege,
316
Worcester, earl of, a disciple of Gualino at Fenara, 396 Wydif, John, Df PowinioDirino of, opposed to papal claims founded on the canon law. 36 how far a follower of Occam, 261; his relations to the Mendicants, ib. his eiJorts on behalf of the secular clergy at Oxford, 264; le.aves Oxford, "265 ; his return, ib. ; his
: ;
686
oharaoter,
ib.
INDEX,
267;
period at which of a reformer,
in-
he assumed that
n. 1
;
(?) the original of ChauParish Priest, ib. n. 2; not originally hostile to the Mendicants, 268; vehemence of his attack upon them, 270 ; his doctrines opposed to the civil and canon law, 272 his works prohibited, ib, Wykeham, Wm. of, motives that led
cer's
y
Year, the, 1349, 241
of reform in, 558
;
1516, prospects
of,
CAMBBIDOIi
PKINIED BY
C. J.
By
the
same Author.
CAMBRIDGE CHARACTERISTICS
IN
THE
OB
CO.
CATALOGUE OF
WORKS
PUBLISHED FOR THE SYNDICS
OF THE
HonDon:
c.
j.
263,
Argvle Street.
PUBLICATIONS OF
of the
Au-
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D'Harleville. With a Biographical Memoir, and Grammatical, Literary and Historical Notes. By the same Editor. 2j.
Academy.
LA METROMANIE, A
LASCARIS, ou LES
PhilologicaL
graphical Memoir, and Grammatical, Literary and Historical Notes. same Editor, is,
Nouvelle Historique, par A. F. Villemain, with a Biographical Sketch of the Author, a Selection of Poems on Greece, and Notes Historical and
By
IV.
GERMAN.
Wilhelm Hauff.
gj.
DIE
KARAVANE
von
Edited with
dd.
CULTURGESCHICHTLICHE NOVELLEN,
von W. H.
Riehl, with Grammatical, Philological, and Historical Notes, and a Com^s. 6d, plete Index, by H. J. Wolstenholme, B.A. (Lond.).
Notes, and an Index. By the same Editor, y. dd. "We are glad to be able to notice a careful edition of K. Gutzkow's amusing comedy These notes are abundant and contain 'Zopf and Schwert* by Mr H. J. Wolstenholme. references to standard grammatical viaiks."Academy.
. . .
@oetf)e'0
ffnabenia^re.
(1749 17590
GOETHE'S BOY-
being the First Three Books of his Autobiography. Arranged and Annotated by Wilhelm Wagner, Ph. D., late Professor at the
HOOD:
Johanneum, Hamburg,
is,
London
C. J.
Cla v
fir"
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30
PUBLICATIONS OF
by A. ScHLOTTMANN, Ph. D.,
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Edited
DER OBERHOF. A
Tale of Westphalian Life, by Karl Immermann. With a Life of Immermann and English Notes, byWiLHELM Wagner, Ph.D., late Professor at the Johanneum, Hamburg, y.
Ar-
3)er
crfte
ifrcujjug
with a
Fried-
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'* Certainly no more interesting book could be made the subject of examinations. The story of the First Crusade has an undying interest. The notes are, on die whole, good." EductUioual Times.
2j.
some of the most important incidents connected with the German race and name, from the invasion of Italy by the Visigoths under their King Alaric, down to the Franco-German War and the installation of the present Emperor. The notes supply very well the connecting links between the succes^ve periods, and exhibit in its various phases of growth and progress, or the reverse, the vast unwieldy matit; which constitutes modem Germany.** Times.
It carries the reader rapidly through
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GOETHE'S
"The
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With
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same Editor.
Revised edition by J.
Cartmell, M.A.
abundanL "
Acadejuy.
3j. ^d.
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best that
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Dae 3a^r 1813 (The Year 18 13), by sj. With English Notes. ByW. Wagner,
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His
Life and Educational Works, by S. S. Laurie, A.M., F.R.S.E., Professor of the Institutes and History of Education in the University of Edinboigh. Second Edition, revised. 3.r. 6d.
"A judicious
whidi
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Sat.
THREE LECTURES ON THE PRACTICE OF EDUCATION. Delivered in the University of Cambridge in the Easter Term, is. 1882, under the direction of the Teachers' Training Syndicate, " Like one of Bacon's Essays, it handles those things in which the writex's life is most converLike Bacon's Essays, too, it is iiill of sant, and it will come home to men's business and bosoms. apophthegms. " Journal of Edvcatitm,
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:
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J, Cla y
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31
lac-
Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by Oscar BROW'NiNGi M^., Fdlow and I^turer of King's College, Camloidge, and formerly Assistant Master at Eton College, is. '* A separate reprint of Milton^s famous letter to Master Samuel Hartltb was a de^deratam, and w^e aie grateful to Mr Browning for his el^ant and scholarly edition, to which is prefixed the carefid nhmmt^ of rfie work giTen in his *flistory of Educational Theories.*** yommai
LOCKE ON EDUCATION.
by the Rev. R. H. Quick, M. A. "The work before us lea\'es nothing to be
desired. It is of convenient fbnn and reasonable price, accurately printed, and accompanied by notes whidi are admirable. There is no teacher too young to find diis book intei^aing ; there is no teacher too old to find it profitable." Tkt
edited
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Intro-
duction and Notes by the Rev. Professor Skeat, M.A., fonnerly Fellow of Christ's Coll^;e, Cambridge. 3^. 6rf. ** TTiis edition of a play that is well worth study, for more reasons than one, by so careful a sdiolar as Mr Skeat, deserves a hearty welcome," AtksfUFum, **Mr Skeat is a consdentious editor, and has left no difficulty unexplained.** Times.
late
THOMAS MORE'S
UTOPIA.
Every student of history, every politicn, every social reformer, every one admiiaUy. intaested in literary curiosities, everj- lo\'er of English should buy and carefully read Dr Lainby*s edition of the 'Utopia.' We are afraid to say more lest we should be thousfat extravagant, and our recommendation accordingly lose part of its force.** Tke Tttu^r. * It was originally written in Latin and does not find a place on ordinary bookshelves. A very great boon has therefore been conferred on the general English reader by the managers of the Pitt Prrss Series^ in the issue of a convenient little ^-olume of Afart's Utopia not in the finginal Latin, hot in the quaint Em^Ssk Tmmslatiox tkrrwf made hjr Rsfht ^^), which adds a . All this has beeu edited in a most comlinguistic interest to the intrinsic merit of the work.
. .
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and scholarly fiishion by Dr J. R. Lumby, the Norrisian Professor of Divinity, whose name alone is a sufficient warrant for its accuracy. It is a real addition to the modem stock of rhssiral
plete
English literature."CwofT^ftrr*.
By
J.
Norrisian Professor of Divinity, Cambridge; to which is added the conclusion of the History of King Richard III. as given in the continuation of Hardyng's Chronicle, London, 1543. Jf. 6rf.
late by Joseph B. Moral Philosophy at King's College, London. 3^. 6rf. "PnJessor Mayor contributes to the Pitt Press Series .-! Skttch of Anciemt Pkiltao^
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