Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 2.djvu/712

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BOLOGNA


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BOLOGNA


mentioned in connexion with the revived study of the " Digest "; but it was Imerius who began the study of the entire "Corpus Juris Civilis" and organized the school of law as distinct from the arts school (1100-30). Along with this revival of the Civil Law came the epoch-making compilation of the Camal- dolese (or lienedictine) monk, Gratian. The "Decretum Gratiani" (q. v.), published about 1140, became at once the recognized textbook of canon law. Bologna was thus, in its origin, a "jxn-ist" imiversity. The work of Irnerius and Gratian was continued by such men as Odopedus (d. 1300), Joannes Andrea (1270-134S), St. Raj-mond of Penna- fort (1175-1275), and Ricardus Anglicus, who later became Bishop of Chichester (about middle of thirteenth centiuy).

The fame of its professors drew to Bologna students from all parts of Italy and from nearly every coun- try of Europe. It is said that their number at the beginning of the thirteenth century was 10,000. Bologna was kno-rni as the "Mater studiorum", and its motto, " Bononia docet", was literally true. The foreign (non-Bolognese) students formed two "uni- versities"; that of the Cismontanes and that of the Ultramontanes. The former comprised seventeen ■"Nations", the latter, eighteen, including the Eng- lish. The nations were organized on a plan similar to that of the guilds. Each framed its own statutes, elected its own "Consiliarii," and held its ovra meetings. The rector was elected by the students. The masters, also, were grouped in guilds or colleges. In the examination of candidates for degrees, the authority of the masters was supreme; in other matters the students had full control. In the con- flicts that often arose between them and the city, the students enforced their claims by emigrating to other towns — Vicenza (1204), Arezzo (1215), Padua (1222), Sienna (1321). Appeal was sometimes taken to the pope, who as a rule decided in favour of the university. Notable among these papal inter- ventions was the Bull of Honorius III (1217).

Bologna in its earliest organization was a "stu- dent" university: professors were hired by the students to give instruction. The lectures were ■either "ordinarj'" or "extraordinarj'", a distinction which corresponded vrith that between the more ■essential and the less essential of the law-texts (Rashdall). Ordinarj- lectures were reserved for the ■doctors; the extraordinarj- might be given by a student as part of his preparation for the bacca- laureate. (See Arts, B-\CHELOR OF.) This classifica- tion of teachers survives in the modern German university. At Bologna, no examination was re- quired for the Bachelor's degree; permission to lec- ture was granted the student after a five years' course in law. For the Licentiate, the candidate was obliged to pass a private, and for the Doctorate a public, examination (Conventus, Inccptio). The ex- aminations and the conferring of degrees belonged originally to the masters; but in 1219 Honorius III prescribed that no one should receive the Doctorate without the consent of the Archdeacon of Bologna. In 1292 Nicholas IV decreed that all who were li- censed doctors by the Archdeacon of Bologna should have the right, without further examination or ap- probation, to teach everjT\here. These enactments not only enhanced the value of the degree, but also affected the organization of the university. Functions hitherto exercised by private corporations passed into the hands of an official commissioned by public authority, and that authority was ecclesiastical. The degree system of Bologna was henceforth the same as that which had already been established at Paris; and these two schools became the models upon which the later vmiversities were organized.

The development of the law schools at Bologna had as one result the reduction of the Liberal Arts


to a position of secondary importance. On the other hand, two factors in the situation favoured the Arts and made possible a new growth in the university, namely, the restoration of the Aristotelean philosophy and the introduction of mathematics from the Arabian schools. The physics and physiology of Aristotle formed the basis of the study of medicine, while mathematics opened the way to astrology, and eventually to astronomy. Among the physicians of note in Bologna were a nimiber of ecclesiastics, one of whom, Nicolaus de Farnham, became (1241) Bishop of Durham. Chm-chmen were forbidden to study medicine by Honorius III (1219). But there was no regularly organized school of medicine until Thaddeus of Florence began his teaching, about 1260. From that time onward the medical faculty grew in importance. Surgen,- received special attention; dissection was practised, and the foundations of modern anatomy were laid by Mundinus (1275- 1326). Closely allied with the work in medicine was the study of astrologj'. A famous astrologist, Cecco d'Ascoli (d. 1327). declared that a physician without astrology would be like an eye without the power of vision. The scientific study of astronomy was founded by the investigations of Novara and his disciple Copernicus (1473-1543). Both medical and mathematical studies were influenced by Arabian scholarship, in particular by that of Avicenna and Averroes. As these were also philosophers, their theories came to be part of the Scholasticism of Bo- logna, and their authority was scarcely inferior to that of Aristotle.

Theology had long been taught in the monastic schools; but the faculty of theology in the university was established by Innocent \T in 1360. Its chan- cellor was the Bishop of Bologna, and its doctors de- pended upon him rather than upon the student- body. The faculty received many privileges from Urban V, Boniface IX, and their successors. The popes, in fact, favoured the university in every possible way. Gregorj' IX and Boniface VIII sent it the Decretals (q. v.); Benedict XIV, various bulls and encyclicals. Among its benefactors were Mar- tin V, Eugene IV, Nicholas V, Paul II, Innocent VIII, Paul III, Pius IV, Clement VIII, Urban VIII, Inno- cent X, and Clement XII. Gregory XI founded (1372), in connexion with the university, the Col- legium Gregoriarium tor poor students of medicine and philosophy. Other colleges with similar scope were established by lajmien and ecclesiastics (see list in Moroni). One of the most important was the College of Spain {Casa Spagniiola. or Collegia Mag- giore), which owed its existence and endowment to Cardinal Albornoz (1364). The papal legates at Bologna took an active part in the direction of the university and eventually became the supreme au- thority. In the course of time, also, the student- body "lost its control, and the various schools were consolidated in one university organization.

In the development of modern literature and science Bologna took an important part. The famous Cardinal Bessarion, a leader in the Renais- sance movement, was legate from 1451 to 1455. Under his influence classical studies flourished in the university, and Humanists like Filelfo (1398-1481) and Guarino were among its professors. To these should be added, in more recent times, the great Mezzofanti (1774-1849). In the natural sciences, especially. Bologna points to a long list of distin- guished "men: the anatomists Achillini (1463-1512), Vesalius (1514-64), Varoli (1542-75), and Malpighi (1628-94), the botanist Aldrovandi (1522-1607), and the physicist Galvani (1737-98) are among the most illustrious. The number of women who taught at Bologna is also remarkable, including Novella; daughter of Joannes Andrea the jurist, Laura Bassi (1711-78), and Maria Agnesi (1718-99), mathema-