Readings in the History of Education Part 15

The tutors shall see that the scholars rise in the morning at five o'clock, and that then before lectures each one reads by himself the laws which are to be read at the regular lecture, together with the glosses.... But after the regular lecture, having if they wish, quickly heard ma.s.s, the scholars shall come to their rooms and revise the lectures that have been given, by rehearsing and impressing on their memory whatever they have brought away from the lectures either orally or in writing. And next they shall come to lunch ...after lunch, each one having brought to the table his books, all the scholars of the Faculty together, in the presence of a tutor, shall review that regular lecture; and in this review the tutor shall follow a method which will enable him, by discreet questioning of every man, to gather whether each of them listened well to the lecture and remembered it, and which will recall the whole lecture by having its parts recited by individuals. And if watchful care is used in this one hour will suffice.[69]

(e) _Time-table of Lectures at Leipzig_, 1519

There must have been some orderly arrangement of each day's lectures as the requirements for the various degrees became fixed; but I have not found an early doc.u.ment on the subject. The Statutes of Leipzig for 1519 give "an accurate arrangement of the lectures of the Faculty of Fine Arts, hour by hour, adapted to a variety of intellects and to diverse interests." They do not always specify the semester in which the book is to be read; in such cases the t.i.tle is placed in the center of the column. The list includes practically all the books required for the degrees of A.B. and A.M. Unless otherwise specified, they are the works of Aristotle; but the versions are, as noted on page 48, new translations from the Greek. These translations are praised in no uncertain terms in the Statutes. The Metaphysic is presented in Latin by Bessarion "so cleverly and with so good faith that he will seem to differ not even a nail's breadth from the Greek copies and sentiments of Aristotle." The Ethics and the Economics are "cleverly and charmingly put into Latin by Argyropulos;" the Politics and the Magna Moralia are "finely translated by Georgius Valla, that well-known man of great learning," etc. Lectures, it will be noted, began early. The following tabular view is compiled from Zarncke, _Statutenbucher der Universitat Leipzig_, pp. 39-42.

In addition to the "ordinary," or prescribed, books, "two books of Cicero's Letters will be read on festal days"; and "the Greek Grammar of Theodorus Gaza will be explained at the expense of the ill.u.s.trious Prince George."

SUMMER | WINTER | SUMMER | WINTER | | | 6 A.M. | 1 P.M.

| Metaphysics. |Metaphysics. |Posterior |Topics (4 Bks.) Introduction |On | a.n.a.lytics. |Generation and (Porphyry). | Interpretation |Sense and | Destruction.

Categories. |Logic (Aquinas). | Sensation. |Being and | |Memory and | Essence On Six Principles (Gilbert de la | Recollection. | (Aquinas).

Porree). |Sleep and Waking.| Physics (Digest of Aristotle by |Longevity and | Albertus Magnus). | Shortlivedness.| -----------------------------------| | 8 A.M. |Inst.i.tutes of Oratory | (Quintilian).

Physical Hearing (sic.) Physics? |---------------------------------- Reading and Disputation by | 2 P.M.

candidates for A.B. and A.M. | Grammar (Priscian). |On the Soul (3 |On the Heavens -----------------------------------| Bks). | and the Earth.

11 A.M. |Common |On the Substance | Arithmetic, and| of the World Logic: Summulae (Petrus Hispa.n.u.s). | On the Sphere | (Averroes).

| | (Sacrobosco). |Common Rhetoric (Cicero |On the Orator | | Perspective, to Herennius). | (Cicero). | | i.e., Optics Physical |On the Vital | | (John of Auscultation | Principle | | Pisa).

(Themistius). | (Themistius). |Theory of the Planets (Gerard of | | Cremona).

| Ethics | Politics.

| Economics.

|Magna Moralia, _i.e._, | Ethics, abbreviated from | Aristotle and Eudemus.

|---------------------------------- | 4 P.M.

| |Theocritus.

|Herodotus.

|Virgil.

|Aristotle, Problems.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 57: Giraldus Cambrensis, ed. Brewer, I, pp. 45-47.]

[Footnote 58: Quoted by Rashdall, I, p. 219.]

[Footnote 59: Malagola, _Statuti delle Universita i dei Collegi dello Studio Bolognese._ Selections from pp. 41-43.]

[Footnote 60: Bulaeus, _Historia Universitatis Parisiensis_, IV, 332.]

[Footnote 61: Dante, _Quaestio de Aqua et Terra_, tr. A.C. White, pp.

VII-IX.]

[Footnote 62: Doc.u.ment printed by Rashdall, II, Pt. II, pp. 742-3.]

[Footnote 63: Rashdall, I, p. 226.]

[Footnote 64: Malagola, _Statuti_, etc., p. 116.]

[Footnote 65: _Acta Nationis Germanicae_, pp. 4, 8.]

[Footnote 66: Malagola, _Statuti_, etc., p. 116.]

[Footnote 67: Doc.u.ment printed by Rashdall, II, Pt. II, p. 734.]

[Footnote 68: Rashdall, I, p. 229.]

[Footnote 69: Doc.u.ment printed by Rashdall, Vol. II, Pt. II, p. 766.]

V

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREES IN ARTS

In general, the candidate for the A.B. degree must have taken part as "respondent" or "opponent" (see p. 115) in a prescribed number of disputations, and must have "heard" the lectures on certain prescribed books before taking his examination for the degree. (This examination seems, in some cases, to have been little more than a certification by a committee of Masters that the student had fulfilled the foregoing requirements.) The candidate for the degree of A.M. must have completed further prescribed books and disputations, and must have "read," i.e., lectured upon, some book or books which he had previously "heard,"

before taking his examination for the License (to teach everywhere). No general statement can be given as to the required number of disputations; the practice differed at various times and places. The Statutes of Leipzig required during the fifteenth century six "ordinary"

and six "extraordinary" responses from the prospective Bachelor. The prospective Master was required to declare that he had been present at thirty ordinary Bachelors' disputations, and had argued in each one "if he had been able to get the opportunity to argue." The candidate for the License at Paris, in 1366, must have attended disputations throughout one "grand Ordinary," and must have "responded" twice. At Oxford the youth must have taken part in disputations for a year as "general sophister," and must have "responded" at least once, before taking the A.B. or before "Determination," which was the equivalent of the A.B.

Prospective masters must have responded at least twice.[70]

The following lists of prescribed books give a good idea of mediaeval requirements (aside from disputations) for the degrees of A.B. and A.M., at various times and places. The reader will note at once the predominance of Aristotle, and the variations in requirements for the degrees. Many similar lists might be cited from the records of other universities; but they would give little additional information as regards the degrees in Arts.

1. List of Books Prescribed for the Degrees of A.B. and A.M. at Paris, 1254.

The following list from the Statutes of 1254 does not separate the books into the groups required for each degree, but indicates the total requirement for both.

{Introduction to the Categories of Aristotle { (Isagoge), Porphyry.

(1) The "Old" Logic {Categories, and On Interpretation, { Aristotle.

{Divisions, and Topics except Bk. IV, { Boethius.

{Prior and Posterior a.n.a.lytics, Aristotle.

(2) The "New" Logic {Sophistical Refutations, "

{Topics, "

(3) Moral Philosophy: Ethics, 4 Bks., "

{Physics, Aristotle.

{On the Heavens and the Earth, "

{Meteorics, "

{On Animals, "

{" the Soul, "

(4) Natural Philosophy {" Generation, "

{" Sense and Sensible Things, "

{" Sleep and Waking, "

{" Memory and Recollection, "

{" Life and Death, "

{" Plants, " (?)

(5) Metaphysics: Metaphysics, "

{On the Six Principles, Gilbert de la Porree {Barbarismus (Bk. 3, Larger Grammar), { Donatus.