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WHEN the University of St Andrews had been forty years in
existence, and the thirst for education was still unslaked, the distance of
that little city from the rest of Scotland was felt to be an inconvenience
requiring remedy. The epoch moreover was in several respects very favourable
for the founding of universities. The schism in the Romish Church at the end
of the 14th century led to a large increase in the number of universities on
the Continent. Between the Pope in Avignon and the Pope in Rome there was
the keenest rivalry. In their anxiety to thwart each others' schemes and
make good their claim to superiority in the pontificate, both lent a willing
ear to petitions from whatever quarter they came, and were ready to grant
Bulls for the foundation of institutions, on which they felt the success of
the Church largely depended. The University of Paris supported the Pope in
Avignon, in which they were followed by Scotland, as already mentioned,
while England gave its support to the Pope in Rome. Scottish students
accordingly were received at the English universities with scant courtesy.
Further it is not matter for regret or reproach, that the Bishop of Glasgow
was unwilling that his diocese should lag behind that of St Andrews, just as
half a century later Bishop Elphinstone was actuated by a similar not
ignoble ambition to have a university in his diocese of Aberdeen.
In 1450, the papal schism
having ceased, James II at Bishop Turnbull's suggestion presented to
Nicholas V, himself a great scholar and zealous for education, a petition
for the founding of a second university in Glasgow, "where the air was
salubrious and provisions were
plentiful," and which Major in his History describes as a "small but
beautiful city situated on a fine
river not yet deepened by art so as to be a channel of commerce." The
petition was at once granted, giving what could come only from Papal
authority, the privilege of conferring degrees and liberty to teach all over
the world [Munimenta,
I, p. 3.]. In 1453 the King gave a charter
granting additional privileges exempting the authorities from the payment of
taxes. The foundation was after the model of Bologna, but it imitated to a
large extent the customs of Louvain - then and still a famous
university-perhaps because John Lichton its Rector was a Scotsman. The Bull
did not specify Bologna as a model for Glasgow. It only gave to the
authorities as a body corporate the same privileges and the same
ecclesiastical supervision by the Chancellor as that famous Italian
university had. Bologna was especially a school of law-civil and canon. In
this Glasgow did not imitate Bologna to any great extent. There was little
teaching in the higher Faculties, in which there were only occasional
lectures, attendance on which was not compulsory. In the great relative
prominence secured, and to the present day retained, by the Faculty of Arts
in Glasgow the example of Louvain and other continental universities was
followed.
The Pope wished Glasgow to
have a studium generale which should " flourish in theology, canon
and civil law, and in any other lawful Faculty." A most promising start was
made. Bachelors were presented for graduation in the very first year after
the foundation. Lectures in other Faculties were given, but the Faculty of
Arts was the only one which had a definite shape and constitution. It
elected a Dean, made laws for its government, and acquired property in which
the university as a body had no share. It established a Paedagogium and used
the funds of the Faculty for the upkeep of the building. For a considerable
time the university as a body acquired no property. "There might be," says
Mr Innes, "some danger of the Faculty of Arts absorbing the University."
The fact that candidates for
graduation presented themselves in the first year of its existence is
noteworthy, and shows that the
foundation of the university was in response to a popular demand. These
candidates must have had training in scholastic philosophy somewhere. One
does not expect a degree-giving institution to spring thus suddenly into
existence and full fruition. It may be taken as a corroboration of a
sentence already quoted from Mr Mullinger that "universities in the earlier
times had not infrequently a vigorous virtual existence long before they
obtained legal recognition."
Glasgow followed the example of
Bologna in giving to the supposts assembled in council the power of
government, and in this respect differed from St Andrews and Aberdeen, where
the supposts did not govern directly, but through representatives whom they
had elected. As Glasgow, like St Andrews, had at first no endowment from
which teachers could be paid, the Pope issued a Bull authorising all the
teaching staff who were beneficed clergymen to reside in the university for
ten years or even longer if they continued lecturing, and to enjoy the
emoluments of their benefices, provided they arranged for the work of their
cures being properly attended to. The same was the case in Aberdeen. In
Glasgow some lectures were given in theology and law-canon and civil-but the
backbone of the teaching was philosophy and humanity both of which were
regularly taught.
Few words have thrown off such a
number of correlatives with widely different meanings as the Latin word
humanus, the root-meaning
of which is `peculiar to a human being.' In the middle ages an education
which had Latin, and, later on, Latin combined with Greek for its basis, was
regarded as the best source of what ought to be the proper aim of every man,
viz. culture, and hence in Scotland the University Chair from which Latin
was taught was called the Chair of Humanity. It is difficult to explain why
Greek did not share in the name, unless it be that Latin had long the
precedence of Greek in point of time as a branch of education.
Another word that has changed
its meaning in its passing from the middle ages to the present day is
bursar, which formerly meant a pupil who
had gained in some way by favour or examination a money-prize-a bursa,
or purse, a meaning which it
still has. But a different signification has been added to it. The bursar of
a college is he who has charge of its financial matters.
Regent again was the official title of
the teacher to whose care the student was handed over for instruction and
guidance in every branch of the curriculum. This custom was observed longer
in some universities than in others, but it was nowhere permanent, and hence
in many cases Regent and Professor were interchangeable titles.
At first and for a number of years the
university had no building set apart for teaching purposes. Parts of the
cathedral and probably of other churches were so used. The first gift
recorded is that of a tenement in the High Street, and four acres of land on
the Dowhill stretching to the Molendinar Burn. This tenement occupied the
site where subsequently the old college stood, till the splendid building on
Gilmorehill was erected in 1869. The donor was Sir Gavin Hamilton who in
1455 granted a charter of the tenement and land to the Prior and Convent of
the Preaching Friars of Glasgow [Munimenta, I, p. 9.]. With Scottish
caution, dictated possibly by doubts as to the future success of the
university (not without foundation as it turned out) he stipulated in the
charter that his heirs and assigns should have full right of retaking the
same into their own proper possession. His relative Lord Hamilton in 1460
made the gift absolute, and thenceforth it was put to university uses, and
called a Paedagogium.
The burgh records of Glasgow do not go
further back than 1573.
The Munimenta of the university have a
threefold classification.
(1) Deeds of erection, privileges, and
endowments.
(2) Statutes and internal discipline of the university.
(3) Lists of members.
These documents give evidence of
systematic and careful registration.
Vol. I of the Munimenta deals with
privileges and property.
From 1451 to 1563 the entries (40 in
number) are recorded with the greatest care and precision, and deal with
gifts, annexation of benefices, exemption from taxation, rent and repairs of
the Paedagogium, the Chancellor's claim to the right of appointment of a
master to the grammar school, and his prohibition of private schools without
his permission. There is a steady contribution of gifts, of lands, tenements
and money to the Faculty of Arts, and nothing to indicate decay or
deterioration of the institution, till the letter under the Privy Seal by
Mary Queen of Scots of date 1563 sets forth its ruinous condition.
Vol. II gives an account of the statutes
and internal discipline of the university.
The example of foreign universities is
followed. Students are arranged in four 'nations.' Glottiana, representing
Clydesdale. Loudoniana, the rest of Scotland (excepting the south and west),
England and later the Colonies. Rothesaiana, the west and south of Scotland
and Ireland, and Albania, foreigners.
Each nation elected a procurator to
represent it in the election of the Rector who held office for a year, but
could be, and often was, re-elected for several years. Vol. II contains the
lists and names of those incorporated with the university for each year from
1451, when it was founded, up to the time of the Reformation. The falling
off in the number of incorporated members is very striking. Commencing at
its foundation with 60, within 30 years the number was reduced to 2. To this
a variety of circumstances contributed. The greater prestige of foreign
universities, the comparatively small area from which students could be
supplied, the poverty of the country -approaching almost to a state of
famine - distraction arising from war with England, a nobility disaffected
owing to the King's appointment of low favourites to positions for which
they were not qualified - all these were hostile to university success. But
probably the most baneful influence was a badly governed Church, and a
declension in the morals of the clergy on whose support the university
mainly depended.
Under the head of Annals of the
University we have little more than records of the names and election of a
succession of Rectors, the dress they should wear when going through the
city on feast days, and the number of attendants who should accompany them,
when a white wooden rod should be carried before them, when a silver one,
fees, honoraria to masters, calendar of
feasts &c., but scarcely any reference to the
course of study to be pursued. In 1482, 1509 and 1522 three several Rectors
indicate dissatisfaction with the state of matters; one proposing a renewal
of the statutes and a vigilant maintenance of judicial jurisdiction on the
part of the university, the calling up of unpaid rents, and the examination
of certain expenses that require to be looked into. Another proposes to have
a general congregation to deal with five important matters which need
consideration. A third proposes that bachelors should be compelled to take
the master's degree within a fixed time, and that the students' rooms should
be visited nightly. These are indications of a feeling on the part of the
authorities that bracing up in several directions was necessary.
The Annals of the Faculty of
Arts have a register apart from those of the university. As already stated,
the former alone had a constitution and had taken definite shape. The names
of those who took degrees were recorded in its register and not in that of
the university. There seems therefore ground for Mr Innes's remark that
there was some danger of the Faculty of Arts absorbing the university, or
becoming an independent body.
The registration generally
leaves nothing to be desired in respect of fulness and precision, and gives
a faithful record of the doings of the Faculty-the names of those admitted
to degrees, post rigorosum examen, and of the examiners, the appointment of
successive deans, dress of students, dues for graduation, audit of accounts,
debts incurred owing to famine, war, and pestilence, and references to books
to be read. But in 1460 symptoms of decadence begin to appear. One master is
charged with retaining books not his own, another with using contumelious
language. Laxity in discipline and work is a subject of complaint in 1468.
Regents report that no students have gone through the course of study
necessary for the degree of bachelor. In I476 it is declared indispensable
that a candidate for the degree of master should have read all the
prescribed books. Several have failed to do so. In 1482 some have not taken
their master's degree at the proper time on account of the scarcity and
dearness of provisions. Masters are fined for non-attendance at
congregations. Alexander Erskyne, son of Lord Erskyne, took
the degree of bachelor with
great magnificence and expense (qui et gloriosissimum actum celebravit et
solvit ingentes expensas). It does not appear whether this is recorded for
blame or approval. A student not qualified according to the statutes is
admitted to his trials for the master's degree at the entreaty of certain
masters. No master in future is to prefer such a request on pain of a fine.
Some masters fail to lecture as required by the statutes, others disregard
the admonition of the Dean. In 1501 owing to the plague there was no lecture
during most of the year. Between 1509 and 1535 there is no entry in the
Munimenta. All this affords clear evidence of the relaxed efforts of a
moribund institution. This is probably the stage in its history on which Mr
Innes remarks "This was the state of things when we lose sight of the
university and its members in the storm that preceded the Reformation. Even
before that time the university seems to have fallen into decay. The words
of the Queen's letter in 1563 are scarcely to be accounted for by any sudden
or recent calamity. 'Forsamekil as within the citie of Glasgow ane college
and universitie was devisit to be had quhairin the youthe mycht be brocht up
in letres and knawlege, the commoune welth servit, and verteu incressit-of
the quhilk college ane parte of the sculis and chalmeris being bigeit, the
rest thereof, alsweill duellings as provisioune for the pouir bursouris and
maisteris to teche ceissit, sua that the samyn apperit rather to be the
decay of ane universitie nor ony wyse to be recknit ane establisst
foundatioun [Preface to Munimenta, p. xiv.]."'
Ten years after this the
building of the Paedagogium is said to be ruinous, and discipline extinct.
Mr Innes continues "But though thus fallen the studium generale still kept
up the skeleton of its constitution. The very last transactions recorded
before the Reformation show us the University met in full convocation in the
Chapter-House of the Cathedral, on its statutory day of the feast of St
Crispin and Crispinian - its four nations electing their `intrants' or
procurators-the four intrants electing the Rector of the university, and his
four deputies, the promotor or procurator and bursar-and members admitted to
the university as a defined and distinct body, and according to the ancient
constitution and practice: while the Faculty of Arts held its congregation
in the crypt, at the altar of St Nicholas, and there elected their Dean and
their examinators, and recorded the 'proceeding' of the year's students-now
sadly reduced in numbers-for their degrees [Preface to Munimenta, p. xv.]."
There were only three bachelors.
It seems warrantable to infer
from this that the Faculty of Arts had little in common with the rest of the
university. The former seems to have been the only part of the institution
that acquired property, and to have used it solely for its own purposes. The
relation in which they stood to each other is not clear. While the property
acquired belonged to the Faculty of Arts and was employed, among other
purposes, for the maintenance and repairs of the Paedagogium, we find in the
annals of the university a suggestion that the dilapidated condition of the
law schools should be put right, that unpaid rents should be recovered, and
certain expenses looked into, thus indicating an interest in transactions
more strictly within the province of the Faculty of Arts. We find also that
Elphinstone, afterwards Bishop of Aberdeen, was Dean of the Faculty of Arts
in 1471 and Rector of the university in 1474, which shows some connection
between the two portions of the institution. It is recorded in the annals of
the Faculty of Arts that a regent, Walter Bunche, was in 1478 dismissed for
incompetence, and in the annals of the university there is an entry in 1490
bearing that the regents in the Faculty of Arts are to be compelled to carry
out the provisions of the foundations of their chaplainries. It is probable
that the university as a body took the initiative in the first as it did in
the second case, but the independent action of the Faculty of Arts in other
respects makes it difficult to determine in what respect and to what extent
it was subordinate to the university as a body.
It cannot be claimed for
Glasgow University that for the first hundred years of its existence it had
a successful career. In the 15th century the Faculty of Arts was eminently
flourishing. A brave show was made on their feast days by processions of
masters, graduates and students through the streets carrying flowers before
adjourning to the banquet in their college, the Faculties of Theology and
Law being unrepresented. Before long there was evidence of decay. The
absence of endowments sufficient to secure the regular services of a body of
competent teachers and the indifference of a succession of Bishops and
Chancellors, whose leanings were ecclesiastical rather than academic,
produced a relaxation in the efforts of men of high ability and literary
eminence who, in other circumstances, could have done much to maintain the
reputation and promote the success of the university. She could however
point to some alumni of great distinction - Elphinstone, Knox, Spottiswood,
and Cardinal Beaton, and to at least one eminent teacher-John Major the
historian, and one literary man of note, Robert Henryson. Its marvellously
improved condition under the vigorous superintendence of Andrew Melville
will be dealt with in the second branch of our subject. |
