The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-11-07
A NEDIAEvAL UNIVERSITY.
Queer limitations Students Had to
60 Through With.

queer ln1ClaClOnS STUDENTS daQ co
60 Through With.
The Rev. Hastings Rashtal in The Magnet.
The mediaeval student was often
considerably younger than the modern
undergraduate. sometimes, indeed. a
| mere boy of twelve or fourteen. but
even when that was the case It Is
quite a mistake to compare his position
to that of the modern school bov
The medieval student was to re-
markable extent his own master. Ar
riving at the university town in a
carriers cart he would often be met
on the way by touting masters, or
scholars employed to tout on their
behalf, who solicited his presence at
their lectures with all the accommo-
dating obseuuiousness of a modern
tradesinan. He was free to choose the
lectures which he might attend, and
the hall in which he would reside; and
when he had chosen it he found him.
self--in the early middle ages--a men,
her OF a self-governing community
which elected its own principal, man.
aged its own affairs and was subject
to no regula tions except Statutes" OF
their own making. AS in the mediae-
val world generally there was much
minute regulation of private life,
though the government which enforced
that regulation was originally highly
democratic one. But it is q common
place to say that democracy Is often
tyrannical. Before the freshman, or
bejannus (from bes-jaune, kelley bill,
unfledged bird), could call himself a
student there was an initiation to be
gone through. He was made to 'pay
his footing" by entertaining his new
comrades--probably all the inhabit-
ants of his hall--at a feast, and, fur
ther. there was a painful ceremony of
some kind. which varied with the taste
and ingenuity Of different nationalitles.
In Germany he had to go through the
ceremony of eposition"-namely,
have the horns of the supposed fe-
rocious wild boars removed with a
saw, have his nose ground at a whet-
stone and generally be drubbed and
licked into shape. In France the cere-
mony was "purgatio." The freshman
was supposed to be not beast to be
tanned, but a criminal to be solemn1v
tried for the offense of "bejannia." J"
This was done by the infiction of a
certain number of blows with a sauce
pan or book Qibro super anum). Else
where we hear of a ducking or wash
ing, or riding through the streets on a
donkey. At Oxford there was tuck
Ing" The victim had to sing or make
a speech in the hall under pain of
being "tucked''-i. e., having his lower
lip cut over with a thumb nail care.
fully grown for the purpose. At first
the initiation was put down under all
sorts of penalties by university and
ecclesiastical authorities: then (as is
usual with bad customs) winked at,
and finally enforced. 1t did not become
enteenth century.
In the universities of Italy and to
some extent of southern Europe gen.
erally-the student was not only inde-
pendent: he was dominant. In these
universities, of which Bologna is the
type, the university itself was formed
by the students. They and they alone
formed the universities--the corpora
tion, or guild-or rather (since the stu
dents of different faculties had separ-
ate organizations, while the law stu
dents were divided into ultramontani
and citramontanD the universitates
The masters We're not even members
of these guilds; they formed college
Of their own. which regulated admis-
sion to the degrees, but they had no
authority over the student guilds. The
students elected the reutors and other
officials, made the statutes and (very
often) elected the professors or doctors
The latter were compelled to take ar
oath of obedience to the student rec
tors and to the student statutes. and
the discipline thus enforced was by no
means a nominal one.
The professor who required leave of
absence for a single lecture was re-
nuired to get leave from his own STU
dents as we'll as from the rector. He
was heavily finsd if he was d minute
late in beginning his lecture or If he
continued it after the bell began which
was the signal for its conclusion. To
enforce this latter regulation the siu-
dents were required. on pain OF being
guilty OF perjury to run out and leave
the professor to address his remarks
to empty benches. There We're similar
fines for being behind time in con-
cluding the portion of the task for
WHICH IL IlAeu peTlou Iluu Deen assigned,
for skipping difficulty under preteXt
of dealing with 1t later on and for
Noncompliance with many other mi
mute regulations. In some universi-
ties committee of students known
as the denunciatores doctorum was
appointed to watch the conduct of the
professors and to keep the rector's in
formed of their delinouencies. More
over. the professor was kept to the
mark by being subject to annual or
biennial reelection. How did all this
work? As far as We can gather. ex-
tremely well.
The professors of the southern uni
versities, everywhere elected either
by the students themselves or by the
city authorities, who We're wont to
take counsel with the representatives
of the students We're the only profess
sors who did not habitually cut their
work by devolving it upon their bach
elors. No doubt there We're plenty of
idle or sham students in the universi-
ties, but the majority wanted to learn.
We have an instance of an action being
brought against professor for refus-
Ing to lecture. But then 1t must be
that in those days ath-
leticism was unknown. The election of
a rector by the students in the Scotch
which, strange to say, was
To some extent an imitation of Bo-