University of Paris
The historic University of Paris (French: Université de Paris) first appeared in the second half of the 12th century, but was in 1970 reorganised as 13 autonomous universities (University of Paris I–XIII). The university is often referred to as the Sorbonne or La Sorbonne after the collegiate institution (Collège de Sorbonne) founded about 1257 by Robert de Sorbon, but the university as such was older and was never completely centred on the Sorbonne. Of the thirteen current successor universities, the first four have a presence in the historical Sorbonne building, and three include "Sorbonne" in their names.
While the universities are now essentially independent of each other, and some fall under the Académie of Paris while others fall under the Académie of Versailles, some residual administrative functions of the thirteen universities are formally supervised by a common chancellor, the Rector of the Académie of Paris, with offices in the Sorbonne. As of 2006, the Rector of the Academy of Paris and Chancellor of the Universities of Paris is Maurice Quénet. The Vice-Chancellor of the Universities of Paris is Pierre Gregory. [1] [2]. Despite this link, and the historical ties, there is no University of Paris system that binds the universities at an academic level.
Origin and early organisation
Similarly to the other early medieval universities (University of Bologna, University of Oxford), but unlike later ones (such as the University of Prague or the University of Heidelberg), the University of Paris was only later established through a specific foundation act by a royal charter or papal bull. It grew up in the latter part of the 12th century around the Notre Dame Cathedral as a corporation similar to other medieval corporations, such as guilds of merchants or artisans. The medieval Latin term universitas actually had the more general meaning of a guild, and the university of Paris was known as a universitas magistrorum et scholarium (a guild of masters and scholars).
The university had four Faculties: Arts, Medicine, Law, and Theology. The Faculty of Arts was the lowest in rank, but also the largest as students had to graduate there to be admitted to one of the higher faculties. The students there were divided into four nationes according to language or regional origin, those of France, Normandy, Picard, and England, the last one of which later came to be known as the Alemannian (German) nation. Recruitment to each nation was wider than the names might imply: the English-German nation in fact included students from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.
The faculty and nation system of the University of Paris (along with that of the University of Bologna) became the model for all later medieval universities.
The original schools
Three schools were especially famous at Paris, the palatine or palace school, the school of Notre-Dame, and that of Sainte-Geneviève. The decline of royalty inevitably brought about the decline of the first. The other two, which were very old, like those of the cathedrals and the abbeys, are only faintly outlined during the early centuries of their existence. The glory of the palatine school doubtless eclipsed theirs, until in the course of time it completely gave way to them. These two centres were much frequented and many of their masters were esteemed for their learning.
The first renowned professor at the school of Ste-Geneviève was Hubold, who lived in the tenth century. Not content with the courses at Liège, he continued his studies at Paris, entered or allied himself with the chapter of Ste-Geneviève, and attracted many pupils via his teaching. Distinguished professors from the school of Notre-Dame in the eleventh century include Lambert, disciple of Filbert of Chartres; Drogo of Paris; Manegold of Germany; Anselm of Laon. These two schools attracted scholars from every country and produced many illustrious men, among whom were: St. Stanislaus of Szczepanów, Bishop of Kraków; Gebbard, Archbishop of Salzburg; St. Stephen, third Abbot of Cîteaux; Robert d'Arbrissel, founder of the Abbey of Fontevrault etc. Three other men who added new splendor to the schools of Notre-Dame and Ste-Geneviève were William of Champeaux, Abelard, and Peter Lombard.
The honour of having formed similar pupils is indiscriminately ascribed to Notre-Dame and to Ste-Geneviève, as Claude du Molinet has justly remarked (Bibl. Sainte-Geneviève, MS.H. fr. 21, in fol., p. 576).
Humanistic instruction comprised grammar, rhetoric, dialectics, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy (trivium and quadrivium). To the higher instruction belonged dogmatic and moral theology, whose source was the Scriptures and the Fathers, and which was completed by the study of Canon law.
The school of St-Victor then arose to rival those of Notre-Dame and Ste-Geneviève, founded by William of Champeaux when he withdrew to the Abbey of St-Victor. Its most famous professors are Hugh of St-Victor and Richard of St-Victor.
The plan of studies expanded in the schools of Paris, as it did elsewhere. A Bolognese compendium of canon law called the "Decretum Gratiani" brought about a division of the theology department. Hitherto the discipline of the Church had not been separate from so-called theology; they were studied together under the same professor. But this vast collection necessitated a special course, which was naturally undertaken first at Bologna, where Roman law was taught. In France, first Orléans and then Paris erected chairs of canon law. Before the end of the twelfth century, the Decretals of Gerard (or Girard) La Pucelle, Mathieu d'Angers, and Anselm (or Anselle) of Paris, were added to the Decretum Gratiani. However, civil law was not included at Paris.
In the course of the twelfth century, medicine also began to be publicly taught at Paris: the first professor of medicine in Paris records is Hugo, "physicus excellens qui quadrivium docuit."
Two things were necessary to be a professor: knowledge and appointment. Knowledge was proved by examination, the appointment came from the examiner himself, who was the head of the school, and was known as scholasticus, capiscol, and eventually as "chancellor." This was called the licence or faculty to teach. The licence had to be granted freely. No one could teach without it; on the other hand, it could not be refused when the applicant deserved it.
The School of St-Victor, which shared the obligations as well as the immunities of the abbey, conferred the licence in its own right; the school of Notre-Dame depended on the diocese, that of Ste-Geneviève on the abbey or chapter. The diocese and the abbey or chapter, through their chancellor, gave professorial investiture in their respective territories where they had jurisdiction.
Besides Notre-Dame, Ste-Geneviève, and St-Victor, there were several schools on the "Island" and on the "Mount." "Whoever," says Crevier "had the right to teach might open a school where he pleased, provided it was not in the vicinity of a principal school." Thus a certain Adam, who was of English origin, kept his "near the Petit Pont"; another Adam, Parisian by birth, "taught at the Grand Pont which is called the Pont-au-Change" (Hist. de l'Univers. de Paris, I, 272).
The number of students in the school of the capital grew constantly, so that eventually the lodgings were insufficient. French students included princes of the blood, sons of the nobility, and the most distinguished youths of the kingdom. The courses at Paris were considered so necessary as a completion of studies that many foreigners flocked to them. Popes Celestine II, Adrian IV and Innocent III studied at Paris, and Alexander III sent his nephews there. Illustrious German and British students included Otto of Freisingen, Cardinal Conrad, Archbishop of Mainz, St. Thomas of Canterbury, and John of Salisbury; while Ste-Geneviève became practically the seminary for Denmark. The chroniclers of the time call Paris the city of letters par excellence, placing it above Athens, Alexandria, Rome, and other cities: "At that time," we read in the "Chroniques de St-Denis," "there flourished at Paris philosophy and all branches of learning, and there the seven arts were studied and held in such esteem as they never were at Athens, Egypt, Rome, or elsewhere in the world" ("Les gestes de Philippe-Auguste"). Poets said the same thing in their verses, and they compared it to all that was greatest, noblest, and most valuable in the world.
Soon, the university required greater organization to maintain order among the students and define the relations of the professors. First, the professors formed an association, for according to Matthew Paris, John of Celles, twenty-first Abbot of St Albans, England, was admitted as a member of the teaching corps of Paris after he had followed the courses (Vita Joannis I, XXI, abbat. S. Alban). The masters as well as the students were divided according to national origin, for as the same historian states, Henry II, King of England, in his difficulties with St. Thomas of Canterbury, wished to submit his cause to a tribunal composed of professors of Paris, chosen from various provinces (Hist. major, Henry II, to end of 1169). This was probably the beginnings of that division according to "nations" which was later to play an important part in the university. After a decision made by Celestine III, both professors and students had the privilege of being amenable only to the ecclesiastical courts, not to civil courts. Other decisions dispensed them from residence in case they possessed benefices and permitted them to receive their revenues.
The three schools of Notre-Dame, Ste-Geneviève, and St-Victor may be regarded as the triple cradle of the Universitas scholarium, which included masters and students; hence the name University. Heinrich Denifle and some others hold that this honour is exclusive to the school of Notre-Dame (Chartularium Universitatis Parisiensis), but the reasons do not seem convincing. He excludes St-Victor because, at the request of the abbot and the religious of St-Victor, Gregory IX in 1237 authorized them to resume the interrupted teaching of theology. But the university was in large part founded about 1208, as is shown by a Bull of Innocent III. Consequently the schools of St-Victor might well have furnished their contingent towards its formation. Secondly, Denifle excludes the schools of Ste-Geneviève because there had been no interruption in the teaching of the liberal arts. Now this is far from proved, and moreover, it seems incontestable that theology also had never ceased to be taught, which is sufficient for our point. Besides, the chancellor of Ste-Geneviève continued to give degrees in arts, something he would have ceased to have done when the university was organized if his abbey had no share in its organization. And while the name Universitas scholarium is quite intelligible on the basis of the common opinion, it is incompatible with the recent (Denifle's) view, according to which there would have been schools outside the university.
Organization in the thirteenth century
In 1200, King Philip II issued a diploma "for the security of the scholars of Paris" that made the students subject only to ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The provost and other officers were forbidden to arrest a student for any offence, unless this was done to hand over the culprit to ecclesiastical authority, for in the event of grave crime royal justice was limited to taking cognizance of the procedure and the verdict. The king's officers could never lay hands on the head of the schools or even on a simple region unless they had a mandate from an ecclesiastical authority. This action was motivated at least in part by a violent incident between students and officers outside the city walls at a pub.
In 1215, the statues of the Apostolic legate, Robert de Courçon, dealt with three principal points regarding the moral and intellectual part of university instruction: the conditions of the professorate, the matter to be treated, and the granting of the license. To teach the arts it was necessary to have reached the age of twenty-one, after having studied these arts at least six years, and to take an engagement as professor for at least two years. For a chair in theology the candidate had to be thirty years of age with eight years of theological studies, of which the last three years were devoted to special courses of lectures in preparation for the mastership. These studies had to be made in the local schools and under the direction of a master, for at Paris one was not regarded as a scholar unless he had a particular master. Lastly, purity of morals was as important as reading. Priscian's "Grammar," Aristotle's "Dialectics," mathematics, astronomy, music, certain books of rhetoric and philosophy were the subjects taught in the arts course; to these might be added the Ethics of the Stagyrite and the fourth book of the Topics. But it was forbidden to read the books of Aristotle on Metaphysics and Physics, or abbreviations of them. The licence was granted, according to custom, gratuitously, without oath or condition. Masters and students were permitted to unite, even by oath, in defence of their rights, when they could not otherwise obtain justice in serious matters. No mention is made either of law or of medicine, probably because these sciences were less prominent.
In 1229, a denial of justice by the queen led to suspension of the courses (see University of Paris strike of 1229). The pope intervened with a Bull that began with lavish praise of the university: "Paris," said Gregory IX, "mother of the sciences, is another Cariath-Sepher, city of letters." He compared it to a laboratory in which wisdom tested the metals which she found there, gold and silver to adorn the Spouse of Jesus Christ, iron to fashion the spiritual sword which should smite the inimical powers. He commissioned the Bishops of Le Mans and Senlis and the Archdeacon of Châlons to negotiate with the French Court for the restoration of the university. The year 1230 came to an end without any result, and Gregory IX took the matter directly in hand by a Bull of 1231 addressed to the masters and scholars of Paris. Not content with settling the dispute and giving guarantees for the future, he empowered the university to frame statutes concerning the discipline of the schools, the method of instruction, the defence of theses, the costume of the professors, and the obsequies of masters and students (expanding upon Robert de Courçon's statutes). Most importantly, the pope recognized in the university or granted it the right to suspend its courses, if justice were denied it, until it should receive full satisfaction.
In the schools of Paris, the general rule was that the granting of licence was gratuitous and instruction was also free. However, it was often necessary to depart from the rule. Thus the pope authorized Pierre Le Mangeur to levy a moderate fee for the conferring of the licence. Similar fees were exacted for the first degree in arts and letters, and the scholars were taxed two sous weekly, to be deposited in the common fund.
The Rector
The university was organized as follows: at the head of the teaching body was a rector. The office was elective and of short duration; at first it was limited to four or six weeks. Simon de Brion, legate of the Holy See in France, realizing that such frequent changes caused serious inconvenience, decided that the rectorate should last three months, and this rule was observed for three years. Then the term was lengthened to one, two, and sometimes three years. The right of election belonged to the procurators of the four nations.
The four nations
The "Nations" appeared in the second half of the twelfth century; they were mentioned in the Bull of Honorius III in 1222 and in that of Gregory IX in 1231; later they formed a distinct body. In 1249 the four nations existed with their procurators, their rights (more or less well-defined), and their keen rivalries; and in 1254, in the heat of the controversy between the university and the mendicant orders, a letter was addressed to the pope bearing the seals of the four nations. These were the French, English, Normans, and Picards. After the Hundred Years' War the English nation was replaced by the Germanic or German. The four nations constituted the faculty of arts or letters. The expression "faculty," though of ancient usage, did not mean what it does in modern American English; instead, it indicated a division by subject within the university (as it still does in British English). In a Bull of Gregory IX the word is used to designate the professional body, and it may have had the same meaning in a university Act of 1221 (cf. "Hist. Universitatis Parisiensis," III, 106).
Faculties
To classify professors' knowledge, the schools of Paris divided into faculties. These arose gradually and consequently no precise account of their origin can be given. Professors of the same science were brought into closer contact until the community of rights and interests cemented the union and made them distinct groups, which at the same time remained integral parts of the teaching body. The faculty of medicine seems to have been the last to form. But the four faculties were already formally designated in a letter addressed in Feb., 1254, by the university to the prelates of Christendom, wherein mention is made of "theology, jurisprudence, medicine, and rational, natural, and moral philosophy." In the celebrated Bull "Quasi Lignum" (April, 1255), Pope Alexander IV speaks of "the faculties of theology" of other "faculties," namely those of canonists, physicians, and artists. The masters of theology often set the example for the other faculties, e.g. they were the first to adopt an official seal.
The faculties of theology, or canon law, and medicine, were called "superior faculties." The title of "Dean" as designating the head of a faculty, was not in use until the second half of the thirteenth century. This habit seems to have started in the faculties of decretals and medicine, followed by the faculty of theology, for in authentic acts of 1268 we read of the deans of decretals and medicine, while the dean of theology is not mentioned until 1296. It seems that at first the deans were the oldest masters. The faculty of arts continued to have four procurators of its four nations and its head was the rector. As the faculties became more fully organized, the division into four nations partially disappeared for theology, decretals and medicine, though it continued in arts. Eventually the superior faculties were to include only doctors, leaving the bachelors to the nations. At this period, therefore, the university had two principal degrees, the baccalaureate and the doctorate. It was not until much later that the licentiate, while retaining its early character, became an intermediate degree: Besides, the university numbered among its members beadles and messengers, who also performed the duties of clerks.
Colleges
The scattered condition of the scholars in Paris often made lodging difficult. Some students rented rooms from townspeople, who often exacted high rates while the students demanded lower. This tension between scholars and citizens would have developed into a sort of civil war if Robert de Courçon had not found the remedy of taxation. It was upheld in the Bull of Gregory IX of 1231, but with an important modification: its exercise was to be shared with the citizens. The aim was to offer the students a shelter where they would fear neither annoyance from the owners nor the dangers of the world. Thus were founded the colleges (colligere, to assemble); these were not usually centers of instruction, but simple student boarding-houses. Each had a special object, being established for students of the same nationality or the same science. They also enabled students to use their time more wisely, under the guidance sometimes of resident masters and out of the way of dissipation.
Four colleges appeared in the twelfth century; they became more numerous in the thirteenth, including Collège d'Harcourt (1280) and the Collège de Sorbonne (1257). Thus the University of Paris, which in general was the model for other universities, assumed its basic form. It was composed of seven groups, the four nations of the faculty of arts, and the three superior faculties of theology, law, and medicine. Ecclesiastical dignities, even abroad, seemed reserved for the masters and students of Paris. This preference became a general rule, and eventually a right, that of eligibility to benefices. Church officials lavishly praised the university: St. Louis, in the diploma which he granted to the Carthusians for their establishment near Paris, speaks of this city, where "flow the most abundant waters of wholesome doctrine, so that they become a great river which after refreshing the city itself irrigates the Universal Church." Clement IV uses a no less charming comparison: "the noble and renowned city, the city which is the source of learning and sheds over the world a light which seems an image of the celestial splendour; those who are taught there shine brilliantly, and those who teach there will shine with the stars for all eternity" (cf. César-Egasse du Boulay, "Hist. Univers. Paris," III, 360-71).
Besides the famous Collège de Sorbonne, other collegia provided housing and meals to students, sometimes for those of the same geographical origin in a more restricted sense than that represented by the nations. There were 8 or 9 collegia for foreign students: the oldest one was the Danish college, the Collegium danicum or dacicum, founded in 1257. Swedish students could, during the 13 and 14th centuries, live in one of three Swedish colleges, the Collegium Upsaliense, the Collegium Scarense or the Collegium Lincopense, named after the Swedish dioceses of Uppsala, Skara and Linköping, the cathedral schools of which the scholars had presumably attended before travelling to Paris. The German College, Collegium alemanicum is mentioned as early as 1345, the Scottish college or Collegium scoticum was founded in 1325. The Lombard college or Collegium lombardicum was founded in the 1330s. The Collegium constantinopolitanum was, according to a tradition, founded in the 13th century to facilitate a merging of the eastern and western churches. It was later reorganized as a French institution, the Collège de la Marche-Winville. The Collège de Montaigu was founded by the Archbishop of Rouen in the 14th century, and reformed in the 15th century by the humanist Jan Standonck, when it attracted reformers from within the Roman Catholic Church (such as Erasmus and Loyola) and those who subsequently became Protestants (John Calvin and John Knox).
Later history
In the fifteenth century, Guillaume d'Estouteville, a cardinal and Apostolic legate, carried out a project to reform the university, correcting its abuses and introducing various needed modifications. This reform was less an innovation than a recall to the better observance of the old rules, as was the reform of 1600, undertaken by the royal government, with regard to the three superior faculties. However, as to the faculty of arts, the reform of 1600 introduced the study of Greek, of the French poets and orators, and of additional classical figures like Hesiod, Plato, Demosthenes, Cicero, Virgil, and Sallust. The prohibition to teach civil law was never well observed at Paris, but in 1679 Louis XIV authorized the teaching of civil law in the faculty of decretals. Thus, the name "faculty of law" replaced that of "faculty of decretals." The colleges meantime had multiplied; those of Cardinal Le-Moine and Navarre were founded in the fourteenth century. The Hundred Years' War was fatal to these establishments, but the university set about remedying the injury.
Remarkable for its teaching, the University of Paris played an important part: in the Church, during the Great Schism; in the councils, in dealing with heresies and deplorable divisions; in the State, during national crises; and though under the domination of England it dishonoured itself in the trial of Joan of Arc, it rehabilitated itself by rehabilitating Joan. Proud of its rights and privileges, it fought energetically to maintain them, hence the long struggle against the mendicant orders on academic as well as on religious grounds. Hence also the shorter conflict against the Jesuits, who claimed by word and action a share in its teaching. It made liberal use of its right to decide administratively according to occasion and necessity. In some instances it openly endorsed the censures of the faculty of theology and pronounced condemnation in its own name, as in the case of the Flagellants.
Its patriotism was especially manifested on two occasions. During the captivity of King John, when Paris was given over to factions, the university sought to restore peace; and under Louis XIV, when the Spaniards crossed the Somme and threatened the capital, it placed two hundred men at the king's disposal and offered the Master of Arts degree gratuitously to scholars who should present certificates of service in the army (Jourdain, Hist. de l'Univers. de Paris au XVIIe et XVIIIe siècle, 132-34; Archiv. du ministère de l'instruction publique).
Suppression of the colleges and establishment of the University of France
The ancient university disappeared with ancient France under the Revolution. On 15 Sept., 1793, petitioned by the Department of Paris and several departmental groups, the National Convention decided that independently of the primary schools, "there should be established in the Republic three progressive degrees of instruction; the first for the knowledge indispensable to artisans and workmen of all kinds; the second for further knowledge necessary to those intending to embrace the other professions of society; and the third for those branches of instruction the study of which is not within the reach of all men." Measures were to be taken immediately: "For means of execution the department and the municipality of Paris are authorized to consult with the Committee of Public Instruction of the National Convention, in order that these establishments shall be put in action by 1 November next, and consequently colleges now in operation and the faculties of theology, medicine, arts, and law are suppressed throughout the Republic." This was the death-sentence of the university. It was not to be restored after the Revolution had subsided, any more than those of the provinces. All were replaced by a single centre, the University of France. After a century (in 1896), people recognized that the new system was less favourable to study and restored the old system, but without the faculty of theology.
Student revolt and reorganisation
In 1968 it was the starting point of the cultural revolution commonly known as "the French May" (see also Situationist International), resulting in the closing of the university for only the third time in history (the first one in 1229 and the second having been the invasion by the German army of 1940).
The University of Paris has since been reorganised into several autonomous universities and schools, some of which still carry the Sorbonne name. The historical campus, located in the Quartier Latin, in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, featuring mural paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, was split for use between several of the universities of Paris and the Rector's services.
La Sorbonne was occupied again in March 2006 as part of country-wide protests against the introduction of the CPE (first employment contract).
Present universities
The present thirteen successor universities to the University of Paris are:
| I | Panthéon-Sorbonne | Website |
| II | Panthéon-Assas | Website |
| III | Sorbonne Nouvelle | Website |
| IV | Paris-Sorbonne | Website |
| V | René Descartes | Website |
| VI | Pierre & Marie Curie | Website |
| VII | Denis Diderot | Website |
| VIII | Vincennes–Saint-Denis | Website |
| IX | Dauphine | Website |
| X | Nanterre | Website |
| XI | Paris-Sud | Website |
| XII | Val-de-Marne | Website |
| XIII | Paris-Nord | Website |
(Paris IX's long name is Université de technologie en sciences des organisations et de la décision de Paris-Dauphine.)
Today, two of these universities, Paris X and Paris XII, fall under the Academy of Versailles, where they are joined by the University of Cergy-Pontoise; the University of Versailles, Saint Quentin en Yvelines; and the University of Evry - Val d'Essonne. The other eleven, along with the University of Marne la Vallee, fall under the Academy of Paris.
See also
- University of Paris strike of 1229
- University of Paris (Condemnations)
- List of University of Paris people
- List of public universities in France by academy
- École normale supérieure
- Nobel Prize Ranking
Further reading
- André Tuilier: Histoire de l'Université de Paris et de la Sorbonne ("History of the University of Paris and of the Sorbonne"), in 2 volumes (From the Origins to Richelieu, From Louis XIV to the Crisis of 1968), Paris: Nouvelle Librairie de France, 1997 ;
- Jean-Louis Leutrat: De l'Université aux Universités ("From the University to the Universities"), Paris: Association des Universités de Paris, 1997
- Philippe Rive: La Sorbonne et sa reconstruction ("The Sorbonne and its Reconstruction"), Lyon: La Manufacture, 1987
- Jacques Verger: Histoire des Universités en France ("History of French Universities"), Toulouse: Editions Privat, 1986
The name Sorbonne (La Sorbonne) is commonly used to refer to the historic University of Paris in Paris, France or one of its successor institutions (see below), but this is a recent usage, and "Sorbonne" has actually been used with different meanings over the centuries.
For information on the historic University of Paris, its successor institutions (of which the University of Paris I: Panthéon-Sorbonne, the University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle, and the University of Paris IV: Paris-Sorbonne are relevant in this context) or the Collège de Sorbonne, please refer to those articles.
The Collège de Sorbonne
The name is derived from the Collège de Sorbonne, founded in 1257 by Robert de Sorbon as one of the first significant colleges of the medieval University of Paris; the university as such predates the college by about a century, and minor colleges had been founded already in the late 12th century. The Collège de Sorbonne was suppressed during the French revolution, reopened by Napoleon in 1808 and finally closed in 1882. This was only one of the many colleges of the University of Paris that existed until the French revolution. Hastings Rashdall, in The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages (1895), which is still a standard reference on the topic, lists some 70 colleges of the university from the Middle Ages alone; some of these were short-lived and disappeared already before the end of the medieval period, but others were founded in the Early modern period, like the Collège des Quatre-Nations.
The Paris Faculty of Theology
With time the college, although only one of many colleges of the university, came to be the centre of theological studies and "Sorbonne" was frequently used as a synonym for the Paris Faculty of Theology.
The entire University of Paris
During the later part of the 19th century, the buildings of the Collège de Sorbonne were re-used for the Faculties of Sciences and Letters of what was at the time known as the Academy of Paris, the name used for the faculties of the former University of Paris within the centralized structure known as the University of France, created in 1808 but dissolved into its constituent universities again in 1896. As a result of this, "Sorbonne" became a colloquial term for the entire University of Paris.
The use of Sorbonne for the Faculty of Theology is the usage still noted in the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) and the Catholic Encyclopedia from 1913, neither of which yet indicate that the word could stand for the university as a whole. Even though neither of these early 20th century English-language encyclopedias is likely to have been up-to-date with current French usage, it still shows that this was an innovation and not yet widely spread.
The successor institutions
After the historic university in 1970 was divided into thirteen different universities, three of these successor institutions include Sorbonne in their names: University of Paris I: Panthéon-Sorbonne, University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle, and University of Paris IV: Paris-Sorbonne. The thirteen universities still stand under a common rectorate with offices in the Sorbonne.
- This article is about the Collège de Sorbonne. For other uses of the name, see Sorbonne.
The Collège de Sorbonne was a theological college of the University of Paris, founded in 1257 by Robert de Sorbon, after whom it is named. With the rest of the Paris colleges, it was suppressed during the revolution. It was restored in 1808 but finally closed in 1882. The name Sorbonne eventually became synonymous with the parisian Faculty of Theology, and in more recent time came to be used in reference to the entire university. It is the name of its main campus in the Ve arrondissement of Paris, which now houses several universities (heirs to the former University of Paris) as well as the Paris rectorate.
The College was originally created for the use of 20 theology students in 1257 as Collège de Sorbonne by Robert de Sorbon (1201-1274), a chaplain and confessor to King Louis IX of France. It quickly built a prodigious reputation as a center for learning, and by the 13th century there were as many as twenty thousand foreign students resident in the city, making Paris the capital of knowledge of the Western world. Today, foreign students still make up a significant part of its campus.
The Sorbonne became the most distinguished theological institution in France and its doctors were frequently called upon to render opinions on important ecclesiastical and theological issues. In 1622-1626, Cardinal Richelieu renovated the Sorbonne (the present buildings date from this time, with restorations dating from 1885). In his honour, the chapel of the Sorbonne was added in 1637. When Richelieu died in 1642 he was placed in a tomb within this chapel.
The faculty's close association with the Church resulted in it being closed down during the French Revolution before it was reopened by Napoleon in 1808 to serve as part of the University of Paris. Between then and 1885 the Sorbonne served as the seat of the university's theology faculties and of the Académie de Paris. At the end of the 19th century, the Sorbonne became an entirely secular institution.
Foundation
Robert de Sorbon was a native of Le Réthelois, a distinguished professor and famous preacher who lived from 1201 till 1274. Sorbon found that there was a defect in the primitive organization of the University of Paris. The two principal mendicant orders—the Dominicans and the Franciscans—had each at Paris a college and delivered lectures at which extern students might attend without fee. In order that the university, which was already engaged in a struggle with the religious, might offer the same advantages, Robert de Sorbon decided that it also should provide gratuitous instruction and that this should be given by a society of professors following, except as regards the matter of vows, the rules of the cenobitic life. This important work was rendered possible by the high esteem in-which Robert was held at Paris, together with his brilliant parts, his great generosity, and the assistance of his friends. The foundation dates from the year 1257 or the beginning of 1258. Nor was the aid he received merely pecuniary; Guillaume de Saint-Amour, Gérard d'Abbeville, Henry of Ghent, Guillaume des Grez, Odo or Eudes of Douai, Chrétien de Beauvais, Gérard de Reims, Nicolas de Bar are but a few of the most illustrious names inseparably connected either with the first chairs in the Sorbonne, or with the first association that constituted it. These savants were already attached to the university staff.
Organisation
The constitution of the society as conceived by Robert was quite simple: an administrator (provisor), associates (socii), and guests (hospites). The provisor was the head; nothing could be done without consulting him; he installed the members selected by the society, and confirmed the statutes drawn up by it; in a word, as his title signifies, he had to provide for everything. The associates formed the body of the society. To be admitted to it, the candidate was required to have taught a course of philosophy. There were two kinds of associates, the bursaires and the pensionnaires. The latter paid forty (Paris) pounds a year, the former were provided for by the house, which expended a like sum from its revenues. The burse could be granted only to persons not having an income of forty (Paris) pounds. There was a primus inter pares, the prior, who presided over all internal affairs of the house. Doctors and bachelors were alike eligible, but, owing to the number of the latter, the custom rapidly grew up of selecting only bachelors. Other persons were candidates for admission to the society rather than members of it. From the material and intellectual point of view they enjoyed the same privileges as the members: board, lodging, books, spiritual and scholastic exercises but, they had no votes. When they had fulfilled the condition of teaching philosophy, they were admissible as members. The course of studies lasted ten years, during which time their burses continued; but, if at the end of ten years, they had not given proof of their ability, either as teachers or as preachers, their burse was vacated.
History
The ordinary lectures were public, and consequently were attended by students who belonged to neither of the divisions of the society. The doctors and bachelors were authorized to give shelter to other poor pupils. Besides the work of the classroom, there was the duty of preaching or labouring in the parishes. In preparation for this, the associates, on certain days, had to deliver sermons or conferences (collationes) in presence of the community. The purely spiritual side was not forgotten. Conferences, usually delivered by the prior, on this important part of the Christian and priestly life were given, if not exclusively, at least specially, to the interns. For twenty years the ability of the administrator, or provisor, corresponded to the foreseeing devotedness of the founder. This lapse of time showed the wisdom of the regulations and administrative measures, which Robert had adopted, after taking the best possible advice, and which he laid down in thirty-eight articles. This rule was directed towards the maintaining of common life, from silence in the refectory, which was not very strict, to simplicity of the authorized dress. As soon as circumstances permitted, Robert (about 1271) added to the theological college a literary college: this was the Collège de Calvi or the "little Sorbonne."
Fruit of deep thought and personal experience, the constitution given by Robert de Sorbon to his college received the consecration of time, for it lasted throughout centuries. If Héméré saw in the project the conception of a powerful intellect, "Hoc primus in lyeaco Parisiensi vidit Robertus," its realization was surely a work of genius. That this was so appears from the fact that, while Robert united in his work whatever good he found in the university, his college when completed served as a model to the others. It is unnecessary to dwell on each word of the original title, for some persons rather enigmatical, of the society. The expression "Pauvres maîtres étudiants en théologie" seems to emphasize the two primary or essential characteristics of the society: equality in poverty, an equality so perfect between masters and pupils that it designated them by a common name; the poverty of the pupils, since most of them were bursaires; the poverty of the masters, since, content with what was strictly necessary, they renounced all other professional remuneration. This equality was always maintained with scrupulous care; the Sorbon repeated as an axiom, "Omnes nos sumus socii et quales," and referred to the college as "pauperem Nostram Sorbonem."
From the outset the college enjoyed the favour of the Holy See. Pope Alexander IV (1259) urged the French bishops to support it, Urban IV (1262) recommended it to the goodwill of the whole Christian world, and Clement IV (1268) granted it papal approbation. Wealthy benefactors provided it with ample endowment. A high Standard of scholarship was maintained and the severity of the "actus Sorbonnicus," or examination for degrees, including the defence of the "thesis Robertina," became proverbial. The professorial corps was highly respected, and from all parts of Europe different theological and even political questions were sent to it for solution. As the other teachers of theology in the university became members of the Sorbonne, its staff, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, was practically identical with the university faculty. Robert de Sorbon had realized the necessity of a library and had taken measures to supply one. This increased rapidly, owing chiefly to numerous gifts. In 1470 the Sorbonne introduced the art of printing into France by calling to Paris three of Gutenberg's associates, Gering, Friburger, and Crantz. Among its principal patrons and benefactors was Cardinal Richelieu, who held for a time the office of provisor and who, in 1635, laid the cornerstone of an edifice to be built at his expense for the use of the college. He was buried in the church of the Sorbonne, where his tomb is still preserved.
The doctors of the college were loyal defenders of the Catholic faith against the inroads of Protestantism and against the Enlightenment.
On the other hand they gave their support to Gallicanism and obliged their members to subscribe the "four articles." This attitude naturally weakened the prestige of the Sorbonne as a theological school, and obliged ecclesiastical students to seek their education in the seminaries. The Sorbonne itself was suppressed by decree of 5 April, 1792, but was restored by Napoleon in 1808 as the theological faculty of the newly organized university. It did not, however, regain its former standing or influence, though it continued in existence until 1882, when it was finally suppressed. In 1884 the construction of the present building was begun and it was completed in 1889. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was occupied by the various departments of letters and science which formed the "École des Hautes Etudes."
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