Prev | Current Page 251 | Next

Jessopp, Augustus, 1823-1914

"The Coming of the Friars"

The degree was in fact merely a license to
teach; the teacher so licensed became a member of the ruling body.
* * * * * * *
We have arrived at this point--we find ourselves at the beginning of
the thirteenth century face to face with a _University_ at
Cambridge, a University which, existing originally in its inchoate
condition of an association vaguely aiming at the improvement of the
methods of education and the encouragement of scholars, had gradually
grown into a recognized and powerful body, with direct influence and
control over its members; a body, too, which had become so identified
with the interests of culture and research that a change had already
begun in the generally received acceptation of its name, and already
the word "university" had begun to be restricted to such a
_Universitas_ as was identified with the life and pursuits of
learning and learned men. This means that, _pari passu_ with its
increase in power, the University had grown too, in the number of its
members--the teachers and the taught. The time had arrived when the
demands of professors and students for adequate accommodation would
become pressing. Lecturers with popular gifts would expect a hall
capable of holding their audiences. Public disputations could not be
held in a corner.


Pages:
239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263