Studium Generale - Definition

Definition

There is no clear official definition of what constituted a Studium generale. The term Studium generale first appeared at the beginning of the 13th C., out of customary usage, and simply meant a place where students from everywhere were welcome (not merely those of the local district or region).

In the course of the 13th C., the term gradually acquired a more precise (but still unofficial) meaning as a place that (1) received students from all places, (2) that it taught not only the Arts, but had at least one of the higher faculties (that is, Theology, Law or Medicine) and (3) that a significant part of the teaching was done by Masters.

A fourth criterion slowly appeared, namely that a Master who had taught and was registered in the Guild of Masters of a Studium Generale was entitled to teach in any other Studium without further examination. This privilege, known as jus ubique docendi, was, by custom, reserved only to the Masters of the three oldest universities—Salerno, Bologna and Paris. Their reputation was so great that its graduates and teachers were welcome to teach in all other Studia, but themselves accepted no outside teachers without an examination.

This lock by was picked by Pope Gregory IX, who seeking to elevate the prestige of the papal-sponsored University of Toulouse which he had founded in 1229, issued a bull in 1233 automatically authorizing Masters of Toulouse to teach in any Studium without an examination. It consequently became customary for Studium generale, eager to elevate themselves, to apply for similar bulls. The older universities at first disdained requesting such privileges themselves, feeling their reputation was sufficient. But Bologna and Paris eventually stooped down to apply for them too, receiving their papal bulls in 1292.

Arguably the most coveted feature of the papal bulls was the special exemption (instituted by Pope Honorius III in 1219) that allowed teachers and students to continue reaping the fruits of any clerical benefices they might have elsewhere. This dispensed them from the residency requirements set out in Canon Law. As this privilege was granted only to those in Studia generale, certainly routinely by the 14th C., it began to be considered by many to be not only another (fifth) criteria, but the single semi-official definition of a "Studium generale" - that is, that a school which did not have that privilege, would not be considered "generale". (although the old universities of Oxford and Padua, who resisted asking for a papal bull, had sufficient reputation to be referred to as Studium generale title without it; nonetheless, Oxford masters were not allowed to teach in Paris without examination; Oxford reciprocated by demanding examinations from Paris masters, ignoring the papal privileges Paris enjoyed.)

Finally, the pope could issue bulls guaranteeing the autonomy of the university from the interference of local civil or diocesal authorities (a process begun with the issuing of the 1231 bull for the University of Paris). Although not a necessary criteria, it became customary to bestow the "privileges of Paris" to other Studium generale.

The Pope was not the only supplier of these privileges. The Holy Roman Emperor also issued imperial charters granting much the same privileges - starting with the University of Naples in 1224.

These criteria - universal student body, one or more higher faculties, teaching by masters, the right to teach in other Studia, retention of benefices, autonomy - are common features found in most Medieval Studia generale (with some notable exceptions). In other respects, e.g. structure, administration, curriculum, etc., Studia generale varied. Generally speaking, most Studium generale tended to copy one of two old models: the student-centered system of Bologna or the master-centered structure of Paris.