THE STRUCTURE OF THE ARTS FACULTY

IN THE MEDIEVAL UNIVERSITY

Instituteof MedievalStudies,Toronto
byJames A. Weisheipl, O.P., Pontifical

In this articleI wouldliketo considerbriefly the structureof the arts

faculty in the Middle Ages. However, I am not so much concerned
with the administrative and legal structure as I am with the cur-
riculum of studies.1 I would like to consider the medieval faculty of art
as a distinct unit in the guild of masters and students dedicated to the
pursuit of knowledge and the formation of new masters (creatiomagi-
strorum).2
Before discussingthe formation of apprentices and mastersin the arts
faculty,3 there are three broad points to which I would like to call
attention. These may be more fruitful for discussion than the details of
the curriculum and the years spent in formation.
The first of these is that from late Patristic and early medieval times
onward the seven liberal arts were considerednot as ends in themselves,
but as a propedeutic to the study of theology. The arts were only a
preparation for the study of the Sacred Page, the Bible. When the
universitieswere finallyorganizedin the thirteenthcenturythe arts facul-
ty was a prerequisiteto the three higher faculties of theology, medicine
and law. Without preparation in arts at some recognized studium,no
one could matriculate in one of the higher faculties; at least this was the
general rule.4 But in a very special way the study of arts was geared to
the study of theology. Already in the Alexandrian school the encyclical
arts were studied as a 'handmaid of theology,' (ancilla theologiae),a
handmaid of the Sacred Scriptures. The Cappadocian Fathers studied

1 For a detailed study see my 'Curriculum of the Faculty of Arts at Oxford in the
early Fourteenth Century', Mediaeval Studies, 26 (1964), 143-85.
2 M. B. Hackett, The OriginalStatutesof Cambridge
University(Cambridge Univ.
Press 1969), 275-
3 In medieval terminology the word 'faculty' means the entire membership includ-
ing masters and students; it is practically equivalent to our modern term 'depart-
ment'.
4 In the early days of the Dominican Order there was no need to teach philosophy
or arts to novices because they generally came from the ranks of the clergy. But by
I259 the need was felt to establish studiaartiumto give new members a course equi-
valent to the university faculty of arts. Graduates from these studiawere accepted in
the faculty of theology without further requirements. Other religious Orders followed
the same practice because membership in the artsfaculty was forbidden to members of
religious Orders. One further point must be made, namely that in some instances
men were accepted in the faculty of medicine without previous schooling in arts.
There are extant handbooks, manuals and summaries of basic definitions and con-
clusions for clerics who wanted to proceed to medicine without regency in arts.
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 STRUCTURE OF ARTS FACULTY IN MEDIEVAL UNIVERSITY

arts and philosophy at Athens before they became Christians and ex-
pounded the sacred doctrine promulgated at Nicaea. St. Augustine's
writings on the liberal arts were intended to serve the needs of theology.
The first book of Cassiodorus'Institutiones is a compendium of Sacred
Scripture; the second book is a summary the seven liberal arts useful
of
for understanding the Sacred Page. St. Isidore of Seville was quite
insistent that clerics know the arts before studying the Bible; of course,
he was just as insistent that monks had no businessstudying the arts and
philosophy. Alcuin's Dialecticanot only gives the traditional division of
philosophy as physics, ethics and logic, but even accommodates the
Sacred Books to this division, such as Genesis and Ecclesiastes which
discuss nature, Proverbs and other books which discuss morals, and
Canticles and the Gospelswhere logic is the key 'by which our [teachers]
vindicate theology for themselves.'1 Likewise Hugh of St. Victor's
Didiscalicondiscussesphilosophy and the arts only for the sake of under-
standing better the Sacred Books to which the first part of the treatise is
devoted. We might note here that although early medieval writers
frequently followed the division of philosophy presented by Augustine,
namely logic, ethics and physics, or the division preserved by Boethius
and Cassiodorus, namely physics, mathematics, and metaphysics for
speculative philosophy, and ethics, economics and politics for practical
philosophy, the pre-scholastics and early scholastics were unable to
give content to anything but the known seven liberal arts. In other
words, although a division of philosophy was frequently presented, it
was meaninglessexcept in terms of the trivium and quadrivium already
known. The other branches of philosophy could not be filled in until
the Aristotelian books were translated into Latin. But the main point is
that the seven liberal arts and philosophy were seen as usefulto theology.
The study of theology thus always remained primary throughout the
Middle Ages. When the universities came into existence in the twelfth
century and were organized in the early thirteenth, the faculty of the-
ology retained its primacy. It was always known as the facultasprima.
Even at Oxford today the theology faculty is the primary and first
faculty, although today it carriesnone of the weight or prestige that it
did in the Middle Ages.
From a practical point of view this means that although the arts
faculty had a certain autonomy, this autonomy was exercised within
limits imposed by the faculty of theology, the chancellor, the bishop, or
legatine statutes. The theologians not only had prestige within the
university, but they had actual control of the entire university. It was
the chancellor, a theologian, who granted a young man licence to incept
as a master in arts. It was the needs of the theology faculty that had to
be met in order to incept in arts after hearing all the set books required
proforma.It was the theological faculty, the bishop or papal legate who
I PL ioi, 952 C.
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 STRUCTURE OF ARTS FACULTY IN MEDIEVAL UNIVERSITY

censured significant theses taught in the arts faculty. And it was the
Church who protected the rights and privilegesof artists. My point here
is that we must be careful not to think of the autonomous nature of the
arts faculty in modern terms.
My second broad point for discussioninvolves the relative size of the
arts faculty and the universityin general during the I3th and early I4th
century. I am afraid that many estimates or guesses are projections
from the size of a modern university. I am led to suspect that the medi-
eval universitywas much smaller than most of us would imagine. As far
as arts is concerned, one Oxford statute notes that for the licentia
docendiall the regent mastersin arts, whether it be 12 or 18, had to vote
on the worthinessof the candidate, and at least 9 of these apart from the
presenting master had to have personal knowledge of the individual
upon whom they were voting.1 Assuming that each master had about
five to ten students,judging from the common illuminations in manu-
scripts and spirit of the statutes, and knowing that there were about 15
masters teaching, we can say that there were approximately Ioo to 150
studentsin arts at Oxford at that time. The theology faculty at Paris and
Oxford was even smaller and there is a referencein one Oxford statute
of the early I4th century that implies that there might be only one regent
master in theology.2 Glorieux lists only 12 regent mastersin theology at
Paris around I232 and only 15 around 1266.3 Law and medicine were
never large at this period, considering the paucity of masters and the
number of restrictions. Perhaps it would not be an exaggeration to
estimate that the university numbered between 200 and 250 members,
including masters and students. In every university town there would
be a number of non-regent masters both in arts and in theology who
would make up the entire academic community, but these would not
be involved in the ordinary running of a university. The arts faculty,
while always the largest in numbers, could not have numbered more
than 150 at Paris or Oxford in the thirteenth and early fourteenth
century. Perhaps even this figure is too large. I would like to see further
investigation of this matter based on primary sources and not on
imaginative or romantic projections.
My third broadpoint for considerationis also a statisticalproblemthat
has vast social significance. I am wondering how large was the literate
non-clerical population, let us say, at the time of the Reformation. We
know that in the normal course of events in the thirteenth and early
fourteenthcentury the cleric who graduatedfrom the artsfacultyentered
the facultyof theology; a small number of clericsenteredlaw or medicine.
But as time went on more and more students left the clerical state of the

1 Statuta
Antiqua Univ. Oxon., ed. S. Gibson (Oxford I931), 29-30.
2 Ibid., 50, dated 'before
1350'.
3 P. Glorieux, RipertoiredesMaftresen Thdologie
deParis (Paris: Vrin 1938) schema in
vol. I.
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 STRUCTURE OF ARTS FACULTY IN MEDIEVAL UNIVERSITY

university to embark on secular professions or medicine.1 By that I

mean that from the late fourteenth century onward there is a decided
growth of the secular professions.Many M.A.s became businessmenor
went into civil law, which in England was taught in the Inns of Court,
or medicine, which was still a university course, and relatively few went
on to Theology or Canon Law. Moreover we must rememberthat in the
fourteenth and fifteenth century there was a rapid multiplication of
universities.At the beginning of the thirteenth century there were only
six universities in the Latin West, or rather six centres that could be
recognized as incipient universities, namely Bologna, Reggio, Salerno,
Paris, Montpellier and Oxford. In the thirteenth century 17 more
centres were established in one way or another mainly by splinter
groups who migrated from an existing centre. In the fourteenthcentury
22 more universitieswere establishedby Papal Bull or Imperial Charter.
In the fifteenth century 34 new universitieswere established by Papal
Bull particularlyin France, Germany, the Low Countriesand Scotland.
These new universities were not conspicuous for their theologians but
they were conspicuousfor the number of artists they produced. That is
to say the multiplication of small universitieshelped to produce an ever
increasing middle class that was literate and financially comfortable
while the number of influential theologians declined. By the time of the
Reformation there were 69 universitiesand a large literate middle class
produced by Pontifical Universities. They were laymen who demanded
a greater role in shaping society both civil and ecclesiastical. It would
be difficult to ascertainjust how large this middle class was. By literate
middle class I mean products of the arts faculty establishedby Papal or
Imperial Charter.2 The least we can say is that this middle class was
significant by the early sixteenth century.
Just how old a boy was when he entered the arts faculty is a difficult
question. There are cases of young boys of 12 years old who began their
study of arts in the university. And there are cases of boys 18 years old
beginning the course. It would seem however that the normal or average
age for matriculation was 14 or 15. The Parisian statutes of 1215 specify
that no one is to read 'de artibus citra vicesimum primum etatis sue
annum.'3 That is to say, no one was to lecture as a master in arts before
he had completed his twentieth birthday. The statutes of the English
nation at Paris, dated 1252, state that one about to determine as
bachelor must be twenty years old or at least must have entered upon
1 A 'cleric' does not necessarily mean a priest or anyone in sacred orders at all. It
simply means a male who has clerical tonsure, is protected by the authority of the
Church and is subject only to the ecclesiastical courts. Technically the Church was
his 'heritage'. An individual left the clerical state simply by leaving the university or
indulged in any occupation that would subject him to the civil courts.
2 To this number must be added the moderately literate group that graduated
from the grammar school sponsored by the town, Cathedral or Monastery.
3 Chart.Univ. Paris, I, 78, n. 2o.
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 STRUCTURE OF ARTS FACULTY IN MEDIEVAL UNIVERSITY

his 20othyear, that is, he must have passed his nineteenth birthday.1But
as one year at least, and more often two, would have elapsed between
this vote of the masters and his inception in arts, the candidate would
be in his twentieth year if not older by the time he lectured as master.
The statutes of 1215 further specify that he must have heard lectures in
arts for six years 'ad minus'; no mention is made of a bachelor in arts at
this time. But according to the English statutes of 1252, before bachelors
might be allowed to determine they must have heard the requiredbooks
for five continuous years 'vel quatuor ad minus' at Paris or at some
other general arts studium.The Oxford statutespromulgated before 1350
also note that the determining bachelor must have heard certain books
in the schools 'ad minus per quaddiennium.' If however the candidate
failed to pass this vote, or if a scholar did not wish to determine for him-
self, the period for attending lectures was prolonged. In the latter
case a scholar must have heard the required books for at least eight
years before his inception in arts. One can therefore say that the arts
course in the medieval university required from six to eight years to
complete, the normal coursebeing around sevenyears prior to inception,
and that the scholar was at least 20 years old when he incepted as a
master in arts, the normal age being 21. Thus it would seem that the
usual time required to complete the course in arts remained unchanged
throughout the High Middle Ages. Normally the student would begin
his universitystudies at the age of 14 or 15 and he would be about 20 or
21 years of age when he incepted as a master in arts.2
Inception as a master was not the end, but the beginning of full
membership in the faculty of Arts. At the time of inception the young
candidate had to take an oath that he would lecture in that faculty for
at least two years. Actual teaching, therefore, was an integral part of
the curriculum of studies; indeed it was the most important part of the
course. One who failed to fulfil his oath to teach was a perjurer and
could not rightfully claim the title of master.
The full course of studies in arts can be divided into three distinct
periods: undergraduate, bachelor and master.
From the time a student enrolled under a master, until his examina-
tion ad gradus,he was an undergraduate. In general, he had to attend
both ordinary and cursorylectures on the trivium, quadrivium and the
'three philosophies,' namely natural philosophy, moral philosophy and
metaphysics (first philosophy). He also had to attend disputations, to
respond de sophismatibus for at least one year, and to respond de quae-
stioneat least during the summer term preceding his determination.

1 Chart. Univ. Paris, I, 228, n.

2 This is indirectly confirmed2oi.
by the statutes of the theological faculty at Oxford
before I350: 'ad lecturam libri sentenciarum nullatenus admittendum, nisi prius
dictas liberales artes per octo annos integros in universitate vel alibi rite audierit.'
Stat. Ant., ed.cit., 49. Undoubtedly the eight years included the two years of necessary
regency.
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The principal role of the undergraduate,in other words, was to listen to

lectures on set books required proforma and to participate in disputa-
tions at least by attending. The university statutes specified which
books had to be heard ordinarie(from a master) and cursorie(from a
bachelor) as well as the number of times each book had to be heard and
the length of time given to each book. The books a student had to hear
proformawere not the only books lectured upon, but they were the most
important as far as the student was concerned. These lectures were
i.e., a repetition of the morning
fixed in the student'smind by repetitiones,
lecture from memory before an older student, generally a bachelor.
Ordinary lectures were given in the morning and repetition took place
in the evening. Growth of the collegiate system facilitated repetitiones
because such repetitions could take place within a college before an
appointed bachelor. Besides listening to lectures and repeating them
from memory, the student had to attend the weekly disputation of the
master that took place in the afternoon.For the firstfew years the under-
graduate merely attended these disputations. It is quite possible that he
was even allowed to pose objections since the statutes give no hint of
opponency as a special status. In the last two years of his undergraduate
course the student had to respond to objections de sophismatibus and to
objections de quaestione for at least one additional term. This was re-
quired proforma before becoming a bachelor.
After four years of attending lectures and disputations,opposing and
responding at public disputations, i.e., normally in the fifth year of his
course, the undergraduatewas ready to be presented for his examina-
tion adgradus,or ad determinandum. In the High Middle Ages this was not
an examination in the modern sense of the term. It was merely the vote
of four masters testifying to the student's ability. It was a vote 'de
scientia et moribus'. A favourable vote of these masters before Ash
Wednesday gave the student licence to determine during Lent. During
these Lenten exercises the newly created bachelor played the role of a
quasi-master by responding to all objections and settling all problems,
i.e., by determining them as though he were already a master. Naturally
the student had to rent his own hall for the occasion. After the Lenten
determinations the bachelor continued on as a student, listening to
more books, responding in disputations and even lecturing cursorieon
certain books suggested by the master. The bachelor was very much of
an apprentice, sharing in a limited way the prerogative of the master.
The period of bachelorshipwas not specified by statute; it might be one
year or it might be two or more; the normal period seems to have been
about two years.
The status of bachelor, although significant, was not the indispens-
able step for each individual student in the medieval university. One
could easily be dispensedfrom the Lenten determinationsor pay some-
one else to determine for him. In these cases the course of study was
prolonged by an additional year or two. What was important and
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 STRUCTURE OF ARTS FACULTY IN MEDIEVAL UNIVERSITY

essentialwas theformainceptorum, i.e., the requirementsfor inception as a

master. Certain books pertaining to the seven liberal arts and the three
philosophies had to be heard a specified number of times. He had to
respond a certain number of times in disputations de sophismatibus and
de quaestione.That is, he had to answer objections in the solemn disputa-
tion of his own master and other masters a given number of times
before he could be presented for the licence to incept as master.
When all statutory requirements were met, usually at the end of
seven years of study, the mastercould present his students for inception.
'Inception', of course, is a technical word meaning the right to begin
teaching as a master. First of all, a favourablevote 'de scientia et mori-
bus' had to be cast by all the masters, nine of whom had to know the
candidate's performancepersonally. The student was then presented to
the Chancellor who examined the credentials and conferred the licentia
docendion worthy candidates, who took the oath to incept within one
year at that university, to keep the peace, to uphold the university, etc.
Then came the great moment of inception itself. It was a solemn
occasion and highly sophisticated. In simple terms, it was a two-day
affair. On the first day, which had to be a diesdisputabilis,there was a
formalized disputation in the afternoon in which the young inceptor
determined the disputed question, i.e., gave his solution to the problem
under consideration and explained the difficulties much as a master
would. The second day, which had to be a dies legibilis, the young
inceptor would receive his ring and biretta after Mass in the morning
and take the standard oath to teach faithfully, to uphold the rights of
the university, etc. Then the newly created master would give a brief
lecture on some point in arts or philosophy; this lecture constituted his
principium. In other words, inception embodied the first officialfunctions
of a newly created master. Henceforth his role would be twofold: to
lecture on universally accepted books (docereor legere)and to resolve
disputed questions (disputareor determinare). The role of master was a
noble one. As long as he taught arts, i.e., as long as he was a magister
regens,he had full voice in shaping affairsin the arts faculty, notably in
the hebdomadal, or weekly, council. When a master relinquished his
chair by matriculating in a higher faculty or by engaging full time in
secular affairs he was known as a magisternon-regens. He was still recog-
nized as an alumnus of the university and he had a limited voice in
university affairs, notably in the annual or bi-annual meeting of the
General Assembly. Graduates of the University of Paris were in an
enviable position for they had the ius ubiquedocendi,i.e., masters of
Paris could set up a chair anywhere in the world and be recognized by
the university. Normally, however, masters in arts did not establish a
school elsewhere, but matriculated in one of the higher faculties,
especially theology-at least in the High Middle Ages.
When we look at the actual books taught in the medieval university
we are struck by two interesting facts. The first is the quality of books
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taught. These were not second-rate manuals, but the best source books
known to the Middle Ages. For grammar the medieval university re-
quired a thorough knowledge of Priscian and Donatus, for rhetoric
Cicero, pseudo-Cicero, Aristotle's Rhetoricaand Boethius' Topica,for
logic Aristotle's Organon,for arithmetic Boethius' adaptation of Nico-
machus of Gerasa, for geometry Euclid's Elements,for astronomy
Ptolemy's Almagestor an adaptation, for music Boethius' Musica, and
for the three philosophies the entire Aristotelian corpus. There were
many other books used, but there is no need to mention them here.1
The important point is that the books lectured upon were the great
books of the Western World. The medieval universitybelieved in teach-
ing the great books to 'teenagers even though they were difficult. There
were, of course, numerous summaries and compendia, but these were
never requiredproformaby the university. We might even say that the
medieval university course in arts was the first programmein the Great
Books of the Western World. This is particularly interesting when we
consider the modern emphasis on manuals and the neglect of primary
sources.
The second interesting, or rather curious fact is the length of time
devoted to the study of the great books. Medieval statutes were par-
ticularly insistent that masters complete the book studied in the time
allotted. The time allotted, however, might seem curious to modern
readers. The first 16 books of Priscian'sInstitutiones, known as priscianus
maior, could be covered at Paris in two terms, a term being computed as
6o days. At Oxford in the early fourteenth century the same material
could be covered at least 'per sex septimanas integre, non connume-
rando dies festos.' Rhetoric, on the other hand, could be covered in three
years. The time specified for the old logic, i.e., the Isagogeof Porphyry,
the Praedicamenta and Perihermeneias of Aristotle, was three terms, while
the Priorand PosteriorAnalyticswere covered in two terms each. Time
devoted to the quadrivium was surprisingly short. The whole of
Boethius' Arithmeticwas taught in three full weeks, not counting feast
days. The first six books of Euclid's geometry were taught in five full
weeks, not counting feast days. For astronomy the whole of De sphera
and the Compotus had to be covered in eight full days (per octo dies
integre). At Oxford in the fifteenth century the Musicaof Boethius was
taught in one term. Time devoted to the three philosophieswas longer,
but even this contains some surprises. It comes as no surprise that
Aristotle's Physicswas taught in three terms, i.e., a full year, but it is
surprisingthat Aristotle's De caelowas taught in one term and that the
first i o books of his De animalibuswere taught in six full weeks, not
counting feast days. Aristotle's Ethics was taught in four months
counting feast days, while the Metaphysics seems a little more reasonable.
1 For a more complete listing see my study 'Curriculum of the Faculty of Arts at
Oxford', loc. cit. and 'Developments in the Arts curriculum at Oxford in the early
Fourteenth Century', Mediaeval Studies, 28 (1966), 151-75-
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The Oxford statutes of 1431 require three terms of inceptors who had
not determined, and two of those who had. Naturally many of the books
were studied simultaneously,much as we do today. The surprisingthing
is that so much difficult material could be covered in six to eight years.
But perhaps it is not so strange when we consider the number of courses
a modern student has to take before graduation.
In conclusion we can say that the medieval faculty of arts was highly
structured within the total organization of the university. The under-
graduate had to hear certain books for a specified length of time and he
had to participate in various disputations. The bachelor had additional
obligations of lecturing cursorieon certain books and responding in
solemn disputations. The master had clearly defined rights and obliga-
tions to lecture on any approved book and to resolve questions debated
in his school. On the other hand, there was considerable freedom.
Masters could lecture on any book they chose and they could hold any
opinion not directly opposed to the Christian faith. Students could
choose any master they wished to work under and they could easily be
dispensed from certain requirementsproforma. It was entirely up to the
body of masters to decide on the worthiness of the candidate and to
determine whether the books actually heard could be substituted for
books requiredproforma.The important point, it would seem, is that the
bachelor was a practice-teacher, an apprentice to a master whose
obligation was to teach and hold disputations. Actual teaching, there-
fore, was an essential part of a cleric's education. He had to teach in
order to merit the grand title of Master in Arts.

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