$,C$> 5.HS 115 <% PUBLICATIONS OF THE SCOTTISH HISTORY SOCIETY THIRD SERIES VOLUME LIV ACTA FACULTATIS ARTIUM UNIVERSITATIS SANCTIANDREE 1413-1588 VOLUME I 1964 ACTA FACULTATIS ARTIUM UNIVERSITATIS SAN CTIANDREE 1413-1588 VOLUME I Edited by ANNIE I. DUNLOP O.B.E., M.A., Ph.D., D.Litt., LL.D. EDINBURGH Reprinted by T. & A. Constable Ltd. Printers to the University of Edinburgh for the Scottish History Society 1964 First published for the University Court of the University of St. Andrews (St. Andrews University Publications No. LVI) by Oliver and Boyd, 1964. O' B «22^DE3 O, 1964 © 1964 • The University of St. Andrews Printed in Great Britain PREFACE The editing of this volume has been undertaken at the request of the University of St. Andrews at intervals through several years. It had long been known that in the Acta Facultatis Artium the University possessed a register of supreme importance. Indeed, as a continuous and con- temporary record of Faculty business it challenges com- parison with the registers of such great European Uni- versities as Paris, Bologna and Leipzig. Moreover it places the University of St. Andrews in the main stream of European educational developments, so that it can offer a real contribution to our knowledge of this vast subject. At various times scholars have worked upon the Acta, notably the late Dr. J. Maitland Anderson, University Librarian, and the late Professor R. K. Hannay when edit- ing the Statutes of the University. Interest was reawak- ened when the five hundredth anniversary of the foundation of St. Salvator’s College again focused wide attention upon this ancient University. The Principal and Court therefore decided to make a determined effort finally to achieve publication of the Acta ; but when they invited me to undertake the work of editing no one quite realised how arduous the job would be, even if it had not been pro- tracted by impediments beyond our control. Although I have often felt embarrassed by the slow rate of progress, my deepest feeling has been one of gratitude to the Principal and Court of the University for the faith which they have placed in me, and for the privileges and hospitality which I have enjoyed as their guest during these years. In particular, I should like first of all to pay tribute to the memory of Dr. J. B. Salmond, who originally approached me in the name of the University. His driving power was irresistible and his keen interest in the work helped to sustain him through many months of failing health. My debt to Mr. R. G. Cant, the present Keeper of the Muniments and Reader in Scottish History, is inestimable. vi PREFACE His helpfulness has been both unstinted and varied. At all times he has given me the benefit of his intimate know- ledge of the city and University of St. Andrews in their national, international and cultural setting, and he has enabled me to resolve many perplexities. In addition, the Assistant Keeper, Mr. R. N. Smart, has been particularly helpful in matters of palaeography and archivistic method ; and he has added a valuable note upon the manuscript of the Acta. Dr. D. E. R. Watt, lecturer in Mediaeval History and a member of the Publications Committee, has been equally generous throughout in his assistance, alike in the educa- tional, typographical and editorial fields. The format and layout of the book bear the imprint of his guidance. Furthermore, even the casual reader cannot fail to detect my indebtedness to Dr. John Durkan, whose own re- searches into the early history of the three Scottish medi- aeval Universities partly coincided with my own work upon the Acta. He has willingly imparted his intimate knowledge of mediaeval philosophy, renaissance humanism and liturgical matters. In our efforts to unravel obscurities we have both sought to lay bare the facts, and although our interpretation of the evidence may vary, this has often been a matter of emphasis rather than of principle ; and our judgements have always been made with integrity. In addition it will be clear from the acknowledgements in the footnotes that I have been indebted to many other scholars in a cosmopolitan fellowship of letters, modern as well as mediaeval; and I offer my warm thanks to each of them as well as to all the librarians, publishers and printers who have co-operated with unfailing courtesy and patience in the task of editing the Acta Facultatis Artium Universitatis Sanctiandree. For the errors which remain the editor must accept the responsibility. Every revision has revealed fresh significances or undetected shortcomings. No doubt this would still be so ; but there comes a time to stop. If this edition should pave the way for future workers to make further progress in the field of educational de- velopments it will not have been effort spent in vain. CONTENTS PREFACE v INTRODUCTION xi I. History of the Faculty xi Foundation and Early Years xii St. Salvator’s College xxii The University under Schevez xxxii New Influences xxxix St. Leonard’s College xliii John Major and his Circle 1 The University under Cardinal Beaton Ivi The Tide of Change Ixiii Post-Reformation Years Ixvi Influence of St. Andrews Ixxiii II. Life of the Faculty Ixxvii Grammar Ixxix The Curriculum Ixxxi Examinations Ixxxix Licence xcviii Graduation cxvii Lectura cxxi The Regenting System cxxiii The Quodlibetarius cxxvi The Beadle cxxvi Academic Life : Procedure and Discipline cxxix Recreation and Feasts cxxxi Constitutional Development cxxxv viii CONTENTS III. Higher Faculties cxxxix Faculty of Theology cxxxix Faculty of Law cxlix Faculty of Medicine clvii Music clix EDITORIAL NOTES clxiii A. The Manuscript of the Acta clxiii B. Method of Editing clxvii C. List of Abbreviations clxx SYNOPSIS OF THE TEXT clxxv LISTS OF OFFICE-HOLDERS ccxliii The University ccxliii Chancellors ccxliii Vice-Chancellors ccxliv Rectors ccxliv Bursars ccxlviii Beadles ccxlix Faculty of Arts ccxlix Deans ccxlix Bursars ccliv Beadles cclix Quodlibetarii cclix Heads of Colleges St. John’s College : The Pedagogy : St Mary’s College cclxii St. Salvator’s College cclxiii St. Leonard’s College cclxiv ACTA FACULTATIS ARTIUM UN1VERSITATIS SANCTIANDREE 1413-1588 1-457 Appendix 458-60 INDEX 463 ACTA FACULTATIS ARTIUM UNIVERSITATIS SANCTIANDREE 1413-1588 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION I. HISTORY OF THE FACULTY The Acta of the Faculty of Arts of the University of St. Andrews (1413-1588) are the minutes of the meetings of the General Congregations of that Faculty through a century and a half of growth and development from the origins of the University as a branch of the mediaeval Church to its transformation into an institution for the ‘ godlie upbring- ing ’ 1 of Protestant youth. They thus cover a period of upheaval in Church and State, but beneath the fluctuations of chance and change they preserve a thread of continuity. Perhaps the most significant thing about them is that they were kept as a working record for the practical purposes of administration and procedure. The writers minuted current business, but they were not concerned about explanations for the benefit of posterity. Thus details are often obscure although the general outline is distinct enough. We can trace the development of the University from an association of the small schools of independent teachers into a genuine Studium Generate with endowed colleges and a recognised place in the mediaeval republic of learning. We watch its reactions to changing conditions and find that periods of stagnation alternate with times of revival. Personalities and pestilences, polit- ical upheaval and spiritual ferment leave their mark, until in the end the University which was founded as a bulwark of the mediaeval Church against heresy 2 became a bastion of the Protestant Church against the Counter-Reformation. The Acta provide a commentary upon a tangled skein of events, and it is worth noting that our record begins without a prelude and finishes without a conclusion. It portrays a living organism, and within its limits it contributes a distinct1 chapter in the volume of our national history. 2 BookEvidence, of Discipline, 173; charter Dickinson’s of foundation Knox, ii,of 295. Bishop Wardlaw. It was hopedhaeresibus that et througherroribus the valeat influence resistere. of the University fides catholica . xii INTRODUCTION Foundation and Early Years When the Acta take up the story the University had already been in existence for some years as a loose associa- tion of masters teaching in their own houses. The first teachers had begun to read ‘ in the Studium Generale of the University in the city of St. Andrews ’ after Pentecost in the year 1410.1 It was granted a charter of foundation by Bishop Wardlaw in February 1411-12, and in August 1413 it obtained papal recognition by bulls of the Anti-Pope, Peter de Luna, ‘ called Pope Benedict XIII in his obedi- ence \2 At that date instruction was being given in the Faculties of Theology, Canon Law and Arts ; but the con- stitution of the University and its constituent parts was ill defined, while buildings and endowments and corporate insignia were lacking. In the absence of records only fugitive references throw light upon the Faculty of Canon Law,3 while the early days of the Faculty of Theology and its relations with the Priory are also somewhat obscure. From the first it was the Faculty of Arts that enjoyed the most vigorous independent life. If it lacked the prestige of its senior sisters, it created a link with the higher Faculties since it included their repre- sentatives in its General Congregations. Relations might often be strained, but there was never wanting a certain amount of integration and co-operation. Thus among the founding teachers the dominant figure in the Faculty of Arts was Laurence of Lindores, rector of Creich and Inquisitor of Heretical Pravity, yet he was also a theologian and first Rector of the University4 as well as the first Dean 1 2 Evidence,Scotichronicon, 171-6 ii,; C.S.S.R.,445.