Abstract
FROM September 12–15 next, inclusive, this cele bration will be held in the ancient ecclesiastical capital of Scotland, with all the ceremony it is pos sible to have in the circum stances. Though the uni versity was not founded until 1411, yet St. An drews for centuries pre viously had various teach ing institutions in connec tion with the learned religious bodies in the monasteries of the Culdees and other sects concen trated in the ancient city, the preceptors of which had been trained in the English or Continental universities, those of France and Italy. Steps, indeed, had been taken before this period to further the interests of the Scottish students by the founding of the Scotch College (Balliol) at Oxford by_ Lady Devorguill, the wife of John Baliol; whilst the good Bishop of Moray had instituted in 1326 the Scotch College in Paris. No university, however, existed in Scotland, so that her students had to study for degrees elsewhere, and in the unsettled state of the times had not infrequently to encounter difficulties and hardships—even to the occasional capture by their then hostile neighbours, the English—on their way to other countries. Such was the condition of things when Henry Wardlaw was appointed to the bishopric of St. Andrews, and as he was a man distinguished for his wide culture, munificence, and great influence, it was not long before he found an opportunity. Eight years after his appointment to St. Andrews, viz., in 1411, the thoughts which doubtless had been revolving in his mind for a long time took shape and were put in action. A Studium Generale was at once commenced with the aid of a staff of able teachers in the faculties of law, divinity, and arts. He drew up a foundation-charter of the university, and forwarded it by envoys to the Pope (Benedict XIII.), who endowed it by means of papal bulls with all the powers of a university in 1413—to teach science, philosophy, and medicine, and this was subsequently confirmed by King James, who was throughout a staunch bene-factor to the young institution. Thus the Scottish youth were no longer compelled to seek higher instruction out of their own country.
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M., W. Five-Hundredth Anniversary of the University of St. Andrews . Nature 87, 114–115 (1911). https://doi.org/10.1038/087114a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/087114a0