THROUGH 13 CENTURIES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 480, 9 October 1928, Page 16

THROUGH 13 CENTURIES

VARSITY LIFE REVIEWED LECTURE TO ROTARIANS A bright description of mediaeval university life was given to Auckland Rotarians at their Uincheon yesterday by Mr. M. Rocke O’Shea, registrar at the Auckland University College. In his address to a large attendance, Mr. O’Shea combined humour with interesting facts concerning the foundings of universities in Italy, France and England. He began his remarks with a reference to the Arabian universities of the 7th century. Mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, history and geography were subjects dealt with then. The drama and the epic were unknown, but poetry flourished. After the establishment of the first known European university near Rome, the first university of any consequence was at Bologna. In the 13th century, there were 10,000 students, most of whom were foreigners. “The attendances at the early universities were remarkably large,” Mr. O’Shea pointed out. Students at Bologna had full citizen rights, and originally, the university was essentially a student guild. The masters received fees from the students, but eventually, the town authorities paid practically all the amounts and the students lost their control.

English students attended a college at Paris prior to the establishment of a “studium generale” at Oxford. At Paris and Oxford, the system of control differed from that in Bologna and was in the hands of guilds of masters. “The system of colleges within universities originated in Paris from a benefaction,” Mr. O’Shea said. “Sorbonne gave a college to the university, and an English chancellor introduced the system at Oxford.

“Football was a thorn in the side of the authorities,” said Mr. O’Shea, in dealing with the lighter side of his address. “The game was banned, but one clash in England developed into a rabble. As far as I can see, it was the first known game of League football. But there was no dinner after the game, so the name of the referee is not known.”

Mr. O’Shea mentioned phases in the life of the students, including their initiating ceremonies for “freshmen,” their penalties for breaches of college rules and their occasional arguments with the townspeople. A vote of thanks was accorded the speaker. Before the address, Dr. E. P. Neale announced birthday congratulations for the Primate, Archbishop Averill, Messrs. H. H. Pollard and J. J. Kingston.