METODOLOGIA DE LA INVESTIGACION
SENTENCIA DE VISTA N° 35
Founded by episcopal charter on 28 February 1412,1 the University of St Andrews was an ecclesiastical initiative and, as such, is commonly viewed as the brainchild of its founder alone: Henry Wardlaw, bishop of St Andrews.2 This is encouraged by the charter itself, which presented the university as an essentially diocesan affair, conceived and implemented by the bishop with the compliance of, and some assistance from, the prior and archdeacons of St Andrews.3 Wardlaw envisaged ‘the study of divine and human [canon and civil] law, of medicine, and of the liberal arts’.4 His charter made no mention of the study of theology, nor did it make specific provision for the establishment of faculties. Rather, the episcopal charter was more concerned with endowing the university community with trade privileges and tax exemptions that extended to all academic and non-academic staff.5 It was the papal confirmation of Benedict XIII, issued on 28 August 1413, that formally erected the university as a
studium generale, thereby allowing it to establish faculties in all disciplines – theology
as well as law, medicine and arts – and confer degrees. This confirmation took the form of six bulls, which guaranteed Wardlaw’s privileges, while also allowing academic
1 Wardlaw’s charter no longer survives. The text, however, was embedded in the papal bull issued on 28
August 1413. StAUL, UYUY100. Here, the date ascribed to the episcopal charter is ‘the penultimate day of February, 1411 [1412]’; as 1412 was a leap year, Wardlaw issued his charter on 28 February 1412.
2 The work of Dunlop and Durkan on the foundation of St Andrews has tended to influence subsequent
discussions of the erection of the university. See, Dunlop, James Kennedy, 260; Durkan, Scottish
Universities, 10; Nicholson, Later Middle Ages, 241; Cowan, ‘Church and Society’, 123, 125. For
alternative considerations of the development of the institution, see Anderson, J. M., ‘The Beginnings of St Andrews University, 1410-1418’, SHR, viii (Edinburgh, Apr. 1911), 230; Rashdall, Universities, ii, 320-303.
3 StAUL, UYUY100, Papal Bull. A translation of the episcopal charter embedded in the bull is supplied
in W. C. Dickinson, G. Donaldson, and I. A. Milne, edd., A Source Book of Scottish History. Vol. i, from
earliest times to 1424 (London 1958), 212-216.
4 StAUL, UYUY100, Papal Bull.
5 The university’s beadles, esquires, familiars, servitors as well as notaries, stationers and parchment
members to absent themselves from their benefices and Scots scholars at schismatic universities to continue their studies at St Andrews without being reprimanded.6 Finally, it conveyed the special protection of the Avignonese papacy.7 The bulls were proclaimed in St Andrews on 4 February 1414, their arrival giving rise to ‘the clergy spending the rest of the day in boundless merry-making … drinking wine in celebration.’8
The establishment of a functioning university imparted dignity to a town and, more importantly, the founder. The Castilian and Aragonese monarchies had traditionally used the erection of schools of higher learning as testament to both its benevolence, and engagement with the tide of intellectual debate. The foundations of Palencia (1208-1209), Salamanca (c.1227-1228), Lérida (1300) and Huesca (1354), highlight this long and enduring association with university education.9 Local princes were responsible for much of the vast investment in higher education across Germany from the late-fourteenth century. The Habsburg duke Rudolf IV established Vienna in 1365 (re-founded by Albert III in 1383); Rupert I instituted Heidelberg in 1385; and the dukes of Mecklenburg initiated Rostock, confirmed in 1419.10 Episcopal direction underpinned development at Würzburg between 1400 and 1402; while an archdeacon – Don Juan López de Medina, archdeacon of Almázan – erected chairs of theology, canon law and arts at the convent of S. Antonio de Portaceli at Sigüenza c.1476, which was confirmed as a university in 1489.11
These foundations were not always inspired by considerations of prestige alone and, as evident in Lopez’s precursor to Sigüenza, often reflected a genuine desire to promote learning. The fifteenth-century expansion in university provision reflects
6Evidence, iii, 171-176.
7 The University of St Andrews was founded at the height of the Great Schism that saw the establishment
of rival papacies in Rome and Avignon, and divided Europe. Benedict XIII (Pedro del Luna) was the Avignonese candidate at point of foundation and, as will be seen, was prepared to support most Scottish supplications to guarantee the kingdom’s continued support.
8Scotichronicon, viii, 79.
9 Rashdall, Universities, ii, 65, 74, 92, 98.
10ibid., ii, 236, 251, 261.
active engagement with culture and education by both ecclesiastical and lay society across Europe as evident in the establishment, by municipal councils, of Cologne in 1388, and Barcelona in 1450.12 This combination of motives is apparent in Wardlaw’s involvement in the development of a studium generale at St Andrews. As bishop, he worked to elevate the profile of his diocese above those of the twelve other Scottish sees, and promote its prestige and primacy.13 He earned a reputation for receiving dignitaries with lavish hospitality; and made considerable contributions to the restoration of St Andrews Cathedral, which extended to importing timber from Prussia.14 Wardlaw’s foundation of the university, and building of a bridge over the Eden, in 1419, to make St Andrews more accessible, can be viewed as part of a systematic endeavour to reinforce the diocese’s predominant status in the kingdom.15 At the same time, the university would offer Scots scholars accustomed to travelling to England or the continent to pursue higher education the option of studying closer to home. The rhetoric of the episcopal charter presented Wardlaw as papal legate possessing full jurisdiction throughout the kingdom of Scotland who, through the erection of an institution of higher learning, envisaged the ‘flourishing of university and city [St Andrews] together, the power of the university rendering the city powerful.’16
In so doing, Wardlaw also sought to rehabilitate his own position. As we shall see, a group of masters gathered in St Andrews was functioning as an academic community from the summer of 1410.17 Wardlaw perhaps seized on the opportunity this presented to erect a university partly as a means of reinforcing his status as Scotland’s leading prelate. Benedict XIII had provided him to St Andrews, apparently without consultation of the cathedral chapter in September 1403, when Wardlaw was
12ibid., ii, 255, 100-101.
13 For a list of these dioceses: section 3.1, n.8; Appendices 2.1-2.13.
14Scotichronicon, viii, 61.
15 Wardlaw’s supplication requesting an indulgence to fund the completion of this bridge cites as partial
motive, his concern for the continued survival of the university at St Andrews. CSSR, i, 109.
16 StAUL, UYUY100, Papal Bull.
17Scotichronicon, viii, 77. See below for discussion of these displaced masters’ role in the foundation of
resident at the curia.18 However, Robert duke of Albany, then lieutenant of the realm, had opposed his candidacy,19 championing instead Gilbert Greenlaw, bishop of Aberdeen and chancellor of Scotland.20 On his return to Scotland, Wardlaw briefly enjoyed a prominent role among Robert III’s circle of advisors. The king held him in such high esteem that he was entrusted, in 1404, with the guardianship and tutelage of Robert’s sole surviving heir, the future James I.21 This arrangement perhaps reflected the tension existing between Wardlaw and Albany, Robert III believing the bishop would do his utmost to protect James from an attack mounted by Albany’s regime.22 The failure of Robert III’s scheme and James’ period of captivity in England (1406-1424) ended Wardlaw’s political ascendancy. There is little indication of improvement in his relationship with Albany, which might explain the absence of Albany’s name from the foundation charters of the university.23 Following 1406, Wardlaw made the diocese the focus of his career.
His efforts to strengthen his position as bishop by cultivating a reputation for piety and dedication to facilitating higher study in Scotland also suggest a desire to emulate his uncle, Cardinal Walter Wardlaw, bishop of Glasgow.24 Walter had obtained a DTh degree from Paris in 1358, had entered David I’s service in the 1360s, and
18 CPL BXIII, i, xvii, 107-108. For Wardlaw’s residency at the curia, see Anderson, ‘Beginnings of St
Andrews University’, 232 & n.
19 Robert III had been deemed unfit to rule in 1388 when – as John, earl of Carrick, – he was acting as
lieutenant of Scotland on behalf of his father, Robert II. Robert, duke of Albany, Carrick’s brother (then styled earl of Fife) had replaced him, and continued to act as lieutenant until 1393; he resumed the role after the death of David, duke of Rothesay, (Robert III’s son, and lieutenant 1399-1402) in suspicious circumstances under Albany’s custody in Falkland Palace (1402). Scotichronicon, viii, 39.
20Fasti, 382-383; CPL BXIII, xvii; Dowden, Bishops, 30; Watt, Graduates, 566.
21 Scotichronicon, viii, 61; The Chronicles of Scotland compiled by Hector Boece, trans. by John
Bellenden (1531), edd. E. C. Batho and H. W. Husbands, ii (London, 1941), 366, (bk. xvi) – in which, the
bishop is mistakenly recorded as ‘Walter Wardlaw’.
22 Bower cast suspicion over Albany’s role in the death of James’ brother, Rothesay, in 1402: above, n.19. 23 Apart from the discussion of matters requiring the presence of Scotland’s leading prelate, there is little
indication that Wardlaw spent much time in Albany’s council. RMS, i, 366-421, 712. Moreover, Murdac, Albany’s heir and successor, seems to have inherited his father’s animosity to Wardlaw; he suggested the bishop as a hostage in exchange for James I in an abortive treaty of May 1421. Watt, Graduates, 569.
24 Walter Wardlaw, bishop of Glasgow, 1367-1387, was elevated to Cardinal, 23 December 1383. Vetera
Monumenta, 331; Fasti, 191; CPL CVII, 100-101; CPL, iv, 250. For further discussion of Walter
regularly acted as an ambassador thereafter. It was his distinguished ecclesiastical career, however, that set the more formidable but inspiring example for his nephew. With this powerful family connection, and a record of personal service at the papal curia, Henry Wardlaw perhaps looked to receive similar favour from the Avignonese papacy following his election to the bishopric of St Andrews.25 He remained loyal to Avignon for the duration of the Great Schism; as we shall see, he was conspicuously silent in the General Council of August 1418, which determined that Scotland should transfer allegiance to the Roman pope, Martin V. It is possible, therefore, that while formally sanctioning the existence of a scholarly community in St Andrews, Wardlaw also hoped that his university enterprise might enhance his reputation in Avignon and bring further ecclesiastical advancement.