Its History.
The building is well suited for the purpose for which it was erected, and so has not unnaturally been used as the meeting-place of the nation's legislators, when, as has several times happened, Parliament has been gathered in Oxford. Charles I's House of Commons met here in 1643, when Oxford was the royalist capital of England; and in 1665, when Parliament fled from the Great Plague, and in 1681, when Charles II fought and defeated the last Exclusion Parliament, the House of Commons again occupied this House. It was on the latter occasion just preparing to move across to the Sheldonian, and the printers there were already packing up their presses to make room for the legislators, when Charles suddenly dissolved it, and so completed his victory over Shaftesbury and Monmouth.
A less suitable use for the Convocation House was its employment for Charles I's Court of Chancery in 1643-4.
For the reasons given above, degree days are now much more important functions than they used to be, and the Convocation House, never very suitable for the ceremony, is now seldom used.
Divinity School.
But the Divinity School, which lies at a right angle to the Convocation House, under the Bodleian Library proper, is a room whichby its beauty is worthy to be the scene of any University ceremony, for which it is large enough, and degrees are still often conferred there as well as in the Sheldonian.
The architecture of the School makes it the finest room which the University possesses. It was building through the greater part of the fifteenth century, which Professor Freeman thought the most characteristic period of English architecture; and certainly the strength and the weakness of the Perpendicular style could hardly be better illustrated elsewhere. The story of its erection can be largely traced in theEpistolae Academicae, published by the Oxford Historical Society; they cover the whole of the fifteenth century, and though they are wearisome in their constant harping on the same subject—the University's need of money—they show a fertility of resource in petition-framing and in the returning of thanks, which would make the fortune of a modern begging-letter writer, whether private or public. The earliest reference to the building of the proposed new School of Divinity is in 1423, when the University picturesquely says it was intended 'ad amplianda matris nostrae ubera' (so many things could be said in Latin which would be shocking in English). In 1426 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Chichele, is approachedand asked 'to open the torrents of his brotherly kindness'. Parliament is appealed to, the Monastic Orders, the citizens of London, in fact anybody and everybody who was likely to help. Cardinal Beaufort gave 500 marks, William of Waynflete lent his architectural engines which he had got for building Magdalen—at least he was requested to do so—(1478), the Bishop of London, by a refinement of compliment, is asked to show himself 'in this respect also a second Solomon'. [The touch of adding 'also' is delightful.] The agreement to begin building was signed in 1429, when the superintendent builder was to have a retaining fee of 40s.a year, and 4s.for every week that he was at work in Oxford; the work was finally completed in 1489. And the building was worthy of this long travail; its elaborate stone roof, with the arms of benefactors carved in it, is a model at once of real beauty and of structural skill.
History of the Divinity School.
The Divinity School, as its name implies, was intended for the disputations of the Theological Faculty, and perhaps it was this special purpose which prevented it being used so widely for ordinary business, as the other University buildings were. At any rate it was this connexion which led to its being the scene of one of the most picturesque events in Oxford history; it was to it, onApril 16, 1554, that Cranmer was summoned to maintain his theses on the Blessed Sacrament against the whole force of the Roman Doctors of Oxford, reinforced by those of Cambridge. Single-handed and without any preparation, he held his own with his opponents, and extorted their reluctant admiration by his courtesy and his readiness. 'Master Cranmer, you have answered well,' was the summing up of the presiding Doctor, and all lifted their caps as the fallen Archbishop left the building. It was the last honour paid to Cranmer.
In the eighteenth century, when all old uses were upset, the Divinity School was even lent to the City as a law court, and it was here the unfortunate Miss Blandy was condemned to death. But as a rule its associations have been academic, and it is still used for its old purpose, i.e. for the reading of the Divinity theses. It is only occasionally that University functions of a more general kind are held there, e.g. the famous debates on the admission of women to degrees in 1895. So splendid a room ought to be employed on every possible occasion, and happy are they who, when the number of candidates is not too large, take their degrees in surroundings so characteristic of the best in Oxford.
FOOTNOTES:[30]The buffooneries of the Terrae Filius, who was a recognized part of the 'Act', would be even more shocking in a consecrated building than merely secular business.
[30]The buffooneries of the Terrae Filius, who was a recognized part of the 'Act', would be even more shocking in a consecrated building than merely secular business.
[30]The buffooneries of the Terrae Filius, who was a recognized part of the 'Act', would be even more shocking in a consecrated building than merely secular business.
THE PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
I. Degrees are given and examiners appointed by the Ancient House of Congregation. This corresponds to the 'Congregation of Regents' of the Laudian Statutes. Its members are the University officials, the professors, the heads and deans of colleges, all examiners, and the 'necessary regents', i.e. Doctors and Masters of Arts of not more than two years' standing; it thus includes all those who have to do with the conduct, the instruction, or the examination of students. The 'necessary regents' are added, because in the mediaeval University the duty of teaching was imposed on Doctors and Masters of not more than two years' standing; others might 'rule the Schools' if they pleased, but the juniors were bound to discharge this duty unless dispensed.
II. Congregation consists of all those members of Convocation who reside within two miles of Carfax, along with certain officials. This body has nothing to do with degrees; it is the chief legislative body of Oxford.
III. Convocation is made up of all Doctors and Masters whose names are on the University's books. It confirms the appointment of examiners, and confers honorary degrees at Commemoration.
It is also the final legislative body of the University, and controls all expenditure.
THE UNIVERSITY STAVES
The old University staves, which are now in the Ashmolean Museum at the University Galleries, seem to date from the reign of Elizabeth; they have no hall-marks, but the character of the ornamentation is of that period. No doubt the mediaeval staves perished in the troubles of the Reformation period, along with other University property, and the new ones were procured when Oxford began to recover her prosperity.
Two of the old staves were discovered in 1895 in a box on the top of a high case in the Archives; their very existence had been forgotten, and they were covered with layers of dust. The legend that they had been concealed there by the loyal Bedels must be given up; no doubt they were put away when the present staves were procured in 1723. The third staff was in the keeping of the Esquire Bedel, and was brought to the University Chest, when that office ceased to exist.
The present staves are six in number, three silver and three silver-gilt. The three former are carried by the Bedel of Arts and the two sub-bedels, the three latter are carried by the Bedels of the three higher faculties, Divinity,Law, and Medicine. All of them date (as is proved by the hall-marks) from 1723, except one of the silver staves, which seems to have been renewed in 1803. The three silver staves bear the following inscriptions:—
No. I. On the top 'Ego sum Via'; on the base 'Veritas et Vita'.
No. II. On the top 'Aequum et Bonum'; on the base 'Iustitiae Columna'.
No. III. On the top 'Scientiae et Mores'; on the base 'Columna Philosophiae'.
The inscriptions are the same on the silver-gilt staves, except that the staff of the Bedel of Divinity has all the mottoes on it—'Ego sum Via', 'Veritas et Vita' on the top, and the others on the base.
The letters on the bases of all the staves are put on the reverse way to those on the tops; this is because the staves are carried in different ways; before the King and the Chancellor they are carried upright, before the Vice-Chancellor always in a reversed position, with the base uppermost.
It should be noted that they are staves and not maces, as the University of Oxford derives its authority from no external power, but is independent.
The arms on the tops of three of the staves present a very curious puzzle; one roundel bears those of Neville and Montagu quarterly, and seems to be a reproduction of the arms of the Chancellor of 1455, George Neville, theArchbishop of York; another bears the old Plantagenet 'England and France quarterly' as borne by the sovereigns from Henry IV to Elizabeth; a third the Stuart arms as borne from James I to Queen Anne; yet the work of all three roundels seems to be seventeenth century in character, and does not match that of the rest of the fabric of the staves.
'Act,' meaning of,27;term,28;confused with Encaenia,31-2.Aristotle, portions read of,18,37.Arnould, J.,85.Bachelor (of Arts), etymology of,24;in France,47;dress of,69,78;hood of,66,71,78;when taken,35,43.---- of Divinity, qualification for,30;dress of,77.Bands worn,68.Beaconsfield, Lord,86.Beaufort, Cardinal,91.Bedels, history of,54seq.;caps of,72;at degrees,4,17.Bodleian,88,89.Boots to be worn,65.Caius, Dr.,61.Cambrensis, G.,22.Cambridge, dress of Vice-Chancellor at,69;degree ceremonies at,28-9;King's College,40n.;gowns at,68.Candidates (for degrees), dress of,1;presentation of,11;oath of,13;admission of,15,17.Cap,71seq.Cappa,69,70.Chancellor, origin of,22,26;authority of,50;non-resident,51.Chichele, Archbishop,90.Church and University,25.Church, Dean,86.Circuitus,44.Collecta,37.'Commencement' in American Universities,23.Commemoration, origin of,31;description of,32-3;noise at,86-7;music at,87.Compton, H.,82.Congregation,88,93.---- Ancient House of,93;degrees conferred in,4,5;nominates examiners,4.Convocation,93;business in,4.---- House,88seq.Cranmer, Archbishop,92.Crewe, Lord,32;oration of,32.Degrees, meaning of,24;order of taking,6-7;elements in,27;requirements for,34seq.;in absence,18;ad eundem,18;Lambeth,27;honorary,32.---- ceremony, admittance to,2;notice of,3.D.C.L.,32;dress of,75.D.D., first,22;qualifications for,30;dress of,69,75-6; cap of,72;theses for,30,92.Depositio,45.Divinity School,87,89seq.D.M., dress of,75.D.Mus., dress of,76;Haydn,76;Handel,87;Richter,76.Doctorate, German,47;qualifications for,76;presentation for,11,63.Eglesfield, R.,68,70n.Encaenia, see Commemoration; etymology of,31n.Evelyn, J.,28,80,81,87.Examinations, mediaeval,41seq.;control of,52.Fell, Dr.,53.Friars at Oxford,46.Gibbon, E., quoted,24.Gowns,69,75seq.;proposed abolition of,54.'Graces,' college,5,6;University,38seq.,59.Green, J.R., quoted,33.Heber, R.,85.Hoods,70-1,75seq.'Inception,'19,29,31.Key, T.,60.Laud, 'Grace' for,39;and Proctorial election,59;portrait of,72;munificence of,88.Laudian Statutes, quoted,4,6,18,40;oath in,13;greater strictness of,67.Lectures required for degree,36;rules as to,36-7;fees for,37;cutting of,38;college,37.'Licence,' origin of,26;conferred,27.London, J.,60.Margaret, the Lady,55.Master of Arts, admission of,15;association of,23;old qualifications for,29,43,47;modern,49;privileges of,31;M.A.s term,48;gowns of,64,69,77;hood of,71,74,77.Master in Grammar,28.Masters of the Schools,42.Matriculation,25.'Nations,' divisions into,58.Neville, G., Chancellor,51;arms of,95.New College, privilege of,40.Paris, University of,23;examinations at,41;Oxford and,26n.Parliaments at Oxford of Charles I and Charles II,89.Parvis of St. Mary's, Examinations in,42.Pepys, S.,82.Pig Market, the,57n.'Plucking,'10.Pope and universities,26.Printing Press,83,89.Proctors, history of,57seq.;walk of,9;charge by,12,14,17;'books' of,19n.;dress of,77.Professor, original meaning of,75n.;presentations by,11n.,62-3.Queen's College, customs of,70n.Rashdall, Dr., quoted,40n.,55.Registrar, history of,60seq.;duties of,5,61.Residence for degree,34;relaxations as to,35,47.Responsions,42.Rich, E.,22-3.St. Mary's,80;bell of,3.Scott, Sir W.,86.Sheldon, G.,80,84.Sheldonian, history of,79seq.;dedication of,31,81;roof of,82;organ,83;alteration of,84.Sophisters,65.South, R.,82.Staves, description of,94;Puritan 'Visitors',55-6.Streater, R.,82.Studium Generale,21n.,26.Supplicat,8,9.Tailors, Oxford,66,74;statute as to,64.Terrae Filiusat 'Act',33,54,80n.Testamur,61.Tillotson, J.,82.Tom Brown, quoted,48.Tract No.90,86.Tufts on caps,72,tuft-hunting,73.University, meaning of,20;oldest charter of,22;colonial and foreign,35.Vanbrugh, Sir J.,83.Verdant Green, quoted,10.Vice-Chancellor, history of,51seq.;admission by,17,25.Vivisection, debate on,86.Wellington, Duke of,85.White ties,68.Wills, J.,84.Wood, A., quoted,53,54.Wren, Sir C.,80,81,84.Wykeham, W. of,40.
Oxford: Printed at the Clarendon Press byHorace Hart, M.A.