SORBONNE 



SORRENTO 



577 



was the severest in all the Paris colleges. It wa. 

 above all by the system of disputation that hi 

 progress was stimulated and his proficiency testec 

 By its rigorous methods of conducting these dis 

 natations the Sorbonne gained the reputation o 

 peing the first theological school in Europe ; an 

 its opinion on disputed points of doctrine wa 

 universally accepted as the weightiest that coul< 

 be obtained. In affiliation with his larger colleg 

 Robert of Sorbon in 1271 also founded a stnalle 

 college that of Calvi, or the Little Sorbonne 

 where students were prepared in subjects pre 

 liminary to their study ot theology. It was the 

 distinctive feature of the Sorbonne, however, am 

 one which greatly helped to win for it its pre 

 dominance in the university, that its members were 

 drawn from every country in Europe, and not con 

 fined to a particular ' nation. ' 



The history of the Sorbonne is a signal instance 

 of a great institution admirably fulfilling its 

 original intention, but incapable of making a new 

 departure when such a departure was necessary 

 for its continued vitality and efficiency. Till the 

 close of the 15th century, when the scholastic 

 theology was fast losing its hold on all the test 

 minds, the Sorbonne filled a place of the firs! 

 importance in the intellectual life of Europe. 

 Throughout the middle ages the theological faculty 

 of Pans was the main support on which the highest 

 teaching had rested, claiming for itself the right, 

 denied to the pope himself, of sovereign decree on 

 the truth or falsity of all religious doctrine. But 

 the Sorbonne virtually constituted the theological 

 faculty, and in common speech was identified with 

 it. Its voice therefore carried an authority that 

 inllnenced the councils of the nation. Through its 

 efforts France was saved from Peter's Pence and 

 the Inquisition ; and it was due to its encourage- 

 ment that printing was introduced into Paris 

 immediately subsequent to its invention. 



From the beginning of the 16th century, when 

 the new studies of the Revival of Learning found 

 their way into France, the Sorbonne gradually 

 ceased to represent the test thought of the country. 

 To all reform alike in studies and religion it offered 

 the most dogged resistance, and it was largely due to 

 its action that Paris lost its place as the first school 

 in Europe. Among the men of the new order the 

 ' Sorbonnian bog ' became a byword for bigotry and 

 obscurantism. In the succeeding centuries the 

 Sorbonne followed the same retrograde policy. In 

 1621 it actually obtained an edict, mainly directed 

 against Descartes, forbidding all teaching that ran 

 counter to accepted authorities. On the occasion 

 of the erection of new buildings by Richelieu ( 1627 ), 

 who was provisor of the college, a satirical Latin 

 couplet declared that so long as its original home 

 was in decay the Sorbonne was unassailable, but 

 now that that home was renewed it would certainly 

 go to ruin. The butt of the wits of successive 

 generations, Boileau and Voltaire among the rest, 

 the Sorbonne clung to its original traditions till at 

 the Revolution (1792) its property was confiscated 

 to other objects. 



When in 1808 Napoleon reorganised the uni- 

 versity of France, the Sorbonne was revived and 



I ame the seat of the Acadtmie, of Paris (see 



I'MVERSITIES) and of the three faculties of the- 

 ology, science, and literature. In 1884-93 new 

 buildings were erected at a cost of 880,000, to take 

 the place of the college erected by Richelieu ; the 

 largest theatre can seat 3000. Bv a curious fatality 

 the Sorbonne is still associated in France with 

 undue respect for tradition in matters of education. 



See the various histories of the university of Paris by 

 Dn Bonlay, Crevier, and Denifle : also Duvernat, Hittoire 

 de la Sorbonne (2 vols. Paris, 1790), and Franklin, La 

 Sorbonne (Parin, 1875). 

 453 



Sorcery. See MAGIC, WITCHCRAFT. 

 Sordello. See BROWNING (ROBERT). 

 Sorecidie, a family of Mammalia, to which 

 the Shrew (q.v.) belongs. 



Sorel, a town of Quebec, seat of Richelieu 

 county, on the St Lawrence, at the mouth of the 

 Richelieu River, 45 miles (by rail 78) NE. of 

 Montreal. It manufactures machinery, leather, 

 and bricks, and was formerly the summer residence 

 of the governors-general. Pop. ( 1891 ) 6669. 



Sorel, AGNES, the mistress of the worthless 

 dastard Charles VII. of France, was born in 1409 

 in the village of Fromenteau in Touraine, and came 

 to court in 1431 in the train of the Duchess of 

 Anjou. Her influence was beneficial as long as 

 she lived, but she died suddenly in 1450. 



Soresina, a town of Northern Italy, 16 miles 

 by rail NW. of Cremona, with 6765 inhabitants. 



Sore Throat. See THROAT. 



Sorghum. See DURRA. 



Sorrel (Rumex), a genus of plants of th 

 natural order Polygonacese (q.v.), very closely 

 allied to Polygonum and Fagopyrum (see BUCK- 

 WHEAT), but having the perianth divided into six 

 segments, the three inner of which enlarge and 

 cover the ac/iemum. The genus is very naturally 

 divided into two sections, the first of which is 

 already noticed in the article DOCK. The name 

 Sorrel belongs only to 

 the second, character- 

 ised by dioecious flowers 

 and acidity of stems 

 and leaves. Common 

 Sorrel (M. acetosa) is a 

 perennial found in 

 meadows and pastures 

 throughout the whole 

 of Europe, and is very 

 plentiful in Britain. 

 Its stem is from a foot 

 to two feet high, its 

 eaves arrow-shaped. 

 It is an agreeable salad, 

 and is used in soups 

 and sauces and as an 

 addition to dishes of 

 *reens. It is therefore 

 sometimes cultivated 

 .n gardens. French 

 Sorrel, or Roman Sorrel 

 R. scvtatus), a native 

 )f France and Italy, 

 las broader and blunter 

 eaves, and is more fre- 

 quently cultivated than 

 Common Sorrel, being 



Common Sorrel 

 (Rumex acetosa). 



onsidered of finer flavour. Sheep's Sorrel (K. 

 icetosella) is a very similar plant, but of much 

 mailer size, and its roots run very much under 

 ground, so that it is a very troublesome weed in 

 gardens and fields of poor dry soil, in which it is 

 ery common in all parts of Britain. B. patientia 

 ml R. sanguinea are both regarded on the Con- 

 inent as good spinach plants. For Wood-sorrel, a 

 otally different plant, see OXALIDE^;. For the 

 Red Sorrel of the West Indies, see HIBISCUS. 



Sorrel Tree (Oxydendron arboreitm), a small 

 ree of the natural order Ericaceae, which grows 

 hiefly on the Alleghany Mountains. The leaves 

 re acid, and are sometimes used for dyeing wool 

 lack. 



Sorrento ( Lat. Surrentum ), a city of Italy, on 

 le south-east side of the Bay of Naples, on the 

 romontory which separates it from the Gulf of 

 alerno, 7 miles SW. of Castellamare. It is an 

 rchiepiscopal see, and possesses a cathedral. The 



