CHAPTER II 



THE University of Pavia to which Jerome now betook 

 himself was by tradition one of the learned foundations 

 of Charlemagne. 1 It had certainly enjoyed a high reput- 

 ation all through the Middle Ages, and had recently 

 had the honour of numbering Laurentius Valla amongst 

 its professors. In 1362, Galeazzo Visconti had obtained 

 a charter for it from the Emperor Charles IV., and that 

 it had become a place of consequence in 1400 is proved 

 by the fact that, besides maintaining several professors 

 in the Canon Law, it supported thirteen in Civil Law, 

 five in Medicine, three in Philosophy, and one each in 

 Astrology, Greek, and Eloquence. Like all the other 

 Universities of Northern Italy, it suffered occasional 

 eclipse or even extinction on account of the constant war 

 and desolation which vexed these parts almost without 

 intermission during the years following the formation 

 of the League of Cambrai. Indeed, as recently as 1500, 

 the famous library collected by Petrarch, and presented 

 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti to the University, was 

 carried off by the French. 2 



1 Pavia, like certain modern universities, did not spend all its 

 time over study. " Aggressus sum Mediolani vacationibus quadra- 

 genariae, seu Bacchanalium potius, anni MDLXI. Ita enim non 

 obscurum est, nostra aetate celebrari ante quadragenariam vaca- 

 tiones, in quibus ludunt, convivantur, personati ac larvati incedunt, 

 denique nullum luxus ac lascivas genus omittunt : Sybaritae et Lydi 

 Persaeque vincuntur." Opera, torn. i. p. 118. 



3 These books were taken to Blois. They were subsequently 



18 



