SCIENCE AT THE MEDIEVAL UNIVERSITIES 455 



mate habits of bird and beast and the ways of the plants, as well as 

 all the appearances of the heavens, Dante knew very well and in a 

 detail that is quite surprising when we recall how little nature study is 

 supposed to have attracted the men of his time. Only that his readers 

 appreciated it all, Dante would surely not have used his scientific erudi- 

 tion so constantly. 



So much for the undergraduate department of the universities of 

 the middle ages, and the view is absolutely fair, for these were 

 the men to whom the students flocked by thousands. They were teach- 

 ing science, not literature. They were discussing physics as well as 

 metaphysics, psychology in its phenomena as well as philosophy, ob- 

 servation and experiment as well as logic, the ethical sciences, eco- 

 nomics, practically all the scientific ideas that were needed in their 

 generation — and that generation saw the rise of the universities, the 

 finishing of the cathedrals, the building of magnificent town halls and 

 castles and beautiful municipal buildings of many kinds, including 

 hospitals, the development of the Hansa League in commerce and of 

 wonderful manufacturers of all the textiles, the arts and crafts, as well 

 as the most beautiful book-making and art and literature. We could 

 be quite sure that the men who solved all the other problems so well 

 could not have been absurd only in their treatment of science. Any 

 one who reads their books will be quite sure of that. 



While most people might be ready then to confess that possibly 

 Huxley was not mistaken with regard to the undergraduate department 

 of the universities, most of them would feel sure that at least the 

 graduate departments were sadly deficient in accomplishment. Once 

 more this is entirely an assumption. The facts are all against any 

 such idea. 



There were three graduate departments in most of the universities 

 — theology, law and medicine. While physical scientists are usually 

 not cognizant of it apparently, theology is a science, a department of 

 knowledge developed scientifically, and most of these medieval uni- 

 versities did more for its scientific development than the schools of any 

 other period. Quite as much may be said for philosophy, for there are 

 many who hesitate to attribute any scientific quality to modem devel- 

 opments in the matter. As for law, this is the great period of the 

 foundation of scientific law development, the English common law was 

 formulated by Bracton, the deep foundations of basic French and 

 Spanish law were laid, and canon law acquired a definite scientific 

 character which it was always to retain. All this was accomplished 

 almost entirely by the professors in the law departments of the 

 universities. 



It was in medicine, however, where most people would be quite sure 

 without any more ado that nothing worth while talking about was 



