26 UNIVERSITIES, SCHOOLS, STUDENTS. 



which also spread along the then deserted banks of the stream, from the 

 bridge of La Tournelle to what is now the bridge of the Saints-Peres. 



Two of these colleges call for special notice. The first is the College of 

 Navarre, which was founded in 1304 by Queen Jeanne de Navarre, wife 

 of Philippe le Bel. This college, constructed to receive seventy students, of 

 whom thirty were students of arts, twenty of theology, and twenty of 

 grammar, soon became a model for establishments of a similar kind, and the 

 high reputation which it had acquired endured for four centuries. The 

 University deposited its valuable archives in the chapel of the college, which 

 was dedicated to St. Louis, the ancestor of the royal founders. The sons of 

 the highest families, and even princes of the reigning house, received in 

 this learned retreat the elements of a classical education, and moreover, by 

 the terms of the charter, the King was the first bursar of the Navarre 

 College, which may be considered as one of the most aristocratic institu- 

 tions of that time, and also the one in which the rules and regulations were 

 the least strict. 



The College de Montaigu, established at a later date in the Rue des 

 Sept-Voies, upon Mount St. Genevieve, was scarcely less famous than that of 

 Navarre, but its history is a very different one. Though it was originally 

 founded by 'the wealthy Parisian family of Montaigu, upon such liberal 

 terms that an income of ten livres (equivalent to twelve or fifteen pounds 

 sterling in the present day) was secured for the maintenance of each student, 

 it was so badly managed by the regents that the total revenue of the college 

 fell to eleven sols in gold, equivalent to about 40 at the present time. At 

 this period (1483) the college passed into the hands of Jean Standonck, one 

 of the most original characters amongst the ancient schoolmasters. Son of 

 a Mechlin tailor, arriving in Paris with an ardent desire to obtain a liberal 

 education, and received out of charity by the Abbey of St. Genevieve, 

 whose hospitality he repaid by doing odds and ends of work, Jean Standonck, 

 being endowed with an uncommon degree of energy and perseverance, rose 

 from the condition of a servant to that of pupil, and eventually became a 

 master. Selected by his fellows to manage the affairs of the Montaigu 

 College, he succeeded in restoring order and economy in the house, in 

 founding twelve fresh bursarships, and meeting all expenses, without incur- 

 ring any new debt. But he only effected all these improvements by 

 imposing upon his students a very austere regime, and compelling them to 



