The Studium Patavinum

PAGE INDEX

• The genesis of the Studium Patavinum
• The Medieval University
• The da Carrara Seigneury and the Republic of Venice
• The eighteenth century

The genesis of the Studium Patavinum

"1222. Messer Giovanni Rusca da Como podestà de Padoa. In questo tempo fu transferito il Studio di Bologna in Padoa" (from "Annali di Padova").

At the beginning of the 13th century, some of the law students of Bologna University (established in 1088), who came from all over Europe, moved from Bologna to other cities which seemed to guarantee better conditions and greater freedom in terms of the control exercised by the Municipality. Among these cities we see first of all Vicenza (1205), where, however, the university experience is exhausted after a few years, and then Padova, which instead sees an uninterrupted tradition that continues until the present day.

The University of Padova was thus formed in 1222, without a real act of foundation and without papal or imperial intervention, but by the will of the students and teachers themselves, attracted by the greater freedom of study and expression that Padova seemed to offer.

After a brief problematic period owing to the tyranny of Ezzelino III da Romano (1236–1256), it will always be the responsibility of the Municipality of Padova to ensure the continuity and development of the Studium, ensuring the best possible conditions for teachers and students.

The Medieval University

Portrait of Pietro d'Abano (from Wikipedia) The Medieval University, like the other coeval universities, is very different from the University that we know today; it presents an organization that is certainly less structured and is composed of the union of three components:

1. The "universities" or student corporations: these are organized groups of students who mostly gathered according to their nationality: in fact, the two large groups of the Citramontani and the Oltremontani (or Transalpini) are headed by different nationes, that is, national groups, among which is the Natio Teutonica (or Germanica), the largest and most influential.
2. The colleges of scholars: included professors and graduates, who acted as the examination commission. In Padova there are two distinct doctoral corporations: the jurists (present from the beginning) and, starting from 1399, the artists and doctors.
3. The Chancellor: a position generally held by the bishop, with the power to confer the doctorate and the authorization to teach (licentia docendi).

Starting from its first decades of activity, the Studium Patavinum hosts students from all over the Western world, in particular from Germany, but also from France, England, Spain, Poland, Hungary... Some of these students, considered particularly illustrious, were then portrayed by the painter Gian Giacomo Dal Forno, on the wishes of the rector Carlo Anti, giving life to what is called Sala dei Quaranta.

Furthermore, at the beginning of the 14th century, Padova was chosen as a destination by prestigious professors from all over Europe, including, for example, the doctor and philosopher Pietro d'Abano, who arrived in 1306 from the University of Paris.

The da Carrara Seigneury and the Republic of Venice

Detail of a fresco by Giusto de 'Menabuoi at the Baptistery of the Duomo of Padova. The character with the red hat is Francesco I Da Carrara, lord of Padova from 1350 to 1388 (from Wikipedia) During the period of the da Carrara Seigneury (1338-1405) the University continued to flourish and saw the presence of prestigious professors, perhaps also thanks to the intercession of the da Carrara’s themselves.

The importance of the Studium Patavinum is evident in the choice made by the "Serenissima" Republic of Venice: from 1405 (when Padova surrenders to the Venetians) to 1797 (the fall of the Serenissima), Padova is the only university centre of the Venetian territory.

Portrait of Michele Sten (or Steno), doge of the Serenissima at the time of the surrender of Padova (from Wikipedia) The Serenissima works for its continuous growth and attempts to overcome the crisis that hits the university in the mid-fifteenth century, adopting measures related to its financing and attempting to attract famous teachers.

Venice, moreover, also intervenes to settle disputes between the two doctoral colleges (Jurists and Doctors and artists), demonstrating the control exercised by the Republic, but also its willingness to support, in the best way possible, the activities of the Studium.

Despite some periods of crisis, the period between the end of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth century is a golden period for the Studium Patavinum. The issue of the recruitment of teachers was a battleground between the Municipality, the Serenissima and the University, this latter understood as student corporations, but even in the unrest it is possible to engage highly prestigious teachers such as Andrea Vesalio, Gabriele Falloppio, Girolamo Fabrici d'Acquapendente and Galileo Galilei.

Andrea Vesalio (from Phaidra), Gabriele Falloppio (from Wellcome Collection. CC BY), Girolamo Fabrici d'Acquapendente (from Wellcome Collection. CC BY), Galileo Galilei (from Wikipedia)

The anatomical theater of Padova (from Gymnasium Patavinum Iacobi Philippi Tomasini episcopi Æmoniensis libris 5. comprehensum..., 1654)
Also from the point of view of the spaces this is a particularly important phase: a single site arises where the Palazzo del Bo now stands; the Horto dei Semplici was founded in 1545, to date the oldest botanical garden left in its original location; around 1595 the first stable anatomical theatre was built at the behest of Girolamo Fabrici d'Acquapendente; from 1629 the Sala dei Giganti hosts the first university library in Italy.

The eighteenth century

For the Studium Patavinum, the eighteenth century is one that mixes continuity and renewal: the Studium Reformers (the office established by Venice for the control of the university), called to revive a university where the number of registered students is decreasing, do not succeed in upsetting the existing structure, but the needs for reform are felt from early on in the Century.

From the organizational point of view, the autonomy of the students – more and more often protagonists of regrettable episodes – is considerably diminished, through the dissolution of the students’ "universities" and the assignment of the positions of mayor and vice-rector to professors instead of students (1738).

View of the da Carrara castle, with the Specola (Photo: G.D.) The most important innovations are in the second half of the century and concern teaching: the new experimental scientific method is becoming increasingly popular. Despite the imaginable resistance to change and the consequent "setbacks" that alternate with innovation, the years starting from 1761 see important reforms: new chairs are created (in particular, public law, agricultural science, and some specialized medical clinics); ever more precise and rational study plans are launched, the time devoted to teaching increases and annual exams are introduced; Italian officially replaces Latin as the language of teaching; there are numerous scientific laboratories and, on the tower of the Carrarese castle, the Specola is built for astronomical observations, inaugurated in 1777; and the Academy of Humanities and Arts is created to flank the University (1779).

The period in which Marsili is a professor at the University of Padova is therefore a very significant period, in which scientific and experimental perspectives, so typical of the chair of botany, assume great importance; particular attention is given to those places that permit direct study and observation: the scientific laboratories, first of all, but, in its own way, also the Botanical Garden.