Such a
migration was a serious blow to the commercial prosperity of any town;
consequently the "cessation" was an instrument of great power for the
extraction of all sorts of local concessions. It was often exercised
without express authorization by civil or ecclesiastical powers, but the
privilege was distinctly conferred by a bull of Pope Gregory IX for
Paris in 1231:
And if, perchance, the assessment [right to fix the prices] of
lodgings is taken from you, or anything else is lacking, or an
injury or outrageous damage, such as death or the mutilation of a
limb, is inflicted on one of you, unless through a suitable
admonition satisfaction is rendered within fifteen days, you may
suspend your lectures until you have received full satisfaction.
And if it happens that any one of you is unlawfully imprisoned,
unless the injury ceases on a remonstrance from you, you may, if
you judge it expedient, suspend your lectures immediately.[45]
The events leading up to the granting of this privilege are worth
recounting as an illustration of the way in which such rights were
frequently secured. The "clerks" referred to were of course scholars.
The cessation of lectures was followed by a migration to other cities
until satisfaction was given. The exact nature of the satisfaction given
by the king is not known. One important result, however, was the great
charter of papal privileges just referred to,--"the _Magna Charta_ of
the University" of Paris.
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