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Norton, Arthur O.

"Readings in the History of Education Mediaeval Universities"

[57]
The mode of lecturing on Roman Law at Bologna is thus described by
Odofredus (_c._ 1200-1265), a distinguished teacher:
First, I shall give you summaries of each title [i.e., each
chapter into which the books are divided] before I proceed to the
text; second, I shall give you as clear and explicit a statement
as I can of the purport of each Law (included in the title);
thirdly, I shall read the text with a view to correcting it;
fourthly, I shall briefly repeat the contents of the Law;
fifthly, I shall solve apparent contradictions, adding any
general principles of Law (to be extracted from the passage),
commonly called "Brocardica," and any distinctions or subtle and
useful problems (_quaestiones_) arising out of the Law, with
their solutions, as far as the Divine Providence shall enable me.
And if any Law shall seem deserving, by reason of its celebrity
or difficulty, of a Repetition, I shall reserve it for an evening
Repetition.[58]
The varied statement and restatement of the passage, implied in the
foregoing description, was doubtless necessary to make it intelligible
to the not-too-keen minds of the auditors. As Rashdall points out, it
"makes no mention of a very important feature of all mediaeval
lectures,--the reading of the 'glosses.'" This is mentioned in the
Bologna statutes now to be cited.


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