University of Aldesey

The University of Aldesey
Universitas Aldesiensis
	Seal of the University of Aldesey
	Latin: Cancellarius Magistri et Scholares Universitatis Aldesiensis
Other name	The Chancellour, Masters and Scholars of the University at Aldesey
Motto	Omnia pro Domino
Motto in English	All for the Lord
Type	Corporation by prescription
Established	c. 8th century as a monastic school; c. 1256 as a university
Religious affiliation	Church of Nortend
Endowment	~ £101,200,000
Chancellor	Cardinal Dr. William Laseby,; Lord Bishop of Chepingstow
Vice-Chancellor	Rt. Rev'd. Dr. Martin Hazel,; Vicar-General of Chepingstow
Rector	Rt. W'shipful Dr Thomas Matthew
Students	~ 9,000
Location	Aldesey, Narland, Great Nortend
Language	English, Latin, Greek
Colors	Light blue and white
Sports	Boating and fencing

The University of Aldesey, formally the Chancellour, Masters and Scholars of the University at Aldesey, is the only university in Great Nortend. It is located in the town of Aldesey in Narland. The university was founded as a monastic school in the 8th or 9th centuries, and developed into a collegiate university during the 12th and 13th centuries.

It has maintained a traditional curriculum founded upon the liberal arts and the Classics since the middle ages, and all undergraduates must still study traditional classical and mediaeval texts and be fluent in Latin and Greek. Since the 19th century reforms, however, the university has broadened its academic focus, and now has well-developed scientific and humanities departments, in addition to the traditional law, medicine and theological faculties. In 1924, in a plan to improve the standard of female schoolmistresses, the University admitted its first lady students, the first woman receiving the title of Lady of Letters in 1927.

The University is mainly built upon two large natural islands in the River Lither, the Upper and Lower Eyotes, which have over the centuries has been nearly fully covered by the buildings of the university colleges, with the town of Aldesey developing on the outer banks of the river. In 2018, there were around 9,000 students studying at the University of Aldesey, divided between twenty-one houses with around 430 students each.

Governance

Punts on the River Lither at Dumcourt Bridge.

The University as a body is divided into three nations, to which each student belongs, which determines (to an extent) which colleges or halls, collectively known as houses, are open to him. The twenty-one constituent houses are independent and responsible for the lodging, education and nourishment of its students. Students are admitted to a house associated with the nation of their hometown through the process of Matriculation, when they formally become members of the University. Henceforth, they are bound by the University's statutes and regulations. The University's statutes, regulations and ordinances are enforced by the University's proctors, policemen and beadles, who have the power to fine and confine, and in extreme cases, to rusticate or ban (expel).

The formal corporate body of the University is known as the Great Congregation, comprised of all masters of the University, who are those students with a Master of Arts or were otherwise a Doctor of Science, Letters, Music, Physic, Laws or Divinity. It has a role in passing University's statutes and regulations, subject to the Chancellour, as well as having control over academic matters such as examinations, rustication, matriculation, the curriculum and lectures, as well as granting graces, dispensations and degrees.

The Congregation, with its large size, normally meets every three years, and delegates its powers to the smaller Lesser Congregation, or Convocation of Regent Masters, who have power over academic matters though it cannot pass statutes. Statutes are deliberated upon by the Convocation, and if agreed to, referred back to the entire Congregation, which can accept it or reject it at the triennial meetings or by postal ballot.

Students

It is necessary to matriculate at an academic college or hall to be a student. The Exhibitiones are examinations taken at the end of the Sixth Form to prove scholastic competence and potential entitlement to an exhibition. This is also the examination which forms the principal basis for admission to matriculation. As only independent schools offer the Exhibitiones, state school pupils are unable to enter university by this route. However, as it is not a prerequisite to matriculation, colleges and halls may admit students at their discretion. For example, many matriculate international students, although not all.

Undergraduates are graded into seven ranks — noblemen, gentlemen, exhibitioners, commoners, battelers and servitors. Most colleges and halls have abolished servitors; however some still retain the rank. Different ranks of undergraduates are entitled to different styles of gowns and headdress which mark their status. Students are required to wear the gown of their status whenever they are in public, unless otherwise dispensed with or engaging in exempted activities (such as physical exercise). Undergraduates and their different ranks are subordinate to Bachelors and Masters of Arts, who theoretically rank as equals to bachelors and doctors of higher faculties.

Women are only admitted to Saint Elisabeth Hall, which was established in 1915 as the only provision for ladies when the Ladies’ University Halls Act was passed in 1923. Not being formally an academic house, its female students study for the titles of Lady of Letters and Mistress of Letters only. Lady students are admitted to the University, rather than matriculate; however, they enjoy much the same status otherwise as male students.

Faculties

The University of Aldesey has four faculties in the mediaeval university tradition, being the Faculties of Arts, Physic, Laws and Divinity. Other than monks and friars, students enter the university in the Faculty of Arts, and read for their Master of Arts, which allows them to pursue further degrees.

Faculty of Arts

The academic dress of a Master of Arts.

An degree in the Arts is the only initial, or undergraduate, degree offered by the University of Aldesey.^[1]

After Matriculation, the student becomes a sophister at the end of his first year. The sophister „responds” at the end of his second year. This includes the practical papers written in camera as well as the formal oral viva voce examination de quaestione respondens called the Responsiones. The sophister thus becomes a questionist. The questionist having responded then „determines” at the end of his third year which again consists of substantial papers in camera and a formal oral viva voce disputation called the Determinatio, becoming a bachelor.

The bachelor then dedicates himself to one field of his choice, attending lectures and disputations, and giving repetitions to the undergraduates. At the end of fourth year, he undertakes his Quodlibetica, after which he is admitted to incept as Master of Arts. Inceptors usually take the next year off to complete the year of compulsory military service, before returning to incept. On a certain day, they are required to attend a formal disputation called Vesperies. The next day they attend Comitia where they are presented to the Chancellour of the University, the Lord High Chancellour, who gives the inceptor the master’s hood. To be admitted to the Great Congregation, the new Master of Arts must take the Oath, and then give a first lecture known as his Principium, dispute for a month and lecture as a regent master for one year after inception. However, these acts, other than the Oath, are commonly dispensed with by grace.

The curriculum for the Arts involves attendance at lectures, supplemented with repetitions (tutorials), disputations (debates) and declamations (formal submissions or readings of essays). Lectures for undergraduates are given by regent masters and involve exposition and instruction of the subject matter, as well as questions and discussion. The lectures are divided broadly into Philosophy (Ethics, Metaphysics, Logic^[2] and Natural) and History (Ancient, Biblical, Modern and Natural). Students must choose which lectures they attend, provided they attend the minimum number of lectures in each field.

Mistress of Letters

The title of Mistress of Letters are given to lady students who complete a four year course in the Arts, as for a Master of Arts. The principal difference is that there is a greater focus on „softer” academic topics, such as text analysis, music and visual arts, Biblical history and ethics, and less emphasis on formal logic, natural philosophy, modern history and politics. Nonetheless, lady students still receive a solid grounding in the humanities of all kinds, including Latin and some Greek.

Higher Degrees

The higher faculties are those of Laws, Physic and Divinity, in which the University admits students to bachelor's degrees and doctorates. By ancient statute all students in higher faculties must have incepted as Master of Arts first before graduating with their higher degree. A student after gaining his licentia docendi to incept may choose to matriculate in one of the higher faculties. Study for the bachelor's degree involves Collationes, Generales and Particulares examinations, the doctors voting de scientia et moribus.

After attaining bachelorhood, the bachelor may seek to obtain a doctorate after up to another four years of study or research. He then takes his Sollempnes examinations with a thesis and public viva voce disputation. Thereafter, the doctors vote de scientia et moribus to present him to the Chancellour to receive his licentia docendi in order to allow him to incept as a doctor after several years following his Vesperies and Magisterium disputations.^[3]

Philosophy and Letters

Further study in the Faculty of Arts is also possible in philosophy or letters. This proceeds as a three-year course culminating in a Bachelor of Philosophy or Letters, followed by up to four years study to become a Doctor of Philosophy or Doctor of Letters. Doctorates are also given in music, but these are only awarded honoris causa for composition. Students generally choose a similar field as they studied for in the Master's of Arts degree, although study is progressively more by research than instruction.

Houses

A student in college fencing colours.

The University has twenty-one colleges or halls, which are permanent independent corporate bodies. House traditions form the distinct university culture at the University of Aldersey. Each student and master is a member of a college or hall, and lives „in college” or „in hall” during his entire time at university. Furthermore, he attends repetitions, disputations and declamations in college or hall, only going elsewhere for lectures. With only around 120 students each, the college or hall becomes the student's „university family”.

Each college or hall has its own college or hall colours, songs, celebrations and sporting teams. The main sports are academic fencing and boating (rowing), although the school games including stinning and cricket continue to be popular recreations. Daily activities of collegemen or students including compulsory attendance at chapel at Mattins and Vespers.^[4] After Mattins and breakfast in college, students attend lectures in the morning. Then after luncheon, they may have repetitions, disputations and declamations in college. After Vespers students are forbidden to leave college. On Saturdays there are no academic activities, whilst on Sundays, students, depending on the college or hall, are expected to attend Tierce, High Mass and Compline in chapel as well. Each college and hall also has its own Officer Cadet company, for students completing their muster service.

Students usually wear their colours in college or hall. The colours, which form a uniform of sorts, include at its minimum the student cap and gown. There are special tunics and breeches for fencing and blazers and shorts for rowing. When otherwise in casual dress, the college or hall tie and scarf may also be worn. At lectures and university examinations and ceremonies, academic dress must be worn instead, including black tailcoat, bands, academic square cap and gown.

Saint Elisabeth Hall for women functions effectively as a college or hall. Naturally there are different recreations, and lady students do not fence or row, or participate in armed service. They still are bound to attend chapel multiple times daily. It has no colours; however, a sort of academic dress consisting of a robe and type of veil is worn.

List

The twenty-one colleges and halls are listed below by nation. The difference between a college and a hall is that a college is a corporation governed by the master and fellows, whereas a hall is a corporation sole governed by a rector. All halls in existence were established prior to 1411. Since then Canons Hall was refounded as Staithey College in 1540 and Martinhall as Old College in 1593. Saint Elisabeth Hall is not part of any nation.

Chepingstow (Locumforiensis)

Students from Middle Erbonia and Lorecia.

1256, Ladyhall^[5]
1540 (1264 original), Staithway College^[6]
1643 (1320 original), Old College^[7]
1371, Middlehall^[8]
1400, Godchrist College^[9]
1432, Tilley College
1433, Trinity College^[10]
1576, Polchard's College^[11]
1793, New College^[12]

Ostrey (Australis)

Students from Lesser Erbonia and Teudallum.

c. 1270, Gosthall^[13]
1343, Allhallowhall^[14]
1393, West College^[15]
1510, Wistfin College^[16]
1529, Echester College^[17]
1561, Cholstave College^[18]

Hoebride (Hambriensis)

Students of Hambria and elsewhere.

1288, Rhighton College^[19]
1411, Coggeshall^[20]
1433, Mancourt College^[21]
1473, Clairiddel College
1487, Lucy College^[22]
1523, Flemey College^[23]

University of Aldesey

Contents

Governance

Students