The Iter Italicum and The Northern Netherlands

THE ITER ITALICUM AND THE NORTHERN NETHERLANDS
EDUCATION AND SOCIETY

IN THE
MIDDLE AGES AND RENAISSANCE
Editors
Jürgen Miethke (Heidelberg)

William J. Courtenay (Madison)
Jeremy Catto (Oxford)
Jacques Verger (Paris)
VOLUME 21
THE ITER ITALICUM AND THE
NORTHERN NETHERLANDS
Dutch Students at Italian Universities and Their Role
in the Netherlands’ Society (1426-1575)
BY
AD TERVOORT
BRILL
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2005
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tervoort, Ad.
The iter italicum and the northern Netherlands : Dutch students at Italian universities and
their role in the Netherlands’ society (1426-1575) / by Ad Tervoort.
p. cm. — (Education and society in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, ISSN 0926-6070 ;
v. 21)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 90-04-14134-0
1. Dutch students—Travel—Italy—History—16th century. 2. Universities and
colleges—Italy—History—16th century. 3. Italy—Intellectual life—History—16th century.
I. Title. II. Series.
LC 6681.T47 2004
378.I’98293’31045—dc22
2004054505
ISSN 0926-6070
ISBN 90 04 14134 0
© Copyright 2005 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands

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printed in the netherlands

To Leo sr. and jr.
CONTENTS
List of Tables, Graphs, Figures and Maps .............................. ix

Preface ........................................................................................ xix
Chapter One Introduction ...................................................... 1

Context: University History .................................................. 5
Methodology and Sources .................................................... 14
Outline of the Book: Themes and Questions .................... 19
Chapter Two Dutch Students and Italian Universities

(1426–1575): Their Curriculum Studiosorum ............................ 25
2.1. Introducing the Population ............................................ 25
2.2. The University Itinerary: How Many Went Where? ...... 32
2.3. Choice of Faculty: The Lawyer and the Doctor ........ 85
2.4. The Measure of Success: Graduation .......................... 99
2.5. Students’ Age and Duration of Study ........................ 121
2.6. Summary ........................................................................ 139
Chapter Three Geographical Origin .................................... 143

3.1. Seven Provinces: Not Yet United. Their Numbers .... 143
3.2. General Tendencies: The Catchment Areas of Italian
Universities ...................................................................... 180
3.3. Batavus, Frisius, Belga? University Sources as a Mirror
of Identity ...................................................................... 186
Chapter Four Social Background .......................................... 197

4.1. Social Status in Universities .......................................... 197
4.2. Students and Social Stratification in the Netherlands 210
4.3. Financing of University Studies .................................... 221
4.4. Social Background and Family Tradition .................... 235
4.5. Summary ........................................................................ 238
Chapter Five The Student in Society: Careers, Networks

and Social Mobility ................................................................ 241
5.1. The Career Path Examined .......................................... 242
5.2. Climbing the Ladder: Social Mobility and Networks 306
5.3. Summary ........................................................................ 345
viii contents
Chapter Six Epilogue: The Iter Italicum and Its Place

in the Culture of the Late-Medieval and Early Modern
Netherlands ............................................................................ 349
6.1. Renaissance and Reformation, State Formation and
Revolt: An Italian Connection? .................................... 350
6.2. Conclusion ...................................................................... 372
Appendix: Additional Tables and Graphs .............................. 381
Bibliography ................................................................................ 409

Consulted Archives and Unedited Sources .......................... 409
Edited Sources and Secondary Literature .......................... 410
Index of Personal Names .......................................................... 431
Biographies of Students on CD-ROM

LIST OF TABLES, GRAPHS, FIGURES AND MAPS
Tables
Table 2.1.1. Students from the Northern Netherlands men- 26

tioned at Italian Universities and individual stu-
dents in Italy (1426–1575) in absolute numbers
and in ten year averages.
Table 2.1.2. Numbers of individuals visiting Italian universi- 28
ties compared to registration numbers of students
from the diocese of Utrecht at the universities of
Cologne and Louvain in 10 year averages (1426–
1575).
Table 2.1.3. University registrations of Leidenaars (1426–1510). 30
Table 2.1.4. Students from Friesland and Groningen in Italy 32
compared to the total of student registrations from
Friesland and Groningen (10 year averages).
Table 2.2.1. Students from the Northern Netherlands, who 40
visited Italian universities, attending more than
one university.
Table 2.2.2. University attendance at the four most popular 41
universities outside Italy of students from the
Northern Netherlands who visited Italian uni-
versities (1426–1575).
Table 2.2.3. Number of students who started in the arts fac- 44
ulty, number of graduations to magister artium, licen-
tiatus artium and baccalaureus artium compared to
the total population.
Table 2.2.4. Students from the Northern Netherlands at Ferrara 69
previously had visited the universities of Padua
and Bologna.
Table 2.2.5. Student attendance from the Northern Nether- 76
lands at smaller Italian universities (1426–1575).
Table 2.2.6. Most popular combinations of university atten- 83
dance.
Table 2.3.1. First choice of faculty of the 174 students from 85
the Northern Netherlands in the population at
x list of tables, graphs, figures and maps
Cologne, compared to choice of faculty at

Cologne overall, students from Haarlem and
Guelders at Cologne in percentages.
Table 2.3.2. Choice of faculty in Siena, Pavia, Pisa/Florence, 99
Perugia and Rome.
Table 2.4.1. Degrees in the higher faculties awarded to stu- 105
dents in the population.
Table 2.4.2. Higher degrees in law taken by students from 106
the diocese of Utrecht at the University of
Orléans in the period 1444–1546.
Table 2.4.3. Yearly averages of degrees and doctorates 107
awarded to students from the Northern Nether-
lands at the universities of Bologna, Padua, Fer-
rara, Siena, Orléans, Montpellier and Cologne.
Table 3.1.1. Population of the various regions in the North- 144
ern Netherlands around 1500.
Tables 3.1.2. The population according to regional origin in 145
and 3.1.2a. absolute numbers and percentages, compared
to the Northern Netherlands’ population.
Table 3.2.1. Attendance by region: Italy compared with 182
Louvain, Cologne and Orléans in percentages.
Table 3.3.1. The way students figure in 203 graduation char- 190
ters in absolute numbers and percentages.
Table 3.3.2. The way students present themselves in 71 auto- 194
graphs in the University registers of Padua.
Table 4.1.1. The population divided into three categories, 200
Nobilis, Dives and Pauper.
Table 4.2.1. Students, whose background could be recon- 213
structed, categorized according to the scheme
in absolute numbers and percentages (italics) of
the total population.
Table 4.2.2. Law students whose background could be recon- 213
structed.
Table 4.2.3. Medical students whose background could be 214
reconstructed.
Table 4.3.1. Offices, student jobs and scholarships of North- 222
ern Netherlands’ students during their studies.
Table 5.1.1. Numbers of students per faculty (and as a per- 242
centage of faculty in italics) about whom car-
eer information or explained lack thereof was
available.
list of tables, graphs, figures and maps xi
Table 5.1.2. Numbers of students per faculty (and as a per- 243

centage of faculty in italics) about whom there
was clearly defined career information.
Table 5.1.3. Careers recovered by sector of the population, and 249
as a percentage of careers recovered in italics.
Table 5.1.4. Clerics in the population per faculty and as a 249
percentage of faculty.
Table 5.1.5. Positions in Academia. 250
Table 5.1.6. Positions in the Church held by students in the 255
population.
Table 5.1.7. Positions in health care held by students in the 263
population in absolute numbers and as a per-
centage of careers of students of medicine.
Table 5.1.8. Positions in town government and administra- 267
tion held by students in the population.
Table 5.1.9. Positions held in regional government and admin- 271
istration by students in the population.
Table 5.1.10. Positions in provincial government and admin- 273
istration held by students in the population.
Table 5.1.11. Positions in the States held by students in the 278
population.
Table 5.1.12. Positions in central government and adminis- 280
tration held by students in the population.
Table 5.1.13. First, intermediate and last positions in health 292
care held by students of medicine in the popula-
tion with more than one position in health care.
Table 5.1.14. First positions held by students in the popula- 293
tion who ended up in the magistracy or as civil
servants at regional, States, provincial and cen-
tral level.
Table 5.1.15. Positions in bureaucracies of state by clerics in 299
the population.
Table 5.1.16. Offices held by law students from Italy, students 301
from the Northern Netherlands and Brabant at
the law University of Orléans compared.
Table 5.1.17. Positions held by students of medicine in Italy 304
and students of medicine at the University of
Cologne compared.
Table 5.2.1. Social categories of students in the population 312
who became university professors in absolute
numbers and percentages of the total sample.
xii list of tables, graphs, figures and maps

with offices in the Church in absolute numbers
and percentages of the total sample.
in the professions or in the service of individ-
uals in absolute numbers and percentages of
the total sample.
in senior civil servant positions at town level in
absolute numbers and percentages of the total
sample.
in government and administration at town,
regional, provincial and central level in absolute
numbers and percentages of the total sample.
Table 5.2.6. Social mobility and stability of students in the 323
population, whose background and careers were
traced according to faculty.
Appendix
Table A2.3.1. Choice of faculty at the University of Bologna 381
(1426–1575) in 25-year periods.
Table A2.3.2. Choice of faculty at the University of Padua 381
Table A2.3.3. Choice of faculty at the University of Ferrara 382
Table A2.4.1. Graduations of students from the Northern 382
Netherlands at the University of Bologna in
25-year periods in absolute numbers and per-
centages.
Netherlands at the University of Padua in
centages.
Netherlands at the University of Ferrara in
centages.
list of tables, graphs, figures and maps xiii
Table A3.1.1. Survey of choice of faculty and degrees in 385

higher faculties obtained according to region
in absolute numbers; in cumulative percent-
ages; in percentages of the regional total.
Table A3.1.2. Choice of faculty in absolute numbers and per- 386
centages: Holland.
Table A3.1.3. Towns and villages mentioned with their num- 386
ber of students: Holland.
Table A3.1.4. Choice of faculty in absolute numbers and in 387
percentages: Zeeland.
Table A3.1.5. Cities, towns and villages mentioned with their 388
number of students: Zeeland.
Table A3.1.6. Choice of faculty in absolute numbers and as 388
percentages: Utrecht.
Table A3.1.7. Cities towns and villages mentioned with their 389
number of students: Utrecht.
centages: Guelders.
Table A3.1.9. Cities, towns and villages mentioned and their 390
number of students: Guelders.
Table A3.1.10. Choice of faculty in absolute number and per- 390
centages: Overijssel.
number of students: Overijssel.
centages: Friesland.
number of students: Friesland.
centages: Groningen.
number of students: Groningen.
Table A3.1.16. Attendance at the University of Bologna accord- 393
ing to region; in absolute numbers and per-
centages.
Table A3.1.17. Attendance at the University of Padua according 394
to region; in absolute numbers and percentages.
Table A3.1.18. Attendance at the University of Ferrara accord- 395
ing to region; in absolute numbers and per-
centages.
xiv list of tables, graphs, figures and maps
Table A4.1.1. Survey table: Nobiles, Divites and Pauperes in 396

absolute numbers and percentages per region.
Table A4.1.2. Nobiles per region in absolute numbers and per- 397
centages of the total population and the regional
population in 25-year cohorts.
Table A4.1.3. Choice of faculty in Italy of noble students in 399
absolute numbers and percentages in 25-year
cohorts.
Table A4.1.4. Noble students as part of the law faculty com- 399
pared to their total share in the population in
cohorts.
Table A4.1.5. Pauperes per region in absolute numbers and 400
percentages of the total population and the
regional population in 25-year cohorts.
Table A4.1.6. Choice of faculty in Italy of “poor” students in 402
cohorts.
Table A4.1.7. “Poor” students as part of the law faculty com- 402
pared to their total share in the population in
cohorts.
Table A4.1.8. Choice of faculty in Italy of divites in absolute 402
numbers and percentages in 25-year cohorts.
Table A5.1.1. Career sectors of the population (N), and as 403
percentages of the total population, and of careers
recovered.
Table A5.1.2. Career sectors of law students (N), and as per- 404
centages of the total population, and of careers
recovered.
Table A5.1.3. Career sectors of students of medicine (N), and 404
as percentages of the total population, and of
careers recovered.
Table A5.1.4. Various teaching positions in Academia as per- 405
centage of the total number of teaching posi-
tions (N=99).
Table A5.1.5. Positions in the Church held by students of law 406
in the population.
Table A5.1.6. Canonries held by students in the population. 407
list of tables, graphs, figures and maps xv
Graphs
Graph 2.1.1. Individuals students from the Northern Nether- 27

lands travelling to Italy for university study (1426–
1575).
Graph 2.2.1. Student attendance from the Northern Nether- 57
lands at the University of Bologna in absolute
numbers (1266–1575) in ten-year periods.
lands (1426–1575) at the University of Bologna
in absolute numbers.
Graph 2.2.3. Matriculations of students from the Northern 60
Netherlands at the law University of Bologna
(1426–1575) in absolute numbers.
lands at the University of Padua (1426–1575) in
absolute numbers.
Graph 2.2.5. Matriculations of students from the Northern 65
Netherlands at the University of Padua (1545–75)
in absolute numbers.
lands at the University of Ferrara in absolute
numbers.
lands at the University of Siena (1426–1575) in
absolute numbers.
Graph 2.3.1. Choice of faculty of the total population at Italian 89
universities in 25-year periods.
Graph 2.3.2. Graduations of the population in civil, canon and 89
both laws at Italian universities in percentages
Graph 2.3.3. Choice of faculty of students from the Northern 94
Netherlands at the University of Bologna in 25-
year periods.
Graph 2.3.4. Matriculations of law students from the Northern 94
Netherlands at the universities of Bologna and
Orléans compared.
Netherlands at the University of Padua in 25-
year periods.
xvi list of tables, graphs, figures and maps
Graph 2.3.6. Matriculations of students from the Netherlands 96

in law at the Universities of Padua and Orléans
compared (1547–67).
Netherlands at the University of Ferrara in 25-
year periods.
Graph 2.4.1. Number of graduations of students from the 115
Northern Netherlands at the University of
Bologna.
Graph 2.4.2. Graduation averages in law of students from 115
England and the Northern Netherlands at the
University of Bologna compared (1426–1505).
Graph 2.4.3. Number of Graduations of students from the 118
Northern Netherlands at the University of Padua
(1426–1581).
Northern Netherlands at the University of
Ferrara.
Northern Netherlands at the University of Siena.
Graph 2.5.1. Distribution of age at first matriculation (N=72). 125
Graph 2.5.2. Distribution of age at matriculation in higher 125
faculty (N=38).
Graph 2.5.3. Distribution of age at last graduation (N=62). 126
Graph 2.5.4. Distribution of parameters of study duration 128
(N=261).
Graph 2.5.5. Distribution of parameters of study duration of 128
law students (N=156).
Graph 2.5.6. Distribution of parameters of study duration of 129
students of medicine (N=94).
Graph 2.5.7. the time it took students in the population to 130
obtain the degree of baccalaureus artium in months
(N=75).
Graph 2.5.8. The time it took students in the population to 130
take the degree of magister artium in months
(N=62).
Graph 2.5.9. Minimum duration of stay of students from 135
the Northern Netherlands at the University of
Bologna in half year periods (N=47).
Graph 2.5.10. Minimum duration of stay of students from the 137
list of tables, graphs, figures and maps xvii
Northern Netherlands at the University of Padua

in half year periods (N=50).
Graph 2.5.11. Minimum duration of stay of students from the 139
Northern Netherlands visiting Italian universi-
ties (N=124).
Graph 3.1.1. Mobility to Italy from Holland (1426–1575). 151
Graph 3.1.2. Mobility from the Northern Netherlands and 163
Holland compared: ten year averages.
Graph 3.1.3. Choice of faculty in Italy: Holland. 163
Graph 3.1.4. Choice of faculty in Italy: Zeeland. 166
Graph 3.1.5. Choice of faculty in Italy: Utrecht. 169
Graph 3.1.6. Choice of Faculty in Italy: Guelders. 172
Graph 3.1.7. Choice of Faculty in Italy: Overijssel. 175
Graph 3.1.8. Choice of Faculty in Italy: Friesland. 178
Graph 3.1.9. Choice of faculty in Italy: Groningen. 180
Graph 4.1.1. Nobiles, Divites and Pauperes in the population in 200
25-year cohorts (1426–1575).
Graph 4.1.2. Divites: choice of faculty at Italian universities 201
in 25-year cohorts.
Graph 4.1.3. Nobiles: choice of faculty at Italian universities 202
in 25-year cohorts.
Graph 4.1.4. Social categories, Nobiles, Pauperes and Divites, of 203
each region as a percentage of the total cate-
gory, compared to the total regional percent-
age of the population.
Graph 4.1.5. Pauperes: Choice of faculty at Italian universi- 205
ties in 25-year cohorts.
Graph 5.2.1. Social background of the career sample of stu- 311
dents from the Northern Netherlands at Italian
universities (N=337).
Figures and Maps
Figure 2.2.1. Outline of the structure of the Bolognese model. 50

Map 2.2. Universities visited by the students in the po- 39
pulation and their itineraries to Italian univer-
sities and their weight.
Map 3.1.A. Places of origin of the population and their 147
relative weight.
PREFACE
But don’t the splendours of Italy herself, once mis-

tress of all nations, attract you?
Rudolph Agricola (1472)1
This book is the result of my own iter italicum, which started nearly
ten years ago. It is an updated and revised version of the thesis I
defended at the European University Institute in October 2000. It
has its basis in a collective biography of those young men who vis-
ited Italian universities in a 150-year period. I have attempted to
describe and analyse a complex historical phenomenon, searching
for patterns and numbers, similarities and differences for a rather
large group of people. I hope that in using examples and some case
studies I have succeeded in trying to rescue some aspects of the lives
of the less well-known or even hitherto unknown students from com-
plete anonymity by giving them their place in this cultural phe-
nomenon, albeit most of the time only in numbers.
The iter italicum could lead a student to other strange and exotic
places, instigate a change of career and other expectations, some-
times even lead to an early grave. I think I have some understand-
ing of the (un)expected things a student on the peninsula might have
encountered. After my own iter italicum I can say that it has been
an experience that has made an enormous impression on me, and
it changed my life in more than one respect. A sense of awe, admi-
ration and expectation for the attractions of (student) life in Italy is
something I think I share with many of the young men in the po-
pulation that I have studied.
This book reconstructs, supplements and in places corrects the
view of the iter italicum. Writing it would have been impossible with-
out the works of generations of scholars, whose works I have used
1
“. . . nonne tibi pulchrum Italiam ipsam uidetur, domitricem quondam princi-
pemque gentium, intueri?”; letter nr. 2, to Johannes Vredewolt in: Rudolph Agricola,
Letters, ed. Adrie van der Laan and Fokke Akkerman, Bibliotheca Latininatis Novae
(Assen 2002) 66.
xx preface
and to whom I am greatly indebted. Their works are mentioned in

the footnotes and the bibliography. Numerous people have helped
me in more ways than through their writings and it is here that I
wish to acknowledge my debt of gratitude to them.
First I would like to thank my supervisors, Prof. Hilde de Ridder-
Symoens and Prof. John Brewer. It was in the research seminars of
Prof. Brewer that I first presented ideas and preliminary results that
eventually found their way into this book. His critical mind and
broad range of learning has helped me to get a clearer view of what
it was I wanted to do and he left me the freedom to do it. My
mentor, Prof. De Ridder-Symoens has been a source of inspiration
since my undergraduate years at the Vrije Universiteit, where she
introduced me to the subject of the history of education. Her first
suggestion that I should perhaps look at student mobility from the
Northern Netherlands to Italy became the research project of which
this book is the result. At every stage she has been supportive and
encouraging. I consider it an honour that jury members Prof. W.Th.M.
Frijhoff and Prof. G. Delille read and approved my thesis. Prof.
Frijhoff generously gave further insightful comments and suggestions
for its revision, as did Prof. Jürgen Miethke and Prof. William
Courtenay, editors of the ESMAR-series.
A host of scholars have taken time to share their expertise with me.
In the context of Italian universities and their sources Prof. A. Sottilli,
Dr Peter Denley, Dr E. Veronese, and Dr E. Martellozzo Forin
deserve special mention. Dr Jürg Schmutz was a companion in my
first weeks in the archives of Bologna. Meetings and correspondence
with Dr Helga Robinson-Hammerstein, Prof. R. Feenstra, Prof. Koen
Goudriaan, the late Dr Samme Zijlstra, Dr Bram van den Hoven
van Genderen, Dr Mario Damen, and Rudolph Ladan have proved
extremely valuable. Their willingness to share their (sometimes not
yet published) material with me I appreciate enormously. More
recently, my colleagues at the Vrije Universiteit, Dr Sabrina Corbellini,
Arjan van Dixhoorn, Hildo van Engen, Dr Madelon van Luijk, Dr
Jaap van Moolenbroek and Annemarie Speetjens have shared infor-
mation with me which was useful for the biographies.
I would also like to thank the organizers and participants of con-
ferences at the Fryske Akademy (1996), the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
(1996), the Vlaams Netwerk Mediëvistiek, the International Commission
for the History of Universities (1999), the Department of Modern
History at Trinity College Dublin (1998), the Summer School at the
preface xxi
Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel (1998), for offering me

the opportunity to present part of my work, for criticism and stimu-
lating conversations in beautiful surroundings. Further gratitude na-
turally goes to all staff of the various archives and libraries I have
visited these last years.
All these scholars have in some way contributed to this book.
They have helped me with issues of contents and structure, which
improved it in many ways. Whatever mistakes and faults remain are
solely my own. I am indebted to Brill Academic Publishers and the
editors of ‘Education and Society in the Middle Ages and Renaissance’
for including this book in the series.
The writing of a thesis does not come cheap. I gladly acknowl-
edge the NUFFIC and the European University Institute in Fiesole
for their financial support, which has allowed me to avoid the fate
of many of those studied in this book, who earned their keep as
famuli, praeceptores, scriptores and what have you.
I owe a great deal to researchers and staff at the EUI, too many
people to name. The three odd years I spent with them in Florence
I shall never forget. Dr Rory O’Connell, Dr Manuel Herrero Sanchez,
Dr Simon Dubbins, Ignacio Lopez Martin, Dr Jona Israël, and
Beatrijs de Hartogh deserve special thanks. Back home—and abroad,
if they decided to surprise me—I could always count on the long-
standing friendship of a number of people: Ton Fasel, Joost Groot,
Pim Steenvoorden, Paul van de Linde, Marjo Spaan, and Arian
Kaandorp in particular. They never failed to help out, when I asked
them. Their contribution to the completion of this book cannot be
found in the footnotes, but if they think back they must remember
the manifold ways in which they have helped me to get there.
To my parents I owe everything. The love, guidance and free-
dom they gave me, and their constant encouragement—sometimes
in difficult circumstances—have brought me where I am now. In
the context of this book they deserve special mention for putting up
with me for months during my missions in Holland, and more recently
for minding our children on a number of busy days. Now I am a
father myself, I realize that I owe them a debt that can never be
repaid. If any person was important in my choice for history, it is
my father. He is both a source of inspiration and an example. The
very least he deserves is that I dedicate this thesis to him.
He has to share the dedication with his grandson, Leo, who is
named after him. Leo’s first year with us more or less covered the
xxii preface
busy period of the completion of my thesis. His sister Muirean had

joined him by the time I started revising it for publication. Their
only contribution to this book is Leo typing both their names in this
preface. Their vivacity was sometimes a bit distracting during the
finishing stages of both thesis and book, but they certainly have given
me further ideas on what life is about.
I owe much, much more than gratitude to Dr Ide Kearney. Since
13 September 1995, she has been a source of love, encouragement
and support. Her critical mind has certainly found its way into this
book at many levels. She knows how much she has contributed to
this book, but more important, to my happiness. For years she had
to share me with 640 of my forbears, Dutch students who visited
universities in Italy. I am certain she will be pleased I say goodbye
to them now.
Ad Tervoort
Amsterdam, May 2004
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
I understand, noble young man that you are long-

ing for Italy. Certainly, it pleases me, this longing,
which, as I know, is innate only in the best and
noblest minds.1
Justus Lipsius (1579)
Until the late eighteenth century students from different parts of

Europe travelled across the continent to visit universities in various
countries, the so-called peregrinatio academica. The iter italicum was par-
ticularly popular. Ever since their foundation the famous studia gene-
ralia in Italy, notably Bologna and Padua, had attracted numerous
young men in search of study. Students from the Low Countries2
seem to have been particularly travel-minded. In the Middle Ages
they were compelled to seek higher education abroad because of the
absence of a university in their home countries. Even the foundation
of the nearby University of Cologne in 1388 and the foundation of
the first ‘national’ university of the Low Countries in 1425 at Louvain
in Brabant did not diminish their love of travel.
What did students from the Low Countries hope to find at Italian
universities that they could not obtain in Louvain? Was the trip to
an Italian university the coronation of an excellent study curriculum?
Did graduation at Italian studium open up the way to a more pres-
tigious and profitable career? Or might there have been other fac-
tors of interest at work, factors that had little to do with academia,
1
In a letter to Philip Lannoy: “In Italiam cogitare te audio, nobilissime iuvenum,
et audio volens. Placet ea mens, quam agnatam scio non nisi optimae cuique menti”
Justus Lipsius, Epistola de fructu peregrinandi et praesertim in Italia (Leiden, apud Franciscum
Hegerum 1631); Iusti Lipsi Epistolae, ed. A. Gerlo, M.A. Nauwelaerts, H.D.L. Vervliet
(Brussels 1978) 198, nr. 90.
2
The term ‘the Low Countries’ refers to the present countries of the Netherlands
and Belgium. The term, ‘the Netherlands’, is also used to refer to the entire Low
Countries and should not be confused with the present Netherlands.
2 chapter one
for instance, a quest for adventure or simply seeking the pleasures

of the Mediterranean? Did Justus Lipsius, the famous Low Countries
scholar, who himself had visited Italy in 1568,3 have the right idea,
namely that only “the best and the noblest” ( just of minds?) under-
took the long journey to Italy? Who were these men? Is it possible
to detect any profound role this group of student travellers might
have played in the society of the Low Countries and, if so, can we
trace aspects of this influence back to their Italian sojourn? Can we
detect the nature and the consequences of Dutch student mobility
to Italy?
In short, this book tries to evaluate this iter italicum. One viable
way to do this is to reconstruct patterns in university attendance at
Italian universities and later Tätigkeit of students, in other words, look-
ing at the big picture. However, to find out how many and which
Dutchmen went to seek what at Italian universities and to what
end—to look for information that might answer the ‘who’, ‘where’,
‘what’ and ‘why’ of the iter italicum—is an arduous task. Can we
really establish what they were after? Was it famous teachers? Specific
subjects? Maybe just graduation? At the micro-level, the trip to Italy
might have meant very different things to different students. While
there is evidence for a few students as regards their motives for
studying in Italy, such material is simply not available for the vast
majority. Although a collective biography (or prosopography) might
not give the ultimate answers to the ‘why’ of the iter italicum for a
particular individual, the collection of data allows us to root out and
analyse certain patterns, differences and similarities that can answer
a number of questions on the nature of this phenomenon.
This book fills a gap. Although much research has been done on
the peregrinatio academica of students from the Southern Netherlands,
not much attention has been devoted to their Northern counter-
parts.4 Frijhoff ’s thesis on Dutch society and its graduates from 1575
3
Lipsius himself left from Louvain for Italy in April 1568. Two months later he
worked as a secretary for Cardinal Granvelle. There is as of now no evidence for
the hypothesis that Lipsius had studied in Padua in this particular year, although
he had firm relations with several alumni of this famous Italian studium: Jan den
Tex, ‘Nederlandse studenten in de rechten te Padua 1545–1700’ in: Mededelingen van
het Nederlands Historisch Instituut te Rome, 3rd series X (1959) 45–165, there 80.
4
H. de Ridder-Symoens, ‘Brabanders aan de rechtsuniversiteit van Orléans,
1444–1546. Een socio-professionele studie’ in: Bijdragen tot de Geschiedenis 61 (1978)
195–347; C.M. Ridderikhoff, H. de Ridder-Symoens, D. Illmer (eds.), Premier livre
introduction 3
until 18145 has contributed much to our knowledge of the position

of graduates (including academic pilgrims to Italy) in and their
influence upon Northern Netherlands’ society. His point of depar-
ture, however, is the foundation of the University of Leiden in 1575.
This leaves a critical period of some 150 years unexplored, if one
takes the foundation of the University of Louvain as a defining
moment.
What holds true for the total student population from the Northern
Netherlands, holds true for those who went further away, to the
Italian peninsula. With the exception of partial studies for certain
universities and preliminary figures of graduates from some, there is
no study at our disposal that tells us how many young men trav-
elled across Europe to register with an Italian studium and how many
returned with a degree. It is therefore important to take inventory
in a more general sense and analyse these data. This is one of the
purposes of this study.
This book deals with students from the Northern Netherlands who
studied at Italian6 universities and their role in the Northern Nether-
lands society from 1425 onwards until 1575. It is plausible to take
des procurateurs de la nation germanique de l’ancienne université d’Orléans (1444–1546) 2e par-

tie: Biographies des étudiants, vol. I, 1444–1515 (Leiden 1978), vol. II, 1516–1546 (Leiden
1980), vol. III, Tables (Leiden 1985); H. de Ridder-Symoens, ‘L’évolution quantita-
tive et qualitative de la pérégrination académique des étudiants néerlandais méri-
dionaux de la Renaissance à l’époque des Lumières’ in: M. Kulczykowski (ed.),
Pérégrinations académiques. IVe session scientifique internationale, Cracovie 19–21 mai 1983,
(Warsaw 1989) 87–97; H. de Ridder-Symoens, ‘Tendances et méthodes de recherche
sur la mobilité universitaire’ in: A. Romano (ed.), Dall’università degli studenti all’uni-
versità degli studi (Messina 1991) 27–42. For the Northern Netherlands a notable
exception are students from Frisia. S. Zijlstra, ‘Studie en carrière van de Friezen
1200–1650: problemen en perspectieven’ in: Batavia academica 9 (1991) 3–12; Id.,
Het geleerde Friesland. Universiteit en maatschappij in Friesland en Stad en Lande ca. 1380–1650
(Leeuwarden 1996). I would also like to mention J. Schmutz’, Juristen für das Reich.
Die deutschen Rechtenstudenten an der Universität Bologna 1265–1425, 2 vols. (Basle 2000)
dealing with the members of the Natio Germanica of the ancient law university of
Bologna. His results include students from the Northern Netherlands as well.
5
W.T.M. Frijhoff, La société néerlandaise et ses gradués, 1575–1814. Une recherche sérielle
sur le statut des intellectuels (Amsterdam 1981).
6
‘Italian’ refers to the peninsula and should only be understood in the geo-
graphical sense. Italy was not a political entity. It consisted of numerous rival states.
The most important of these were the Republic of Venice and The duchy of Milan,
controlling the North of Italy, the Republic of Florence and the Papal State that
were powerful in its central part, and lastly the kingdom of Naples that held the
South. The Italian universities were located in different political entities with a
different political structure and culture and this fact, as we shall see, could also
exercise some influence on the affairs of the respective universities.
4 chapter one
1426 as a starting point. First, from the perspective of university his-

tory, the age of wandering scholars was over. Europe entered the
period of ‘national universities’ in the course of the fourteenth century.
The chapter on mobility in A History of the University in Europe says it
clearly:
Preference for a regional university or for the nearest university became
general at the end of the fourteenth century, and most marked in the
fifteenth century, when every state and political or ecclesiastical unit
tried to found a studium so that its citizens should study there instead
of abroad. In this way it kept their intellectual and ideological train-
ing under observation and prevented flight of capital abroad, detri-
mental to local traders and craftsmen.7
For the Netherlands as a whole, the foundation of the universities
of Cologne and Louvain signified this process in university history.
Nevertheless, this development did not halt student mobility to ‘for-
eign’ studia. Second, 1425 marked the beginning of Burgundian—
and later Habsburg—rule in the Northern Netherlands.8
The terminus was chosen for similar reasons. The year 1575 saw
the foundation of the University of Leiden, which gave the Northern
Netherlands their proper university. This university had a reformed
character, partly a break with tradition. Frijhoff included graduates
of most Italian universities in his thesis about Dutch intellectuals and
their place in society.9 Moreover, in that year the Dutch Revolt was
in full swing. It eventually was to be the end of Habsburg rule over
the Northern Netherlands, officially in 1581 when Philip II of Spain
was abjured as ruler of the Northern provinces.
The territory under investigation consists of the county Holland,
the county Zeeland,10 Frisia, the duchy of Guelders and the ‘Sticht’
Utrecht, the worldly possessions of the bishop of Utrecht (the pre-
sent provinces of Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht,
7
Hilde de Ridder-Symoens, ‘Mobility’ in: H. de Ridder-Symoens (ed.), A History
of the University in Europe. I. Universities in the Middle Ages (Cambridge 1992) 280–304;
there, 285.
8
1428: Holland and Zeeland; 1455: the bishopric of Utrecht; 1472–3: Guelders
and again since 1543; 1524: Frisia; 1528: Overijssel; 1536: Drenthe and Groningen
9
Frijhoff, Société néerlandaise.
10
Zeeland was a separate county under feudal law. It had its own States, for
instance. In the later Middle Ages it was custom that the count of Holland was
count of Zeeland as well.
introduction 5
Gelderland, Overijssel, Frisia, Drenthe and Groningen).11 Together

they constitute the better part of the diocese of Utrecht or Traiectum
as it is called in Latin sources.
Context: University History
To put the question about the nature of the iter italicum in its proper
perspective, a closer look at the issues involved in the history of uni-
versities is necessary. The history of universities has enjoyed much
attention, especially over the last 125 years. Scholars from several
disciplines have devoted numerous books and articles to the study
of the various aspects of universities. A look at the several bibli-
ographies on university history immediately makes clear that this
type of historiography has acquired the shape of an industry.12 This
is not to say that attention has been divided equally over the sev-
eral aspects of university history, or over the periods in history, nor
indeed over the years of this last century. A good deal of literature
might be called anniversary literature.13 The notion that university
11
It has to be mentioned that Frisia has been under scrutinous observation by
the Fryske Akademy (see n. 4). I am excluding the duchy of Brabant (in part the
province of Noord-Brabant), which was part of the Southern Netherlands in this
particular period. Students from this part of the Low Countries are incorporated
in the research of H. de Ridder-Symoens (see n. 4).
12
J.M. Fletcher (ed.), The History of European Universities. Work in Progress and
Publications, 5 vols. (Birmingham 1977–81); Id. and J. Deahl, ‘European Universities
1300–1700: the Development of Research 1969–1981, and a Summary Bibliography’
in: J.M. Kittelson and P.J. Transue (eds.), Rebirth, Reform and Resilience: Universities in
Transition 1300 –1700 (Colombus, Ohio 1984) 324–357; Id. and Chr.A. Upton,
‘Publications on University History since 1977: A Continuing Bibliography’ in: History
of Universities 7 (1988) 371–468 [continued]. This list could be supplemented by sev-
eral national or university bibliographies. These general bibliographies give a good
impression of the work done. Historical journal on the subject, History of Universities,
even journals specific to the history of a country or region (Batavia academica-con-
tinued in Nieuwsbrief Universiteitsgeschiedenis) or a particular university (Quaderni per la
Storia dell’Università di Padova); articles on university history are published in journals
on education in general (e.g. Histoire de l’Éducation) or other important historical
journals.
13
In the specific case of Italy the year 1888 is a special one. That year the
University of Bologna celebrated its eight-hundredth anniversary (although the date
was much debated). This occasion triggered a mass of source editions and mono-
graphs not only on the history of this university, but, just as important for other
Italian universities and several German universities as well. For a brief overview:
Peter Denley, ‘Recent Studies on Italian Universities of the Middle Ages and
6 chapter one
history is a subject worth studying in itself has grown slowly, albeit

steadily. For the period most intensively studied, one might cite the
following: “Dans la tradition, l’histoire des universités européennes a
été de façon massive une histoire médiévale, institutionelle et intel-
lectuelle.”14 As far as this last point is concerned, until four decades
ago the universities of the Middle Ages have been rewarded with
the bulk of interest.15 This has arguably much to do with the fact
that the origins and early development of an institution might seem
more exciting than a firmly established one. Since the late fourteenth
and early fifteenth centuries, universities showed little development
from an institutional point of view, and brought hardly anything
spectacular or revolutionary from an intellectual point of view.16 It
has often been argued that humanism developed for a large part
outside universities, at the courts of princes and in the chancelleries
of the Italian city states. The same applies to the Scientific Revolution
of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, where learned societies
played a pivotal role.
The aspects of university history that were most intensively stu-
died for a long period were the development of the institution and
its intellectual history. Problems that were studied mostly had to do
with the nature of universities. Were they in essence clerical insti-
tutions or worldly ones? Who in last instance had supreme author-
ity over them, pope or prince? All sorts of questions that had to do
with legal history were regarded in depth and it has even been
argued that much of the literature on university history in the twen-
tieth century has been concerned with questions that had already
been discussed and answered.17
Renaissance’ in: History of Universities I (1980) 193, n. 1. Even in 1988 the nine-hun-
dredth anniversary produced an important number of conferences, books, articles
and essay collections, e.g. G.P. Brizzi and A.I. Pini (eds.), Studenti e Università degli
studenti del XII al XIX secolo (Bologna 1988); more references in the continuing bibli-
ographies in the journals mentioned in n. 12.
14
R. Chartier and J. Revel, ‘Université et société dans l’Europe moderne: posi-
tion des problèmes’ in: Revue d’Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine 25 (1978) 353–374;
there 353.
15
Cf. W. Rüegg, ‘Themes’ in: De Ridder-Symoens (ed.), History of the University,
I, 3–8.
16
Jacques Verger, Le università nel medioevo (Bologna 1991) 115 [originally pub-
lished as Jacques Verger, Les universités au moyen âge (Paris 1973)].
17
Frank Rexroth, Deutsche Universitätsstiftungen von Prag bis Köln. Die Intentionen des
Stifters und die Wege und Chancen ihrer Verwirklichung im spätmittelalterlichen Territorialstaat,
introduction 7
After the Second World War and particularly in the last four
decades or so the history of universities has acquired a new dimension.
As in most other branches of modern historiography, social history
started playing a part. Whereas in Marxist historiography universi-
ties are mainly seen as intellectual instruments to serve the needs of
the ruling classes, Herbert Grundmann put strong emphasis on the
extremely mixed social background of students, arguing that the
prime features of the university were its corporate and autonomous
structure and the amor sciendi, the desire to know, of its visitors.18
The debate that resulted from Grundmann’s thesis made it clear
that too simplistic interpretations of the phenomenon ‘university’ do
not do justice to its complexity. All sorts of forces in society have
to be reckoned with.
The notion that socio-economic forces are at the heart of the
structure of and processes in society reshaped university history to a
considerable extent. La Nouvelle Histoire of the universities concen-
trated on new topics, frequently taken from the social sciences.
Whereas the more traditional historiography had been concerned for
the most part with institutional and intellectual developments within
the boundaries of the university itself, this ‘new’ type of university
historiography has emphasized the relationship between university
and society at large (meaning: not only its relationship with popes
or princes). One of the first historians to work with this type of
approach was Sven Stelling-Michaud. In the fifties he used a proso-
pography of Swiss law students at Bologna (1255–1330) to trace and
explain the penetration of Roman and canon law in the courts and
legislation in general of Switzerland, in which these students func-
tioned as very important mediators.19 Since the late fifties-early six-
ties many of the publications on university history have taken into
account this social dimension.20 Students and teachers no longer had
Beihefte zum Archiv für Kulturgeschichte 34 (Cologne 1992) part A, the first three
chapters considers these questions in-depth with specific attention to the literature
in German.
18
Herbert Grundmann, Vom Ursprung der Universität im Mittelalter (Darmstadt 19762).
19
S. Stelling-Michaud, L’université de Bologne et la pénétration des droits romaine et canon-
ique en Suisse aux XIII e et XIV e siècles, Travaux d’Humanisme et de Renaissance, 17
(Geneva 1955); id., Les juristes suisses à Bologne (1255–1330). Notices biographiques et
Regestes des actes bolonais, Travaux d’Humanisme et de Renaissance, 38 (Geneva 1960).
20
Note the emphasis put on the social role of the European university in the
8 chapter one
to be part of the venerable and famous few: they became a fash-

ionable topic an sich. They were interesting as social agents and as
mediators. Questions were asked about the role of a university edu-
cation in social stratification and social mobility.21 Thus university
history too entered the realm of ‘Social History’.22
Another important aspect attached to the new practice of uni-
versity history is the application of the methods of social history to
universities. Since social forces were seen as a very important motor
in history, all who participate in it—not just the ‘great men’—should
have their place in historiography. Strong emphasis began to be put
on quantifiable areas of research.23 Graphs and pie charts started to
appear in the kind of books that earlier contained extensive quota-
tions in Latin. Inventory of alumni of a certain university may involve
thousands of individuals. Growth of attendance, regions of recruit-
most recent general history of the European university: Walter Rüegg, ‘Forword’
in: De Ridder-Symoens (ed.), History of the University, xxvi–xxvii and n. 12. One
might say that the one thing that really triggered the discussion on the social role
of universities was the debate in England on the ‘Educational Revolution in Tudor-
Stuart England’. A large part of this debate took place in the journal Past and Present.
M. Curtis, ‘The Alienated Intellectuals of Early Stuart England’ in: Past and Present
(PP ) 23 (1962) 25–43; J. Simon, ‘The social origins of Cambridge students 1604–1640’
in: PP 26 (1963) 58–67; L. Stone, ‘The Educational Revolution in England 1560–1640’
in: PP 28 (1964) 41–80; Id., ‘Literacy and Education in England’ in: PP 42 (1969)
69–139; D. Cressy, ‘The Social Composition of Caius College, Cambridge, 1580–1640’
in: PP 47 (1970) 113–151. These developments have led to an increasing interest
from modern historians in university history. For instance: L. Stone (ed.), The University
in Society, 2 vols. (Princeton 1974); Id. (ed.), Schooling and Society, Studies in the History
of Education (Baltimore 1976). For more titles, cf. J. Scheurkogel, ‘Nieuwe univer-
siteitsgeschiedenis en late Middeleeuwen’ in Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 94 (1981)
194–204.
21
Cf. J. Fried (ed.), Schulen und Studium im sozialen Wandel des hohen und späten
Mittelalters (Sigmaringen 1986); R.C. Schwinges Deutsche Universitätsbesucher in 14. und
15. Jahrhundert: Studien zur Sozialgeschichte des alten Reiches (Stuttgart 1986).
22
This trend in historiography on universities cannot be seen as separate from
the development of European and American universities over the last decades.
Student numbers were booming, questions were and are asked about the changing
role of the university in society, education of the masses, etc. Student movements
claimed student participation in the process of decision making to make the uni-
versity a more democratic institution. The medieval university of Bologna could
function as an excellent example of student power. Cf. Christopher Driver, The
Exploding University (London 1971), especially Chapter 3, ‘An Idea and its Inheritors’,
100–131.
23
A good example is an article by Lawrence Stone himself, ‘The Size and
Composition of the Oxford Student Body’ in: Id., University in Society, 3–111 for the
period 1500–1910. Schwinges, Deutsche Universitätsbesucher, is another excellent one;
more recent Fuchs, Dives; Schmutz, Juristen.
introduction 9
ment and social stratification of students are now considered impor-

tant aspects in determining the role of university in society.
A notable aspect of the history of universities that has benefited
greatly from this new approach is student mobility. The international
character of the medieval universities (and to a certain extent this
still applies to the early modern universities, especially those in Italy)
is well known and this internationalism was due in considerable part
to the existence of Latin as the universal language of education.24 It
has been clear for a long time that wandering students should not
be regarded as the debauched bunch of bohemiens intent on “Wein,
Weib und Gesang”, as they have often been represented in literary
tradition.25 And one has to be equally careful in saying that the
matriculation at a foreign university was a mere formal aspect of the
Grand Tour, that it served the purpose of filling one’s album amicorum
besides the general educational (not necessarily scholarly) value that
it was to have for young men belonging to a particular elite.
Distinctions of the kind mentioned above can only be made on
the basis of thorough research of the phenomenon of student mobil-
ity.26 And one might say that the ‘human geography’ of universities
has not been studied to a desirable extent.27 This is surprising, because
it has to do with several very interesting social phenomena men-
tioned before. One such phenomenon is the catchment area of a
particular university and its bearings on the rate of literacy for a
certain region. Another is, of course, recruitment on the basis of
‘class’ or wealth: in other words, the role university education played
in social stratification and social (im)mobility and the prolonging of
a certain educated elite.
24
Verger, Università, 83.
25
De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Mobility’ in: Ead., History of the University, I, 280–1.
26
For the seventeenth century A. Frank-van Westrienen, De Groote Tour. Tekening
van de educatiereis der Nederlanders in de zeventiende eeuw (Amsterdam 1983) makes a sharp
distinction between ‘student’ and ‘tourist’. For criticism of this model H. Bots and
W. Frijhoff, ‘Academiereis of educatiereis? Noordbrabantse studenten in het buiten-
land, 1550–1750’ in: Batavia academica 1 (1983) 13–30. This distinction may not be
so clear for the sixteenth century, although there are some strong indications that
this type of educational tourism was becoming popular.
27
However, the last two decades have shown a remarkable increase of attention
for this topic. Apart from the literature mentioned above, see the two volumes of:
Dominique Julia, Jaques Revel, Roger Chartier (eds.), Les universités européennes du XVI e
au XVIII e siècle. Histoire sociale des populations étudiantes, 2 vols. (Paris 1986–1989).
10 chapter one
International student mobility involves another very important

aspect that should be taken into consideration. These students brought
home a good deal more than just their licentia ubique docendi. They
brought with them impressions and expressions of the university,
town and country they had studied in. They had experiences with
cultures sometimes very different from their own. They brought back
books and ideas concerning politics and culture. As a considerable
part of these student travellers seem to have belonged to an elite
in their home region, they were in a privileged position to mediate
in the adaptation of these cultural impressions and expressions and in
this way put their stamp on society back home.
In addition to all this there has been a tendency to limit research
on student mobility to specific countries, regions or even cities. There
is no denying that this has the distinct advantage that the researcher
in question is more aware of the problems and complexity of his or
her geographical territory. This carries with it a danger of overspe-
cialization and hence fragmentation of the overall view. It is neces-
sary to compare the different studies on student mobility with each
other to keep a broader perspective on this matter. After all, it con-
cerns a European phenomenon.28
Now, where can we place the Italian universities of the late Middle
Ages and the Renaissance in this picture? The truth is that, despite
all the work that has already been done, historiography on the social
aspects of Italian universities has lagged behind the work that has
been done for the other parts of Europe.29 It is no wonder that sev-
eral urgent calls for comparative research on the structure, compo-
sition and functioning of Italian universities have been made, especially
for the Renaissance period.30 Fortunately, the attention for univer-
28
A project to trace all students at the medieval university of Bologna—for-
warded by S. Stelling-Michaud, ‘Plan de recherche pour l’établissement d’un Corpus
des étudiants européens ( juristes, médecins, théologiens) ayant étudié à Bologne de
1270 à 1500’ in: Bollettino storico bibliografico subalpino 54 (1956) 191–195—making use
of an international specialist staff, unfortunately never came off ground.
29
G.P. Brizzi, ‘Matricoli ed effettivi. Aspetti della presenza studentesca a Bologna
fra cinque e seicento’ in: idem and A.I. Pini (eds.), Studente e università diegli studenti
dal XII al XIX secolo (Bologna 1988) 227–259, there 229–30.
30
Peter Denley, ‘Recent Studies on Italian Universities of the Middle Ages and
the Renaissance’ in: History of Universities 1 (1981) 193–205; Id., ‘The Social Function
of Italian Renaissance Universities: Prospects for Research’ in: ‘Town and Gown:
The University in search of its origins’ CRE-Information 62. 2 (1983) 47–58. His call
was recently answered by a survey study of Paul Grendler, The Universities of the
Italian Renaissance (Baltimore 2002).
introduction 11
sity history has increased in Italy over the last thirty years. Several
excellent source editions have appeared for the universities of Bologna,
Padua, Siena, Pavia and Pisa/Florence.31 Other major contributions
to the history of higher education have been made in the form of
articles, monographs or congress volumes.32 Though the research on
Italian universities is rapidly catching up, a lot remains to be done
in terms of source editions and comparative studies.
This is not to say that student mobility from other parts of Europe
to Italian universities has gone entirely unnoticed. The prestige and
importance of the teaching of law at the Italian faculties has attracted
the attention of scholars from outside Italy for over a century. Already
in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Arnold Luschin von
Ebengreuth, undertook the enormous task of collecting the names of
all students from the Holy Roman Empire who studied law at an
Italian university between 1200 and 1630.33 Ever since, scholars work-
ing on the nationes Germanicae (the German nations at the various
universities) have been at the vanguard of source exploration and
edition. At first they paid most attention to the oldest and, in many
respects, most important university, that of Bologna.34 Over time
31
Cf. the Bibliography. For Bologna the editions of the Libri secreti by Piana; for
Padua the editions of the Acta graduum academicorum by several contributors; for
Pisa/Florence Lo studio fiorentino by Verde. For Pavia the editions and publications
of Sottili are most important; for Arezzo see the article by Black.
32
Grendler, Universities, especially the bibliography. Some monographs: Manlio
Bellomo, Saggio sull’università nell’età diel diritto commune (Catania 1979); Giovanni Cascio
Pratelli, L’università e il principe. Gli studi di Siena e di Pisa tra Rinascimento e controriforma
(Florence 1975); Peter Denley, Commune and Studium in Late Medieval and Early
Renaissance Siena, Saggi e Documenti per la Storia dell’Università di Siena, 2 (Milan
1991); Jonathan Davies, Florence and its University during the Early Renaissance (Leiden/
Boston/Cologne 1998); for congress volumes Università e società nei secoli XII –XVI, Nono
convegno internazionale: Pistoia, 20–25 settembre 1979 (Pistoia 1982).
33
For Luschin von Ebengreuth’s work and his bibliography I refer to: H. de
Ridder-Symoens, ‘Deutsche Studenten an italienischen Rechtsfakuläten. Ein Bericht
über unveröffentlichtes Quellen- und Archivmaterial’ in: Ius Commune 12 (1984)
287–315.
34
E.g. E. Friedländer and C. Malagola (eds.), Acta Nationis Germanicae Universitatis
Bononiensis et archetypis tabularii Malvezzani (Berlin 1887); G. Knod, Deutsche Studenten
in Bologna (1289 bis 1562). Biographischer Index zu den Acta Nationis Germanicae Universitatis
Bononiensis (Berlin 1899). Specific to students from the Netherlands: J. den Tex,
‘Nederlandse studenten in de rechten te Padua (1545–1700)’ in: Mededelingen van het
Nederlands Historisch Instituut te Rome, 3rd ser., X (1954) 45–165; Id., ‘Aanvullingen
en verbeteringen op de lijst van Nederlandse studenten in de rechten te Padua
(1545–1700)’ in: MNHIR XXXII (1962) 1–25; J.J. Poelhekke, ‘Nederlandse leden
van de Inclyta Natio Germanica Artistarum te Padua (1553–1700)’ in: MNHIR XXXI
(1961) 263–373.
12 chapter one
other universities have gained the interest of historians and students

of law who wanted to rescue sources and with them names of for-
eign students (predominantly from the Holy Roman Empire) from
oblivion.35
In the last forty years, these source explorations and editions have
been supplemented by articles and books that explore the pheno-
menon of student mobility to Italian universities. First and foremost
among these was Stelling-Michaud’s book on Swiss lawyers at
Bologna.36 It was followed (sometimes preceded) by other more ten-
tative articles dealing with entire nations.37 Other publications have
taken an Italian perspective and regarded foreign student attendance
from this point of view.38 Despite the existence of several interesting
and stimulating publications on student mobility to Italy, one has to
come to the conclusion that we have only just begun drawing a map
of this historical phenomenon. For now thorough monographs filled
with bio- and bibliographically valuable material are lacking for entire
parts of Europe.
35
Cf. the several publications of F. Weigle, ‘Deutsche Studenten in Italien. I.
Die Deutsche Nation in Perugia’ in: Quellen und Forschungen aus Italienischen Archiven
und Bibliotheken XXII (1942) 117–123; Id., ‘Die Deutsche Doktorpromotionen in
Siena von 1485–1804’ in: QFIAB XXXIII (1944) 199–251; Id., ‘Deutsche Studenten
in Pisa’ in: QFIAB XXXIX (1959) 173–221; Id., ‘Die deutsche Doktorpromotionen
in Philosophie und Medizin an der Universität Padua von 1616–1663’ in: QFIAB
XLV (1965) 324–384.
36
See n. 19.
37
E.g. W. Dotzauer, ‘Deutsches Studium und deutschen Studenten an europäi-
schen Hochschulen (Frankreich, Italien) und die nachfolgende Tätigkeit in Stadt,
Kirche und Territorium in Deutschland’ in: E. Maschke and J. Sydow (eds.), Stadt
und Universität im Mittelalter und in der früher Neuzeit (Sigmaringen 1977) 112–141; Péter
Sárközy, ‘Links to Europe: Hungarian Students at Italian Universities in the 13th–
18th Centuries’ in: Hungarian Studies Review 17 (1990) 47–55; R.J. Mitchell, ‘Scottish
Law Students in Italy in the Later Middle Ages’ in: Juridical Review 49 (1937) 19–24;
V. Rau, ‘Studenti ed eruditi portoghesi in Italia nel secolo xv’ in: Estudos italianos
em Portugal 36 (1973) 7–73; E. Picot, ‘Les professeurs et les étudiants de langue
française à l’Université de Pavie au xv e et au xvi e siècle’ in: Bulletin philosophique et
historique du Comité des travaux historique et scientifique (1915) 8–99; (1917) 71–83;
H. de Ridder-Symoens, ‘Italian and Dutch Universities in the Sixteenth and
Seventeenth Centuries’ in: C.S. Maffioli and L.C. Palm (eds.), Italian Scientists in the
Low Countries in the XVIIth and XVIIIth Centuries (Amsterdam 1989) 31–64.
38
Richard L. Kagan, ‘Universities in Italy, 1500–1700’ in: Dominique Julia,
Jacques Revel and Roger Chartier (eds.), Histoire sociale des populations étudiantes. I.
Bohême, Espagne, États italiens, Pays germaniques, Pologne, Provinces-Unies (Paris 1986)
153–186. R. Ohl, ‘The University of Padua 1405–1509: an International Community
of Students and Professors’ (unpublished Ph.D. thesis; University of Pennsylvania
1980); Grendler, Universities.
introduction 13
Nevertheless, some general patterns are recognizable. Attendance

from foreign students at Italian universities seems to have been con-
siderable. They accounted for 10% (Pisa) to at times as much as 50%
(Padua) of the total student population. The vast majority of them
were members of the Nationes Germanicae, the German nations.39 This is
hardly surprising, because the German nation comprised those stu-
dents who came from territories officially belonging to the Holy
Roman Empire north of Italy. As far as social stature is concerned,
there are indications that German students who had visited Italian
universities came from higher echelons of society than their col-
leagues who spent their years of study in their homeland. The per-
centage of noble students among the travellers is considerably higher
than it is for the group that just visited a German university.40 The
choice made for an area of study (arts, medicine, law and theology)
remained predominantly law, as students had done ever since the
foundation of these universities, which evolved from earlier famous
law schools.41
Italy in the period under investigation was not only interesting
from the point of view of university history. Indeed, most people
would argue that Renaissance and Humanism are much more inter-
esting phenomena and if historiography on university history looks
like an industry, the amount of publications on Renaissance and
humanism outnumbers the former by far. The literature on these
topics from Burckhardt to Burke is immense.42 Although the histo-
riography on Renaissance and humanism has been dominated over
the last century by the ‘History of Ideas’, the social component of
historiography has entered the stage as well. The notion that
Renaissance Culture had strong roots in society has become wide-
spread.43 Even the collective biography has become important to
ascertain this complex relationship.44
39
Kagan, ‘Universities’ in: Julia, Revel, Chartier (eds.), Histoire sociale, 158–163.
40
J.H. Overfield, ‘Nobles and Paupers at German Universities to 1600’ in: Societas
4 (1974) 175–210, especially 197.
41
Kagan, ‘Universities’ in: Julia, Revel, Chartier (eds.), Histoire sociale, 163–165
and 168.
42
A recent standard work on Renaissance civilisation is John Hale’s, The Civilisation
of Europe in the Renaissance (London 1991).
43
A very recent, interesting example is: Lisa Jardine, Wordly Goods. A New History
of the Renaissance (London 1996). She argues that even the more elevated artistic and
scholarly achievements of Renaissance culture had a firm basis in the immediate
socio-economic context of its producers.
44
The classic example: Peter Burke, Culture and Society in Renaissance Italy, 1420–1540
14 chapter one
This process has accomplished the fact that the relationship between
humanism and universities was and is also seen in a different per-
spective. The notion uttered by Rashdall that the professors of espe-
cially the Italian universities “were long the enemies of humanism”45
needs revision. It is becoming increasingly clear that relations between
these two were stronger than was thought in the past. University
training (and often teaching) seems to have been a common bio-
graphical factor of most of the humanists and it has been justly
claimed that the role universities played in the socio-professional con-
text of humanism merits further examination.46
Methodology and Sources
An aspect of considerable importance attached to the new practice

of university history is the application of the methods of social history
to universities and their members. Since all those who participate in
society, in casu the members of a university, are considered part of
its structure and processes, prosopography47 has become a major
(London 1972), especially 43–53 on training of artists and, more important with
regard to my topic, humanists and their university education.
45
H. Rashdall, The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages (Oxford 1936; F.M.
Powicke and A.B. Emden eds.), vol. II, 50–51.
46
Denley, ‘Recent Studies’ in: History of Universities, 194–195; recently examined
in Grendler, Universities, chapter 6 ‘The Studia Humanitatis’, 199–248 and separate
sections on the the various disciplines.
47
The amount of literature on prosopography has grown immensely in the last
decades. Here I will name only: L. Stone, ‘Prosopography’ in: Historical studies today,
F. Gilbert and S. Graubard (eds.) (New York 1972), reprinted as chapter 2 in
Lawrence Stone, The Past and the Present Revisited (London 1987). References will be
made to this edition, a critical article that thoroughly examines the dangers of this
method; N. Bulst, ‘Zum Gegenstand und zur Methode von Prosopographie’ in:
Medieval lives and the historian. Studies in medieval prosopography, N. Bulst and J.-P. Genet
eds. (Kalamazoo 1986) 1–16: this book contains articles that treat all kinds of social
groups, many with considerable results; H. de Ridder-Symoens, ‘Prosopografie en
middeleeuwse geschiedenis: een onmogelijke mogelijkheid?’ in: Handelingen van de
maatschappij voor geschiedenis en oudheidkunde te Gent 45 (1991) 95–117: this article dis-
cusses the history, possibilities and results of the prosopographical method in the
context of a review of a prosopographical model study, namely J. Pycke, Répertoire
biographique des chanoines de Notre-Dame a Tournai, 1080–1300, Université de Louvain.
Recueil de travaux d’histoire et de philologie 35 (Louvain-la-Neuve 1988); L’état
moderne et ses élites: apports et limites de la methode prosopographique, Actes du colloque
de Paris, octobre 1991, J.-P. Genet and G. Lottes (eds.) (Paris 1992). Not only the
literature on prosopography has grown. The same goes for the number of studies
introduction 15
methodological tool. A prosopography is a collective biography of a

well-defined group of persons that have certain common character-
istics (such as profession or social background). A prosopographical
study departs from a set of questions and uses the mass of answers,
that are juxtaposed and compared in search for variables that are
significant, to solve historical problems which deal with this particu-
lar group.48 This method is now a common method of research for
social historians to describe and analyse the structure of society and
the degree and the nature of movements within it.49
Prosopographical research has been widely used to analyse patterns
of university attendance, student mobility and social stratification of
the student body. It has, however, been pointed out on several occa-
sions that data on a substantial population and over a longer period,
using only the most accessible printed sources, have to be regarded
and interpreted with great care. University sources alone will not be
able to answer to the questions of their researchers. An example that
has been studied meticulously is the question of social stratification
of the student bodies at European universities. University sources
such as matriculation and graduation registers frequently mention
terms that would indicate social status (nobilis and pauper, for instance).
A first problem is that a European classification of the social layers
of society in the late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period is
not yet firmly fixed; there are certainly regional variations to be reck-
oned with. It might prove quite difficult to compare rich and highly
developed sixteenth century Brabant with a relatively backward area
like Norway.50
The second problem lies with the terms itself. Does the term nobilis
really mean that the student in question belongs to the nobility and
if so to what type of nobility?51 The same could be said for the word
with a prosopographical approach. For a brief overview see De Ridder-Symoens,

‘Prosopografie’.
48
Definition as stated in De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Prosopografie’; a slightly different
definition in the specialist jounal Medieval Prosopography 2 (1981) 87.
49
The above mentioned literature on prosopography gives examples for all periods.
50
For Brabant: De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Brabanders’ in: Bijdragen tot de Geschiedenis;
for Norway and Scandinavia in general: Sverre Bagge, ‘Nordic Students at Foreign
Universities until 1660’ in: Scandinavian Journal of History 9 (1984) 1–29.
51
A clear description of the problem in defining nobility and some illustrating
examples of the categorisation of students according to university sources in: De
Ridder-Symoens, ibid. 224–233.
16 chapter one
pauper. It is clear that it means that a certain student was unable to

fulfil all the financial requirements of university education, but does
this automatically imply that we are dealing with a ‘pauper’ in the
modern sense?52 One has to be extremely cautious in categorizing
pauperes as belonging to this or that layer of society. And then we
have a vast body of students that do not carry a social epithet. What
to do with them? It will be obvious that university sources do not
give the answer. It is necessary to collect additional information from
other sources on social background, career and social position. An
in-depth prosopography or collective biography is therefore needed.
This is, however, extremely difficult when one is dealing with research
populations that run in the thousands. It is certainly telling that
Lawrence Stone, who was partly responsible for the popularity of
these vast number crunching surveys with his ‘Size and Composition
of the Oxford Student Body’, came to a different conclusion several
years later. He argued that prosopography “works best when it is
applied to easily defined and fairly small groups over a limited period
of not much more than a hundred years, when the data are drawn
from a very wide variety of sources which complement and enrich
each other . . .”53
This is (almost) to the letter what I intend to do here. In this
research the common characteristics will be the geographical origin
(the persons have to come from the Northern Netherlands) and a
geographically defined education (the persons must have visited an
Italian university). In order to compound a prosopography of stu-
dents from the Northern Netherlands at Italian universities, the first
52
The problem of ‘poor students’ figures in most modern studies on university
history: it has been studied intensively by Jaques Paquet, ‘Recherches sur l’univer-
sitaire “pauvre” au Moyen Age’ in: Revue Belge de Philologie et d’Histoire 56 ( (1978)
305–342; Id., ‘L’universitaire “pauvre au Moyen Age: problèmes, documentation,
questions de méthode’ in: J. Paquet and J. IJsewijn (eds.), The Universities in the Late
Middle Ages (Louvain 1978) and Id., ‘Coût des études, pauvreté et labeur: fonctions
et métiers d’étudiants au Moyen Age’ in: History of Universities II (1982) 15–52. The
difficulties (and possibilities) of this kind of research are summarized in: H. de
Ridder-Symoens, ‘Universiteitsgeschiedenis als bron van sociale geschiedenis’ in:
Tijdschrift voor Sociale Geschiedenis 10 (1978) 87–115 and J. Scheurkogel, ‘Nieuwe uni-
versiteitsgeschiedenis en late Middeleeuwen’ in: Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 94 (1981)
194–204.
53
Stone, The Past and the Present Revisited (London 1987) 69. An excellent exam-
ple of this kind of approach is the prosopography on the students from the German
Nation at the University of Orléans: Ridderikhoff, De Ridder-Symoens and Illmer,
Premier livre.
introduction 17
assignment is to make an inventory of all the persons who actually

visited universities in Italy. A systematic search into Italian university
sources enabled me to discover and gather the names of students
from the Northern Netherlands, 640 in total. Each found student
has been noted on a separate standard form, that contains a stan-
dard set of items. Their entrance in an Italian university is the start-
ing point of the investigation into their lives. From there I returned—in
most cases—to the home-town of each student to discover his social
background (social status of family, profession of father, etc.). I have
consulted the sources of other universities to reconstruct his univer-
sity curriculum. From there I followed traces he left of his career.
These basic sets of questions into curriculum, regional and social
background and career, subdivided into several minor ones and
applied to certain specific periods and situations, has supplied me
with a mass of data, which will help me to answer the type of com-
plex questions mentioned above. They were instrumental to obtain
a clearer view of reasons for and the nature of the iter italicum.
In order to build a prosopography of Dutch students at Italian
universities, my first assignment was to collect their names from uni-
versity sources. It is acknowledged that the source material for Italian
universities lends itself well for certain aspects of prosopographical
research, but it has also been stressed that there are problems and
limitations to their usage.54 In this section I will briefly state the
nature and availability of this source material, and then on some of
the problems one encounters while using them.
Generally speaking, the most known and most used university
sources are the so-called matriculae.55 We might define a matricula as
an official register in Latin in which a representative of authority
writes the names of the members of the university community or
54
Denley, ‘Social Funcion’, 52. and for university sources in general: J. Verger,
‘Problèmes et limites de la prosopographie universitaire à partir des institutions uni-
versitaires elles-mêmes’ in: L’État moderne et ses élites: apports et limites de la méthode proso-
pographique, Actes du colloque de Paris, 16–19 octobre 1991, J.-P. Genet and G. Lottes
eds. (Paris 1993). See for the sources specific to Italian universities: H. de Ridder-
Symoens, ‘Deutsche Studenten an Italienischen Rechtsfakultäten. Ein bericht über
unveröffentlichtes Quellen- und Archivmaterial’ in: Ius commune 12 (1984) 287–315.
This very elaborate article lists all sources one could possibly want to consult. I
shall therefore limit myself to a general overview of types of source material. Sources
consulted are listed in the bibliography attached to this thesis.
55
For these sources, see: J. Paquet, Les matricules universitaires, Typologie des sources
du Moyen Âge occidental, Fasc. 65, A-IV.1 (Turnhout 1992).
18 chapter one
one of its constituting parts. Depending on the particular structure

of the university, matricles may be kept by the entire studium generale,
a faculty, a ‘nation’ or colleges for instance. Although there is some
evidence that registers for the university—so richly handed down
to us for German universities—existed for certain Italian universities
in certain periods,56 we do not have them at our disposal until well
into the sixteenth century. Matriculae for the German nations in which
students from the Northern Netherlands registered themselves have
come down to us for Bologna (law) and Padua (1546 students of
law; 1553 students of medicine). Other sources that contain names
of students are the acta of the German nations that survive for Bologna
and Padua and the rotuli, the lists of people teaching courses at the
university.
Crucial in the collection of students’ names is the question of gradua-
tion. Records of graduation survive in different forms. The official
graduation records by notaries of the bishop (Padua, Ferrara and Pisa),
references to graduations in meetings of the college of doctors (Bologna
and Padua), graduation protocols of the university (Siena). These
sources that give references to graduations have two great advan-
tages: First, they are almost complete—with some lacunae—for the
universities of Bologna, Padua, Ferrara, Siena and Pisa/Florence for
the period that I study. Second, where we have official graduation
records at our disposal (Padua, Ferrara, Pisa and to a lesser extent
Siena, Pavia) the witnesses to the graduation are explicitly named
and this yields a harvest of names of students. This source can par-
tially function as a substitute for matriculation tables that are absent.
The incompleteness of university source material obviously con-
stitutes a problem. On the basis of the material available it is pos-
sible to say that at least an X number of Dutch students attended
university Y. It is, however, likely that there was a number of stu-
dents who registered in sources not at our disposal. The actual total
might therefore be somewhat higher than the numbers found and
the claim to absolute completeness becomes relatively weak for those
universities with an incomplete source record. Of necessity we are
dealing with an absolute minimum. In chapter 2, however, it will
become clear that this absolute minimum gives us a representative
picture.
56
Paquet, Matricules, 16–20.
introduction 19
Outline of the Book: Themes and Questions
In chapter 2 the population will move centre stage. This chapter

will examine the questions on the university curriculum. The very
first point of attention must of course be the fact that, while new
universities had been erected at Cologne (1388) and Louvain (1425),
the sources indicate a continuing growth in student mobility to Italian
universities, at least for the fifteenth and the last half of the sixteenth
century. To be sure, matriculation registers for the universities of
Cologne and Louvain show an enormous growth of attendance ever
since their foundation.57 Still, some preliminary results have shown
that university attendance from students of the Netherlands as a
whole at Italian universities was also increasing.58 One important
assignment is to reconstruct the peregrinatio academica to Italy as thor-
oughly as possible. This will give us an impression as to the numer-
ical importance of this particular group of students. Comparisons
with available case studies for smaller regions, Frisia for one, and
certain towns will give us an indication of the relative size of the
body of travellers. Not only this, we need to further establish whether
Italy as a travel destination was a viable alternative for the ‘home’
universities or if something else was the case.
In order to do this it is essential to reconstruct the entire univer-
sity curriculum of the students from the Northern Netherlands, to
follow them, so to speak, from one university to the next. Furthermore,
we need to examine what disciplines were most popular and how
this compares to the more general figures for the larger student body.
Traditionally, law and to a lesser extent medicine have been identified
57
It is clear that university attendance grew enormously in the fifteenth and six-
teenth centuries. Such are my own observations with regard to university atten-
dance of inhabitants of four towns in Holland (Alkmaar, Gouda, Haarlem and
Leiden). In the course of the fifteenth century, Louvain was becoming more pop-
ular than Cologne for inhabitants of the Western parts of the Northern Netherlands.
Cologne kept its important position for students from the Eastern parts of the
Northern Netherlands, it would seem. Further information on the ‘home universi-
ties’ in chapter 2.
58
For some preliminary figures, see: H. de Ridder-Symoens, ‘Italian and Dutch
Universities in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries’ in: C.S. Maffioli and L.C.
Palm (eds.), Italian Scientists in the Low Countries in the XIIIth and XVIIIth Centuries
(Amsterdam 1989) 31–64, there 54–55; Ead., ‘Adel en Universiteiten in de zestiende
eeuw. Humanistisch ideaal of bittere noodzaak?’ in: Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 93
(1980) 410–432, there 424.
20 chapter one
as the main attraction of the Italian universities. Taking inventory

will tell if this presupposition holds true for the Northern Netherlands.
It is essential to differentiate between the various universities on the
peninsula. Could one say that there was a ‘ranking’ and was the
popularity of a particular studium a general phenomenon or could it
be subject specific? This will not only tell us which were the most
attractive universities and faculties for Dutchmen and what itiner-
aries were most popular. It should also enable us to identify what
factors were important in the ‘rise and fall’ of the institutions in the
Italian university landscape.
Following the students right up to the end of their peregrinatio will
also enable us to make some remarks about their willingness to grad-
uate. Graduation in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was by no
means a given end to the period of study. In the section on grad-
uation of chapter 2 we will examine to what extent it played a role
in the iter italicum and how it compares to students who opted or
had to settle for alternative routes. This might also give some clues
to answer the following question: were they all serious seekers of
knowledge—a matter in which the age of the students is also very
important—intent on getting the best teaching and a highly valued
graduation certificate, or is it possible to trace individuals who merely
enrolled themselves in a prestigious Italian university as part of
a ‘Grand Tour’ that became increasingly popular in the sixteenth
century?
Another important theme has to do with geography. The Northern
Netherlands, though not a huge amount of territory, consisted of
various regions with different political, socio-economic and cultural
structures, circumstances and traditions. Densely populated and highly
urbanized Holland had not that much in common with the region
Frisia, which was never feudalized, had relatively few towns and
where free farmers and rich monasteries were most important eco-
nomically and politically. The bishopric of Utrecht had another char-
acter. Here the Church, personified by bishop and the powerful
cathedral chapter, was in control.59 Can we speak of the iter italicum
59
The entire structure of the Netherlands is meticulously depicted in the Algemene
Geschiedenis der Nederlanden, vols. 3–5 (Haarlem 1980); less voluminous but equally
important is the standard work by Walter Prevenier and Wim Blockmans, The
Burgundian Netherlands (Antwerpen 1985); very helpful is J.C.H. Blom and E. Lamberts
(eds.), Geschiedenis der Nederlanden (Amsterdam 1994), chapter 3 ‘De vorming van een
introduction 21
as a Northern Netherlands phenomenon at all? It will be interest-

ing to see if the various regions contributed evenly to student mobil-
ity, or towns and countryside for that matter. Naturally, shifts in
development between the regions have to be taken into account. It
will not do, however, to focus solely on our perspective of regional
distribution. Attention will have to be given to where students were
perceived to have come from and what they themselves thought
important, when it came to their origin. Chapter 3 will deal with
the geographical origins of the student population.
Another important variable is social background. What was the
social character of this journey to Italy? Studying abroad was very
expensive. After a costly journey, students had to find boarding, pay
fees to the university and their professors and if they wished to take
a licentia or, still better, a doctorate they had to really dig deep into
their purses. Graduation fees may have varied from university to
university, they had one thing in common: they were never cheap.
To this we have to add that the practice of granting degrees with-
out charge to poor students, still viable in the Middle Ages, was
gradually disappearing in the late Middle Ages and the early modern
period. It will be very interesting to learn which layers of Dutch
society could afford such an investment60 and to see if there were
institutions or even persons that contributed to promising students
who wanted to expand their intellectual as well as their geographi-
cal horizon, in other words how they could afford to attend their
politieke unie (14e–16e eeuw’ (W.P. Blockmans); for a short, but very useful overview,
see Hugo de Schepper, ‘The Burgundian-Habsburg Netherlands’ in: Thomas A.
Brady, Heiko A. Oberman and James D. Tracy (eds.), Handbook of European History,
1400–1600. Late Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation, vol. 1. Structures and Assertions
(Leiden 1994) 499–533. See also literature cited in chapters 3–5.
60
There is evidence that certainly in the sixteenth century the proportionate and
absolute number of noble students was increasing. One explanation given is that
nobles were forced to go to universities because of the competition that university
educated civil servants from the urban patriciate gave them. This ‘aristocratization’
of universities for students coming from the Southern Netherlands has been dealt
with in H. de Ridder-Symoens, ‘Adel en Universiteiten in de zestiende eeuw.
Humanistisch ideaal of bittere noodzaak?’ in: Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 93 (1980)
410–432. We shall have to see if the same can be said for the Northern Netherlands.
Very interesting in this respect is the conclusion of H. van Nierop, Van ridders tot
regenten. De Hollandse adel in de zestiende en eerste helft van de zeventiende eeuw (Amsterdam
1990) 126–154 that the nobility in Holland showed a tendency to withdraw from
public office in the course of the sixteenth century. Were they forced out because
of lack of education? Numbers of noble students and their curriculum, discussed in
chapters 4 and 5, might give us some clues to answer this question.
22 chapter one
lectures.61 Further examination of both regional origin and social

background as factors in choice of faculty and choice for a parti-
cular studium will highlight what the iter italicum meant to students
from different places, whether they be spatial or social. Chapter 4
will look into these issues.
Then we might boldly ask if this investment really paid off (if it
was expected to do so). To answer it, we shall have to follow the
professional careers of the students. Could they aspire to fly as far
and high as the education they enjoyed? Where did they go after
their journey? Naturally we have to explore the career circles in
which the students ended up. Again, differentiation between students
of different faculties will give us a better idea as to what a student
of this or that discipline could expect and whether this expectation
could change over time. In this respect it has to be said that there
was another factor of great importance in the composition of the
student body. From their foundation on universities all over Europe
had strong connections with the Church. In fact, a large part of the
student body consisted of clerics who only could afford the cost of
study because they were endowed with a church benefice from which
they could legally be absent. This system declined however at the
end of the Middle Ages and the percentage of clerics as opposed to
laymen seems to have dropped considerably. We shall have to inves-
tigate if this was the case for students from the Netherlands as well,
especially because of the high cost of studying in Italy.
The careers and positions, but also the relations of these selected
few in the gradually expanding apparatus of state will have to be taken
into consideration when we want to determine their place in poli-
tics and law. The period under investigation was indeed an impor-
tant one where the political constellation of the Netherlands is
concerned. We are talking about the building up of the Burgundian-
Habsburg Empire and the formation of the Republic of the Seven
United Provinces during the Revolt. This development involved the
construction and improvement of the bureaucracies of state at a
national, provincial and municipal level and princes, provincial courts
and magistracies had to rely ever more on highly trained specialists
61
Paul Trio, ‘Financing of University Students in the Middle Ages: a New
Orientation’ in: History of Universities IV (1984) 1–24, has made some interesting
remarks on sponsoring by individuals and institutions other than the Church. It is
well worth taking his views into consideration for the early modern period as well.
introduction 23
for the satisfactory functioning of state apparatus. It will be fruitful

to assess the role our students played in these processes of central-
ization on the one hand and the tendency towards particularism on
the other.
Naturally the investigation into the careers of the students has to
be put into perspective. Expectations could be very different for a
nobleman with an interest in law than for a young man with more
humble roots who opted for medicine. Both choice of faculty and
background were issues in pursuing a particular position. It was thus
important to see if social mobility was a possibility for the students
in our population and to what extent their education (in Italy) con-
tributed to a career. The results found will be compared to what is
known for other student populations. This should give an idea to
what extent the iter italicum differed from the journeys to other places.
The epilogue tries to go beyond a summary of the gathered mate-
rial in chapters 1–5. The students studied were more than students,
inhabitants of a certain city or social status, more than their jobs.
It tries to put a little more flesh on the bones. The period under
investigation partly coincides with the era of the Renaissance and
Reformation. Surely the relation between the emergence of human-
ism in Italy and a possible connection to the Netherlands is worth
exploring. In a similar fashion relations between the Reformation
and the students travelling to Italy will be examined. Before pulling
together some of the more interesting concluding strings a brief look
into their interest in the tangible aspects of culture will sum up the
attempt to put together this reconstruction of the iter italicum.
CHAPTER TWO
DUTCH STUDENTS AND ITALIAN UNIVERSITIES

(1426–1575): THEIR CURRICULUM STUDIOSORUM
This chapter deals with a reconstruction of the university curricu-

lum of students from the Northern Netherlands who attended Italian
universities between 1426 and 1575. It gives an analysis of the pere-
grinatio academica of this group of students. A peregrinatio academica can
be understood as the journey of students (and professors) from one
university to another. Generally, it has to be more than just the one.
The length of stay at a studium could vary substantially, but this is
not important in this context. The very fact that a stay at an Italian
university was the determining criterion to be taken into account for
the prosopography indicates that we are dealing with student migra-
tion abroad.1 The distance between the Netherlands and the Italian
peninsula was such that the journey might arguably be called a pere-
grinatio in itself. This chapter describes and analyses in detail the typi-
cal peregrinatio of these students. Which universities in Italy and outside
it were most popular with them? Can one identify reasons for this
popularity? Can we discern certain patterns in the routes taken? Can
we determine what subjects they were after and how long they stu-
died? Though sometimes an arduous and complicated task, it was
possible to reconstruct the travels of the vast majority of students
studied. Before we take an in-depth look at their curriculum, the
population needs to be introduced.
2.1. Introducing the Population
In this study a population of 640 students from the Northern

Netherlands, who studied at the universities of Northern Italy between
1
Definition as used in: De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Peregrinatio academica doorheen
Europa (13e–18e eeuw) in vogelvlucht’ in: Batavia academica I (1983) 3–11, there 3;
similar definition in Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 17–18, though he does not really dis-
tinguish between internal migration and migration abroad.
26 chapter two
1426 and 1575 are the protagonists. The sources for the various uni-
versities in Italy give us the names of 763 persons, or an average of
just over five students per year studying at an Italian university. One
has to take into account, however, that students visited more that
one university in Italy. When one finds that one “Augustinus Teylingius
Theodori Filius Alcmarianus Hollandus” registered with the German
Nation of the Law University of Padua in 1562, and later, 17 January
1565, one locates a citing of the graduation at the University of
Siena of a “dominus Augustinus Thelingius domini Theodorici patria
Almariensis natione Hollandus”, it is obvious that we are dealing
with the same individual: Augustijn Dirksz van Teylingen from the
town of Alkmaar in the county of Holland.2 Closer scrutiny determined
that the actual number of individuals in the population is 640.3 This
means that on average at least four individuals went to Italy to study
each year. They visited different universities in Italy and taken at
their first appearance at an Italian university, they can be subdivided
as follows (table 2.1.1. and graph 2.1.1.):
Period Students Average p.y. Individuals Average p.y.
1426–35 44 4.4 39 3.9

1436–45 38 3.8 34 3.4
1446–55 46 4.6 36 3.6
1456–65 58 5.8 45 4.5
1467–75 99 9.9 84 8.4
1476–85 57 5.7 45 4.5
1486–95 51 5.1 42 4.2
1496–1505 32 3.2 28 2.8
1506–15 31 3.1 27 2.7
1516–25 24 2.4 21 2.1
1526–35 19 1.9 18 1.8
1536–45 36 3.6 27 2.7
1546–55 71 7.1 58 5.8
1556–65 79 7.9 69 6.9
1566–75 78 7.8 67 6.7
Total 763 5.1 640 4.3
Table 2.1.1. Students from the Northern Netherlands mentioned at Italian Universities and
individual students in Italy (1426–1575) in absolute numbers and in ten year averages.
2
Den Tex, ‘Nederlandse studenten’, 67, nr. 87; Minnucci/Morelli, Lauree, 323–4,
nr. 86.
3
The surplus in citings amounts to 19.2%. Schwinges, Deutsche Universitätsbesucher,
dutch students and italian universities (1426‒1575) 27
Individual Students Emerging in Italy (1426–1575)

25
20
15
10
0
1426 1436 1446 1456 1466 1476 1486 1496 1506 1516 1526 1536 1546 1556 1566
Graph 2.1.1. Individuals students from the Northern Netherlands travelling to Italy
for university study (1426–1575).
The numbers fluctuate considerably over time. The reasons for these
fluctuations will be explained in detail below, as they pertain to the
trials and tribulations of different universities in Italy, as well as to
those of the various regions of the Netherlands.
How popular or, maybe, exclusive was Italy, with its numerous
universities, as a destination for study? It is very clear from the table
that with on average between 4 and 5 students per year, Italian uni-
versities taken together must be seen as a very exclusive destination.
Compared to the average number of students from the diocese of
Utrecht that every year registered in the University of Cologne—
until the 1490s the most popular university for students from the
Northern Netherlands, after which Louvain took over this mantle—,
the number of students travelling to Italy is small (table 2.1.2.). At
the present state of research it is not possible to exactly calculate
the percentage of students who visited an Italian university as part
of the total number of studying individuals. It is, however, possible
to create an estimate, if we compare the number of students that
went to Italy to those that went to the most popular universities for
students from the Northern Netherlands, namely Louvain and Cologne.
29–30, also states that the number of enrolled students does not give us the total
of individuals. Some 20 to 25% are found at more than one university in the Holy
Roman Empire. Mobility of students from the Northern Netherlands on the penin-
sula—not counting earlier visits closer to the Netherlands—thus approximates mobil-
ity of the total number of German students making a peregrinatio within the Empire.
28 chapter two
Period Italy Cologne Louvain Total C/L It.% Tot. It.%Col.

1426–35 3.9 52.3 [62.6] [114.9] [3.4] 7.5
1436–45 3.4 73.4 [38.9] [112.3] [3.0] 4.6
1446–55 3.6 59.5 [37.3] [96.8] [3.7] 6.1
1456–65 4.5 76.2 [58.2] [134.4] [3.3] 5.9
1466–75 8.4 66.3 [89.7] [156.0] [5.4] 12.7
1476–85 4.5 98.4 62.0 160.4 2.8 4.6
1486–95 4.2 90.5 73.6 164.1 2.6 4.6
1496–1505 2.8 61.8 123.0 184.8 1.5 4.5
1506–15 2.7 50.7 147.1 197.8 1.4 5.3
1516–25 2.1 38.8 126.6 165.4 1.3 5.0
1526–35 1.8 10.3 69.5 79.8 2.3 17.5
1536–45 2.7 13.2 [128.8] [142.0] [1.9] 20.5
1546–55 5.8 31.3 [145] [176.3] [3.3] 18.5
1556–65 6.9 34 [118.8] [152.8] [4.5] 20.3
1566–75 6.8 [35] [85.8] [120.8] [5.6] [19.4]
Table 2.1.2. Numbers of individuals visiting Italian universities compared to registra-

tion numbers of students from the diocese of Utrecht at the universities of Cologne and
Louvain in 10 year averages (1426–1575).4
What can be deduced from this table, albeit incomplete? If the indi-
vidual students who visited Italian universities are taken as a per-
centage of the total number of enrolments in the universities of
Cologne and Louvain, it becomes clear that the population consti-
tuted a small percentage of the total student population from the
Northern Netherlands. A number of further observations has to be
made at this point. Figures for Cologne and Louvain give bare reg-
istration numbers, not individuals. Numerous students enrolled in
both universities. In fact, two-thirds of the Italy-goers had visited at
least one of these universities. Take for instance Albertus Adriani of
4
Registration numbers for Cologne are based on Keussen, Matrikel. For Louvain,
the study of Herman de Prins, ‘De inschrijvingsfrequentie van de Leuvense uni-
versiteit (1485–1527)’ (Unpublished licentiate thesis, Louvain 1967); L. van Buyten,
‘De Leuvense universiteitsmatrikels (16e–18e eeuw). Kritische beschouwingen’ in:
Arca Lovaniensis 3 (1974) 9–35; Schwinges, Deutsche Universitätsbesucher. The figures in
brackets for Louvain are estimates based on the assumption that c. 20% of the total
number of students registering at Louvain were from the Northern Netherlands.
For the period 1500–25 the percentage of Northerners was 19.9. The decline in
registration figures for Louvain after 1550 have also been found for students from
North Brabant: H. Bots, J. Mathey and M. Meyer, Noordbrabantse studenten 1550–1750
(Tilburg 1979) 7.
Delft. He visited both Louvain, in 1520, and Cologne, where he reg-

istered 30 October 1521, before travelling on to Bologna, where he
briefly taught arts and finally graduated in medicine 4 September
1528.5 On the other hand, other relatively popular universities like
Paris, Heidelberg, Rostock, and Orléans have been omitted from this
table. It has to be said that of those students from the Northern
Netherlands who had visited the law university of Orléans an over-
whelming majority (78 per cent) had studied at one or more uni-
versities—mostly Louvain and Cologne—before coming to the Loire
city.6 On average, the total number of students matriculating in the
universities of Cologne and Louvain can be taken as an approxi-
mation of the total number of individual students from the Northern
Netherlands.7 Even then, the percentage visiting Italy is quite low.
One has to bear in mind that for certain peak periods where Italian
universities are concerned there are no exact figures for the University
of Louvain at our immediate disposal. As it, is the comparative mate-
rial is most complete for the period where there was a slump in vis-
its to the peninsula. The estimates for the period 1466–75 and
1566–75 give a more generous percentage than the cited maximum
of 2.8 per cent in the years 1476–85.
5
Schillings, Matricule, III, 631, 191; Keussen, Matrikel, II, 532, 16; Dallari, Rotuli,
II, 53 and Bronzino, Notitia, 22.
6
De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’, 97.
7
Schwinges’ estimate, that 20 to 25% of the total student population from the
Holy Roman Empire visited more than one university, is taken as a measure
(Schwinges, Deutsche Universitätsbesucher, 29–30). This means that of the numbers of
students registering at Cologne and Louvain some 30 to at times 50 students would
register at another university. It is my estimate that these numbers would exceed
the number of registrations in other popular universities like Paris (between 1354
and 1452 on average a minimum of 4 to 5 students per year are recorded as hav-
ing studied and graduated in Paris: Mineo Tanaka, La nation anglo-allemande de
l’Université de Paris à la fin du Moyen Age (Paris 1990), 263), Heidelberg (c. 10 matric-
ulations per year between 1386–1425, after which numbers collapsed: Margit Eggel,
‘“Semper apertus”. Studenten uit de Lage Landen aan de universiteit van Heidelberg
1386–1425’ (Unpublished master’s thesis Amsterdam 2001) 52–4), Rostock, (7–8
matriculations per year between 1460–9, based on own figures) and others. In other
words, the number of individual students from the Northern Netherlands must be
relatively close to the sum of those who visited Cologne and Louvain. Furthermore,
if one wants to get the number of individuals studying at Cologne and Louvain,
those who stayed at both studia will have to be eliminated from one of the tables.
Schwinges, Deutsche Universitätsbesucher, 34, estimates that per 100,000 inhabitants 25
‘new’ students emerged from the 1480s onwards. Following this estimate, the Northern
Netherlands with close to 700,000 inhabitants around 1500 would yield c. 175 new
students per year.
30 chapter two
Period Cologne Louvain Paris Other Italy Total It%Tot

1426–35 34 8 1 0 0 43 0.0%
1436–45 39 7 0 3 2 51 3.9%
1446–55 34 4 9 0 7 54 13.0%
1456–65 30 18 6 0 10 64 15.6%
1466–75 43 28 2 0 5 78 6.4%
1476–85 40 25 0 1 1 67 1.5%
1486–95 43 33 1 3 2 82 2.4%
1496–05 24 59 0 0 1 84 1.2%
1506–10 7 16 0 0 1 24 4.2%
Total 294 198 19 7 29 547 5.3%
Table 2.1.3. University registrations of Leidenaars (1426–1510).
A case study for students from the city of Leiden in the period
1426–1510 gives an indication of numbers travelling to Italy as part
of its larger student body (table 2.1.3.).8
When we reduce these registration numbers to individuals, we find
that out of a total of 506 students from Leiden 25 (4.9 per cent)
studied at an Italian university.9 These much more accurate num-
bers paint a picture for the first 85 years under investigation that
supports a number of hypotheses. First, a definite changing of the
guards between Cologne and Louvain indeed took place in the
nineties of the fifteenth century. Therefore, the supposition that fewer
students enrolled in Louvain than Cologne prior to 1475 would seem
justified.10 The figures for the period 1476–1505 indicate that Italy
as a destination for study became less important than it had been
in the definite peak-period, 1446–1475. In the decade 1476–85 one
8
Apart from my own data, those assembled by Hanno Brand, Over macht en over-
wicht. Stedelijke elites in Leiden (1420–1510), appendix 23, have been used. He based
his data on Reusens and Wils, Matricule, for Louvain; Keussen, Matrikel, for Cologne;
Denifle and Chatelain, Auctarium, II and III, for Paris; Hofmeister, Matrikel, for
Rostock; Ridderikhoff, De Ridder-Symoens and Illmer, Livre, for Orléans.
9
This elimination is done to give an indication of the percentage of students
from Leiden that visited Italy as part of the greater Leiden student population. The
elimination number is a minimum. At least 8.1% of students from Leiden visited
more than one university.
10
Similar figures have been found for the city of Haarlem, where the volte-face
took place in the nineties of the fifteenth century as well. Based on figures assem-
bled under the guidance of H. de Ridder-Symoens.
lonely student from Leiden, Bartholomeus van Wassenaer, traveled

to Italy and enrolled in the University of Ferrara,11 while 65 of his
fellow townsmen preferred studia elsewhere during these years. Overall,
this picture suggests that one out of every twenty students from
Leiden travelled across the Alps in the period 1426–1510.
In a second case study for the regions of Friesland and Groningen,
we have a continuous flow of figures (table 2.1.4).12 Again, we notice
that Frisian and Groninger students who visited Italy were only a
small segment of the overall population; however, the percentage is
underestimated. Zijlstra’s ten-year averages deal with registrations. The
last row in the table estimates the average number of individuals from
Friesland and Groningen setting off to study per year,13 and the aver-
age number of Frisian and Groninger individuals who visited uni-
versities on the Italian peninsula. On the basis of these numbers, the
percentage of students visiting Italy is higher.
Overall, my figures suggest that Italy-goers started out in the decade
up to 1435 at well over 3 per cent of the total student population
of the Northern Netherlands. In the following decades this figure
fluctuated between 3 and close to 6 per cent for the peak decade
1466–1475. After that, a decline set in. The percentage dropped to
just over one in a hundred students. The percentage increased con-
siderably in the last three decades of the period, 1546–1575, though
it is doubtful whether it ever passed the 6 per cent-mark. The con-
clusion can only be that an Italian university was a very exclusive
destination for study indeed.
11
He is mentioned as a witness 22 December 1478. Pardi, Titoli, 71.
12
The comprehensive study of Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, provides figures on the
basis of most edited university registers and other university sources. Similar stud-
ies for other parts of the Northern Netherlands prior to 1575 are unfortunately
lacking, but would be highly desirable. Regional variations will be dealt with more
elaborately in chapter 3.
13
Zijlstra provides the registration numbers. He was able to calculate the percent-
age of students staying at more than one university. For Friesland he calculated
that for the period 1401–1550 between 10.4% and 12.4% of the students studied
at two or more universities. From 1551–1600 this figure was as high as 34%. For
Groningen the period 1401–1550 numbers vary between 10% and 15%. The period
1551–1600 shows a marked increase with 36.3% of the total number of students
visiting more than one university. Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 18. By subtracting the
average percentage of students who visited two universities from the total average
number, we get an estimate of the total number of individual students.
32 chapter two
Period Friesland Fr.It. Fr.It.% Groningen Gr.It. Gr.It.%

1426–35 3.0 0.2 6.7% 3.0 0.1 3.3%
1436–45 5.0 0.2 4.0% 4.0 0.4 10.0%
1446–55 5.0 0 – 5.0 0 –
1456–65 11.0 0.2 1.8% 6.0 0 –
1467–75 14.0 0.2 1.4% 8.0 0.6 7.5%
1476–85 13.0 0.1 0.8% 13.0 0.7 5.4%
1486–95 12.0 0 0 11.0 0.7 6.4%
1496–1505 22.0 0.3 1.4% 13.0 0.1 0.8%
1506–15 21.0 1.2 5.7% 13.5 0.6 4.4%
1516–25 16.0 0.3 1.9% 11.0 0.2 1.8%
1526–35 12.0 0.5 4.2% 6.0 0.1 1.7%
1536–45 22.0 0.1 0.5% 7.0 0.2 2.9%
1546–55 22.0 1.3 5.9% 7.0 0.6 8.6%
1556–65 17.0 0.8 4.7% 7.5 0.8 10.7%
1566–75 10.0 1.0 10.0% 4.0 0.3 7.5%
Tot. Av. 13.7 0.4 3.1% 7.9 0.36 4.5%
Correct. 11.4 0.4 3.5% 6.4 0.36 5.6%
Table 2.1.4. Students from Friesland and Groningen in Italy compared to the total of
student registrations from Friesland and Groningen (10 year averages).
2.2. The University Itinerary: How Many Went Where?
Before turning to the university curriculum of students from the

Northern Netherlands at the various universities in Europe, it is
worthwhile to look briefly into their pre-university education. Although
there were no formal pedagogical requirements to enter a univer-
sity, we may safely assume that all students had some earlier train-
ing in reading, writing and Latin. They had to be able to follow the
lectures given and the universal language of university education in
this period was, as it had been since the emergence of the first uni-
versities, Latin. There were various ways in which children could
acquire the knowledge necessary to enter a university. In the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries the Netherlands possessed a dense network
of town and village schools. We know of more than 300 schools
existing in the Northern Netherlands in the sixteenth century.14 This
14
R.R. Post, Scholen en onderwijs in Nederland gedurende de Middeleeuwen (Utrecht 1954)
21–30. And this number is certainly too low. Post based his list on published mate-
was entirely in accordance with the ideal of the Catholic Church

that already in 1215, by means of the fourth Lateran Council, decided
that every parish should have a school to enable even poor children
to be educated.15
Different types of schools existed in the late-medieval Netherlands.
Here I focus on two levels of education: elementary and secondary.
The terminology of the various types of schools in the later Middle
Ages is quite complex.16 Elementary education was very widespread
in the Netherlands. Children from the age of approximately five to
eight could learn here how to read and later write, almost exclu-
sively in the vernacular. Such a school could be attached to the local
parish church, it could be a secondary town school or even be a
private enterprise. The schoolmaster could be a priest, a layman
hired by the town government as rector (head master), or an indi-
vidual willing to try his or her (frequently teachers of these inde-
pendent elementary schools were women) luck.17
Secondary schools were also widely distributed in the Netherlands.
They were originally attached to either (cathedral-)chapters or parish
churches and their patronage would be in the hands of a prince—
whether clerical or lay—, but this situation changed considerably in
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The town governments actively
sought to get control over schools. This is something that is typical
of the Netherlands as a whole. Certainly, princes were willing to
grant towns a privilege that gave town governments the right to
appoint teachers. In this fashion a parish school would develop into
town school. Town governments could hire and fire teachers as they
rial, where the archives might have given a far greater number. He did include
Noord-Brabant and Limburg in his survey.
15
Post, Scholen, 19.
16
Names for the same type of school could vary from town to town. Cleyne scholen,
onderscholen, schrijfscholen, duytsche scholen, etc. all refer to a form of elementary edu-
cation where pupils learned to read and write. They could be completely separate
or closely associated with secondary schools.
17
A good introduction in English: Hilde de Ridder-Symoens, ‘Education and
Literacy in the Burgundian-Habsburg Netherlands’ in: Canandian Journal of Netherlandic
Studies XVI (1995) 6–21. In French: ead, ‘La sécularisation de l’enseignement aux
anciens Pays-Bas au moyen âge et à la Renaissance’ in: Jean-Marie Duvosquel and
Erik Thoen (eds.), Peasants and Townsmen in Medieval Europe. Studia in honorem Adriaan
Verhulst (Ghent 1995) 721–737. Still the most complete introduction to medieval
schools in the Northern Netherlands is Post, Scholen. Town governments frequently
issued decisions that Latin could only be taught at the secondary level, so inde-
pendent primary schools were prohibited from teaching Latin.
34 chapter two
deemed useful or necessary. In general, this transformation of the

school system was beneficial to all parties involved. The town gov-
ernment could keep a close eye to see if everything was going accord-
ing to their wishes, they started paying a fixed salary, which made
the position of schoolmaster more attractive to people with good
qualifications, and the pupils benefited from better teaching.
The curriculum of these secondary schools was more or less fixed.
Ideally, it consisted of the septem artes liberales, the seven liberal arts.
In practice this meant the trivium or the threefold way to wisdom,
which consisted of grammatica, rhetorica and dialectica. It is only very
rarely that aspects of the quadrivium or fourfold way to wisdom (arith-
metica, geometria, astronomia and musica) were taught, except in the higher
grades of the more advanced schools, such as Deventer since the
last decades of the fifteenth century. The quadrivium generally seems
to have been the prerogative of the arts faculties at the university.
Only the computus (counting of time) as part of aritmethica was awarded
with some attention at secondary schools, as future clerics would
have to know and use it. Grammar was clearly the most important
of the three. Reading and writing correct Latin was the principal
goal of secondary schools—frequently called Latijnse school (Latin
school). Among the books most frequently used were the Ars minor
by Aelius Donatus and next the Doctrinale by Alexander de Villa Dei.
Dialectica was the second most important item on the school agenda,
where the Summulae logicales of Petrus Hispanus seems to have been
the most popular textbook.
We know that a system of grades was used to distinguish between
pupils of different levels of knowledge. This system developed into
a more or less set form in the sixteenth century with seven basic
grades, and up to nine in exceptionally good schools.18 The formali-
zation of the grade system was the outcome of humanism being
introduced in these town schools. In the late fifteenth century—and
we shall meet students of the prosopography in this story—and more
so in the sixteenth both structure and contents of secondary school
education underwent an important change because of humanists’
involvement in education.19
18
The lowest grade was the nulla. From there children would consecutively go
to the octava, septima, sextima, quinta, quarta, tertia (the basic ‘Latijnse school’), and in
the case of some exceptional schools the secunda and finally the prima.
19
We shall deal with this matter in more detail in chapter 6.
The presence of a dense network of qualitatively excellent town

schools could contribute considerably to the shortening of the stay
at the faculty of arts. Consider the case of Godfried Pannekoeck,
who matriculated in Cologne on 15 September 1539, in the arts fac-
ulty. Within less than three months he managed to get his bache-
lor’s degree.20 There is some evidence that the availability of such a
high level of secondary education might have negatively influenced
the numbers of arts students enrolling in the various universities.21
On the other hand, the presence of a dense network of schools has
also been described as beneficial to university recruitment. Having
a school in one’s own town or the immediate vicinity strengthened
the recruitment powers of a university. A case study for the town
of Alkmaar seems to second Schwinges’ more general observation.
The increasing appeal of this famous town school—due to the recruit-
ment of humanist teachers of some renown—seems to have resulted
in a rise on the number of students visiting the university of Louvain
in the period 1500–30.22 Such a dense network certainly existed in
the Northern Netherlands. It would be very difficult to travel more
than 20 kilometres and not find a city, town or village with a school.
Parents with considerable financial means could opt for another
type of education for their offspring. A private teacher seems to have
been a popular choice for nobles and the vastly wealthy town elite.
We meet these private teachers later on in the life of their pupils
when they are sent to universities. Here they act as paedagogi. They
accompanied their pupils to university, kept an eye on their achieve-
ments and tried to lead them safely and successfully through their
often pre-planned university curriculum. Among the students who
visited Italy we find five young men who acted as paedagogi to noble
young men. Hugo Blotius was the praeceptor to no less than three
noble boys, Ludwig von Hutten among them, on his peregrinatio that
took him to six universities in France, Switzerland and Italy.
It should be evident that children who wanted to be educated (or,
to be more exact, whose parents wanted them to be educated) had
20
Keussen, Matrikel, II, 603, 15.
21
Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 16 mentions the flourishing town schools in Groningen
as a reason for the declining numbers of arts students enrolling.
22
Schwinges, Deutsche Universitätbesucher, 330–41, where he discusses the situation
for the university of Cologne. Figures for the town of Alkmaar based on own
research: A.L. Tervoort, ‘“Onderricht sticht”. Een korte beschouwing over de ontwik-
keling van het onderwijs in Alkmaar’ (Manuscript Alkmaar 1989).
36 chapter two
ample and various possibilities in the Northern Netherlands to do

so. We may safely assume that, by far, most of our students had
had previous education before they registered with a university. It
is, however, very difficult to come up with concrete proof of where
and when they did go to school. The late-medieval and early modern
schools of the Northern Netherlands—with one notable exception23—
have not left traces in the form of pupils’ lists. It is therefore an
impossible task to systematically look for schools of later university
students. We know for 28 students of the prosopography which
school(s) they visited. Although this is not very much to go on, it
does allow us to make some remarks with regard to the above descrip-
tion of schooling in the Northern Netherlands.
The first point of interest is that the schools mentioned are located
over almost all territories. For the county of Holland, the following
town schools are mentioned: Alkmaar, Amsterdam, Haarlem, Leiden,
Naarden and The Hague. For the Nedersticht: three different schools
in Utrecht and the town school of Amersfoort. For Zeeland the
school in Zierikzee is mentioned. For the Oversticht the schools of
Deventer and Zwolle—both of some renown in the fifteenth and six-
teenth centuries, with illustrious pupils like Erasmus and Viglius of
Aytta—can be found. For Friesland the school of Leeuwarden is
named and for Groningen and Ommelanden two different schools in
the town and the school of Aduard are listed. Bruges in Flanders is
mentioned as a destination for a pupil from Middelburg, none other
than Paulus Adriani.
A second interesting point is that the various types of secondary
education are all represented within this tiny group. We know that
the (related) members of the Van Teylingen family and the Van
Foreest family who studied in Italy all visited the town school in
Alkmaar. Its school had some claim to fame, since the humanists
Johannes Murmellius and Petrus Nannius had taught there.24 Nicolaus
Ruysch visited the chapter school of St Salvator in Utrecht, where
he was to become a canon.25 A relative of Nicolaus, Cornelis van
23
For the town school of Gouda there exists a list of pupils, which deals with
several years. This archival document (Streek Archief Hollands Midden, Oud Archief
Gouda, inv. nr. 2798 a. f.) merits further scrutiny.
24
Cf. Jurjen N.M. Vis, ‘De Alkmaarse jaren 1528–1558’ in: Henriëtte Bosman-
Jelgersma (ed.), Pieter van Foreest. De Hollandse Hippocrates (Krommenie 1996) 71–80;
also A.L. Tervoort, ‘Schoolmeesters’.
25
Bram van den Hoven van Genderen, Heren van de kerk. De kanunniken van Oud-
munster te Utrecht in de late middeleeuwen (Zutphen 1997) 132 and 243.
Mierop, who was the son of the influential and wealthy treasurer of
Emperor Charles V, Vincent van Mierop, was educated by a pri-
vate teacher before he set off for the university of Louvain in 1522
at age thirteen.26
From the little information we have at our disposal, we might
gather that pupils were generally sent to a nearby school, frequently
in their home town. Wilhelmus Livini Lemnius, “son of the excel-
lent medicus”27 Lieven Lemnius of Zierikzee, went to school where
his family had a secure place in local society. However, travel to a
more distant school was not uncommon, and we shall see a paral-
lel when we come to their university education. If a town school
was deemed unsatisfactory for specific purposes, the pupil could be
sent to a better institution further away. The Lebuin’s school of
Deventer seems to have had this position. Even a relatively small
town like Alkmaar had in 1517 some 600 externi, students from out-
side the town, visiting its school, while another 300 local boys attended
it.28 In some of the larger towns—for instance, Deventer and Zwolle—
the Brethren of the Common Life set up houses where pupils of the
town schools might receive board and lodging during their stay at
the school. Not just the renown of certain bigger schools seems to
have been an important factor in deciding where to send a child.
The quality of an individual teacher could also entice a parent or
guardian to send a pupil back and forth between towns. In the case
of Viglius of Aytta, his uncle, Bernard Bucho, was entrusted with
his education. After having taken Viglius into his own house, where
the boy was educated privately, Bernard sent him to school in
Leeuwarden. In 1519 Viglius was sent to the Lebuin’s school in
Deventer. In 1520, after a short period in Friesland, he visited the
town school in Leiden, and finally, in 1521, he also attended the
school in The Hague. In the case of the last two schools the teach-
ers seem to have been the decisive factor. Wilhelmus Verius in Leiden
and Jacob Volkertz in The Hague were considered to be excellent
teachers by the concerned guardian.29
26
Ibid. 243.
27
Weigle, ‘Pisa’, 210, nr. 230.
28
GAA, Stadsarchief, inv. nr. 23, f. 46 v. Also the note written by one of the
schoolmasters, Guilelmus Zuermond, cited in: H.E. van Gelder, Geschiedenis der
Latijnsche school te Alkmaar (Alkmaar 1905) 155; Tervoort, ‘Schoolmeesters’, 72–73.
The town had some 5000 inhabitants in 1514.
29
Folkert Postma, Viglius van Aytta als humanist en diplomaat (Zutphen 1983) 14–6.
38 chapter two
In conclusion we might state that school facilities were relatively

abundant in the Northern Netherlands and that pupils should have
been able to acquire the necessary knowledge of Latin—and prob-
ably something extra in the form of basic philosophy—to take the
next step: enrolling in a university.
For most of the 640 students in the population Italy was certainly
not the only destination for study, nor was it their first. An over-
whelming majority of the population started out elsewhere. For 516
students (80.6 per cent) it was possible to find evidence that they
had studied at more than one university in Europe. This figure is a
minimum. For the other 124 students, identification of their names
in other university sources was not possible. This does not necessarily
mean that they did not study at more than one studium. Sometimes
the amount of information in the sources is so minimal that iden-
tification is simply impossible.30 When “Gossowino de Hollandia in
med. scholare” is mentioned as a witness at a graduation ceremony at
the University of Padua in 1431,31 there is simply not enough infor-
mation to uniquely identify the student involved.
For the 516 who visited more than one university the following
subdivisions can be made, according to the number of universities
they attended (table 2.2.1.).
Almost half the population attended two universities, while another
132 visited 3, and a further 52 even travelled to 4 studia. Then we
know of 14 that went to 5 universities. One more student attended
6 and another two students managed to visit 7 different studia. All
in all, this was a highly mobile group. In contrast to estimates of
average student mobility, visiting an Italian university was almost a
guarantee of belonging to the select few who visited more than one
university.32
30
Cf. De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Brabanders’, 211. She comes to similar results for
students from Brabant who studied at the University of Orléans. Only 21.2% of
her population had visited one university.
31
Zonta, Acta graduum, I, 262, nr. 817.
32
For Frisia and Groningen, the percentage of students visiting more than one
university between 1401 and 1550 varies between 10 and 15%, rising to 34 and
37.5% respectively between 1551 and 1600; Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 18; also
Schwinges, Deutsche Universitätsbesucher, 29, with his figures for Cologne: 16% of the
students visiting more than one university until 1450 and 12,5% until 1500.
Map 2.2. Universities visited by students in the population and their itineraries to
Italian universities and their weight.
40 chapter two
Period 2 univ. 3 univ. >3 univ Total> 1 u. Total Per.

1426–50 48 (51.6) 20 (21.5) 6 (6.5) 74 (79.6) 93 (100)
1451–75 74 (51.7) 22 (15.4) 16 (11.2) 112 (78.3) 143 (100)
1476–1500 48 (47.1) 27 (26.5) 7 (6.9) 82 (80.4) 102 (100)
1501–25 26 (41.3) 21 (33.3) 4 (6.3) 51 (81.0) 63 (100)
1526–50 34 (47.9) 10 (14.1) 14 (19.7) 58 (81.7) 71 (100)
1551–75 85 (50.6) 32 (19.0) 22 (13.1) 139 (82.7) 168 (100)
Total Cat. 315 (49.2) 132 (20.6) 69 (10.8) 516 (80.6) 640 (100)
Table 2.2.1. Students from the Northern Netherlands, who visited Italian universities,
attending more than one university in absolute numbers (% in brackets).
While this high mobility was a constant characteristic of the popu-

lation, varying only slightly from 78.3 to 82.7 per cent, it increased
slightly in the sixteenth century. Furthermore, there also seems to
have been a tendency to visit more universities in the sixteenth cen-
tury. This is consistent with the pattern of European student mobil-
ity in general, which peaked in the second half of the sixteenth and
first half of the seventeenth century, when the peregrinatio academica as
a cultural phenomenon reached a peak probably not witnessed since
the era of the wandering scholars in the high Middle Ages.33 Volkert
Coyter of Groningen stands out as the peregrinatio academica personi-
fied. He travelled to no less than seven universities all over Europe
between 1550 and 1566. Louvain, Tübingen, Montpellier—where
he met and befriended another more famous traveller and medical
student, Felix Platter—,34 Padua, Rome, Perugia and finally Bologna
were all halting-posts on his iter italicum.
Figures for students from the Northern Netherlands, who attended
the university of Orléans between 1444 and 1546, another relatively
exclusive destination, provide an interesting comparator. Of these
specialist students of law, a minimum of 77.7 per cent visited more
than one university (293 out of 377 students).35 There is a difference
in the total number of universities visited, though. Those who stayed
at two studia (63.9 per cent), account for the bulk of mobility. Some
33
De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Mobility’ in: Ead. (ed.), History, II, 280–303.
34
For Felix Platter see Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Le siècle des Platter 1499–1628,
I. Le mendiant et le professeur (Paris 1995).
35
De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’, 97.
10.3 per cent visited three and 2.4 per cent visited four or more
universities.36 The distance in terms of travel may have made a
difference here. There were more universities to visit en route to Italy
than on the way to the Loire city. A trip southward could well be
the next goal for an ambitious law student who wanted to take a
degree from a prestigious Italian studium. And indeed, some 37 Dutch
students in Orléans opted for this further journey to the peninsula,
whereas only two students first visited an Italian university and then
travelled on to Orléans.
It has been mentioned that switching university in Italy itself was
certainly not uncommon among Dutch students. What is the picture
for universities outside Italy? In total, students in the population vis-
ited 41 different universities of which 28 were located outside the
Italian peninsula. Counting Cologne and Louvain as universities of
the Holy Roman Empire, it is obvious that the Empire bore the
brunt of university visits outside Italy. France followed as a second
destination at some considerable distance. There are four universi-
ties that clearly stand out with more than 5 per cent of university
registrations outside Italy: Louvain, Cologne, Paris and Orléans.
Divided over the period 1426–1575 attendance at these four uni-
versities looks as follows (table 2.2.2.).
Louvain Cologne Paris Orléans

1426–50 16 45 9 n.s.
1451–75 46 48 22 2
1476–1500 41 39 7 4
1501–25 25 18 1 5
1526–50 37 10 3 8
1551–75 97 14 4 18
Total 262 174 46 37
Table 2.2.2. University attendance at the four most popular universities outside Italy
of students from the Northern Netherlands who visited Italian universities (1426–1575).37
36
On the basis of Ibid. 75.
37
Figures for Paris are probably too low, as university records mostly deal with
graduations rather than pure registrations.
42 chapter two
These four universities represent the vast percentage of universities

visited outside Italy. In the second half of the fifteenth century, very
few students bypassed Louvain, Cologne or Paris. The relative popu-
larity of Cologne and Louvain changed over this period. It would
be justified to say that Cologne was the starting university for the
fifteenth century up to the 1490s. The number of students of the
population attending it declined sharply in the sixteenth century, as
Louvain steadily gained importance, reaching an absolute record
among the population in the third quarter, making Louvain the start-
ing university in the sixteenth century. Though formally universities
of the Holy Roman Empire, one might say that together they were
the ‘national’ universities for students from the (Northern) Netherlands
and this certainly holds true for the population here.38
There cannot be much dispute about Paris as the third most popu-
lar destination to either start university studies or visit after an ear-
lier stay at one of the ‘national’ institutions. This ancient university
with a grand tradition in the teaching of the arts continued to attract
numerous students from the North, even when nearby alternatives
became available. Between 1424 and 1452 at least 138 students from
the diocese of Utrecht attended the Parisian alma mater. The declining
numbers in the sixteenth century partly reflect a source problem for
students from the Northern Netherlands.39
The University of Orléans is a special case.40 Although there are
no reliable sources before 1444, a marked increase in attendance
after this date is obvious. Orléans was not a typical university to
start one’s university curriculum. Only law was taught there, so in
most cases the student who enrolled had already visited another uni-
versity to study arts. Its relative popularity among students whom
one later can locate at Italian universities is obvious, for as will be
38
Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 12–13; Brand, Over macht en overwicht, 267–8; De Ridder-
Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’, 74; Schwinges, Deutsche Universitätsbesucher,
323–4.
39
Tanaka, Nation, 263. Laurence W.B. Brockliss, ‘Patterns of Attendance at the
University of Paris, 1400–1800’ in: Julia and Revel (eds.), Histoire, II, 487–526, there
in particular, 490 and 517, n. 1. A lot of material for the faculties of law, medi-
cine and theology has not been published. The sources for the English/German
Nation for the fifteenth century have been published in the series Auctarium Universitatis
Parisiensis.
40
De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Brabanders’; Ead., ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’;
Ead., Ridderikhoff, Illmer, Premier livre, I, introduction; Ridderikhoff, Deuxième livre,
I, introduction.
shown shortly, law was the most popular subject to study at the uni-
versities of Northern Italy. A combined visit to both of these famous
university poles certainly represented the prestigious peregrinatio of a
privileged student where law was concerned.
Some remarks need to be made about the other universities in
the Empire and France. After Louvain and Cologne, Rostock seems
to have been the most popular studium of the Empire to visit with
at least 14 students from the population registering there. This holds
particularly for the fifteenth century and most markedly for students
from the eastern parts of the Northern Netherlands.41 Other more
frequently mentioned universities were Heidelberg (12), Basle (11),
Wittenberg (6), Erfurt (5), Dole (5), Ingolstadt (5) and Vienna (4).
Visits to Heidelberg, Basle and Wittenberg took place mostly in the
sixteenth century, arguably for religious reasons. For instance, the
university of Basle, formally still part of the Empire, had a Protestant
character ever since its reformation in 1532. Most students in the
population who visited it did so after this date. The university of
Dole is another special case. Located in the Franche-Comté, it could
be considered a ‘Burgundian’ university.
In France, Montpellier (5) and Bourges (4) were most popular after
Paris and Orléans, the former exclusively for medicine and the lat-
ter exclusively for law. The nature of visits to Orléans, Bourges and
Montpellier was therefore very different from those to Paris and most
universities in the Empire, including Louvain and Cologne. The for-
mer three attracted specialist students who for the most part had
already studied arts at a university nearby. The sixteenth century
gives a wider variety of universities visited by students in the popu-
lation. This is partly due to a lack of sources for some universities
in the fifteenth century. There is no denying, however, that the many
new foundations of the fifteenth (such as Basle, 1459) and sixteenth
centuries (for instance Wittenberg, 1502) gradually started to attract
young men in search for learning. The university density in Europe
increased and this wider choice certainly made an impact.42
When dealing with the universities outside Italy where students in
the population registered, it is also worthwhile looking at what they
41
Cf. Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 13 for students from Friesland and Groningen.
42
For an overview of newly founded universities in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries see: Willem Frijhoff, ‘Patterns’, Chapter II in: H. de Ridder-Symoens (ed.),
History, 43–110.
44 chapter two
Artes MA LA BA Degree Total

1426–50 72 (77.4) 54 (58.1) 2 3 59 (63.4)
1451–75 107 (74.8) 87 (60.8) 2 4 93 (65.0)
1476–1500 79 (77.5) 41 (40.2) 1 7 49 (48.0)
1501–25 39 (61.9) 22 (34.9) 2 2 26 (41.3)
1526–50 52 (74.3) 30 (42.9) 2 – 32 (45.7)
1551–75 113 (66.9) 36 (21.3) 3 – 39 (23.1)
Total 462 (72.2) 270 (42.2) 12 16 298 (46.6)
Table 2.2.3. Number of students who started in the arts faculty, number of gradua-
tions to magister artium, licentiatus artium and baccalaureus artium compared
to the total population (% in brackets).
studied. University registers are not always very forthcoming with

such information. Their scribes were not very consistent in writing
down the particular faculty a student wanted to register with.43 For
a considerable number of students it was possible to determine their
choice of faculty in the universities outside Italy. Where their first
university is concerned, a substantial majority enrolled in the arts
faculty; 462 out of 640 (72.2 per cent) started out by studying arts.
This figure is certainly too low. Behind the number of 133 unde-
termined first enrolments (20.6 per cent) there is probably another
majority of arts students hidden. This first choice for the septem artes
liberales (the seven liberal arts) need not surprise us. Following up on
earlier pre-university instruction in the arts, the student was given
training in the understanding of Latin through grammar, and taught
the basics of logical reasoning and natural philosophy in which texts
of Aristotle were very influential. Ever since the thirteenth century
the program in the faculty of arts was considered to be a basis for
studying in one of the higher faculties.
On the basis of these figures it is safe to say that in general a
student who would later visit an Italian university started his cur-
riculum in the arts faculty, most frequently at a studium close to
home, either Louvain or Cologne, with Paris as a solid third. Certainly
in the fifteenth century a majority of the population would have an
arts degree before enrolling in another faculty. Specialist universities
43
For a discussion of the specific problems, see: Paquet, Matricules, especially
76–80.
like Orléans for law and Montpellier for medicine come into the
picture here. The decline in the percentage of students with an arts
degree, particularly for the sixteenth century, clearly reflects the
declining popularity of Cologne in the late fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries. Graduation data for the University of Cologne are the
most complete. It was not possible to find the same level of com-
pleteness for the University of Louvain, which was so predominant
as a starting university from 1490 onwards. The Italian sources are
not very consistent in citing any previous degrees. The percentage
of students with a status in studio in the arts must have been consid-
erably higher than the figures indicate.
Another 45 students (7 per cent) seem to have started their uni-
versity curriculum in the faculty of law. When Biso (or Ziso) Mulaert
of Hasselt first enrolled in the University of Louvain on 6 June 1461,
it was stated explicitly that he opted for canon law.44 This phenom-
enon runs through all 25-year cohorts. It would appear, however,
that registering immediately with the law faculty was somewhat more
common in the sixteenth century than the previous one.45 A further
two students opted for medicine immediately when registering. In
general, though, it would seem that the average student, armed with
a solid education in the arts, often with a degree, would travel on,
visiting various universities on the way, to the final destination of
his university curriculum: Italy.
Italian Universities and Dutch Attendance

Studying in Italy was not that straightforward for a student from
other parts of Europe. He had to undertake a long, arduous journey
on foot, on horseback or by boat. As roads in these times were far
from safe, there seems to have been a tendency among students to
travel in caravans with pilgrims to Rome, for example, or with mer-
chants. There is even evidence that students from the same town or
region formed groups to travel together to their studium of destination.46
44
Wils, Matricule, II, 85, 46.
45
Percentages for the cohorts are: 1426–50 5.4%; 1451–75 6.3%; 1476–1500
7.1%; 1501–25 11.1%; 1526–50 2.8%; 1551–75 8.9%. Again, one could suggest a
link here with the improved quality of pre-university education, which might have
enabled some students to skip the arts faculty.
46
R.C. Schwinges, ‘Zur Prosopographie studentischer Reisegruppen im fünfzehnten
46 chapter two
Considering the fact that only a small part of the students from the
Northern Netherlands chose or had the opportunity to travel to far-
away Italy, these student groups were not very numerous. We do
have some examples of brothers who travelled a considerable part
of their peregrinatio academica together. The Van der Mijle brothers,
Adriaan and Cornelis, journeyed all over Europe together. On 30
October 1553 we find them in Louvain, where “Cornelius & Adrianus
fratres filii Arnoldi van der Mijlen de Dordraco” matriculated.47 Less
than a year later they registered in Heidelberg 1 October 1554. And
after a considerable period there, they travelled to Italy, where they
matriculated at the University of Padua in 1561.48 It is not very often
though that we find an example of students from the same town or
village in Holland who travelled to a university in Italy together. If
students travelled to Italy in a group, its composition seems to have
been of a regional or even ‘(supra)national’ character rather than of
a local one. Certainly the registers that survive indicate that there
were great fluctuations in the number of registrants. This does not
solely reflect the trials and tribulations of the university itself—war
and epidemics that kept students away in certain years—but also the
nature of travel to such far-away destinations.
One way in which such a travelling band might form was through
meeting fellow countrymen at some university. If their goals were
the same, they might well have decided to travel together to the
next destination. It seems likely that when Nicolaus Johannis Raet
of Haarlem and Nicolaus Johannis Aerschot of Gouda studied and
graduated together in arts at the University of Paris early in 1465,
they travelled together to Padua, where we can find the two mentioned
together several times as witnesses, once to the graduation of another
fellow Hollander Jacob Ruysch of Amsterdam.49 It is very likely that
even travelling bands of an international make-up formed at the vari-
ous universities in Europe. Students with the same destination might
Jahrhundert’ in: Bulst and Genet (eds.), Medieval Lives, 333–341; Id., ‘Studentische
Kleingruppen im späten Mittelalter. Ein Beitrag zur Sozialgeschichte deutscher
Universitäten’ in: Herbert Ludat and Rainer Christoph Schwinges (eds.), Politik,
Gesellschaft, Geschichtsschreibug. Giessener Festgabe für Frantisek Graus zum 60. Geburtsdag
(Cologne 1982) 319–361.
47
A. Schillings (ed.), Matricule de l’université de Louvain, IV (Brussels 1966) 483,
46–7.
48
Den Tex, ‘Nederlandse studenten’, 65, nrs. 76–7.
49
Auctarium, VI, 383, 399, 401; ACVP, Ser. Diversorum, inv. nr. 33, f. 46 and 78.
well have considered travelling in large groups, since this would make
the dangerous journey safer, cheaper and probably more pleasant.
A student was a traveller as well as a young man pursuing aca-
demic qualifications. A number of other activities could be combined
with the registration at a university in Italy. Pilgrimage, ambassadorial
functions, seeing the sights, meeting important scholars and collect-
ing books and objects were all part of the iter italicum. In this period
in the history of travel there is little evidence of these activities for
the students in the population, but here and there some interesting
bits of information rise to the surface. Rome, although not such a
popular goal for study until the foundation of the Collegium Germanicum,
was a travel destination that is mentioned often. For members of
the clergy Rome was the very centre of power, where confirmations
of appointments and papal dispensation were to be obtained. Travelling
in person for important missions was not uncommon. Three students
in the population, Dirk Utenweer, Ludolf van Hoorn and Alfer van
Montfoort, made such a journey at a later stage in their career in
1455, asking for the confirmation of Gijsbert of Brederode as bishop
of Utrecht on behalf of the chapter in Utrecht.50 Many a student
visited Rome in the aftermath of his studies. The humanists Hadrianus
Junius and Petrus Forestus, for instance, visited the Eternal City after
they had graduated at the university of Bologna. Petrus Forestus
made this into a long study trip under the guidance of the German
physician Valerius Cordus. They travelled to Padua, Ferrara, Florence,
Pisa, Livorno and Siena before finally reaching Rome. On a stop
in Bologna the travelling band was joined by another student in the
population, Cornelius Andree of Sittard, who had just graduated in
medicine at Bologna. In Rome, Forestus stayed for several months
and he briefly joined his fellow countryman, Gisbertus Lamberti
Horstius of Amsterdam who had studied in Perugia and worked as
a physician at the hospital of the Santa Maria della Conciliazione.
Not just the sights, but also famous scholars and horti botanici were
on the list of things to visit. Erasmus’ trip to the peninsula was pri-
marily to study and collect manuscripts. The fact that he graduated
in theology in Turin was in his case only of second importance to
him, although the same cannot be said for the university, that was
50
Cf. chapter 2.4 for their academic pursuits during this journey.
48 chapter two
all too proud to include the name of this cultural icon on the walls
of the studium.
With the invention of the printing press the circulation of all sorts
of travel guides dealing with places worth a visit started to appear
in print. Although at first most of these were written for the over-
whelming majority of travellers to Italy, pilgrims to Rome, gradu-
ally other angles more to do with aesthetics and learning found their
way into these travel guides.51 It is almost impossible to determine
who read what, if indeed these students oriented themselves at all
on their way to the peninsula. It seems likely, though, that particu-
larly in the sixteenth century visiting cities other than the one where
the Alma Mater of choice was located was high on the agenda. When
Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, himself a law graduate of Padua, in his
will of 1592 set aside a substantial sum for his sons to study in Italy
he stipulated that apart from visits to the university cities of Bologna
and Padua, his sons were supposed to visit Venice, Rome, Florence,
Naples and Milan and other places of interest.52 One of the students
in the population, Hugo Blotius of Delft, actually wrote an—unfor-
tunately unpublished—travel guide for one of his pupils, the young
noble Ludwig von Hutten. This travel account, which deals with
nearly all aspects of travel through Italy, gives reader a number of
instructions, not only places to visit (or to avoid for that matter), but
also whom to see.53
Once a student had arrived in the university city of his choice,
there were other things to worry about. He had to find board and
lodging. He could do this on his own initiative, but he could also
seek the help of his fellow countrymen in the nation. Officials of the
nations could be of great help. Members of the German nation seem
to have clung together in Bologna. Names like “Via dei Tedeschi”
or “Casa degli Olandesi” say it all.54 Considering the fact that
51
Cf. Lucia Tresoldi, Viaggiatori tedeschi in Italia, 1452–1870. Saggio bibliografico, vol.
I (Rome 1975), with an overview of literature and a bibliography of early travel
guides and travel literature; Frank van Westrienen, “Groote Tour”; Maszak, Viaggiatori.
52
S.P. Haak (ed.), Johan van Oldenbarnevelt. Bescheiden betreffende zijn staatkundig beleid
en zijn familie, I, 1570 –1601, Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën 80 (The Hague
1934) 240.
53
Vienna, Österreichische Nazionalbibliothek, ms. 6070. I thank Prof. A. Grafton
for pointing out the existence of this spectacular document. Also see his recent
Cardano’s Cosmos. The Worlds and Works of a Renaissance Astrologer (Cambridge Mass.
1999) 15–17.
54
Kibre, Nations, 31.
Germans were extremely active as innkeepers most students must

have been able to find a place where they could feel more or less—
sometimes much less—at home. Letters written by the German stu-
dent Friederich Behaim, who visited the law faculty of Padua in
1581 and 1582, like his brother did before him in 1575, give us an
idea of what life was like for a foreign student in Italy in the six-
teenth century. Through contacts at the Fondaco de’ Tedeschi in
Venice, a guild of German merchants, he found board with an Italian
landlord, named Cyprian, who spoke German, for the amount of
seven crowns (approximately ten Rhenish guilders) a month, which
Friederich rightly thought very expensive. He did not expect to be
there very long. He thought of his first residence as a basis from
where he could find something cheaper once he mastered the lan-
guage and got the hang of things. His troubles with speaking Italian,
exchanging money and even his clothing all paint a vivid picture of
student life and his letters make clear that studying was certainly not
the only thing on a student’s mind, even though he might come
from a well-off family like the patrician Behaims.55
Though most of the students in the population had visited other
universities and as such had a fair idea how things worked at ‘mag-
ister-universities’, the university situation in Italy was somewhat different
from the studia north of the Alps. As opposed to the studia they had
visited, most of those on the peninsula were what can be labelled
‘student universities’. The actual universitates were organizations by
and for students only, to ensure the maximum amount of autonomy.
Professors, therefore, were not members of the university. This struc-
ture originated in thirteenth-century Bologna. By the fifteenth century,
however, ‘student universities’ no longer were the bastions of student
liberty they once used to be. Both comune and the collegia doctorum
now had a firm grip on the organization of the studium. In fact, it
is true that the student corporations at most Italian universities had
lost most of the power they once had over the entire studium—Padua
being the exception to a certain extent. At some studia the student
corporations never enjoyed any real power. The studium of Siena, for
instance, was in the hands of the commune from its very foundation.56
55
Steven Ozment (ed.), Three Behaim Boys. Growing up in Early Modern Germany (New
Haven 1990), in particular 155–9, letters 96–100.
56
The various publications of Peter Denley frequently mention the fact that one
should not overestimate the power students enjoyed at universities other than Bologna
50 chapter two
In this period cities and states, in collaboration with the collegia doc-
torum, hired professors and paid them.
Most Italian universities were structured along the lines of the
Bologna, in more or less elaborate forms and we therefore use it to
describe the terminology and structure of several Italian universities.57
The most complex structures of Italian studia existed in Bologna and
Padua, proportional to their size. The studium generale consisted of two
universitates, the universitas legistarum (faculty of law) and the universitas
artistarum et medicinorum (faculty of arts and medicine). Each of these
faculties was in turn subdivided into a universitas citramontanorum (stu-
dents from the Italian peninsula) and a universitas ultramontanorum (stu-
dents from the rest of Europe). These universitates, again, were subdivided
into nationes, harbouring students from a particular region, for instance,
the Natio Germanica, belonging to the universitas ultramontanorum.
studium generale
universitas legistarum universitas artistarum

et medicinorum
universitas universitas universitas universitas

citramontanorum ultramontanorum citramontanorum ultramontanorum
etc. etc. etc. etc.
nationes nationes nationes nationes
Figure 2.2.1. Outline of the structure of the Bolognese model.
and Padua in specific periods. Siena is a very good example for this; Cf. Grendler
Universities.
57
Denley, ‘Recent Studies’, 198–199 emphasizes that one should not overesti-
mate the importance of the University of Bologna as a role model for the other
universities on the peninsula. He names the examples of Naples, Rome and, his
specialty, Siena.
At the head of each of the faculties (legistarum and artistarum) stood

a rector or two rectors (the law faculty of Bologna knew a rector
universitatis ultramontanorum and a rector universitatis citramontanorum; some-
times one person acted as rector utriusque universitatis). He had to be
an at least twenty-two-year-old student of a certain social stature,
preferably with already several years of study at the university behind
him. He officially governed and represented the universitas in all mat-
ters. The rector was elected by all the students belonging to the uni-
versitas or by the representatives of the nations. The rector had to
share his governing power with the representatives or leaders of the
nationes, organizations formed along the lines of geographical origin.
These leaders were called procuratores (German nation at Bologna) or
consiliarii (other nations at Bologna and Padua). Decisions on almost
all university matters were subject to the consiliarii for approval. So, the
nations had their fair share in decision-making within the university.
The complexity of university structure had a lot to do with the
number of students attending. The smaller studium of Ferrara, also
very important from the point of view of the peregrinatio academica
from the Netherlands, was divided into a universitas legistarum and a
universitas artium et medicinorum, that were each directly divided into
nations, one of which was a nation for ultramontani. In Siena, only
the universitas legistarum had a subdivision in ultramontane and citra-
montane nations, which in turn were divided into nations, of which
the German nation was one. Its faculty of arts and medicine had
no further subdivision. Other universities had an even less complex
structure.58
The faculty of theology is almost absent in the above-sketched
structure of the Italian universities. Faculties of theology at Italian
studia were mostly governed by the mendicant orders and as such
had very little to do with the rest of the studium. Apart from that,
it seems that they never enjoyed the same popularity as the other
faculties at the Italian studia. Paris was the place to be when one
wanted to study theology.
58
A comprehensive graphic sketch of the structure of Italian universities is to be
found in H. de Ridder-Symoens, ‘Italian and Dutch Universities’, 50–53; Schmutz,
Juristen for the law university of Bologna; Grendler, Universities.
52 chapter two
A student who wanted to enter a university had to perform a

number of duties. He had to pay a certain amount of money to the
universitas and the nation, have his name registered in the matricula
and swear an oath before the rector of the universitas.59 He had to
pledge loyalty to the statutes, obey the officials and not cause trou-
ble for other members of the university. Only then did a student
belong to the university. Students from the comune itself and profes-
sors never belonged to the universitates.
A powerful force in the governance of the studium were the colle-
gia doctorum. In the first instance, these colleges were not established
for professors teaching at the studium, but to control and exert autho-
rity over all doctors present and practising (lawyers and physicians)
in a particular city. These colleges had strong connections with the
city or state in which the university was located. Moreover, they had
an enormous amount of influence in academic affairs, especially in
Bologna, where they appointed the other professors. In addition to
this, promotores (supervisors) of students who wished to take a degree,
had to be members of the college in question. The college was
presided over by a prior. Foremost among the tasks of the collegia
were the examinations of candidates who wished to obtain a degree.60
Though the smaller universities also knew collegia doctorum, they
were never as powerful as in Bologna or as numerous as in Padua.
It is true that all these colleges formed an academic elite. To belong
to a collegium doctorum was the ultimate step in an academic career.
This was partly a family affair, as there existed several lawyer fami-
lies whose members were continuously part of the collegia doctorum.
The colleges had strong ties with the commune. In the period under
investigation the commune or state, generally well aware of the (not
only) economic advantages of having a studium in town, hired the
59
The actual sequence of these duties varied. Cf. Paquet, Matricules, 41–42.
60
Cf. the very elaborate introductions to C. Piana (ed.), Il “liber secretus iuris
Caesarei” dell’Università di Bologna 1451–1500 (Milan 1984) 31*–43* and Id., Il “liber
secretus iuris pontificii” dell’Universià di Bologna 1451–1500 (Milan 1989) 7*–11*. The
structure of the collegia doctorum in Padua differed in important aspects of that in
Bologna. Contrary to Bologna, Padua allowed non-citizen doctors to be temporary
members of the colleges, provided they were paid by the commune and for as long
as their appointment lasted. Though they could not act as promotores of students
who wished to take a degree, they could enjoy the privileges of the colleges and
participation in the examination of students as well. This was a welcome extra con-
tribution to their income and must have been a special attraction for foreign pro-
fessors to teach at Padua; Ohl, ‘University of Padua’, 89–91.
professors and paid their fees. In most cases university cities appointed
special officials who should take the interests of the studium at heart.
They were called reformatores (Bologna, Ferrara, Siena, Padua) or trat-
tatores (Padua).
Although students could matriculate in a university whenever they
wanted, there was such a thing as the formal beginning of the aca-
demic year on Saint Luke’s, 18 October. It ended in September,
though there were very few lectures after June. There were approxi-
mately 135 days for the ordinary lectures. In addition there were
some 45 days when special lectures could be given, a total of about
180.61 Lectures took place in the morning (lectura ordinaria) or in the
afternoon and early evening (lectura extraordinaria). Generally, the most
important professors held the ordinary lectures. The other professors
gave the extraordinary ones. Advanced students, baccalaurei,62 who
wanted to teach also gave their lectures during extraordinary hours.
Ordinary and extraordinary lectures could never take place at the
same time.
A large part of a student’s life was with his appropriate nation.
The nationes or ‘nations’ were more or less spontaneous organizations
of students, formed on the basis of geographical origin and directed
against the local authorities; students feared the local population in
every way. Though originally an entirely voluntary movement by
and for students of law and primarily, in the course of the thirteenth
century membership of a nation became mandatory for all non-
Bolognese students and this mandatory membership became cus-
tomary for all studia in Italy. The structure of the nations was not
dissimilar to that of the various guilds of medieval Europe.63
The number of nations and their names could vary from time to
time, from university to university, and also from faculty to faculty.
In the case of Italy it the several faculties of law had more nations
than the faculties of arts and medicine. The universitas artium et med-
icinorum at Bologna, for example, was divided into only four nations:
an ultramontane one, which included all non-Italians, a Lombard,
Tuscan and a Roman one. The universitas ultramontanorum of the law
61
Grendler, Universities, 143–5. Ohl, ‘University of Padua’ 79 has very different
calculations: 224 and 93 days, a total of 317!
62
Baccalaureus meant that the student was teaching. It was not an official aca-
demic degree as in northern universities like Paris or Oxford.
63
Kibre, Nations, 14.
54 chapter two
faculty on the other hand had sixteen nations from the fifteenth cen-
tury onwards. It is obvious that the nation structure of the various
universities in Italy depended largely on their size and most impor-
tant areas of recruitment, both in- and outside Italy. The most ela-
borate structures were to be found at the biggest and most renowned
ones: Bologna and Padua.
The name and area of recruitment depended on several require-
ments on the part of the students.64 In the nation’s statutes the
‘Founding Fathers’ specified which criteria were to play a decisive
role in the formation of a natio for students. In the case of the
German Nation—the ‘proper’ home for our population—the place
of birth was generally the major criterion. There were further criteria
that decided to which nation a certain individual should belong. The
statutes of the German Nation of 1497 at Bologna state that all those
students who have ‘German’ as their native tongue should belong
to the natio germanica, no matter where they came from. In the six-
teenth century the actual place of residence started playing a role
as well, especially in Padua.65 Students from the Northern Netherlands
in general met all these criteria.66
Nations all had broadly the same form of organizational structure.
They were presided over by consiliarii or procuratores that were elected
by the members of the nation. This official ran the nation with the
help of several helpers. The German nation was always one of the
most important ones, both in numbers and influence in the gover-
nance of the university, but also in the keeping of records. At the
law faculty of Bologna the German nation had two votes in the elec-
tion of the rector and university assemblies, whereas all other nations
64
Bolognese students were not only excluded from the nationes. Formally they did
not even belong to the universitates, because they were subjected to Bolognese juris-
diction—as opposed to all other students.
65
Kibre, Nations, 4–5. It should be noted that the term ‘German’ does not refer
to present day German, but rather to a Germanic language, spoken from the North
of France to the Baltic.
66
Not without struggle, though. In 1292 the students from Frisia were assigned—
after a long quarrel—to the German nation because their homeland was so close
to the territories of the German nation in general: Kibre, Nations, 10. This fact
might give some explanation for the fact that all students from the Northern
Netherlands who figure in the acta call themselves frisius or friso. Especially in the
last decade of the thirteenth century no students from the Northern Netherlands
matriculated otherwise. No mention of any other territory is recorded.
had only one! It was the only nation whose elected leader was called
procurator or proctor. In other nations he was called consiliarius.67
The nations not only had a considerable influence in the gover-
nance of the universitas, they also had considerable control over their
students, since membership of a nation was obligatory. The nation
was almost like a world in itself. The life of a student abroad took
place within the—reasonably—safe haven of the nation that con-
sisted of their fellow countrymen and students from adjacent lands.
He would have far more dealings with the nation than with the uni-
versitas as such. The nation kept a considerable administration for
which it needed officials. The most important of these offices was
that of proctor or consiliarius, the official head of the nation. He was
elected by majority vote by all the members of the nation in ques-
tion. As in all university elections beans were used instead of bal-
lots. The acta of the German nation in Bologna even mention that
it was strictly forbidden to throw beans on the table while the bal-
lot committee was counting the votes, a decree that probably had a
clear basis in what must have been a rather comic episode.
A principal task of the proctor or consiliarius was his control of the
nation’s finances. Every student enrolling in a nation had to pay a
certain amount of money—varying from 2 solidi to 60, depending
on the student’s social and financial status—to the proctor. This was
the sole source of monies to finance the nation’s expenditure. Apart
from this he also had to keep inventory of all the nation’s belong-
ings (such as cash, books, religious objects, matriculation lists, statutes
and privileges). The nation’s money was used for all sorts of pur-
poses that were important for students far from home. If a student
fell ill, students from the same nation had to care for him—a nation
could also employ its own physician. If this proved to be in vain,
they took care of funerals for their colleagues. Frequently nations
had their own chapels in churches, where they would hold religious
ceremonies for their members. The respective patron saints were
rewarded with extra attention. In the case of the German nation St
Catherine, St Nicholas and St Martin were considered to be special
mediators on behalf of German students. The heads of the various
nations also mediated in quarrels between students of the same and
67
Ibid. 30–1.
56 chapter two
other nations, an important task, since student quarrels were often

bloody, sometimes even lethal. Lastly, they organized all kinds of
social occasions and observed the celebration of ‘national’ holidays.
This was the environment students were faced with when they
arrived at the various studia on the Italian peninsula. Now we shall
assess their popularity among our adventurous students from the
Northern Netherlands. A first appearance in the sources is used to
measure attendance, so that we might best approach the first date
of the student coming to the university. Technically it is possible
that there is information in all possible university source categories
for a particular student. The student Alfer of Montfoort, for instance,
is mentioned four times in the sources for the University of Bologna,
from his matriculation in 1437 until his graduation in canon law in
1444.68 In order to facilitate recognition of the various source cate-
gories and to establish the origin of attendance figures, separate
figures are presented for matriculations and graduations.
There were four universities with at least 50 students from the
Northern Netherlands attending in the period 1426–1575. Of these,
two universities tower above all others with well over 200 young
men visiting them: Padua (243) and Bologna (220). They are fol-
lowed by a strong third: Ferrara (152). The University of Siena comes
fourth (57). The other universities of Northern Italy follow at some
distance, none of them entertaining more than 30 students from the
Northern Netherlands, as far as the sources allow us to ascertain.
These Big Four are dealt with individually. The others are taken
together. From the figures, though incomplete, it is obvious that
Bologna and Padua vied for the status of ‘most popular’ university
in Italy, at least where students from the Northern Netherlands are
concerned. Although Padua was the most popular, in deference to
age and tradition Bologna is discussed first.
a. Bologna
The University of Bologna can justifiably be called the oldest uni-
versity in the world. Its reputation and great tradition in the teach-
ing of law made sure that, ever since its very foundation, it attracted
large numbers of students. A presence from the Northern Netherlands
can be dated back at least to the thirteenth century, when a multi-
68
Acta, 184, 17; 185, 42, 188, 11; Knod, Deutsche Studenten, nr. 2432.
tude of students, most of them called “de Frisia,” enrolled in the

German Nation of the law university of Bologna. Ever since then,
young men from the northern Low Countries have travelled to this
great university city. The sources for the law university of Bologna
allow us to gain a long term perspective on student attendance from
the Northern Netherlands in the period 1266–1575, while sources
for the university of arts and medicine give figures from c. 1400
onwards (graph 2.2.1).69
Some very considerable fluctuations are discernible. This is only
partly due to lacunae in the source complex. Certainly from 1289
onwards the information level for law students registering with the
German Nation in Bologna remains rather consistent. The graph
shows a remarkable peak in the period 1286–1305. This is the era
in which the Natio Germanica Iuristarum started to really organize itself
and when the students in the nation started to keep records. The
fact that a record peak of 28 students between 1286 and 1295
Students from the Northern Netherlands at the University of Bologna

(1266–1575)
30
25
20
15
10
0
1266– 1286– 1306 1336– 1346– 1366– 1386– 1406– 1426– 1446– 1466– 1486– 1506– 1526– 1546– 1566–
75 95 15 35 55 75 95 15 35 55 75 95 15 35 55 75
Graph 2.2.1. Student attendance from the Northern Netherlands at the University of
Bologna in absolute numbers (1266–1575) in ten-year periods.
69
For student attendance at the law university of Bologna the Acta edited by
Friedländer and Malagola as well as Knod, Deutsche Studenten formed the basis up
to 1425, supplemented by the recent study of Schmutz, Juristen. For the period after
this both these works, but also source editions of Sorbelli, Liber, and Piana, Liber (I
caesarei and II ponteficii), as well as archival material where the law university was
concerned. For the arts and medicine university the source editions of Bronzino,
Notitia, Dallari, Rotuli, and Piana, Ricerche, and Nuove ricerche, were most important.
58 chapter two
occurred then has to be explained by looking at the university map

of Europe at the time. There simply were not very many alterna-
tives. At the end of the thirteenth century only Paris, Oxford and
Cambridge—and the English universities do not seem to have had
much attraction for Dutchmen—had university status in the north
of Europe. Where law was concerned, certainly civil law, Bologna
held prime position among all other studia.
The subsequent collapse of attendance figures, particularly after
1305, cannot be blamed on lacunae in the sources, as Bologna was
under a papal interdict between 1306–9. Yet, numbers only pick up
again in the fourth decade of the fourteenth century. From then on
law students travelled to Bologna regularly, albeit in smaller num-
bers. It is not entirely clear why numbers declined so strongly. It is
possible that the University of Orléans, in existence since 1235, but
only formally recognized by papal privilege in 1306, made an impact
on the Northern Netherlands in the fourteenth century. There are
no sources to fully substantiate this claim, but from 1444 onwards,
when the livre des procurateurs of the German Nation in Orléans starts
giving regular attendance figures, a very strong presence of students
from the diocese of Utrecht can be ascertained. In the first six years
no less than 23 students from this diocese started their studies in the
Loire town.70 Canon law, at that time more often chosen as a sub-
ject of study than civil law, could also be studied at the University
of Paris. It is significant in this context that the papal Curia and
court had been transferred to Avignon in 1309, where they were to
stay until 1377, when the Western Schism made the situation even
more complicated. While Bologna had been on the right way to
Rome up to 1309, now Orléans and Paris could be considered good
alternatives for clerics on their way to Avignon.71
The figures pick up again in the 1340s, though much lower than
for the period 1286–1305. It is very hard to explain this second
increase. An increasing demand for university trained personnel in
church bureaucracies and institutions—particularly chapters—and the
limited availability of universities could be seen as important factors
at this stage. Furthermore, the outbreak of the Great Schism in 1378
70
De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’, 94 and 96.
71
The situation seems to have been similar for students from the Scandinavian
countries: Sverre Bagge, ‘Nordic Students at Foreign Universities until 1660’ in:
Scandinavian Journal of History 9 (1984) 1–29, there 6.
with a new pope, Urban VI, in Rome may have made the choice
for Bologna more popular, as in the Northern Netherlands, Urban
seems to have had more support than Clement.72 The decline that
set in after 1385 and led to a new low in the period 1396–1415
could be ascribed to the various new university foundations in the
north of Europe, of which Cologne, Erfurt and Heidelberg certainly
were the most important for students from the diocese of Utrecht.
Such at least was the case for students from Frisia, who in this period
had a distinct preference for the study of law. Their strong presence
in the fourteenth century definitely declined in the last decade of
the fourteenth and the first decades of the fifteenth century. The
impressive percentage of Frisian students who studied law at the
University of Cologne is definitely most revealing in this context.73
Graphs 2.2.2. shows attendance of students from the Northern
Netherlands in the period 1426–1575, the period under investigation.
It shows a gradual increase from the 1440s onwards, which increases
more rapidly towards the peak period 1476–1495. It would be justified
to say that universities in Italy in general profited from the increase
in the overall Dutch student population, such as has been estab-
lished for the universities of Cologne and Louvain. The same holds
true for the specific case of Bologna. The last decades of the fifteenth
century seem to have been its most booming period, especially for
law students. Very high matriculation levels—with great fluctuations,
however—show the distinct popularity of the law university.74
It is possible that the French invasion of northern Italy in 1494
may have functioned as something of a deterrent in those years. Armies
roamed the roads of the Romagna in 1494.75 In 1494 only one new
student from the diocese of Utrecht matriculated with the German
Nation of the law university. In 1495 none showed up. However, the
German Nation does not seem to have suffered a structural crisis.
72
J. van Herwaarden, ‘De Nederlanden en het Westers Schisma’ in: NAGN, IV
(Haarlem 1980) 379–86.
73
Cf. Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 35. The adjective frisius or de Frisia might also
mean that the student in question was from Groningen or even East-Friesland.
74
Similar increasing figures for the law university in Bologna can be established
for students from England who graduated. See: R.J. Mitchell, ‘English Law Students
at Bologna in the Fifteenth Century’ in: English Historical Review LI (1936) 270–87.
Figures in the section on graduation.
75
C.H. Clough, ‘The Romagna Campaign of 1494: a Significant Military Encounter’
in: D. Abulafia (ed.), The French Descent into Renaissance Italy, 1494–95. Antecedents and
Effects (Aldershot 1995) 191–215.
60 chapter two
Number of Students at the University of Bologna

14
12
10
0
1426 1436 1446 1456 1466 1476 1486 1496 1506 1516 1526 1536 1546 1556 1566
Graph 2.2.2. Student attendance from the Northern Netherlands (1426–1575) at the
University of Bologna in absolute numbers.
Matriculations in the Law University of Bologna

8
0
1426 1436 1446 1456 1466 1476 1486 1496 1506 1516 1526 1536 1546 1556 1566
Graph 2.2.3. Matriculations of students from the Northern Netherlands at the Law
University of Bologna (1426–1575) in absolute numbers.
Between 1490 and 1510 an average 25 students registered with the

German Nation of the law university of Bologna every year.76 One
in every twenty students in the enormous German Nation came from
76
Luigi Simeoni, Storia della Università di Bologna. II. L’età moderna (1500 –1888)
(Bologna 1940) 68.
the Northern Netherlands.77 In this period Bologna as a destination

for study retained its popularity for students from the Northern
Netherlands. The year 1500 shows another boom, when 6 new stu-
dents appear in the sources. This was partly because students from
Groningen and Friesland seem to have developed a renewed inter-
est in Italy as a destination for study, from which especially Bologna
could profit.
Numbers stabilized in the decades 1506–1525 at a slightly lower
level of an average of close to 2 students starting to study in Bologna
per year. This is the period of the second great invasion of France
into Italian territory, beginning in 1509. In a general sense this may
have prevented students from travelling to the Italian peninsula, but
Bologna was relatively safe because of its location within the papal
state. This could not be said for Padua and Ferrara, as we shall see
shortly. The following ten years, from 1526 until 1535, saw a nadir
in attendance numbers in Bologna.78 A severe outbreak of plague
that swept northern Italy from the mid-twenties for several years was
the likely culprit. Moreover, the general instability on the peninsula,
from which even the papal state was not excluded this time, with
the sack of Rome in 1527, must have been a major factor in this
development.79
The situation settled somewhat after 1530, which coincided with
the coronation of Charles V as Emperor in Bologna. This occasion
was used to affirm and increase the number of privileges the German
Nation had.80 The increased stability on the peninsula allowed for
an increased interest from students from the Northern Netherlands.
From 1536 onwards, there was a recovery in attendance, particu-
larly in the years 1542–50 and again in 1556–60. Attendance num-
bers, however, did not again reach the levels witnessed in the last
77
Figures for the total German Nation (1289–1562) on the basis of those given
by Winfried Dotzauer, ‘Deutsches Studium in Italien unter besonderer Berücksichtigung
der Universität Bologna’ in: Geschichtliche Landeskunde 14 (1976) 84–130, there 101,
suggest a percentage of 4.4, with peaks and nadirs for different periods.
78
The first three decades of the sixteenth century also seem to have been a
period of decline in attendance figures of students from the Southern Netherlands.
See De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Italian and Dutch Universities’, 53, especially table 3.
79
Eric Cochrane, The Late Italian Renaissance, 1525–1630 (London 1970); Id., Italy,
1530–1680 (New York 1988), introduction; J. Hook, The Sack of Rome, 1527 (London
1972).
80
Luigi Simeoni, Storia, 67; Dotzauer, ‘Studium’, 113.
62 chapter two
decades of the fifteenth century. The level of matricluation at the

law university of Bologna perhaps best illustrates this trend (graph
2.2.3.).
In contrast to other universities, notably Padua and Siena, Bologna
did not really partake in this second peak in the iter italicum. One
probable explanation for this is rooted in the great tradition of stu-
dent migration. In 1562, following a student row, which escalated
and ended in a conflict with the comune, the German Nation migrated
to Padua and did not return until 1573.81 Another significant factor
might have been the promulgation of the bulla In sacrosancta, issued
by pope Pius IV in 1564. It stipulated that students who wanted to
obtain the degree of doctor had to swear an oath of loyalty to the
Catholic Church. The comune of Bologna did not succeed in getting
some sort of papal exemption for ultramontani, which had serious
implications for those students with Protestant sympathies.82 Although
a stable number of students from the Northern Netherlands contin-
ued to visit—and graduate at—Bologna, the second half of the six-
teenth century is the period when the ancient Alma Mater had to
irreversibly give up her prime position in student numbers from the
diocese Traiectum, which she had held for some seventy years, and
more importantly her reputation to Padua.83
b. Padua
Although Bologna may have had the highest claim to fame, it was
Padua that was most popular with students from the Northern Nether-
lands, certainly in the first five decades under investigation here.
Since 1405 Padua had been part of the Terraferma of the Republic
of Venice. Far from being an oppressive conqueror, the Serenissima
81
Ibid. 69; Dotzauer, ‘Studium’, 121.
82
Richard L. Kagan, ‘Universities in Italy, 1500–1700’ in: Julia, Revel, Chartier
(eds.), Histoire sociale, I, 153–186, there 167.
83
The situation is somewhat different for students from the Southern Netherlands.
Though Padua is clearly the winner where attendance numbers are concerned (num-
bers quadrupled in the second half of the sixteenth century compared to the num-
ber of the first half ), Bologna managed to reach an absolute peak in the third
quarter of the sixteenth century (figures doubled in the second half compared to
the first half ). Even the last quarter shows a remarkably high level of graduations.
It is only in the first quarter of the seventeenth century that figures decline rapidly.
De Ridder-Symoens, ‘L’évolution quantitative’, 93, table 3; Ead., ‘Italian and Dutch
Universities’, 54–55.
actively sought to stimulate university attendance not only within its

own territory—Padua was the only approved university for the
Republic’s subjects—, but also from across its borders. “Ut maximus
studentium numerus ad ipsum concurrat” (so the greatest number
of students will gather at it) was the motto that both the authorities
in Venice and the riformatori of the University of Padua held in high
regard.84 A deliberate policy of attracting famous professors and spe-
cial privileges for foreign students were only two of the methods used
to attain this goal.85
This seems to have been fruitful in the case of students from the
diocese of Utrecht. The sources for Padua are quite consistent since
1406. The first Dutchman to be mentioned from that date onwards
was Jacobus Hugonis of Haarlem, who graduated in medicine on
15 March 1410, while a compatriot, Theodoricus Bermar of Leiden,
was a witness to his graduation.86 After a period of plague in 1427–29,
the early thirties show a remarkably high attendance. This figure
declined somewhat in the next decade. Another period of severe
plague from 1436 until 144087 does not seem to have dramatically
influenced attendance of students from the Northern Netherlands,
who continued to graduate during these years, although their over-
all number declined slightly. Attendance figures fell slightly in the
decade 1446–55,—though even then the level of attendance was still
considerably higher than that of Bologna. This is consistent with an
overall decrease in the number of graduations for the university as
a whole from 1446 onwards until 1457.88 A significant development
in this context is that the University of Ferrara, with the solid back-
ing of its prince, Borgo d’Este, actively sought to attract ultramontani
to attend the studium of Ferrara through cash payments, low gradu-
ation rates and the like.89 This led to a spectacular rise in student
84
Archivio Antico dell’Università di Padova, inv. nr. 648, f. 387. Also quoted
by Ohl, ‘University’, 69.
85
The beneficial effects of Venetian rule on the University of Padua are cer-
tainly one of the central theses of Ohl, ‘University’.
86
Zonta, Acta graduum, I, 24–5.
87
Ohl, ‘University’, 48–9; Edgardo Morpurgo, ‘Lo studio di Padova, le epidemie
ed i contagi durante il governo della Republica Veneta (1405–1797)’ in: Memorie e
Documenti per la Storia di Padova (Padua 1922) 125–7.
88
Ohl, ‘University’, 51–2.
89
Giuseppina de Sandre, ‘Dottori, Università, Comune nel Quattrocento’ in:
Quaderni per la Storia dell’Università di Padova I (1968) 15–47, there 19.
64 chapter two
attendance from the Northern Netherlands at the University of Ferrara

for the decade 1446–55, as we shall shortly see.
The following decade shows a further increase that was entirely
accounted for by strong attendance figures for the late fifties. The
early sixties show a temporary dip, reflecting a general trend for the
Paduan studium, aggravated by another outbreak of plague in 1464.90
Figures rose again to a second peak in the decade 1466–75, 1467
being the record year. The year 1480 marks a trend-break, after
which attendance figures declined sharply. Plague in 1484 and again
in 1499,91 together with the French invasion in 1494–5 may account
for part of this sharp decline. Especially noteworthy is that the num-
ber of students from Holland and Zeeland, whose presence was so
strong during the second and third quarter of the fifteenth century,
declined enormously after 1477. Until the mid 1490s, there followed
a period of political instability and economic decline in the west of
the Northern Netherlands that may have influenced their choice for
a distant university destination.92
Numbers further declined in the decade 1496–1505, reflecting the
more general decrease in graduations of students from the other side
of the Alps.93 This development was exacerbated by the French inva-
sion of 1509, when French troops supported by both emperor and
pope fell heavily on the Republic of Venice. Padua, since 1405 an
integral part of the Terraferma, was to suffer greatly from the winds
of war. The city was sieged, captured, then liberated, again sieged
and sacked. The studium in Padua could not escape the consequences
of repeated military activity in its surroundings. It almost ceased to
exist. Foreign students fled and did not return for some fifteen years.
Student attendance from the northern Low Countries was no excep-
tion to the general malaise of the university. From 1505 until 1530
Padua was completely avoided by Dutchmen. Thereafter a slow
recovery set in, which brought an end to a sixty-year period in which
90
Ohl, ‘University’, 54, note 70; Marpurgo, ‘Studio’, 127.
91
Marpurgo, ‘Studio’, 127.
92
Tracy, Holland under Habsburg Rule, 13–32 discusses both political and economic
troubles. The years 1470–89 also seems to have been a rather bleak period for
mobility from Holland and Zeeland—and the rest of the Northern Netherlands—
to the law university of Orléans: De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom
Utrecht’, 94.
93
Ohl, ‘University’, 61, n. 100.
Students at the University of Padua

14
12
10
0
1426 1436 1446 1456 1466 1476 1486 1496 1506 1516 1526 1536 1546 1556 1566
Padua (1426–1575) in absolute numbers.
Matriculations in Padua 1545–75

8
0
1545 1550 1555 1560 1565 1570 1575
Graph 2.2.5. Matriculations of students from the Northern Netherlands at the University
of Padua (1545–75) in absolute numbers.
students from the Northern Netherlands preferred other studia, notably

Bologna. From this moment on, attendance figures rose, slowly at
first, but then very spectacularly in the decade 1556–1565. The uni-
versity maintained these figures in the last decade of the period under
investigation, although one can observe a slight decrease. This spec-
tacular growth cannot be attributed solely to the sources that had
already started to flow in abundance from 1543 onwards. Student
66 chapter two
mobility in general boomed in the second half of the sixteenth cen-

tury and the University of Padua managed to capture the lion’s
share.
In this period the University of Padua really recovered from the
events that happened earlier in the century. Famous professors chose
Padua as their teaching spot. Students from the Northern Netherlands
were certainly attracted by this. Another important development was
the migration of the German Nation of the law university of Bologna
to Padua in 1562. With its most ardent competitor in serious trou-
ble with northern students, Padua managed to profit considerably.
Thus, the last quarter of the period 1426–1575 saw the number of
law students at Padua explode. Where it was more popular for stu-
dents of medicine in the fifteenth century, law took over in the six-
teenth. It should not be forgotten, though, that Padua regained its
position as the medical centre of Europe from about 1540; the cho-
sen studium in Italy for medicine students from the Northern Nether-
lands, especially after 1550. Though Den Tex’s remark that it rarely
happened that a student visited another university on the peninsula
without also having studied at Padua,94 is clearly not justified, at
least one out of every two students from the northern Low Countries
in Italy (51.8 per cent) did attend the Paduan studium between 1551
and 1575! Padua was on its way to regaining the position it held in
the period 1426–1450, when more than two-thirds of Dutch students
on the peninsula had passed through its gates.
A factor of importance was the relatively lenient rule of Venice
that allowed students to study and graduate in Padua in consider-
able peace of mind. When the Council of Trent polarized the reli-
gious question, particularly after the issuing of the aforementioned
bull In sacrosancta by Pius IV in 1564, Venice continued to allow
Protestant students to study and even graduate at Padua. If a student
wished to graduate, but wanted to avoid the bishop of Padua or his
vicar, as representatives of the pope, and the oath to the Catholic
faith, he could graduate after examination under the authority of
the comes palatinus, a count palatine as representative of the emperor.95
94
Den Tex, ‘Nederlandse studenten’, 82.
95
This particular way of graduating goes back to a privilege of Emperor Sigismund
of Luxemburg (1410–37), perhaps even to Charles IV of Luxemburg (1347–78),
which granted the granting of the title of doctor to comites palatini. This practice has
The Republic went even further in 1616 when they created the pos-
sibility to graduate in arts and medicine auctoritate veneta, under author-
ity of the Venetian College (1635 for lawyers). This gave the studium
of Padua a reputation of tolerance, which allowed students of a
different persuasion to attend this reputable university.96
The slight drop in the last decade could be ascribed to Philip II’s
ban on attendance at universities other than Louvain, Douai or
Rome. Indeed, matriculation numbers for both German Nations,
those of law and arts and medicine, show a setback in the early se-
venties. It is only in the later eighties that figures climb to record
heights again. Possibly the first troubled years of the Dutch Revolt
offer a partial explanation for this. Nevertheless, it could not stop
student mobility to Padua, which continued to grow well into the
seventeenth century. Only after 1640 did the numbers decline once
more. This time there would be no recovery. The middle of the se-
venteenth century heralded the end of student mobility to Italy. Italy
would remain a popular destination for travel, but only as part of
the Grand Tour.
c. Ferrara
The third university that deserves some extra attention is Ferrara.97
It was a relatively late foundation by Italian standards. It opened its
gates in 1391, only to close them again soon afterwards, in 1394.
Some student activity, including visits from the northern Low Countries
took place in the first decades of the fifteenth century, but the for-
mal reopening did not take place until 1430. Ferrara was a different
studium in more than one respect. First, its size could never attain
been noted to take place in the fifteenth century already, often in the case of poor
students. Elda Martellozzo Forin, ‘Conti palatini e lauree conferite per privilegio.
L’esempio padovano del sec. xv’, in: Annali di storia delle università italiane 3 (1999)
79–120; Grendler, Universities, 183–6; Ohl, ‘University’, 111 and 129–131, states that
this procedure might have been a method of granting degrees to Jews and other
early religious dissenters. Also P.J. van Kessel, Duitse studenten te Padua. De controverse
Rome-Venetië en het Protestantisme in de tijd der Contra-Reformatie (Assen 1963) 92–117.
96
For the position of Padua in general: De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Mobility’ 426;
Kagan, ‘Universities’, 167. For the graduation auctoritate veneta: R. Palmer, The ‘Studio’
of Venice and its Graduates in the Sixteenth Century (Padua 1983); Van Kessel, Duitse
studenten.
97
Literature on Ferrara: G. Pardi, Lo studio di Ferrara nei secoli 15. e 16. (Ferrara
1903; reprint Bologna 1972); Domenico del Nero, La Corte e l’Università. Umanisti e
teologi nel Quattrocento Ferrarese (n.p. 1996) 18; Grendler, Universities, 99–106.
68 chapter two
that of its closest neighbours, Bologna and Padua—though in the

case of students from the Northern Netherlands there seems to have
been a temporary, but notable exception! Second, its foundation was
not due to spontaneous student initiative. The will of Marquis Alberto
d’Este, ruler of Ferrara, was responsible for this. Although the first
years of this new foundation may have been rather hesitant, it grad-
ually began to grow. Precisely two factors have been decisive in the
subsequent success of the studium of Ferrara: its location, neatly
between the two major university poles in Italy, and the solid back-
ing of its rulers.
The first known visiting student from the diocese of Utrecht was
Wilhelmus Balduini of Delft who became a doctor of medicine on
14 March 1419.98 His graduation charter states that he visited two
other Italian universities before coming to Ferrara: Bologna and
Padua. This is significant, as it reveals one of Ferrara’s more attrac-
tive aspects. Graduation fees were substantially lower than those of
its neighbours—sometimes more than half.99
Students at the University of Ferrara
14
12
10
0
1426 1436 1446 1456 1466 1476 1486 1496 1506 1516 1526 1536 1546 1556 1566
Ferrara in absolute numbers.
98
“Gulielmus f. Balduini de Delf de Holandia”; Pardi, Titoli, 12–13.
99
Rashdall, Universities, II, 54; Grendler, Universities, 105.
The first decades of the period show a relatively low level of atten-
dance, but from 1447 until 1455 there was a rather impressive
increase in the number of students from the Northern Netherlands
visiting the studium of Ferrara. An important element in this context
is that its prince, Borgo d’Este, was instrumental in luring ultramontani
to come to the studium of Ferrara through cash payments and low
graduation fees, a source of some concern for the authorities of the
University of Padua and Bologna.100 At any rate, this tactic seemed
successful. It is certainly true that a substantial portion of graduates
of the University of Ferrara had previously visited another univer-
sity on the peninsula, in most cases either Padua or Bologna and
sometimes both. The following table (2.2.4.) attempts to sketch this
phenomenon:
Padua Bologna Both Sum Ind. % of Total Total
1426–50 9 1 1 9 50.0 18
1451–75 17 6 3 20 28.2 71
1476–1500 4 9 0 13 41.9 31
1501–25 0 2 0 2 66.7 3
1526–50 5 3 1 8 57.1 14
1551–75 4 1 1 4 26.7 15
Total 39 22 6 56 36.8 152
% of Tot. 25.7 14.5 3.9 36.8 100.0
Table 2.2.4. Students from the Northern Netherlands at Ferrara who previously had
visited the universities of Padua and Bologna, or both, compared to the total number
attending.101
100
Giuseppina de Sandre, ‘Dottori, Università, Comune nel Quattrocento’ in:
Quaderni per la Storia dell’Università di Padova I (1968) 15–47, there 19; Guido Zaccagnini,
Storia dello studio di Bologna durante il Rinascimento (Geneva 1930) 300.
101
The totals per university category are calculated as a percentage of the total
number of students from the Northern Netherlands attending (last row). The total
number of individual students (fifth column) is also calculated as a percentage of
the total attending (sixth column). Grendler, Universities, 104, states that maybe two-
thirds of students at Ferrara had previously visited another university.
70 chapter two
One can see that both location and princely policy worked well and
that the university authorities in both Padua and Bologna had some
reason for concern. Nearly 37 per cent of students from the northern
Low Countries visiting Ferrara had previously stopped at one or
both of its giant neighbours! In this ability to attract students from
nearby universities, Ferrara is unique among the studia on the Italian
peninsula. It has won Ferrara the dubious and—to a certain extent—
undeserved reputation of being a rather undistinguished factory for
graduation certificates.102 This judgement is too harsh. The univer-
sity and its firm supporters, the marquises and later dukes of Ferrara,
tried to invite students with means other than money. Hiring pro-
fessors of renown was another propitious method.
In 1456–65 attendance increased further. Yet, it was in the fol-
lowing ten years that it would outrun both Padua and Bologna as
the most popular studium in Italy, with on average 4 students per
year surfacing in the sources. 1474 was the absolute peak with 15
new students found in the sources. The theory that the university
was handing out graduation certificates at retail prices for those who
could not afford Bologna or Padua, can certainly not account for
this spectacular rise in student attendance. There was indeed a spec-
tacular rise in graduations, but the ratio ‘graduated students—non-
graduated students’ hardly changed. The university employed a
number of famous teachers. The humanist Guarino Guarini of Verona
started teaching here in the early forties of the fifteenth century and
stayed until his death in 1460.103 More specifically, in the decade
1466–75 another humanist Nicolò Leoncino was hired to teach arts
and medicine at the studium of Ferrara, and again in the later
eighties.104 Apart from the fact that famous staff were employed, we
know of certain conscious choices by students from the Northern
Netherlands to go and study in Ferrara. In 1461 a priest called
Gerardus Heyle of Rotterdam studied canon law there, but also
showed a marked interest in the arts, something he left to his ille-
102
Rashdall, Universities, II, 54. Also: H. de Ridder-Symoens, ‘La place de l’Université
de Bologne dans la mobilité des étudiants européens’ in: V. Caputo (ed.), Universitates e
Università. Atti del convegno Bologna 16–21 novembre 1987 (Bologna 1995) 83–92, there 87.
103
Del Nero, Corte, 31, n. 21 for a short summary of his activities in Ferrara.
104
Pardi, Titoli, 78–9, 84–5, 108–9, 112–7; Jon Arrizabalaga, John Henderson
and Roger French, The Great Pox. The French Disease in Renaissance Europe (New Haven
1997) 61–2 and 300, n. 19.
gitimate son, a certain Erasmus.105 The most famous case was no

doubt Rodolphus Agricola. He had arrived in Italy in 1469 to study
canon law at the University of Pavia. He stayed there until 1474.
In 1475 Roelof, as his Dutch name is, moved to Ferrara to study
arts, Greek in particular. He befriended Duke Ercole d’Este, taught
arts as well and stayed in Ferrara until early 1480. The studium
definitely possessed an élan in the teaching of medicine and the arts
in these few decades. It is therefore not surprising that students in
the faculty of arts and medicine greatly outnumber their peers in
the law faculty, as we shall see. The percentage of students visiting
Ferrara who had previously studied in Bologna or Padua was also
considerably lower in this decade than the average. This could well
signify that the studium had acquired a name of its own, that it could
tempt students to come for the teaching rather than just graduation.
The years after 1478 show a decline, but it was after 1495 that
numbers dropped to an absolute low point. It is significant that in
the case of Ferrara it was particularly students from Holland and
Zeeland who increasingly ignored its university. So much so that
from 1500 up to 1535 there were no students from these regions
present at all. The reasons for this breakdown of attendance until
virtually 1535 may well be the same as those suggested for Padua.
As was shown in the table, connections between Padua and Ferrara
were many. Trouble for Padua could easily jump over to Ferrara,
especially when the two were waging war against each other, as was
the case in 1483–4.106 No record of students from the Netherlands
is found for these two years. This was also true for the invasion of
1494–5, which may have deterred potential newcomers, as well as
for that of 1509. There was no recovery until the late 1530s. The
overall pattern for the period 1496–1545 closely resembles that of
Padua. Recovery was slow and in the case of Ferrara short-lived.
Yet it seems to have picked up earlier than in Padua. The consis-
tent backing of the dukes of Ferrara and the earlier mentioned
tactics of low graduation fees and recruitment of professors allowed
105
Harry Vredeveld, ‘The Ages of Erasmus and the Year of his Birth’ in: Renaissance
Quarterly 43 (1993) 754–809; G. Avarucci, ‘Due codici scritti da “Gerardus Heyle”,
padre di Erasmo. Premessa autobiografica di A Campana’ in: Italia medioevale e uma-
nistica XXVI (1983) 215–55.
106
Carol Kidwell, ‘Venice, The French Invasion and the Apulian Ports’ in:
Abulafia, French Descent, 296–308.
72 chapter two
for a temporary increase in student attendance from the Northern

Netherlands.
The most striking example was surely getting Andreas Alciatus,
the famous propagator of the mos gallicus, to teach at Ferrara. Alciatus,
who had been teaching law in Pavia since 1536, moved in 1542 and
gave lectures at the university of Ferrara until 1546 for the aston-
ishing sum of some 4260 to 4860 pounds.107 This move definitely
had a general effect on the number of law students attending until
the late fifties.108 Students from the Northern Netherlands were no
exception to the student population at large at Ferrara. Their num-
ber increased in the forties and fifties. From the table one can see
that the percentage of students in Ferrara who had earlier studied
at either Padua or Bologna, is lower than average. This might indi-
cate that Ferrara’s studium could stand on its own feet. As regards
the choice of faculty, law was now the most popular subject to study
here. The decade after 1555 shows another decline. Sources for the
years after 1565 are lacking, but evidence for later years suggests
that the age of student mobility to Ferrara had come to an end.109
From the 1560s onwards the university was committed to the mar-
gins of European student mobility.
If one compares the level of attendance of students from the
Northern Netherlands to that of students from the Southern Nether-
lands at the University of Ferrara, there are interesting parallels.
After a relatively slow start with 13 students until 1450, figures for
the southern Low Countries boom in the second half of the fifteenth
century, when 60 students visited the studium. This certainly justifies
the conclusion that Ferrara was undoubtedly the most popular uni-
versity in Italy in the period 1451–75 for students from the Netherlands
as a whole.110
107
Adriano Franceschini (ed.), Nuove documenti relativi ai docenti dello studio di Ferrara
nel sec. XVI, Serie Monumenti VI (Ferrara 1970) 49, 51, 52, 55, 58, 59, 61, 64,
65, 80, 223.
108
Kagan, ‘Universities’, 158–60.
109
See the graph in Kagan, ‘Universities’, 158–9. In addition to this there is no
incidental evidence of students from the Northern Netherlands that they chose
Ferrara as their destination for study.
110
This figure drops dramatically in the next fifty years, to 18 and continues to
be a relatively low 19 in the second half of the sixteenth century. Peaks took place
in the forties and fifties, a similar development to that of students from the Northern
parts; Hilde de Ridder-Symoens, ‘L’évolution quantitative’, 93.
d. Siena
The rather minor tone set for Ferrara after 1560 does not apply to
the last university to be dealt with in detail here, the University of
Siena. It was first founded in 1245, but closed in 1252. In 1357 the
studium in Siena was founded anew, after Emperor Charles IV of
Luxemburg had granted it the privileges of a studium generale. After
an initial phase of success, the period 1370–90 proved to be more
difficult due to economic recession. An instable and dire period fol-
lowed and it was not until the beginning of the fifteenth century
that Siena started to make some sort of impact on students from
outside Italy. The foundation of the Domus Sapientae, its very own
college, in 1408 with its first ten admissions—none of the students
were from Siena—on 22 February 1416 was a significant act in this
respect.111 It was in this era that the first student from the Northern
Netherlands left his mark in the sources. On 23 December 1412 a
Johannes Dodonis of Rotterdam, cleric from the diocese of Utrecht,
was awarded the title of doctor medicinae.112 Although a presence at
the University of Siena from students from the northern Low Countries
in the course of the fifteenth century is likely, what little sources
there are do not allow us to substantiate it. Only from 1484 until
1486 and almost continuously from 1496 onwards are there sources
at our disposal that can contribute to assessing the visits from the
diocese of Utrecht. No students were present in the years 1484–6.
The decades from 1496 until 1515 show a level of attendance, in
which almost one student a year appears in Siena, making it the
second most popular university in Italy for students from the Northern
Netherlands in these twenty years, after Bologna.
The fact that Siena was relatively untouched by the crises in the
more northern regions of Italy, those of 1494–5 and 1509, may have
made it more attractive than Padua and Ferrara. There are some
indications that Siena may have temporarily taken over the role of
111
Giuliano Catoni, ‘Il comune di Siena e l’amministrazione della Sapienza nel
secolo XV’ in: Università e società nei secoli XII–XVI, Centro italiano di Studi di Storia
e d’Arte, Nono Convegno Internazionale, Pistoia 20–25 settembre 1979 (Pistoia
1982) 121–7; G. Minnucci and L. Kosuta, Lo studio di Siena nel secoli 14–16. Documenti
e notizie biografiche (Milan 1989) 13–9. Peter Denley, ’Dal 1357 alla caduta della
republica’ in: L’Università di Siena: 750 anni di storia (Siena 1991) 27–44, there 27.
112
“mag. Iohannem Dodonis de Rotterdam cler. Traiectensis dioc.”: Minnucci,
Kosuta, Lo studio, 48–51.
74 chapter two
Students at the University of Siena
14
12
10
0
1426 1436 1446 1456 1466 1476 1486 1496 1506 1516 1526 1536 1546 1556 1566
Siena (1426–1575) in absolute numbers.
Ferrara as an appealing studium to graduate after first having visited

prestigious, but costly Bologna. Of those students who graduated in
Siena in the first quarter of the sixteenth century, 25 per cent had
previously attended the studium in Bologna. One of them was Wijnand
of Arnhem, who, after having studied at the University of Cologne,
matriculated with the German Nation of the law university of Bologna
in 1499 and moved on to Siena in 1504, where he graduated in
both canon and civil law on 20 July.113
This figure collapsed in the next ten years, 1516–25, when no stu-
dents can be spotted at the studium. This seems to reflect a more
general downward trend in the number of graduations.114 The situ-
ation in the following two decades up to 1545 improved only slightly.
The years between 1526–35 clearly represent the absolute nadir of
mobility from the Northern Netherlands for the total of universities
113
For Bologna: “Vinandus Arnhem”: Acta, 253, 25. For Siena: “d. Winandus
de Arnhem”: Minnucci, Lauree, I, 64, nr. 65
114
Compare the tables in: Weigle, ‘Deutsche Doktorspromotionen in Siena’,
241–246; a brief general overview of all graduations in: Giovanni Minnucci, ‘Il con-
ferimento dei titoli academici nello Studio di Siena fra xv e xvi secolo. Modalità
dell’esame di laurea e provenienza studentesca’ in: A. Romano (ed.), Università in
Europa. Le istituzioni universitarie dal Medio Evo ai nostri giorni. Strutture, organizzazione, fun-
zionamento, Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi, Milazzo 28 Settembre–2
Ottobre 1993 (Messina 1995) 213–226.
and Siena is no exception. The political instability in Italy in general

and the already mentioned plague epidemic from the mid-twenties
onwards could have acted as a deterrent to potential student visi-
tors. Political and financial difficulties in Siena had a negative impact
on the university in the thirties of the sixteenth century.115 This was
hardly a beneficial situation for bringing in foreign students.
Nevertheless, a subsequent reorganization of the university seems
to have had its effect. In the forties the number of overall gradua-
tions—and those of the students from the German Nation—climbs
immensely.116 Students from the northern Low Countries fit neatly
in this trend, their attendance figure booming in the decade 1546–55.
In the following twenty years show a notable decline that picks up
a bit towards 1575. In absolute graduation numbers there had been
a downward trend since 1553 that slowly reversed in the sixties.117
Hostilities between the comune of Siena and the duke of Florence,
Cosimo de Medici, which started in 1552 and were brought to an
end in 1557, can be held responsible for this situation. In 1557 after
a one-year siege Siena had to admit defeat. From then on Siena
was to be governed from Florence with serious implications for the
university that underwent a reform.118
Another factor that would certainly have influenced students with
Protestant sympathies was the already mentioned 1564 papal bull In
sacrosancta, with the oath on the Catholic Faith. The first time one
can find it—“et iuravit prout in bulla Papae Pii IV”—mentioned in
the graduation registers is on 4 April 1565, when Henricus de
Bladghen of Dordrecht in Holland graduated in utroque iure.119 Though
some token action was undertaken to curtail Protestant students in
Siena, it appears that this did not seriously damage Siena’s reputa-
tion with the German Nation.120 In his directives concerning the
115
Denley, ‘Dal 1357’, 39.
116
Compare the tables in: Weigle, ‘Deutsche Doktorspromotionen in Siena’,
241–246.
117
Ibid.
118
Giovanni Cascio Pratelli, L’universtià e il principe. Gli studi di Siena e di Pisa tra
Rinascimento e Controriforma (Florence 1975), the first part 11–115. However, Denley,
‘Dal 1357’, 39 warns not to exaggerate the scope and originality of these reforms.
119
Minnucci, Morelli, Lauree, 327, nr. 92; Weigle, ‘Deutsche Doktorspromotionen
in Siena’, 207.
120
Weigle, Die Matrikel der deutsche Nation in Siena (1573–1738) (Tübingen 1962)
3, claims that all sorts of extreme measures taken against ‘German’ Protestants made
76 chapter two
studium the grand duke of Tuscany, Francesco I, managed to for-

mally incorporate all the wishes of the Holy See, while at the same
time he tried very hard to accommodate the German Nation, allow-
ing those with different religious viewpoints to study in peace of
mind.121 This earned Siena a reputation for relative tolerance. It is
therefore not surprising that mobility to Siena continued in the fol-
lowing decades, growing to an average of 2 students matriculating
each year in the period 1600–24. In the next twenty-five years this
would decrease only slightly. Thus Siena acquired the position of
second most popular university in Italy for students from the northern
Low Countries from the 1570s onwards, second only to Padua. After
1650, as with other universities in Northern Italy, a rapid decline
set in signalling the end of the era of international student mobility
to Italy.
Pavia Pisa/Flor. Rome Perugia Parma Other 122

1426–50 5 – – – – 1
1451–75 7 3 1 2 4 1
1476–1500 5 1 – 1 1 –
1501–25 4 5 – 2 1 1
1526–50 2 5 2 1 – –
1551–75 4 9 17 9 – 1
Total 27 23 20 15 6 4
Table 2.2.5. Student attendance from the Northern Netherlands at smaller Italian uni-
versities (1426–1575).
sure that the studium was avoided by many German students, both Protestant and
Catholic, until the early seventies. Cascio Pratelli, L’università, 41–5, offers a some-
what different view of these harsh policies against Protestants. In my view, even
Weigle’s own figures of graduations of students of the German Nation don’t sup-
port his view: Weigle, ‘Deutsche Doktorspromotionen in Siena’, 241–246. It is true
that the figure dropped after two booming years (1564 and 1565 with 9 respectively
13 graduations). This, however, was a not uncommon phenomenon, overlooking
his tables. With on average 4.4 German graduations per year the assumed repres-
sive period of 1566–70, the picture does not look so bleak compared to the next
ten years (3.7 graduation per year), when Weigle presumes some sort of recovery.
121
Cascio Pratelli, L’università, 41–5.
122
Turin, Naples and Arezzo.
e. Other Universities
The other universities in Northern Italy did not, as far as can be
established, exert the level of attraction that the aforementioned insti-
tutions possessed. Four of them still managed to get some attention:
Pavia, Pisa, Rome and Perugia, as can be seen from the following
table.
It would seem that with at the very least 27 students attending,
Pavia could go for fifth place. The University of Pavia was founded
in 1361 by Galeazzo Visconti, ruler of Milan.123 There is evidence
of a thriving German Nation during the second half of the fifteenth
century. The rather limited source complex does point in the direc-
tion of the German Nation being the most numerous among the
transalpini, followed by the French. Its weight was certainly appreci-
ated by the ultimate ruler over the university, the duke of Milan.124
The graduation records assembled by Sottili—though he admits they
are incomplete—give some 65 doctorates obtained by suppositi of the
German Nation in the second half of the fifteenth century, three of
which were awarded to students from the Northern Netherlands.125
The university could certainly boast of having entertained one of the
most famous humanists from the northern Low Countries in the
person of Rodolphus Agricola, who studied law there from 1469
until 1474, as two thirds of the students from the diocese of Utrecht
would do. It could even boast of a certain tradition. Johannes Vrede-
wolt of Groningen graduated in canon law in 1441 and his illegiti-
mate son, also called Johannes, graduated in theology at the same
university in 1473. Both Van Ethen bothers, Reinier and Bartholomeus,
studied there in the thirties of the fifteenth century.
In the sixteenth century the presence of Andreas Alciatus as a law
professor until 1542, ensured a certain standing in teaching. This is
partly reflected in the few students we have studying law in Pavia.
123
Short introduction to the university in English in: Mario Rizzo ‘University,
Administration, Taxation and Society in Italy in the Sixteenth Century: The Case
of Fiscal Exemptions for the University of Pavia’ in: History of Universities VIII (1989)
75–116.
124
Agostino Sottili, ‘Tunc floruit Alamannorum natio: Doktorate deutscher Studenten
in Pavia in der Zweiten Hälfte des 15 Jahrhunderts’ in: R. Schmitz and G. Keil
(eds.), Bildungswesen des 15 Jahrhunderts (Weinheim 1984) 25–44.
125
On the basis of: Id., ‘Lauree Pavesi nella seconda metà del Quattrocento’ in:
A. Buck and M. Bircher (eds.), Respublica Guelpherbytana (Amsterdam 1987) 128–166.
78 chapter two
Both Hector van Hoxwier and Rienk van Burmania seem to have
preferred Pavia, since Alciatus was teaching there in the thirties of
the sixteenth century.126 Occasionally more students are found at
Pavia, without ever reaching the levels of attendance found for the
previous four universities.127
The University of Pisa provides yet another case of moderate atten-
dance from the Northern Netherlands. It was founded in 1343, but
did not become the huge success that Bologna and Padua were. That
Florence conquered Pisa in 1406 did not do much for the studium,
contrary to the situation in Padua, when it was conquered by Venice.
There is virtually no evidence of a presence of students from north
of the Alps. Something similar goes for the University of Florence,
founded in 1321, reorganized in 1348. This university had an even
more haphazard existence than Pisa. In late 1472 and 1473, when
Lorenzo de Medici reorganized them, these two studia now functioned
as one structure, Florence concentrating on philosophical-literary stud-
ies and Pisa taking the other academic disciplines. Be this as it may,
the universities did not manage to attract many foreigners. Political
crises, Pisa’s secession and frequent migration of the university to
Prato, Pistoia and Florence did not help to create a stable institu-
tion for education, particularly where attracting students from the
Germanic lands was concerned.128 Nearby Siena may also have nega-
tively influenced student attendance, especially from the other side
of the Alps.129
The graduation records for Pisa, surviving from 1434 until 1493
only give the names of eleven ‘German’ students, nine of whom
came from the Netherlands. Four of them came from the Northern
126
Postma, Viglius, 60.
127
Especially for the sixteenth century the constant battle over fiscal privileges
for students at the studium may provide some explanation why it never managed to
attract the numbers that other universities managed. See for a discussion of this sit-
uation: M. Rizzo, ‘University, Administration, Taxation’, 75–116.
128
Paul F. Grendler, ‘The University of Florence and Pisa in the High Renaissance’
in: Renaissance and Reformation 6 (1982) 157–165, there 157, where he discusses the
work of Verde, Studio; also the recent Jonathan Davies, Florence and its University dur-
ing the Early Renaissance (Leiden 1998); furthermore, Weigle, ‘Deutsche Studenten in
Pisa’, 177–8.
129
Peter Denley, ‘Academic Rivalry and Interchange: the Universities of Siena
and Florence’ in: P. Denley and C. Elam (eds.), Florence and Italy. Renaissance Studies
in Honour of Nicolai Rubinstein (London 1988) 193–208, discusses rivalry and compe-
tition between Florence and Siena.
Netherlands. All of them only visited the studium after Lorenzo’s

reform in 1473. In the period 1501–25 students from the Northern
Netherlands did visit the studium of Pisa and Florence, though the
hectic movement of the university in the 1486–1505 does not seem
to have favoured mobility from the northern Low Countries. The
closure of the studium in Pisa from 1505 until 1515 made the situa-
tion even worse. From 1486 until 1515 only one student from the
northern Low Countries attended and graduated in Florence in
1506, Hermannus Jacobi of Eelderwolde.130 From 1518 onwards, the
Medici, back in power, tried to renew their policies with regard to
the University of Pisa that had been reconquered in 1509. Apparently
with some success, since no less than four students from the Northern
Netherlands graduated in the early twenties of the sixteenth cen-
tury.131 A serious plague epidemic from the mid-twenties onwards,
killing a substantial part of Florence’s population, and spreading fur-
ther across northern Italy, surely deterred students who might have
thought of making their way to either Pisa or Florence. The real
boom in student attendance from the Netherlands as a whole came
after 1543, with the reopening of the university by Cosimo I. From
1543 both matriculation and graduation records have survived. A
fluctuating, but significant number of students from ‘German’ lands
can be found from then on up to about 1630, after which mobility
to Pisa decreased substantially.132 Among the students from the
‘German’ lands those from the northern Low Countries form a strong
contingent. Out of a total of 194 until 1580 they number 14 (7.2
per cent). This figure seems to have dropped after 1580.133
130
Verde, ‘Dottorati’, 618.
131
Ibid. Verde located graduation records for the period 1505–1528 that Weigle
was unable to see. The fact that the studium had to be officially reopened on
1 November 1543 certainly says something about the situation of the university in
the period 1529–1543, certainly after the plague had made a serious impact on
Florence and the surrounding regions. There are no references to students from
the Northern Netherlands in the Archivio Antecosimiano in Florence for this period.
132
Weigle, ‘Deutsche Studenten in Pisa’, 194.
133
On the basis of Ibid. 189–194. In the overall period from 1474 until 1775
students from the Northern Netherlands number 5% of graduations and 4.1% of
matriculations. This figure looks rather bleak when compared to the figures for the
Southern Netherlands (20.5% and 8.2% of ‘Germans’ respectively). The total share
of the Netherlands gives 25.5% of graduations and 12.3% of matriculations. Grendler,
‘University’, 158–9 also notes the relatively low attendance figures of ‘Germans’ at
80 chapter two
Rome is a special case. The studium urbis seriously lacks sources,

but what little there is, suggests that it was not very popular, at least
with students from north of the Alps.134 Occasional references are
made to students having attended the University in Rome. All this
would dramatically change in the case of the foundation of the
Collegium Germanicum, which opened its doors in 1552. It was founded
by Ignatius of Loyola with solid backing by Pope Julius II to train
future priests for the German Lands. In 1573, it was substantially
enriched by pope Gregory XIII to such an extent that it has been
called a refoundation.135 Although founded specifically for students
from German lands, a substantial portion of the first young men
registering came from the Netherlands, 13 out of 18. Ten of them
came from the Northern Netherlands. Although this was discour-
aged, since students for the priesthood could get excellent training
at the University of Louvain, students from these regions turned up
regularly, frequently travelling in pairs or larger groups, as was the
case in 1552. A close connection between the universities of Cologne
and Louvain on the one hand and the Germanicum seems to have
existed.136 Also these students were probably more mature in age,
which will be discussed below. Though not hugely successful where
it concerned future priests for the northern Low Countries, the
Germanicum counted important clerics among its alumni, Theodorus
Lindanus, the future vicar-general of Breslau, being one of them.
Perugia may have been more popular than is reflected in the
figures here. Fortunately the register of the universitas scholarium (1511–
1723) has survived. Careful research of this source and a comparison
with the register of the German Nation in Perugia, that unfortu-
nately only begins in 1579, by Weigle has brought to light that the
the university. It would seem that Pisa/Florence recruited largely from the south-
west of Europe. Spanish and Portuguese as the most numerous foreign contingency,
followed by the French. It is possible that students from the Southern Netherlands,
more oriented towards France, could have been influenced by this.
134
D.S. Chambers, ‘Studium Urbis and Gabella Studii: the University of Rome
in the Fifteenth Century’ in: Clough (ed.), Cultural Aspects, 68–110. Chambers argues
that the relation between papal and city university was much closer than tradition
which separates them would have it.
135
H. Jacobs and J. Beghyn, ‘De Noordnederlandse studenten aan het pauselijk
Collegium Germanicum te Rome van 1552 tot 1627’ in: Archief voor de Geschiedenis
van de Katholieke Kerk in Nederland 15 (1973) 75–103, there 75.
136
Ibid.; H. Jacobs, ‘Löwen an der Wiege des Collegium Germanicum’ in: Archivum
Historicum Societatis Iesu 36 (1967) 119.
matricula Universitatis scholarium does not come up to the mark. The

total sum of ‘German’ students in the nation register is six times
higher than that in the matricula.137 Occasionally there are references
to students from the Northern Netherlands who are listed as having
visited this studium, not listed in the matricula. For instance, Volkert
Coyter is known to have studied there before moving on to Bologna
in 1560. Certainly the quite substantial level of attendance from the
German Nation after 1579 gives rise to the idea that it might have
been quite popular even before that date with students from the
northern Low Countries. The graduation registers of Perugia, avail-
able for the period 1489–1749 with certain lacunae, however, do not
mention any students from the diocese of Utrecht, although there
are strong indications that a number of students did obtain their
degree here.
Parma seems to have been a studium where students graduated
after having attended other universities both in and outside Italy.
What little information does exist about attendance and graduation
at the University of Parma suggests that it was a graduation uni-
versity, where students from the northern Low Countries were con-
cerned. All those taking their degrees here, had visited at least one
other Italian university. Five out of six had actually visited three
other universities before graduating in Parma. The last one had
attended two other studia before coming to Parma to take his degree.
Furthermore, there is no incidental evidence that it was ever a pop-
ular studium on the peregrinatio academica.
Other universities on the Italian peninsula, like Turin, Naples and
even Arezzo, did have students from the Northern Netherlands attend-
ing them, but not in significant numbers. When Erasmus visited the
University of Turin in 1506 he was awarded a doctorate in theology.
The studium was only too happy to include the name of a well-known
humanist among its graduates. It might therefore be regarded as a
doctorate honoris causa, rather than a straightforward graduation. A
137
Fritz Weigle, Die Matrikel der deutschen Nation in Perugia (1579–1727) (Tübingen
1956) 7. Weigle stated that conclusions about attendance figures for ‘German’ stu-
dents based on the matricula are completely outmoded. While this is true for the
period after 1579, it remains to be seen if this holds equally true for the period
before that. Registration with two authorities might have seemed a superfluous act
for most students. About the actual age of the register of the German Nation see:
Ibid. 9.
82 chapter two
certain Martinus of Zierikzee in Zeeland graduated in arts on 7 July

1469 in the city of Arezzo, which had a rather insignificant studium
that led a precarious existence.138 It is rather doubtful that he was
attracted by the fame of this university. The fact that he obtained
his master’s degree gratis, which is a clear indication of his modest
financial situation, might mean that Arezzo was chosen for reasons
of convenience. It is likely that he also visited another university,
although he cannot be found in any of the records of other uni-
versities. The most likely candidate would be nearby Siena, for which
there is a lacuna in the sources for this period. At any rate, visits to
these universities seem to have been incidental cases.
Popular Itineraries
Visits to universities outside Italy have been discussed and a certain
ranking of popularity of the various universities on the peninsula has
been established. Padua and next Bologna were unsurprisingly the
most popular studia. The strong third position held by Ferrara is
maybe somewhat less expected. Siena followed at some distance, but
it was in a different league than places like Pavia, Pisa/Florence,
Perugia and Rome, that managed to attract some students from the
northern Low Countries. Other universities in Italy only incidentally
welcomed students from these regions. With this in mind, one can
move on to establish some of the more popular itineraries. What
routes through Europe were the most common ones?
Clear patterns are discernible in the peregrinatio academica of stu-
dents from the northern Low Countries. It has already been estab-
lished that Louvain (with 262 students or 40.9 per cent of the total
population attending) was the most popular starting point, certainly
from the later fifteenth century onwards, with Cologne following in
secure second place (174 or 27.2 per cent). The studium of Paris
would have gone for bronze with 46 visitors from the population
(7.2 per cent). The following table shows the fifteen most popular
combinations of university visits.
138
“7–7–1469 prom. in art. Magister Martinus de Zelano de Zeritia [sic] de
Alamania Bassa . . . gratis”; ASA, Provv., 12, f. 62r; Black, ‘Studio Aretino’, 74.
Combination N % of N.N.S. at univ.

Louvain-Padua 97 39.8
Louvain-Bologna 76 34.5
Louvain-Ferrara 64 42.4
Cologne-Padua 62 25.4
Cologne-Bologna 61 27.7
Cologne-Ferrara 46 30.5
Louvain-Siena 30 52.6
Paris-Padua 21 8.6
Paris-Bologna 17 7.7
Louvain-Pavia 15 55.6
Louvain-Pisa/F. 15 65.2
Paris-Ferrara 14 9.3
Orléans-Bologna 12 5.4
Cologne-Pavia 12 44.4
Orléans-Padua 9 3.8
Table 2.2.6. Most popular combinations of university attendance.
Unsurprisingly, the combinations of Louvain with a university in

Italy are ranked highest on the list. Where Cologne had been the
most popular university before moving across the Alps with 132 stu-
dents in the fifteenth century against 102 for Louvain, the Brabant
studium takes over top position in the nineties of the fifteenth century.
In the period 1501–1575, 158 students first travelled from Louvain
against only 41 from Cologne. Studying at both these universities
was another possible combination. A total of 29 students (4.5 per
cent of the total population) combined visits to Louvain and Cologne
(17 starting at Louvain; 12 at Cologne). Some students even travelled
back and forth. Consider the case of Johannes Theodorici Bruyn of
Gouda; He registered with the arts faculty at the University of Cologne
on 1 October 1461. On 24 September 1463 he enrolled in the arts
faculty at Louvain, where he must have graduated before travelling
back to Cologne, where he became baccalaureus decretorum 7 October
1466 and baccalaureus legum on 1 September 1468. Some years later he
is mentioned as magister artium and law student at the University of
Padua. Finally, in 1475 he moved on to Ferrara, where he is listed
as a witness and where he graduated in canon law 30 May 1475.139
139
Keussen, Matrikel, I, 90, 73; Wils, Matricule, II, 122, 14; ACVP, Ser. Divers., nr
36, fol. 26 r/v; Pardi, Titoli, 63–65.
84 chapter two
The sixteenth century popularity of the studium Lovaniensis—and the

decline of the Coloniensis—is reflected in the combined visits to Louvain
and Siena, for which sources are limited to the period from 1484
onwards. Some 30 out of 57 students had attended Louvain, against
just 5 that studied at Cologne.
Two broad routes suggest themselves. One would lead from the
Northern Netherlands to Louvain—or Paris—, after which the young
man might travel directly through France and Switzerland, cross at
St Bernard’s Pass and enter Italy in Piedmont. Several stops on the
way were possible. Orléans was a comparatively popular one. Out
of the 37 students that studied in both Orléans and Italy, two-thirds
(25) had earlier studied in Louvain. The second route runs from
Cologne, after which the student would have followed the river Rhine,
passing Strasbourg and Basle—another popular university city—before
crossing at St Gothard’s pass. Those students who also studied at
Heidelberg, Ingolstadt and Vienna might have preferred to travel
passed Innsbruck to cross at the Brenner Pass—the easiest crossing—
entering Italy at Bolzano with Trent as a next stop.140 From there
students would ride on to the university city of their choice.
Mobility in Italy was considerable. Ferrara was the university that
received most students that had previously attended another studium
on the peninsula. As we will see shortly, a link with the cheaper
graduation procedure can be established. Siena also was a studium
that welcomed students from other Italian universities. In the first
quarter of the sixteenth century quite a few Northerners who had
visited Bologna ended up in Siena, often for graduation reasons. In
the third quarter the combination Padua-Siena was often chosen and
again graduation played a role. A combined visit to the two most
prestigious giants among Italian studia was often the case, with Bologna
more often as the final destination. Visits to a particular university
or particular combinations were often connected to the subject of
study chosen, to which we now turn.
140
Lively accounts of various travel routes in Lorenzo Camusso, Travel Guide to
Europe 1492. Ten Itineraries in the Old World (New York 1992).
2.3. Choice of Faculty: The Lawyer and the Doctor
In most cases an Italian university was not the first studium visited
and artes was the most popular subject to start with. So, when Adriaan
Woutersz of Gouda went off to college in 1442, he did not imme-
diately proceed to Italy, but registered with the University of Cologne
first. Furthermore, he chose arts as his first subject of study, before
moving on to the ‘higher’ faculty of medicine and graduating as
doctor medicinae at the University of Ferrara in 1449.141 Before turning
to the various choices of the population at the several universities in
Italy, it is worthwhile to compare them to their first choice of faculty,
generally at a studium close to the Netherlands, to the overall choice
of faculty at a university close to home (72.2 per cent arts; 7 per
cent law; 20.8 unknown). The high percentage of ‘unknown’ choice
of faculty among students that later went to Italy is explained by
the fact that not every starting university was as forthcoming with
information about the faculty chosen on enrolment. If choice of fa-
culty for the University of Cologne is taken separately, which can
serve us best here, the picture is much more in accordance with the
other cases. By also looking at data for students from a particular
town or region, compared to that of the university as a whole, we
gain a further perspective on the choice of subject. For this purpose
I have been able to use data for the city of Haarlem in Holland
and data for students from the duchy of Guelders (table 2.3.1.).
Arts Law Medicine Theol. Unkn.

Cologne overall 83 10 0 2 5
Haarlemmers at Cologne 84 7 0 1 8
Geldersen at Cologne 88 8 1 3 n.a.
Population at Cologne 89 7 – – 4
Table 2.3.1. First choice of faculty of the 174 students from the Northern Netherlands
in the population at Cologne, compared to choice of faculty at Cologne overall, students
from Haarlem and Guelders at Cologne in percentages.142
141
Keussen, Matrikel, I, 212, 23; Pardi, Titoli, 22–3.
142
Figures for Cologne (1455–95) based on the figures in Schwinges, Univer-
sitätsbesucher, 470. For usage of figures for Haarlem (1388–1569) I am indebted to
86 chapter two
The picture that emerges is one of great similarity. Artes was the sub-
ject to start with. This is something common to all the various cases
presented here. Students that later went to Italy to study did not
have a different starting pattern of choice of faculty from both the
university of Cologne at large, nor from the case studies for Haarlem
and Guelders. Law was most definitely the second most popular
choice at first instance. A first choice for medicine is negligible, which
should be no surprise, since a firm schooling in the arts was a neces-
sity to proceed with any success in a faculty of medicine. Where
theology is mentioned one has to take into account that this was
not the first choice of the candidates in question. Formally, a student
in theology had to possess a degree from the arts faculty to continue
studying in sacra pagina.
Then, if one looks at the overall choice of faculty in Italy, an
enormous landslide seems to have taken place. As sources are not
always very clear in stating the choice of faculty of a particular stu-
dent, it was not possible to always convincingly determine the sub-
ject of study.143 In such cases I decided to use the epithet ‘unknown’.
There were 77 such cases (12 per cent). Choice of faculty for the
rest of the population was as follows: 327 students (51.1 per cent)
studied law. A further 232 studied in the facultas artium et medicinorum.
At most Italian universities arts and medicine were housed in the
same faculty, contrary to universities in the north of Europe, where
the faculty of medicine formed a separate entity. The vast majority
of them studied medicine, 214 (33.3 per cent). Just nineteen (3 per
cent) could be positively identified as studying arts. And last, but not
least,—with examples like Erasmus and Petrus Canisius—there were
ten students of theology (1.6 per cent).
students of a seminar (1998) at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam under the guid-
ance of Prof. H. de Ridder-Symoens, the results of which I was allowed to use.
For students from Guelders (1389–1500), M.E.E. Scheelen-Schutgens, ‘Gelderse stu-
denten aan de Keulse universiteit van 1389–1500’ in: Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 88
(1972) 350–373.
143
If a student was mentioned as studens in a witness list to graduations in medicine
several times, although lacking the addition in medicinis, it would seem likely that
this particular student is there to study medicine. There are, however, also examples
to the contrary, where a student who appears as a witness at several graduations
in law turns out to be a student of medicine in the end. Consider the following
example. When on the first of July 1456 “Conrado de Haerlem, Iohanne Zwanen-
vogel de Gotingen, Henrico de Antwerpia, Nicolao de Hemskeke” are men-
tioned as “in u.i. et med. studentibus”, how can one decide which student studied
what, if there is no further information? (ACVP, Ser. Diversorum, inv. nr. 28, f. 76).
One can see that the pattern of subject choice of our students at
Italian studia has changed radically from that of their first choice of
subject at the first universities attended. It is also considerably different
from the general pattern of choice of subject for entire universities
or regions of the north of Europe, as illustrated above. It has now
become abundantly clear that the journey to Italy was certainly not
so much an alternative to studying at one of the ‘home’ universities
of the diocese of Utrecht, but that it has to be seen as a next, more
advanced stage in the academic pursuits of the students in the popu-
lation, in the sense that at least 85 per cent of the population studied
in one of the higher faculties.
For the population as a whole the development in choice of subject
over time shows some change (graph 2.3.1.), but is does not alter
the fundamentals of choice of faculty. Law and medicine continu-
ously stood tall as the subjects to study, when at an Italian univer-
sity. Overall, law was the more popular of the two and took over
the position that arts held when students made their first choice, its
percentage never less than 35 per cent of the time cohorts. A significant
change over time within the faculty of law involved the popularity
of the subject of canon law as a sole subject of study. Where it held
prime position in the first three quarters of the fifteenth century, this
popularity decreased enormously, until it virtually ceased to exist as
a single subject of study for the population after 1525. This can be
illustrated by looking at the graduations in law of the population as
a whole (graph 2.3.2.). This development did not mean that canon
law disappeared, but students more and more opted for civil law
and especially the combination of both laws (utriusque iuris). Even
someone like Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, who had shown an inter-
est in Calvinist views, when he came to Padua in 1568, still opted
for a graduation in both civil and canon law.144 This development
reflects a wider change in the profile of the population. The number
of students supported by a church benefice, choosing the status of
clericus, during their studies seriously diminishes in the sixteenth cen-
tury. Also, as will become clear in chapter 5, the relative popularity
144
For an in-depth examination of Oldenbarnevelt’s choice of universities dur-
ing his peregrinatio academica, see Ad Tervoort, ‘“Doctor Ioannes ab Oldenbernevelt”.
Oldenbarnevelt’s Study Trip to Italy Resumed’ in: Bulletin de l’Institut Historique Belge
de Rome (2004) 345–374.
88 chapter two
of picking a career in the Church decreased over time. The bureau-

cracies of state almost completely take over in the sixteenth century.
There is an element of secularisation visible in this development.
Though medicine seems to have lost its most popular position
after 1450 to law, it remained in a firm second position and would
never sink below 25 per cent of the time cohorts. It would keep this
strong place until the seventeenth century. While law was the se-
cond most popular subject even north of the Alps, this certainly was
not true for the study of medicine that was nearly always the least
popular subject. The second most popular university for students
from the diocese of Utrecht might again serve as an example. From
1389 until 1520 only 89 young men—ex post facto defined as “learned
physicians”—from this diocese studied at the University of Cologne,
and they might not in all cases have actually studied medicine.145 In
the somewhat shorter, but almost comparable period 1410–1525 we
can locate no less than 145 students of medicine from the northern
Low Countries at Italian studia. Italy as a university pole was, thus,
much more important than the ‘national’ universities for the study
of medicine, something that will become even more obvious when
graduations are taken into account (section 2.4.).
Students who deliberately chose arts turn up infrequently, but
most marked in the period 1451–75 and again in 1551–75. Theology
was even less popular, but again most popular towards the end of the
period under investigation. The foundation of the Collegium Germani-
cum, where relatively mature students went to be further educated
in both arts and theology explains this.
145
Markus Bernhardt, ‘Gelehrte Mediziner des späten Mittelalters: Köln 1388–1520.
Zugang und Studium’ in: Rainer Christoph Schwinges (ed.), Gelehrte im Reich. Zur
Sozial- und Wirkungsgeschichte akademischer Eliten des 14. bis 16. Jahrhunderts, Zeitschrift
für Historische Forschung Beiheft 18 (Berlin 1996) 113–134, especially 117. The
one thing one has to bear in mind is that the definition of “gelehrte Mediziner”
used by Bernhardt is broader than the one I use. No proven track record of study
in the faculty of medicine was absolutely necessary to be counted as a “learned
physician” in Bernhardt’s view. A later Tätigkeit in medicine was sufficient to be
counted among his population. Therefore his population counts among it arts stu-
dents who later practiced medicine. One also has to take into account that (later)
students of medicine were most numerous in the founding phase of the university.
From 1426 until 1521 the total number of “learned physicians” enrolling in the
University of Cologne was 195. Starting from the premise that some 30% of them
would have come from the diocese of Utrecht (p. 123), one might end up with a
figure that approximates 60, a considerable part of whom would travel on to Italy,
as we shall shortly see.
Choice of Faculty of Total Population (1426–1575)

180
160
140
120 Unknown
100
Theology
Arts
80
Medicine
60
Law
40
20
0
1425–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75
Graph 2.3.1. Choice of faculty of the total population at Italian universities in

25-year periods.
Graduations in Law
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
I Civ.
50%
40%
I. Can.
30% Utriusque luris
20%
10%
0%
1426– 1451– 1476– 1501– 1526– 1551–
50 75 1500 25 50 75
Graph 2.3.2. Graduations of the population in civil, canon and both laws at Italian
universities in percentages.
This different pattern in choice of subject needs some further expla-

nation. The place of the several subjects at the universities on the
peninsula differed somewhat from their northern counterparts. Theology
was definitely the least popular choice. This is hardly surprising, since
the study in sacra pagina was never really a living part of the Italian
universities. It led a life on the fringe of the university and was dom-
inated by the mendicant orders. Paris, Louvain and to a lesser extent
Cologne were the preferred studia for students of theology. Not even
the foundation of the Germanicum altered this. In most other cases we
are dealing with students of theology who came to Italy to graduate
90 chapter two
rather than study. One such example is Johannes Vredewolt of

Groningen, who studied at the universities of Cologne and Paris for
a considerable time, before he went to Pavia—incidentally, also the
place where his father got his degree in canon law—to graduate in
theology on 26 January 1473.
Next we have the very substantial group of students that we find
in the facultas artium et medicinarum. Here we have to distinguish between
those who came to study arts and those who opted for medicine.
Until the discovery and rediscovery of important classical medical
texts—often by Italian humanists—the corpus of texts in the teach-
ing of medicine was roughly the same in Europe as a whole. This
was not the case where the size of the faculty was concerned. The
faculties of medicine at the universities north of the Alps were always
the smallest and least visited. For instance, in the course of the
fifteenth century the number of professorships in medicine at the
University of Cologne was increased from one to three, which made
Cologne the biggest medical faculty in the Empire. By comparison,
Padua had between ten and thirteen professors of medicine in the
fifteenth century, a figure that increased in the sixteenth. Bologna
had as many as twenty-five.146 Teaching staff employed in the larger
Italian universities was considerably more numerous. This resulted
in a more elaborate teaching programme.
The attention for practical medicine, for instance, was consider-
ably more developed at especially Bologna and Padua. Anatomy had
an important place within teaching. Public dissections were held in
Bologna as early as 1316. Moreover, Italian studia could grant degrees
in surgery, for which there was a special curriculum of texts to read.
Johannes Maii of Schwabach in Bavaria, for instance, graduated in
“fisicha et cirogia” at the University of Ferrara 30 March 1468.147
It is important to stress that the teaching of medicine in Italy was
strongly influenced by the fact that the practice of medicine was well
organized and well respected in the populous Italian cities. One
should bear in mind that the colleges of doctors of medicine not
only had strong ties with the studium—they after all examined the
candidates for graduation—, but that they had authority over all
146
Erich Meuthen, Kölner Universitätsgeschichte, vol. I, Die alte Universität (Cologne
1988) 120. Cf. Grendler, Universities, 8–40 for the size of faculty.
147
Pardi, Titoli, 46–47. It is interesting to note that Philippus Bartholomei of
Leiden, medical student and son of a doctor cirurgie (Pardi, Titoli, 49) was present at
the graduation.
physicians practising within the city. In the sixteenth century medi-

cal teaching, especially at Padua, became even more elaborate. New
text editions of the classics (by this time also in Greek) and an
intensified attention for anatomy and botany greatly enlarged med-
ical knowledge of the day. Sixteenth century Padua was, so to speak,
the medical centre of Europe.
Where the students who consciously chose to study arts are con-
cerned, we might say that their number is very small, but they are
not an insignificant part. The vast majority of the population had
studied arts close to home. Travelling to far away Italy to study arts
seems to have been something slightly off course compared to the
general profile of the population. Was there something different on
offer there? In the teaching of arts at Italian universities great empha-
sis was put on rhetoric. The fact that teaching and practice of law
had such a prominent place in Italian university education and soci-
ety in general was largely responsible for this situation. Similarly,
logic and the natural sciences within the arts were regarded as instru-
mental to the teaching and practice of medicine, contrary to Paris,
for instance, where the arts were considered to be the handmaiden
of theology. The fact that arts and medicine were situated within
the same faculty is surely noteworthy in this respect. Furthermore,
it has to be said that already at the end of the fourteenth century
humanist learning started to make an impact on Italian universities.
The Italian universities were the first in Europe where humanist
thought figured in both informal and institutionalized ways. We might
say that in the fifteenth century humanist thought already had a firm
position within the faculties of arts and medicine in Italy. The estab-
lishment of chairs for the study of Greek at the universities of Florence,
Ferrara, Bologna and Padua can serve as a concrete example. The
chairs for the reading of rhetoric and poetry are another. The appoint-
ment of humanists to university chairs—like Nicolò Leoncino, who
taught medicine and philosophy at the university of Ferrara for sixty
years beginning in 1464148—represents a more informal way in which
humanist thought influenced and supplemented the contents of the
university syllabus. It should therefore not surprise us that we meet
a number of students who made a deliberate choice to study Greek
in the sixties and seventies of the fifteenth century, the mentioned
148
Peter G. Bietenholz (ed.), Contemporaries of Erasmus. A Biographical Register of the
Renaissance and the Reformation, 3 vols. (Toronto 1985–87), II, 323; Daniela Mugnai
Carrara, La biblioteca di Nicolò Leoncino (Florence 1991).
92 chapter two
Rodolphus Agricola and Gerard Heyle, long before this was a sub-
ject in the syllabus of the universities of Louvain and Cologne.
The high proportion of law students needs not surprise us. The
position of Bologna as one of the main centres of legal teaching—
with Padua, Ferrara, Siena and Pavia following in its footsteps—
made sure that developments in the teaching of law never bypassed
Italy. The spread of the mos italicus—a legal school that claimed that
reason should be the touchstone for law and its application—was
very influential at Italian universities in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries. Also, the mos gallicus—a school of legal humanists that con-
sidered Roman law no longer completely viable, but an object for
historical and philological study—had strong roots in Italy in those
same centuries. The immense size of the teaching body at Italian
law faculties was another pull factor. For instance, the number of
law professors on the rotulus could be as high as 68 in a peak decade!
Universities north of the Alps were no match for this. The University
of Cologne had a comparatively large number of law lecturers for
a northern university, but only two ordinarii and could at no time
challenge the Italian studia for size of the teaching body.
When one takes a closer look at the choice of subject per uni-
versity, one notices that there are certain differences and develop-
ments over time. Law seems to have dominated at the University of
Bologna, with an overall percentage of 65.2. Medicine seems to have
been in a strong second seat with 31.7, which closely resembles the
percentage for the overall population. It is true that there are fewer
records, as the matriculae are missing, for the faculty of arts and medi-
cine, but on the whole it seems unlikely that medicine as a chosen
subject could seriously challenge the prime position of law at this
studium so famous for exactly that subject. Arts and theology do not
seem to have made a serious impact on students from the diocese
of Utrecht. The percentage of students whose choice of faculty was
unknown is very low, compared to some of the other universities.
The nature and relative completeness of the source material for
Bologna partly explains this.
For the first 100 years of the period law towered high above other
subjects. The spectacular growth of the number of law students over
the course of the fifteenth century, particularly in the last quarter,
clearly defined the studium as predominantly important for the study
of both canon and civil law. Gradually, however, medicine starts to
gain a more respectable place among the students from the north-
ern Low Countries. When the graduation records for the faculty of
arts and medicine have more regularly turned up, their contents tell
us that in the course of the sixteenth century it has become stronger
percentage-wise. Especially in the second quarter of this century,
medicine for the first and only time reached the top spot where po-
pularity was concerned.
The downward spiral in attendance—remember that the decade
1526–35 shows an almost absolute nadir—seems to have hit the pop-
ularity of law the most. Bologna seems to have retained its popu-
larity with a growing number of students of medicine in this era. If
we compare the popularity of the law faculty of Bologna to that of
Orléans (graphs 2.3.3. and 2.3.4.), one notices that Bologna can keep
up relatively well with this famous university, even outdoing it in
popularity in certain periods. After 1500 Bologna could not even
come close to Orléans in attracting students from the Northern
Netherlands. The decline in travel to Italy in the first decades of the
sixteenth, largely due to socio-political circumstances, may have served
Orléans well. The relative proximity of such a well-known institu-
tion was a clear alternative to travelling all the way to Italy. The
number of law students at Bologna did not grow in the course of
the century. With the migration of the German Nation to Padua in
1562, Bologna would lose its place as figurehead of the study of law
in Italy. Padua and to a lesser extent Siena would take over.
It would seem that such an alternative did not exist in the case
of medicine. Montpellier might have performed this function partly
in the first quarter of the sixteenth century.149 Certainly in the second
quarter Bologna catered for its closest rivals, where students of medi-
cine were concerned: Padua and Ferrara. Bologna seems to have
profited from the turmoil that seriously affected both these univer-
sities especially after 1509. There was definitely a group of very com-
mitted students, closely associated with humanism, present at the
university of Bologna in the years 1537–40, when people like Hadrianus
Junius, Justus Velsius, Johannes Redanus, Bernardus de Spenio and
Martinus Aedituus graduated in medicine. When recovery set in the
forties in Padua, Bologna would gradually lose its top position in
entertaining medical students.
149
From 1500 until 1600, 27 students from the Northern Netherlands studied
medicine in Montpellier, 4 of whom eventually went to Italy. In the first quarter
this number was highest: 11. The second quarter saw a decline to 3, followed by
an increase to 10, with a further 3 attending in the last twenty-five years.
94 chapter two
Choice of Faculty: Bologna (1426–1575)

90
80
70
60 Unknown
50 Theology
Arts
40
Medicine
30 Law
20
10
0
1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75
Graph 2.3.3. Choice of faculty of students from the Northern Netherlands at the
University of Bologna in 25-year periods.
Matriculations in Bologna and Orleans Compared

(1444–1546)
80
60
40
20
0
1444–49 1450–59 1460–69 1470–79 1480–89 1490–99 1500–09 1510–19 1520–29 1530–39 1540–46
Bologna Orleans
Graph 2.3.4. Matriculations of law students from the Northern Netherlands at the
universities of Bologna and Orléans compared .150
The studium of Padua was arguably the most popular on the penin-
sula at the beginning of the period of investigation, even in the case
of law. One notices that the number of students whose subject of
study is unknown is higher than that for Bologna (13.2 per cent).
This is due to the source complex for Padua, where many witnesses
to graduations are labelled as studens or scholaris, but without further
clarification. When of the seventh of March 1472 “Georgio quondam
150
Figures for Orleans are based on De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bis-
dom Utrecht’.
magistri Stephani de Everding scholari pataviensi” is mentioned,151

and there is no further information to go on, we simply do not know
what his subject was. Since percentages for students of law (48.1 per
cent) and medical students (36.6 per cent) are much closer in Padua
than they were for Bologna, it is more difficult to exactly determine
the nature of the Paduan university.
The development over time allows for some nuances. The posi-
tion of Padua as the travel goal for medical students from 1425–75
is quite remarkable. When the decline set in after about 1480, Padua
managed to hold on to some students of medicine, although their
absolute number declined substantially. The desperate situation of
Padua in the first three to four decades of the sixteenth century
resulted in a further decline of the number of students. Their number
was insignificant and so is any attempt to analyse choice of faculty
for the period 1480–1540. When recovery sets in, one notices that
law seems to take over from medicine as the leading subject. Although
the number of medical students recovered—not reaching the level
of the time cohort 1426–50 though—, this was no match for the
enormous increase in law students, the reasons for which have already
been discussed above. Padua was the university in Italy to study both
law and medicine from 1550 onwards. Padua had become one of
the most popular ‘foreign’ studia for the subject of law. It could never
challenge the position of Orléans as the centre for legal studies,
although in times of crisis for the Loire university, Padua may have
been an alternative destination (graph 2.3.6.). The war waged between
France and the Habsburgs in the period 1552–4 completely eroded
mobility to Orléans,152 while figures for Padua rise exactly in those
years. One may observe that this seems to be a trend over the course
of the period 1547–67, which suggests that Padua partially absorbed
students who normally would have preferred to study on the Loire
river: an alternative in times of crisis.
151
ACVP, Ser. Diversorum, inv. nr. 36, f. 32r.
152
H. de Ridder-Symoens, ‘Recrutement géographique des étudiants de la nation
germanique de l’ancienne université d’Orléans, 1547–1567’ in: Michel Parisse (ed.),
Les échanges universitaires franco-allemands du Moyen Age au XX e S., Actes du Colloque de
Göttingen, Mission Historique Française en Allemagne 3–5–novembre 1988 (Paris
1991) 55–71, there 58.
96 chapter two
Choice of Faculty: Padua (1426–1575)

100
90
80
70 Unknown
60
Theology
Arts
50
Medicine
40 Law
30
20
10
0
1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75
University of Padua in 25-year periods.
Matriculations in Padua and Orléans Compared (1547–67)
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1547 1548 1549 1550 1551 1552 1553 1554 1555 1556 1557 1558 1559 1560 1561 1562 1563 1564 1665 1566 1567
Orleans Padua
Graph 2.3.6. Matriculations of students from the Netherlands in law at the Universities
of Padua and Orléans compared (1547–67).153
153
On the basis of De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Recrutement géographique’.
The situation for the University of Ferrara is somewhat different.

For Ferrara too there was a substantial part of the population whose
choice of faculty must remain unknown (18.3 per cent). The reason
for this situation is similar to that for Padua. However, law was not,
as far as can be judged, the subject most studied. Only about a third
of the population at Ferrara has been identified as a student of law.
The study of medicine seems to have been dominant for students
from the diocese of Utrecht with an overall 45.8 per cent!
The nature of the importance of medicine becomes much more
pronounced when observing it over time. The first 75 years of the
period give an absolute majority for students of medicine, 62 out of
120 (51.7 per cent), where the number of students of law amounts
to 30 (25 per cent). It would seem likely that both in absolute and
relative figures Ferrara could claim to be the most popular univer-
sity for students of medicine from the northern Low Countries in
the fifteenth century, possibly even before Padua. The section on
graduation will show that this statement should be slightly modified
and say that it was the most popular university to graduate for stu-
dents of medicine in the fifteenth century. Nevertheless, it has to be
said that Ferrara was a deliberate goal for the study of medicine.
The university employed numerous teachers, several of whom with
some claim to fame, of which Nicolò Leoncino is perhaps the best
representative. The studium held on to students of medicine in the
last quarter of the fifteenth century, when decline set in.
This situation had changed completely in the first quarter of the
sixteenth century. The total collapse in student attendance—similar
to that of Padua—seems to show it self most in the fact that no stu-
dents of medicine attended Ferrara in these first twenty-five years!
The modest recovery in the next quarter also included some med-
ical students, but law now held first place as subject of study and
this continued to be so in the third quarter of the century. The fact
that the law faculty had employed Andreas Alciatus for a number
of years, thus giving Ferrara some renown in the field of law, goes
far to explain this. Where medicine was concerned, Bologna seems
to have absorbed quite a few students, that otherwise might have
chosen Ferrara as their destination. Padua takes over that role in
from 1550 onwards.
For the studium of Siena one might be brief. An interesting aspect of
overall mobility to the Sienese studium is the overwhelming preference
98 chapter two
Choice of Faculty: Ferrara (1426–1575)

90
80
70
60 Unknown
Theology
50
Arts
40
Medicine
30 Law
20
10
0
1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75
University of Ferrara in 25-year periods.
that students in general had for the study of law.154 Students from
the Northern Netherlands would take this pattern to the extreme
with 47 law students against only 4 students of arts and medicine.
The odd theologian paid a visit to Siena. The further 5 students
with the label ‘unknown’ were in all likelihood law students. It this
respect mobility to Siena has to be distinguished from that to the
other three major universities that had a much more even division
between these subjects. Choice of faculty was considerably one-sided.
Law was it! This is very much in accordance with the general trend
for students from outside Italy who graduated, 88.9 per cent of whom
graduated in law (against 8 per cent in arts and medicine and 3 in
theology).155
The situation for the other universities on the peninsula, with con-
siderably less visitors from the Northern Netherlands, does not differ
very much and can in no way challenge the broader picture that
has been painted so far, namely that they came to study either law
or medicine, with are some variations. Only Rome presents a some-
154
Minnucci, ‘Conferimento’ gives the percentages for students from the Italian
peninsula: 71.3 for law, 23.7 for arts and medicine and 4.9 for theology.
155
Calculated on the basis of Minnucci, ‘Conferimento’, 224. Graduation per-
centages for the German Nation amount to 86.3 for law, 7.4 for arts and medi-
cine and 6.1 for theology, based on Weigle, ‘Siena’, 211.
Law Medicine Arts Theology Unknown

Siena 47 4 – 2 5
Pavia 17 7 – 1 1
Pisa/Florence 8 9 – 2 5
Perugia 5 4 – – 6
Rome 1 4 13 3 –
Table 2.3.2. Choice of faculy in Siena, Pavia, Pisa/Florence, Perugia and Rome.
what different scenario. For an explanation for the substantial major-

ity of arts and theology students one needs to look no further than
the Collegium Germanicum. Students were sent here to deepen their
knowledge of aspects of the arts course—rhetoric is often mentioned—
or theology, with the specific goal of supplying the north of Europe
with an educated priesthood. The visitors of the Collegium over-
determine the results. In the other incidental cases four students
opted for medicine and one for canon law.
2.4. The Measure of Success: Graduation
One could imagine that a student, who travelled all the way to Italy,
attended the lectures and did his disputations diligently for a certain
period of time, would eventually want to graduate. Though gradu-
ation was not as common in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as
in those thereafter, it would seem that a considerable part of the
students visiting Italy wanted to end their studies with a degree.156
A student who wanted to graduate had to meet certain conditions.
He must have studied for the required period, four to eight years,157
156
The number of graduates was not extremely high in this particular period.
Percentages vary from country to country, rarely exceeding 50%, and most of them
were arts degrees. It would seem that the situation for the Italian universities, espe-
cially where it concerns foreign students, was generally better. See, Schwinges,
‘Student education’, 195–202 and the literature mentioned in nn. 38–40.
157
Requirements for examination in the particular disciplines varied greatly. For
theology it was twelve years and the graduate had to be thirty-five years of age.
Periods were shorter for law (6 years) and medicine (4 years). Graduation in arts
could take only two years at northern universities.
100 chapter two
although students who could demonstrate that they had studied ear-
lier at another university could get a reduction in years. They must
have followed their lectures and must have done their disputations.
They had to persuade a member of the appropriate collegium doctorum
to act as their promotor. At Padua the student even had to take an
oath to the rector that he had diligently completed the entire course
of study.158 Once these requirements had been met, the promotor pre-
sented the student to the bishop or his vicar, the archdeacon, then
to the prior of the college who would set the date of the examination.
The graduation consisted of two parts: a private examination (exa-
men privatum) that gave the candidate his licentia ubique docendi and a
public examination (examen publicum or conventuatus) that gave him the
actual title of doctor. A day or two before the examination the can-
didate was assigned his puncta, the material for his exam.159 In the
private examination the candidate had to explain the text assigned
and comment on it. This was followed by objections from the doc-
tors and a discussion. After discussion there was a (majority) vote on
the ability of the candidate ( promotores excluded): approbatus (pass) or
reprobatus (fail). As in most university voting, beans were used, white
for ‘pass’ and black for ‘fail’. With approbation a candidate could
go forward to the public examination. This was a formality com-
pared to the (real) private examination. It took place in the cathe-
dral or the bishop’s palace. The bishop or his vicar was present, so
were the rector, friends and members of the nation of the candi-
date. After a brief, formal examination the bishop or vicar granted
the candidate the title of doctor and his promotor gave him the insignia
doctoratus (signs of doctoral dignity: bonnet, ring, book and the kiss
of peace).
One of the reasons that graduation was not all that common surely
had to do with the high costs of graduating. The candidate had to
pay enormous sums of money in gifts (gloves for the doctors and a
158
There were other requirements such as age (over 20), legitimate birth, good
behaviour, etc. There was also a formal requirement to teach for a certain period
(a year at Bologna). Students could ask dispensation for this obligation which was
nearly always granted. For exact descriptions, cf. Piana, Liber secretus iuris caesarei,
60*–64* and the introduction to Martellozzo Forin, Acta graduum.
159
Apparently this was done by the opening of one of the authorative texts at
random. For civil law a law from the Corpus iuris civilis, for canon law one from
the Corpus iuris canonici, for medicine a passage from Hippocrates’ Aphorisms or the
Ars parva by Galen.
banquet) and cash (to the doctors, university and ecclesiastical officials).
In Padua in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries prices fluctuated
between 17 and 40 ducats for a graduation in medicine—50 being
a year’s wages for a skilled artisan—, while graduation fees in law
were even higher, 40 ducats and a number of books as gifts (pri-
vate examination) and 19 pounds plus 4 soldi for each of the exam-
ining doctors and bonnets, rings and a whole bunch of gloves for
everyone involved in the public examination. In Bologna graduation
costs amounted to 100 pounds for the private examination and the
candidate had to give an additional 40 soldi to all doctors and other
officials present at the public examination. The obligatory banquet
for the examining professors can, with an understatement, only be
described as a gourmet dinner.160 It is therefore no great surprise
that several students only took a licentia and left the doctoral title for
granted. However, if a student did wish to take the doctorate he
had formally ended his studies and could start his professional career
where he wanted, with a title that was valid and respected through-
out the Christian world.
More than just a successful finish of a course of studies—for this
the licentia might have been satisfactory—the doctorate has also been
viewed as a rite de passage, in which the ritualistic character of the
ceremony signified the incorporation of the candidate among those
who were responsible for the maintenance and furtherance of scientia.161
As has been established in the previous sections of this chapter, stu-
dents from the Northern Netherlands rarely travelled to Italy to study
arts, which they had already done at a studium like Louvain. Their
chief objective was to study law and medicine. Their ultimate goal
could therefore, if they so desired, be taking a degree from a pres-
tigious Italian university. As most Italian studia did not officially award
160
For various procedures: Grendler, Universities, 172–95; R. Palmer, The “Studio”
of Venice and its Graduates in the Sixteenth Century (Padua 1983) 31–33; Ohl, ‘University
of Padua’, 64–65; Piana, Liber secretus iuris caesarei, 62*–63*; G. Minnucci, ‘Il con-
ferimento dei titoli accademici nello Studio di Siena fra xv e xvi secolo. Modalità
dell’esame di laurea e provenienza studentesca’ in: A. Romano (ed.), Università in
Europa. Le istituzioni universitarie dal Medio Evo ai nostri giorni. Strutture, organizzazione, fun-
zionamento, Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi, Milazzo 28 Settembre–2
Ottobre 1993 (Messina 1995) 213–226.
161
W. Frijhoff, ‘Careers of Graduates’ in: De Ridder-Symoens (ed.), History, II,
355–415.
102 chapter two
the title of baccalaureus—this was merely a term to designate that a

relatively advanced student was teaching the lectura extraordinaria—,
the options open to them were to take the licentiate or the doctorate.162
A graduation to doctor could take a while. Apart from the usual
statutory minimum study duration,163 the high cost of the actual doc-
torate must have been a high hurdle to take. It was substantially
cheaper to stick to the licentia. The doctorate nevertheless exerted a
considerable attraction to former students. Consider the case of
Johannes Snavel of Zwolle, who became licentiatus on 21 June 1432.
After this graduation he returned to the Netherlands where he took
up lecturing at the University of Louvain in 1435. He continued to
do this until 1440, with a short break however: in the summer of
1439 he returned to Padua, where he got his doctorate on 17 August,
more than seven years after his licentiate. His teaching probably
must have earned him enough money to take the coveted title of
doctor decretorum. This caused a minor problem since two of his for-
mer promotores had died in the meantime.164 He is certainly not the
only one to have taken this course of action. We know of at least
fifteen students who postponed their graduation to doctor for a con-
siderable number of years. In most cases they devoted themselves to
another career during their break from university life.
A most notable example of this behaviour we can find in 1456.
We have already met Ludolphus Nicolai of Hoorn, canon of St
Salvator, Theodoricus Utenweer of Leiden, canon of St John’s, and
Alfardus of Montfoort, canon of St Mary’s, all in Utrecht, who were
162
For more general information about graduation at Italian universities the vari-
ous publications of Weigle in QFIAB; the introduction of Sorbelli, Libri; Anna Laura
Trombetti Budriesi, ‘L’esame di laurea presso lo Studio Bolognese. Laureati in diritto
civile nel secolo xv’ in: G.P. Brizzi and A.I. Pini (eds.), Studenti e università degli stu-
denti dal XII al XIX secolo, Studi en memorie per la storia dell’università di Bologna,
nuova serie vol. VII (Bologna 1988) 139–191, where the number of graduates from
the Northern Netherlands is severely underestimated.
163
The actual duration of study and the statutory requirements will be dealt with
in more detail in section 2.5 of this chapter.
164
Zonta, Acta graduum, I, 288–9 and II, 90: “Publica doctoratus in i. can. d.
Iohannis Snavel de Swollis art. mag. traiectensis dioc. alias cum rigore exam-
inis—licentiati et pro defunctis aliis duobus suis promotoribus, videlicet d. Iohanne
de Imola et Prosdocimo de Comitibis u. i. doct., d. Paulus de Aretio superstes eius
promotor—ei in—doctorem creato per—d. vicarium tradidit insignia—in presentia
d. Matthei de Corbinellis—rect.”
sent to Rome in 1455 to get confirmation of Pope Callixt III for

the election of Gijsbert of Brederode as bishop of Utrecht.165 They
had all studied in Italy and all had studied canon law. Alfardus was
already doctor iuris canonici. This was not the case for the other two.
Both had careers besides their position in a chapter, Theodoricus
Utenweer had even been councillor at the Hof van Holland. On their
journey back Dirk and Ludolf obviously decided to combine their
duty with their own personal goals and stopped by two university
cities. On 25 January Dirk graduated in canon law at the University
of Bologna.166 Several months later, on 1 July, Ludolf became doctor
iuris canonici in Padua, seventeen years after he became licentiatus!167
Not just the costs of graduation could cause students to postpone
the conventuatus. Sometimes the ceremony was delayed by disturbances
of another nature, often to do with the administration. When Martinus
de Hegherdoer from Middelburg wanted to graduate in both civil
and canon law at the University of Bologna on 8 October 1451, the
prior of the collegium doctorum of canon law had not informed the
prior of civil law that both ceremonies were to be celebrated. Because
there was some uproar between the various professors, the prior of
civil law decided to convoke the entire collegium of canon law. It then
came out that the prior of canon law was at fault, because he had
all the necessary information and did not give this to the civil law
prior, who was all too ready to make a note of this in the Liber
secretus.168
165
Brom, Archivalia, I, 489–90, nrs. 1227 and 1229.
166
Piana, Liber secretus iuris pontificii, 19.
167
“Publica doctoratus et conventus Ludolphi Nicolai de Hoyrn alias licentiati in
i. can. anno MCCCCXXXVIIII die sexto maii”: Ghezzo, Acta, 140, nr. 440.
168
[1451] Die VIIIº octobris licentiatus fuit d. Martinus . . . de Alamania, pre-
sentatus per d. B[artholomeum] de Lanbertinis et d. Mel[chionem] de Mulgio; apro-
batus nemine discrepante. Et eodem die et tempore fuit examinatus in iure canonico,
presentatus per d. Antonium de S. Petro ac supradictum d. Melchionem. Et finitis
istis actibus, in continenti asumpsit gradum in utroque iure, nam in iure civili tra-
didit insignia d. Antonius, in iure canonico d. Melchion. Et inter doctores fuit de
hac re altercatio, videlicet quod eodem tempore duo actus forent celebrati, et maxime
non consultis super hoc per prius doctoribus; et ego ingnarus quod vole[ba]t in iure
canonico se expedire, feci convocare collegium. Et hoc processit culpa prioris iuris
canonici, qui omnium supradictorum habebat notitiam, et nichil mihi dixit. [Piana,
LSIC, 6].
104 chapter two
Notwithstanding the high cost and other difficulties that might

have arisen in their attempt to obtain degrees, students from the
Northern Netherlands who travelled all the way to the Italian peninsula
seem to have been relatively anxious to take them. As has been men-
tioned before, a degree, especially in one of the higher faculties was
a rarity, even more so for the doctorate than for the licentiate. A
very general estimate claimed nevertheless that even in the fifteenth
century less than 3 per cent of all German university students man-
aged to obtain a degree—from baccalaureus to doctor—in one of the
higher faculties.169 In certain cases, for instance Heidelberg in the
fifteenth century, as much as 70 per cent of the total student body
remained without any status in studio, including degrees in the arts
faculty.170 Particularly the conferment of the doctorate was a rare
event: according to the list drawn up by Valerius Andreae, only 32
doctorates were awarded in the entire law faculty in the fifteenth
century at the University of Louvain.171 Cologne might once again
serve as an example, this time for the popularity of taking degrees
in the faculty of medicine. Between 1392 and 1538 only 33 doctor-
ates in medicine were awarded for the entire faculty of medicine.172
Seen in this context, students in the population seem to have had
a high percentage of graduates and constitute themselves as a very
successful and ambitious group of students. Out of 640 students a
minimum of 463 (72.3 per cent) acquired a certain status in studio.
In 91 cases (14.2 per cent) students went no further than a degree
from the faculty of arts, as far as can be substantiated in the sources.173
More significant is the quite substantial number of students with
degrees in the higher faculties. The following table (2.4.1.) will show
the figures of the highest degrees found for students of the entire
population.
169
Peter Moraw, ‘Careers of Graduates’ in: De Ridder-Symoens (ed.), History,
261.
170
Fuchs, Nobilis, 81–2.
171
V. Andreas, Fasti academici studii generalis Lovaniensis (Louvain 1635), 101–7.
172
Bernhardt, ‘Gelehrte Mediziner’, 133, n. 81.
173
78 (12.1%) magister artium; 4 (0.6%) licentiatus artium; 9 (1.4%) baccalaureus artium.
Degree N % Faculty % Total Population

DUI 113 34.7 17.7
LUI (+1BUI) 6 1.8 0.9
D.I.Can. 38 11.7 5.9
L.I.Can. 6 1.8 0.9
D.I.Civ. 22 6.7 3.5
L.I.Civ. 6 1.8 0.9
D.M. 172 80.6 26.9
D.T. (+1 B.T) 9 90.0 1.4
Total Degrees 373 58.3
Table 2.4.1. Degrees in the higher faculties awarded to students in the population
in absolute numbers and as a percentage of both subject total and absolute total of the
population.174
Both the absolute number of degrees (373), especially doctorates (353),

and the graduation ratio seem exceptionally high. Nearly all these
degrees in the higher faculties were awarded at Italian universities.
For the period as a whole this means that on average every ten
years almost twenty-five Dutchmen left Italy with a degree in one
of the higher faculties. It would be fair to take the universities of
northern Italy as a university pole. It will be interesting to compare
the numbers of higher degrees in law taken at the university pole
Italy to those of the most popular university pole for law students
from the Northern Netherlands: Orléans (table 2.4.2.).
There are some significant differences observable. First, one observes
that canon law—especially where it concerned a graduation to doc-
tor—was a speciality which was not that popular at the university
on the Loire. For this subject students seem to have preferred the
Italian universities, notably Padua and Bologna. The number of doc-
torates obtained by law students who visited the University of Orléans
amounts to 17 (4.5 per cent of the total). Only three doctorates were
actually awarded in Orléans. Thirteen—11 doctorates among them—
out of the 105 titles were actually taken in Italy (and therefore part
of the population studied here). Take, for example the Frisian Douwe
174
The abbreviations refer to the following degrees: DUI = doctor utriusque
iuris; LUI = licentiatus utriusque iuris; I.Can. = iuris canonici; I.Civ. = iuris civilis;
DM = doctor medicinae; DT = doctor theologiae.
106 chapter two
Degree N % of Total Population

DUI 9 2.4
LUI 26 6.9
D.I.Can. 0 0.0
L.I.Can. 12 3.2
D.I.Civ. 8 2.1
L.I.Civ. 50 13.2
Total 105 27.6
Table 2.4.2. Higher degrees in law taken by students from the diocese of Utrecht at
the University of Orléans in the period 1444–1546, and as a percentage of total num-
ber of registered students from the diocese (= 377).175
Tietema, or Dominicus Tettema as he is referred to in Latin, who

visited Orléans from 1505 until 1507 and obtained the title of licen-
tiatus in civil law there. He did not content himself with this degree
and is found to have taken the doctorate in civil law at the University
of Siena on 6 September 1511.176 In the comparable period 1450–1550,
the Italian universities awarded 8 licentiates and 106 doctorates, all
in all 114 higher degrees. The total number of law students in this
period was 189. Some 60.3 per cent of them were granted a title.
All of these degrees were obtained in Italy. Therefore, Italy as a uni-
versity pole, with Bologna at the top, has to be seen as the place to
take the final degree, that of doctor, in law. The fact that close to
10 per cent of law doctorates awarded in Italy involved ex-Orleanenses,
who had studied there between 1444 and 1546, is definitively note-
worthy. Not only is the absolute amount of degrees higher, the num-
ber of doctorates is what really sets the universities of Italy apart
from those in the north of Europe, even when we are speaking of
a highly valued specialized institution as the law University of Orléans.
When we compare the degrees awarded in the higher faculties—
here, law and medicine—of the separate universities in Italy to impor-
tant universities for law and medicine north of the Alps, the following
picture emerges. The prestigious law University of Orléans awarded
a very considerable number of degrees, four every five years. The
175
On the basis of De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’.
176
Ridderikhoff, Premier livre, Biographies, I, 254, nr. 431; Weigle, ‘Siena’, 237.
number of doctorates, however, is insignificant compared to the indi-

vidual universities in Italy. Bologna and Siena issued the highest
average of graduation certificates in law of the Italian studia. Their
average amounts to half that of Orléans, but the average of doc-
torates awarded is substantially higher for all the Italian universities
mentioned here, including Padua.
For degrees in medicine one might say that the universities of
Bologna, Padua and Ferrara were all important for students from
the Northern Netherlands, when compared to either the medicine
University of Montpellier or the ‘home’ University of Cologne. Both
the absolute number and the average of graduations were higher for
the studia on the peninsula.
Law Degrees p. year Doctorates p. year Graduation ratio %

Bologna 0.4 0.4 45.8
Padua 0.1 0.1 16.2
Ferrara 0.3 0.2 75.0
Siena 0.4 0.4 74.5
Orléans 0.8 0.0 23.5
Medicine
Bologna 0.3 0.3 70.0
Padua 0.2 0.2 37.4
Ferrara 0.4 0.4 75.7
Montpellier 0.1 0.0 22.2
Cologne 0.2 0.1 22.0
Table 2.4.3. Yearly averages of degrees and doctorates awarded to students from the
Northern Netherlands at the universities of Bologna, Padua, Ferrara, Siena, Orléans,
Montpellier and Cologne, with the graduation ratio per university.177
177
The graduation ratio is the number of students from the Northern Netherlands
that obtained a degree as a percentage of the total number of students from the
Northern Netherlands studying a particular subject at a university. It deals here
with the number of degrees obtained at the university mentioned; not degrees
obtained at another university at a later stage in a student’s curriculum. For the
universities of Orleans, Montpellier and Cologne figures were calculated on the basis
of De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’; Gouron, Matricule;
Bernhardt, ‘Gelehrte Mediziner’. For Orléans the period 1444–1546 was selected;
for Montpellier the period 1503–99; for Cologne the period 1392–1538.
108 chapter two
Another interesting point is that the graduation ratio at these Italian

universities was in most cases extremely high. Looking at law, one
observes that the ratio for the entire population of law students at
Italian universities is almost double that of the studium in the Loire
city. When the individual universities are considered, the Italian ones,
with the notable exception of Padua, stand out once more; with a
graduation ratio twice that of Orléans in the case of Bologna to
three times as high in the case of Siena and Ferrara. The gradua-
tion ratio in medicine at the Italian universities is even higher and
differs considerably from those at the faculty of medicine at the spe-
cialist university of Montpellier and of the so popular ‘home’ University
of Cologne; Padua again with a relatively low, but considerable gra-
duation rate and booming figures for both Bologna and Ferrara.
One has to bear in mind that calculating the success rate on the
basis of graduations for Italian universities can be deceptive.178 In
many cases the graduation registers constitute the only source. Though
they frequently mention witnesses, which enables us to assess the
level of attendance to a certain extent, one has to be very careful
in immediately extrapolating these figures to calculate a graduation
ratio. Where both matriculation records and graduation registers
exist, one is in a far more comfortable position to make any sort of
claim in this respect. There are instances where exactly these sources
are available. Of the 104 students who registered with the German
Nation of the law University of Bologna, 53 (51.0 per cent) took
either the licentiatus or, in most cases, the doctorate, though not always
in Bologna itself. Ferrara and Siena were attractive alternatives, cer-
tainly from a financial point of view. Consider the following list of
options open to Georgius Wagner of Augsburg, who studied law at
the University of Padua in 1570–1. Graduation fees at both Padua
and Bologna amounted to some 50 scudi, while at Siena a degree
cost 34. Ferrara, with 28 scudi, was the cheapest option available to
him.179 Although one must be extremely cautious in trying to assess
a reliable graduation ratio, what little evidence there is points in the
direction of a graduation ratio that seems to have been substantially
higher than that for universities in the north of Europe. Where
178
See also: H. de Ridder-Symoens, ‘Place de l’Université de Bologne’, 87.
179
A. Luschin von Ebengreuth, ‘Nuovi documenti riguardanti la nazione alemanna
nello Studio di Bologna’ in: Atti e memorie della R. Deputazione di storia patria per le
provincie di Romagna, ser. III, 2 (1884) 183–200. Also cited in Palmer, Studio, 16.
degrees in the higher faculties are concerned, it might amount to a

figure that comes close to 50 per cent in the case of law students.
It might even have been somewhat higher for students of medi-
cine. For Padua we have the matriculation records for the German
Nation of the faculty of arts and medicine at our disposal for the
period from 1553 onwards. Out of the 16 students who matricu-
lated officially until 1576, 11 returned home with a doctorate in
medicine. Again, they did not always graduate in Padua. Four of
them got their title elsewhere. Especially where students of medicine
are concerned a certain caution is necessary, since more so than in
the case of lawyers one has to rely on graduation records and wit-
ness lists. There seems, however, little doubt about the extraordinary
position of Italian universities as the end-goal in getting degrees.
In the example discussed earlier, the number of doctorates in medi-
cine taken at the University of Cologne (1392–1538) was set at 33,
while the number of students of medicine would have been close to
330. The total number of graduations in medicine, including the
baccalaureatus and the licentiatus was 72. Of these degrees, 25 were
awarded to students from the diocese of Utrecht.180 In the compa-
rable period 1419–1550 no less than 51 out of 68 students of medi-
cine from the northern Low Countries at the studium of Ferrara took
the degree of doctor medicinae. At the University of Bologna, for instance,
in the relatively short period between 1419 and 1434, no less than
65 degrees in medicine and 1 in surgery were awarded.181 It is most
telling that between 1457 and 1472 Ferrara was actually the most
popular university to graduate for students of medicine from the
University of Cologne.182 This immense difference does point in the
180
Following the figures stated by Bernhardt, ‘Gelehrte Mediziner’, 123–6. The
number of 330 is an estimate on Bernhardt’s figures up to 1520.
181
On the basis of C. Piana, ‘Lauree in arti e medicina conferite a Bologna negli
anni 1419–1434’ in Id., Nuove ricerche sulle Università di Bologna e di Parma (Florence
1966) 110–74; also quoted by Siraisi, ‘Faculty of Medicine’, 373, who justly warns
not to extrapolate these figures to the other periods in the university’s history.
182
Bernhardt, ‘Gelehrte Mediziner’ 133. Bernhardt goes on to explain this in
stating that graduation at the University of Ferrara was cheaper than graduating
at the University of Cologne, though he mentions no exact costs. It may be true
that graduations at the University of Ferrara were significantly lower than those at
other universities in Italy, but I have my doubts that this holds true for Cologne
as well, apart from the fact that travel to and living in Italy—visiting other uni-
versities as well—would have substantially heightened the cost of this ‘cheaper’
option. The other thing one has to bear in mind is that the definition of “gelehrte
110 chapter two
direction that the larger universities in Italy were indeed also desti-
nations for graduation.
This quite astonishing number of doctorates, both in absolute and
relative terms, may come as something of a surprise. For one thing,
the immediate material effects of a doctorate in terms of career pos-
sibilities, were still hardly visible in the sixteenth and certainly in the
fifteenth century. The bureaucracies of Church and State generally
did not stipulate statutory requirements for their officials until well
into the sixteenth century and then the degree of licentiatus was in
most instances called for. In a manner of speaking, one might have
contented oneself with just that degree. Obtaining a doctorate was of
course a requirement to become a member of the professorial corps,
if a student wanted to become a doctor regens. We shall see that this
indeed was the purpose of quite a few students—predominantly in
medicine though—, albeit very rarely at an Italian university, where
accession to the colleges of doctors, and consequently for the teaching
corps, was generally limited to local candidates. There is some evi-
dence that suggests that a title of doctor medicinae, certainly when taken
at a distinguished Italian studium might have been a prerequisite for
a successful career as a physician, most distinctly in sixteenth-century
Holland, when the density of physicians increased sharply to attain
a level in the seventeenth century that only the large Mediterranean
cities had.183 This might provide some sort of explanation for the
quite substantial graduation rate in the faculty of medicine.
One might question whether something of the sort was equally
true for students of law. Though there is evidence for the Republic
of the Seven United Provinces that those who had obtained a degree
in one of the higher faculties, certainly the doctorate, could expect
to have a higher income than those functionaries without a degree,184
it is impossible to exactly calculate this for the sixteenth and cer-
tainly the fifteenth century. What does remain is the relatively imma-
terial aspect of the doctorate: its prestige! This most definitely applies
Mediziner” used by Bernhardt is broader than the one I use. No proven track
record of study in the faculty of medicine was necessary to be counted as a “learned
physician” in Bernhardt’s view. A later Tätigkeit in medicine was sufficient to be
counted among his population. Therefore his population counts among it arts stu-
dents who later practised medicine.
183
Frijhoff, Gradués, 210–246, especially 230–2.
184
W. Frijhoff, ‘Université et marché d’emploi dans la République des Provinces-
Unies’ in: Julia, Chartier (eds.), Populations étudiantes, I, 226–9.
to those students who managed to get a doctorate in law. Based on

the teachings of authors like Bartolus of Saxoferrato, Accursius and
Franciscus Zabarella, a doctor of law could claim the rank of a
nobleman. Certainly a doctor who had been teaching for twenty
years should be appointed comes et dux and automatically enter the
ranks of the nobility. For those doctors who were not actively involved
in teaching at a university, a number of not insignificant privileges
remained. In terms of rank they could vie with the knighthood.185
Although this view of the doctorate seems to have originated in Italy
and Spain, where this sort of ideological rhetoric was particularly
relevant in the rivalry between old nobility and emerging bourgeoisie
in the wealthy cities of northern Italy of the later Middle Ages, it
was a coveted export product that the sons of the ambitious, wealthy
town elites in the Northern Netherlands—on whom more than just
the sheer magnitude of the Italian cities must have made an impres-
sion—could take with them on their journey northwards.186
In addition to an undetermined expectancy in terms of career and
income, the doctorate bestowed on the candidate a certain rank that
put him on a distinguished and privileged level in society. It seems
plausible that exactly those students who visited Italian universities,
where the exalted rhetoric concerning the doctorate was most pro-
nounced and the number of doctorates awarded relatively high, were
more prone to take the ultimate step in the course of their studies
than their peers who remained north of the Alps. On the other
hand, universities were very keen themselves to write down the names
of those doctorandi of illustrious birth or connections. Thus, when
Cornelius Vincentii van Mierop graduated in law on 30 April 1533,
the scribe immediately mentioned all his titles and that Cornelis was
none other than the son of the treasurer of “his imperial majesty”
Charles V.187
185
Hermann Lange, ‘Vom Adel des doctor’ in: Klaus Luig and Detlef Liebs
(eds.), Das Profil des Juristen in der europäischen Tradition. Symposion aus Anlaß des 70.
Geburtstages van Franz Wieacker (Ebelsbach 1980) 279–294; I. Baumgärtner, ‘Uber
Gelehrtenstand und Doktorwürde im späten Mittelalter’ in: Historisches Jahrbuch 106
(1986) 298–332.
186
Frijhoff, ‘Careers’, 355–415. There is a lack of in depth research as into the
stature of doctors in the Northern Netherlands society for the later medieval period,
although it is true that they are in general referred to as “meester” or “doctoer”
and a general sort of reverence is clear from the sources.
187
“D Cornelii de Myerop art. doct. et mag. et decani in eccl. S. Salvatoris et
in arce Hagensi f.—mag. Vincentii thesaurii cesaree maiestatis in inferioris Germaniae
112 chapter two
The anxiousness to take degrees, no matter what subject, was an

important feature for a majority of the population under investiga-
tion, but there certainly seems to have been some development over
time. It was mentioned earlier that a degree in canon law per se
was on its way out. The importance of a doctorate in only canon
law seems to have declined over the years, until it virtually ceased
to exist in the latter part of the sixteenth century; at least where stu-
dents from the Northern Netherlands were concerned. Most students
in the sixteenth century would opt for a graduation utriusque iuris, in
both laws. This development is most clearly visible when one looks
at the law degrees taken at the University of Padua, where nearly
all law students chose to graduate in canon law up to about 1475
and where in the sixteenth century students all graduated in both
civil and canon law. It is true though that this development occurred
to some extent in all universities on the peninsula.
Another development that is not without significance is the fact
that the licentiatus became increasingly less important as the final
degree taken at an Italian studium. In general, the doctorate was the
degree to aspire to in Italy.188 Certainly for the sixteenth century one
might say that students did not content themselves anymore with
anything less than the doctorate, entirely in accordance with the
common Italian practice of awarding the doctorate very soon after
the licentiate. Were there still 13 licentiati in the fifteenth century,
the figure dropped to 4 in the sixteenth. This is true much more so
for students of law than for students of medicine. Students of medi-
cine never were really anxious for the licentiate. Indeed, from the
beginning of the period under investigation students of medicine seem
to have been focused on the doctorate. But over the years this was
to become fact for law students as well, to such an extent, that one
might say that whoever wanted to take a degree from an Italian
university, opted for the doctorate.
A third development involves an increasing relative popularity of
graduating in general. When one compares the relative number of
graduations in the fifteenth century to those of the sixteenth, one
observes a not insignificant increase. Out of the total number of 338
partibus, apud nos vulgari nomine tresorier de finantia appellati”; ACVP, Ser. Divers.,
inv. nr. 54, f. 75v.
188
Grendler, Universities, 172–8.
students visiting Italian universities from 1425 until 1500 174 (51.5
per cent) managed to obtain a degree in one of the higher faculties.
For the next seventy-five years the number of degrees conferred on
students from the diocese of Utrecht amounted to 199 out of 302
(65.9 per cent)!189 Even in the last time cohort, 1551–75, when the
number of students travelling to Italy increased spectacularly—and
when the element of gran turismo started making an impact on mobil-
ity—the percentage of students that were awarded degrees was higher
than in any other cohort of the fifteenth century: 97 out of 167 (58.1
per cent).190
Other developments concern the popularity of the various uni-
versities in Italy to take a degree. The level of attendance does not
always reflect the level of graduation. It seems worthwhile to take a
closer look at the degrees bestowed at the various universities on the
peninsula. To start with the most ancient university, Bologna, one
may say that it awarded a considerable number of degrees to students
from the diocese of Utrecht in the period 1426–1575. No less than
117 Dutchmen left Bologna with a licentiatus or, in most cases, a doc-
torate of the Alma Mater Bononiensis. In terms of the level of atten-
dance that can be established, Bologna awarded degrees to 52.9 per
cent of its suppositi from the Northern Netherlands. In absolute num-
bers, Bologna awarded the most degrees to students from these parts.
In terms of issuing graduation certificates the university certainly out-
did its closest rival in terms of level of attendance, Padua. Although
Padua awarded more degrees in the period up to 1450–60, Bologna
took over convincingly from then on. From a level of turning out
almost one Dutch doctor every two years up to 1475, it increased
substantially towards the end of the century reaching a first peak in
the decade 1486–95. Students of law were responsible for this increase.
Together with a rise in attendance came a rise in the number of
graduations. This was not a development exclusive to students from
the Low Countries. A similar significant increase in graduations in
law can be observed for English students who travelled to Bologna
189
Percentages for the time cohorts were as follows: 1426–51: 55.9%; 1451–75:
45.5%; 1476–1500: 53.0%; 1501–1525: 71.4%; 1526–50: 78.9%; 1551–75: 58.1%.
190
It is worthwhile to note that for the period 1551–75 the sources are richest
where registration is concerned. Where the graduation ratio in the fifteenth cen-
tury tends to be close to a maximum, figures are more accurate for the period
1551–75, for which both enrolment registers and graduation registers are available.
114 chapter two
(graph 2.4.2.). After 1500, the average level of graduation in Bologna

remained fairly stable in that she turned out a Dutch doctor every
two years. Up to 1536 there are a number of clusters of years when
no degrees were awarded at all. They coincide with years of politi-
cal and social upheaval that have been discussed above. After this
one can observe two more peaks, from the late thirties to the late
forties and once again in the late fifties. The peak in the period
1537–49 is accounted for almost entirely by a crowd of ambitious
and promising students of medicine, who opted for a degree from
Bologna rather than of any other university in Italy they visited.
Petrus Forestus of Alkmaar is exemplary for this group. In the years
1540–3 he travelled through Italy and visited Padua and Ferrara
before taking the doctorate at the University of Bologna 29 November
1543.191 The second peak, in the late fifties, reveals a shared respon-
sibility between students of law and medicine. It is plausible that the
war between France and the Habsburgs up to 1559, which severely
influenced attendance at the University of Orléans, may have per-
suaded a number of students to seek learning and a degree else-
where, from which Bologna seems to have profited. Although
attendance did not grow in Bologna, the number of degrees issued
remained stable and was still higher than the other Italian universi-
ties: at least where students from the diocese of Utrecht were con-
cerned. If anything, this suggests that a doctorate from Bologna was
considered to be very valuable. The decline that set in the late six-
ties may be due to factors indicated above. Unquestionably, the num-
ber of doctorates awarded to students from the diocese of Utrecht
seriously declined after 1575.192
Padua was in all likelihood the most popular university to visit,
but this is definitely not true for its process of graduation. It has
already been seen that Padua was outrun by Bologna in the number
of degrees awarded.193 Ferrara, too, managed to issue considerably
more graduation certificates and even Siena—with far fewer students
191
Bronzino, Notitia, 34.
192
E.g. De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Italian and Dutch Universities’, 55, tables 2 and
3. This was not true for students from the Southern Netherlands, who continued
to graduate in Bologna right into the seventeenth century: Ead., ‘Place de l’Université
de Bologne’, 92, table 1.
193
See the figures presented by Trombetti Budriesi, ‘L’esame’, 176, where Bologna
is said to have awarded a significantly higher number of degrees.
Graduations at the University of Bologna (1426–1575)

7
0
1426 1436 1446 1456 1466 1476 1486 1496 1506 1516 1526 1536 1546 1556 1566
Graph 2.4.1. Number of graduations of students from the Northern Netherlands at the
University of Bologna.
Graduations in Law of English and Dutch Students at Bologna

2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
1426–35 1436–45 1446–55 1456–65 1466–75 1476–85 1486–95 1496–1505
Ten Year Moving Average (E) 10 Year Average (E)

Ten Year Moving Average (NN) 10 Year Average (NN)
Graph 2.4.2. Graduation averages in law of students from England and the Northern
Netherlands at the University of Bologna compared (1426–1505).
attending and graduation records lacking up to the eighties of the

fifteenth century—managed to almost come close to Padua in the
number of degrees conferred. Although the studium pataviensis started
out by conferring a substantial number of degrees, higher than any
other university in Italy, in the period up to about 1455, that level
declined rapidly towards the end of the 1450s, while attendance does
not nearly decline as fast. The decline in graduations in Padua coin-
cides with the sudden rise in degrees awarded at the University of
116 chapter two
Ferrara. This is not a coincidence, though. No less than 27 students

who attended Padua (11.1 per cent of the total number attending
Padua between 1426 and 1575!) eventually were awarded doctorates
of the University of Ferrara. The bulk of these happen to occur in
the second half of the fifteenth century. The reasons for this devel-
opment have been discussed earlier. Degrees were considerably cheaper
in Ferrara and there was an active policy on the part of its ruler to
attract students from the nearby bigger institutions. The coffers of
Padua’s studium suffered most because of this. The exorbitant costs
of degrees must have played a major part. It is significant that out
of the 37 degrees awarded at the studium of Padua between 1426
and 1475, no less than 12 were actually gratis. In other words, nearly
one third of these degrees were given “for the love of God”. Most
of these gratia were given to students of medicine. And it is exactly
the larger group of medical students who travelled in numbers to
obtain their doctorate at the University of Ferrara. Thus, after
Arnoldus Bernardi of Amsterdam attended the University of Padua
in 1458, he proceeded to Ferrara to get his doctorate in medicine
28 May 1460.194 This feature is worthwhile to note, for when the
social background of the population will be discussed.
The rapid decline in attendance at Padua after 1480, aggravated
after 1509 and continuing up to the early thirties, is reflected in the
number of degrees awarded to students from the diocese of Utrecht.
They were very few indeed. The deplorable state of the city in gene-
ral after the French invasion of 1509 has already been stated. Though
attendance makes a hesitating recovery in the thirties and forties,
graduation was slow to follow. Most visitors seem to have preferred
getting their degrees at Bologna—medicine especially—or Ferrara in
these years. In the fifties and sixties graduation was equally slow to
follow the explosion of attendance at the studium. Most degrees taken
in the 1560s by students from the Northern Netherlands were awarded
on authority of the emperor rather than on authority of the pope,
which was the usual procedure. Quite a few of these students man-
aged to avoid the bishop and the oath on the Catholic faith in grad-
uating this way. This practice continued right up until the seventeenth
century. Egbertus Bodaeus of Amsterdam, who graduated in medi-
194
Ghezzo, Acta, 156, nr. 494; Pardi, Titoli, 36–7.
cine 13 December 1597, was clearly not a Catholic!195 Though the

level of graduation only rises slowly—with a dip in the seventies
because of the ban and possibly the first troubled years of the Dutch
Revolt—it was to herald a period in which Padua would produce
more Dutch doctors than any other university on the peninsula,
awarding doctorates to 33 students from the northern Low Countries
up to 1600 and 55 alone in medicine up to 1625.196
In conclusion one might say that after 1450 Padua was relatively
unattractive where it came to obtaining a degree.197 It was most po-
pular with students of medicine, for whom the high graduation costs
must have been a very high hurdle to take, and they frequently
opted for a cheaper solution. Degrees could be taken elsewhere. The
graduation-overspill198 from Padua accounts for 28.3 per cent of stu-
dents from the northern Low Countries attending and was by far
the highest of the major Italian studia. It would seem that for a
degree in law, especially civil law, Bologna exerted a greater pres-
tige. Only one student visited first Bologna and then Padua to get
his degree, while in the reverse case the number of students was ten.
The deplorable state of the Paduan studium in the first half of the
sixteenth century did not do much to improve its attraction in terms
of graduation. It was only in the last four decades of this century
that this changed. From then on a degree from Padua started to
gain a greater prestige that one from its closest rival, Bologna.
If Padua was relatively unpopular for graduation certificates, this
could definitely not be said for the university so near to it: Ferrara.
With the rather spectacular graduation ratio at the studium itself of
60.9 per cent it might well be labelled the graduation university on
the Italian peninsula. That it received the reputation in historiogra-
phy of being a factory for cheap graduation diplomas—especially
195
For this practice see n. 95. Graduation record for Bodaeus: ASP, AN, Francesco
Repetto, vol. 4104, fol. 340 r.
196
De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Italian and Dutch Universities’, 55 and own figures.
197
This phenomenon is also true for students from the Southern Netherlands,
albeit that the situation shows a more rosy picture for students of arts and medi-
cine. Compare the numbers given in: De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Place de l’Université
de Bologne’, 92, table 2.
198
“Graduation-overspill” is defined as the percentage of students who studied
at university A and who graduated at another university minus the percentage of
students who graduated at university A.
118 chapter two
Graduations at the University of Padua

7
0
1426 1436 1446 1456 1466 1476 1486 1496 1506 1516 1526 1536 1546 1556 1566 1576
Graph 2.4.3. Number of Graduations of students from the Northern Netherlands at

the University of Padua (1426–1581).
doctorates—is not entirely deserved.199 True, a significant portion of

Ferrara’s students did move and obtain the doctorate there after hav-
ing studied at other Italian studia, most notably at Padua. Also, the
number of licentiati among graduates is negligible. Only one student
left Ferrara with the degree of licentiatus iuris civilis, Theodoricus Petri
of Haarlem.200 When one looks, however, at the graduation ratio
over time, it will be clear that during its most impressive years in
terms of attendance, the third quarter of the fifteenth century, the
graduation ratio was lowest. This would imply that Ferrara was a
university where students travelled to study, not just graduate! The
earlier mentioned example of Georgius Wagner of Augsburg, who
stated that the cheap degree from Ferrara lacked prestige,201 dates
from the 1570s, when the number of students from the Northern
Netherlands attending and graduating had sharply declined already.
It is doubtful, however, that a law degree from the university where
Alciatus taught law would have been frowned upon for the earlier
period 1540–55. One might add that the 8 per cent graduation-
199
See n. 102.
200
Pardi, Titoli, 36–7.
201
Luschin von Ebengreuth, ‘Nuovi documenti’, 183–200. Also cited in Palmer,
Studio, 16.
Graduations at the University of Ferrara

7
0
1426 1436 1446 1456 1466 1476 1486 1496 1506 1516 1526 1536 1546 1556 1566
University of Ferrara.
overspill from Ferrara was low compared to its neighbours, but not
entirely insignificant. It means that almost one out of twelve students
from the diocese of Utrecht attending Ferrara left the university to
take a degree elsewhere.
The profile of the Ferrara-graduate changed radically from the
fifteenth to the sixteenth century. Had the medical corps dominated
the graduation ceremonies up to 1500, the reverse was true for the
next sixty years. After 1500 and most notably around 1550 the
lawyers dominate degree conferment. In the sixteenth century med-
ical students seem to have preferred more expensive Bologna for
their doctorate. This suggests that medical students were better able
to cope with the high costs of degrees in the sixteenth century than
before, which presupposes a somewhat more elevated social back-
ground. There is some evidence to substantiate this claim, which will
be dealt with more fully in chapters 4 and 5.
When discussing the graduation records of Siena, one might again
be brief. Though the first Dutchman to graduate in the Tuscan city
was a medical student, Theodoricus Johannis of Rotterdam, gradu-
ation ceremonies held after the 1480s were predominantly for lawyers.
Of the 40 graduations, 39 were in the law faculty and only one in
that of arts and medicine. They cluster together in three periods.
The first one running from 1500 to 1515, the second in the 1540
and the last most impressive cluster in the decade between 1560 and
120 chapter two
Graduations at the University of Siena

7
0
1426 1436 1446 1456 1466 1476 1486 1496 1506 1516 1526 1536 1546 1556 1566
University of Siena.
1570, when Siena turned out one Dutch doctor of law on average
every year. Six of them visited Padua before graduating. In terms
of graduations in law Siena’s record looks very impressive. It is there-
fore somewhat surprising that the number of degrees conferred
declined substantially, only two in law having been awarded from
1575 to 1599 and a further five up to 1649, while attendance was
very strong indeed.202
The other universities attended by students from the northern Low
Countries all awarded degrees to them. In most cases the subjects
in which degrees were awarded did not differ significantly from the
universities discussed before. Pavia issued six doctorates in law, seven
in medicine and a last one in theology. The universities of Pisa/Florence
had almost the same record with six degrees in law and a further
seven in medicine. Although we do not have direct evidence for
graduations at the University of Perugia, it seems highly plausible
that some four lawyers were awarded degrees from this studium. When
in 1567 the proctors of the German Nation at the University of
Orléans mentioned that “Johannes Montanus Ultrajectinus, juris civilis
doctor in Italia promotus”,203 and no trace of his graduation can be
202
Frijhoff, Société, 383; De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Italian and Dutch Universities’, 55,
table 4. The graduation ratio over the period 1575–1649 was only 6.3%.
203
Ridderikhoff, Deuxième livre, II, 591–2.
found at any of the other universities and when we know that more
members of the Montanus family attended the University of Perugia—
such as “Guilelmus Montanus Ultrajectinus” in 1563204—it does not
seem unlikely that Perugia was indeed the studium where he got his
degree. As was mentioned in section 2.2. Parma seemed to have
been a university for cheap graduation only, especially for students
of medicine. All those students from the diocese of Utrecht attend-
ing Parma’s university were there to pick up a graduation certificate;
one in arts, four in medicine and one utriusque iuris. The odd one
out is once again Rome. The studium urbis did not to our knowledge
award degrees to students from the Northern Netherlands. The
Germanicum differed very much from the other institutions of higher
learning in Italy. This is clearly visible in the degrees issued by it;
one in arts and two doctorates of theology. With so few degrees
awarded to Dutchmen, the college seems to have not attained its
main objective: to train a learned clergy for the Northern regions
of Europe. This claim is substantiated by incidental evidence of
serious misconduct on the part of certain students, which resulted
in them being kicked out, as in the case of Hubertus Luetanus, and
even attempts to escape from the college. Lucas Ritzardi of Friesland,
who registered 10 December 1556 is mentioned to have left the col-
lege “fraudulenter” and it should therefore not come as a great shock
that he became a Protestant minister at a later stage in his career.205
2.5. Students’ Age and Duration of Study
Now that we have a clearer picture of the university curriculum of

this group of relatively undertaking and successful students, it would
be very interesting to know something more about the age at which
they started and ended their studies. Contrary to the situation for
town and church schools, where lists of pupils have not survived,
university records do often allow us to determine both start and
finish of a student’s course of study. The one necessary piece of
information is a date of birth. Unfortunately we are severely ham-
pered here by an almost total lack of systematic sources. Both birth
204
Weigle, Matrikel Perugia, 146, nr. 1905.
205
Jacobs and Beghyn, ‘Noord-Nederlandse studenten’, 84 and 86.
122 chapter two
and baptismal records are lacking for this period in the history of
the Northern Netherlands. This means that we have to rely on inci-
dental information of this kind. It can be found in university sources,
ego-documents, students’ publications, epitaphs, and so forth. In view
of the source situation it has to be said that this tends to be biased
in favour of the sixteenth century, for which such sources are richer.
It also seems to overemphasize those students who at a later stage
of their lives made a distinctive mark on politics or culture, in other
words: the powerful and the famous.
To give an indication of the age at which students were expected
to start university, one might consult university sources to see what
general terms they set for registering students. Earlier on we have
seen that municipal acts sometimes give clues as to the age at which
pupils were expected to start school, and consequently, assuming a
normal course of study, an age at which they were likely to leave
it. Depending on the number of classes a town school had a pupil
would normally have finished between age thirteen and seventeen.206
University statutes give us other clues. Students could matriculate at
a very young age, but if they were younger than fourteen, they could
not swear the oath themselves and had to present somebody older
to swear it in their place. A matriculating student younger than four-
teen would be labelled minorennis, a minor. The statutes of the arts
faculty at the University of Louvain stipulated that one had to be
fourteen at minimum to obtain a bachelor’s degree.207 The impres-
sion created is that a student would normally be older than thirteen.
Of a section of 72 students (11.3 per cent of the total population)
for whom we are able to calculate their average age at first matri-
culation, generally not at an Italian university, the outcome is 17.4
years.208 Compared to figures existing for a somewhat similar group
of students from Brabant, visiting the widely famous law university
of Orléans, where the average age was fifteen-and-a-half,209 this seems
206
Post, Scholen, 133; Tervoort, ‘Schoolmeesters’, 71.
207
J. Paquet, ‘Statuts de la Faculté des Arts de Louvain, (1567–68?)’ in: Bulletin
de la Commission royale d’histoire 136 (1970) 255.
208
Apart from the arithmetical average, two complementary measures of central
tendency will be used to illustrate the assembled data: the median and the mode. For
the age of students at first matriculation the median is 17, and the mode is 15.
209
H. de Ridder-Symoens, ‘Brabanders aan de rechtsuniversiteit van Orléans,
1444–1546. Een socio-professionele studie’ in: Bijdragen tot de Geschiedenis 61 (1978)
195–347, here 213–6.
somewhat high. The figures for the Brabant students concern their
first matriculation in arts. For those from the Northern Netherlands
it concerns first matriculations as such and thus includes five stu-
dents who registered immediately with the law faculty. If they are
discounted the average age diminishes somewhat to 17.2 years.210 If
we look at graph 2.5.1. it is clear that for this population the most
common age to start university studies was fifteen, which is consid-
erably closer to the figures found for Orléans.
There are indications that the average age to visit universities
would be somewhat higher for the sixteenth century than for the
fifteenth. Their average age when first registering is 15.6, almost
exactly the age found for the Brabanders. An explanation could be
the changed nature of town schools in the Northern Netherlands. It
is clear that from the late fifteenth century onwards and certainly
in the sixteenth the quality of pre-university education increased.
There were more schools, more teachers per school, the teaching
programme was extended and humanist models were introduced.
Several schools appropriated teaching subjects that used to be taught
only in university. Obviously, this development could facilitate post-
ponement of registering with a university.211 Attending school was
cheaper than attending university.
Another factor that can influence the average age at which a stu-
dent would register is the fact that he might not visit a university
immediately after finishing school. The younger years of Johan van
Oldenbarnevelt provide an example. At age seven he started school
in the town of Amersfoort. He finished school at age sixteen, after
which he worked as a lawyer’s clerk in The Hague for two years
before leaving for Louvain, where he matriculated in 1566 at age
eighteen.212
As we have seen, the majority of students started out their uni-
versity curriculum by studying in the arts faculty. To determine the
age at which they changed from the arts faculty to another one, be
it law, medicine or theology, we need to get the date of birth and
210
It is worth mentioning that the average is also influenced by the fact that we
know the age for quite a few students of the Germanicum. They tended to be
somewhat older (18 to 22) when sent to Rome.
211
Post, Scholen, 133–6; Tervoort, ‘Schoolmeesters’, 68–74. Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland,
16 argues that the improved quality of town schools had a negative effect on uni-
versity attendance as such.
212
Fölting, Landsadvocaten, 35–42.
124 chapter two
an exact date at which this switch took place. Often this is quite
impossible, since a student needed to matriculate only once at a uni-
versity and following the course of study after that is sometimes
difficult. We need a date at which a student graduated from the fac-
ulty of arts and a consecutive matriculation at another university to
be able to determine the average age at which a student started in
a second faculty. These data are only available for 38 students (5.9
per cent of the population). Their average age starting in a second
faculty is 21.7 years.213 As can be told from graph 2.5.2. the most
common age at which a student switched faculty was 20. If we com-
pare these figures once again with those of students from Brabant
at the law university of Orléans, we notice a remarkable similarity.
Their average age at matriculation at the university in the Loire
town—which must surely be seen as a second choice of subject, since
most of them studied arts before law—was 21.214 On average a stu-
dent who started his studies in one of the higher faculties would be
in his very early twenties.
To tell at what age students would normally finish their univer-
sity education, we need to have a precise date at which they for-
mally ended their studies by graduating in one of the higher faculties,
combined with dates of birth and the exact moment at which they
started their university education. Graph 2.5.3. shows the distribu-
tion of age at last graduation of 62 students (9.7 per cent) for whom
we have these data at our disposal. Their average age at last grad-
uation is 26.8 years.215 The most common age at which students
would receive their final graduation certificate is 24. One has to bear
in mind that these figures only represent a relatively small part of
the total population and that this section tends to be highly suc-
cessful in later life. If we calculate the parameters of the average
duration of study for this section of students, it would be over nine
years, 9.4 to be exact. As we shall see, this is only slightly lower
than the figures for a much larger sample for which we can deter-
mine their parameters of study duration.
213
The median is 21 and the mode is 20.
214
De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Brabanders’, 214.
215
The median being 27 and the mode 24. The picture seems to be somewhat
more consistent for graduates in law than for those in medicine, where the most
common age to graduate is 28.
Distribution of Age at First Matriculation (N=72)

16
14
12
10
0
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
Graph 2.5.1. Distribution of age at first matriculation (N=72).
Distribution of Age at Second Faculty (N=38)

7
0
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Age
Graph 2.5.2. Distribution of age at matriculation in higher faculty (N=38).
Another very interesting aspect of the study curriculum is the dura-

tion of studies of the students of the prosopography. This will allow
us to determine what sort of time frame was set to complete—or at
least advance substantially in—a relatively specialist course of study.
For 261 students in the prosopography (40.8 per cent) it is possi-
ble to more or less accurately determine the parameters of their
126 chapter two
Distribution of Age at Last Graduation (N=62)

12
10
0
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 40
Age
Graph 2.5.3. Distribution of age at last graduation (N=62).
curriculum (graph 2.5.4.).216 Generally we are dealing with a maximum

here. One has to bear in mind that it is not possible to exactly mea-
sure the time they were engaged in studying. Travel between different
universities could be quite time consuming. Frequently a student who
had graduated as master of arts would stay teaching a while at their
university as a regent master before moving on to another univer-
sity. Not to mention the fact that these young men might be tempted
to explore more than just the university cities on their travels.
Nonetheless, the figures we have are relatively precise and in most
cases deal with graduates in one of the higher faculties. There is
another category of students with a rather absolute time limit to
their course of studies: those who died during their university edu-
cation. Among the 261 there are five who died prematurely, like
Kempo van Burmania, procurator of the German Nation in Bologna,
who died of plague on a trip to Rome in 1526.217 The average dura-
tion of study for this group of 261 amounts to little over ten years.218
The most common duration of study is also ten years. The precise
216
Students for whom we have information that they have been engaged in other,
professional activities than studying or teaching between the two parameters, with-
out us knowing exactly how long these other activities lasted have been omitted
from the calculations and the graphs.
217
Acta, 292, 40.
218
The median being 10 and the mode 10.
duration could vary enormously, from just over two years to as much
as twenty-two, but from graph 2.5.4. one can clearly conclude that
the crux lies between seven and twelve years. Almost two thirds com-
pleted their studies between seven and twelve years.
For an additional 182 students (28.4 per cent of the population)
we have several dates from their university curriculum, but it is
unfortunately not possible to ascertain a definitive end (for some
cases beginning) to their course of studies. In this case one has to
reckon that the calculated average is generally a minimum duration,
where the students involved for the most part did not graduate in
one of the higher faculties. This figure also includes two students
who died during their studies. For instance IJsbrand Werff of Leiden,
master of arts from the University of Paris, who died during an epi-
demic at Bologna in 1466 when he was procurator of the German
Nation, like the above mentioned Kempo van Burmania—clearly
not a very healthy position.219 Nevertheless, even these figures, albeit
rather limited in value for analysis, give an impression that even or
this section of the population one might speak of a substantial dura-
tion of studies. On average a student of this sample studied just a
little over six years, 6.3 years.220
Duration of the Arts Curriculum and Further Studies

As mentioned before, most students started out by studying arts at
a university relatively close to home. This was considered to be a
solid basis for enrolment in one of the higher faculties. Formally
there was no obligation for law students to have studied arts first,
although most of them indeed had some experience in the arts fac-
ulty. For medicine, to a certain extent, and definitely for theology a
previous graduation in arts was formally obligatory. It would be very
interesting to know what part of entire course of studies of the stu-
dents in the prosopography was devoted to the study of the arts, in
219
Acta, 210, 29; 211, 7 and 27.
220
The exact mean being 6.1, the median 6 and the mode 6. Students of law
of this section seem to have studied that bit longer, 6.7 years, than those who had
chosen medicine as their subject, 6.3 years. In these figures, we have to discount
those students of medicine who appear to have studied two years for our understand-
ing. This is certainly due to a lack of sources that could tell us their real course
of study. Two years of study in medicine would have been an impossibility, since
a thorough education in the arts was a prerequisite for the study of medicine.
128 chapter two
other words: how long did they study arts? There are three moments
in the arts course, where we can determine the time factor. The first
is the graduation as baccalaureus artium, the first status in studio. The
second is the graduation as licentiatus artium, which meant that the
student in question had proved to be worthy to get to the last stage
in the arts formation, the graduation as magister artium. The last title
Distribution of Parameters of Study Duration (N=261)

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Years
Graph 2.5.4. Distribution of parameters of study duration (N=261).
Distribution of Study Duration of Law Students (N=156)

25
20
15
10
0
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Years
Graph 2.5.5. Distribution of parameters of study duration of law students (N=156).

Distribution of Study Duration of Students of Medicine (N=94)

20
18
16
14
12
10
0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Years
Graph 2.5.6. Distribution of parameters of study duration of students of medicine

(N=94).
was a (again costly) formality. The licentiatus was already granted the
licentia, and had done the toughest examination.
It is not very often that we can determine the duration of the arts
course for the students in the prosopography. Most of them had
studied arts before choosing one of the higher faculties. An over-
whelming majority of them had done so at a university in or rela-
tively close to the Netherlands. Louvain, Cologne and Paris were by
far the most popular for this group, as we have previously seen.
Louvain has a source problem, where the graduations are concerned.
The time frame, therefore, is very difficult to assess for suppositi of
this studium.221 For Paris we generally have only information concern-
ing people who already graduated as baccalaureus artium and licentiatus
or magister artium.222 In this case it is therefore almost impossible to
221
One notable exception is the following study: E. Reusens, ‘Promotions de la
Faculté des Arts de l’Université de Louvain (1428–1797)’ in: Analectes pour servir à
l’histoire ecclésiastique de la Belgique 1 (1864) 378–383; 2 (1865) 222 a.f.; 293 a.f.; 3
(1866) 1 a.f.; 243 a.f.; 348 a.f.; 446 a.f.; 4 (1867) 232 a.f.
222
H. Denifle and E. Chatelain (eds.), Auctarium Chartularii Universitatis Parisiensis,
vols. II, Liber procuratorum nationis Anglicanae (Alemanniae) in universitate Parisiensi 1406–1466
(Paris 1897); Ch. Samaran and E.A. van Moë (eds.), Auctarium Chartularii Universitatis
Parisiensis, vol. III, Liber procuratorum nationis Anglicanae (Alemanniae) in universitate Parisiensi
1466–1492 (Paris 1935); and A.L. Gabriel and G.C. Boyce (eds.), vol. VI, Liber
receptorum nationis Anglicanae (Alemanniae) in universitate Parisiensi (Paris 1964).
130 chapter two
pinpoint the exact beginning of the arts studies of the students in

question. Fortunately, this is not the case for Cologne, where we can
almost exactly determine the length of the arts course for a consid-
erable number of students.223 For 75 students (11.8 per cent of the
population)—mostly studying at Cologne and some individual cases
from other universities—we know exactly how long it took them to
Duration until Degree of Baccalaureus Artium (N=75)

12
10
0
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
Years
Graph 2.5.7. The time it took students in the population to obtain the degree of
baccalaureus artium in months (N=75).
Duration until Degree of Magister Artium (N=62)

9
0
1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Years
Graph 2.5.8. The time it took students in the population to take the degree of magister
artium in months (N=62).
get their B.A. On average it took them seventeen months, or nearly

a year and a half.224
Similarly it was possible to exactly determine the length of time
it took a group of 62 students (9.7 per cent)—again for Cologne and
some incidental cases from other universities—to graduate as licen-
tiatus or magister artium. On average they studied three years and three
months before they could take those degrees.225
We can compare these figures to those for arts courses at the
University of Louvain of 19 students from Brabant who later stud-
ied at the university of Orléans. It is noteworthy that there is very
little difference between the 3.5 years that they took to get their L.A.
or M.A. and the 3.3 of the students from the Northern Netherlands.226
Set against the statutes of the arts faculty of the University of Louvain,
stating that a student had to attend courses for three winters and
two summers, one can see that there was a certain amount of flexi-
bility, but that the group as a whole did follow the path laid out in
the statutes.227 This was still a long way from what the earlier statutes
prescribed for the arts course in thirteenth century Paris, which was
supposed to last six years. Up to the early modern period the
University of Oxford even set a term of seven years for completion
of the arts course. Universities in the Holy Roman Empire nearly
all had shorter courses of study for their artistae.228
With the arts course completed, most of the students in the proso-
pography moved on to study in one of the higher faculties. For those
who wanted to study and graduate in law, a normal course of stu-
dies of six years was required to do the examinations that would
grant the student the licentia or the doctoratus.229 Nevertheless, all sorts
of exceptions could be made. Who could prove to have studied a
223
H. Keussen (ed.), die Matrikel der Universität Köln, vol. I, 1389 –1475 (Bonn
19793); vol. II, 1476–1559 (Bonn 1928); vol. III, Nachträge 1389–1559 und Register
zu Band I und II (Bonn 1931).
224
The median being 15 months and the mode 14. A year and a half—or three
semesters—was what the University of Erfurt required for a student who wanted
to obtain his B.A. See: Schwinges, Wriedt (eds.), Bakkalarenregister, xxiv.
225
The median being 35 months and the mode 35.
226
De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Brabanders’, 215.
227
Paquet, ‘Statuts’, 255.
228
Leff, ‘Die artes liberales’, 294.
229
Statuta Universitatis Iuristarum, f. 44v, ms. 1381 Bibliotheca Universitaria di
Padova.
132 chapter two
certain amount of time at another university, could be entitled to a

dispensation. If one looks at the graph that states the parameters of
study duration for law graduates, it will be clear that there was a
clear level of flexibility. In general though, the average calculated as
the start and finish of the period of study—10 years—does allow for
a completed arts course of three-and-a-half years, a considerable
amount of time to travel and a period of six years to immerse one-
self in the law. Michael Gerardi of Deventer might be taken as an
example. On 27 February 1476 he enrolled in the Lily College in
Louvain to study arts.230 In 1479 he registered in the German Nation
of the law university of Bologna—after which we find magister Michael
mentioned several times—and just over six years later, 13 June 1486,
he was awarded the doctorate in civil law.231 His entire period of
study took some ten years. For approximately three years he mastered
the arts and he took little more than six to obtain his doctorate.
The situation for the study of medicine is somewhat more com-
plicated. A satisfactory knowledge of the artes was a prerequisite for
a successful course of studies in medicinis. At Italian universities, how-
ever, arts and medicine were located in the same universitas. It was
possible for students to graduate in arts and medicine at the same time.
This happened to Gisbertus van Ewijck of Meerkerk, when he grad-
uated at the University of Ferrara on Christmas Eve 1550. Where
it comes to medicine specifically, different universities set different
lengths of time for a medicine student to graduate. The statutes of
the arts and medicine faculty in Bologna from 1405 speak of three
years each of philosophy and astrology, as well as another four years
each of theoretical medicine and the so called practica, in which lec-
tures were held about specific illnesses and their treatments, a total
number of fourteen years. Of course some of these subjects could
be studied together which would reduce the duration of study sub-
stantially.232 In Ferrara the statutes of the Universitas scientiae medicinae
et artium, issued between 1474 and 1489, speak of minimum three
years of attending lectures for the candidate in medicine, if he has
230
Wils, Matricule, II, 341, 173.
231
Dallari, Rotuli, I, 221a.
232
Malagola, Statuti, 274–7; Siraisi, ‘Faculty of Medicine’, 379 argues that since
these requirements are all in the same article, they must pertain to students of
medicine.
been instructed in primitivis. Before a student could ask to be pre-

sented for the examination in any of the arts, however, he had to
have studied four years in Ferrara or at another university.233 This
suggests a seven year period of study before a young man could take
the doctorate in medicine.
Their Stay in Italy

All this information about the prescribed and average course of study
is very helpful. An sich it does not tell us very much about how long
the students in the population actually spent in Italy. In interna-
tional literature warnings have been issued not to take matriculation
and graduation as absolutes to determine the length of study at a
certain university.234 Students enjoyed a certain level of freedom in
choosing where and when they would they would study and obtain
their degrees. A student could decide, after having taken a degree
at the university of Louvain or Cologne, to continue to study there
in one of the higher faculties for some time, even if this might not
always be found in the sources. As has been stated before, enrolment
only took place once! A graduation found at an Italian university
does therefore not mean that the young man in question completed
the prescribed course of study there. Albertus Johannis of Friesland
had already studied law for a considerable period of time at the
University of Cologne, even obtained a bachelor’s degree, before he
came to Italy to get his doctorate.235
More exact data are required if we would like to know how long
the sojourn of these students on the peninsula lasted. In certain
instances it was possible to establish the duration of stay of a num-
ber of students at the various universities in Italy. These data were
most reliable for the German Nation of the law University of Bologna
and to a lesser extent for the German Nations of both law and arts
and medicine Universities of Padua, where matriculation records
exist. The figures found for Bologna are therefore the most trust-
worthy. For 47 young men—or 21.4 per cent of Dutch students
233
Caputo and Caputo (eds.), L’Università, 117, article 43.
234
See e.g. Frijhoff, Société néerlandaise, 33–36. Also take note of section 2.4 on
graduation in this chapter.
235
Keussen, Matrikel, II, 676. 97; Verde, ‘Dottorati’, 676–7, nr. 121.
134 chapter two
attending—it was possible to relatively precisely calculate the minimum

duration of their stay. It involves a minimum duration, as the starting
point would normally be the moment of registration with the German
Nation. This might not always be accurate for determining the exact
duration of stay in a city. Dirk van Hekeren, prepositus of the church
of Oldenzaal in Overijssel, matriculated in 1425, but we know from
a notary act that he was in fact in the city 3 July 1424, where he
is mentioned as a witness.236 It is however the only means we have
to gather some information about the length of students’ sojourns in
the Italian university cities.
On average a stay at the University of Bologna lasted for close
to four years, tree years and eleven months to be exact. Wilhelmus
Jacobi Piin of Delft is one of those students who studied for close
to four years at the University of Bologna.237 Of course, this is just
an average. Enormous variances were possible. We know that Johannes
van Hoogelande, son of Jasper van Hoogelande, judge at the Court
of Holland, cannot have spent more than two months at the University
of Bologna. He was there primarily to obtain the prestigious doc-
torate utriusque iuris after he had studied law for a considerable time
at the universities of Louvain and Orléans.238 On the other hand,
someone like Arnoldus Boot of Dordrecht studied at Bologna for
more than eleven years, in which period he managed to first grad-
uate in civil law and years later in canon law.239 From Graph 2.5.9.
a picture emerges that a stay from two to two and a half years was
the preferred option.240 Of this section of 47 students 11 only remained
in Bologna for up to two years. This could mean that they were
simply there for a year on a more elaborate peregrinatio academica, or
that they visited the university to take a degree, as in the case of
Johannes van Hoogelande. A further 29 students apparently stayed
at the university of Bologna from two to six years, which might be
defined as a substantial part of their studies in the higher faculties.
Finally, there were 7 students whose sojourn in Bologna lasted for
236
Acta, 174, 34; Piana, Nuove ricerche, 135, nr. 30.
237
Acta, 282, 26; 283, 21; 287, 35; Knod, 408, nr. 2789.
238
Ridderikhoff, Premier livre, Biographies, II, 919
239
Acta, 223, 35; 226, 20; Piana, LSIC, 234–5; Id., LSIP, 103.
240
The median for this section points to a stay from three and a half to four
years, the same as the average.
more than six years. All in all these figures, albeit incomplete, sug-
gest that a significant majority of young men from the Northern
Netherlands that visited Bologna (76.6 per cent) were there to spend—
at the least—a substantial part of their study in the higher faculties.
For the studium of Padua it was possible to calculate the minimum
duration of stay for 50 students (20.6 per cent of the total). The
figures found are somewhat less accurate than for the University of
Bologna, because the matriculation records in Padua only start in
1543. Before this date—and even sometimes after it—the researcher
has to rely on a combination of other sources. Witness list of gradu-
ation records and sometimes the acta of the German Nations can
fill this gap. The results found for Padua are depicted in graph
2.5.10. On average a young man from the diocese of Utrecht spent
two years and ten months, close to three years, as a minimum stay
at the University of Padua. Johannes Petri of Reimerswaal in Zeeland
almost represents this average, as his sojourn there amounted to two
years and eleven months. Again, however, there were enormous
differences between individual students. We know from his study cur-
riculum that Stephanus Rumelaer of Utrecht cannot have stayed in
Padua for longer than six months. Alternatively, Folquinus Wilhelmi
Horst of Naarden, cleric of the diocese of Utrecht and medical stu-
dent at Padua, spent more than ten years there. He is first found
as a witness on 28 May 1449 and was still present at the University
Duration of Stay at the University of Bologna (N=47)

12
10
0
0.5 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 – 12
Duration of Stay in (Half ) Years
Graph 2.5.9. Minimum duration of stay of students from the Northern Netherlands
at the University of Bologna in half year periods (N=47).
136 chapter two
29 October 1459, one year and eight months after his graduation
to doctor medicinae. The preferred duration of stay would lie between
two and two and a half years.241 Exactly two thirds of this section
of students spent between one and three years at the University of
Padua. A majority of 57.1 per cent of them spent more than two
years studying at the studium patavinum. Even though these figures are
less precise than for Bologna, they still suggest that Padua was a
destination for study where students would spend a considerable—
and be it kept in mind: almost always a minimum—amount of time
to supplement or complete their study curriculum.
There seems to have been some development over time. What
little evidence there is suggests that study duration for students from
the fifteenth century was somewhat lengthier than for those who vis-
ited Padua in the sixteenth. This seems to be most marked for the
period after 1550, the era of the peregrinatio academica, when Padua
was high on the list, but more universities had to be attended.242
Such was the case for Antonius Wilhelmi Buser of Utrecht, who
enrolled in the German Nation of the law University of Padua 7
April 1565, but left in May 1566 to visit Siena, where his peregrinatio
was unfortunately cut short by his untimely death. In other cases,
as in the case of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt who spent some ten to
eleven months in Padua to obtain his law degree, Padua was the
final destination of an already impressive student journey.
For the university of Ferrara there was information on the mini-
mum duration of stay for 25 students (16.6 per cent of the total),
based solely on the witness lists of the graduation records.243 Even
though these figures might be even more unsatisfactory than those
for Padua, they nevertheless give us an impression of what sort of
length of stay one might come across. The results indicate that stu-
dents spent less time in Ferrara than in its neighbouring university
241
Both the mode and the median give these results.
242
For 33 students from the fifteenth century their duration of stay could be cal-
culated. 13 (39.4%) spent less than two years at the University of Padua. For 16
students from the sixteenth century I was able to more or less exactly determine
their length of stay at the studium. 8 out of 16 (50%) spent less than two years in
Padua. For the period after 1550 7 out of 11 (63.6%) attended the university for
less than two years.
243
Again it is useful to stress that this represents a minimum, as there were no
matriculation records for the University of Ferrara at all. Calculations are based on
the combination of witness lists and graduations.
Duration of Stay at the University of Padua (N=50)

12
10
0
0.5 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 – 12
at the University of Padua in half year periods (N=50).
cities. On average a student would stay in Ferrara for two years and
four months, as Mainardus Theodorici of Huisduinen apparently did.
Of course, a stay in Ferrara could vary from just three months, as
in the case of Mainardus of Leeuwarden, to several years like Rodol-
phus Agricola did. On the whole, though, the impression is that stu-
dents would not stay in Ferrara as long as in Padua or Bologna.
The most popular period to spend here was from six months to a
year.244 This would be consistent with Ferrara’s reputation as a gra-
duation university. Students would not have to spend years there. A
number of years at either Padua or Bologna and a much shorter
period at the University of Ferrara, in most cases to obtain a degree,
were common enough, as we have seen in the example of Arnoldus
Bernardi of Amsterdam. A couple of months could be enough to
make the necessary contacts with a professor who would be willing
to act as a promotor and graduation proceedings could start from
there.
For 124 students (19.4 per cent of the total population) it was
possible to get relatively accurate information about their minimum
duration of stay on the Italian peninsula, where they might have
244
The median was from a year and a half to two years.
138 chapter two
visited more than one studium. This is information that concerns not
necessarily the stay at one particular university but the total length of
time that a particular student spent at—possibly—several universities
in Italy. The results found are visible in graph 2.5.11. The average
length of a stay in Italy was three years and eight months. Someone
like Theodoricus Jacobi Persijn of Amsterdam would be more or less
representative of this sort of stay. First found as a witness in January
1473 at the University of Pavia, he travelled on to Bologna, where
he registered with the German Nation of the law university in 1475.
He taught law there and managed to become proctor of the nation.
He briefly left Bologna to get his doctorate in both laws at the
University of Ferrara on the Ides of March 1476, after which he
returned to Bologna. He lingered there for some months announc-
ing his plans to return to the Netherlands, where he is found reg-
istering with the University of Louvain in September 1476.
The same huge differences apply to the duration of stay in Italy;
from the two months that Johannes van Hoogelande spent there to
get his degree to the many years Rodolphus Agricola stayed on the
peninsula to visit several universities. Overall one might say that a
stay of some two to three years was most common.245 While these
figures indicate that there was a significant part of the total popu-
lation that did not spend more than two years in Italy—37 out of
a 124 (29.8 per cent)—either as part of an elaborate peregrinatio or
to obtain a prestigious degree, they also suggest that a substantial
majority of students from the northern Low Countries—87 out of
124, or 70.2 per cent—did spend quite some time in Italy, more
than two years at least.
These figures, set against the statutory requirements for gradua-
tion—that do not apply to all students, one might add!—broadly
point to three types of trips to Italy. The first would involve a sojourn
of up to two years, either to take a degree within months, or to
acquaint oneself with Italy and Italian universities for a year or two
as part of the peregrinatio academica. The second type points to a some-
what extended stay of more than two years up to some six years.
A (sometimes very) substantial portion of the curriculum in the higher
faculties would be followed at an Italian university, which would
245
The mode was two to two-and-a-half years; the median two-and-a-half to
three years.
Duration of Stay in Italy (N=124)

18
16
14
12
10
0
0.5 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 –
visiting Italian universities (N=124).
mean more than just a mere acquaintance with Italy and its studia.
A combination of some years of study at a ‘home’ university and a
couple at a later stage on the peninsula, often finished with a degree,
seems likely. What evidence there is, suggests that a majority of the
population, 69 out of 124 (55.6 per cent), would fall into this cate-
gory. Finally there was the sort of itinerary that would involve a
prolonged stay of more than six years in Italy. It would not be exag-
gerated to say that one is talking about a deep immersion into the
Italian university and its functioning. A student in this category might
have followed his entire university curriculum here, or would have
taken more than one degree. Often he would combine teaching at
an Italian studium with his own goals which would in most cases be
a doctorate in one of the higher faculties. It seems that the number
of students falling in this category was considerably smaller, amount-
ing to close to 15 per cent of the population.
2.6. Summary
The journey to Italy was a relatively exclusive affair. In peak periods

maybe more than one out of every twenty students from the Northern
Netherlands actually undertook the long journey to the peninsula.
With regard to the curriculum of this privileged minority, the following
140 chapter two
observations were made. After some sort of previous schooling, which

in most cases took place in one’s home town, an average student
would start his university curriculum relatively close to home. Louvain
and Cologne were the obvious choices. Generally, he underwent
some training in the arts faculty, where taking the degree of magister
artium gave him an ideal preparation for further studies. He could
decide to study some years at the first university of his choice, but
often went to another studium specializing in—in most cases—law or
alternatively medicine before travelling on to Italy.
The goals for travel were clear: a number of universities stood out
as most popular, Padua, Bologna and Ferrara being the top three.
Siena followed suit and several others also managed to attract some
students from the diocese of Utrecht. The popularity of a particular
university could change over time, due to circumstances within the
studium, the socio-political situation on the Italian peninsula or to
external factors for which explanations have to be found in the north-
ern Low Countries themselves. Nevertheless, student mobility from
the Northern Netherlands to Italy shows two peak periods in the
period under investigation: the third quarter of the fifteenth and the
third quarter of the sixteenth century. Mobility was not constant.
The fact that students frequently travelled in groups and periods of
crisis—be it in the university city, Italy or even the Netherlands—
account for the fluctuating attendance and matriculation figures. Over
longer periods some clear trends were observable, though. Universities
were each other’s rivals and could profit from a competitor’s bad
fortune. Padua and Bologna were the most popular and vied for the
status of most popular among Dutchmen. Ferrara, neatly located
between these two giants, managed to profit from both in various
ways.
Although the number of students that travelled to Italy for study
was relatively small in comparison to the total number of students
coming from the Northern Netherlands, the significance of this small
body of young men was clearly shown in their choice of subject in
Italy. An overwhelming majority opted for the higher faculties that
were so rarely chosen in the ‘national universities’ like Cologne and
Louvain. Two types of student come to the fore: the student of law
in first place and the medical student as a convincing second. Their
number cannot be called small or insignificant, especially in the case
of medical students. Italy as a university pole for both law and medi-
cine was clearly an important destination!
A second, very significant aspect of the population was the com-

paratively high graduation rate. Both in an absolute and a relative
sense this group brought home an astonishing number of degrees,
especially doctorates. Some universities issued more certificates than
others. Bologna and Ferrara holding top positions here, albeit for
slightly different reasons. It is justified to state that graduation—and
thus the elevated status of doctor—was a clear objective for a significant
portion of students who made the journey to the peninsula. In terms
of the number of law and medicine graduates coming back from an
Italian studium, we are dealing with an important body of men.
The word ‘men’ is used with some justification. Although such
information was scarce, there were enough clues with regard to age
and duration of study to give us a good impression of the matter.
When first starting at a university generally in the faculty of arts,
the average student would be a very young man, some fifteen to
eighteen years old. When he would have completed the arts cur-
riculum, he would move on to one of the higher faculties in his
early twenties. A minimum of six years of study was fairly common.
If a students wanted to go all the way and graduate, the whole
period in which he wanted to study at various universities in Europe
and obtain a degree in one of the higher faculties in Italy, the entire
process might well take up ten years of his life. He would return to
the Netherlands when in his mid- to late twenties. A considerable
part of this period was spent in Italy. There might have been enor-
mous differences; from a couple of months to graduate or to add
another university to the list of universities visited on the peregrinatio,
to more than ten years. Generally, though, a Dutch student would
spend at least some two to three years in Italy before returning home
to his parents. Where ‘home’ was and who his parents were shall
be the subject of the next chapters.
CHAPTER THREE
GEOGRAPHICAL ORIGIN
Now that we have taken an in-depth look at the curriculum of stu-

dents from the Northern Netherlands who visited Italian universities,
we need to take a closer look at their geographical origin to further
complete their profile. It has been established that there was some
considerable development over time in numbers, choice of faculty
and the curriculum of the students. There was also considerable
change in the territories they came from. When the first students in
the population were born, the northern Low Countries were little
more than a conglomerate of relatively small principalities on the
western borders of the Holy Roman Empire, governed by various
rulers, of which the count of Holland, the bishop of Utrecht and
the count of Guelders were the most powerful. When the last stu-
dents in the population died, the Northern Netherlands had trans-
formed into a federal republic that was a major power on the world
stage, rapidly building up a colonial empire. In between the Netherlands
had been part of the Burgundian and Habsburg empires, experi-
enced civil war, regional wars, religious strife and a prolonged strug-
gle for independence.
In chapters 5 and 6 more attention will be devoted to the role
the students in the population played in these developments. Here
we shall be primarily concerned with the connection between ‘home’
and the Italian studia. From which parts of the Northern Netherlands
did they originate or even felt that they originated? In what sense
does their geographical background contribute to our understanding
of the nature of student mobility to Italy and how did developments
in the Netherlands influence the iter italicum?
3.1. Seven Provinces: Not Yet United. Their Numbers
Fortunately, the sources for the different universities in- and outside
Italy enable us to gain an almost perfect picture of the regions the
144 chapter three
students in the population came from. Broadly the Northern Nether-

lands—roughly, the diocese of Utrecht—can be subdivided as follows:1
the county of Holland, the county of Zeeland, the duchy of Guelders,
the worldly territory of the bishop of Utrecht, consisting of the
‘Nedersticht’ which will be referred to as Utrecht and the ‘Oversticht’,
consisting of the land north of the river IJssel, here named ‘Overijssel’,
which included the Hansa-towns along the river. Then there was
Friesland and finally Groningen and the ‘Ommelanden’. These regions
all varied in size and in population. The following table (3.1.1.) gives
an indication of the population within the Northern Netherlands
around the year 1500.
Subdividing a territory like the Northern Netherlands, that were not
a political entity, over a period of some 200 years, is always going
to involve a number of problems and a certain amount of arbitrary
decisions. Border disputes existed. Even an entity like the diocese of
Utrecht is not as clear-cut as it would seem, since parts of the north-
east of the Netherlands belonged to the diocese of Münster, and a
very small part even belonged to the diocese of Osnabrück. Then
there were parts of the diocese of Utrecht that were formally part of
the county of Flanders in the fifteenth century, but became part of
Zeeland later on. Roughly speaking, though, the diocese of Utrecht
constitutes that part of the Netherlands that overlaps with the Northern
Netherlands.
Region Total % Urban Rural

population population % population %
Holland 268.218 39.1 45 55

Guelders 133.000 19.4 41 59
Friesland 75.000 10.9 22 78
Overijssel 52.660 7.7 48 52
Groningen + Ommel. 49.400 7.2 39 61
Utrecht 23.638 3.4 76 24
Zeeland ? 85.000 ? 12.4 ? ?
Total 686.916 100.0 ? ?
Table 3.1.1. Population of the various regions in the Northern Netherlands around 1500.2
1
See for geographical origin also the introduction.
2
Sources: Prevenier and Blockmans, The Burgundian Netherlands, 392, table 4. Id.,
geographical origin 145
For just 20 students (3.1 per cent) their region of origin could not be
established. The addition “Traiectensis diocesis”, from the diocese of
Utrecht, is not always enough information to successfully locate a
particular student, as Utrecht was a fairly large diocese in Christendom.
Nevertheless, this means that for 620 students (96.9 per cent) the
region of origin could be established. The students in the popula-
tion have been attributed to their regions of origin in table 3.1.2.
Holland Zeeland Utrecht Gelre Overijssel Friesland Groningen Unkn. Total
1426–50 46 7 5 10 14 4 5 2 93
1451–75 85 26 5 4 7 4 5 7 143
1476–00 42 9 18 3 10 1 15 4 102
1501–25 22 2 5 3 3 18 9 1 63
1526–50 33 4 5 8 1 10 6 5 72
1551–75 61 14 20 22 8 27 14 1 167
Total reg 289 62 58 50 43 64 54 20 640
% Holland Zeeland Utrecht Gelre Overijssel Friesland Groningen Unkn. Total
1426–50 49.5 7.5 5.4 10.8 15.1 4.3 5.4 2.2 100
1451–75 59.4 18.2 3.5 2.8 4.9 2.8 3.5 4.9 100
1476–00 41.2 8.8 17.6 2.9 9.8 1.0 14.7 3.9 100
1501–25 34.9 3.2 7.9 4.8 4.8 28.6 14.3 1.6 100
1526–50 45.8 5.6 6.9 11.1 1.4 13.9 8.3 6.9 100
1551–75 36.5 8.4 12.0 13.2 4.8 16.2 8.4 0.6 100
Total reg 45.2 9.7 9.1 7.8 6.7 10.0 8.4 3.1 100
To.PNN 39.0 12.4 3.4 19.4 7.7 10.9 7.2 100
Table 3.1.2 and 3.1.2a. The population according to regional origin in absolute numbers and
percentages, compared to the Northern Netherlands’ population.
De Bourgondiërs, 174. For Groningen and Ommelanden: Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 15.
Corrections for Utrecht on the basis of Van den Hoven van Genderen, Heren van
de Kerk, 22. The number for Zeeland is an estimate that is slightly less reliable than
figures for the other regions.
146 chapter three
In 593 out of 640 cases (92.7 per cent) it was furthermore possible
to come up with a name of a city, town or village, where a particular
student was supposed to have come from. I specifically say “supposed”,
as it is not always clear from university sources what the addition
“de Traiecto” means. Was the student in question born there, or
did he live there prior to going to study? Is it accurate, when Jacob
Schellinkhout mentioned that he came from the town of Hoorn? Did
he not originally come from the village of Schellinkhout next to Hoorn
rather than from the town itself ?3 Together these place names cover
almost all of the territory of the Northern Netherlands (map 3.1.).
Although relatively few young men actually went to university and
only a fraction of them managed to find the way across their Alps,
figures for this relatively small group of students nevertheless show
a considerable similarity with the regional distribution of the overall
population of the Northern Netherlands, albeit with some interest-
ing variances. The first remarkable feature is the relative overrepre-
sentation of students from the county of Holland. A second interesting
phenomenon is the relatively large contribution from the ‘Nedersticht’,
given its small population. Lastly, there was the relatively small con-
tingent of students from Guelders, compared to its quite numerous
population. Apart from these points, there are other interesting vari-
ations over time and overall that we explore in more detail here,
focusing on the different regions.
Holland
Before we turn to student mobility from each of these regions to
Italy, it seems helpful to give a brief sketch of the different political
entities that made up the Northern Netherlands. Let us start with the
most populous and most important region in the Northern Netherlands,
in both political and economic respect: Holland.4 Demographically
3
Paquet, Matricules, discusses the problems dealing with geographical origin
extensively.
4
For an overview of the abundant literature on politics, economy, and institutional
development in the county of Holland: the separate sections in the AGN and NAGN;
the various publications in the series ‘Hollandse Historische Reeks’ and ‘Hollandse
Studiën’; some recent interesting publications in English, noticeably, Tracy, Holland;
Blockmans and Prevenier, Burgundian Netherlands; Jan de Vries and Ad van der
Woude, The First Modern Economy, Success, Failure, and perseverance of the Dutch Economy,
1500–1815 (Cambridge 1997). All these works have extensive bibliographies on spe-
cialized subjects and areas.
Map 3.1.A. Places of origin of the population and their relative weight.
148 chapter three
Map 3.1.B.
Map 3.1.C. (top) and 3.1.D. (bottom).

150 chapter three
it dominated the northern Low Countries in population size as can

be seen from the population table. It had several large, prosperous
towns that were not devoid of some power, numerous smaller towns,
spread almost evenly over the region. Holland was highly urbanized.
The south of Holland had some 54 per cent of its population living
in towns in the beginning of the sixteenth century, a figure elsewhere
only found on the Italian peninsula.5
Economically, Holland was only surpassed by Flanders and Brabant
in the Netherlands at large. It had several important economic sec-
tors of which seafaring trade with England, Rhine land and the
Baltics, (herring) fishery, brewing and clothmaking were the prime
contributors. Periods of growth and crisis followed one another.
Politically Holland went through a very interesting period as well.
It passed from the house of Bavaria to the house of Burgundy when
Jacqueline of Bavaria finally renounced her claim to Holland in
favour of her cousin Philip of Burgundy in 1433. This marked the
beginning of a period of political stability, combined with economic
prosperity that would culminate in the third quarter of the fifteenth
century. Subsequently, this political stability disappeared after the
death of Charles the Bold in 1477 until it was restored in the nineties.
The connection with the house of Habsburg made sure that Holland
was to be part of the Empire of Charles V and later of Philip II
until his authority was decisively challenged, culminating in the placaet
van verlatinghe of 1581.
The first thing one notices is the preponderance of the county of
Holland in the population. With 289 students it towers high above
all other regions in the Northern Netherlands that sent young men
to the peninsula. Student numbers are such that it is worthwhile to
take a closer look at the development over time, not in periods of
25 years, but on a yearly basis (graph 3.1.1.) to see if one might
identify factors that influenced student travel from Holland. Holland
can function as a case study in this respect. Four broad trends sug-
gest themselves. A gradual and then rapid increase up until the late
seventies of the fifteenth century, sharp decline in the eighties and
nineties, after which a period of prolonged stagnation follows that
lasts until the thirties of the sixteenth century. Then, another period
5
W.P. Blockmans et al., ‘Tussen crisis en welvaart: sociale veranderingen 1300–
1500’ in: NAGN, IV, 43–46.
Student Mobility to Italy from Holland per Year

12
10
0
1426 1436 1446 1456 1466 1476 1486 1496 1506 1516 1526 1536 1546 1556 1566
Graph 3.1.1. Mobility to Italy from Holland (1426–1575).
of gradual increase, that temporarily suffers some decline in the sev-

enties towards the end of this investigation. What influenced these
broad trends?
The first thing one might say is that a presence from the county
of Holland was almost continuous throughout the period under inves-
tigation, even in the direst years. Certainly when one takes into
account that an average stay in Italy lasted for three years and eight
months,6 it would be legitimate to say that there were nearly always
Hollanders in Italy for the purpose of study. Nevertheless, there was
a substantial difference between the years that no students from
Holland appear in the sources and the year 1467, when ten new
names appear in the various university records. Part of the nature
of student mobility to faraway places is travel bands of students from
the same region. This can offer an explanation why some years many
students from one particular region turn up in groups, while another
year might not have seen any new arrivals at all. Nicolaus Johannis
Raet of Haarlem and Nicolaus Johannis Aerschot of Gouda travelled
together from Paris to Padua where they were witness to the gra-
duation of Jacob Ruysch of Amsterdam in 1465. It would seem,
though, that there were other factors of both incidental and struc-
tural nature that could have an impact on the popularity of Italian
6
Cf. Chapter 2.5 ‘Their Stay in Italy’.
152 chapter three
studia as a destination. In the case of the Holland we have a sufficient

number of students to take a closer look at these developments. Both
internal—the situation on the Italian peninsula, or in one of its uni-
versity cities—and external factors—the socio-economic and political
situation in the county—could contribute to them.
The first students from Holland one finds in this period emerge
in the mid-twenties in Bologna and Ferrara. Padua was troubled by
plague in the late twenties and did not have very many Hollanders
attending its studium. This was to change in the thirties, when Padua
was the most popular destination for students from Holland. They
start turning up in considerable numbers. 1430 and 1437 were peak
years. The forties seem to represent a downward trend in student
mobility. Another period of plague in Padua—from 1436–40—does
not seem to have had a severe effect on students from Holland
attending.7 Although it is problematic to link events and structures
in Holland directly to the student numbers travelling to Italy, it is,
however, very interesting that the period from 1438 until 1448 marks
a period of considerable political and military upheaval for the county.
A famine in 1438, a prolonged war with England and an emerging
war with the Hansa-cities did not make this the most prosperous
epoch in the county’s history.8 On top of this, the age-old civil strife
between Hoeken and Kabeljauwen (Hooks and Codfish) surfaced again.9
All in all, not the most promising prospects for Holland in this
decade. Although it is not possible to make any definite claims that
these developments have directly influenced student mobility to Italy,
it is highly plausible that these adverse political and economic con-
ditions may have deterred students—or their parents—from going
all the way, in case this might prove a university ‘too far’ and too
costly. Students might content themselves with a university closer to
Holland.
The late 1440s signal an—at times—rapid increase in student
mobility, right up until the late 1470s. In external terms this period
7
Cf. Chapter 2.2, p. 63.
8
H.P.H. Jansen, ‘Holland Zeeland 1433–1482’ in: NAGN, IV, 274–82. It should
be kept in mind that there might be a bit of delay in the effects of external fac-
tors, as students might have left Holland before emerging crises.
9
For this extremely complicated and sometimes confusing subject of Dutch his-
tory, see: Ibid.; Id., Twisten; Brokken, Ontstaan, and M.J. van Gent, “Pertijelike saken”.
Hoeken en Kabelauwen in het Bourgondisch-Oostenrijkse tijdperk (Haarlem 1994).
marks a period of political stability and economic growth in the

county of Holland and in the Burgundian Netherlands in general,
to such an extent that the entire territory in this era has been referred
to as “Lands of Promise”.10 This was also a period of almost con-
tinuous mobility to Italy, students emerging in the sources almost
every year, with a substantial number of peak years—eight in total—
of more than five Hollanders showing up at Italian studia. Universities
switched place when it came to the title ‘most popular’. The late
forties and early fifties were a rather unimpressive period for the
University of Padua. So were the early sixties, when another out-
break of plague swept through the city. Up until 1480 this did not
destabilize mobility from Holland. Interesting alternatives like Bologna
and Ferrara were just around the corner. Particularly Ferrara was
able to absorb a significant number of students from Padua.
The year 1481 seems to mark some sort of watershed. Very few
new names appear in the sources after this year. There are a num-
ber of factors that might have contributed to this situation. The state
of war between Padua and Ferrara in 1483–4 did not make the
area in Italy a good place to visit. On top of this there was another
wave of plague in Padua in 1485. The years 1494–5 saw more mil-
itary activity in northern Italy, when French armies marched through
it, followed by another wave of plague in Padua in 1499. All in all
there were a number of internal factors of an incidental nature that
could have persuaded students to temporarily avoid especially Padua
and Ferrara. This was not the case for the University of Bologna,
though. True, the French invasion saw armies on its way through
the Romagna and the years 1494–5 mark a number of years of low
mobility to the Alma Mater Bononiensis, but one should keep in mind
that the three decades between 1476 and 1505 mark the period of
highest mobility to Bologna. Indeed, the last quarter of the fifteenth
century saw a substantial rise in attendance at the Bolognese studium
for nearly al regions in the diocese of Utrecht, except for Holland
and Zeeland. The eighties and nineties show a decline in the number
of Hollanders travelling to Bologna, while other parts of the Netherlands
started sending more young men that way.11
10
Blockmans and Prevenier, Bourgondiërs, 165–194.
11
See Chapter 2.2, the sections on Bologna, Padua and Ferrara. It is also worth
noting that the number of English students peaks in these years.
154 chapter three
The trend in the graph shows a small and temporary recovery—

1489–91 (Bologna) and 1494–5 (Ferrara)—in a line of sharp decline.
It would seem that internal factors alone cannot account for this
trend. Earlier, some reference was made to a period of political and
social upheaval in the west of the Northern Netherlands, combined
with economic crisis. Let us explore this in more depth here. The
government of Philip the Good and his son, Charles the Bold, had
proved to be quite favourable for Holland and Zeeland. When the
frozen corpse—half eaten by wolves—of Charles was found outside
the walls of Nancy in January 1477, this news was not received with
any joy. Holland and Zeeland had enjoyed a special place in Charles’
government. Even his enormous financial demands did not seriously
upset his popularity as long as these regions continued to prosper
economically. Charles’ untimely death did not bode well for the
Burgundian lands, as war with France was inevitable. His daughter,
Mary of Burgundy, who succeeded her father was forced by the
States to grant all sorts of privileges, and married Maximilian of
Habsburg, whose interest in Holland and Zeeland was primarily of
a financial nature to pay for his costly campaigns against France,
while at the same time he tried for years to curtail those privileges
granted by his wife in 1477. This succession crisis was aggravated
by Maximilian’s rather opportunistic, though short-sighted, support
for the Kabeljauwen (Codfish), which triggered another outbreak of
civil strife that took on the dimension of civil war, a war with involved
Utrecht, rebellion and revolt in towns and on the countryside of
Holland. The political situation did not stabilize until 1492.12
On top of this, Europe was enduring a general economic crisis in
the eighties, from which Holland did not escape in the last two
decades of the fifteenth century. Bad harvests in the Baltic had seri-
ous implications for Holland that had to import most of its grain.
Price rises were phenomenal—500 per cent!—in the early 1480s.
This already precarious situation was made worse by the almost con-
tinuous military activity of wars with France that seriously affected
trade, and lasting internal conflict.13 It seems highly plausible that
12
See for this difficult period: Blockmans and Prevenier, Bourgondiërs, 217–226;
Jansen, ‘Holland, Zeeland’, 288–291; Van Gent, “Pertijelike saken”, chapters 5–14.
13
See for a brief sketch: Tracy, Holland, 24–32. De Vries and Van der Woude,
First Modern Economy. For figures Leo Noordegraaf, Hollands Welvaren? Levens-standaard
in Holland, 1450–1600 (Bergen 1985); Id. and J.T. Schoenmakers, Daglonen in Holland
1450–1600 (Amsterdam 1984).
this adverse economic and socio-political situation ultimately had

some effect on student mobility to far away and costly destinations,
where cheaper alternatives were available.14
Another indication comes from the number of poor students or
pauperes that appear in Italy. Students, who at some stage in their
curriculum were categorized as pauper, poor,15 from Holland surface
in the sources continuously though the decades, varying from three
to seven poor students per decade. In the seventies six paupers showed
up in Italy. In the eighties only one and in the nineties two further
students were qualified as pauper in Italian university sources: one of
them was Cornelis Pieter Willemszz of Leiden. Mind you, neither
at his enrolment at the University of Cologne in 1482 nor at his
registration with the German Nation of the law University of Bologna
was he called a pauper. In Bologna he simply paid the substantial
sum of five Bolendinos. Only at his graduation as doctor iuris canonici
22 September 1492 was he declared a poor student, unable to afford
the huge costs of the doctorate.16 It would appear that Italy became
a destination beyond the reach of students of modest financial means
exactly in these two decades, a situation that would last.17
Apart from the effects of war and economic crises, which by nature
are temporary phenomena, there were more structural forces at work
that had an effect on socio-economic development within the county,
and traces of this can even be detected in student mobility to Italy,
illustrated here by two examples: Leiden and Amsterdam, that sent
an almost equal number of students to Italian universities, 33 and
34 respectively. The town of Leiden was economically dependent on
the cloth industry. Because of economic trouble in the cloth centres
in the south of the Netherlands, Leiden’s cloth industry managed to
profit and the city went through a prosperity peak in the years
14
Even close destinations like the University of Louvain could not escape the
effects of war and crisis. A downward curve, with some astonishing negative peaks,
in registration numbers is clearly observable and ascribed to the crisis situation in
the period 1477–93. Cf. Van Buyten, ‘Leuvense universiteitsmatrikels’, 20–1. Case
studies for the cities of Leiden and Haarlem seem to confirm this. The years between
1480–86 seems to have been temporary low points in matriculation figures for
Louvain.
15
The exact qualifications of pauperes and their role in student mobility to Italy
will be dealt with more fully in the next chapter.
16
Keussen, Matrikel, II, 375, 77; Acta, 239, 12. For his graduation and him being
declared a poor student—“declareretur pro paupere”—: ASB, AS, inv. nr. 21, f. 227v.
17
The so called “aristocrization” of Italian universities will be discussed in
chapter 4.
156 chapter three
1450–75. It is in those years that 17 students from Leiden appear

at Italian universities, more than half of their total of 33 over the
years 1425–1575! After 1480 a structural crisis hit Leiden’s industry
that was dependent on expensive English wool. It was denied access
to the Calais staple market and later things worsened because of
export restrictions on English wool. Leiden’s cloth industry did not
recover from this structural blow until the early years of the Revolt.18
Student mobility from Leiden to Italy mirrors this trend. Mobility
continued but at a much slower pace, with Leiden never sending
more than two students in a decade, not even sending one student
in the overall peak period of the 1560s.
Alternatively, a town like Amsterdam, that sent a total of 34 stu-
dents to Italy, knew a very different economic development. It was
mostly involved in the seafaring trade, an industry that had been
growing over the course of the fifteenth century, as had Amsterdam.
This did not mean that temporary crises could not hit the city. The
years 1438–48, when the, especially for Amsterdam, very important
war with the Hanseatic cities was fought and civil strife was rife,
witnessed a setback—and surely enough, in the forties no student
from Amsterdam appeared in Italy—, but the city continued to do
well afterwards. Even the years of economic crisis in the last decades
of the fifteenth century could not structurally unbalance Amsterdam’s
economy. Seafaring trade with the Baltic was an expanding indus-
try and Amsterdam emerged as one of the richest towns in Holland
at the beginning of the sixteenth century and it was to continue to
grow in importance.19 The pattern of student mobility from Amsterdam
differs from Leiden in this respect. A peak of 6 students shows up
in Italy in the seventies, but afterwards the number does not decline
nearly as rapidly as that for Leiden. After 1480, Amsterdam sent 22
students to Italy, while Leiden sent 11. In the second peak period
in the sixties of the sixteenth century another peak number of 6 stu-
dents from Amsterdam emerge in Italian university sources.
Let us return to the situation in Holland in the 1490s. The politi-
cal situation had stabilised in 1493. There was peace. In 1494 the
popular Philip the Fair took up government. Economic recovery also
set in. In Italy the first French invasion and plague in 1499 did act
18
Tracy, Holland, 22–5.
19
Ibid. 21–32.
as deterrents to potential visitors and student mobility hit a nadir in

these years. However, student numbers pick up slightly again in the
first decade of the sixteenth century. Another heavy blow to student
mobility was struck with the second French invasion in 1509. The
disastrous consequences for Padua and Ferrara have already been
discussed in Chapter 2. Whatever remained of Hollanders that chose
Italy as their study destination was absorbed almost entirely by
Bologna that was—by comparison—spared the ordeal that had befallen
the more northern regions of Italy. There was no room for growth,
though, for several decades. Continued military activity and out-
breaks of plague in the twenties in Central and Northern Italy did
not help to attract new students. Surely, the economic crisis in the
Netherlands in the twenties and early thirties did not improve the
sorry state of student mobility to the peninsula.20
After 1530 the situation in Italy stabilized somewhat. Student num-
bers also seem to grow, albeit slightly, but more rapidly towards the
end of the forties, with a first peak year of five new students emerg-
ing in 1549. This was to herald another period of growth of student
mobility in the next two decades. Almost every year a new student
from Holland appears at an Italian university, and four more peak
years of five or more students—1557, 1565, 1567 and 1569—can
be seen. This period overlaps with a period of economic growth in
the Netherlands from approximately 1540 until 1565.21 The seven-
ties as a whole show another sharp decline. Part of this develop-
ment has to be explained by looking at the state of Italian universities.
Ferrara was no longer a player. Siena convincingly took over this
role. Bologna also lost its attraction to students from the Northern
Netherlands as a whole—Holland being no exception. Padua took
over the role of most popular university in Italy in the fifties. Be
this as it may, flourishing universities like Padua and Siena did not
manage to attract many Hollanders in these years. Again, it is plau-
sible to look towards Holland itself for some sort of explanation. At
20
Again, Louvain was not spared either. A downward curve in attendance is
clear from 1524–35. Van Buyten, ‘Leuvense universiteitsmatrikels’ 20–1, 29–9.
21
Herman van der Wee, ‘De economie als factor bij het begin van de Opstand
in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden’ in: C.B. Wels et al. (eds.), Vaderlands Verleden in Veelvoud,
I, (The Hague 1980) 55–70, there 61. This period of economic growth was fol-
lowed by recession. It is again worth noting that there might be some delay in the
effects, where student mobility to Italy was concerned as many students would be
well under way.
158 chapter three
the end of the sixties economic recession set in. This was accom-
panied by a socio-political crisis and religious strife in the period
1566–72. Holland was governed by the duke of Alba, whose severe
regime of taxation and repression of Protestantism brought the county
to the verge of rebellion. One of his government decisions was to
prohibit students to study anywhere other than Louvain, Douai or
Rome. The adverse effects this could have on student mobility to
Italian universities other than Rome are clear. In 1572 Holland rose
in open rebellion against king Philip II. Several years of military
campaigns—for instance, Haarlem, Alkmaar and Leiden were sieged—
in the county followed. The early years of the Dutch Revolt were
not a period of great student mobility and destination Italy was no
exception. The seventies and early eighties marked another period
of sharp decline that only picked up towards the end of the eighties.
The nineties saw another peak period.22 This is the period when
the military conflict was fought outside the borders of Holland and
after the first successes of the Republic in its Revolt against Philip II.
Furthermore, the period 1585–1650 was also the era in which the
Dutch economy did extremely well.
Let us now turn to another interesting overall aspect of student
mobility to Italy, and indeed in general: its highly urban character.
Holland was one of the most urbanized regions in the Netherlands
and this is more than reflected in the percentage of students com-
ing from cities and towns in Holland. If one takes the, for this period,
exceptionally high proportion of the urban population versus coun-
tryside in Holland—45 per cent against 55 per cent—and then looks
at the number of students with an urban background (83 per cent)
against those with a rural background (13.1 per cent), one notices
that university mobility is disproportionnally urban in character.23
This is no surprise as the need for university-trained personnel would
be higher for urban areas than for rural ones. Still, one should not
trivialize student mobility from the countryside. Students literally
22
In the eighties, for instance, only ten students from Holland matriculated in
Padua. In the nineties this number rose to 41 (based on: Den Tex, ‘Nederlandse
studenten’ and Poelhekke, ‘Nederlandse leden’). In this decade the number of
Hollanders travelling to Italy would outrun the number in the peak period 1466–75.
23
For the university of Louvain in the period 1485–1527 a similar percentage
of urban origin was found. Some 82% of students from Holland came from cities
and towns. Calculations based on De Prins, ‘Inschrijvingsfrequentie’, 64–6.
came from all corners of the county. In the period 1426–50 almost
a quarter of Hollanders studying in Italy had a rural background.
One cannot but wonder about what motivated two students from
the small island of Wieringen in the north of Holland, Rembrand
Jansz and Siffried Boudewijnsz, to go and study medicine in Italy
in that period.24
Furthermore there seems to be a correlation between the popu-
lation size of a city and the number of students that travelled to
Italy, although this correlation is by no means absolute.25 The six
hoofdsteden (‘capital’ cities) of Holland, Dordrecht. Haarlem, Delft,
Leiden, Amsterdam and Gouda, were the most populous and pow-
erful cities in the county and all—with the temporary exception of
Gouda26—had more than 10,000 inhabitants in 1514.27 And indeed
they appear highest on the list of places that sent students to Italy,
all sending more than 15 students. There is just one name that man-
ages to move in between them with 21 students: The Hague.
The Hague is really the odd one out. It had no city rights and
it was smaller in population than the six hoofdsteden. It was, however,
24
It is interesting that the percentages of students with rural backgrounds are
lowest in the period 1476–1550, when several crises—both of internal and exter-
nal nature—hit mobility to Italy. Does this suggest that in times of crisis in Holland
it was comparatively more difficult for young men from the countryside to accu-
mulate the necessary means to finance an expensive study trip abroad?
25
The ultimate proof of this sort of correlation would be the number of students
per capita of a particular place. As we are dealing with a lengthy period of 150
years and a relatively small number of students, this is almost impossible to fully
substantiate. Even for a well-visited university like Louvain, this would prove a
Herculean task, as there are not many instances when we can follow population
growth and decline in the cities, not to mention for smaller towns and villages.
There are some indications, though, that the bigger cities sent proportionally more
students than smaller towns and villages. The six biggest cities and The Hague
account for 59.4% of the urban population in Holland in 1514, but for 65.2% of
all urban students from the county of Holland visiting Louvain between 1485 and
1527. Amsterdam had approximately three times as many inhabitants as the neigh-
bouring town of Enkhuizen, but sent almost seven times as many students to Louvain
in this period. The six capital cities and The Hague account for 59.4% of the total
urban population of Holland, but for 69.6% of Holland’s urban students that visi-
ted Italian universities. Calculations based on Blockmans et al., ‘Tussen crisis en
welvaart’, 44, 52 and De Prins, ‘Inschrijvingsfrequentie’, 64–66.
26
Gouda had more than 10,000 inhabitants for a large part of the fifteenth cen-
tury and experienced a sharp decline in population size between 1477 (12,600) and
1514 (7623), Blockmans et al., ‘Tussen crisis en welvaart’, 51.
27
The term hoofdsteden refers not just to their population size and economically
dominating position in the county, but also to their role as permanent representa-
tives in the States of Holland.
160 chapter three
the political-administrative centre of the county, the location where

the States of Holland met, where the Court of Holland was located
and where other financial institutions like the Chamber of Accounts
were housed. In short, it was the civil service capital. For the six-
teenth century the number of students coming from The Hague is
higher that for any other city in Holland except Amsterdam that
also sent 16. Its role as a political, administrative and judicial centre
is also reflected in the choice of faculty of Hagenezen in Italy. Three
quarters of them chose law as their subject. The increasingly impor-
tant role of The Hague as the civil servant residence in Holland is
clearly visible in student mobility to Italy in the third quarter of the
sixteenth century, when it accounts for 16.5 per cent of all students
from Holland and 21.0 per cent of all law students from the county!28
Together, the six hoofdsteden and The Hague account for almost 60
per cent of all students from the county for the overall period, while
in the sixteenth century this percentage was 63.8 per cent.
Just below the six capital cities and The Hague we find the cities
of second category: Alkmaar, Hoorn, Rotterdam and Brill, the first
three of whom had some 5000–10,000 inhabitants. Their popula-
tion was smaller than of the capital cities, although this was to change
towards the end of the sixteenth century when Hoorn and Rotterdam
surpassed Gouda in size. These cities also managed to acquire an
occasional vote in the States of Holland in the fifteenth and early
sixteenth century and a permanent place in the seventies of the six-
teenth century. All had a regional economic—some even a cultural—
centre function.29 Even for these cities one might say that there
existed a consistent notion of Italy as an, albeit exclusive, destina-
tion for study, as nearly every generation sent at least one student
to Italy.30 If we add the numbers coming from these towns to the
number of the six capital cities and The Hague, we can see that
28
Compare the numbers The Hague sent to the law University of Orléans. 34
out of 200 or 17%. Based on De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom
Utecht’, 95.
29
On their size, Blockmans et al., ‘Tussen crisis en welvaart’, 48; for their role
in the States: Kokken, Steden; Koopmans, Staten. For their economic role: De Vries
and Van der Woude, First Modern Economy. For Alkmaar as a cultural centre Van
Gelder, Latijnsche School; Tervoort, ‘Schoolmeesters’ Id., ‘Onderricht’.
30
In chapter 4 we shall see that this could be due to a number of important
families in the town or city that traditionally sent their young men to Italian uni-
versities, e.g. the Van Foreest and Van Teylingen families in the city of Alkmaar.
71.3 per cent of all Hollanders studying in Italy came from eleven of
the most important towns in the county.31
From smaller towns like Beverwijk, Naarden, Medemblik, Schiedam
and Heusden some three to four students travelled across the Alps.
The other 40 places that have been identified managed to send
only—in most cases—one or two students to the peninsula, in other
words, mobility from these towns and villages was incidental. It would
be justified to qualify the nature of the iter italicum from the county
Holland as primarily urban, dominated by the bigger towns. This
qualification of student mobility as an overwhelmingly urban phe-
nomenon goes far to explain the preponderance of Holland in the
population, more than its part in the overall population of the
Northern Netherlands would warrant. It was almost their most urban-
ized region and harboured six of the nine towns with 10,000 or
more inhabitants in the Northern Netherlands, not to mention a
whole range of smaller towns. A comparatively greater demand for
university-trained personnel—especially, where it concerned the cream
of the crop: doctorates in the higher faculties—seems to fit a highly
urbanized, economically and politically powerful county like Holland.
This statement has to be nuanced a bit. This can be done by look-
ing at the choice of faculty at Italian universities. For students from
Holland, the iter italicum was of an equivocal nature. Law and med-
icine as subjects of study seem an almost equally popular choice of
students from Holland with some 44 per cent of the Holland pop-
ulation. When compared with the total population in law and med-
icine, the picture changes considerably. With 45.2 per cent of the
total student population, Holland only represents 38.8 per cent of
the total number of law students. If Holland is comparatively under-
represented in the number of law students, one does well to keep
in mind that by far the preferred studium for potential lawyers from
Holland was that of Orléans, where with no less than 200 students
between 1444 and 1546 they account for 52.2 per cent of the total
from the diocese of Utrecht.32 In the period 1451–1550, by comparison,
31
Together the population of these cities accounts for almost 35% of the total
population in the county in 1514. They represent 71.3% of the total urban popu-
lation, but their share in the total of students from Holland in Italy with an urban
background is 85.8%. Calculations on the basis of Blockmans, ‘Tussen crisis en wel-
vaart’, 44, 51.
32
200 out of 383. See: De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’,
162 chapter three
only 74 Hollanders studied law in Italy. Students of law from Holland

seem to have been much more oriented towards France.
By contrast, the preponderance of Holland is most noticeable in
the number of students of medicine, where Holland delivered 59.3
per cent of all students coming from the northern Low Countries
and no less than 60.8 per cent of all doctorati in medicine.33 Students
from Holland who travelled to the peninsula were clearly more medi-
cine-minded than their fellow students from the eastern parts of the
Netherlands. This development is most marked for the fifteenth cen-
tury and is particularly true for the universities of Padua and Ferrara.
In absolute and relative figures medicine seems to have dominated
student mobility from Holland in the fifteenth century. Though its
relative importance does not alter significantly when the number of
students from Holland collapsed after 1480, a situation lasting until
about 1550, the number of students of medicine from Holland hardly
grew in the third quarter of the sixteenth century. Its relative impor-
tance decreased with students of law more than doubling in this
period. Why the number of medical students did not grow significantly
in this period, while this was the case for most other regions in the
Northern Netherlands, is not clear.34 It does partly explain why
Holland’s share in the second peak did not grow as fast as that for
the total.
Zeeland
Zeeland was closely related to Holland. In historiography it is usu-
ally taken together with its bigger neighbour.35 Zeeland had been
94–5. 17 out of 37 students (45.9%) who combined a visit to Orléans with a visit
to an Italian university came from Holland.
33
A similar percentage was found for learned physicians at the University of
Cologne (1389–1520), where those from Holland account for 49 out of 86 students
from the diocese of Utrecht (57%). Bernhardt, ‘Gelehrte Mediziner’.
34
Possibly the universities of Paris, with extensive but hardly explored archival
material, and Basle managed to attract a large number of Hollanders. Montpellier
had some 13 students from the county in the sixteenth century and cannot be called
a serious threat to the popularity of Italian universities. Based on: Gouron, Matricule.
35
There is very litle general literature of a general nature that deals with Zeeland.
Partial studies and those concentrated on one city, town or island exist, see
‘Beredeneerde bibliografie’ in: NAGN, IV, 481. Most attention has been focused on
its economic ascpects, particularly, relations with England. Small contributions in
Kokken, Steden en Staten, 32–6. General introduction to Rooze-Stouthamer, Hervorming,
is very useful.
Mobility from the Northern Netherlands and Holland Compared:

Ten Year Averages
10
0
1426–35 1436–45 1446–55 1456–65 1466–75 1476–85 1486–95 1496–05 1506–15 1516–25 1526–35 1536–45 1546–55 1556–65 1566–75
10-year moving av. NN 10 year av. NN 10-year moving av. H 10 year av. H
Graph 3.1.2. Mobility from the Northern Netherlands and Holland compared: ten year
averages.
Choice of Faculty in Italy: Holland

90
80
70
60
Oth/Unkn.
50
Medicine
40 Law
30
20
10
0
1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75
Graph 3.1.3. Choice of faculty in Italy: Holland.
fought over between Holland and Flanders since the eleventh cen-
tury. In 1323 the situation was settled and the count of Holland
acquired the county Zeeland. Since then, the two regions were united
in a personal union, in that the count of Holland also was count of
Zeeland. Nevertheless, close relations between Zeeland and the two
164 chapter three
regions south of it, Flanders and Brabant continued to exist. It devel-

oped its own representative institutions, the States, which were of a
different nature than those in Holland. Zeeland was not nearly as
urbanized as Holland was. Local lords continued to enjoy conside-
rable influence. This is not to say that Zeeland did not have towns.
A coastal region with islands, seafaring towns developed of which
Zierikzee and Middelburg were the most important. Trade devel-
oped, particularly with England. The close political and economic
ties with Holland made that what passed Holland also visited Zeeland.
Periods of crisis tended to hit both of them at the same time. This
meant that the political and economic crisis of the late fifteenth cen-
tury also had drastic effect on Zeeland.
What goes for Holland, goes for Zeeland. In many ways student
mobility from Zeeland seems to be a miniature of that of Holland,
but even more pronounced, since we are dealing with a much smaller
population of 62 students. It started out at a very modest level in
the first twenty-five years, when only seven students from Zeeland
travelled across the Alps. This number nearly quadrupled in the
third quarter of the fifteenth century, when on average one student
a year from the county found his way to the peninsula. As for
Holland, this period was one of economic prosperity and political
stability for Zeeland and this had its effect on student mobility in
general to which Italy was no exception. The subsequent collapse of
the student number in the last quarter has to be ascribed to the
same explanations that were offered for Holland. Internal conflict,
international war and economic depression also took their toll on
the number of students travelling to far-away studia.
In the low period 1501–1525 only a handful of medical students
can be found in Italy. As for Holland, Padua and Ferrara were most
popular with Zeeuwen and the crises that hit these universities most
certainly had an impact on mobility. Lawyers from Zeeland seem
to have preferred Orléans en masse in precisely the first two decades
of the sixteenth century.36 Only in the second and third quarter did
numbers start to grow again. A second peak was reached in the era
1551–75, but it did not manage to reach the height it had in the
peak period 1451–75. The seventies and early eighties were a period
of limited mobility for the same reason as Holland. Zeeland was the
36
De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’, 94–5.
other region that immediately sided with the Revolt and it took some
time before it recovered.
Though Zeeland was not nearly as urbanized as Holland was, one
observes that mobility to Italy had a predominantly urban character.
Almost three-quarters of students had an urban background against
16.4 per cent with a rural one. The two cities that stood tall were
Zierikzee and Middelburg with respectively 13 and 12 students, that
together account for 40.3 per cent of all Zeeuwen in Italy. This is no
surprise as these cities dominated the economic and political scene
in the county. The towns of Goes (6), Borssele (4), Veere and the
no longer existing Reimerswaal with both 3 students follow, the total
of which accounts for 62.3 per cent of all students from Zeeland.37
Other towns and villages only sent two—one case—or just the one
student to Italy.
As for the choice of faculty in Italy, one might say that again
there exists a striking resemblance to Holland. Law and medicine
vie for prominence among students from Zeeland. The county accounts
for some 13.1 per cent of all medical students in Italy and that is
substantially higher than for all but one region in the Northern
Netherlands. Zeeland student travellers too were more medical-minded
than their peers from the eastern parts, particularly for the fifteenth
century. There are indications that the status of medicine and cer-
tainly the status of doctors of medicine was rather elevated in Zeeland
towns. Particularly for the city of Zierikzee one might say that a cir-
cle of learned physicians existed that managed to acquire consider-
able influence in the city’s higher circles and even in government.38
Where law is concerned, the same might be said as for Holland.
Orléans was the centre for potential lawyers. Between 1444 and 1546,
61 students from Zeeland studied law in the Loire city, whereas only
14 chose Italy as their study destination between 1451 and 1550.39
Maybe even more so than Holland, Zeeland was focused on the
University of Louvain, where Zeeuwen accounted for 26 per cent of
all students from the Northern Netherlands. A university in France
37
Unsurpisingly, exactly these cities are the top six on the list for the number
of Zeeuwen at the University of Louvain. With the exception of Borssele, the other
five are also top of the list for the University of Orléans. De Prins, ‘Immatriculatie-
frequentie’, 67–8; De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’, 95.
38
This network will be dealt with in more detail in Chapter 5.
39
De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’, 94–5.
166 chapter three
Choice of Faculty in Italy: Zeeland

30
25
20
Oth/Unkn.
15 Medicine
Law
10
0
1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75
Graph 3.1.4. Choice of faculty in Italy: Zeeland.
could be seen as a logical next step. It was only from 1526 until
1575 that Italian universities managed to attract some students of
law again, especially in the third quarter, when two fifths of all
Zeeland lawyers set off for the peninsula.
Utrecht
Utrecht is a special case. The fact that both the diocese and the
region are referred to as Utrecht points to the prominence of the
city of Utrecht in the Northern Netherlands as a whole. As has been
said, the diocese overlaps almost with the northern Low Countries.
The region under the worldly authority of the bishop was usually
referred to as ‘Het Sticht’, subdivided in ‘Het Oversticht’ and ‘Het
Nedersticht’. The latter constituted what will be referred to as the
region or province of Utrecht. Although the Nedersticht only held
some 3.4 per cent of the population of the Northern Netherlands,
this small region—both in territory and population—accounted for
9.1 per cent of students.40 In other words, it is strongly overrepre-
sented in the population. The reason for this can also be detected
40
The percentage seems all the more exceptional, since both at Louvain (4.5%)
and Cologne (5.4%) it did not manage to reach a high point like 9.1%; De Prins,
‘Immatriculatiefrequentie’, 140, 189.
in the exaggerated percentage of urban students (98.3 per cent)

against those with a rural background (1.7 per cent). The only two
towns of any importance besides Utrecht itself were Amersfoort (7)
and Rhenen (2). No less than 48 students claimed to come from the
city of Utrecht itself. The city dominated the region. With some
13,000 to 20,000 inhabitants it was the oldest and largest city in the
Northern Netherlands. Not only this, it was the seat of the one
bishop of the Northern Netherlands up to 1559. Furthermore, it held
the five richest and most important chapters in the northern Low
Countries, chapters that were not devoid of political power. It was
the ecclesiastical capital and in Chapter 5 we shall see just how often
Utrecht was a career destination for students in the population. In
addition to this, it was also the capital where the worldly govern-
ment of the bishop was located, until worldly authority was trans-
ferred to Charles V in 1528. As such it had a double function. The
dominance of the city in student numbers is therefore understand-
able, but perhaps somewhat exaggerated.41
The central place Utrecht held in the Northern Netherlands meant
that other powers sought to gain influence here. The counts of
Holland, the dukes of Guelders, and their respective nobles, the pow-
erful families in Utrecht itself and in the cities along the IJssel all
tried to win the bishop’s seat, reserve canonries in one of the chap-
ters. As such ecclesiastical dignities could become the plaything of
‘foreign’ powers. These situations were frequently accompanied by
the clash of arms. Sometimes one might detect the effects of crisis
in student mobility from Utrecht. Is it coincidental that in the first
years, when major conflict arose about the papal candidate for the
episcopal seat (1423–32) which resulted in a state of serious war,
schism between canons and enduring conflict with the pope, students
show very little fervour for a trip to Italy?
The fifties and sixties saw very few Utrechtenaren travel to Italy.
The succession war in 1455–6, in which several students of the pop-
ulation were involved at high diplomatic level for the locally favourite
Guelders candidate Gijsbert van Brederode, gave at least two stu-
dents in the population the opportunity to obtain their doctorate in
law, but neither was from Utrecht. The early years of the Burgundian
41
The city of Utrecht accounted for 61.7% of students from the ‘Nedersticht’ in
Louvain between 1485 and 1527; De Prins, ‘Immatriculatiefrequentie’, 143.
168 chapter three
candidate, David, a bastard son of Philip the Good, were difficult

enough. From about 1470 onwards, his power increased and this
was most clearly visible in his attempts to centralize government in
the 1470s. Though most of his attempts were neutralized after his
brother and ally, Charles the Bold, died in 1477, a more lasting
modernization is observable in the Bisschoppelijke Raad, where the con-
stant presence of lawyers with a degree in civil law became a fea-
ture of the council. The establishment of a supreme court of appeal,
the Schive, that had to include learned lawyers among its members,
was another such policy. Though not all of these measures lasted,
it signified the increased importance of (Roman) law in the govern-
ment of Het Sticht, to which the States, as the opposing force of
centralized power, had to respond in kind.42
The last quarter of the fifteenth century does indeed show a sub-
stantial increase of the number of law students from Utrecht at Italian
universities.43 A minimum 12 (and probably 16) travelled south in
these years. The presence of a “Iohannes David de illustri stirpe
ducis Burgundie, scolarium ultramontanorum rector”44 at the University
of Bologna in 1484 is very noteworthy in this respect. In this period
more than 20 per cent of all law students from the Northern
Netherlands in Italy came from Utrecht!
The first quarter of the sixteenth century marks a period of decline,
which culminates in the twenties and thirties, when only two stu-
dents from Utrecht can be found in the sources. This period of gen-
eral crisis in mobility to Italian universities coincides with a period
of crisis for Utrecht. In 1527 war broke out. It all centred on the
42
See for political and institutional development of Utrecht: D.Th. Enklaar, Het
landsheerlijk bestuur in het Sticht Utrecht aan deze zijde van den IJssel gedurende de regeering
van bisschop David van Bourgondië (Utrecht 1927); D.A. Berents, ‘Het Sticht Utrecht,
Gelre en Friesland 1423–1482’ in: NAGN, IV, 292–303; B. van den Hoven van
Genderen, Het kapittel-generaal en de Staten van het Nedersticht in de 15e eeuw (Utrecht
1987).
43
In the seventies some five students started to study law at Orléans. In the next
two no students enrolled. De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’,
94–5.
44
Piana, LSIP, 98; Id., LSIC, 271; Dallari, Rotuli, I, 119a: “Ioannes de Traiecto
de Burgundia”; ASB, AS, inv. nr. 21, f. 147v–148r. I know of only one Johannes
of Burgundy, son of Philip of Burgundy, David’s half-brother. He was born in the
nineties, though. It is not unlikely that this certainly illegitimate young man was a
bastard son of bishop David himself, to which the addition of the name “David”
might point.
Choice of Faculty in Italy: Utrecht

30
25
20
Oth/Unkn.
15 Medicine
Law
10
0
1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75
Graph 3.1.5. Choice of faculty in Italy: Utrecht.
worldly authority over Het Sticht. In 1528 Charles V was recog-

nized as lord over its territory. In 1530 he reformed the institutions
of Utrecht and Overijssel thoroughly. A centralized court where
Roman law would be more important than ever before was estab-
lished.45 Mobility to Italy picked up in the forties, and increased fur-
ther in the fifties, reaching an absolute peak in the sixties.
As for the choice of faculty, law seems to have been the preferred
subject. This should not mask the fact that Utrecht sent students of
medicine in every time cohort, and that their number increased par-
ticularly in the sixteenth century. If we look at the percentages,
Utrecht holds the middle between the western regions and the north-
eastern regions, which reflects not only its geographical position, but
also its position as the ecclesiastical centre of the Northern Netherlands.
Guelders
The duchy of Guelders was the largest political entity in the diocese
of Utrecht. In population it was second only to the county of Holland.
Although it remained predominantly rural in character, it possessed
45
It is significant that no less than 10 students registered with the German Nation
of the law University of Orléans in the thirties. De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit
het bisdom Utrecht’, 94–5.
170 chapter three
several towns, some of which were large and important. Nijmegen

was by far the largest of the Guelders towns. It had some 11,000
inhabitants in the fifteenth century and was in the top ten of the
Northern Netherlands. Roermond—5,000 to 10,000—, Arnhem,
Zutphen, Venlo and Tiel—all with some 2,000 to 5,000 inhabitants
in the fifteenth century—were also of some importance. Of all the
eastern regions of the northern Low Countries, Guelders was by far
the most focused on its eastern neighbours. The duke of Guelders
had interests in the adjacent German territories and ties to the bish-
opric of Cologne were very close.
The most noticeable feature of Guelders’ mobility to Italy was its
comparatively small contribution. With almost 20 per cent of the
total population of the Northern Netherlands, it sent only 7.8 per
cent of students from the diocese of Utrecht to Italian studia. In other
words, students from Guelders were underrepresented.46 Considering
the position that several Bolognese alumni held at the Court of
Guelders, this seems highly surprising. Of the seven know legal coun-
cillors attached to the Court from 1371 until 1473 no less than four
had studied and three graduated at the University of Bologna.47 A
closer look at curriculum of these councillors reveals that six of them
had studied in Cologne. This small case study is indicative of stu-
dent mobility from Guelders at large. Neighbouring Cologne was
the university pole that attracted the overwhelming majority of young
men from the duchy.48
There was some development over time though in their travelling
to Italy. If one looks at the period 1426–1450, one notices that only
Holland and Overijssel sent more students to Italy. Guelders had its
first peak period then—one-fifth of all students from Guelders—with
10.8 per cent of all students from the northern Low Countries (espe-
cially, with 4 out of 33 lawyers, three of whom visited Bologna, there
seems to be some continuity with the previous 25 years, when three
lawyers visited Bologna). Bologna for law and Padua for medicine
46
The same applied to the law University of Orléans, where students from
Guelders only represented 5.5% of the total from the Northern Netherlands. Ibid.
47
G.J.M. Nijsten, Het Hof van Gelre. Cultuur ten tijde van de hertogen uit het Gulikse en
Egmondse huis (1371–1473) (Kampen 1992) 382–6, Johan van Nuwenstein, mr. Johan
van Groesbeek, mr. Michiel van Brede and mr. Peter van der Moelen. All of them
graduated before 1425 and therefore are not counted among the population.
48
Ibid.; Scheelen-Schutgens, ‘Gelderse studenten’; see also the table on geo-
graphical origin at the University of Cologne.
were the most popular destinations. In the second period between

1451 and 1475, Guelders only sent four students to the peninsula.
This period was one of internal conflict in the duchy, in which ‘for-
eign’ powers like the Burgundian dukes also tried to play a role.
The latter succeeded in 1473 to acquire Guelders, but had to relin-
quish it again in 1477 after the death of Charles the Bold. Ever
since then, the Habsburg successors to the Burgundians tried to con-
quer Guelders, which resisted with severity, by force. This process
was only completed in 1543 when Charles V finally broke Guelders’
resistance against foreign powers.
In this entire period, student mobility to Italy was very small, the
occasional student making his way across the Alps. It is difficult to
judge whether the encapsulation of Guelders in the Habsburg empire
and the subsequent reform of its institutions played an important
role in the process, but mobility to Italy picks up rapidly after 1543,
when no less than 27 out of the total of 50 students from Guelders
emerge in university sources.49
Looking at the choice of faculty will clarify some of this develop-
ment. Although law was the subject most chosen by Geldersen at
Italian universities, the contingent of medical students cannot be dis-
missed. After Holland and Zeeland, their share in the total of stu-
dents of medicine is the largest. What is especially significant is the
number of students that Guelders sent to the Collegium Germanicum
in Rome in the third quarter of the sixteenth century. Ten out of
fifteen were Geldersen who specialized in either arts or theology. This
seems to confirm the strong ties between the University of Cologne
and the college on the one hand and the equally strong links between
Guelders and both universities on the other.
Though mobility from Guelders to Italy was urban in majority,
the majority is not as pronounced as for most other territories. This
is in accordance with the more rural character of the duchy. Two
of the most important cities in Guelders dominate with two-fifths of
students indicating that they were from either town. Nijmegen with
12 and Arnhem with 8 stood tall among the Guelders towns.50
49
It is noteworthy that several of them ended up as councillors in the States of
Guelders.
50
Compared to the other cities in the Northern Netherlands that had more than
10,000 inhabitants, Nijmegen sent relatively few students. Only Gouda (16) and
Delft (18) sent less than 20 students to Italy.
172 chapter three
Choice of Faculty in Italy: Guelders

25
20
15
Oth/Unkn.
Medicine
Law
10
0
1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75
Graph 3.1.6. Choice of Faculty in Italy: Guelders.
Overijssel
Overijssel—or ‘Oversticht’—is another rather strange territory in the
northern Low Countries. It was not really a political entity in itself,
although it did have its own States, but was formally part of the
worldly territory of the bishop of Utrecht until 1528, after which it
became a separate province in the Netherlands. Overijssel was domi-
nated by three of the Hanseatic towns on the IJssel, Deventer, Kampen
and Zwolle. These had known a rapid development in the thirteenth
and fourteenth century and dominated the economic and cultural
landscape along the IJssel River.51 They had close ties with the
German Hinterland. Although the region was predominantly rural in
character, the towns harboured almost 50 per cent of the population.
This domination is also visible in the number of students these
towns sent to Italy. Mobility from the IJssel towns goes back as far
as 1292, when Johannes and Henricus “de Daventria” registered
with the German Nation of the law University of Bologna.52 In the
period 1426–1575 no less than 34 out of 43 students from Overijssel
came from these three cities. The two most important, Kampen (16)
51
It should be kept in mind that the Modern Devotion originated in the IJssel
towns. The schools of Deventer and Zwolle were famous institutions in the four-
teenth and fifteenth centuries.
52
Acta, 40; 21 and 70.
and Deventer (14) account for more than two-thirds alone!53 Mobility
was decidedly urban in character, dominated by a handful of towns.
It also seems to have concentrated itself in the fifteenth century with
31 out of the total of 43 (or 72.1 per cent). The peak lies in the
period 1426–1450, when 14 Overijssel students account for no less
than 15.2 per cent of all students from the diocese of Utrecht. In
the years 1451–75 their number halved, followed by a slight rise to
10 students in the last quarter of the fifteenth century, when they
accounted for 10.2 per cent of all Northern Netherlands students, a
second and last peak. It has to be said that the IJssel towns had
already hit their economic zenith in the fourteenth and early fifteenth
century. There was hardly any growth after 1400. They continued
to exert a certain cultural dominance in the Northern Netherlands.
The schools in Deventer and Zwolle enjoyed quite some prestige.
They were centres of the Brethren of the Common Life, where man-
uscript copying and illuminating flourished. The printing press arrived
in Deventer very early on.
All this cannot conceal that the towns along the river IJssel had
to face major structural problems, dealing with the river itself. The
IJssel silted up in the course of the fifteenth century. The towns lost
out on economic ground to Holland in particular and especially in
the sixteenth century had to content themselves with the role of
regional centre rather than an interregional or even international
one. Thus, when the crises that hit student mobility to Italy in the
first decades of the sixteenth century and that have to be explained
by conditions in Italy itself, ended, mobility from Overijssel reco-
vered somewhat, but certainly not to the extent that other regions
managed to. From being the second strongest contributor after Holland
to mobility to Italy in the first time cohort, Overijssel fell back to
the position of weakest contributor of the total Northern Netherlands
in the period 1526–1575.
The relative decline of Overijssel in the population partly reflects
a change of heart in the choice of exclusive destinations, which has
to do with the choice of faculty as well. Although one of the first
known doctores medicinae to be appointed town physician in the Northern
53
Similar percentages were found for Louvain, where 80.4% of Overijssel stu-
dents came from the three towns (67.7% from Kampen and Deventer) and Orléans,
where the percentage was 78.6. De Prins, ‘Immatriculatiefrequentie’, 63; De Ridder-
Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’, 94–5.
174 chapter three
Netherlands, Gerrit Jansz van Bentheim, had studied and graduated

in Italy before moving to Kampen,54 the iter italicum of students from
Overijssel was primarily focused on law (65.1 per cent). In the fifteenth
century, 22 students from Overijssel went to the peninsula to study
law, but that number shrank to 6 (possibly 9) in the sixteenth. From
about 1490 Orléans became a popular exclusive destination for the
study of law for Overijsselnaars. Some students combined both Italy
and France, like Dirk Gelmers who enrolled in Orléans in 1494 and
travelled across the Alps to Bologna, where he registered with the
German Nation in 1497 and graduated in civil law in 1500—with
only one of the jury objecting! Orléans, however, seems to have
taken over the role of Bologna as the most prestigious destination
for law exactly in the nineties of the fifteenth century, when 6 lawyers
visited Bologna and 5 the Loire city. From 1426 until 1500, 15 stu-
dents had visited the studium bononiensis. From 1490 until 1546 13
students would prefer Orléans, while Bologna managed to attract
just 3 law students in the sixteenth century up to 1575. This pres-
tigious French university thus managed to present itself as an attrac-
tive alternative to the Italian studia and was able to absorb quite a
few students.55
Friesland
The region of Friesland presents us with another interesting case. The
name is connected with the early medieval kingdom of Friesland,
the legacy of which still played a role in fifteenth century politics.56
54
See for the situation of town physician and their academic training: Van
Herwaarden, ‘Medici’, 360–72. Gerrit, who graduated at the University of Ferrara,
was salaried town physician of his home town from 1434 until the year of his death
1439.
55
For figures for Orléans: De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’
94–5. Italy as a university pole for law seems to have been more popular with stu-
dents from Overijssel than France was, certainly in the fifteenth century. In the
period 1444–1546 14 Overijsselnaars travelled to the Loire city. In the comparable
period 1451–1550 18 students of law travelled to Italian universities, 14 of whom
alone opted for Bologna. In is not without significance that the number of students
from Overijssel visiting the University of Louvain between 1485–1527 more than
doubles; De Prins, ‘Inschrijvingsfrequentie’ 145. Does this suggest a slight shift in
focus on the part of Overijssel, that hitherto had been pointed at least in equal
measure towards the east and now changed towards the west? Cf. Berents, ‘Sticht
Utrecht’, 292.
56
Both Philip the Good and his son Charles the Bold thought of this kingdom
Choice of Faculty in Italy: Overijssel

30
25
20
Oth/Unkn.
Medicine
15
Law
10
0
1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75
Graph 3.1.7. Choice of Faculty in Italy: Overijssel.
As with the name Friesland, students from Friesland visiting Italian

universities go way back, as far as 1287, when a certain Adolphus
de Frisia visited the University of Bologna. As was mentioned earlier,
a quite spectacular number of students with the epithet “de Frisia”,
“Friso” or “Frisius” can be found in the sources for Bologna from
very early onwards. In the years 1287–1300 no less than 38 (!) stu-
dents labelled “de Frisia” registered with the German Nation of the
law University of Bologna. This number is astonishing by all stan-
dards and it poses the question what was meant exactly when scribes
wrote down “de Frisia”.57 Let us content ourselves for now by say-
ing, that whatever it meant exactly, the figure dropped substantially
in the next 125 years, when 17 students called “Frisius” or “de
Frisia” emerge in Italian university sources. This figure drops most
after 1375, which period coincides with new university foundations
in Germany of which certainly Cologne, Rostock, Erfurt and Prague
made an immediate impact.58
when they sought to gain a royal crown, as Friesland was considered to be one of
the eighteen ancient kingdoms of Christendom. See: A. G. Jongkees, ‘Het koninkrijk
Friesland in de vijftiende eeuw’ in: Id., Burgundica et Varia. Keuze uit de verspreide opstellen
van prof. dr. A.G. Jongkees (Hilversum 1990) 27–47.
57
The question of identity in university sources will be dealt with in more detail
under the next heading.
58
Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 12; figures complemented by Schmutz, Juristen.
176 chapter three
Certainly, at the start of the period under investigation, Friesland

sent the smallest number students of all regions in the Northern
Netherlands and this situation did not alter until the early sixteenth
century. The volte-face, though, is enormous. Though Friesland only
sent 9 young men up to 1499, from 1500 up to 1575, 55 students
from Friesland account for 18.2 per cent of all students from the
northern Low Countries and for no less than 21.9 per cent of all
law students. Friesland was second only after Holland in the total
number of students sent to Italian studia in the sixteenth century!59
Certainly, part of this sudden hausse has to be viewed against the
background of a general spectacular increase in the total student
mobility from Friesland from 1500 onwards. A connection has been
made with the political situation in the region. In 1500 the duke of
Saxony managed to acquire Friesland and started to reform, mod-
ernize and centralize the government of the region, which would
have had a positive effect on the number of academics employed in
bureaucracies.60 It would seem that especially learned lawyers with
a doctor’s degree could profit from this development. Up to 1515
no less than 15 students emerge in the sources. The more general
decline in student numbers from Friesland in the period 1516–45,61
can also be observed in the numbers travelling to Italy, for in those
three decades only 11 students travelled southwards, the period which
also marks the nadir in general student mobility to Italy. Numbers
peaked again in the fifties when 15 students can be found on the
peninsula. The figure drops again in the sixties to three and climbs
in the seventies to 11, after which another period of decline set in,
no doubt closely connected with the Dutch Revolt.62
59
It is certainly no coincidence that travel from Friesland to the law University
of Orléans also starts with the year 1500. From then until 1546, 21 Frisians reg-
istered (note, Groningers are included in these figures); De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten
uit het bisdom Utrecht’, 94–5. The situation is almost exactly the same in Bologna.
Prior to 1500 only one student, Winandus Alama, registered in 1426. From 1500
until 1550 16 students appeared.
60
Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 16–7. He also observes an earlier general rise in stu-
dent number since the 1460s, when after more than two decades of no Frisian pre-
sence in Italy, three students appear.
61
Ibid. Zijlstra connects this decline with the precarious political situation of the
period when the duke of Guelders and Charles V vied for authority over Friesland.
The crises that hit Italy in the twenties and thirties must also have made an impact
on mobility to Italy.
62
Ibid. 16–7.
Friesland was the northern Low Countries’ most rural region.

When looking at the student population from it, it should not sur-
prise that the minimum percentage of students with an urban back-
ground (48.4 per cent) is lowest of all the regions discussed here.
Friesland also has the highest percentage of students of whom it was
impossible to associate them with a particular location (32.8 per cent).63
It is certain that at least 18.8 per cent of Frisian students had a
rural background, but this figure is too low. It is plausible that it
was closer to the share found for Guelders (one-third). Be that as it
may, even these smaller Frisian towns, where approximately only 22
per cent of the population lived, are overrepresented in the contin-
gent of students that found its way to Italy. Especially Leeuwarden
that was rapidly growing into a regional capital for government and
administration in the course of the sixteenth century, shows signs of
fulfilling a similar role to The Hague on a somewhat smaller scale.
With 13 students Leeuwarden accounted for one-fifth of all students
from Friesland!
Friesland is a very interesting case for the choice of faculty. With
70.3 per cent of Frisian students opting for law, one might say that
their peregrinatio was decidedly legal in nature. The strange thing is
that this percentage is not that different from their choice of subject
at other universities closer to home. At Louvain, for instance, 60 per
cent of Frisian students chose law. At the University of Cologne this
percentage was 52!64 Particularly the percentage of clerics that opted
for the study of law was very high. Zijlstra has shown that these stu-
dents of law played a necessary role in Frisian society at local level,
where a centralized legal system was virtually absent. This explains
the extraordinary percentage of law students from Friesland.65 It
would seem that for those students who travelled all the way to Italy,
the career path was somewhat different. They tended to end up in
the bureaucracies of state more often than as rural parish priests
with certain legal duties.
63
A handicap for researchers lies in the strong sense of Frisian identity that is
so clear even in university sources. It sufficed for them to say that they were “de
Frisia”. Section 3.3 will explore this in more detail.
64
Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 35.
65
Ibid. 96–8.
178 chapter three
Choice of Faculty in Italy: Friesland

30
25
20
Oth/Unkn.
15 Medicine
Law
10
0
1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75
Graph 3.1.8. Choice of Faculty in Italy: Friesland.
It is interesting to note that the sixteenth century also shows an

increase in the number of Frisian students who want to study med-
icine, indicating that Italy was firmly located on the medical map
of Europe, even in a relatively rural and remote area like Friesland.
Groningen
Groningen and the ‘Ommelanden’ present us with a case that is not
dissimilar to that of Utrecht, in more than one aspect. Formally,
Groningen and the surrounding territories were under the worldly
authority of the bishop of Utrecht, until 1536 when Charles V was
recognized as lord. Then there was the central position the city
Groningen had in the region. It was by far the largest city in the
north-east of the Northern Netherlands with some 19,400 inhabi-
tants in 1520. As with Utrecht, it will be shown that the city accounted
for nearly all of the student mobility to Italy with an exaggerated
43 (out of 54) claiming to be from the city of Groningen, it suggests
a similar dominant position to the one Utrecht had over the ‘Neder-
sticht’.66 After Utrecht, Groningen was the city that sent most young
66
For student from Groningen visiting the University of Louvain, the percent-
age claiming to be from the city was as high as 97%! Based on figures by: De
Prins, ‘Inschrijvingsfrequentie’, 61.
men to Italy. The nature of the iter italicum from Groningen was
therefore overwhelmingly urban, even though the region had a rural
character.
Although the student numbers in the beginning of the period under
investigation were not that different from the neighbouring region
of Friesland from 1426 until 1475, 10 Groningers against 8 Frisians,
the last quarter of the fifteenth century shows a remarkable peak,
when 15 Groningers emerge in the sources and account for 14.7
per cent of all students from the Northern Netherlands and one-fifth
of all law students! Zijlstra has shown that there was a general rise
in student numbers from Groningen from about 1460 onwards, and
particularly from 1475 until 1485. This development corresponded
with Groningen’s Golden Age as the dominant power in the wider
region, which culminated around 1490.67 The number of students
travelling to the peninsula, tripling in the last quarter compared to
the previous 25 years, seems to confirm this explanation.
The first quarter of the sixteenth century, the number declined
but stayed at a relatively high level. As was the case for other regions,
the period 1526–1550 was the low point for the sixteenth century.
Besides the troubles that hit student mobility to Italy in general in
this period, the overall number of students coming from Groningen
declined in the twenties and early thirties, most likely corresponding
with the downfall of the city as a regional super power and its con-
quest by Charles V.68 Recovery set in the forties when 4 students
from Groningen went southwards. The fifties show another peak,
when 9 Groningers turned up. In the late sixties another period of
decline set in, that has to be connected with the period of Revolt,
turning Groningen and the Ommelanden into a theatre of war.69
When students from this region travelled to the peninsula, it was
predominantly a question of law. With an overall percentage for law
students of 74.1 per cent, Groningen could be called the most legal-
minded region where the peregrinatio academica to Italian universities
67
Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 15–7. The number of students travelling to Italian
universities follows this pattern. The seventies (12) and early eighties (6) mark a
high point, while in the nineties only one Groninger can be found in Italy.
68
Ibid. Again the student numbers travelling to Italy fit the more general pat-
tern for Groninger students. After the decline in the nineties, the first two decades
show another rise with eight students emerging in the sources until 1519. From
1520 until 1539 only two students from Groningen can be found at Italian studia.
69
Ibid.
180 chapter three
Choice of Faculty in Italy: Groningen

25
20
15
Oth/Unkn.
Medicine
Law
10
0
1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75
Graph 3.1.9. Choice of faculty in Italy: Groningen.
is concerned. Like its neighbour, Friesland, though, the popularity

of Italy to study medicine picked up in the third quarter of the six-
teenth century.
3.2. General Tendencies: The Catchment Areas of Italian Universities
For most regions it could be established that not only factors of inci-
dental or more structural nature in Italian university cities or on the
peninsula in general could play a role in the fluctuation of student
numbers, but also that certain structural factors within the home
region could have either a positive or negative effect on student
mobility to Italy. The various periods of hausse and baisse, therefore
have to be seen and explained in regional perspective as well as
from the Italian point of view.
For the moment it seems worthwhile comparing regional mobility
to Italian universities with some of the universities that were men-
tioned earlier. As might be expected, the University of Louvain had
its recruitment area most marked in the western parts of the Northern
Netherlands. Between 1485 and 1527, 85 per cent of students came
from Holland, Zeeland and the Nedersticht. Especially Zeeland’s con-
tribution to Louvain is remarkable. This region was economically
and culturally very close to its southern neighbours, Flanders and
Brabant. The eastern regions are underrepresented, but none more
so than the duchy of Guelders, which harboured about one-fifth of

the northern Low Countries’ population, but whose percentage of
attendance at Louvain constituted only 3.
One of the reasons for this situation becomes clear when one looks
at the recruitment area of the University of Cologne. The division
according to regions is much more in accordance with population
division in the Northern Netherlands at large, be it that Guelders is
somewhat stronger represented. The close ties with the diocese of
Cologne, which was next-door, go far to explain this phenomenon.
The eastern regions represented no less than 48 per cent of Northern
Netherlands’ attendance in Cologne, a figure that closely resembles
their part in the population of the northern Low Countries.70
When one looks at institutions that were specialized—as the Italian
universities were—in the subject of law, the University of Orléans,
one notices that there is a strong resemblance to the picture for the
University of Louvain, in the sense that the western parts dominate
with some 79 per cent of attendance against just 16 per cent for
the eastern regions. If we compare these figures to those for law stu-
dents visiting Italian universities, we notice that figures resemble those
of Cologne (though Guelders and Friesland seem to have switched
positions). The eastern parts of the Northern Netherlands constitute
41 per cent of law students in Italy against 57 per cent for the west-
ern parts. Here one might hint at a distinct feature of mobility to
Italy. It seems to have been much more focused on law for students
from the eastern regions.
For instance, the two decades 1460–79 show that student mobility
was dominated by the booming regions Holland and Zeeland, that
accounted for 67.7 per cent of all students from the northern Low
Countries. In the next twenty years their absolute number declined
enormously and their relative share of Northern Netherlands’ mobil-
ity fell to 45.0 per cent, while other regions—Utrecht and Overijssel—
show an increase. The adverse economic situation in the western
regions, aggravated by political crisis and war, suggests itself as a
possible and plausible explanation for this absolute and relative decline.
70
The close ties of especially Overijssel and Guelders are reflected in more that
just the student numbers these regions sent to Cologne. Close economic ties existed
between them and Westphalia and the Rhineland. Cf. D.A. Berents, ‘Het Sticht
Utrecht, Gelre en Friesland’ in: NAGN, IV, 292–3.
182 chapter three
Italy Louvain Cologne Italy Law Orléans % Total

(N=640) (N=4952) (N=2577) (N=327) (N=383) Pop NN
Holland 45 56 38 38 53 39.0
Zeeland 10 25 9 8 16 12.4
Utrecht 9 4 5 11 10 3.4
Guelders 8 3 24 6 5 19.4
Overijssel 7 3 9 9 4 7.7
Friesland 10 6 4 14 7 10.9
Groningen 8 3 11 12 u.f. 7.2
Unknown 3 – – 2 5
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100
Table 3.2.1. Attendance by region: Italy compared with Louvain, Cologne and Orléans
in percentages.
Similarly, the take-off of mobility from Groningen in the seventies of

the fifteenth century and that of Friesland in the first decade of the
sixteenth could be ascribed to changes in the political-institutional
situation in those regions.
The low period 1510–39 seems to almost apply to all regions in
the northern Low Countries. This development has to be largely
explained in terms of the situation on the Italian peninsula, though.71
It would seem that only the peaks in the decades 1550–69 can really
be called a Northern Netherlands phenomenon in general. Surely,
it is more than a coincidence that the process of unification of the
Netherlands as a whole was more or less completed in the 1540s,
with the conquest of Guelders in 1543 and the proclamation of the
Burgundian Circle in 1548. The period 1540–65 was also one of
economic growth for the Low Countries. Even the decline of the
student number in the seventies, the first years of the Revolt, is an
almost general phenomenon.72 The slow process of integration of
these regions into a federal state, which was to happen with the
foundation of the Republic, is somewhat visible in the phenomenon
of student mobility to Italy. Although differentiation between the
71
For law students there was an excellent alternative: Orléans. With such an
unstable situation in Italy, this university was able to absorb those young men with
aspirations. De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’, 94.
72
The deviating figures for Friesland and Guelders have to be largely explained
in terms of their contribution to the Collegium Germanicum in Rome.
various regions is a necessity, this seems to be even more of an

imperative for the period before 1535–40. The example of the towns
of Amsterdam and Leiden has showed that even within regions the
need to differentiate is a useful and necessary process to explain the
phenomenon of student mobility.
The need for differentiation in terms of region was also most
clearly shown where the subject of study was concerned. Student
mobility to different Italian universities meant something different for
different regions in different periods. For the fifteenth century espe-
cially, the choice for medicine seems to have been one primarily for
the western regions of Holland and Zeeland, with 83.1 per cent of
all medical students. The town and city density of these regions and
the emergence of a systematic health care organization, with learned
town physicians employed by the respective governments, go far to
explain this.73 This applied much less to the north-eastern regions of
Friesland, Groningen and to a lesser extent Overijssel.74 Their choice
for Italian universities had to do with the study of law in over-
whelming majority. Utrecht and Guelders seem to have held some
sort of middle position between the east and the west. If we explore
the figures for law from a regional perspective, we notice that the
further east one goes, the more law-focused the iter italicum was. This
by no means suggests that the western regions were less legal minded
than their eastern neighbours. Far from it. Holland and especially
Zeeland, the region most closely connected with Flanders and Brabant,
opted in general for a different peregrinatio, the one to Orléans. Again,
Utrecht and Guelders hold, the middle position, while the regions
of Overijssel, but especially Friesland and Groningen seem to have
favoured the Italian university pole more than the one on the river
Loire. Pinned down on the most popular university for law in this
period, Bologna, one observes that the relative popularity of the Alma
73
Much research needs to be done to shed light on the position of learned physi-
cians in the Northern Netherlands prior to 1575. Apart from some case studies for
certain towns and cities, e.g. J. Steendijk-Kuypers, Volksgezondheidszorg in de 16e en
17e eeuw te Hoorn. Een bijdrage tot de beeldvorming van sociaal-geneeskundige structuren in een
stedelijke samenleving (Rotterdam 1994), there is the review article by Van Herwaarden,
‘Medici’, who draws a considerable amount of information from the IJsseltowns,
Deventer and Zwolle.
74
Cf. Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, chapter V, 242–55, and more in particular 242,
note 6, which passage gives an indication of the importance of Italian universities,
where the study of medicine was concerned.
184 chapter three
Mater Bononiensis runs from the south-west (Zeeland-lowest) to the

north-east (Groningen-highest), while the reverse is the case for the
studium of Orléans.75 It is no coincidence that the regions more closely
connected with the German lands are relatively overrepresented at
the law faculties of Italian universities. Potential law students from
the Holy Roman Empire overwhelmingly preferred Italy to France
as a destination for study.76
Differentiation in terms of regions and choice of faculty also allows
us to make some further comments on the popularity of the various
universities on the peninsula. Bologna was relatively more popular
with students from the eastern parts of the northern Low Countries.
Apart from the period 1451–75, the booming years for Holland and
Zeeland with 73.5 per cent of attendance, the eastern regions always
delivered more than their fair share of students, certainly so after
about 1480. This becomes even more obvious when one concentrates
on the study of law. In the sixteenth century—up to 1575—Overijssel,
Friesland and Groningen accounted for exactly 50 per cent of all
law students.
Alternatively, Padua was comparatively more popular with stu-
dents from the western regions of the Utrecht diocese. Especially for
the period up to about 1480 their dominance in attendance is clear.
Northern Netherlands’ students of medicine in Padua, most marked
for the time cohort 1451–75 with 91.3 per cent, came from Holland
and Zeeland. If Padua was considered to be the medical centre of
Europe from 1540 onwards, one can ask if this was not already the
case in the early fifteenth century, when it certainly attracted an
impressive number of students from the west of the Low Countries.
The picture changed somewhat after the major crisis that hit Padua
in the first decades of the sixteenth century. Attendance from Holland
remained relatively strong, although the absolute number collapsed.
Once recovery started in the 1540s, one notices that virtually all
75
In response to De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’, 74
and n. 16.
76
If we look at students coming from the Holy Roman Empire (minus the
Netherlands) studying at Orléans from 1444–1546 (some 354) compared to those
at Bologna in the period 1451–1550 (1570), the difference is obvious. Figures based
on Hilde de Ridder-Symoens, ‘Les origines géographique et sociale des étudiants
de la nation germanique de l’ancienne Université d’Orléans (1444–1546). Aperçu
général’ in: J. IJsewijn and J. Paquet (eds.), The Universities in the Late Middle Ages
(Louvain 1978) 455–475, there 458, 469; Ead., ‘Brabanders’ 202–4; Dotzauer,
‘Deutsches Studium’, 101.
regions partake in travel to Padua. Even the choice of subject shows

a more homogenous structure for the different regions than was the
case heretofore, with law now the dominant choice, but with all
regions represented in the faculty of arts and medicine. In other
words, student travel to Padua started to look like a phenomenon of
the Northern Netherlands—maybe even the total Netherlands—in
general.
For the fifteenth century similar things might be said about the
regional division of attendance at Ferrara. Holland and Zeeland domi-
nated at this studium. Most clearly in the number of medical stu-
dents, which remained true for Holland even in the sixteenth century,
even though numbers declined. The shift in focus from medicine in
the fifteenth—Angelo Cato, being one of the professors—to law in
the sixteenth century—the famous Andreas Alciatus hired—is visible
in the numbers for the various regions. Students from Friesland,
Groningen and Utrecht kept coming, opting for law in most cases
and their relative share in attendance increased. Groningen seems
to have had a special relationship with the University of Ferrara.
Groningers appear in all time cohorts, even in those when crisis hit
hardest. The fact that a number of notable citizens of the city had
studied and graduated there, starting with Johannes Canter in 1444,
culminating in the presence of Rodolphus Agricola, who managed
to befriend the duke of Ferrara himself, might go a long way to
explain this.
As for the other universities on the peninsula, one might say that
there existed a relationship between choice of faculty and regional
division. In the law dominated studium of Siena, the share of Holland
and Zeeland was relatively low. Siena seems to have been very po-
pular with students from Utrecht in particular. Pavia, also a law
dominated institution, was most attractive to students from the north-
east of the Netherlands. Nearly half of the Northern Netherlands’
students came from Friesland, Groningen and Overijssel. The 10
Hollanders studying there in majority opted for medicine. At the
University of Pisa/Florence matters were very different. Medicine
was the most popular choice here and students from the western
parts dominated attendance, Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht account-
ing for three quarters of all students from the diocese of Utrecht.77
77
It is well worth remembering that Pisa/Florence was also very popular with
students from the Southern Netherlands.
186 chapter three
As for Rome, and the Collegium Germanicum in particular, it is

again worth mentioning the close ties between the University of
Cologne and the college. Students from Guelders, the town of
Nijmegen in particular, were very keen to travel to Rome. They
account for half of students found.78
The results found for the various universities seem to point to the
more general pattern that students from Holland and Zeeland were
in equal measure interested in law and medicine, while the other
regions in the northern Low Countries were in majority focused on
the study of law. Towards the end of the period under investiga-
tion, the picture became more homogenous and one might speak of
the iter italicum from the Northern Netherlands in the sense that this
study trip was primarily for the study of law, but that a significant
part of the population opted for medicine.
Something that was true for all regions—albeit in different shapes
and sizes—was the comparatively large urban contingent in the total
population. Even for the most rural region, Friesland, where not
even a quarter of the population lived in towns, the majority of stu-
dents that travelled to Italy probably came from its relatively small
towns. There also is a correlation between the size of cities and num-
ber of students sent to Italy. Naturally, more students came from
bigger cities than from small towns, but proportionally this seems to
hold as well. Thus if we look at the nine biggest cities in the total
Northern Netherlands—Utrecht, Groningen, Amsterdam, Leiden,
Dordrecht, Haarlem, Delft, Gouda and Nijmegen, all with some 10,000
inhabitants or more—one observes that with some 17.2 per cent of
the population of the northern Low Countries, they represented 38.9
per cent of all students travelling to Italy.79
3.3. Batavus, Frisius, Belga? University Sources as a Mirror of Identity
The attempt to attribute students to a particular region and city or

town was a highly successful one, where Italian university sources
were concerned, but they can they also tell us something more about
78
Jacobs and Beghyn, ‘Noord-Nederlandse studenten’.
79
Similarly, these cities account for 41.9% of the total urban population of the
Northern Netherlands, but for 51.3% of all students from the Northern Netherlands
in Italy with an urban background.
the sense of identity of students registering and graduating? Do they

leave us traces of what students considered themselves to be in terms
of belonging to a city, a region or an entity even bigger than that:
the Netherlands? Can we connect this to the picture painted in recent
historiography?80 This can be done by carefully analysing name giv-
ing in these—albeit very diverse—sources. Another way of looking
at this is to try and assess if students mingled with fellows from their
own region, or an even wider area. This, of course, is very difficult
as we have few sources at our disposal in which students explicitly
state their preference in company. There might be a way out of this
situation using administrative sources. One way of doing this is using
the witness lists attached to some of the graduation registers. Who
were present? Whom did the scribes of these registers or separate
charters mention by name? Does this reveal anything about the cir-
cles in which the graduation candidate mingled?
Graduation registers come in all shapes and sizes. Some are not
very useful for our purpose. The Libri secreti of the colleges of doc-
tors of the University of Bologna, for instance, were reports on what
happened in the meetings of the college. As such they mention grad-
uation proceedings, but not in a very elaborate way and no wit-
nesses are named. Very often the prior in question contented himself
with mentioning that “dominus Martinus de Alamania”—tall, prob-
ably blond and a funny accent in Latin, mentioned some funny name
as his place of origin, therefore from the far north, ergo Alemania—
had graduated in civil law on 8 October 1451.81 It is up to us to
find out that this Martinus was actually Martinus Hegherdoer of
Middelburg. If, however, the notary minutae have come down to us,
or the official register of the notary of the bishop, then the situa-
tion is different. Not only do these documents give more clues about
80
The last fifteen years have shown a substantial increase in literature on the
subject of ‘national identity’. W.Th.M. Frijhoff, ‘Identiteit en identiteitsbesef. De
historicus en de spanning tussen verbeelding, benoeming en herkenning’ in: BMGN
107 (1992) 614–34. For this period cf. Karin Tilmans, ‘De ontwikkeling van een
vaderland-begrip in de laat-middeleeuwse en vroegmoderne geschiedschrijving van
de Nederlanden’ in: N.C.F. van Sas (ed.), Vaderland. Een geschiedenis van de vijftiende
eeuw tot 1940 (Amsterdam 1999) 7–53; S. Groenveld, “Natie’ en ‘patria’ bij zestiende-
eeuwse Nederlanders’ in: Ibid. 55–81; P.J. van Kessel, ‘Van Fiandra naar Olanda.
Veranderendevisie in het vroegmoderne Italië op de Nederlandse identiteit’ in:
Mededelingen KNAW, afdeling Letterkunde, Nieuwe Reeks 56 (1993) 177–196.
81
Piana, LSIC, 6.
188 chapter three
the graduate—one would like to see one’s name written out cor-
rectly—, but witnesses to the act of conferring the doctorate are
mentioned explicitly as well.
The graduation charters in the notary archives of Ferrara and of
the notary archives and episcopal archives of Padua will be taken
as a case study here. There was a total of a 108 charters or sections
in registers with 108 graduates from the Northern Netherlands in
which 430 witnesses are mentioned with their names and place of
origin. In 25 charters (23.1 per cent) another student from the same
city or town as the graduate in question was mentioned. When
Philippus Schoen of Nijmegen graduated in medicine at the University
of Padua 31 October 1435, the first student mentioned in the wit-
ness list was Johannes Vighe of Nijmegen, a student of civil law at
the same studium.82 In 64 charters (59.3 per cent) at least one other
student from the same region as the candidate was mentioned. In
no less than 90 out of a 108 charters (83.3 per cent) at least one
other student from the Netherlands was present at the festive occa-
sion that celebrated the graduation of a fellow student from the Low
Countries, and mentioned explicitly.
If we want to narrow this further to individuals, the following pic-
ture emerges: in these 108 charters 430 names of individuals were
mentioned as witnesses of whom 27 (6.3 per cent) came from the
very same city, town or even village as the graduate in question.
Then, 117 witnesses (27.2 per cent) could be attributed to the same
region as the candidate. No less than 303 witnesses or 70.5 per cent
of all witnesses explicitly mentioned in these graduation charters came
from the Netherlands.83
There is the possibility to look at this from another angle. At what
graduation ceremonies were students from the northern Low Countries
present—graduations other than from these regions, that is? For the
universities of Padua and Ferrara there are an additional 82 charters
where people from the Northern Netherlands are named as witnesses.
In most cases it involved graduations of students from the Southern
82
ACVP, Ser. Divers., 1429–35, II, c. 5; Zonta, Acta, II, 3, nr. 1215. Other wit-
nesses mentioned were one from Holland, three from Brabant, two Germans and
one Sicilian.
83
A further 69 (16%) came from the Holy Roman Empire; 58 (13.5%) came
from other countries, in overwhelming majority from Italy. Officials such as scribes
and the rector that had to be present have been excluded from these calculations.
84
The number of graduations of students from French speaking parts was small
(17%).
Netherlands (36.6 per cent).84 Next, were graduation ceremonies of

students from the German speaking parts of the Holy Roman Empire
(35.4 per cent). In the other cases (28 per cent) young men from
the diocese of Utrecht attended and were explicitly mentioned in
charters that concerned graduations of students from the rest of
Europe; Eastern Europe, Italy, France. What does this pattern imply?
Belonging to the German Nation did not limit their engagement
within the international community that a university constituted, but
from the point of language and political constellation it would appear
that, for most students from the Northern Netherlands, their loyalty
and friendship was directed to exactly those regions that they had
closest ties with.
If we look at how students from the northern Low Countries
appear in the sources, there are a number of interesting points. It
would seem that the diocese as identifying geographical unit—so
common at universities in the North of Europe—was not as impor-
tant at Italian studia. It was certainly not used consistently. This is
true for all source-producing institutions connected to Italian studia,
whether it was the scribes of the German Nations in the various
cities, a notary public in Ferrara or the notary of the bishop of Padua.
Therefore the range of identifying geographical units is enormous
and can vary from “de Alemanea” to “Henrico Echtel de prope
Tielam”,85 which allows us to establish that this Hendrik was from the
village of Echteld near the town of Tiel in the duchy of Guelders. The
level of accuracy in some of the graduation registers, where students
clearly wanted a level of accurate information, allows us to identify
a number of cities, towns and even the tiniest of villages. These grad-
uation charters are therefore one of the best and most complete uni-
versity sources. We have to see how students were presented or even
how they themselves wanted to be presented in writing.
On the basis of 203 graduation charters of students from the
Northern Netherlands, from nearly all universities studied covering
the entire period up to 1575,86 I have tried to categorize how stu-
dents were identified in this source, split up in the various regions
of the northern Low Countries. All sorts of combinations came up.
Schematically they can be subdivided as follows:
85
Zonta, Acta, II, 165, nr. 1720. Hendrik, by the way was present at the gra-
duation of Hendrik Spiker of the town of Tiel.
86
It involved charters for the universities of Ferrara, Padua, Siena, Pavia, Bologna,
Pisa/Florence and Parma.
190 chapter three
Hol Zeel. Utrecht Guelders Overijssel Friesl. Gron. Tot.

name 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 3
diocese 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 3
city/village 32 3 9 4 1 1 10 60
region 10 3 0 1 0 8 1 23
cityvil/reg. 35 13 0 1 0 1 4 54
city/reg./dioc. 7 0 0 0 0 0 2 9
reg./dioc. 2 1 1 0 0 2 1 7
cityvil/dioc. 13 2 1 2 7 2 1 28
cityvil/aleman. 10 2 1 0 1 1 0 15
rel. order 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Total Reg. 112 24 14 8 11 15 19 203
% Hol. Zeel. Utrecht Guelders Overijssel Friesl. Gron. Total

name 1.8 0.0 7.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.5
diocese 0.0 0.0 7.1 0.0 18.2 0.0 0.0 1.5
city/village 28.6 12.5 64.3 50.0 9.1 6.7 52.6 29.6
region 8.9 12.5 0.0 12.5 0.0 53.3 5.3 11.3
cityvil/reg. 31.3 54.2 0.0 12.5 0.0 6.7 21.1 26.6
city/reg./dioc. 6.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 10.5 4.4
reg./dioc. 1.8 4.2 7.1 0.0 0.0 13.3 5.3 3.4
cityvil/dioc. 11.6 8.3 7.1 25.0 63.6 13.3 5.3 13.8
cityvil/aleman. 8.9 8.3 7.1 0.0 9.1 6.7 0.0 7.4
rel. order 0.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5
Total Reg. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Table 3.3.1. The way students figure in 203 graduation charters in absolute numbers
and percentages.
What can we infer from this information? A first conclusion must

be that the diocese of origin as an identifying factor was relatively
unimportant. It was mentioned in only 47 cases (23.5 per cent) and
in only three cases (1.5 per cent) it was the sole identifying geo-
graphical unit. Often it is used to stipulate that a student was a
cleric of the diocese of Utrecht. The region of origin, which often
constituted a political entity, like the county of Holland, is mentioned
much more often—92 cases or 46.0 per cent—than the diocese. In
11.5 per cent of the charters the region of provenance was the sole
geographical identifier. By far the most often mentioned geographical
unit to identify a student was the city, town of village where he

claimed to come from. In 163 cases (81.5 per cent) the name of a
location was mentioned and as the sole means of establishing geo-
graphical origin it was clearly the most important with 58 cases (29.0
per cent). It should not come as a surprise that these 58 cases apply
to only a handful of cities, and always the largest and most impor-
tant ones in a region. Amsterdam, Dordrecht, Delft, Haarlem and
Leiden for Holland; Zierikzee and Middelburg for Zeeland; Utrecht
for the Nedersticht; Nijmegen for Guelders; Deventer for Overijssel,
Leeuwarden—once in the sixteenth century!—for Friesland and of
course Groningen. It might plausibly be argued that no further infor-
mation was necessary in these cases, as most of these towns were
large well-known names, perhaps even abroad. It also suggests that
for a significant part of the population their city or town was the
geographical entity that they felt most closely associated with.
Are there differences between the various regions in the way stu-
dents from these regions appear in these graduation acts? Some
regions seem to have made more of an impact than others. In none
of these charters the Latin for Overijssel (transinsulanus) or an equiv-
alent for the “Oversticht” was mentioned. In nearly all cases, 9 out
of 11, students from the IJssel towns were identified by their dio-
cese. They were identified with a city to the same extent. The
Oversticht—later Overijssel—did not really possess a coherent polit-
ical structure, as it was under the worldly authority of the bishop of
Utrecht, later under the lordship of Charles V. Some of this is visi-
ble in the way students appear in the sources. They tended to be
associated or associate themselves with the town they came from—
the IJssel towns—and the diocese, not the region. Equally the duchy
of Guelders was not a term that turned up often. Only twice was
it mentioned and in both cases this was in the middle of the six-
teenth century: for instance when Godfried Wijnandsz Pannekoeck
graduated in Siena in 1545, it was explicitly mentioned that he came
from Elst and from the “ducatus Geldriae”.87 Guelders as a politi-
cal entity was relatively dispersed territorially with little political inte-
gration. It consisted of four more or less separate quarters, in which
local noble factions sought to gain influence by both allying them-
selves with the towns and other noble factions. Only the conquest
87
Minnucci and Morelli, Lauree, 138, nr. 62.
192 chapter three
of Guelders by Charles V and the subsequent attempt to encapsu-

late the duchy in the Habsburg Empire seems to have given it some
more coherence. It is not surprising that students from Nijmegen
thought of themselves as citizens of this powerful city rather than
Geldersen.
Students from Utrecht seem to have been though of, or thought
of themselves as citizens of this large and well-known city. “Ultra-
jectinus” or “de Traiecto” points to this proud city and was much
more often mentioned than the wider political structure it belonged
to, the bishopric.
If we look at Holland and Zeeland in its wake, one notices that
both city—more so in the case of Holland than Zeeland—and region
are relatively more important identifiers than for most other regions.
“Hollandus”, “de Holandia”, “comitatus Hollandiae” all indicate that
Holland as a geographical entity, even as a county, was well-known
and that students from these parts were very much associated with
it or wanted to be. Indeed, the county, that as a political entity dates
back to the tenth century, was more developed in terms of its poli-
tical structure and identity than most other regions in the northern
Low Countries. Something similar can be said for the Zeeland that
was under a personal union with the Holland. The close association
between these two neighbouring counties can sometimes be seen
when students from a town in Zeeland are nevertheless attributed
to the region Holland, as in the case of Cornelis Florisz of Goes
who graduated in Ferrara in 1478.88
Friesland and Groningen present us with possibly the most inter-
esting cases. Students from Friesland were rarely mentioned with
their place of origin. In three quarters of their appearance in the
sources there is an identifier of a wider geographical area: “Frisius”
or “de Frisia”. These students were thought of as and though of
themselves as Frisian! For students from the city of Groningen one
can detect similarities with the Utrecht case. They nearly always
mention that they come from this city. If, however, they are also
identified by a region this is always as “Frisius” or “de Frisia”! These
regions did not form a political unity. Friesland was a seigneury
traditionally claimed by the counts of Holland and their successors,
88
the Burgundian dukes, even though these claims did not materialize
until the 1530s partly because of strong Frisian resistance. Groningen
and the Ommelanden belonged to the bishopric of Utrecht and fell
under the worldly authority of its bishop. Even the incorporation of
these regions in the Habsburg Empire in the thirties of the sixteenth
century or subsequent political changes did not alter the way these
students appear in the sources. They thought of themselves as Frisian.
Other than is the case for students from Holland, where there seems
to have been a close connection with the formation of a political
entity, students who claim to be “Frisius” seem to have associated
themselves with a nation, one that transcended political divisions and
roughly drawn, arbitrary borders. Even in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries the term Frisius can point to people coming from a wider
geographical region that included “Ostfriesland”, Groningen and the
Ommelanden, Friesland, parts of Overijssel and one might even
argue parts of West-Friesland in the county of Holland.
When thinking of the incredible number of students claiming to
be “Frisius” or “de Frisia” visiting Bologna in the last quarter of the
thirteenth century, it is worthwhile to keep this bit of geography in
mind. They might have come from North-Holland in the west to as
far as Bremen in the east. There is more evidence for this early
form of Frisian ‘nationalism’. A long-lasting dispute, that was taken
to the local courts, over what natio Frisian should be part of, was
finally settled in 1292. From then on students from “Frisia” were
assigned to the Natio Germanica of the University of Bologna because
of its proximity to other territories assigned to the German Nation.89
This did not stop Frisian students from consistently using “Frisius”,
“de Frisia” or “Friso”, when they enrolled in the Nation. Clearly a
sense of identity was strongest developed in Friesland and neigh-
bouring Groningen.
A perhaps even more valuable source constitute those matricula-
tion registers in which students themselves wrote their names and where
they came from. Both the register for students of law at the German
Nation of the University of Padua, starting in 1545, and that of the
students of arts and medicine of the German Nation at the University
89
Cf. Kibre, Nations, 10.
194 chapter three
of Padua, from 1553, contain 71 autographs and can serve as another

case study here.90 In this situation the student registering was free
to write down exactly what he considered to be appropriate. Using
a similar table to differentiate between the various regions and the
way students presented themselves in writing, the outcome was as
follows:
Holland Zeeland Utrecht Guelders Overijssel Friesland Groningen Total
Name 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 6
City/town 14 0 5 1 1 0 0 21
Region 3 1 1 1 0 12 1 19
Town+Reg. 12 6 1 3 1 0 2 25
Total R. 34 8 7 5 2 12 3 71
Table 3.3.2. The way students present themselves in 71 autographs in the University registers
of Padua.
As we can see, the diocese as a unit of identification has disappeared

entirely. Students in the second half of the sixteenth century saw
themselves primarily as belonging to a town and/or a region. Those
students who contented themselves with just writing their names were
in most cases noble. Robertus of Brederode, son of Reinout III of
Brederode, the foremost Holland nobleman, clearly felt no need to
give further details, as his name should suffice.91 In other cases there
was no need for the student to mention an adjective of geographi-
cal origin, since the person inscribing himself immediately before the
student came from the same town. Cornelius van der Mijle had
already mentioned that he was “Dordracensis”, so there was no need
for his brother Adrianus to do the same.92
90
Excerpts from these matriculae for the Northern Netherlands can be found in:
Den Tex, ‘Nederlandse studenten’ and Poelhekke, ‘Nederlandse leden’. They include
inscriptions in Alba Amicorum as well.
91
It is noteworthy that in a witness list to a later graduation charter, ACVP,
Ser. Divers., inv. nr. 54, f. 313v, d.d. 14–5–1557, he is mentioned as “rev. d. Rubertus
de Brederode Cambrensis [my italics: A.L.T.]. This is not an indication that he came
from the city of Cambrai. In 1556 he sought to become bishop of the diocese of
Cambrai, in vain as it turned out.
92
In a majority of cases, 46 out of 71 (64.9 per cent), the town of

origin was mentioned explicitly. If these were mentioned just by
themselves, it was the same list that we have seen before: Amsterdam,
Dordrecht and The Hague for Holland, Utrecht, Nijmegen, Zwolle
and Groningen. Compared to the graduation charters that dealt with
the entire period, the frequency with which the name of a wider
geographical area turns up was considerably higher, 62 per cent.
Students from all regions now mentioned a wider area. Even Overijssel
now bears a name—“Transinsulana”—courtesy of Bernardus ten
Broecke of Steenwijk.93 Students from Guelders now mentioned their
duchy in most cases, possibly to distinguish themselves from other
regions within the Burgundian Netherlands to which they had just
been added in 1543.94 The strongly developed Frisian identity—
which extended itself to Groningen—is confirmed in the way stu-
dents from Friesland registered with the German Nation. They did
not even mention their home towns. “Phrisius” was enough for them.
Groningers did mention their city, but always included the adjective
“Phrisius”. Students from Utrecht still proudly mentioned their city as
the significant identifying geographical unit, although it is sometimes
difficult to distinguish exactly between the province and the city.
The students from Zeeland nearly always mentioned their town
of origin and their region. For the county of Holland nothing much
seems to have changed. The town was still the most important geo-
graphical unit of identification for them and in nearly half of the
cases they also referred to their county. There was an interesting
development though in the way they indicate that they were from
the county Holland. In addition to the traditional “Hollandus”, men-
tioned seven times, a new adjective had sprung up: “Batavus”, writ-
ten down six times. Humanist discourse had reintroduced this term
as pointing to a Germanic tribe that was supposed to have lived in
the territory of Holland, as described by several Roman authors.95
93
Poelhekke, ‘Nederlandse leden’, 300, nr. 33.
94
About the awkward relation of Guelders to the Netherlands in general: Blockmans
and Prevenier, Bourgondiërs, 253.
95
This was not without contradiction though. The Guelders humanist Gerardus
Geldenhauer of Nijmegen was of the opinion that the Batavi lived in the Betuwe,
hence the name of this region located in the duchy of Guelders. The “Bataafse
Kwestie” will be dealt with in more detail in chapter 6.
196 chapter three
The use of the term batavus indicates that there was a sense of a
rediscovery of Holland identity—even if this was mistaken—of hav-
ing belonged to an ancient Germanic tribe.
Another interesting point is that out of these 71 autographs there
were four students who wrote down a completely different geo-
graphical unit. They called themselves “Belga”96 or “Flander”, indi-
cating that they belonged to a wider geographical territory comprising
all the Netherlands, a term found on maps to signify the Burgundian
lands in general. There is therefore some indication that students
from the Netherlands developed a sense of belonging to some larger
entity than just their province or county, a supra-regional sense of
identity, maybe even of belonging to the Netherlands at large.
96
This term also has a long history going back to Julius Caesar’s, De bello gallico,
where the bravest of Gaulish tribes, inhabiting the Southern Netherlands, were
called Belgae.
CHAPTER FOUR
SOCIAL BACKGROUND
The long and costly journey to Italy, the prolonged stay at an expen-
sive, prestigious Italian university, not to mention the exorbitant
expenses of a doctorate all seem to presuppose a strong financial
basis to be able to afford this. One might wonder if the iter italicum
was the sole privilege of those wealthy enough to pay up. This begs
the question for the social background of the students in the population.
As we have seen previously, the group of students that visited Italian
universities represented just a small proportion of the overall student
body coming from the Northern Netherlands. Is it true that it con-
sisted only of the few wealthy and privileged that managed to under-
take this adventure, or is the picture more complex than this?
4.1. Social Status in Universities
In historical literature on universities, especially the medieval ones,

the question about students’ social background only really entered
the debate in the last decades. In 1957 Herbert Grundmann stated
that universities were the medieval institutions per se where masters
and students, with disregard of social layer, order and class, were
equal parts of the same entity, and where social rank nor national-
ity played a part: an egalitarian scholarly community. Consequently,
he saw the medieval university as the means par excellence of social
mobility.1 His thesis has certainly provoked much research into this
area of university history and it has ever since been empirically tested
and contested. Historians who have studied the social history of uni-
versities could not and have not neglected to ask the question on
the way universities—and society as a next step—dealt with students
from various social backgrounds. Without giving a definite verdict
1
H. Grundmann, Vom Ursprung der Universität im Mittelalter (Darmstadt 1964) 17.
198 chapter four
on Grundmann’s thesis it is fair to say that universities in the later

Middle Ages and the early modern period in many ways reflected
the society that they originated in and that a student’s background
was assessed almost at the entrance gate. It is certainly true that stu-
dents in the university community, whatever their background may
have been, enjoyed the same privileges, guaranteed by the statutes.
Despite this legal equality that did not exist outside the walls of a
studium, universities did discriminate their suppositi on the basis of
their rank and some significant changes took place in exactly the
two centuries under investigation here.
To a certain extent the degree of ‘discrimination’ gives the historian
a grip on the social aspects of the subject he works with. University
officials, and consequently the records they kept, often label a stu-
dent as belonging to this or that social category. The way students
were labelled when registering in a studium broadly resembles the
division into three orders: clergy, nobility and third order. The clergy
would often be labelled according to their status in the Church.
Nobles were referred to with a whole stratum of different titles. The
third order could be subdivided into categories such as divites, semi-
divites, semipauperes, pauperes, and so forth.2 In the present context,
aimed at locating students in their social layer, I shall limit these
categories to three broad social ones, rather than the statutory cate-
gories, which would include a separate category for the clergy.3 As
a first category there are the nobiles, the nobles. Secondly, there are
the divites, literally, the rich, but referring to those students who sim-
ply paid their university fees, and lastly there are the pauperes, the
poor. These categories were not nearly as straightforward as they
might seem here on paper.
Every noble student, of whatever rank, was allowed to register as
nobilis. In addition to this there was a group of students that pre-
tended to be noble or that behaved in a noble fashion. They are
2
De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Social Stratification’, 160–1.
3
For this reason, the contingent of clerics will not be considered as a separate
social class. They invariably belonged to particular layers of society, from the high
nobility to low social levels. The variety of church offices and dignities will be dealt
with in the section on ‘Financing University Studies’. Here, those students with the
epithet clericus will be subsumed under the social category rather than statutory cate-
gory of nobiles, divites and pauperes. A minimum of 86 students (13.4% of the popu-
lation) belonged to the clergy during their studies.
social background 199
usually referred to as in specie nobilis or pro nobilibus se gerentes: in other

words, students that did not have an official noble title. Furthermore,
there is the problem that students registered as nobilis in one uni-
versity, but did not claim any such right at another studium. With
the help of prosopographical research these problems can be solved.
Here, only those who held an official noble title or were of noble
rank are counted among the nobility.
The second category, the divites, also knew more categories, such
as the semidivites, but generally refers to those students who were able
to pay the entrance fees stipulated in the statutes.
The last category, that of the pauperes, is a more complex one. In
broad terms one might say that it referred to those students who
were unable to pay the required sum. This could mean that a stu-
dent only had a very modest income, that was not enough to cover
the costs of study, or that his family was not able to support him.
University officials could also make exceptions for those students
whose poverty was due to a temporary crisis. Regulations concern-
ing poor students varied from university to university and also changed
over time.4
What is straightforward is the overall conclusion that the vast
majority of the students who travelled to Italy belonged—by default—
to the category of the divites. One look at table 4.1.1. should con-
vince that a vast majority belonged to the category of those who
simply paid their dues to the university in question and did not claim
noble rank nor needed any financial privileges or assistance from it.
Four-fifths of the population fell into this category. Their percent-
age never sank below three-quarters of the total population and was
at times almost as high as nine-tenths. It is this group, the ‘rich’,
that dominates the population. We will come to speak a little bit
more about the rather complex social composition of this group,
simply labelled as divites, in the next section. The divites seem to have
had an overall preference for the study of law, with medicine as a
4
On the general categories, see: De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Social Stratification’. The
poor students have been the subject of many specialized studies. A general intro-
duction in J. Paquet, ‘L’universitaire “pauvre” au moyen âge: problèmes, docu-
mentations, questions de méthode’ in: J. Paquet and J. IJsewijn (eds.), The Universities
in the Late Middle Ages (Louvain 1978) 399–425; Id., Matricules, 70–76; Schwinges,
Deutsche Universitätsbesucher, 443–4; Fuchs, Dives.
200 chapter four
very strong second subject. Indeed, in the period 1426–50 and

1526–50, medicine was the most popular subject by some margin.
Nobilis % Dives % Pauper % Total %
1426–50 4 4.3 74 79.6 15 16.1 93 100

1451–75 6 4.2 112 78.3 25 17.5 143 100
1476–00 9 8.8 84 82.4 9 8.8 102 100
1501–25 5 7.9 55 87.3 3 4.8 63 100
1526–50 13 18.1 57 79.2 2 2.8 72 100
1551–75 36 21.6 127 76.0 4 2.4 167 100
Total 73 11.4 509 79.5 58 9.1 640 100
Table 4.1.1. The Population divided into three categories, Nobilis, Dives and
Pauper.
Nobiles, Divites and Pauperes in the Population (1426–1575)
180
160
140
120
100 Pauper
Dives
80 Nobilis
60
40
20
0
1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75
Graph 4.1.1. Nobiles, Divites and Pauperes in the population in 25-year cohorts
(1426–1575).
Of more immediate interest here are the two other categories, the
nobles and the paupers. Starting with the former, one notices that
11.4 per cent of the total population was of noble origin, but that
there was considerable development over time. Furthermore, there
was a considerable difference in noble participation between the var-
ious regions of the northern Low Countries as well as between the
different faculties at the universities on the peninsula. One notices
Divites: Choice of Faculty in Italy

140
120
100
80 Oth./Unkn.
Med.
60 Law
40
20
0
1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1556–1575
Graph 4.1.2. Divites: choice of faculty at Italian universities in 25-year cohorts.
that the number of nobles in the different time cohorts can vary
enormously, from four to thirty-six. There seems to have been a
trend, though. The number of nobles undertaking a study trip to
Italy was on the increase. With the exception of the period 1501–1525,
when only five nobles travelled this way, there was a rise in noble
participation culminating in the last time cohort, when more than
one out of every five students was of noble origin!5
If we add the faculty dimension to this it becomes clear that noble
students had a marked preference to study the law. 86.3 per cent
of noble students in Italy opted for either canon law, civil law or,
as in most cases, both. The overall percentage of noble law students
amounted to 20.2 per cent, culminating again in the last 50 years
of the period under investigation when close to one third of law stu-
dents was of noble origin.6 One might conclude that members of
5
It needs to be said that nobles are strongly overrepresented in the student pop-
ulation. On the basis of material presented by Van Nierop, Ridders, chapter 3, an
estimate of 0.4% of nobles on the population of the county of Holland would be
a fairly accurate one for the fifteenth century. Percentages declined even further to
0.36 in the beginning of the sixteenth century and declined to 0.29 by the 1550s.
6
This percentage is somewhat higher than the percentage of noble law students
at the University of Orléans (13.8%) in the period 1444–1546. If the third quar-
ter of the sixteenth century is discarded, noble participation at Italian law faculties
202 chapter four
Nobiles: Choice of Faculty in Italy
40
35
30
25
Oth./Unkn.
20 Med.
Law
15
10
0
1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1556–75
Graph 4.1.3. Nobiles: choice of faculty at Italian universities in 25-year cohorts.
the Northern Netherlands’ nobility showed an increasing interest in

university studies, starting in the last quarter of the fifteenth century.
As such they seem to follow a more general trend that applied to
the Southern Netherlands as well. A combination of factors, such as
an increased participation of the educated town elites in government,
forcing the nobility to respond, and the humanist idea of education
might account for this phenomenon.7
If we look at the regional dimension, one notices that there were
huge differences between the various regions in the Northern
Netherlands. The wide gap between the number of noble students
coming from Zeeland and Friesland is quite remarkable. If we take
both the regional and the time dimension, one might say that the
few students from Friesland who found their way to Italy in the
fifteenth century were not noble, but when Frisian students redis-
covered the route to the peninsula, their nobles travelled to it in
numbers—sometimes accounting for two-fifths of Frisian students—
nearly always to study law. The figures for Zeeland and Holland
are lower than those for most other parts of the northern Low
amounted to 14.4%, which is comparable to the figure found for Orléans; De

Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’, 75.
7
In general see: Maria Rosa di Simone, ‘Admission’ in H. de Ridder-Symoens
(ed.), History, II, 285–325, specifically the last section; for the Southern Netherlands:
De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Brabanders’, 231; ead., ‘Adel en universiteiten’.
Social Categories compared to Regional Percentage
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0% NR%NTot.
PR%PTot.
DR%DTot.
30.0% R%Tot.
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
Holland Zeeland Utrecht Gelre Overijs. Friesl. Groning. Unkn.
Graph 4.1.4. Social categories, Nobiles, Pauperes and Divites, of each region as a
percentage of the total category, compared to the total regional percentage of the population.
Countries. The substantially higher figure of medical students from

these regions is certainly one explanation for this, as law was always
the more aristocratic faculty of the two. If we look at the noble per-
centage of law students from Holland and Zeeland, they account for
19.8 per cent and 11.5 per cent respectively.8
In some of the literature on noble participation in university stud-
ies it is mentioned that in general noble students were relatively
reluctant to take degrees. Advancement in society through univer-
sity degrees and teaching obligations that sometimes accompanied
graduation could be considered detrimental to the status of a noble
student.9 This seems not to have been the case for noble students
from the Northern Netherlands. Out of the total of 73 noble stu-
dents 42 managed to obtain a degree (57.5 per cent) and this per-
centage is very close to that of the overall population. There was
8
This development is even more marked for the law University of Orléans, where
46.5% of Frisian and Groninger students were of noble origin. Similarly, the per-
centage of noble students from Holland and Zeeland was considerably lower than
the average. De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’, 75–6.
9
See e.g. Schwinges, ‘Student education’ in: De Ridder-Symoens (ed.), History,
I, 198–9. This statement is somewhat modified by Fuchs, Dives, 32, who states that
it is specifically the high nobility that considers taking a degree as not in accor-
dance with their rank.
204 chapter four
some development over time in that the gradation ratio in the six-
teenth century with 60.4 per cent of nobles taking a degree was
higher than the figure for the fifteenth century (52.6 per cent). This
rise in the popularity of degrees did not, however, differ significantly
from that of the overall population.10 It seems that the noble stu-
dents followed the general pattern of the iter italicum from the north-
ern Low Countries, with this remark, however, that they in nine out
of ten cases they graduated in law. The prestige of an Italian law
degree was obviously not considered unstandgemäßisch. True, very few
of these students belonged to the high nobility. Only Robertus of
Brederode, son of the first noble of Holland, Johannes David of
Burgundy, an illegitimate son of House of Burgundy, ruling most
of the Netherlands at this stage, and lastly Johannes van Diepholt,
son of a noble bishop of Utrecht, can be considered of high noble
birth. Nevertheless, the last two—both illegitimate, one must add—
both taught and graduated at the University of Bologna.
Overall there are a number of observations to be made. The first
of a more general nature is that the aristocratic element in student
mobility to Italy increased in both absolute and relative terms over
time, culminating in the second and third quarters of the sixteenth
century. The second general one is that noble students had an over-
whelming preference for the study of law. The third observation
closely connected with the second is that the eastern parts of the
northern Low Countries sent comparatively more noble students than
the western parts. The fact that students from Holland and Zeeland
were relatively more oriented to the study of medicine than their
fellow students from the east cannot explain this alone. The nobi-
lity of these regions was more reluctant to go and study and it was
really only in the second half of the sixteenth century that young
noblemen found the way to the Italian law faculties.11
Turning to the last social category of students, the pauperes,12 we
10
Cf. chapter 2.4, pp. 112–3.
11
Cf. chapter 2.3 on choice of faculty. Orléans seems to have been the preferred
travel goal for many a law student from Holland and Zeeland, though even at
Orléans the percentage of noble students for Holland and Zeeland was also low
(7.3%). Cf. De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’, 75. The per-
centage of noble law students from Holland and Zeeland at Italian studia in the
comparable period 1451–1550 was quite close to that for Orléans: 7.9%.
12
The criterion for the status of pauper for my purpose was that the student had
to be labelled as pauper at some stage during the course of his studies. This either
Pauperes: Choice of Faculty of Italy
40
35
30
25
Oth./Unkn.
20 Med.
Law
15
10
0
1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75
Graph 4.1.5. Pauperes: Choice of faculty at Italian universities in 25-year cohorts.
shall see that there is almost a mirror image in these observations.

There were 58 students—9.1 per cent of the total population—who
at some stage during their studies were labelled as pauper. The rel-
ative exclusive nature of the iter italicum is partly reflected in this rel-
atively low number of students labelled as pauper. Levels of poor
students at the universities close to home, Louvain and Cologne,
where the arts students dominated the student population, show a
different picture altogether. At the University of Louvain 19 per cent
of students were qualified as poor in the university registers. At
Cologne no less than 25 per cent of students from the diocese of
Utrecht were mentioned to be pauper.13 If the overall number of pau-
peres was low compared to the home universities, one should bear
in mind that there was considerable development over time. The
number and percentage of poor students, that had been at the sta-
ble and relatively high level of just over 16 per cent in the second
and third quarter of the fifteenth century, with almost one out of
six students labelling themselves as poor, decreased rapidly since. In
the sixteenth century, only 2.3 per cent of the population was labelled
as pauper.
happened at registration—at most northern European universities this frequently

happened—, or at graduation, when a student of modest means was awarded a
graduation gratis, amore Dei, propter paupertatem, etc.
13
Van Buyten, ‘Universiteitsmatrikels’, 25; Schwinges, Universitätsbesucher, 458–9.
206 chapter four
The social composition of a faculty seems to be one of the deter-

mining factors for the social status of the suppositi of a particular
studium. The figures for nobiles, divites and pauperes at the various Italian
universities do not differ very much from figures found for law fac-
ulties at other universities in the north of Europe. The law faculty
at the University of Heidelberg in the early fifteenth century shows
a very similar pattern to the overall population of law students vis-
iting Italian studia. To a lesser extent the same goes for the law
University of Orléans.14
Along with the aristocratization of—among others—the Italian stu-
dia one can see the development of these universities slowly becom-
ing almost beyond reach for students of modest financial means. One
indication for this development lies in the way Italian universities
operated. The practice of awarding gratia—graduations for free for
poor students by universities like Padua and Bologna—already de-
creased in the fifteenth century, but virtually disappeared in the six-
teenth. In the time cohort 1426–1450 nine degrees were awarded
amore Dei, in the next cohort four and we find two more in the first
quarter of the sixteenth century, then no more.15 The attitude towards
‘poor’ students changed in this particular period. Those who started
out as the pauperes Christi in the high Middle Ages increasingly became
a burden on society in the sixteenth century. In this respect uni-
versities reflected society at large.16
It is also worth taking a closer look at regional variations in the
number of poor students travelling to Italy. What catches the eye is
that pauperes from Holland, Zeeland and Groningen account for 87.9
per cent of all poor students in the population, while the student
total for these regions only amounted to 63.3 per cent of the total.
One could suggest that the high level of urbanization and economic
diversification in these regions made it easier for young men of
modest financial means to find their way to university than for those
14
Heidelberg: Nobiles 17.9%, Divites 75.8%, Pauperes 6.3%; Fuchs, Dives. Orléans:
Nobiles 13.8%, Divites 84.3%, Pauperes 1.9%; De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het
bisdom Utrecht’.
15
Similar conclusions for the law University of Orléans, where the number of
grants and places in colleges for poor students decreased in the course of the six-
teenth century. De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’, 77.
16
E.g.: C. Lis and H. Soly, Poverty and Capitalism in Pre-Industrial Europe (Hassocks
1979).
in more agriculturally oriented regions.17 Looking at regional varia-

tion does also offer an explanation for the rather rapid decrease of
the number of poor students from 17.5 per cent in the second time
cohort to just 8.8 per cent in the third. Exactly those regions that
sent most poor students to the peninsula—Holland and Zeeland—
were the regions whose total number of students declined most notice-
ably in the last two decades of the fifteenth century partly because
of these regions’ period of economic depression. Understandably, it
would have been much harder for relatively poor students to under-
take a costly study trip to the expensive universities in Italy under
these circumstances. Therefore, the number of poor students from
Holland and Zeeland travelling south actually declined twice as much
as the total number of young men from these regions.
The link between urbanization and overrepresentation of poor stu-
dents can be found by taking a closer look into the population. The
number of ‘poor’ students with a rural background—whatever the
region they came from, even the most urbanized regions like Holland
and Zeeland—was considerably lower percentage-wise than that for
their peers from cities and towns. Alternatively, noble students from
the countryside were over-represented compared to noble students
from the cities. It would seem that students with modest means from
a rural background were less inclined to go and study than their fel-
low pauperes with an urban background.
As for the choice of faculty of ‘poor’ students, it was very different
from their noble fellow students. Nearly half of the poor students
(28) that went to Italy chose to study medicine. A further 20 (35.7
per cent) opted for law. Only one student, Theodorus Lindanus, the
later papal legate who registered as a poor student with the University
of Louvain in 1549, chose to study theology when he travelled to
Rome. A further three studied arts. Of eight poor students I was
unable to determine their subject of study.18 It should nevertheless
be clear that their chosen path of study was quite different from
their noble peers, almost all opting for law. Medicine was their pre-
ferred subject. No less than 13.1 per cent of all medical students
17
Ibid. It was a surprising result to find so few poor students from the city of
Utrecht. Results as found for the city of Groningen lay more along the lines of
expectation. As of yet I have no explanation for it.
18
Two students combined different subjects: arts and law in one case and med-
icine and law in the other.
208 chapter four
from the northern Low Countries in Italy were at some stage dur-
ing their studies qualified as pauper.19 For those students showing a
desire to study the law the percentage of pauperes was less than half
that of poor students of medicine and amounted to 6.1 per cent.
This reaffirms the notion that the faculty of law was indeed the most
aristocratic of all disciplines taught in university.20 Students of med-
icine seem to have held an overall social position between the arts
students and those of law.
The number of poor students at the expensive, specialized Italian
studia was comparatively smaller than at the arts dominated univer-
sities north of the Alps. There were even several students that matri-
culated as dives at Cologne and Louvain that were labelled as poor
in the more expensive Italian studia. Another hurdle for students with
relatively little financial room for manoeuvre must have been the
exorbitant cost of the graduation ceremony. At first sight one might
conclude that this was not the case. No less than 35 poor students
out of 58 (60.3 per cent) managed to take a degree in one of the
higher faculties. This figure is even somewhat higher than the gra-
duation ratio for the population at large. On closer inspection a
different picture emerges. Out of 20 poor law students only six man-
aged to obtain a degree, two of which were awarded gratis. This per-
centage is significantly lower than for the category of law students
as a whole. The relative low participation rate of pauperes in the law
faculty seems to have declined even further at the last hurdle to take,
the doctorate. The picture seems much more positive for medical
students. Out of 28 pauperes in the faculties of medicine 27 came
home with the title of doctor medicinae. This phenomenal graduation
19
If this percentage is quite high for Italian universities, one has to bear in mind
that the percentage of pauperes at the faculty of medicine at the University of Cologne
was higher than that. Over the period 1389–1520 15.5% of medical students were
qualified as poor. The period 1389–1419, however, had a majority of students
whose status at registration could not be determined. The percentage of poor stu-
dents in the period 1420–1520 amounted to 22.7%. Based on figures given by
Bernhardt, ‘Gelehrte Mediziner’.
20
The figure of 6.1% is considerably higher than that found for Orléans, where
only about 2% of students from the Northern Netherlands could be qualified as
poor. If we compare the figures found for Italian universities to those found for the
law faculty of Heidelberg, one notices a strong resemblance. Of the law faculty at
this studium 6.3% of students were labelled as pauper, while the percentage of noble
students amounted to 17.9%. Based on the figures given by Fuchs, Dives, 21.
rate also deserves some extra attention. Apart from the caution nec-
essary when looking at graduation rates in medicine,21 it is very inter-
esting to note that no less than 12 of these doctorates were awarded
gratis, at no expense to the student. The one doctorate in theology
awarded at the Collegium Germanicum to the poor student Theodorus
Lindanus was entirely sponsored by the Church. Seen in this light,
one must conclude that without some sort of assistance the gradua-
tion rate of pauperes—20 out of 58 (34.5 per cent)—with one third
of them taking degrees that they themselves had to pay for lagged
behind that of the overall population, where more than half finally
obtained a degree.
It is also significant to look at where they took these degrees.
Padua was the most popular university for taking the doctorate with
15 students graduating there, but 11 of those were gratia! Bologna
awarded 8 doctorates and one licentiate, two of them gratis. Nine
medical students chose Ferrara as their graduation destination and
another one opted for Parma, in other words they took the cheap
route to less expensive studia.
It is definitely the case that Ferrara was the university for poor
students who wanted to go to Italy. With 13.1 per cent of its students
from the Northern Netherlands qualified as poor at some stage dur-
ing their studies. At the same time only 5.9 per cent of their Dutch
visitors were noble. Other Italian studia were more exclusive in this
sense. Bologna and Siena almost mirrored Ferrara’s record in that
14.0 per cent percent of their students from the northern Low
Countries were noble, while respectively only 4.5 per cent and 3.5
per cent of their visitors from these regions had been labelled as
poor during their studies. Padua took a middle position in this respect.
Of its students 12.5 per cent were qualified as pauper, while 13.8 per
cent were of noble rank. There was considerable development over
time, though. From one of the destinations for students of medicine
with modest means up to about 1480, Padua had changed into the
destination for students—of law in particular—from the elevated
ranks of society by 1550. From 1550 onwards Padua took Bologna’s
place as the most popular destination for wealthy and noble students.
21
See chapter 2.4.
210 chapter four
4.2. Students and Social Stratification in the Netherlands
As a next step in the reconstruction of a profile of students who

studied in Italy it will be useful to further investigate what the divi-
sion nobilis, dives, pauper really meant when focusing on society in
the Northern Netherlands. For this one needs a clear idea what
the social stratification in the Northern Netherlands looked like.
Furthermore, one needs to be able to trace the students’ background
in this stratification. It is imperative that there is information about
the family of the student, on his father’s profession, and so forth. In
spite of considerable difficulties,22 it was possible to reconstruct the
social background of 322 students in the population (50.3 per cent).23
22
First, there is the question of the student’s name. If only a first name is given,
the situation is incredibly difficult. This improves once a patronymic is added to
the first name. Not always, though, as the name Johannes Johannis—the Latin
equivalent of Jan Jansen, a name so common that has taken on the status of a
proverb—would be so widespread as to make identification a Herculean task. If a
student bears a proper surname, one is in the best possible position to identify him.
We are handicapped by the fact that the introduction of surnames happened rela-
tively late in the Northern Netherlands, even compared to the close-by Southern
Netherlands. Surnames seem to have been the prerogative of nobility for a long
time. Even the wealthy town elites that held posts in the magistracy do not always
bear family names, certainly not in the fifteenth century. Even in the sixteenth cen-
tury one might encounter important families that did not use a consistent family
name. A second difficulty arises when no clear place of origin is given. It is nice
to have a name, but if the only geographical clue one gets is that the student came
from the diocese of Utrecht, it is equally difficult and often impossible to trace the
student, as we do not have a clue where to look for him. A third difficulty con-
cerns archives in the Northern Netherlands. For some smaller towns and villages
they have not survived from this period, if they ever existed. In some cases, the
forces of nature and the course of time have played their part in the disappear-
ance of archival material, sometimes for almost an entire region. The most notice-
able example being the archives in Zeeland that severely suffered as a consequence
of the 1953 flood. Then, there is the noticeable lack of genealogical sources for
most of the Northern Netherlands in this period. Sources such as baptismal and
marital records only survived since the later sixteenth century, which further com-
plicates the task of identification, particularly for the fifteenth century.
23
This is statu quaestionis. With this type of research the knowledge of a particu-
lar population will slowly increase over the course of time. The percentage of stu-
dents traced is considerably higher, for instance, than for a recent study on students
at the University of Heidelberg that deals with a period up to 1450. Results are
lower than for the study of students from Brabant at the University of Orléans in
the comparable period 1444–1546 (De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Brabanders’), where the
social background of some 73% of the population could be traced. As we shall see,
the fact that this was a prestigious law university is of great help to the researcher.
Something similar is true for law students in Italy where the percentage of students
traced back was 64.5%.
As we shall see later on, there are considerable differences between

students of law, medical students, theology students and the cate-
gory unknown in terms of results found. First it will be necessary to
introduce a scheme of social stratification that would apply to the
Northern Netherlands. In contrast to the Southern Netherlands, where
studies on social stratification—or certain social groups within it—
for the later Middle Ages and the early modern period go back some
decades,24 similar research for the Northern Netherlands is a fairly
recent phenomenon. The eighties and nineties have seen a sudden
increase in studies that deal with social stratification, from which we
are able to profit.25 These studies have not just enriched our under-
standing of the complexities of the debate, so that we may tread
with care, but furthermore have given us some idea of what the
social stratification in the Northern Netherlands looked like.
On the basis of these recent studies I have chosen to use the fol-
lowing—albeit artificial—scheme of the different strata of society in
the northern Low Countries.
Nobility/Knighthood: it makes sense to differentiate between high
nobility, dukes and counts, and the rest of the nobility. The com-
plexities of the term nobility are plenty, even for a region like the
Northern Netherlands. There was considerable difference both in
wealth and status between Robertus of Brederode, son of the first
noble of Holland, and a second son from a Frisian hoofdelingengeslacht,
who could and in most cases did claim to be noble! The situation
for the northern Low Countries is so complex that any further divi-
sion would drown in a sea of nuances. If a student belonged to a
family that by law could be considered to be noble (including those
nobles living in a city or town and who in a political sense were
part of the patriciate), he was counted among the nobility.26
24
For a brief survey of the debate with regard to the Southern Netherlands, see:
H. de Ridder-Symoens, ‘Beschavingsoffensief ’, where she proposes a scheme based
on own research and the research of Blockmans, Van Uytven, Boone.
25
Studies on nobility for Holland, Utrecht and Friesland Van Nierop, Ridders;
Antheun Janse, Ridderschap in Holland. Portret van een adellijke elite in de late Middeleeuwen
(Hilversum 2001); Feenstra, Adel in de Ommelanden; Marshall, Dutch Gentry. E.g. on
the town elites of Leiden, Arnhem, Dordrecht, Amsterdam, and even town and
countryside around Heusden; Van Kan, Sleutels; Brand, Macht; Lamet, Men in Govern-
ment; De Boer, ‘Politische Elite’; Verkerk, Coulissen; Elias, Vroedschap; Hoppenbrouwers,
Middeleeuwse samenleving.
26
For the problems involving the term ‘noble’ see: Van Nierop, Ridders, chap-
ter 1; Van den Hoven van Genderen, Heren, 228–234.
212 chapter four
Burgerij: subdivided in:

1. Patriciate, those families who had considerable influence in town
government, since the magistracy (aldermen, burgomasters, raden,
tresoriers, vroedschap, veertigen, and such) was elected from their ranks
(excluding those who were of noble birth). It consisted of wealthy
merchant (or previously involved in trade) families who managed
to live of their fortune and devoted most of their time to town
politics.
2. Hogere burgerij, those in a town who belong to the economic elite
of a town or city, but whose political influence for various rea-
sons just fell short of their economic position. They might get the
occasional family member into the magistracy, but cannot be con-
sidered a force in town politics. Wealthy merchants, civil servants
like the pensionaris, the town physician, the rector of the town school
would fall into this category.
3. Lagere burgerij, those in a town who are involved in administrative
and other minor intellectual professions (clerks, schoolmasters,
chaplains, etc.) and those involved in trade/banking that just fell
short of reaching for top positions in the town. The dividing line
between hogere and lagere burgerij is extremely thin and depended
on social background and income. In smaller towns such a dis-
tinction may have been even more difficult to make. A significant
part of the clergy, those with minor benefices, would fall into this
category.
Gemeen:
1. Ambacht: those involved with manual labour, which covers a lot
of different professions. The gap with the lagere burgerij is somewhat
bigger because of the dichotomy manual versus intellectual labour.
The gap could be crossed, though. Especially masters in the vari-
ous guilds did have an excellent chance of crossing this divide.
2. Dagloners: those who depend on wage labour for their existence.
Frequently living below the poverty line. They would be the first
hit in times of economic crisis and could end up in the bottom
category of society.
3. Marginals: permanently living below the poverty line, depending
on their fellow citizens or institutions for financial assistance.
For smaller towns, villages and the countryside in general this scheme
would be much more compact. The divide between hogere and lagere
burgerij was hardly there and the line between burgerij and gemeen
was much easier to cross. Wealthy farmers, with considerable influence

in local affairs, and peasants, whose position would compare to that
of het ambacht, have to be introduced as categories.
With this scheme in mind—albeit sometimes rough and flawed—
we may go one step further and try to locate our students in it so
that one has some idea what the terms dives, nobilis and pauper actu-
ally meant in the context of the Northern Netherlands.
Nobility % Patric. % HBurgerij % LB/Amb. % T. Period
1426–50 4 4.3 8 8.6 5 5.4 13 14.0 93

1451–75 6 4.2 15 10.5 13 9.1 19 13.3 143
1476–00 9 8.8 19 18.6 6 5.9 8 7.8 102
1501–25 5 7.9 14 22.2 15 23.8 4 6.3 63
1526–50 13 18.1 15 20.8 9 12.5 8 11.1 72
1551–75 36 21.6 42 25.1 25 15.0 11 6.6 167
Total fac. 73 11.4 113 17.7 73 11.4 63 9.8 640
Table 4.2.1. Students, whose background could be reconstructed, categorized according to

the scheme in absolute numbers and percentages (italics) of the total population.
Law Nobility Patric. HBurgerij LB/Amb. Total Cat. T. Period
1426–50 3 5 3 5 16 33
1451–75 5 10 7 5 27 51
1476–1500 8 15 4 3 30 60
1501–25 4 8 10 3 25 44
1526–50 12 10 4 0 26 35
1551–75 31 34 17 5 87 104
Total fac. 63 82 45 21 211 327
% Nobility Patric. HBurgerij LB/Amb. Total Cat. T. Period
1426–50 9.1 15.2 9.1 15.2 48.5 100

1451–75 9.8 19.6 13.7 9.8 52.9 100
1476–1500 13.3 25.0 6.7 5.0 50.0 100
1501–25 9.1 18.2 22.7 6.8 56.8 100
1526–50 34.3 28.6 11.4 0.0 74.3 100
1551–75 29.8 32.7 16.3 4.8 83.7 100
Total fac. 19.3 25.1 13.8 6.4 64.5 100
Table 4.2.2. Law students whose background could be reconstructed categorized according
to the scheme in absolute numbers and percentages of the total population.
214 chapter four
Medicine Nobility Patric. HBurgerij LB/Amb. Total Cat. T. Period
1426–50 0 1 3 8 12 47
1451–75 0 3 4 9 16 53
1476–1500 0 3 1 5 9 26
1501–25 1 5 5 0 11 16
1526–50 1 4 4 8 17 31
1551–75 1 11 6 6 24 41
Total fac. 3 27 23 36 89 214
% Nobility Patric. HBurgerij LB/Amb. Total Cat. T. Period
1426–50 0.0 2.1 6.4 17.0 25.5 100

1451–75 0.0 5.7 7.5 17.0 30.2 100
1476–1500 0.0 11.5 3.8 19.2 34.6 100
1501–25 6.3 31.3 31.3 0.0 68.8 100
1526–50 3.2 12.9 12.9 25.8 54.8 100
1551–75 2.4 26.8 14.6 14.6 58.5 100
Total fac. 1.4 12.6 10.7 16.8 41.6 100
Table 4.2.3. Medical students whose background could be reconstructed categorized

according to the scheme in absolute numbers and percentages of the total population.
As we have seen earlier, 73 students could be labelled as noble. Only

three of them belonged to the high nobility. It is typical for the atti-
tude of the high nobility to university studies that one of them a
was younger son, destined for a career in the Church, and that the
other two were bastards, who were therefore unable to follow in
their fathers’ footsteps. The rest of the noble students has to counted
among the knighthood (Ridderschap) and the lower nobility. Somebody
like Willem van Zijl, who registered with the law university in Bologna
in 1466, belonged to the riddermatige Van Zijl family of Leiden.27 Just
how tricky these social categories worked in a university context is
shown in a later member of the Van Zijl family, Pieter, who grad-
uated at Bologna in 1554, but registered with the University of
Louvain among the divites of the Castle College.28 The strong con-
tingent of noble students from Friesland and Groningen, nearly
all in the sixteenth century, belonged to the local hoofdelingenge-
27
Acta, 211, 27. For the Van Zijl family, see Brand, Macht, 255.
28
ASB, AS, inv. nr. 24, f. 62v–63r; Schillings, Matricule, IV, 182, 353.
slachten, like the Burmania’s, who sent several of their sons to Italian
universities.29
Not counted among the nobility were eight students who acquired
noble rank during their careers, or whose fathers achieved such sta-
tus after the birth of the students in question. They invariably belonged
to the wealthy town patriciate and managed to get careers in the
provincial bureaucracies, were frequently in possession of a manor,
but were not officially counted among the nobility. Cornelius Junius
(or De Jonge) is an example. Cornelis, who graduated in law at
Bologna in 1568, was the son of Cornelis de Jonge, rekenmeester at
the Chamber of Accounts, carrying the title ‘Lord of Baardwijk’,
although he was not counted officially among the nobles of Holland.
Cornelis jr. also managed to become rekenmeester and carried the title.30
All these students were counted among the top level of burgerij, the
patriciate. No less than 113 students came from patrician families
(17.7 per cent of the total population and 35.1 per cent of all those
whose background was reconstructed). Members of patrician families
of all major cities and many minor towns, and even villages could
be found at Italian universities. The Van der Mijle’s of Dordrecht,
members of the Ruysch family of Amsterdam, the Canters of Gro-
ningen, but also the Van Teylingens of the smaller town of Alkmaar,
the Sager family of Zierikzee all had sons at prestigious Italian stu-
dia. As it stands this social category was the most populous among
those students whose background could be more or less determined.
This is not very surprising as this social category was more inter-
ested in university studies than the nobility whose interest would only
really develop in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. The
wealthy town patriciate was well able to afford expensive university
studies abroad and especially a law degree would enable members
of the town elite to access the bureaucracies on a provincial or even
the central level.31
The next category, the hogere burgerij or higher bourgeoisie, had a
29
About the Frisian nobility, see Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 42–5. Other ‘foreign’
universities, like Orléans, Basle, Geneva and Heidelberg also had a strong noble
presence from Friesland.
30
See also: Van Nierop, Ridders, chapter 6 on relations between nobility and civil
service.
31
More about the social mobility factor will be revealed in chapter 5.
216 chapter four
considerable number of students in Italy. At least 73 students (11.3

per cent of the total population and 22.6 per cent of those students
whose social background is known) could be categorized among this
social group. Often there was a distinct connection with intellectual
professions. Someone like Willem Lemnius, son of Livinus Lemnius,
a notable physician in the town of Zierikzee is an example, of Hugo
Adriani of Dordrecht, whose father was a professor of medicine at
the University of Cologne. To indicate that the line between patri-
ciate and higher bourgeoisie is sometimes not that easy to deter-
mine, let me cite another example. Henricus Gerardi van Bladeghen
of Dordrecht. He has been labelled as belonging to the higher bour-
geoisie. His grandfather, Tielman, was pensionaris of Dordrecht, as
was his father, Gerrit. Gerrit also managed to become raad of the
same city and belonged to the magistracy. The family, however,
could not (yet) be counted among the governing elite of Dordrecht,
which eventually determined Hendrik’s present categorization. The
connection with intellectual professions and universities is not always
there. Henricus Arnoldi Brouwer of Amsterdam was the son of a
wealthy merchant, but his family did not belong to the city’s gov-
erning elite.
The distinction between higher and lower bourgeoisie is a fine
one and is not always clear-cut. The same applies to the distinction
between the lower bourgeoisie and the higher echelons of the ambacht.
Of 63 students we know that they have to be counted among either
lower bourgeoisie or ambacht. At least 25 could be positively identified
as belonging to the lagere burgerij. Erasmus, son of Gerrit Heyle, a
priest, could be counted among this social group. Then, 7 seven stu-
dents definitely belonged to the ambacht. Allardus Cooltuyn, whose
father was involved in ship building is a good example, although he
did not register as pauper at any university as far as we know. The
difficulty involved in categorization can be shown by looking at
Martinus Johannis Aedituus, son of Jan Cornelisz Coster, who was
dean of the goldsmiths’ guild in Amsterdam. Technically, Jan would
be an artisan. The goldsmiths, however, were at the very top of the
manual labour pyramid and Jan was their dean, which certainly gave
him extra standing in society. His financial position would be much
more comfortable than that of a priest who lived on a benefice of
a chapel or maybe even than that of a practising physician.
Of the remaining 31 students about whom we have information
on their social background—all of them were at some stage during
their studies categorized as pauper—we may assume that they either

come from the lower layers of the bourgeoisie, for instance when a
father is found in university sources, or from the ambacht. This is
further evidence that the label pauper did not indicate that a student
was entirely destitute, but that his family did have some sort of sta-
tus in society. A lower bourgeoisie or artisan background did not
automatically mean that the student in question had to register as
pauper, although this was a definite possibility. They could also, how-
ever, register among the divites. This would indicate that the line
between pauper and dives could be a fine one. A student with a
‘mediocre’ income, along the lines of that of an unskilled labourer,
would qualify for the label pauper.32 The divites as a social category
at universities, therefore, comprise a vast spectrum of young men of
different social rank: from the son of a wealthy patrician urban fam-
ily about to enter the ranks of the nobility to the illegitimate son of
a parish priest who had to carefully handle his finances, if he wished
to avoid the stigma of poverty at the studium of his choice. On the
basis of these qualifications it would be justified to say that poor stu-
dents came from those layers of society who had to struggle to send
their sons of to study. A small church benefice, a scribe’s salary, the
earnings of a small shopkeeper would fall into this category. Typical
would be a student like Johannes Agricola of Groningen, the son of
a tailor, who matriculated as pauper at the University of Cologne in
1454. No wonder that the University of Ferrara was his travel des-
tination in Italy.33 It came as no great surprise that no students could
be categorized as belonging to the layers of day labourers and the
marginals in society.
On the basis of these figures we may state that at least 29.1 per
cent of the population (57.8 of those whose background could be
reconstructed) came from the top of the Northern Netherlands’ soci-
ety. The noble and patrician students came from either noble families
32
Different universities had different regulations about what a ‘poor’ student was.
Different amounts for qualification are mentioned varying from 10 Rhenish guilders
to 20 at various universities during the fifteenth century in the north of Europe.
Cf. De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Social Stratification’, 162; Fuchs, Dives, 59; E. De Maes-
schalck, ‘De criteria van de armoede aan de middeleeuwse universiteit te Leuven’
in: Revue Belge de Philologie et d’Histoire 58 (1980) 346. One can imagine what sort of
a hurdle the graduation costs in Italy must have meant to students who registered
as pauper at universities like Louvain and Cologne.
33
Keussen, Matrikel, I, 577, 48; Pardi, Titoli, 67.
218 chapter four
whose influence in the Netherlands cannot be underestimated34 or

from the governing elites of the cities and towns, whose economic
and political power was on the increase in the fifteenth and sixteenth
century Netherlands. One might add that this involved both the top
layers of both countryside and urban society. No less than 27 students
out of 94 who came from the countryside were of noble origin. A
further 12 students came from the governing elites of the country-
side. In short, out of 94 students with a rural background 39 (41.5
per cent) came from the top of the rural social pyramid. There were
46 noble students with an urban background. Combined with the
99 students who came from the patriciate of cities and towns the
figure amounts to no less than 145 students (29.9 per cent) of those
with an urban background that belonged to the most powerful and
influential sectors of the urban community.
Figures for higher and lower bourgeoisie and artisans are proba-
bly too low. Admittedly, sometimes the way students figure in uni-
versity sources is such that they could belong to any section of society,
even be noble, without us having a clue. However, students from
the former categories per se are more difficult to identify, as they
less frequently carried family names, which makes them less easily
traceable. Students with a background in either burgerij or ambacht
are most likely underrepresented here. Though this may be the case,
we are still confronted with the fact that probably more than one
third of the entire population came from the wealthiest and most
influential strata of the Low Countries.
If we look at the choice of faculty of all those whose background
we know something about, the following can be said. As we have
seen earlier, the nobility opted in overwhelming majority for the
study of law. As we climb down the social ladder, this percentage
diminishes with every category, and this points once more to the
fact that the law faculty was indeed the most prestigious in terms of
its social make-up, as 44.3 per cent of law students from the north-
ern Low Countries in Italy were recruited from the nobility and
patriciate! The faculty of medicine held a position between the fac-
ulty of law and the arts faculty with its substantial pauper participa-
tion. Though medicine as a subject drew students from all walks of
34
This is one of the central theses of Van Nierop, Ridders.
life, from the nobility to relatively poor city dwellers, it seems plau-
sible that the majority of them came from the middle shifts of soci-
ety. The few theology students came from very diverse backgrounds
and most of them came through their studies destined for and there-
fore heavily sponsored by the Church.
To give this image of the students in the population more depth,
it will be worthwhile to not just trace their family background, but
to investigate what the fathers did for a living, to try and find what
profession we can find them in. This was not an easy task, even
more complicated than asserting the family background of the stu-
dents. Nevertheless, it was possible in 163 cases (25.5 per cent of
the total population) to exactly determine what profession the fathers35
were involved in.
We find them in very different walks of life. I shall use seven
broad categories to clarify the various professions of our students’
fathers. The largest single category was that of town government
and administration with 48 cases (29.4 per cent of cases). No less
than 43 fathers were involved in town government as aldermen, bur-
gomasters or treasurers. A further 4 were pensionaris (first civil ser-
vant of a town involved in legal matters) and another one was a
notary public.
A second category of 23 consisted of noble fathers who exercised
all sorts of noble offices, which includes those with a position in the
army.
Then we find 22 fathers in the bureaucracies at provincial level,
ten of whom were councillors in the provincial courts. A further 7
were financial civil servants such as gemenelandsontvangers (treasurer for
the common lands). Then, the last 5 were lawyers attached to the
provincial courts.
18 Fathers acted as regional government officials, such as schout,
baljuw, ambtman or as in one case as a regional official involved in
water management, as hoogheemraad.
Then one encounters professions of an entirely different nature,
what we might label as intellectual professions: 21 cases. We meet
35
In four cases the fathers of students had died very young. In these cases the
guardians have been taken as the father figure. Three uncles and one adopted
guardian.
220 chapter four
9 learned physicians, 8 university professors, 2 university lecturers,

1 schoolmaster and 1 doctor of theology.36
A next category of 17 cases involved merchants, bankers, trades-
men, craftsmen and a well-off farmer. There was some difference
between these professions. It included a very wealthy banker like
Lodovico Porquin on the one hand and a barber, Willem van
Noordwijk on the other. Hubert van Rossum, even though he claimed
to be related to the Guelders warlord Maarten van Rossum, was in
fact the son of a bow maker.
In 14 cases fathers held a church office. We meet 5 parish priests,
4 canons—of whom 1 became dean of the chapter, Herman van
Lockhorst—, 1 praepositus, one abbot and no less than 3 bishops. As
in the former category, there were huge differences in status between
these offices and therefore in the status of the respective sons. Johannes
van Diepholt was the son of Rudolf van Diepholt, bishop of Utrecht.
His start in life would have been much more comfortable than that
of Erasmus, son of the priest Gerrit Heyle.
What does this tell us about the social profile of the student popu-
lation in general? In both their family background and fathers’ pro-
fessions there were substantial differences. In other words, we have
met students from very different walks of life, from very modest back-
grounds to the elevated ranks of the nobility. Overall, students who
made it all the way to Italy came from the relatively well-off sec-
tions of society in the Northern Netherlands. There was no indica-
tion whatsoever that any of the students, not even the pauperes,
belonged to the marginal sections of the Low Countries. Moreover,
when we meet fathers who were craftsmen like bow makers and boat
builders, they seem to be the exception rather than the rule. There
was a development over time. There is the definite suggestion that
the top layers of society, the nobility and patriciate, increasingly par-
ticipated in the iter italicum until they dominate the population in the
period 1526–1575. Even though the social background of an increas-
ing number of students could be traced as time went by, that sec-
tion of the students population coming from the ranks of the lower
bourgeoisie and those involved in trade and crafts decreased.
I am convinced that this gives further evidence that the term pauper
in a university situation has to taken with great caution. It definitely
36
It is in this category that we find the guardians.
does not suggest that the students in question had no means what-
soever. The earlier mentioned example of Johannes Agricola, the
son of a tailor, who had to register as pauper with the University of
Cologne, was considered to be typical. It is somewhat more sur-
prising that Johannes Bogerman of Dokkum, who came from a bour-
geois family, was a servant when he first registered with the law
University of Bologna in 1505 and graduated as a pauper.37 A good
indication for the relativity of the term pauper is that one and the
same student might have registered as pauper at one university and
as dives at another. The very high costs of studying and graduation
at an Italian university might explain why several students who were
awarded a graduation gratis pro Deo, pro paupertate, and so forth, did
not register as pauper at the universities of Louvain and Cologne. No
wonder that quite a few students had to take on a job to pay their
way through university. This is a further way to give more depth
to the picture on social background; to look into the way students
actually financed their university studies or supplemented their income.
4.3. Financing of University Studies
With the cost of studying amounting to sometimes exorbitant sums,

the question how students could finance this becomes pressing. It is
clear that in quite a few cases the question did not even arise. We
have seen that a significant percentage (29.1) came from those strata
in the Low Countries that—one might expect—could pay for the
costly education of their sons abroad. This would not hold true for
every student in the population, though. In any case, one comes
across a number of alternative means of financing university stud-
ies, other than parents bearing the total burden. A view across the
population rendered no less than 246 cases with alternative means
of financing the curriculum. Brought back to some 200 individuals,
this implies that around one third of the population somehow felt
the need to—at least partly—supplement their income through var-
ious other means of generating money.
37
Acta, 266, 13; Knod, Deutsche Studenten, 94, nr. 657.
222
Offices Cl. Can. Ord. R.A. R.M. R.I. Bu./Co. Scr. Ser. Pra. Sc./Oth. Tot O Total
1426–50 14 7 2 2 1 4 0 2 1 0 1 34 93
1451–75 16 4 3 5 1 6 2 8 0 0 1 46 143
1476–1500 13 5 3 4 1 3 18 2 2 0 2 53 102
1501–25 3 2 0 6 0 5 10 0 2 1 0 29 63
1526–50 3 1 0 8 0 3 13 0 0 0 0 28 72
1551–75 10 1 0 1 0 1 35 0 0 5 3 56 167
Total Cat. 59 20 8 26 3 22 78 12 5 6 7 246 640
% Cl. Can. Ord. R.A. R.M. R.I. Bu./Co. Scr. Ser. Pra. Sc./Oth. %TotO Total
1426–50 15.1 7.5 2.2 2.2 1.1 4.3 0.0 2.2 1.1 0.0 1.1 36.6 100
1451–75 11.2 2.8 2.1 3.5 0.7 4.2 1.4 5.6 0.0 0.0 0.7 32.2 100
1476–1500 12.7 4.9 2.9 3.9 1.0 2.9 17.6 2.0 2.0 0.0 2.0 52.0 100
1501–25 4.8 3.2 0.0 9.5 0.0 7.9 15.9 0.0 3.2 1.6 0.0 46.0 100
chapter four
1526–50 4.2 1.4 0.0 11.1 0.0 4.2 18.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 38.9 100
1551–75 6.0 0.6 0.0 0.6 0.0 0.6 21.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 1.8 33.5 100
Total Cat. 9.2 3.1 1.3 4.1 0.5 3.4 12.2 1.9 0.8 0.9 1.1 38.4 100
Table 4.3.1. Offices, student jobs and scholarships of Northern Netherlands’ students during their studies in absolute numbers and percentages
of the total population in 25-year cohorts.38
38
The following abbreviations have been used: Cl = clericus; Can = Canonicus; Ord. = belonging to a religious order; R.A. = lecturer
on the arts rotulus; R.M. = lecturer on the medicine rotulus; R.I. = lecturer on the law rotulus; Bu./Co. = student in a bursa or college;
Scr. = copiist; Ser. = servitor; Pae. = paedagogus; Sc./Oth. = private scholarships and other jobs.
The traditional way of financing university studies was through an

office in the Church. The Church had encouraged the clergy to take
up university studies by granting them enjoyment of the fruits of a
prebend, while visiting a university. The connections between Church
and university were so close that the dividing line between clericus
and scholaris almost faded. Towards the end of the Middle Ages,
when the laity increasingly participated in university life, this form
of financing lost its relative importance.39 Looking at the population
one might come to the same conclusion where the study trip to the
Italian peninsula is concerned. A minimum of 86 students (13.4 per
cent) could be positively identified as belonging to the clergy during
their studies. There was a huge difference, though, between the
fifteenth and the sixteenth century. While in the fifteenth century 66
students (19.5 per cent) enjoyed clerical status, there were only 20
such students in the sixteenth (6.6 per cent). This is a clear indication
that the process of laicization holds true for the iter italicum.
Having the status of clericus made a student eligible for a church
benefice with which he could (partly) finance university studies. This
does not mean however that every student whom we find mentioned
as clericus actually did enjoy a benefice. The category of clerici could
justifiably be subdivided into three small categories: those belonging
to religious orders, those in possession of a canonry and a larger
group of clerici of different standing. To start with the latter, one
could say that this group harbours all sorts of men connected to the
Church. This varies from somebody who is mentioned as clericus
Traiectensis diocesis, somebody who might just have taken lower orders
and who possibly received some money from an altar in some church,
to clerics whose benefice is specified. We know that Wilhelmus
Thomae of Steenbergen enjoyed a beneficium in the town of Hulst in
Flanders. Similarly, we know that Johannes Sixtinus of Bolsward was
arch-priest in Haccombe in England when he came to Italy for a
second time.40 Such clear information about the benefice enjoyed is
rare. There were various ways through which a student could acquire
a benefice; through local channels, or through the university rotulus
with requests for benefices. These could be addressed to the pope,
39
Trio, ‘Financing’.
40
“Iohannes Sixtinus Phrysius rector sive archipresbiter in ecclesia Hacconbensis
in Anglia Alamanus”, Minnucci, Lauree, II, 46, nr. 57.
224 chapter four
a practice that was in decline in the fifteenth century, or other

patrons, such as bishops. The success rate of this form of financing
remains an item of debate, but recent research has shown that one
should not exaggerate the importance of these requests.41
This is easier to establish for those students who already possessed
a canonry in some or other chapter. Although canons going to study
occupy a special place in literature on university history,42 the impor-
tance of canonries as a means of financing university studies should
not be overestimated for the fifteenth and certainly not the sixteenth
century, at least where the students travelling to Italy were con-
cerned. Twenty students (3.1 per cent) already held a canonry when
they set off for Italy. The traditional image of noble canons who got
permission to study law at a prestigious Italian studium holds true to
a certain extent, as choice of faculty of these twenty was decidedly
one-sided. Apart from three students of theology and one in arts the
other 17 all studied law. Somebody who fits this traditional picture
of a younger son of a noble family destined for the Church who
finalized his study period in Italy was Petrus de Mera. This native
of the eastern part of the Netherlands, from the village of Meer in
Overijssel, was already prepositus of the Emmerich church when he
went to the University of Cologne. In 1428 he was mentioned as
procurator at the Curia in Rome. When he came to study in Italy, he
was also a canon of the cathedral chapter in Utrecht. Apart from
his graduation to doctor decretorum on 23 March 1430, he was men-
tioned as a witness no less than eight times, always with one of his
church dignities.43
As with the category of clerici, the difference between the fifteenth
(16 or 4.7 per cent of the total population) and sixteenth (4 or 1.3
per cent of the total population) centuries was considerable. The ear-
liest time cohort 1426–1450, when 7 out of 93 students (7.5 per
cent) were canons during their studies, stands out. It seems that a
canonry as a starting point for university studies was on its way out
and that a canonry had to be seen increasingly as a career goal for
students rather than the starting point of it. Those who were sup-
41
Cf. Trio, ‘Financing’; Schmutz, ‘Erfolg oder Mißerfolg’.
42
For instance, canons are considered a separate category in university social
hierarchy in Fuchs, Dives.
43
Keussen, I, 151, 11; Zonta, Acta, I, 232, nr. 732; Ibid. 243, nr. 765; Heeringa,
Archief van het Kapittel, nrs. 251, 2570, 2674.
ported in this way were exceptions rather than the rule and they
must have held strong cards to acquire one before studying.44 Let
me illustrate this by some examples. When Dirk Utenweer came to
Bologna to graduate in law, he was already a canon of the chapter
of St John in Utrecht. He had not acquired this position just like
that. This son of a Leiden burgomaster had already served as coun-
cillor in the Hof van Holland and acted as an ambassador on several
occasions. He was one of several students whose career in one of
the bureaucracies of state earned him the dignity of canon in one
the Utrecht chapters.45 The same can be said for the sixteenth cen-
tury. Two of the four students who went to Italy as canons came
from the same family. Nicolaus Ruysch had to thank his uncle, Jacob
Ruysch, for his canonry in the chapter of St Salvator. Jacob was a
very influential political figure in the county of Holland.46 He even
managed to marry off his illegitimate daughter Maria to the comp-
troller-general of the Habsburg Netherlands, Vincent van Mierop.
In 1525 the chapter of St Salvator awarded an expectancy of a
prebend in the chapter to the son of Vincent and Maria, Cornelis
van Mierop, “et hoc propter evidentem utilitatem quam idem mag-
ister Vincentius in causis ecclesie favere poterit”.47 In other words,
the chapter was of the opinion that close relations with Vincent van
44
Van den Hoven van Genderen in his exemplary study of the chapter and
canons of St Salvator or Oudmunster looks at it from the canon perspective. He
differentiates between noble canons who needed one if not more prebends to be
able to represent themselves as noble clerics on the one hand and those learned
men in bureaucracies for whom a canonry has to be seen as a reward for services
rendered. Van den Hoven van Genderen, Heren, 349. While I subscribe to his con-
clusions in general, the profile of students who went to Italy for study as canons
shows that not only noble canons were in the market for prebends but that stu-
dents belonging to the urban patriciate also managed to lay hands on canonries
early on. As the next paragraph will show, the difference between noble and non-
noble students was not always as black and white as Van den Hoven van Genderen
suggests.
45
This career path will be looked at in more detail in chapter 5.
46
For Jacob Ruysch see chapter 5, p. 287; Mario Damen, ‘Serviteurs profesionels
et profiteurs loyaux. Hommes d’Église au conseil et à la chancellerie de Hollande-
Zélande (1425–1477)’ in: Publication du Centre Européen d’Études Bouguignonnes (XIV–XVI e s.),
Rencontres de Dijon-Dole (25 au 28 septembre 1997), “Hommes d’Église et pou-
voirs à l’époque bourguignonne”, 38 (1998) 123–137; Geertruida de Moor, ‘Magister
Jacob Ruysch. De Haagse mini-Granvelle (ca. 1440–1519)’ in: J.C. Ockema et al.
(eds.), Heidenen, Papen, Libertijnen en Fijnen (Delft 1994) 83–106.
47
RAU, OM, inv. nr. 21–2, 1525 November 3. Quoted in Van den Hoven van
Genderen, Heren, 329.
226 chapter four
Mierop might prove to be of some use! It should also not be for-

gotten that the young Cornelis had a strong supporter within the
chapter: his cousin Nicolaus Ruysch, who would later acquire a very
influential position in the chapter. In short: noble birth and/or strong
relations certainly counted if one wanted to be financially supported
by a canonry during the costly study period in Italy. This will become
even more evident if we look at the social background of these 20
canon-students. The status in society of 15 of them could be posi-
tively established. Six students were of noble birth and nine belonged
to patrician families of cities like Utrecht, Amsterdam and Deventer.
The third category of clerical students who could count on sup-
port were those who belonged to the various religious orders and
who were often sponsored by them to study and graduate, often in
theology. One such student was Johannes van Houdaen of Kampen,
a Dominican from an Utrecht convent, who graduated in theology
in Ferrara 18 April 1468.48 There were 8 students (1.3 per cent of
the total population) of whom could be positively established that
they belonged to religious orders during their studies in Italy.49 All
of them studied in the fifteenth century, giving more evidence to
support the hypothesis that a clerical way of life as a means of sup-
porting oneself was in decline, certainly from 1500 onwards. Four
of them belonged to the Dominican Order, one was a Benedictine
monk, another belonged to the German Order and a last one was
a Hospital Knight.
A second traditionally very important way of financing university
studies—or at least part of them—was to secure a place in a col-
lege.50 In general, one can say that only a relatively small propor-
48
Pardi, Titoli, 46–47: “Iohannes de Hondaen, ord. Predic. conventus traiecten-
sis provintie Saxonis”.
49
This is a minimum. Members of the religious orders are not easy to identify
and even more difficult to trace. It is possible that the population harbours greater
numbers of the orders. Out of the 383 law students from the diocese of Utrecht
in Orléans, for instance, 9 students belonged to the religious orders; De Ridder-
Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’, 77. A percentage of 3.9 in Heidelberg
up to 1450; Fuchs, Dives, 49.
50
On the history of colleges in this period, see D. Maffei and H. de Ridder-
Symoens (eds.), I collegi universitari in Europa tra il XIV e il XVIII secolo, Atti del Convegno
di Studi della Commissione Internazionale per la Storia delle Università, Siena-
Bologna 16–19 maggio 1988 (Milan 1990); for the Italian case: Peter Denley, ‘The
Collegiate Movement in Italian Universities in the Late Middle Ages’ in: History
of Universities XI (1991) 29–91; some of the problems with this way of financing
tion of students actually enjoyed such a scholarship.51 This was equally

true for those young men who ended up at Italian studia. It was pos-
sible to trace 78 students (12.2 per cent of the population) who man-
aged to secure a place in a college or acquire a scholarship supported
by a college fund. Now, a place in a college did not mean financial
support per se. First of all, scholarships suffered from inflation so
that in some cases merely the cost of lodging was covered.52 As for
20 students—all of whom were in college during the sixteenth cen-
tury!—, explicitly mentioned as divites of this or that college, it is cer-
tain that they paid rather than received any money towards their
expenses. If we subtract these wealthy students from the 78 individuals
we are left with 58 students (9.1 per cent of the population) who
apparently stood to gain from their scholarship or place in college.
Most of these students, 42 at least, stayed in the paedagogia, Castle,
Porc, Lily and Falcon or in one of the other residential colleges of
Louvain. The Castle—especially in the period 1551–75, when 9 stu-
dents were resident there—and the Porc colleges were definitely the
most popular with students that later moved to Italy.53 In Cologne,
21 students were mentioned as residents in one of the colleges, named
bursae. The most popular one with our population was the Bursa
Laurentiana, where 10 students lived. It is worth noting that the col-
lege had been founded by a citizen from Groningen and that nearly
all 10 students came from the north-east of the Low Countries. The
Bursa Montana with 6 resident students from the population came
second.54
Although collegiate life at Italian universities was not nearly as
bleak as it has been portrayed in the older literature on university
university studies are mentioned in Paul Trio, ‘Financing of University Students in

the Middle Ages: A New Orientation’ in: History of Universities IV (1984) 1–24, there
2–3.
51
Trio, Ibid.
52
Ibid.
53
The Porc College and the Castle College in Louvain seem to have harboured
quite a few rich students who later went to Italy. No less than 8 out of 9 students
resident in the Castle were listed as dives in the period 1551–1575.
54
Unfortunately, there was little information available to me on the colleges in
Paris, where a significant number of students are known to have studied. The total
might therefore be somewhat higher. Brockliss, ‘Patterns of Attendance’ 507, esti-
mated that some 5% of the students in the arts faculty were genuinely poor and
could depend on financial assistance through a bourse. Some 600 bourses existed on
a total number of 10–11,000 students around 1550.
228 chapter four
history,55 there was nevertheless little evidence that it made any sort
of serious impact on students from the diocese of Utrecht. Apart
from the 15 students who were almost banging at the gate of the
Collegium Germanicum in Rome as soon as it was opened in 1552,
there was hardly any indication whatsoever of students residing in
the colleges of the university cities, with the sole exception of Jacobus
Francisci Huygh of Leiden, who stayed in the Casa della Sapienza
in Siena, possibly for a period of ten years between 1532 and 1541.56
There were certainly alternatives for students in Italy. The power-
ful nations in the various university cities were helpful in securing
board and lodging for their suppositi. They even mediated with money
lenders on behalf of their students. One such alternative was to find
board and lodging with one of the professors, as Michael Gerardi
of Deventer did. He lived in the house of the law professor Petrus
de Ancharano.57 The only substantial group to live in college in Italy
consisted therefore of those who registered with the Collegium
Germanicum. The rather strict life in the college—they were after
all destined for the priesthood—did not agree with all of those 15,
though. No less than 4 of them were kicked out of college for vari-
ous reasons, varying from an obsessive interest in humanist letters
to outright insanity. A further 2 left of their own accord.58
A church benefice or a place in a college was, however, not the
only means for a student to make some money during their life in
university. Another road open to them was to teach. Originally, at
the university of Cologne, for instance, those who took the degree
of magister artium were obliged to stay on for another two years to
teach, as regent masters. This practice had lost the status of law in
the period under investigation, but it still offered students a way of
making a decent, if not spectacular living.59 This was certainly one
way of financing the costly study period in Italy. We know of at
55
Cf. Peter Denley, ‘The Collegiate Movement’.
56
He is mentioned twice as a resident in the college. Minnucci/Kosuta, Studio,
543; 24–9–1532 in Casa della Sapienza (M. Iacomo Tedesco); 1533 stud. in i. civ.
(D. Iacobus Francisci Chuc Alamanus); 22–6–1534 testis (D. Iacobus Francisci Hugh
Holandinus); 1541 in Casa della Sapienza.
57
“Nam die XIII mensis iunii doctoratus d. Michael de Alamania, studens et
scolaris collegiatus in edibus bone memorie d. Petri de Ancharano habitans”. Piana,
LSIC, 293.
58
Jacobs and Beghyn, ‘Noord-Nederlandse studenten’, for the juicy details.
59
Verger, ‘Teachers’ in: De Ridder-Symoens (ed.), History, 144–5.
least 51 students (8 per cent of the total population) who figured on

the rotuli of the various universities on the peninsula. This might pro-
vide the student with a modest income, some 20–25 florins per year.60
Teaching as a means of supporting oneself seems to have been rela-
tively more popular with those in the faculty of arts and medicine
than with law students. Out of the 214 students of medicine 29
appear as lecturers (13.6 per cent). In most cases (26) they taught
arts, while attending classes in medicine. Three students actually
taught medicine during their studies in Italy. The faculty of arts and
medicine at the University of Bologna even offered poor foreign—
in the sense of non-Bolognese—students an extra chance of gaining
a one-year lectureship in the faculty. This was done through dispu-
tations on various arts subjects. The successful student would be eli-
gible for a one-year lectureship. One of our students, Adrianus of
Leiden, was lucky enough to win such a lectureship after his dispu-
tation 31 March 1515 on the quaestio whether the earth in any of
its five zones was habitable. His reward: the following academic year
he taught astronomy at the studium.61 There were 22 students of law
(6.7 per cent of law students) who taught either canon or civil law.
In a number of cases, students who were rector universitatis were obliged
60
For problems involved in the interpretation of the rotuli, cf.: Peter Denley,
‘Career, Springboard or Sinecure? University Teaching in Fifteenth-Century Italy’
in: Medieval Prosopography 12 (1991) 95–114. The figure of teaching students repre-
sents a minimum. The source situation was most structural for Bologna, where the
rotuli were the subject of close scrutiny by Dallari, Rotuli. For Siena, Florence and
Pavia there was also structural information on the rotuli, for instance: A.F. Verde,
Lo Studio Fiorentino (1473–1503). Ricerche e documenti, vol. I–IV (Pistoia 1977–1994),
esp. vol. 3; Dante Zanetti, ‘A l’Université de Pavie au xve siècle; les salaires des
porfesseurs’ in: Annales: économies, sociétés, civilisations 17 (1962) 421–433. For Padua
and Ferrara the sources have incidentally survived: A. Belloni, Professori giuristi a
Padova nel secolo XV. Profili bio-bibliografici e cattedre, Ius Commune Sonderheft 28
(Frankfurt 1986). Tiziana Pesenti, Professori e promotori di medicina nello Studio di Padova
dal 1405 al 1509: Repertorio bio-bibliografico, Contributi alla Storia dell’Università di
Padova 16 (Padua 1984); Adriano Franceschini (ed.), Nuove documenti relativi ai docenti
dello studio di Ferrara nel sec. XVI, Serie Monumenti VI (Ferrara 1970); Codice diplo-
matico dell’Universtà di Pavia, vol. 2, Parte prima 1401–1440 (Parma 1913); Parte seconda
1441–1450 (Parma 1915); Memorie e documenti per la storia dell’Università di Pavia e degli
uomini più illustri che v’insegnarono, 3 vols., (Pavia 1877–78; reprint Bologna 1970 =
Athenaeum. Bibliotheca di storia delle scuola e delle università, vol. 12). Other ways
to find out about students teaching involve gradation charters, where promotori are
often mentioned explicitly.
61
ASB, AS, Libro Segreto 1504–1575, f. 24v. Quoted in: Herbert S. Matsen,
‘Students’ “Arts” Disputations at Bologna around 1500’ in: Renaissance Quarterly 47
(1994) 533–555, there 548. Also Dallari, Rotuli, 2, 12b.
230 chapter four
to take up a student lectureship. It would seem that future lawyers

were less inclined to teach to support themselves. A relation with
their somewhat more elevated social background seems plausible.
This is not to say that noble students did not teach. Evidently, some-
one like the already mentioned Johannes van Diepholt, of—albeit
illegitimate—noble birth and already a canon, did not consider it
beneath him to lecture on the Decretales on feast days in the acade-
mic year 1475–6.62
It was possible to exactly reconstruct the social background of 21
students who lectured—11 in law and 10 in arts—during their stay
in Italy.63 All social categories were represented. The 11 lecturers in
law came from respectively the nobility (4), the patriciate (3) and the
higher bourgeoisie (4). The 10 lecturers in arts, on the other hand,
came from the patriciate (1), the higher bourgeoisie (5) and lastly
the lower bourgeoisie and the ambacht (4). This does confirm the ear-
lier statement that the faculty of law had a somewhat more elevated
social profile than the other faculties. It also seems to show some
reluctance on the part of noble students to be involved in the teach-
ing of arts.
If we look at what these figures represent when we compare them
to the total number of the social categories found, it emerges that
students from the high bourgeoisie especially were successful in secur-
ing lectureships during their study period. These positions may not
have been so desirable for students of noble descent or those who
came from the vastly wealthy town elites. The fact that relatively
few young men from lower bourgeois and ambacht families were
identified, as well as the existence of disputation competitions for
lectureships for poor students suggests that there were other mech-
anisms at work than mere ability to teach a particular subject. On
the other hand, it can not be excluded that those lecturers who could
not be identified, like “mag. Ermano de Frisia” who taught astrol-
ogy in 1500 at the University of Bologna,64 might have come from
exactly those milieus that are difficult to identify; the lower middle
classes.
62
Dallari, Rotuli, I, 97.
63
It was difficult and often impossible to identify those mentioned as lecturers,
as the way they figure on the rotuli is rather brief (e.g. “Henricus de Frisia”).
64
Piana, Ricerche, 246.
An interesting point is that teaching was apparently not very pop-

ular in the third quarter of the sixteenth century. Both in absolute
and relative terms the number of students teaching while in Italy
was lowest. It seems plausible that this might be related to the appa-
rently shorter stay of students at the universities in Italy after 1550
and the more elevated social profile of the population in this last
cohort.65
There were other categories of student jobs in which students from
the Northern Netherlands were involved during their Italian journey.66
An obvious one is that of scribe. At least 12 students were involved
in copying texts during their studies, in most cases texts that were
on the curriculum. One such student of law was Hugo Petri of
Goedereede who is known to have copied a lectura on books I and
II of the Digesta by Franciscus de Capitibus Listae (or Capo di Lista),
a law professor at Padua, in whose house he also happened to live.67
Similarly, the medical student, Gerardus Weghe of Amsterdam, who
taught philosophy at Bologna in the academic year 1433–34,68 copied
a Commentum libri de anima Aristotelis secundum veram interpretationem Alberti
Magni et commentatoris Averrois during his stay at Bologna.69 The last
example of a student from the northern Low Countries whom is
known to have copied texts during his stay in Italy was Cornelis of
Reimerswaal, who copied a text in Padua in 1479. For obvious rea-
sons, copying texts as a means to support oneself was a slowly dying
profession, when the coming of the printing press started to make
an impact. There was no indication that any of the students in the
population were involved in copying books in the sixteenth century.
The late-medieval equivalent of the photocopier was certainly not
the only means of making money during studies outside the institutional
65
Cf. chapter 2.5, p. 136.
66
Various jobs on the side are mentioned in the general article by Jacques Paquet,
‘Coût des études, pauvreté et labeur: fonctions et métiers d’étudiants au moyen âge’
in: History of Universities, II (1982) 15–52.
67
Maffei, et al., Codici, 556–7.
68
Dallari, Rotuli, IV, 65a.
69
Piana, Nuove ricerche, 173, nr. 92: “Finitum atque scriptum anno M.CCCC.XXI-
III [sic! A.L.T.] per Gerardus Weghe de Aemstehedam, XXIIII die septembris”.
This is probably an error. It is much more likely that he finished the commentum in
1434. He is most likely identical with the Gerardus Alberti of Amsterdam who had
previously studied in Rostock in 1427 and then moved on to Padua to study
medicine, where he is mentioned as a witness 10 April 1430; Zonta, Acta, I, 246,
nr. 771.
232 chapter four
alternatives of church benefices, college beds and lectureships. Another

option open to a student of relatively modest means was to attach
himself to somebody with more financial latitude. Evidence of this
sort is scattered and incidental, not least because students themselves
might have chosen in later life to leave this fact unknown. Nevertheless,
we know of 11 students (1.7 per cent) who made the decision to
hook up to some noble or rich student willing to pay for services.
There were two ways in which this happened. One way was to enter
the service of a noble young man as a servant and pay—or be
allowed to be paid for—one’s way through college in this fashion.
These students were labelled as famuli or servitores, servants. Five stu-
dents in the population are known to have served their fellow students.
This may have been early on, during their stay at Cologne for
instance. Henricus Phippen of Zevenbergen was a servant of mas-
ter Johannes van Wachtendorp and Wilhelmus Adriani Stoep of
Dordrecht was a servant of Johannes of Leiden, dean of the faculty
of medicine, when he came to Cologne in 1481.70 Some acted as
servants during their stay in Italy, like Johannes Bogerman of Dokkum,
from a bourgeois Dokkum family, but nevertheless a servant during
his years at the University of Bologna. Because of his status as a
famulus he got a reduction in the fees he had to pay to the German
Nation when he registered in 1505.71
The other road was to act as a mentor or tutor to a young man
of standing and wealth. They were called praeceptores or paedagogi. A
noble or otherwise wealthy parent would look for a mature student
or scholar to accompany their young son on his peregrinatio academica.
The praeceptor was supposed to keep an eye on the academic and
other achievements of the pupil entrusted to him for a sum of money,
which enabled him to continue his studies as well. At least six stu-
dents in the population acted as praeceptores. Some of them made a
virtual career out of it, like the already mentioned Hugo Blotius.
There were more humanists involved in this tutoring. Willem Obrecht
of Delft, a friend and correspondent of Erasmus, was the praeceptor
of the three sons of Hieronymus Lauwerijnz, chamberlain and lord
treasurer of Philip the Fair.72 As has been said, these students were
70
Keussen, Matrikel, I, 131, 31; II, 371, 100.
71
Acta, 266, 13.
72
Acta, 268, 43; Collected works of Erasmus. The Correspondence of Erasmus, 2, Letters
142–297, 1501–1514, Translated R.A.B. Mynors and D.F.S. Thompson, annotated
by Wallace K. Ferguson (Toronto 1972), 124, nr. 201.
often somewhat older than their pupils. They could even be quite
advanced in age. Gerardus Nodianus of Arnhem first went to the
University of Cologne in 1532.73 Only in 1557 did he arrive in Italy
as the tutor of the young nobleman Willem van der Duyn and he
must have been in his early forties then.74
Other—not always student—jobs of an entirely different nature
may have been taken, but there is very little evidence for it.
Occasionally, some information reaches the surface. Rodolphus
Agricola, when he studied at the University of Ferrara, was employed
by Duke Ercole d’Este as an organist of the ducal chapel from
October 1475 until 1477, for which he received five gold pieces a
month salary. This apparently enabled him “to buy Greek books
and live in a decent manner.”75 He might not have been the only
student from the north who found employment as a musician at the
court of Ferrara. In 1538 a certain Henricus de Campis was men-
tioned as “cantor domini Ducis”.76
There were yet other forms of financing the expensive years of
study in Italy. Apart from the sponsorship of the Church and scho-
larships in colleges, financial support could be received through scho-
larships set up by private persons or institutions.77 We know of at
least six students in the population who received (extra) funding
though such channels. The money could come from somebody close,
as was the case with Nicolaus Tilmanni Offhuys of Amsterdam. This
student of medicine at the University of Padua was given 20 florins,
when a relative of his, Nicolaus Johannis Offhuys of Brussels, entered
the Dominican convent in Bologna 12 September 1441 and bequeathed
73
Schillings, Matricule, IV, 81, 8.
74
75
Quotation from the biography on Agricola by Dietrich and Johann von
Plenningen, quoted in F. Akkerman and P. Kooiman, ‘Agricola musica studiosus’
in: F. Akkerman, A.J. Vanderjagt and A.H. van der Laan (eds.), Northern Humanism
in European Context, 1469–1625. From the ‘Adwert Academy’ to Ubbo Emmius, Brill’s Studies
in Intellectual History 94 (Leiden 1999) 43–51, there 45–6 and the references in
the footnotes. Rudolf scored many points with the duke. In the university records,
when he attended the graduation of Cornelius Florentii of Goes 31–1–1478, he was
even mentioned as a “familiaris illustrissimi nostri ducis”, quoted in Pardi, Titoli,
69.
76
Pardi, Titoli, 131. It is not entirely clear whether he was a student or just a
musician. He might be the same as the “Henricus a Campis flandrius”, mentioned
as a witness 8–2–1548. Ibid. 141.
77
See also Trio, ‘Financing’.
234 chapter four
some of some of his earthly belongings to various churches and per-

sons.78 The money probably came in handy, but apparently it was
not enough, since he graduated “amore Dei”.79 Gisbertus Arentsma,
who came from a patrician Leeuwarden family, received a grant to
go and study abroad from his uncle, Otto Truchsess. Another way
was through scholarships set up by cities that enabled their young
citizens to go and study. The case of Groningen deserves a special
mention here. Town government had bought the possessions of an
impoverished nobleman in 1456 to set up a fund for young Groningers
to visit universities. Johannes Eelts who graduated in law at Ferrara
in 1555 was supported through this fund.80 This was also the case
for Volkert Coyter who was awarded 20 Emden guilders to study
abroad, something which he most certainly did, as he visited no less
than seven universities in the Netherlands, Germany, France and
Italy.
One has to ask the question, though, how far a sum like 20 Emden
guilders or 20 florins would go at expensive universities in Italy.
Even students from a relatively wealthy background may have bor-
rowed money to finance the costs of their deer education. Take, for
example, the case of Stephanus Rumelaer, who came from a patri-
cian Utrecht family. After studies in Paris, Padua and Bologna, where
he graduated, he accumulated several church benefices and ended
his life as a very wealthy man, as can be gathered from his last will
and testament, although at his death he still had a debt outstand-
ing, concerning his studies going back at least 30 years.81 The fact
remains that it is very difficult to exactly establish how students man-
aged to make their way through university. It would seem most likely
that those coming from the nobility, the patriciate and the higher
bourgeoisie could generally rely on their family to make a contri-
bution, if not pay for the lot. One might question if this were the
case for those students who fell short of this wealth and for whom
78
ASB, AN, Pietro Bruni, Busta 8, nr. 55, quoted in Piana, Nuove ricerche, 327–8:
“d. Nicolao Ofhuys eius consorti, scholari studenti Paduae.” Nicolaus Johannis
Offhuys must have been quite wealthy as he had 300 florins to dispose of before
entering the convent. The document also mentioned that the noble Alfardus Lodovici
van Montfoort, a law student at Bologna, was well acquainted with the testator.
He was the only non-Dominican witness to the testament.
79
Zonta, Acta, II, 149–50, nrs. 1650 and 1652.
80
Pardi, Titoli, 170; Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 170.
81
Van den Hoven van Genderen, Heren van de Kerk, 441, note 103.
these ‘student jobs’ were an absolute necessity to pay for those cov-
eted years of study—not to mention graduation—in Italy.
4.4. Social Background and Family Tradition
A further interesting aspect to take into account would be the con-

tinuity of popularity of Italy as a destination for study in families,
in the same social environment. A survey of the population reveals
that the same family names keep coming up several times. There is
two ways of looking at this aspect. One may be called intragenera-
tional—more members of one family in one generation—, the other
intergenerational, members of the same family of different genera-
tions who chose Italy as their travel destination. The population
counts various families in both categories, often combined. In cer-
tain cases one might speak of a real family tradition in their choice
of university.
Because of the earlier mentioned problems with name giving, it
is often very difficult to determine family relations for the students
in the population. In certain cases it seemed plausible that students
were related, but concrete evidence was lacking. For instance, when
Suger Dirksz van Beek of Medemblik in Holland graduated in med-
icine in Padua 14 January 1441, a certain Jacob Dirksz of Medemblik,
a law student, was present.82 It seems more than likely that these to
students from the same town with the same patronymic at the very
least knew each other quite well and were possibly even related. In
this case it was not possible to substantiate this hypothesis.
As it turned out, a minimum of 110 students (17.2 per cent) were
related to at least one other student in the population. Students that
travelled to Italy after 1575 have not been included, even though it
is clear that a family tradition may have continued well into the
seventeenth century. There were all sorts of connections. Students
might have belonged to the same lineage, as was the case with the
students of the Van Zijl family of Leiden who studied at Bologna
and where two generations seem to have skipped the trip to Italy.
In most cases the relations were much more direct. In ten cases the
82
“In med. mag. Çogeri Theoderici de Beka de Medemblick” and “Iacobo
Theoderici de Medemblick in u.i. scholare”, Zonta, Acta, II, 114, nr. 1486.
236 chapter four
most direct relation of (grand)father—(grand)son could be found. In

most cases the father would send the son to the same studium where
he himself had studied, as was the case with Jacobus Wilhelmi Piin
and his son Wilhelmus Jacobi Piin of Delft, who both studied law
and graduated in Bologna, senior from 1478 until 1481 and junior
from 1517 until 1521. Willem, proctor of the German Nation in
1520, was possibly involved in a marginal note in the register which
explained that the Jacob who registered in 1478 was the “father of
our lord proctor in the year 1520”.83 Similarly, it seems more than
coincidental that Johannes Johannis Vredewolt, the son of a law
graduate of Pavia in 1441, picked the same studium when his moment
of graduation was at hand in 1473.84
Other direct relations involved brothers. In thirteen cases one or
more brothers travelled to generally the same university, as Antonius
and Valerius van Cuyck of Utrecht did. Both studied law in Padua
in 1559,85 or the Van Ethen brothers, Bartholomeus and Reinerus,
who both chose Pavia as their ultimate travel destination in the thir-
ties and early forties of the fifteenth century.86 Often, in twelve cases,
we also find that two or more cousins in the same generation travel
to the same university to study. Philippus Coebel and Nicolaus
Valckesteyn were first cousins and both studied law in Siena. Other
relations, for instance, uncles and nephews who picked the same
studium also exist. Johannes Gasparis van Hoogelande graduated in
Bologna, where his nephew Cornelius Balduini van Drenckwaert also
graduated in law.87
All in all, the choice for a particular university pole, Italy, a par-
ticular university or even a faculty within it seems to have been a
family feature for a significant section of the population. This could
be within a generation, but often it involved family members of
different generations. Almost invariably, these students belonged to
either the nobility or the patriciate. True, because of their more con-
sistent names—often they bear family names—they were easier to
83
“Pater dni. procuratoris anno 1520”. Acta, 225, 39; 226, 19, 282, 26; 283, 21;
287, 35; Piana, Liber secretus I.C., 243; Knod, Deutsche Studenten, 408, nr. 2789.
84
See chapter 2.2, p. 77.
85
ACVP, Ser. Diversorum, inv. nr. 55bis, f. 70 r.
86
Codice Pavia, 340, nr. 485; 450, nr. 591.
87
Acta, 318, 47; Knod, 203, nr. 1467; ASB, AS, inv. nr. 25, f. 225 v; inv. nr.
34, f. 78 v.
trace. It stands to reason, though, that exactly those wealthy layers

of society were in a better position to simply select—and stick to—
a university in accordance with their standing and educational require-
ments without worry about the costs than those students who had
to rely on scholarships, lectureships or other student jobs to finance
such an expensive adventure. Their freedom of choice in deciding
where to study, not to mention graduate, was rather more limited.
Thus, through all the changes in the university landscape in Italy,
the names of a number of noble and patrician families keep com-
ing up at certain universities. The Gelmers family of Deventer seems
to have preferred Bologna—and Orléans as well—to study law.88
The Van der Mijle family of Dordrecht made the law faculty of
Padua their usual stop on the peninsula throughout the sixteenth
century, and a next generation carried this tradition into the seven-
teenth century.89
Family relations within the population were much more compli-
cated than can be sketched here. Noble and patrician families from
a certain town or region were often interconnected. Families inter-
married and thus other close relations developed. For instance,
Johannes Mepsche of Groningen was connected to other families
with sons in Italy. On his father’s side he was related to the Huynge
family that sent Theso to Italy. On his mother’s side of the family
he was related to the important Jarges family and also to the Entens
family, all with representatives at Italian universities. Several mem-
bers of the patrician Van Foreest family of Alkmaar had a desire to
study medicine at Italian universities. It started with Theodorus in
the early sixteenth century. His nephews, Petrus and Jacobus, fol-
lowed in his footsteps and also travelled to the peninsula to study
at Padua and graduate respectively at Bologna and Ferrara later on.
Through marriage, the Van Foreest family was closely linked to
another patrician family from Alkmaar, the Van Teylingens, who
also sent the cousins Augustijn and Adriaan to Padua.
To what extent the sons who followed in their father’s footsteps
were actually sent by their fathers or rather chose themselves for a
88
Gelmarus Gelmers, Theodoricus Gelmers and a later Theodoricus Gelmers.
89
In the sixteenth century Arnoldus, and his sons Adrianus, Cornelius and Johannes
visited Padua. His grandsons Cornelius, Arnoldus and Hermannus visited Padua in
the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
238 chapter four
particular studium is almost impossible to determine. Incidentally

some information could be found. Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, law
graduate of Padua in 1569, later on set aside a considerable sum of
money for his sons to travel to Italy, where the universities of Bologna
and Padua were on the list. We know that his son Willem indeed
studied law at Padua like his father. One might ask if it was more
than just sheer coincidence that both his daughters married men
who had studied law in Padua, Arnoldus van der Mijle and Reinout
of Brederode, both of families that had sent sons to Padua before!90
Certainly in the late sixteenth century one gets the impression that
a visit to Italian universities—later culminating in the Grand Tour had
become a desirable way of finishing of the education of a young
man of rank and standing.
4.5. Summary
Although Italy was an expensive and rather exclusive destination for

study, it cannot be said that students from the northern Low Countries
who travelled to the peninsula were all members of noble and wealthy
families. One has to be more nuanced than this. Apparently, an
overwhelming majority of the population—nobiles and divites together—
was in the position that it could pay for the study expenses without
any real qualms. In the first fifty years of the period 1426–1575,
however, there was a significant section of the population that did
require some sort of assistance from the various universities visited,
the pauperes. After about 1480 their numbers dwindled and in the
sixteenth century just 3 per cent of the population could be labelled
as ‘poor’. The contrary could be said for noble students. In the first
fifty years not even one in twenty five students could be positively
identified as noble. Their numbers increased after that until in the
last fifty years under investigation roughly one out of every five stu-
dents was of noble origin. This widespread process of aristocratiza-
tion in the university landscape—brought about by more serious
competition from the patriciate for places of power—was arguably
90
Fölting, Landsadvocaten, 35–42; Den Tex, Johan van Oldenbarnevelt; Id., ‘Nederlandse
studenten, passim.
even more intense in the iter italicum than for other studia in the
north of Europe.
We have seen that there was a considerable difference in the social
composition of the cohorts from the various regions in the Netherlands.
Comparatively more noble students came from the eastern, more
rural parts of the Netherlands. It was difficult to exactly establish
what dives and pauper meant in the context of the northern Low
Countries. It would nevertheless seem plausible to say that poor stu-
dents came from lower bourgeois and artisan milieus. The category
‘rich’ could include students from these layers of society as well as
those from wealthy and influential families about to be ennobled and
everything in between. Students from patrician families and those
from high bourgeois circles more often came from the more urban-
ized regions: Holland, the cities of Utrecht, Groningen and the IJssel
cities. Students from the lower bourgeois and artisan classes who
made it to Italy tended to come predominantly from the towns in
the west and Groningen.
The social composition of the population also had its effect on
the nature of the iter italicum. Increased participation of nobles and
students from the wealthy town elites after 1475 shifted the accent
from medicine—terrain of upcoming bourgeois—to law. Padua was
an exemplary case in this respect. It changed from a university where
a significant number of ‘poor’ students managed to obtain a gradu-
ation gratis in the fifteenth century to the place in Italy for young
noblemen and wealthy townsmen to study the law in the last fifty
years of the sixteenth century, at which stage Italy was almost beyond
the grasp of students from lower bourgeois and artisan backgrounds.
It was this last category specifically that we find involved in all
sorts of student jobs during the study years. With the exception of
canons—almost all from noble or patrician families—and the odd
law teacher of noble descent, most occupations were held by stu-
dents from bourgeois and artisan backgrounds. They could not fall
back on a family fortune that would allow for a family tradition of
sending sons to expensive Italian studia. It was these students who
had to work to finance costly years of study abroad, hoping for a
graduation “amore Dei”, that would enable them to start a career
that might further their standing in society.
CHAPTER FIVE
THE STUDENT IN SOCIETY:

CAREERS, NETWORKS AND SOCIAL MOBILITY
An expensive study trip in the south of Europe and a more than

average social background might at first sight suggest a successful
career. In this chapter we shall try to assess if this presupposition
holds ground. The main focus will be on the careers of the students
in the population. The aim is to get beyond a list of professions. In
a way one is trying to assess whether the investment—a stay at one
of the costly studia in Italy—yielded a profit, or at least to form an
idea what students from different backgrounds and with different
subjects could expect. Can the information gathered from the po-
pulation tell us something about university education as a means of
social mobility? Can we detect if and in what way education con-
tributed to a student’s advancement in society? The results found
for the population here can be compared to the ever increasing body
of literature on the subject of careers of university students and gra-
duates that has been published over the last decades, no to mention
prosopographical studies on different professions in the late-medieval
and early modern period.1
First I shall deal with the careers of the students themselves, and
take inventory of the range of professions chosen(!?). Several career
categories will be scrutinized. It also seemed plausible to distinguish
between students with different choices of subject, as the career paths
might also be considerably different, not to mention that they could
change over time. To differentiate even further, it seemed appropriate
1
For a status quaestionis see Moraw, ‘Careers of Graduates’ and Frijhoff, ‘Careers
of Graduates’ in: De Ridder-Symoens (ed.), History, I and II. Most prosopographi-
cal studies on university students now take into account the professional dimension.
Recently, Fuchs, Dives; Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland; Schmutz, Juristen. Prosopographical
studies on particular professions have also accumulated over the last decades. For
a status quaestionis: De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Prosopografie’. More recent: Bijsterveld,
Laverend; Van den Hoven van Genderen, Heren; Mario Damen, De staat van dienst.
De gewestelijke ambtenaren van Holland en Zeeland in de Bourgondische periode (1425–1482),
Hollandse Studiën 36 (Hilversum 2000).
242 chapter five
to compare the data on careers and study with those on social back-
ground. This will enable us to gather information about how edu-
cation—in concreto university education—could contribute to a student’s
advancement in society. Ultimately, the status of a student in his
environment was determined by a combination of factors. Examining
the socio-political or even cultural network of the student popula-
tion could clarify the mechanisms at work in social mobility, and
how the itinerant students who visited Italy fit in this pattern.
5.1. The Career Path Examined
There are a number of complications in assembling the necessary

data on students’ careers. Apart from those concerning their names
and places of origin, there were further difficulties in tracing their
walks of life. Despite these difficulties, commented on shortly, infor-
mation about status, activities, offices, professions and careers of the
students—or obvious lack thereof—in the population was found for
407 individuals or 63.6 per cent of the population. Results differed
according to time cohort and choice of faculty.2 The results in brief
are presented in table 5.1.1.
Law %LawP. Med. %Med.P. Oth./Unk. %O/UP. Total Car. %TotalP.
1426–50 26 78.8 22 46.8 10 76.9 58 62.4

1451–75 43 84.3 26 49.1 13 30.2 82 57.3
1476–00 43 71.7 8 30.8 13 81.3 64 62.7
1501–25 30 68.2 12 75.0 2 66.7 44 69.8
1526–50 25 71.4 18 58.1 3 60.0 46 63.9
1551–75 74 71.2 25 61.0 14 60.9 113 67.7
Total 241 73.7 111 51.9 55 53.4 407 63.6
Table 5.1.1. Numbers of students per faculty (and as a percentage of faculty in italics) about
whom career information or explained lack thereof was available.
2
In his interesting study of the social aspects of students of the University of
Heidelberg up to 1450, Fuchs managed to trace career information about 40% of
his overall population, which is comparable to the figures found for the first fifty
years of our investigation. His figures also differed according to status and faculty.
Fuchs, Dives, 4 and 90–1.
the student in society 243
This is not the whole story. To come to a number with which one
can effectively work a number of subtractions was necessary. First
and foremost of those students for whom we know why there was
little or no career information because they did not have the time
to make one: those who died during or just after their studies. There
were nine early deaths to mourn, curiously enough all lawyers.3
Whether the austerity of theology and the closeness to health care
for students of medicine formed any sort of protection against dis-
ease can be contested, though. Furthermore, those students whose
career activity consisted solely of an office in the Italian student uni-
versities can also be omitted, when dealing with gainful employment.
Though the office of proctor of a nation, whether this was in Italy
or France, does tell us something about the status of students within
the studium, I have chosen to eliminate this as career information.
The same can be said of those who held the office of rector universi-
tatis at Italian universities. As will be argued further on, those cler-
ics whose benefices could not be identified, can be counted among
the clergy, but will be omitted when dealing with the inventory of
offices as well. A last category not counted here consisted of those
noble students who were able to live of their property, but did not
hold any sort of office in any of the bureaucracies.
This leaves us with 337 individuals about whom reliable infor-
mation could be traced concerning their career activities. Split up
in time cohorts and distinguished by choice of faculty the following
picture emerged (table 5.1.2.).
Law %LawP Med. %Med.P Oth./Unk. %O/UP Total Car. %TotP
1426–50 20 60.6 15 31.9 6 46.2 41 44.1

1451–75 26 51.0 16 30.2 12 27.9 54 37.8
1476–00 37 61.7 8 30.8 4 21.1 49 48.0
1501–25 34 77.3 13 81.3 2 66.7 49 77.8
1526–50 22 62.9 16 51.6 4 66.7 42 58.3
1551–75 70 67.3 23 56.1 9 37.5 102 61.1
Total 209 63.9 91 42.5 37 34.3 337 52.7
Table 5.1.2. Numbers of students per faculty (and as a percentage of faculty in italics) about
whom there was clearly defined career information.
3
The percentage of early deaths, 1.4, seems too low, certainly when we take the
frequent visits of the plague to Italian university cities into account. Higher figures
244 chapter five
As can be seen from the table, there were considerable differences

in the recovery rate, both in terms of time and subject of study. The
recovery rate for the sixteenth century was better than for the pre-
vious one. Apart from the fact that the source situation in general
improves with time, there was the factor that it was easier to iden-
tify students as the use of proper surnames definitely increased in
the course of the sixteenth century, a development closely connected
to the more elevated social profile of the population in that century
compared to the fifteenth.
The other factor that had considerable influence on the recovery
rate was choice of faculty. Students of theology were most easily
traced (nine out of ten), as they were almost invariably destined for
some position within the Church. There existed significant differences
between students of law (63.9 per cent) and medicine (42.5 per cent).
This by itself is very telling. It seems that lawyers stood more of a
chance of getting to those positions that were documented most pre-
cisely.4 Consequently, a law student from the last time cohort was
much easier to trace than a student of medicine from the first time
cohort. This also had consequences for the recovery rate viewed by
region, which could vary quite a bit. Obviously, students from
Friesland, predominantly travelling in the sixteenth century and mostly
opting for law were overall easier to trace than the student popula-
tion from Holland, for instance, with such a substantial proportion
of them studying medicine in the fifteenth century. When students
of law from Holland and Friesland in the sixteenth century are com-
pared, the comparative recovery rate was virtually identical.
A number of students who had died during or shortly after their
studies must have escaped our attention. Equally, the careers of an
have been mentioned. Percentages of mortality rate among students as high as 6–8%
have been found. Frijhoff, ‘Careers of Graduates’ in: De Ridder-Symoens (ed.),
History, II, 409–10. Also De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’,
77, where a percentage of 2.9 was established.
4
Students of medicine who set up their own practice are very difficult to trace,
particularly for the fifteenth century. The situation for the sixteenth century was
much more generous, in the sense that both in ego-documents and publications
traces survive of practicing physicians. Another factor is that for many towns proper
inventory of servants of the city (town physicians) has not been taken, often because
of a lack of the most important sources in this respect, the town accounts (stad-
srekeningen). Cf. Van Herwaarden, ‘Medici’.
unknown number of students who did not return to the Netherlands

were not recovered. A number of students had careers outside the
Netherlands and for a number of generally well-researched institutions
(universities, the chapters in Cologne, the Reichskammergericht) the pres-
ence of students from the population was clear. As for a number of
offices in the various towns and cities of the neighbouring German
lands or France (there are indications that particularly physicians
travelled quite a bit), it would be impossible to trace all of them.
The percentages found, though not perfect, are significant enough
to make a number of observations about the career paths for the
students in the population.5
Choice of Faculty and Career Sectors

Before discussing the various career sectors and professions in-depth,
the broad results found justify closer scrutiny on the basis of choice
of faculty. As we shall see, the walks of life for the different types
of students (law, medicine, arts and theology) varied considerably,
and different careers sectors, that developed over time could be
identified for the different groups of students. The following career
sectors were used to categorize that careers of the students: 1. Aca-
demia; 2. the Church; 3; health care; 4. town government and admin-
5
For law students from the diocese of Utrecht at the University of Orléans
(1444–1456) the recovery rate was 61.5%, extremely close to that for our law pop-
ulation; De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’, 80. For students
of medicine at the University of Cologne a higher percentage was found: 57%. The
results for this study were highly influenced by the first time cohort when a phe-
nomenal percentage of 66% of careers could be traced, largely due to the fact that
this is the founding phase of the university, when a number of important men of
medicine were attracted. If the earliest time cohort is omitted, the percentage comes
close to the results found for the medicine population here (30–40%); Cay Rüdiger-
Prüll, ‘Die “Karriere” der Heilkundigen an der Kölner Universität zwischen 1389
und 1520’ in: R.C. Schwinges (ed.), Gelehrte im Reich. Zur Sozial- und Wirkungsgeschichte
akademischer Eliten des 14. bis 16. Jahrhunderts, Beiheft 18 Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung
(Berlin 1996) 135–158. Fuchs, Dives, 4, came to an overall recovery rate of 40%,
though one has to bear in mind that he dealt with an earlier period, which included
a huge arts population. For the students population of Tübingen between 1477 and
1534 a recovery rate of 28%, also including the vast arts population; W. Kuhn,
Die Studenten der Universität Tübingen zwischen 1477 und 1534, II vols. (Göppingen 1971).
Problems in dealing with careers of students in general see Frijhoff, ‘Careers of
Graduates’ in: De Ridder-Symoens (ed.), History, II, 355–415.
246 chapter five
istration; 5. regional government and administration; 6. provincial

(county, duchy, etc.) government and administration; 7. government
and administration of the representative institutions, the States; 8.
government and administration at central level; 9. other, including
a wide range of different professions and offices.
The results for the overall population are presented in table 5.1.3.6
From the overall picture it is obvious that the Church was the biggest
employer of students who had made the iter italicum. Some nuances
need to be made though. At first sight, the Church as a choice to
get further in life seems to have faded away particularly in the period
1526–75 for students who visited Italian studia (table 5.1.4). Especially
in these last fifty years, careers in the Church became rarer. On
closer inspection, though, we have to identify some nuances. Although
the overall percentage of clerics between 1426 and 1525 always
remained well over 25 per cent, varying from 28.0 to 41.3, some-
thing had changed after about 1475. If one takes the faculty dimen-
sion into account, one notices that percentages for law students,
medical students and the category ‘other’—consisting students of arts
and theology, and students whose choice of faculty was unknown—
varied considerably. Apart from the small contingent of theologians,
students of law were clearly the most likely to opt for a career in
the Church. Even the proportion of law students with ecclesiastical
ambitions, however, seems to have diminished considerably over time.
From a relatively high 54.5 per cent of law students in Italy in the
period 1426–50, it gradually fell to just over 40 in the first quarter
of the sixteenth century. This is precisely the period when the rela-
tive number of law students in the population peaked.7 The pro-
portion further decreased in the last fifty years until it fell to only
one in thirteen law students who chose for the Church in the cohort
1551–75.
Students of medicine were less interested (or less successful) in
procuring a career in the Church. Most of those who pursued one,
did so in the period 1426–75. Twice more than a quarter—last in
6
Separate figures for students of law and medicine are presented in the appen-
dix 5.1.
7
The number of medicine students dropped in these cohorts. Crises that hit both
Padua and Ferrara, as well as crises in especially the western parts of the Northern
Netherlands explain this phenomenon. See chapters 2 and 3.
the period 1501–25, when only 16 students studied medicine—was

part of the clergy during their studies or opted for an ecclesiastical
future. Except for the cohort in the last twenty-five years, when an
ecclesiastical future was generally less fashionable, their percentage
was always substantially lower than that for students of law. The
career path for medical students was, as we shall shortly see, much
more professionalized c.q. restricted than that for their peers who
had studied the law.
With this nuance, the overall conclusion must be that the Church
as a career path for young men who visited Italian studia became
significantly less important, even though it did by no means disap-
pear. This is perhaps most clearly shown by looking at law students.
The (career) profile of a law student at an Italian university had
changed radically in the period under investigation. More than half
of them were in some way connected to the Church up to 1475, in
the sense that they either supported themselves through a benefice
during or that they successfully sought office in the Church after their
studies. By 1575 the situation was very different. The Church as a
sponsor for university studies in law had almost ceased to exist. And
only one in thirteen students now opted for the clergy after their
years in university.
As for the category other, one might be brief. The theologians all
ended up somewhere in the Church hierarchy, if not in one of the
religious orders, then in the papal curia. Even among the arts stu-
dents and students whose choice of faculty was unknown one finds
clerics, percentage-wise even more than among students of medicine.
The role of the Church as an employer for law graduates was
taken over by the bureaucracies of state at different levels. Although
the number of students that ended up in one of the governmental
or administrative offices of the various bureaucracies of state was
rather modest in the first 25 years of the period, the figure increased
over time until for the law students in the time cohort 1551–75 more
than three-fourths of all offices and professions found were in the
bureaucracies of state, from the town to the pinnacle of power at
central level. If we had to illustrate this transformation in an extreme
and simplified manner, one has only to look at the difference between
Alfardus van Montfoort and Adrianus Arnoldi van der Mijle. The
first was the illegitimate son of a rural nobleman, who was supported
by at least two prebends during his studies in the first cohort 1426–50.
After his graduation at Bologna he continued his career within the
248 chapter five
Church, which typically involved a canonry in Utrecht. Adrianus

Arnoldi van der Mijle, a graduate of Padua in the last cohort,
1551–75, on the other hand was the eldest son of town magistrate,
educated in Italy. His ambitions did not lie in a career in the Church,
but in worldly bureaucracies, also typically in The Hague. He man-
aged to become a councillor in the Hof van Holland and ultimately
became a member of the Raad van State. In a sense their choice of
university also exemplifies this change. Bologna had been the most
popular Italian studium for law and many a clericus from the diocese
of Utrecht set out to study there. In the second half of the sixteenth
century this situation changed and Padua took over as the law uni-
versity, albeit for a different type of law student: generally laymen
from the wealthy town elites or even the nobility, though not always
the younger sons and only in a small minority of cases destined for
the cloth.
Different career orientation is clearly observable in these figures.
The prospect for law students was very different than that for med-
ical students and this became more pronounced as time passed by.
Chances of a medical student making it to the corridors of power
were much more limited than for his peers in the law faculties of
Italy. Although we find a significant number involved in the admin-
istration and government of towns, only five students of medicine
managed to reach beyond that level, and this stopped after the period
1501–25. Two of them acted as representatives to the States, two
were involved in administration at county level. Only one graduate
of medicine in the first cohort 1426–50, Bartholomeus Nicolai van
Ethen, became a member of the Hof van Holland. Their career path
was much more defined in terms of the eventual outcome. Academia
and health care were the main sectors in which they found employ-
ment. Certainly up to the cohort 1501–25 ecclesiastical careers seem
to have been an important option, although its level can by no means
be compared to that of law students. As with law students, students
of medicine gradually moved to positions in town government and
administration instead of the Church. Medical doctors managed to
find their way back to town in all time cohorts. Their representation
within the towns was rather weak for the fifteenth century cohorts,
but comparatively strong for the first fifty years of the sixteenth cen-
tury. For the period 1551–75 their presence in town government
and administration dropped again.
Sector 1426–50 1451–75 1476–00 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
Academia 14 21 12 13 19 9 88
Church 25 22 25 23 7 16 118
Health 6 6 3 6 13 19 53
City/town 4 17 12 12 11 23 79
Region 0 0 1 3 5 16 25
Province 5 6 7 10 7 27 62
States 0 9 3 3 2 15 32
Central 0 0 4 3 5 7 19
Other 0 6 0 6 2 16 30
(%TCar) 1426–50 1451–75 1476–00 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
Academia 34.1 38.9 24.5 26.5 45.2 8.8 26.1

Church 61.0 40.7 51.0 46.9 16.7 15.7 35.0
Health 14.6 11.1 6.1 12.2 31.0 18.6 15.7
City/town 9.8 31.5 24.5 24.5 26.2 22.5 23.4
Region 0.0 0.0 2.0 6.1 11.9 15.7 7.4
Province 12.2 11.1 14.3 20.4 16.7 26.5 18.4
States 0.0 16.7 6.1 6.1 4.8 14.7 9.5
Central 0.0 0.0 8.2 6.1 11.9 6.9 5.6
Other 0.0 11.1 0.0 12.2 4.8 15.7 8.9
Table 5.1.3. Career recovered (= 337) by sector of the population, and as a percentage of
careers recovered in italics.
Clerics Law % Med % Other % Total %
1426–50 19 57.6 13 27.7 5 38.5 37 39.8

1451–75 28 54.9 10 18.9 5 11.6 43 30.1
1476–1500 26 43.3 3 11.5 7 36.8 36 35.3
1501–25 19 43.2 4 25.0 3 100.0 26 41.3
1526–50 7 20.0 1 3.2 1 16.7 9 12.5
1551–75 9 8.7 3 7.3 5 20.0 17 10.2
Total 108 33.0 34 15.9 26 24.5 168 26.3
Table 5.1.4. Clerics in the population per faculty and as a percentage of faculty
in italics.
Academia
The pursuit of learning and the necessity or desire to communicate
this learning to a next generation of young men presuppose that
some individuals sought—or, alternatively, had to settle for—a career
within university walls. At least 88 individuals were at some stage
250 chapter five
in their career involved in teaching at one or other studium. No less

than 51 students taught during their college years. Although for many
students the teaching done then was the last they saw of the lecture
hall, the corps of university lecturers and professors, excluding other
high university offices often held by professors—during and after
their studies—in total grew to 88 (13.7 per cent of the total popu-
lation). Categorized according to position and faculty over time, the
picture looks as follows (table 5.1.5.):
1426–50 1451–75 1476–00 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
lect. artes 2 8 4 8 7 1 30
prof. artes 3 2 4 1 2 2 14
lect. med. 1 1 0 0 0 2 4
prof. med. 1 4 1 0 4 4 14
lect. law 4 6 3 4 3 1 21
prof. law 4 2 0 2 4 0 12
prof. theol. 0 1 0 1 1 1 4
Total teach. 15 24 12 16 21 11 99
Total Ind. 14 21 12 13 19 9 88
proc. nat. 3 9 6 7 5 17 47
cons./stat. 0 0 0 0 0 5 5
dec. fac./
other 1 0 1 0 1 1 4
rect. univ. 3 2 1 0 5 4 15
Total cat. 7 11 8 7 11 27 71
Table 5.1.5. Positions in Academia.
Between the two largest groups, students of law and medicine, the
conclusion must be that medical students were far more willing to
take up teaching, not only during their studies but afterwards as
well. A minimum of 45 of this group (21 per cent of all medical
students; almost half of those medical students about whom we have
career information) taught at some stage during their careers. No
less than at least 21 of them—or one out of every ten medical stu-
dents—claimed a professorship, either in medicine (14) or in the arts
(7). This is a first indication that the study of medicine was much
more closely defined, more professionalized in terms of career outcome.8
8
Rüdiger-Prüll, ‘“Karriere”’, uses the term “Verlaufbahnung”.
Although a doctorate in medicine was a degree that was more

than required for a teaching position or professorship in arts, one
cannot simply say that medical graduates settled for less than they
could ask for.9 True, professorial chairs in medicine at the universi-
ties of northern Europe were few and competition was fierce.
Universities sometimes recruited almost entirely from their own gra-
duate pool. An overqualification avant la lettre does not explain this
phenomenon entirely. Especially in the first fifty years of the sixteenth
century, some medical graduates made a deliberate choice for one
of the arts subjects. Gisbertus Longolius, who graduated at Ferrara,
had the honour of becoming the first official professor of Greek at
the University of Cologne in 1538. Justus Velsius, doctor medicinae of
Bologna, taught Greek at the universities of Louvain and Cologne
in the forties and fifties. In certain cases the choice for arts could
be interpreted as one motivated by the humanist ideal.10 Lecturing
in medicine and particularly a professorial position were attractive
career options for most students of medicine.
Lawyers were not as eager to pursue a teaching career. 39 Law
students were at some stage involved in teaching (11.9 per cent of
law students, but just 19.1 per cent of those law students of whom
we have career information). On top of this, quite a few law stu-
dents, nineteen in total, just taught as part of their studies and after
graduation moved on to pursue careers elsewhere, most often in the
Church and frequently combined with the affairs of state. Students
of law were also less interested in taking up teaching positions in
arts. Only two law students took up lectureships in arts, one of them
during his studies. Five law students have been known to occupy
professorial chairs in the artes, but Martinus Hegherdoer, professor
of arts at the University of Louvain actually gave up this posi-
tion to go study the law in Italy. This he did successfully. He left
the University of Bologna with a degree in canon law. Another law
9
It is worth keeping in mind that at Italian universities arts and medicine were
taught within one faculty.
10
Heinz Finger, ‘Gisbert Longolius (1507–1543)’ in: Rheinische Lebensbilder 14
(Cologne 1994) 93–114; E. Feist-Hirsch, ‘The Strange Career of a Humanist. The
Intellectual Development of Justus Velsius (1502–1582)’ in: Aspects de la propagande
réligieuse, Travaux d’Humanisme et Renaissance 28 (Geneva 1957).
252 chapter five
students who accepted a professorship in the artes was the humanist

Rodolphus Agricola, who came to Pavia studying the law, but had
a complete change of heart, especially when attending the studium of
Ferrara. His international reputation as a man of letters eventually
led the University of Heidelberg to offer him a post in the arts fac-
ulty. He cannot exactly be called typical for the population of law
students in this sense.
Even the number of professorships in law is relatively small. A
total of 17 were found, 5 in the arts and 12 in the law (5.2 per cent
of the total number of law students; 8.3 per cent of the law students
whose careers could be traced). This is not to say that there were
no eminent law professors in the population. Nicolaus Everardi of
Amsterdam, graduate of Bologna, was an important academic. Not
only was he professor of canon law at the University of Ingolstadt
as well as rector of the university, he also was the founding father
of an entire line of important lawyers. His two eldest sons, Nicolaus
and Georg, eventually joined him in teaching law at Ingolstadt, after
their own iter italicum.
A pattern emerges which tells that a lectureship in arts at an
Italian studium was a good support basis for a student of medicine
who wanted to take the degree of doctor medicinae. A professorship in
the arts was also a career option for medical students. The subjects
were closely related and especially in the sixteenth century the sub-
ject of Greek became an interesting one.
This was not so much the case for law students. They were not
that interested in teaching arts. Their focus was on teaching the law
during their studies, but they moved on rapidly after graduation.
Comparatively, they were less inclined to take up lecture- or pro-
fessorships. This has to be explained in various, but interconnected
ways. As we shall see, the options open to law students were more
numerous than for those of any other subject studied. It is significant
that eight law professors in the population managed to acquire their
seats almost upon graduation, which was not always the case for
their peers in medicine. Their higher social profile was also a con-
tributing factor. The combination of rank and degree would enable
them to reach higher or wider than a professorial chair. Apart from
this explanation on the supply side, there was the demand side to
this question as well. It was difficult to gain a professorship at Italian
studia, where dynasties of local professors dominated the colleges of
doctors. To a lesser extent this was the case in northern European

universities as well.11
The few students of theology were very eager to teach. Four pro-
fessorships were found for ten students. Petrus Canisius, professor of
theology at Vienna and the only saint of the Church in the popu-
lation, is one of the most famous among them.
The universities in which these students taught were—apart from
those in Italy during and after their studies—generally those close
to the Netherlands. Both the studium of Cologne and that of Louvain
took in several former students. Louvain seems to have had a pref-
erence for lawyers, whereas Cologne was more inclined to employ
graduates in the faculties of arts and medicine, both in the fifteenth
and sixteenth century. Other studia were mentioned. Paris, Cambridge,
Heidelberg, Basle, Douai, Trier, Vienna, Ingolstadt, Marburg and
Copenhagen all figure on this list. After 1575 the list was extended
with another university that was to play a considerable role in the
history of universities: Leiden. Several students of arts and medicine
in the population went one to teach in this newly founded studium.12
Even the University of Franker in Friesland was mentioned.
The Church
Traditionally the relationship between Church and University had
been a very close one. The distinction between clericus and scholaris
was hardly discernible in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The
process of laicization of the university population only really started
in the fourteenth century. Even in the fifteenth century the proportion
of clerics at the various studia, especially in the north of Europe was
still considerable. Ergo, vere dignum et iustum est to examine the careers
11
This relatively low figure, or even lower figures of teaching personnel among
law students is found more often. Out of the 306 students from Brabant at the
University of Orléans between 1444 and 1546 only 6 students taught as part of
their career (2%). Only 3 of them became law professors (1%). Similarly for the
students from the diocese of Utrecht at this university only two students became
law professors. De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Brabanders’ 288–90; Ead., ‘Studenten uit het
bisdom Utrecht’, 79. Cf. also Fuchs, Dives, 95, who comments on the relative small
numbers of teaching positions. De Coster, ‘Vreemde docenten’.
12
Relations between the faculty of medicine in Leiden and the Italian universi-
ties will be dealt with more thoroughly in chapter 6.
254 chapter five
of those students belonging to the clergy. To a certain extent the

Italian institutions for higher education, particularly those specialized
in (Roman) law, form an exception to an almost European rule.
From an early stage the laity had found the way to their gates. This
did not apply to all its suppositi. In the thirteenth and fourteenth cen-
tury approximately 80 per cent of Swiss students in Bologna still
belonged to the clergy.13 In the previous chapter we have seen that
a not insignificant (13.4 per cent), but ever declining percentage of
students from the Northern Netherlands travelling to the peninsula
belonged to the clergy during their studies.14 Here, we shall examine
the various functions and dignities within the Church that the stu-
dents in the populations managed to obtain not only during but after
their studies as well.
A minimum of one out of every four students (26.3 per cent) held
some sort of position in the Church, either before, during or after
their studies. They can be called members of the clergy. Their actual
position within the Church is, of course, another matter. It is true
that taking orders allowed a student to be eligible for a church
benefice, but is very doubtful if they all held one. Similarly, students
who were mentioned as sacerdos or presbyter, indicating their ordina-
tion as priests, were according to canon law entitled to a benefice,
but it is equally doubtful whether this was always the case in prac-
tice. Further discussion of careers in the Church will therefore take
place on the basis of actual benefices found for particular students.15
13
Stelling-Michaud, Juristes suisses; Id., L’Université de Bologne.
14
Cf. Fuch, Dives, 17, where he states that the number of students supported by
a church benefice at the University of Heidelberg was also declining. He is correct
in warning that this should not be automatically interpreted as a process of lai-
cization. He explains that the careers at the end of his period of investigation (1450)
were still very much focused on the Church. Students became involved in the
Church at a later stage in their lives. Cf. also Van den Hoven van Genderen, Heren,
349, on the careers of the canons of Oudmunster. The figures found for the pop-
ulation studying in Italy seem to confirm the findings of Fuchs and Van den Hoven
van Genderen.
15
I follow the same guidelines Fuchs, Dives, 14–5 proposed. They are somewhat
different from those handled by Schwinges, Deutsche Universitätsbesucher, 399, who does
count students labelled as presbyter and sacerdos as members of the beneficed clergy.
This means that a number of clerics with a benefice might escape our attention,
because their benefice could not be traced. Fuchs further points out the difficulties
with the term clergy. It was sometimes used rather randomly, apart from the fact
that we seldom know which orders were actually taken. Those students studying
canon law, but for whom no benefice could be traced, were left out and if there
Church careers 1426–50 1451–75 1476–00 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
Parish 15 15 14 15 2 5 66
Canon 13 10 11 7 4 7 52
Regional 4 5 3 3 3 2 20
Diocese 4 2 5 2 2 5 20
Bishop 1 0 1 0 0 1 3
Curia pap. 5 0 2 1 1 5 14
Order 3 5 4 2 1 4 19
Abbot/rect. 1 2 2 0 2 4 11
Court chapl. 1 1 1 0 1 0 4
Total offices 47 40 43 30 16 33 209
Table 5.1.6. Positions in the Church held by students in the population (categories are individuals).
An ecclesiastical career could look very different. Dignities could vary

from a small benefice attached to a chapel to the position of bishop,
even bishop of Rome (though none of the students in the popula-
tion got to wear a tiara). In many cases they was a cumulation of
several benefices. For 118 individuals no less that 263 clearly defined
dignities could be found. Table 5.1.6. showes the various offices in
different church levels found. It is worthwhile to look at these church
dignities separately.16
A large number of students were mentioned as belonging to the
clergy in terms like clericus, presbyter, sacerdos, and such, but only a
limited number of precisely defined church benefices could be traced.
An absolute minimum of 66 individuals, 39.3 per cent of the cler-
ics in the population, or one in ten of the total student population,
held one or more identified lower offices in the Church. Even among
these lower church offices held by secular clergy enormous differences
existed. Some students already held a benefice on their way to uni-
versity, and they would have the opportunity to let the income from
this benefice pay for or at least contribute to the cost of study, while
another cleric functioned as his substitute.17 Others only acquired
was no mention of them belonging to the clergy, they have not been counted among
the overall clergy.
16
For the institutional history of the Church in the Netherlands, and the various
dignities mentioned see: W. Nolet and P.C. Boeren, Kerkelijke instellingen in de Middeleeuwen
(Amsterdam 1951); R.R. Post, Kerkgeschiedenis van Nederland in de Middeleeuwen, II vols.
(Utrecht 1957); J. van Herwaarden, ‘De kerkelijke organisatie van de Nederlanden:
bisdommen, kapittels, parochies’ in: NAGN, IV, 392–5.
17
Clerics with a benefice who chose to go and study were exempt from paying
256 chapter five
one later in their career. The difference between a “beneficium in

Hulst”, probably a chapel or even an altar, and the dignity of per-
sona of an important church like St Martin’s in Groningen was a
substantial one.
We meet students in chapels, vicaries and parish churches all over
the Northern Netherlands, in the diocese of Utrecht and a further
number of lower church benefices in other dioceses, of which Liège
and Cologne were clearly the most important after Utrecht. Churches
in most of the important towns, from Alkmaar to Zierikzee, were
mentioned, but also several benefices in smaller communities and
villages. Johannes Alardi Vos for instance was persona of the parish
of Avezaet in Guelders in 1522.18 Some benefices seem to have had
a special relationship with students from Italy. The substantial con-
tribution that Groningen made to the iter italicum is reflected in the
appointments made to its most important church; that of St Martin.
The persona of St Martin’s church held supreme ecclesiastical author-
ity in the town and its immediate environment, apart from the fact
that he also had considerable influence on city government. For this
important church benefice a distinguished study curriculum had
become an unwritten law. No fewer than ten students in the population
were either persona (5) or vicaris (5) of this church. Wilhelmus Frederici,
graduate of Ferrara and persona from 1489 onwards, is perhaps the
best example and was the one responsible for shaping this important
position. Apart from wielding power over the affairs of the churches
in Groningen, he played an influential role in town politics.19
Most were explicitly mentioned as persona (30), a number as chap-
lains (27) and vicars (14). As was the case in the late-medieval and
early modern period, these clerics often held more than one benefice.
Ten students combined different lower church offices. A minimum
of four further students were involved in church bureaucracy at the
lower level, as either secretaries to bishops or procurator fiscalis of
Cologne, where someone like the cleric Petrus Ivonis of Alkmaar
could use the legal skills acquired during his studies.
The relationship between chapters and universities had been a
for their absentia. They only had to pay for their substitute. Cf. Bijsterveld, Laverend,
particularly pp. 27–86.
18
Brom, Archivalia, I, 97, nr. 270.
19
For both St Martin’s Church and the role of Wilhelmus Frederici, see: Zijlstra,
Geleerde Friesland, 117.
long lasting and a fruitful one, certainly up the beginning of the

fourteenth century. Canons were often encouraged to go study, while
still enjoying the fruits of their canonicatum on their peregrinatio acade-
mica. The iter italicum was no exception. A minimum of 52 students
(8.1 percent of the total population and almost one-third of all cler-
ics) managed to attain the rank of canon in one or more chapters.
The position of canon did not disappear from the career perspec-
tive for students from Italian universities. Canons appear in all time
cohorts, although there was some change over time. They were com-
paratively more numerous in the period 1426–1525. If we look at
the number of canons as a percentage of the clerics in the time
cohorts, one notices that the dignity of canon remained a stable,
attractive position throughout. Obviously, those who travelled the
long way to Italy and returned with a degree could aspire to the
generally rewarding office of canon.
The widespread practice of cumulation of church offices is clearly
visible in the cohort of canons. These 52 canons accumulated at
least 84 canonries in different chapters in more than one diocese.
Only two of them were regular canons, the overwhelming majority
were secular canons. The city of Utrecht with its five chapters was
the place where most of these canons were to be found. An indica-
tion for both the ambitions of the students in the population and
their success-rate is the fact that most of them managed to obtain
a canonry in either the cathedral chapter of Utrecht or the second
most prestigious chapter in the diocese, St Salvator, also called
Oudmunster. The other chapters in the Dom-stad follow with many
more benefices, the total amount of canonries in Utrecht amount-
ing to 42! Other popular chapters in the diocese were the chapter
of St Lebuin’s in Deventer and, for instance, the chapter of St Pancras
in Leiden, two of the oldest and most prestigious chapters in the
diocese after those in the Domstad. Canonries for students from the
Northern Netherlands were not limited, however, to their own dio-
cese. In the neighbouring bishoprics of Cologne, Liège, Cambrai and
Tournai more benefices could be found, usually in the episcopal
cities itself, but a chapter like Our Lady’s in Breda, in the diocese
of Liège also took in three students from the population. They can
be found as far as Bratislava, where Theodorus Lindanus managed
to obtain another benefice.20
20
For the list of chapters see the appendix 5.1.
258 chapter five
Twenty students were known to have used the prebends in chap-

ters to finance their university studies. The rest seem to have acquired
their canonries at a later stage in their professional life. Recent lit-
erature on the subject seems to suggest that in the late Middle Ages
the position of canon became less of a starting position in the Church,
but that it evolved into a station that a diligent and successful student
might attain at the middle or even later stages of his career; as a
reward for services rendered to a higher authority. The results found
for our population seem to partly confirm this thesis. Although the
number of students supported by a canonry during their studies was
still significant in the fifteenth century, this number declined in the
sixteenth. Also, the students lucky enough to have the prebend to
pay for their university fees, board and lodging, came without excep-
tion from the nobility and the extremely well-connected patriciate.
For the majority of the clerical population a canonry was a career
goal rather then a stepping-stone.
Did a prestigious degree count within a chapter? It is certain that
university studies had become important in trying to obtain a canonry
for those students who were not of noble descent. University visits
and degrees had become a standard feature of canons, especially in
the fifteenth and certainly the sixteenth century.21 For the 52 canons
in our population no less than 44 degrees in the higher faculties
(84.6 per cent) could be found, the bulk of which were in law, 1
bachelor’s degree, 4 licentiates and 39 doctorates.22 If one wanted
to make progress within a chapter, a university degree, preferably
in law, seems to have been of great advantage. No less than 22
students who visited Italy, with one exception all graduates in law,
managed to become dean of one or more chapters. In other words
42.3 per cent of the canons in the population managed to attain the
highest office within a chapter. Other offices in chapters were also
found, praepositi, treasurers, scholastici, etc. Many a canon held various
offices, before attaining the highest office within a chapter. An excel-
21
From the abundant literature on canons in general J. Pycke, ‘Les chanoines
de Tournai aux études’ in: The Universities in the Late Middle Ages (Louvain 1978) 601;
Van den Hoven van Genderen, Heren, 248–73, in particular the comparison with
other chapters in Europe, 250.
22
The exact numbers are 12 doctores iuris canonici, 3 doctores iuris civilis, 2
licentiati iuris civilis, 14 doctores utriusque iuris, 2 licentiati utriusque iuris, 7 doc-
tores medicinae, 3 doctores and 1 baccalaureus theologiae.
lent example is probably Gerardus Suggerode, law graduate of

Bologna, who became a canon of the chapter of St Salvator in
Utrecht in 1498. In 1503 he held the office of socius of the praepositus
of Oudmunster, which office he held until 1526. He partly combined
this with the dignity of treasurer of the chapter (1509–1527). In 1527
finally he became dean of the chapter.23
A further 20 students managed to climb the ladder of church hier-
archy a little bit higher. There were various regional church posi-
tions available. Chief among these was the much sought after dignity
of archidiaconus, as the income attached to this office was very con-
siderable. In the diocese of Utrecht there were eleven archdeaner-
ies. These positions were held by the provosts of the five chapters
in Utrecht, the provosts of the chapters of the four oldest collegiate
churches outside Utrecht (Deventer, Emmerich, Oldenzaal and
Arnhem), the archdeacon of the cathedral chapter and one desig-
nated canon of the cathedral chapter. Eleven students held the post
of archdeacon, eight of them in the diocese of Utrecht, three in
other dioceses, Tournai, Bratislava and Liège. Other offices like ordi-
nary dean (of Drenthe: 1) provisor (of Delfland: 1) and certain proos-
dijen, held by provosts (10) can also be subsumed under this category.
For the Ommelanden, under the diocese of Munster, these provosts
were very important church officials as these proosdijen were relatively
far from Munster. Four students were provosts, two of Loppersum
and two of Humsterland, all law graduates.
The top layer of the ecclesiastical hierarchy in the Northern
Netherlands was extremely narrow. For one, up to 1559, there was
only one diocese, Utrecht, which included most of the territory of
the northern Low Countries. Only one bishop, therefore only one
episcopal court and consequently there were not that many offices
to compete for. Nevertheless, 20 individuals24 managed to reach the
highest offices in a diocese, short of becoming a bishop. This means
that almost one in eight students connected with the Church eventually
moved on to the diocesanal summit. Among these 20 individuals the
students with a degree in law—fifteen doctores and one licentiatus—
were most numerous. A further two doctores in medicine and two
more in theology also managed to find their way to his level.
23
Van den Hoven van Genderen, Heren, 716–7.
24
3.1% of the total student population, 5.9% of the students whose careers are
known and no less that 11.9% of all clerics in the population.
260 chapter five
Two different dignities stand out, the office of officiaal (official-

principal) and that of vicaris-generaal (vicar-general). The officiaal was
the church officer—in essence a judge—presiding over the episco-
pal judicial court, one of the first ‘professional’, often graduated
judges in Europe. It is therefore not surprising that from the very
foundation of the first universities these officers were generally trained
in both canon and civil law. This applied to the students in our
population as well. Nine law graduates held this prestigious position.
As was to be expected, eight of them were connected to the dio-
cese of Utrecht, another was officiaal of the diocese of Cologne and
the last one of the diocese of Munster.
The other elevated church position was vicaris-generaal, the official
substitute of the bishop and as such possessed full episcopal author-
ity. Six students rose to hold this prestigious office, five in the dio-
cese of Utrecht and one, the often mentioned Theodorus Lindanus
was vicar-general of Breslau.25
The Northern Netherlands were almost identical—with the excep-
tion of a few small areas—with the diocese of Utrecht. There was
only one episcopal see to compete for and this was beyond the reach
of virtually every student in the population, as only the most impor-
tant noble families of Holland, Guelders and Utrecht, joined by the
illegitimate sons of the house of Burgundy and high nobles from the
Empire, could make a serious bid for the episcopal seat, that up to
1528 was a prince-bishopric.26 None of the students in the population
managed to reach the position of bishop of Utrecht. Two students
in the population had the honour of being illegitimate sons of bishops
of Utrecht, Johannes van Diepholt and Johannes David of Burgundy.
Three students managed to attain the position of bishop or coad-
jutor. Robertus of Brederode, younger son of Holland’s most impor-
tant nobleman, tried to get the seat of Cambrai in the year he
matriculated at the University of Padua. He was unsuccessful because
of Antoine, Cardinal Granvelle’s influence, but eventually managed
to become coadjutor of the archbishop of Cologne. Petrus de Mera,
25
See also Fuchs, Dives, 98.
26
There were very few positions anyway. Rudolf van Diepholt (1424–56), Gijsbrecht
of Brederode (1455–56), David of Burgundy (1457–96), Frederick of Baden (1496–1517),
Philip of Burgundy (1517–24), Henry II of Bavaria (1525–1529), Willem van
Enckenvoirt (1529–34), Georg of Egmont (1535–1558).
of noble origin and career-maker in the Church hierarchy, eventually

got the position of choreepiscopus of Utrecht. The last case was a spe-
cial one. Paulus Adriani of Middelburg was most definitely not of
noble origin. His origins have to be sought in the bourgeoisie of the
town of Middelburg. He owed his appointment as bishop of Fossom-
brone to a large extent to the fact that he was a famous astronomer.
After his years of studying and teaching astronomy at the University
of Padua he became the personal physician and astronomer of
Federico da Montrefeltro, duke of Urbino. An authority on calen-
dar reform, he was given the seat of Fossombrone—near Urbino,
one might add—in 1494 and therefore could attend the Fifth Lateran
Council, where calendar reform was high on the agenda.
The next category consists of clerics who made it to the corridors
of the Vatican. Fifteen students managed to get a foot between the
doors of the papal Curia. Most often mentioned among the dignities
within the papal Curia were the protonotarii apostolici (5), a college of
church officials charged with chancery duties as well as issues con-
cerning beatification and sanctification. Furthermore, we found one
papal referendarius, one papal legate, a papal inquisitor, one papal
proctor and two familiares of a cardinal. Three more students suc-
ceeded in becoming papal chamberlains. The most well-known among
them was certainly Wilhelmus van Lockhorst, law graduate of Siena,
who followed Adriaan Boeyens, Pope Adrian VI, to Rome.27
At least nineteen students were members of different religious
orders either during and/or after their studies. Four of them belonged
to the Dominican order and they seemed to have a preference for
the study of theology at one or other Italian studium, especially Ferrara,
like Johannes van Houdaen, who later exercised some authority as
papal inquisitor in the diocese of Utrecht. Other orders were men-
tioned as well. Another three students belonged to the German Order,
three to the Jesuits, one to the Benedictines, one to the Cistercians
and one to the Praemonstratencians. Two students entered houses
of the Brethren of the Common life, following the Rule of St Augustine.
A last student, Theodoricus Persijn entered the Carthusian order
towards the end of his fruitful career, after having held a professorship
27
Adrian VI had been the provost of the chapter of St Salvator, where Wilhelmus’
father, Herman van Lockhorst was dean. Herman also became a member of the
curia.
262 chapter five
in law at the University of Louvain and a position as councillor to

the Court of Holland. For one student the exact religious order was
not entirely clear. These students held various degrees. Theology and
law were most popular, but even medicine as a subject of study was
mentioned. There was not one subject of study that really stood out.
Within their religious communities these monks and friars were at
any rate successful. Eleven of them managed to become either prior
or abbot of a priory or monastery. We found one Dominican prior,
two Jesuit ones, two priors of the German Order, two Augustinans,
and one Cistercian abbot. Furthermore, Jacobus van Ameronghen
became territorial commander of the balije Utrecht for the German
order. Stephanus van Rumelaer, although there was no indication
that he ever entered the German Order, nevertheless managed to
become its proctor in Utrecht in 1490.
All in all, one might say that the contingent of clerics in the popu-
lation managed fairly well within the hierarchy of the Church. The
absolute and relative dominance of law students among them sug-
gests that this subject and certainly a law degree could give an ambi-
tious young man who had taken orders a weapon he could use in
the competition for prestigious church offices.
Physicians and Health Care

With such a substantial number of students of medicine, it was no
great surprise to find that a number of medical students practised
what they had heard preaching during their years in the college
benches. There were strong indications that most students in the
population who ended up as practising physicians did so in the
Netherlands. Although we do have evidence of a number of indi-
viduals setting up shop in England, France, Italy and more frequently,
the neighbouring German lands, the majority of them found a place
in one of the cities or towns in the Low Countries.
Health care and medical practice in the Northern Netherlands at
the end of the Middle Ages were by no means strictly regulated. A
whole spectrum of professions connected to health care existed. Care
for the sick often took place in monasteries, priories and convents,
where women were often minding the patients,—until the thirteenth
century the religious orders were most important in medical mat-
ters. In towns, hospitals for those suffering from plague, leprosy and
mental illnesses were founded and supported by the town govern-
1426–50 1451–75 1476–00 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
Practice 4 7 2 3 8 14 38
Town phys. 2 3 1 2 10 7 25
Personal phys. 1 0 1 3 3 8 16
Total prof. 7 10 4 8 21 29 79
Total Per. 6 5 3 7 13 19 53
%med car. 1426–50 1451–75 1476–00 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
Practice 26.7 43.8 25.0 23.1 50.0 60.9 41.8

Town phys. 13.3 18.8 12.5 15.4 62.5 30.4 27.5
Personal phys. 6.7 0.0 12.5 23.1 18.8 34.8 17.6
Total Per. 40.0 62.5 37.5 53.8 81.3 82.6 58.2
Table 5.1.7. Positions in health care held by students in the population in absolute numbers
and as a percentage of careers of students of medicine.
ment, guilds and fraternities. Next to these institutionalized forms of

health care, there were individuals, such as barbers, surgeons and
apothecaries who took care of those with ailments. From the foun-
dation of the first universities, these ‘craftsmen’ were joined by a
different sort of medical man: the learned physician. From the four-
teenth century onwards these university trained—but not necessar-
ily medically trained, nor graduated—physicians pop up in the sources.
These learned physicians come in three shapes: personal physicians
to princes and high nobles, town physicians and those setting up
their own practice independent of noble or urban patronage.28
To start with the last type of medical doctor, he was pretty much
his own man. He had to compete with other professionals in this
line of work. Every town of any importance seems to have had at
least one or more practising medical men. The level of organization
of these medical professionals, whatever their qualifications might
have been, varied from town to town. In some towns such as Delft
and Leiden, the barbers and surgeons had their own guilds. Strangely
enough, in Utrecht—not exactly a village, one might add—barbers
and surgeons belonged to the guild of the riggers, because of the
28
For the situation on health care in the later Middle Ages and early modern
period, see: Van Herwaarden, ‘Medici’ and the ever growing body of literature on
health care at local level.
264 chapter five
instruments used in their trade. Similarly, in Amsterdam barbers

were part of the guild that included the makers of clogs and skates.
In other towns such as Zwolle they were part of the stallholders’
and merchant’s guild.29 Physicians with a university background would
hardly have been members of these guilds. Their mainly theoretical
education set them apart from those medical men who lacked such
education and who were involved in manual labour. There is evi-
dence that those who had a degree in medicine enjoyed higher pres-
tige than medical practitioners without university degree. There is
also evidence that those with the degree of doctor medicinae could prac-
tice medicine without any mediation from the appropriate guild.30
Despite the fact that structural information about this category of
health care professionals—the doctores medicinae —is lacking almost
completely, there was incidental evidence that no less—and consid-
ering the lack of source material this is an absolute minimum—than
38 students (41.8 per cent of medical careers) had a medical prac-
tice in a town or city. These medical practices were set up by our
students in various towns, in various regions, even in various coun-
tries, as the university degree would have international recognition.
Thus we find students in the towns and cities of the Netherlands,
but also on occasion in Paris, where Hadrianus Junius had a prac-
tice, in England, where Reinier Snoy practised or Germany, where
Abelius Silvius set up his practice in Lüneburg.
The next category consists of town physicians. The term itself is
very confusing and even from the sources in the towns themselves
it is not always clear what it meant. From the fourteenth century
onwards, cities and towns in the Netherlands frequently hired med-
ical personnel. Often these were barbers or surgeons, but certainly
from the late fourteenth century sources often mention a “stede
medicus”, indicating that this town official had had university train-
ing, but not stipulating what this training had exactly involved. In
the fifteenth century such town physicians are mentioned more often,
on a more structural basis. By the beginning of the sixteenth cen-
29
Van Herwaarden, ‘Medici’, 370–1.
30
Ibid. Naturally, this has consequences for our grasping of the careers. If doc-
tors of medicine could practise without further administrative ado, it seems extremely
likely that most of them will have done so at some stage during their career. It is
also very unlikely that they left an archive of their activities.
tury every self-respecting town had a town physician, almost per-

manently. The office itself changed over time. Apart from dealing
with medical crises (the frequent visits of epidemics) in their com-
munity, the town physician over time became an authority on med-
ical practice within the town or city. As such, this by now always
university-trained town servant was charged with overseeing the prac-
tice of medicine within the town walls, much like the college of med-
ical doctors in the large Italian cities.
At this stage, the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, doctores medicinae
had invaded this office en masse. Among them were at least 25 gra-
duates of Italian universities. Starting with Johannes Bentheim of
Kampen who became the first known town physician of his native
town almost immediately after his return from the peninsula in 1426,
the population continued to provide the towns and cities of the
Netherlands with experts not only on the care for the sick, but also
authorities on how health care should be structured and organized.
Maarten Jansz Coster, for instance, magistrate and town physician
of Amsterdam in the 1570s, was responsible for a new instruction
that all medical practitioners in town had to obey by law. These
graduates can be found in many cities and towns in the Netherlands:
Alkmaar, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Arnhem, Delft, Deventer, Enkhuizen,
Gouda, Groningen, Haarlem, Kampen, Leeuwarden, Leiden, Middel-
burg, Utrecht, Zierikzee and Zwolle are among the towns that left
sources to confirm the important role that graduates from Italy played
in the shaping of public health care in the Low Countries. The
students were not limited to the Netherlands though. The already
mentioned Maarten Jansz Coster had been town physician of Boulogne-
sur-Mer before returning home to Amsterdam. Even as far as
Nuremberg town physicians from the Northern Netherlands could
be found.
The last category that needs to be discussed is that of the per-
sonal physician. From the high Middle Ages onwards, emperors,
kings and princes had employed physicians and surgeons to moni-
tor their well-being. From the early fourteenth century there is evi-
dence that this was the case in the Northern Netherlands too, when
several personal physicians of the count of Holland were mentioned.
As time went by the practice of hiring a personal medical man
became more widespread among the nobility, particularly in the six-
teenth century. From very early onwards, learned physicians had
made their way to the courts to perform this task. Medical students
266 chapter five
in the population managed to get their share in this most profitable

of medical professions. At least 16 students (17.6 per cent of medical
careers) were found as personal physicians to some or other noble
figure. For the fifteenth century, there were few, though this partly
reflects the source problem. Bartholomeus Nicolai van Ethen, graduate
of Pavia, became personal physician to three consecutive archbishops
of Mainz and a string of German noblemen. During his time there
he might even have dealt with the emperor himself. Paulus Adriani
of Middelburg’s employer was none other than the duke of Urbino.
The evidence for the cohorts 1501–75 is much more readily avail-
able. Almost one in six medical students secured a place somewhere
at court. Apart from a host of high German noble families (the dukes
of Bavaria, margraves of Hessen and Sleswick-Holstein) and (arch)bish-
ops (Cologne, Bonn, Würzburg and even Wilna of all places), a num-
ber of royal and imperial patrons were found. Cornelis Baersdorp
was one of the personal physicians of Emperor Charles V. His suc-
cessors as emperors, from Ferdinand I until Rudolph II, were attended
to by Godefridus Steegh of Amersfoort. Both Cornelis and Govert
were rewarded for their services with the title of comes palatinus.
Hadrianus Junius was personal physician to the king of Denmark,
while Wilhelmus Lemnius was employed by King Eric XIV of Sweden
and his successor John III. Three graduates from the population
were involved with, and two stood at the deathbed of, William the
Silent: Hadrianus Junius, Petrus Forestus and Johannes Heurnius.
These three types of medical professions were almost completely
monopolized by medical students. Apart from Joachimus Huberti
van Bieselinge, who studied law but not medicine as far as can be
established, all were students of medicine and most of them held a
doctorate in medicine.
Government and Administration of Cities and Towns

Another sector where students could be located was the town and
city government and administration. With the growth of towns and
cities, accompanied by economic and professional diversification, the
need for educated personnel within the administration of town and
cities increased. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries chanceries
started to develop in a very simple form in the towns in the Northern
Netherlands. In the fifteenth century these early attempts at establishing
a civil service had become more elaborate, with most towns and cer-
Town/City 1426–50 1451–75 1476–00 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
Schepen 0 3 1 2 3 8 17
Burgem. 0 4 3 3 5 8 23
Tresorier 0 2 1 1 1 0 5
General 2 6 4 5 3 5 25
Pens/Secr. 1 7 3 3 1 6 21
Schoolm. 1 1 1 1 4 0 8
Notary 0 2 1 1 0 0 4
Advo. 1 2 0 1 0 5 9
Total Prof. 5 27 14 17 17 32 112
Table 5.1.8. Positions in town government and administration held by students in the population.
tainly the larger ones employing several educated men to take care
of certain aspects of the urban administration. Chief among these
civil servants avant la lettre were the town clerks. Especially in the
fifteenth century specific town clerks had been charged with specific
tasks in the administration and a hierarchy developed accordingly.
The following is an oversimplification of what happened to the
town bureaucracies in the Northern Netherlands. Generally one might
say that there was one outstanding, non-political figure among the
town administrators, the chief secretary, also called pensionaris, some-
times also referred to as stede advocaat: the first civil servant. This
figure was increasingly charged with the town’s legal matters and
was therefore often involved in ambassadorial tasks, pleading cases
before the provincial courts, or acted as a deputy to the States.
Significant for his position was that he was the first one named on
the town’s payroll. In larger towns and cities he was assisted by a
number of clerks and scribes.31
Two of the other most important town servants, usually number
two and three on the payroll, were the town physician, discussed
above, and the rector of the town school, the head schoolmaster.32
Together these three constituted the summit of the town’s adminis-
tration. After them there were a number of slightly less important
town servants, the other people working in the chancery, ordinary
31
An increasing amount of literature on this profession has appeared in recent
years. For an overview, see Kokken, Steden, 171–91.
32
Van Herwaarden, ‘Medici’; Tervoort, ‘Schoolmeesters’.
268 chapter five
schoolmasters, and so forth. We know of 52 students (15.4 per cent

of students with known careers) involved in one of these professions.
Chief among these was the town physician, discussed already. A fur-
ther 21 students succeeded in becoming pensionaris, the top civil ser-
vant of the town. As several of his tasks were of a legal nature,
expertise in the field of law was a definite plus. Law students con-
sequently dominate this group of professionals. Out of 21 pensionarissen
19 had studied law, 15 with degrees beyond magister artium. Two of
them had a degree in medicine.
Another 8 students held the position of rector scholarum, head mas-
ter, of town schools. The close ties between the study of medicine
and arts—the trivium was after all the main set of subjects taught in
town schools—made that in this small group the students of medi-
cine also dominated. Just one law graduate briefly taught at the city
school of Rostock. All other had studied medicine and six of them
held doctorates in medicina. The closeness of arts and medicine and
of the position of town physician and town rector is further illus-
trated by the fact that three rectores also acted as town physicians
during their contracts. Gerardus Wouman did so in Leiden, Hadrianus
Junius in Haarlem and Gisbertus Longolius in Deventer.
Although technically, they did not belong to the town’s bureau-
cracy, I have also counted the lawyers and notaries public working
at town level as part of the town sector of employment. There were
at least 6 students, all law students, who worked at town level and
4 students, all law students as well, who had been admitted as notary
public in some or other town.
These professions, but particularly the position of pensionaris, all
constituted the last rung on the ladder of the town’s hierarchy in a
professional sense, before entering the magistracy. From the magis-
tracy the town’s daily government was chosen by the prince. The
way in which town governments were put together was often very
complicated and varied from town to town, while the number of
magistrates also varied.33 Generally, the town’s government was elected
from the town council composed of its richest and most important
citizens by co-optation, and it was often called vroedschap. A number
33
Recent studies on how town governments were put together and how they
functioned have appeared in recent decades, e.g.: Van Kan, Sleutels; Brand, Macht;
Verkerk, Coulissen; Abels et al., Duizend jaar Gouda.
of officials were selected from the ranks of the vroedschap. Although

sometimes designated by different titles, three sets of magistrates seem
to have emerged in most towns and cities in the Northern Netherlands.
Schepenen (aldermen), a college of judges at town level appointed by
the prince of his substitute for a one-year term. Secondly, there were
the burgemeesters (burgomasters), appointed in the same fashion, who
effectively formed the government on a day to day basis. The third
type of magistrate was the tresorier (treasurer), who dealt with the
town’s finances. These bodies, vroedschap, schepenen, burgemeesters and
tresoriers together formed the town’s government, checked by an official
of the prince. Composed of the nobles, welgeborenen and the richest
and most influential members of the bourgeoisie, the ranks were
fairly closed. The governing elite, sometimes referred to as patriciate,
almost monopolized the offices in the magistracy and it was difficult
for individuals outside this group to find their way in. Other than
these social criteria there were no educational ones. No university
training was required to enter the ranks of the town magistrates.
Be this as it may, university educated individuals managed to find
their way to the town halls. For our population no less than 48 indi-
viduals were found in the magistracies of all the main cities and
towns in the Netherlands. From Amsterdam to Zierikzee students
managed to become schepenen (17), burgemeesters (23) and tresoriers (5).
Another 25 held various positions such as councillor, hoofdman of
Groningen or member of the College der Veertigen. Frequently these
members of the town elite also held other positions, often as gov-
ernors of its institutions, such as orphanages, hospitals, poor houses
and the parish churches. Considerable wealth was expected of these
magistrates as their offices were not salaried like those in adminis-
tration. They generally received a nominal small sum for attending
the meetings of the vroedschap, some gifts in the form of wine and
clothes. Although these forms of remuneration could accumulate to
the annual wage of a skilled artisan in some towns, it would be over-
stretching it a bit to say that they were salaried.
There was some development over time. The presence of graduates
from Italy in town administration was continuous and particularly
strong for lawyers in the fifteenth century. Students of medicine ap-
pear more often in the sixteenth century cohorts, nearly always as
town physicians. The situation was somewhat different where posi-
tions in the magistracy were concerned. Comparatively few students
chose or managed to attain the office of town magistrate, certainly
270 chapter five
in the fifteenth century. There was also little difference between stu-
dents of medicine and those of law in securing these places in town
government. This situation changed somewhat in the following cen-
tury. Students of law started to turn up in increasing numbers in
town government, particularly for the cohort 1551–75. Students of
medicine were not as successful. With the exception of four students
in the cohort 1501–25, their number in town government remained
relatively low. The impression is that by the middle of the sixteenth
century a degree in medicine was considered too specialized and
would lead the graduate to a career in one of the positions men-
tioned above.34
Increasing participation in town government of students who had
been to Italy does fall into a more general pattern for the Northern
Netherlands. For aspiring members of the magistracy, pedigree, fam-
ily fortune and marriage were all-important factors. A university edu-
cation was by no means a guarantee for entering the ranks of town
government. Recent research does show that a university education,
though not necessarily a university degree, became more widespread
certainly from the last quarter of the fifteenth century for members
of the magistracy. It would be plausible to state that a real appreciation
of university education in matters of town government did not mate-
rialize until the second half of the sixteenth century, and only really
gained momentum in the seventeenth century.35 When Christoffel
Florisz Gaergoet entered the magistracy of his native town Gouda
in the late fifteenth century, and accumulated no less than twenty-
two terms as schepen, burgemeester and tresorier, he did so not on the
basis of the fact that he had studied medicine at the University of
Padua, but because he belonged to one of the most influential fami-
lies involved in Gouda’s main trade, breweries.
34
A comparative decrease of medical graduates in town government continued
in the period 1575–1795. On the basis of Frijhoff, Société, 189, table 1: from 30%
of graduates in government in the period 1575–99, through 14.9% in 1600–1624,
to 5.9% in the period 1625–49 (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Gouda, Zierikzee and
Zutphen).
35
Studies by Brand, Macht, 267–71 for Leiden; own figures for Gouda and
Alkmaar. The situation was similar for Haarlem (figures of prof. H. de Ridder-
Symoens); Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 163–7 and 199; Frijhoff, Société, 187–91.
Regional Government Officials

The term regional government officials refers to those officers appointed
by the prince who acted as either princely representatives within
cities and town (usually called schout) or in rural areas. They are
referred to by a whole list of different terms. Baljuw (bailiff ), kastelein
(castellan), drost are the most important of them. Traditionally these
offices were in most cases handed out by the prince to their noble
protégés. In the areas of Friesland and Groningen, where princely
power was very limited until the end of the fifteenth century, a num-
ber of local and regional offices had emerged that dealt with both
local government and justice ( grietmannen, redgers, ambtmannen and
hoofdelingen are some of these offices). Usually, they were held by
members of the Frisian land-owning nobility. Other positions of a
more administrative nature, such as that of rentmeester (master of
accounts) or ontvanger van de domeinen (receiver of princely domains)
can be added to this list.
As most of these offices were of old the domain of the nobility
and the powerful urban and rural patriciate, it was quite difficult
for non-nobles, not belonging to the elite, to enter the ranks of these
princely officials at local and regional level. The same can be said
for the population. Twenty-three students held a position in regional
government at some stage during their career. It is only relatively
late that students were found in these dignities. The majority belonged
to Frisian and Groninger hoofdelingengeslachten or to patrician families
from Groningen and Holland. Of only one student there was no
clear information about his family background. Three came from
1426–50 1451–75 1476–00 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Tot. Cat.
Schout/
Baljuw/
Drost 0 0 2 3 4 14 23
Ontvanger/
Rentmees. 0 0 0 1 0 4 5
Dijkgraaf/
Hooghee. 0 0 0 0 4 4 8
Total 0 0 2 4 8 22 36
Table 5.1.9. Positions held in regional government and administration by students in the population.
272 chapter five
higher bourgeois families, ten belonged to patrician families and nine

of them were noble.
To this category we might add those officials involved in a sin-
gularly Dutch activity: water management. The consistent fight against
water had to be organized at a regional and even supra-regional
level. This was done in so-called hoogheemraadschappen (polderboards)
in these centuries nominated by the prince. They could levy taxes
at regional level to maintain and improve waterways and dikes. They
consisted of a dijkgraaf and (hoog)heemraden, who were usually picked
from the local nobility and other chief landowners. Five students in
the population, all law students, held positions as either dijkgraaf or
hoogheemraad or hoofdingeland. Hector van Hoxwier, from a land-own-
ing family with noble aspirations, was dijkgraaf of Westergo in Friesland.
The nobles Petrus van Bronchorst and Splinter van Hargen were
hoogheemraad of respectively Delfland and Schieland. Later the office
of hoogheemraad of Delfland was to be held by Johan van Oldenbarnevelt.
In total 25 students were involved at this level, nearly all former
law students, 24 (7.3 per cent of law students). In many ways, espe-
cially because of the age old link with local nobility and other pow-
erful local, land-owning families, these offices might have been more
difficult to attain for students from the bourgeoisie—the brilliant
Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is the exception to the rule—than those
at provincial level, the next category.
Administration and Government at Provincial Level

The Netherlands were not a unified territory, but originally consisted
of several principalities, with different traditions of government and
administration, that only gradually grew closer together under the
attempts at centralization, first by the dukes of Burgundy and their
successors, the Habsburgs. The governmental institutions on princi-
pality level were therefore somewhat different in the counties of
Holland and Zeeland, the prince-bishopric of Utrecht—which included
Overijssel and Groningen, the duchy of Guelders and Friesland,
where princely rule was almost completely non-existent until 1494.
They did have a common origin in the sense that most of these
institutions had emerged out of the princely curia, the princely council,
in the sense that they had formed an advisory organ to the prince,
usually consisting of his most important noblemen and representatives
of the clergy. By the end of the fifteenth century sections of these
1426–50 1451–75 1476–00 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
Prov. Court 5 6 4 7 4 17 42
Advocatus 0 1 3 2 2 9 17
Other Civ. S. 1 2 1 1 0 10 15
Leenkamer 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
Landraad – – – – – 6 6
Stadtholder/
Chancellor 0 1 0 1 2 1 5
Total 6 10 8 11 8 44 88
Table 5.1.10. Positions in provincial government and administration held by students in the
population.
institutions had almost all developed into judicial courts at provin-

cial level.36 In the sixteenth century especially Charles V tried to
homogenize these provincial courts. The incorporation of het Sticht,
Friesland and Guelders in the Habsburg Netherlands made sure that
by the mid-sixteenth century every province had its own court, Hof
van Holland, Utrecht, Gelderland, Friesland, and so on. There were a
number of other bureaucratic entities at provincial level. Most impor-
tant among these were the Rekenkamers (chambers of accounts), where
the provincial financial administration was dealt with. Other insti-
tutions like the provincial courts of fiefs carried less weight.
There were 62 individuals in the population (9.7 per cent) who
held offices at provincial level, but we need to distinguish between
students of law and students of medicine. Generally bureaucracies
at provincial level were almost beyond reach for the latter, even for
those with a degree in medicine. Only two medicine graduates made
it to the provincial courts. Adriaan Dirksz van Leiden, a student of
medicine for whom we could find no information about any involve-
ment with the study of law—although this might be suspected!—,
was admitted as a lawyer at the Hof van Holland. Of Bartholomeus
Nicolai van Ethen, the other student of medicine there will be more
anon. This obviously capable man is the exception to the rule that
36
For these provincial institutions: Enklaar, Landsheerlijk bestuur; Zijlstra, Geleerde
Friesland, 145–152; Jansma, Raad en Rekenkamer; Jongkees, Staat en Kerk; Jappe Alberts,
Geschiedenis; Damen, Staat; Marie-Charlotte Le Bailly, Recht voor de Raad. Rechtspraak
voor het Hof van Holland, Zeeland en West-Friesland in het midden van de vijftiende eeuw,
Hollandse Studiën 38 (Hilversum 2001).
274 chapter five
it was generally law students that succeeded in securing posts in the

provincial administration.
No less than 57 law students (17.4 per cent of law students) at
some stage worked in provincial administration and government.
Taking into consideration the legal nature of much of the tasks
assigned to the various provincial courts, it is hardly surprising that
law graduates were an obvious choice for the prince to appoint, next
to a number of noble vassals. The choice for trained lawyers seemed
to have become increasingly popular. In the fifteenth century the
success rate of law students from Italian universities was strong with
almost one in ten holding offices at provincial level. In the following
seventy-five years this figure had more than doubled, culminating in
the last cohort, when nearly a quarter of law students ended up in
provincial courts. A significant proportion of the population contin-
uously served in these provincial courts as councillors.
These 62 individuals accumulated 88 different offices in the vari-
ous provincial bureaucracies. There were 17 students who were found
as lawyers admitted to the provincial courts. Strictly speaking they
were not servants of the prince, but rather worked for their own
benefit. A further 15 students held other offices in service of the
prince on provincial level, most often in the position of rekenmeester
and other financial offices. Two individuals were member of the
court of fiefs in Holland and a further 5 members of the landraad,
a body created during the Troubles in the Netherlands. The vast
majority of these officials, however, a total of 42, were raad or coun-
cillor in one of the provincial courts or held a seat in the princely
council. Several existed in the Northern Netherlands.
Most numerous among the raden were the members of the Hof van
Holland (19). For Holland and Zeeland the count’s council was devel-
oped by Philip the Good into the Hof van Holland, the highest judi-
cial institution in the counties, under the chairmanship of a deputy
of the prince, called stadhouder (stadtholder). It consisted of the nobles
from Holland, Zeeland and a number of lawyers often from other
territories in the Burgundian lands, especially from Flanders. Besides
the stadtholder, there were either six or eight salaried councillors
and three to six unsalaried councillors. This court was located in
The Hague. Although the lawyers attached to the court in the fifteenth
century were often foreigners’, a number of indigenous jurists also
squeezed their way into this prestigious court. No less than 19 stu-
dents managed to get appointed as raad of the Hof van Holland. This
had started in the 1430s with the Zeeuw Gillis van Wissekerke, who
had visited Bologna prior to 1425. He had 19 successors in the po-
pulation, with the exception of Bartholomeus Nicolai van Ethen, all
law students. Only in the 1550s there was no law student who had
visited Italy present as councillor in the Hof van Holland. The
absolute champion of them was Jacob Ruysch, who was a salaried
member from 1474 until 1511 and raad extra-ordinaris, albeit with a
pension, from 1511 until his death in 1519! Adriaan van der Mijle
became president of the court.
A second provincial council where a number of law graduates
were found was the council of the prince-bishop of Utrecht. From
the earliest cohort clerics of the diocese with a law degree from Italy
could be located in the close vicinity of the bishop. These nine coun-
cillors were all canons of one of the five chapters in Utrecht. Apart
from members of his council, Bishop David of Burgundy established
a specialist juridical court for his territory, called the Schijve. Among
its first members were two law students from Italy, Theodoricus
Utenweer of Leiden and its first president, Ludolphus van Veen of
Kampen, both graduates of Bologna. With the incorporation of the
prince-bishopric in the Habsburg Empire, a proper Hof van Utrecht
was founded by Charles V. A further four students became mem-
ber of this court, including one of its presidents, Hector van Hoxwier.
Service to the duke of Guelders was no unknown phenomenon to
students that had visited Italy. Petrus de Molendino, graduate of
Bologna before 1425 found a successor in Johannes Pollaert, who
also was a councillor to the duke of Guelders. There was no cen-
tralized judicial court for the overall territory of the duchy. Even
when Charles the Bold conquered Guelders, he did not dare make
an attempt at centralizing the courts that existed for the four sepa-
rate quarters of Guelders. Only when the duchy was incorporated
in the Habsburg Empire in 1543, was the Hof van Gelre installed.
Two more law students, Carolus van Arnhem and Johannes van
Speulde, found a place as councillor at this court.
The virtual absence of any central authority in Friesland made
that there were no centralized institutions for government and legal
matters. This changed when Albert of Saxony conquered Friesland
in 1498. He established a ducal council that developed into the Hof
van Friesland after the territory was added to the Habsburg Netherlands
in 1524. Frisians were relatively slow in rediscovering the road to
Italian law faculties, but attempts at centralization must have made
276 chapter five
an impact. No less than nine students in the population secured a

post in the Hof van Friesland from its reformation in 1527 until it was
dissolved in 1578.
Three law students managed to acquire a councillor’s post out-
side the Northern Netherlands. Henricus van Dornum was council-
lor at the Court of Ostfriesland and Judocus Aemson of Delft held
a post in the Raad van Brabant. Then there was Nicolaus Ruysch,
who acquired a seat of the council of the bishop of Liège.
The very top of the provincial ladder—other than the position of
the prince himself—was that of his deputy, sometimes called chan-
cellor, but more often referred to as stadhouder. There were other
prestigious positions at provincial level as well. Usually, only very
high-ranking nobles were elected to hold this prestigious office. Even
though such very high ranking noblemen were almost absent from
the population—with the exception of a few bastards and clergy-
men—, there were four students, all lawyers, who managed to rise
to these positions of power, a total of five such offices. Perhaps least
surprising is the case of Johannes van Nieuwland, second son of an
important Zeeland noble family, who had studied in Padua—together
with another high noble student from Zeeland, Maximiliaan van
Borsselen. After the death of his elder brother he became erfmaarschalk
of Flanders. Even for Johannes de Mepsche, of a noble Groningen
family, his appointment as lord-chancellor of Overijssel, Drenthe and
Lingen in 1554 and as lieutenant-governor of Groningen in 1557,
did not come out of nowhere, as he was both noble and well-con-
nected. Besides this, he had already held important positions in other
institutions at the central level. Again we meet Ludolphus van Veen,
not for the last time. This cleric from a patrician Kampen family
rose to important positions under Bishop David of Burgundy, but
managed to secure his place in power under the next bishop, Frederick
of Baden. Ludolf acted as his stadhouder in the bishop’s absence.
Arguably most surprising is the appointment of Hubertus van Rossum,
law graduate of Ferrara, as lord-chancellor of Friesland in 1534,
even though he was the son of a bow maker in Groningen.
Representative Institutions: The States

Another sector of employment and governmental activity was the
representative institutions: the States. These had emerged in the
Middle Ages as the place where the prince would meet representa-
tives of his subjects according to their estate. Although the tradi-

tional model for these meetings consisted of representatives of the
clergy, nobility and lastly the burghers, there existed considerable
differences and variations on this model between the principalities
in the Netherlands. The four most important were those of Holland,
Zeeland, Utrecht and Guelders.37 The Burgundian dukes had a hand
in reorganizing the way the States of Holland and Zeeland oper-
ated. In Holland, the States consisted of knighthood and the six cap-
ital cities (later expanded to nineteen), with exclusion of the clergy.
In Zeeland the cities and nobility—represented by the ambachtsheren
including the abbot of Our Lady’s abbey in Middelburg—made up
the States.
In Het Nedersticht, the States were dominated by the chapters
and the cities, with Utrecht towering high above the other three
towns, Amersfoort, Rhenen and Wijk bij Duurstede. The nobility
was represented, but their influence in the actual meetings was very
limited. With the incorporation of Utrecht in the Habsburg lands,
the role of the chapters was severely reduced and now the stadhouder
could call the meetings of the States, whereas hitherto it had been
the dean of the cathedral chapter: the domdeken.
In Guelders the States consisted of the nobility and capital cities
of the four quarters, Nijmegen, Arnhem, Zutphen and Roermond.
In Friesland the—often absent—prince who wanted to get in touch
with his subjects—usually though a stadhouder could call the Landdag,
where abbots and priors represented their houses, nobles and priests
their grietenijen and where nobles and eigenerfden represented them-
selves. In Groningen and the Ommelanden a Landdag, of a similar
composition except for the inclusion of representatives of the city of
Groningen and Appingdam, could be called by the lieutenant of the
Hoofdmannenkamer.
From 1464 onwards these States, insofar as they were located
within the Burgundian lands, met at supra-regional level in the States-
General, instituted by Duke Philip the Good. The various constitu-
tive parts sent deputies to the meetings of the States. The towns
usually sent members of the magistracy (burgomasters and aldermen)
but increasingly also their legal experts, like the pensionaris, to these
37
See for the representative institutions: Kokken, Steden; Tracy, Holland; Koopmans,
Staten; Van den Hoven van Genderen, Kapittel-generaal; Jappe Alberts, Staten, I and II.
278 chapter five
1426–50 1451–75 1476–00 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
Deputies 0 9 2 2 3 17 33
Advocate/other 0 1 2 0 0 3 6
Total off. 0 10 4 2 3 20 39
Table 5.1.11. Positions in the States held by students in the population.
meetings; somebody like Paulus van Ammersoyen, graduate of Bologna

and later pensionaris of the town of Dordrecht, who held the town
record of representing Dordt to the States of Holland.38 Among the
population we meet many a deputy to the States: an absolute min-
imum of 33.39 Many of the magistrates and pensionaries of the cities
and towns might have attended without us knowing about it.
The development of these representative bodies is an interesting
history in itself, but suffice here to say that both in its competence
and administration the States, particularly those of Holland, grew
into a force to be reckoned with by the prince, to such an extent
that during the Dutch Revolt, in 1588—after several unsuccessful
experiments with foreign princes in stead of Philip II—the provinces
were declared sovereign and the States acted as the de facto govern-
ment.40 One of the manifestations of this development was keeping
an archive—especially in the second half of the sixteenth century—
and hiring skilled salaried personnel to administer the affairs of the
States. Possibly most important in this context is the creation of the
office of advocate of the States or landsadvocaat, later also called raad-
pensionaris.41 The landsadvocaat was a legal advisor to the States, who
also kept the archive and monitored the meetings of the States. The
first landsadvocaat to be appointed by the States in 1480 was Barthout
van Assendelft, law graduate of Ferrara. Incidentally, that there was
38
Kokken, Steden, 286, nr. 1.
39
It is difficult enough to trace exactly who was a deputy from the different
cities and in what capacity they attended the meetings of the States in the city
archives and the archive of the States of Holland. See Kokken, Steden, 36–47 on
the sources for the meetings of the States of Holland. His study gives an enormous
amount of material in the appendices, pp. 285–305.
40
See e.g. Kokken, Steden; Koopmans, Staten and Tracy, Holland.
41
On the landsadvocaat see: Kokken, Steden, 71–90; Fölting, De landsadvocaten en
raadpensionarissen der Staten van Holland en West-Friesland, 1480–1795. Een genealogische
benadering (The Hague 1976).
something rotten in the States of Holland is clear from the emer-

gence of another servant of a part of the States, the advocaat van de
ridderschap en de kleine steden (advocate of the knighthood and the smaller
cities) in 1486. The first one to hold this office was Jacob Willemsz
of The Hague, also a law graduate of Ferrara. With the increase in
power of the States, so did the duties of the landsadvocaat. Never
more so than under the man who held the office of landsadvocaat—
and incidentally also the office of advocate of the knighthood—from
1586 until 1619: Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, law graduate of Padua,
the last landsadvocaat to hold this office for the period under investi-
gation. He managed to recreate this office to such an extent that
the raadpensionaris could well be called the second most important
man in the Republic, of which Johan could be called one of the
founding fathers.
The States of Utrecht, also referred to as kapittel-generaal, also had
an all-important figure who took care of many of the duties that
had fallen to the landsadvocaat at the States of Holland. The dean of
the cathedral chapter acted as chairman, while the notary of the
cathedral chapter was charged with the administration. The more
often mentioned Ludolphus van Veen, domdeken, therefore was chair-
man of the States of Utrecht ex officio.
In Aula Regis: Central Government and Administration

The very pinnacle of a student’s career was to be admitted to the
inner sanctum of power: the court—in a wider sense—of a monarch.
In the context of the fifteenth and sixteenth century Netherlands,
this meant access to the central institutions of the Burgundian and
Habsburg Empire, rather than the various constitutive principalities
of the Low Countries. This top was very small. Just 20 students in
the population made it to this level in society. With the exception
of one student of medicine, all were law students, most of them grad-
uates. Not only were there very few posts to be competed for, students
from the northern Low Countries had to compete with candidates
from the other parts of the Netherlands and beyond. None of the
students in the population managed to become a part of the Burgun-
dian court council, filled with the highest ranking nobles of the realm
and a number of lawyers from the core principalities of the duke,
Burgundy, Franche-Comté, mainly French speaking territories. The
essentially French dukes relied heavily on servants from their core
280 chapter five
1426–50 1451–75 1476–00 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
Geheime
Raad – – 1 0 2 0 3
Raad Van
State – – – 0 1 2 3
Raad Van
Financ. – – – 0 0 1 1
Assessor
RKG – 0 0 2 4 1 7
Advocatus
RKG 0 0 0 2 1 0 3
Raad GRM 0 0 3 0 1 0 4
Advo/Proc.
GRM 0 0 1 0 0 3 4
Royal
Counsel 0 0 0 3 2 1 6
Total Offic. 0 0 5 7 11 8 31
Table 5.1.12. Positions in central government and administration held by students in the population.
territories, and entrance into the Burgundian circle seems to have

been granted at the pace with which the territories had been inte-
grated into the greater Burgundian empire. Gradually a part of this
Burgundian court council that travelled with the duke became a se-
parate institution that became known as the Grote Raad that more
and more stared to function as a supreme court for the lands under
Burgundian rule. From 1473 until 1477, it had been established as
the Parliament of Mechelen by Charles the Bold who aspired to be
king. After his death this court of appeal for the Burgundian lands
continued to exist as the Grote Raad.
On this central judicial level men from the Northern Netherlands
were underrepresented. The Grote Raad, or Parliament of Mechelen,
had relatively few members from Holland and Zeeland in the period
1477–1531, certainly compared to the other regions represented in
the Council. This is all the more quaint, since the demands made
by the Hollanders and Zeeuwen in the Grand Privilege stated that they
wanted as many councillors as Brabant, Flanders and Burgundy.
Practice did not reflect this.42 To some extent this is true for stu-
dents in the population as well.
42
A.M. Kerckhoffs-de Heij, De Grote Raad en zijn functionarissen, 1477–1531
(Amsterdam 1980), I, 71–6.
There were four students attached to the Council as solicitors,

advocati. Technically they worked for themselves. Their field of practice
nevertheless carried the stamp of being involved at the central level.
As for salaried officials, only four, possibly five, students held posi-
tions as members or other functions within the Grote Raad. Joris van
Theemseke, law graduate of Ferrara—even though he is consistently
called a Hollander in university sources and though he did have many
connections to the county, he was probably from Bruges—was one
of the few students who made it as a member from 1504 until 1513.
Gerrit van der Mye, who had studied law at Bologna, was com-
missioner of the Grote Raad in 1494. Johannes Alberti of Delft, also
a student of Bologna, was procureur of the Council in the early six-
teenth century. Viglius of Aytta, who will be mentioned more often,
became a member in 1543. Cornelis Jacobsz van der Veer, finally,
member of the Grote Raad in 1502, could be identified with Cornelis
Jacobi of Reimerswaal, who studied at Padua and Orléans.
There was, however, another judicial institution at a central level.
In a legal sense, the Northern Netherlands were still part of the Holy
Roman Empire. The one central, legal institution of this, at this
stage, rather splintered territory was the Reichskammergericht. This
supreme court of the Holy Roman Empire was still the ultimate legal
route to go for the eastern regions of the Northern Netherlands in
case of appeal to a higher legal authority.43 There were three stu-
dents in the population who were registered as lawyers allowed to
present cases before this court. Much more prestigious was the posi-
tion as sitting judge of this body, referred to as assessor. Seven students,
all doctors of law, managed to become assessor of the Reichskammergericht.
Most of these assessores came from the eastern parts of the Netherlands,
mostly Friesland and Groningen, not until 1548 confronted with the
Grote Raad of Mechelen. One of the two Hollanders involved in the
Reichskammergericht was Nicolaus Everardi of Amsterdam, who also
was professor of law at the University of Ingolstadt. Reinerus van
der Duyn only joined the ranks after he lost his position in the Hof
van Holland when the Dutch Revolt got under way.
Apart from these judicial bodies at central level there were other
43
The situation changed with the Pragmatieke Sanctie of 1548, when the Netherlands
were declared a separate circle within the Empire. From then on the Grote Raad of
Mechelen was to be the supreme legal body.
282 chapter five
institutions of government and administration. In every sense the

most important among them were the Three Collateral Councils
established by Charles V in 1531. They consisted of the Raad van
State (Council of State; primary advisory body to the prince, until
1535 exclusively composed of the highest nobility of the Lands), the
Geheime Raad (Secret Council; composed of lawyers) and the Raad van
Financiën (Council of Finance). There was only one student in the
Council of Finance, Nicolaus Gerardi van der Laen, but he served
his term after the beginning of the Dutch Revolt. Only three stu-
dents, Viglius van Aytta, Adriaan van der Mijle and Johannes van
Speulde, made it to the Raad van State, though it must be said that
for the last two this was only after the initial success of the Dutch
Revolt, in the eighties, when the Raad van State continued to exist as
a principal advisory body for the provinces that had seceded from
the Habsburg empire. Viglius on the other hand, became president
of the Council of State during Habsburg rule.
Three students managed to acquire a position in the Geheime Raad.
Originally it consisted of five learned lawyers, who had to be replaced
on occasion, although it was difficult to find suitable candidates.44
Three students in the population, all law graduates managed to reach
this extremely important and prestigious office. Georgius de Theemseke
or Joris van Themsicke, who already was a member of the Privy
Council prior to 1531 continued as one of the first members of the
Geheime Raad until his death in 1536. Philips Coebel, graduate of
Siena, held this position and lastly,—again—Viglius of Aytta was a
member from April 1542 onwards and even became president of
the Secret Council in January 1549, which position he held until
1569.
Apart from these institutionalized forms of council—whether this
was governmental, judicial or administrative—, there were nine stu-
dents who served various princes as personal counsellors. It should
come as no surprise that the powerful Viglius of Aytta, also the chan-
cellor of the Order of the Golden Fleece, was among them. He had
been a councillor to the duke of Bavaria before he really started his
spectacular career within the central administration. During these
years he had the ear of both Charles V and Mary of Hungary, his
44
Baelde, Collaterale Raden, 89–93.
regent in the Netherlands. Charles’ successor, Philip II confided in

Philippus Coebel, member of the Geheime Raad. Other European mon-
archs were served by students in the population. Dominicus Tettema,
also assessor of the Reichskammergericht, was a councillor to the king of
Hungary and Bohemia. Bernardus Wigboldus of Groningen, law
professor at the University of Copenhagen, was an advisor to King
Christian III of Denmark. Adriaan van der Mijle worked closely
together with both William the Silent and his successor, Prince
Maurice. There were three more law students who acted in this
advisory capacity. The only student of medicine in this company was
Godefridus Steegh of Amersfoort. He had been personal physician
to three consecutive German emperors, Ferdinand I, Maximilian II
and Rudolph II. He differed from his fellow personal physicians in
the sense that not only was he granted the noble title of count pala-
tine, but he was appointed imperial chamberlain as well!
Other Career Circles

Next to these mostly institutionalized forms of employment, there is
another number of students who were involved in career activities
that could not be categorized according to the scheme used above.
A further 30 students would fall into this very broad category. A
wide range of different occupations was found. A number of these
students we have met before: those six students who accompanied
young noblemen on their peregrinatio academica: praeceptores or paedagogi.
For most of these men acting as a mentor and supervisor of their
young protégés was a career in itself. Though Wilhelmus Obrecht
of Delft could also rely on a benefice of the parish church in Hoorn,
essentially his job was guiding his pupils through university in an
appropriate manner. The same can be said for Hugo Blotius, who
acted as mentor of a number of young noblemen, until he was asked
to become the librarian of the emperor in Vienna, a post he accepted
with relish.
Some made their living in the realm of books, both in printing
and in writing them. Three students were actually involved in set-
ting up printing presses or running them. Wilhelmus Sulenius of
Doesburg was director of the Jesuit printing house in Vienna, where
he was charged with the edition of Petrus Canisius’ Cathechismus.
Many more however were involved as editors and correctors. Gerardus
Listrius, for instance worked with Johannes Froben in Basle, where
284 chapter five
he was involved in printing the Adagia of Erasmus. Then we meet

three students who more or less lived off their pen. How could one
possibly categorize the career of Desiderius Erasmus, who is exactly
one of those students? He did work as a secretary of a bishop for
some time and he did lecture at various universities. For several peri-
ods in his life he depended on patrons and friends, who took an
interest in his work. For a further five students there was information
that they were involved in trade and banking. Another eight stu-
dents were employed by noble families as secretaries, proctors, and
such. Finally, two students made a choice for the military as a career.
Although this section set out to examine the career path, most
attention has been devoted to taking inventory of the various offices
found for the population. It seems appropriate to take these results
one step further and try and sketch some of the more common
career patterns, in the sense of a sequence of offices held. This is
not always possible as only one particular position was found for
121 students in the population (35.9 per cent of careers). This could
be due to various circumstances. For those entering the religious
orders, a mentioning of their entrance is often the last trace. Some
clergymen seem to have contented themselves with one prebend. For
many of the praeceptores tutoring their noble protégés was all they did
for a considerable period of time. Some university teachers were
happy with their status and never left their Alma Mater. In a num-
ber of cases, more information was simply not discovered (yet). For
216 students in the population (33.8 per cent of the population and
64.1 of careers) there was information about a minimum of two
offices held. Even if we were to discount those students who stuck
to one profession for their livelihood, we are still left with one-third
of the population about whom we have information on different
stages of their working life, which is more than adequate to make
a number of observations on certain patterns in the career paths of
the students in the population.
Before we take a closer look at some of these patterns, which by
their very nature are schematic and often oversimplified, it is useful
to introduce a number of case studies, very brief biographical sketches,
outlining the offices held by a number of students. These have the
further advantage of illustrating the interesting complexity of career
building in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as the discussion of
patterns can do no justice to a career that often involved many
stages. Three students of law, two of medicine and one in theology

were chosen for this purpose.45
1. Ludolphus Nicolai van Hoorn

Very little is known about the background of Ludolphus. We can-
not even be sure where he was from. His name points the town of
Hoorn in Holland, but he is also mentioned as coming from Haarlem.
In any case, it was not possible to connect him with the leading lin-
eages in these towns. A background in the lower bourgeoisie seems
therefore likely for this law student. Possibly he visited the University
of Louvain before coming to Padua, where he was first mentioned
as a witness 23 November 1437. He was mentioned more often right
up to his graduation as licentiatus in iure canonico on 6 May 1439. We
lose track of him for a number of years until he surfaces again the
sources of the University of Cologne, where he enrolled 20 October
1442. He is mentioned with his title of licentiatus and another one is
added, that of baccalaureus legum. From 1443 onwards he was wel-
comed by the law faculty and took up teaching of canon law. His
name is found in several juridical consilia. His career took a turn in
1446, when he acquired a canonry in the chapter of St Salvator in
Utrecht, which he held until 1449, when he was appointed official-
principal of Utrecht. In this position he travelled to Rome in 1455
to plead for the already mentioned confirmation of Gijsbert van
Brederode as bishop of Utrecht. It is at this point that he emerges
again in the university sources of Padua, where he took his doctor-
ate 1 July 1456. From Padua he returned to Utrecht, where he next
became advocatus consistorii and managed to get a seat on the coun-
cil of Bishop David of Burgundy in 1461, the rival candidate of
Gijsbert van Brederode! From 1464 onwards he was canon of St
Salvator again until his death 5 November 1487, leaving a concu-
bine and three children.
45
In the section on social mobility and networks more examples, concentrating
on social background and career will be given. For a number of students extensive
biographical literature exists: Rodolphus Agricola, Erasmus, Viglius of Aytta, Hadrianus
Junius, Petrus Forestus, Petrus Canisius, Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, etc. References
can be found in the appendix, on CD, where short annotated biographical data
are given.
286 chapter five
2. Bartholomeus Nicolai van Ethen

Most likely born in the town of Heusden in Holland as the son of
Claes Reiniersz van Ethen, who had been rentmeester of Heusden from
1397 until 1405 at least, and a daughter of a schepen of the town.
He was the elder brother of Reinerus Nicolai van Ethen, who also
studied in Italy.46 Bart started out studying at the University of
Cologne in 1425, where he became magister artium and started teach-
ing in 1429. From Cologne he travelled to Italy, where he graduated
in medicine at the University of Pavia in 1434. After his graduation
he travelled to Basle, where he was present at the Council and prac-
tised his medical skills on the clergy attending. We next meet him
in Holland, where he was appointed councillor of the Hof van Holland
in 1442. He was still a councillor in 1443 and was sent by Philip
the Good as an ambassador on behalf of the count of Holland and
the Dutch towns to the king of England to negotiate about compensa-
tion for war damages—his colleague was Theodoricus Utenweer, also
a student in Italy. We next find him in Germany in the city of
Mainz from 1454 until 1468, where he was personal physician of
three consecutive archbishops of Mainz. Among his other patients
were the count of Katzenelnbogen, the counts of Nassau, the counts
palatine of Thuringia and the abbot of Fulda until 1485 at least. In
this extremely successful career he might even have dealt with the
emperor himself.
46
The example of Bartholomeus is also a good case to illustrate some of the
intricacies of this type of research. Bart had received his doctorate in medicine at
the University of Pavia in 1434 and as such was a student in the population. It
was not until I corresponded with Dr B. van den Hoven van Genderen—to whom
I am indebted—about canons of St Salvator who had studied in Italy, that the
name of Reinier van Ethen popped up as having graduated in Pavia in law—there
is no record of his graduation in the sources of Pavia—and that he was a brother
of Bartholomeus. I went back to my notes and discovered that a ‘possible’ student
from the Northern Netherlands, a certain “Raynerius de Alamania” was mentioned
19–8–1442 as a witness in the sources of Pavia (Codice Pavia, 450, nr. 591). This is
most likely the same student as the “Reinerus Nicolai” who enrolled in the University
of Cologne together with “Gherardus Woman”—student of medicine at the University
of Padua in 1437 and 1438—who was Reinier’s cousin and whom I had met in
previous research (Tervoort, ‘Schoolmeesters’, II, 23–4) as rector scholarum of the town
school in Leiden.
3. Jacobus Jacobi Ruysch

Jacob was born in the city of Amsterdam around 1440 as son of
the patrician Ruysch family. Most likely a son of mr. Jacob Ruysch,
burgemeester of Amsterdam in 1468, who had probably studied himself,
and Aafje de Vroede. He was around fourteen years old when he
went to study arts at the University of Louvain, where he registered
in 1454. We lose track of him for several years, but he is found
again as a student in Padua in 1465, where he graduated in canon
law in 1467. After his studies he returned to Amsterdam, where he
went to work straightaway. He represented Amsterdam as a lawyer
during negotiations with the Hansa in 1467–8. In 1471 he was the
legal representative of Amsterdam at the Hof van Holland. By this
time he had already received an appointment as dean of Sint-
Maartensdijk. In 1472 he was raad zonder wedde of the Hof van Holland.
In 1473 he was ordained a priest. Before his ordination he had
already fathered two children, Heyman and Maria. In 1473 we find
him mentioned as pensionaris of Amsterdam. On 17 June 1474 he
was appointed raad at the Hof van Holland. He would remain a mem-
ber of the Hof until 7 November 1511, after which he was appointed
raad extraordinaris of the Hof van Holland. He also acted as president
of the Hof van Holland. 23 February 1477 Bishop David of Burgundy
appointed him as dean of the chapter of St Lebuin’s in Deventer.
He also was chaplain in the St Salvator’s church in Utrecht and
from 1478 onwards also of St Mary’s church in Amsterdam. In the
beginning of the eighties he also was appointed dean of the church
in The Hague (Hofkapel). Just before 23 April 1482 he was appointed
persona of Noordwijk. In 1487 he also be came persona of the Nieuwe
Kerk in Delft. He seems to have been the legal specialist in matters
between Church and State and was particularly influential in mat-
ters concerning monasteries in Holland. He easily survived the many
changes made to the Court of Holland in this turbulent period. On
top of his already impressive list of church benefices he received a
canonry in the chapter of St Salvator in Utrecht in 1507, which
canonicate he bequeathed to his nephew, Nicolaus Ruysch. He died
in the saddle, while still involved in legal matters on 19 April 1519.
4. Johannes Johannis Vredewolt

Johannes was born in the town of Groningen as illegitimate son of
the priest Johannes Vredewolt, doctor decretorum of Pavia, and proost
288 chapter five
of Emden in 1442 and 1454, and a woman from a prominent Gronin-

gen family. His father did his best to take care of his future, and
he was successful to the extent that Johannes junior already enjoyed
the benefice of the church of Bedum, when he went to college in
Cologne in 1457. In the same year he was appointed rector of the
Maartenskerk in Groningen. He became magister artium and baccalaureus
theologiae at Cologne and travelled on to Paris, where he most likely
left in 1472 for Italy. His stay in Italy was relatively short. On 26
January 1473 he graduated in theology at the University of Pavia,
where his father had graduated in canon law. Present at his graduation
were Rodolphus Agricola—still under his Dutch name of “Huusman”—
and Theodoricus Persijn. After his graduation he moved to the
recently founded University of Basle where he became professor of
theology. He returned to Groningen and in 1494 we still find him
mentioned as persona of Bedum. Until 1505 he was vicar of Groningen.
Although he showed little interest in town politics and was prima-
rily interested in learning, he was involved in peace negotiations
between the town of Groningen and the duke of Saxony in 1505.
5. Gisbertus Gerardi Longolius

Gijsbert van Langerack was born in the town of Utrecht in 1507 as
son of Gerrit van Langerack, a bastard son of the noble patrician
Van Langerack family, and Machteld van Batenborch. He went to
St Martin’s chapter school. From there he undertook his study trip
to Cologne, where he registered in 1524 and became magister artium
in 1527. He stayed in Bursa Laurentiana. Around 1527–8 he went to
Italy, where he graduated at the University of Ferrara in 1531. In
Italy he acquired a distinct taste for humanism and took the name
“Longolius”. After his studies he returned to the Netherlands, first
to his native town and almost immediately afterwards to Deventer,
where he became town physician and soon thereafter rector scholarum
of the famous Lebuin’s school as well. In 1538 he was asked to
become the first official professor of Greek at the University of
Cologne for a period of four years. At the same time he was per-
sonal physician of the archbishop of Bonn. In autumn 1542 he was
asked to come to the University of Rostock, where he was made
responsible for the reformation of the university in structure and pro-
gramme. He died 30 May 1543. He fell ill while being in Cologne
to bring back his books to Rostock.
6. Cornelius Johannis van Veen

Cornelis was born in the city of Leiden in 1520 as son of Jan van
Veen, from an important family in Leiden—direct natural descen-
dants of Duke John III of Brabant—that was involved in diverse
aspects of clothmaking. At the relatively advanced age of 24 he reg-
istered at the University of Louvain. He moved from there to Italy
where he studied at Bologna before graduating in civil and canon
law at the University of Ferrara in 1549. After his studies he returned
to the Netherlands, where he practised as a lawyer at the Hof van
Holland before he became pensionaris of Leiden from 1551 until 1561.
In this capacity he represented the town to the States of Holland
on several occasions. From his position as pensionaris he took his
place in the magistracy and served as burgemeester in the years 1564,
1565 and 1569. A devout Catholic, he fled to the Southern Netherlands
in 1572, when the Revolt got under way in Holland. Some years
after this he moved to Amsterdam. When Amsterdam chose to sup-
port the Revolt in 1578 he returned to his home town, Leiden. His
important role in town politics was over, however. He had married
Geertruyt Simonsdr van Neck. They had ten children, several of
whom visited Italy. His eldest son, Simon, was a law graduate as
well and held some of the same offices as his father.
What these short sketches illustrate is the many-fold ways in which

a student could build a career, from different backgrounds, through
different choice of faculty in different sectors of employment. In many
cases students wandered through the different sectors of employment
freely. Again, it is wise to differentiate between students with different
choice of faculty. Though the following can do no justice to the
complexity of the careers of the students involved, it seems justified to
take a closer look at first positions held by students in particular posi-
tions to examine if there were any patterns. Three broad sectors sug-
gested themselves. The bureaucracy of the state at various levels,
church hierarchy and lastly the very specific career path within the cir-
cle of health care, almost exclusively applicable to students of medicine.
To start with the last path of examination, the following could be
said. Even though we have met medical students in other sectors
than those immediately obvious in terms of their training (academia,
health care at three levels), their number cannot be compared to
those of law students. Again it is necessary to stress that the study
of medicine at a university and the degree of doctor medicinae pointed
290 chapter five
to a specialized—one might say, increasingly restricted too—career

path, that would lead the medical student to either the teaching pro-
fession or to the growing system of health care that was put in place
in the Netherlands in this period. Links with the clergy or careers
in the Church were hardly found for the last two cohorts. One of
the five medical students studying after 1500 who had some posi-
tion within the Church hierarchy, Jasper Stevensz of Arnhem, enjoyed
a small benefice in St Nicholas’ Church in Kampen and acted as
ship’s chaplain—probably as the ship’s doctor at the same time, after
having served as town physician.47
The rather spectacular career of Bartholomeus van Ethen is an
exception, might even be called an aberration. He is one of very
few medical students who managed to climb higher than city level
in terms of level of power. Students of medicine were also found as
representatives to the States, although their numbers did not come
close to that for their fellow students who were well versed in the
law. In most cases they had to content themselves with a position
within town administration or even town government. As servants
of the town, medical students—graduates in particular—were best
positioned as town physicians or head schoolmasters and possibly
could act as pensionaris, although lawyers were much more eligible
for this office. Where positions in town government were concerned,
the general, simplified picture seems to be that strong connections
and birth rather than intellectual ability were necessary to force one’s
way into the vroedschap. Some medical students seem to have pos-
sessed these connections and on that basis they could enter the mag-
istracy. As a choice of subject useful to future positions in town
government, medicine again lost out to the law faculty.48 Those des-
tined for a place in the magistracy generally opted for law and those
fighting to secure a place as schepen or burgemeester were better equipped
with a law degree than a medical mind.
Many students of medicine changed position and employer dur-
ing their career. The difference with their law colleagues was the
relatively limited number of other circles of employment easily acces-
sible to them. A substantial number of students of medicine in this
group taught during their studies, both to gain experience and to
47
Lindeboom, DMB, 1882–3.
48
Cf. n. 33.
support themselves financially. After graduation a number of options

was open to them: preach or practice. In the second case, typically,
a medical career would start with setting up practice somewhere,
where a potential clientele existed. Out of 53 students involved in
health care, 20 individuals could be found solely as physicians with
their own practice. For 11 of them this was the only position found
at all. Another 9 combined their practices with positions outside the
sector of health care, in academia, the Church or in town govern-
ment. The positions of town physician and personal physician seem
to have been more desirable for medical graduates. Both in terms
of security of tenure and emoluments, leaving aside the workload
for personal physicians, these were more rewarding than being left
entirely to one’s personal initiative. In most cases both town and
personal physicians were allowed to continue to treat patients out-
side their immediate domain.
It seems that if the possibility arose, a position as either town
and/or personal physician was preferred to private practice. If we
look at mobility within the health care sector, it is clear that the
move from a private practice to either a position as town physician
or as personal doctor to a wealthy patron was much more common
than the reverse. Nine students moved from their practice to serv-
ing their town, five to act as watchdogs of their employer’s health,
while four further students went from practice though town to the
position of personal physician. Allardus Cornelii Cooltuyn returned
from Italy in the summer of 1557 and practised as a physician in
his home town Alkmaar. It was only in December 1559, when the
then town physician, Petrus Forestus, had left to become town physi-
cian of Delft that Allard could succeed in this position, which he
held until his death in February 1561.49 It is further clear from table
5.1.13. that a private practice was much more common as a start-
ing point in a physician’s career than as its end point. Both the posi-
tion of town and personal physician came up more often as the final
stage in a medical student’s career.
Practising and teaching medicine were often combined within one
career. Sixteen, or nearly one in five medical students, whose careers
could be reconstructed, combined the two. This could be at different
49
Vis, ‘Alkmaarse Jaren’, 75, 78; Vis, Cornis Cooltuyn, 27; RAA, Stadsarchief, inv.
nr. 38.
292 chapter five
Professions in Health Care First Interm. End
Private practice 16 – 2
Town physician 3 4 12
Personal physician 4 – 9
Total 23 4 23
Table 5.1.13. First, intermediate and last positions in health care held by students
of medicine in the population with more than one position in health care.
stages in their career, although it was by no means uncommon for

a professor of medicine to also act as personal physician of some
noble patron. It is useful to point at the circle of professors of med-
icine at the newly founded University of Leiden, nearly all of whom
had close contacts with the court of William the Silent. When Had-
rianus Junius, who enjoyed international recognition as a physician,
moved to Copenhagen in 1564 it was to both claim a professorial
chair in medicine at the university and to become personal physi-
cian to King Frederick II. Generally, though, the step from practis-
ing medicine, especially as a private practitioner or town physician,
to a professorship should be considered a move forward in career
terms. In many cases this was the very pinnacle of a medical career.
The following table (5.1.14.) shows first office held by students
who managed to accede to governmental and administrative posi-
tions at four bureaucratic levels: 1. town or city magistracy; 2. regional
government officials; 3. servants of the bureaucracy at provincial
level; 4. servants of the bureaucracy at central level. Though again
we have to stress that the value of these samples is limited, as we
are dealing with only a small section of the officials in function—
only those who had studied in Italy—some patterns seem to emerge.
What can we infer from this table? A number of conclusions can
be drawn from the figures presented here. If we look at those stu-
dents who held positions in the magistracy of towns in the Northern
Netherlands, it seems obvious that the threshold of access was rela-
tively low, as three fifths of the officials moved immediately to hold-
ing a term as schepen, burgemeester or what have you. This appearance
is somewhat deceptive. It may be true that immediate access to the
ranks of the magistracy was comparatively easier than that for higher
levels, as we shall see, but taking into account the social background
of these functionaries reveals that things were not as easy as they
Adv/ Pens Mag Pers/ Prof Reg Prov. Stat. Cent Phys./ Total
Nota Can Law Oth Cat.
Magistracy 3 4 29 2 0 0 0 1 0 9 48
Regional 2 2 3 1 0 17 0 0 0 0 25
States 1 2 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 8
Provincial 8 7 5 11 3 4 10 5 1 1 54
Central 3 1 1 2 2 0 3 1 3 1 17
Total Off. 17 16 40 16 5 22 13 9 4 11 152
Table 5.1.14. First positions held by students in the population who ended up in the magistracy
or as civil servants at regional, States, provincial and central level.
seem. It has been mentioned before that the value of a university

education was limited and that pedigree and wealth were far stronger
trumps to play if one wanted to be counted among the vroede vaderen.
No less than 60.4 per cent of the officials came for the top of the
city’s pyramid, the nobility and the patriciate. The other 39.6 per
cent came from social milieus that could not lay any immediate
claim to access the ranks of the town’s governing elite. In this con-
text other offices or dignities could be of great help. Among our
sample (town) physicians50 and pensionarissen seems to have been rel-
atively successful in getting their foot in the door. The town physi-
cian and the pensionaris were the town’s highest ranking servants.
Particularly for the pensionary, who would often represent the town
at meetings of the States, or who would represent her in court pro-
cedures—something which also applies to lawyer practising in a
town—, a more active role in town politics was certainly not beyond
reach. The table also restates the limits of a medical degree for
climbing the career ladder, where worldly bureaucracies are con-
cerned: not beyond the city limits.
For government officials at regional level, the drosten and hoofdelin-
gen, and the like, similar impressions could be gathered from the
figures. Immediate access to this level for our sample was even mar-
ginally higher than for the magistracy. Three observations spring to
mind. First, as we shall see, recruitment was overwhelmingly from
the nobility and the urban and rural patriciate, much more so than
50
It is worth mentioning that some physicians (2 out of 8) came from patrician
families.
294 chapter five
for officials at town level, higher even than for officials at provin-
cial and central level. Connected to this was the lowest percentage
of degrees from the higher faculties and the fact that no students of
medicine managed to access this level of government.51 A third obser-
vation is that the regional level of government as a springboard for
higher levels of administration was less significant than most other
categories mentioned. Students at this level seem to have been the
most static in terms of continuation of their careers. Traditionally
these functions had always been the terrain of the local nobility and
the rural patriciate c.q. important landowners.52 It remains to be
seen whether officials in this often rural, traditional sector of gov-
ernment were less inclined to engage in the more modern adminis-
trative levels like the increasingly professionalized courts at provincial
and central level. Another factor that might have been of some
importance is the fact that these offices had a high level of venal-
ity. The nature of these functions—collection of fines, and such.—
made them quite profitable, but a considerable amount of money
had to be invested before the office would yield a profit.53
Understandably, those officials serving either the States, the provin-
cial courts or central ones generally had a longer trajectory towards
the offices in these bodies. Although it was by no means impossible
to directly move into these positions, the overwhelming majority of
students ending up in the bureaucracies at these three levels walked
many different roads to get to them. A closer look at first functions
of these officials reveals that the positions of advocaat, pensionaris and
member of the cloth, in particular the dignity of canon, as a spring-
board for a position on the episcopal council, come up most frequently.
These offices seem to have been very good starting points if one
wanted to further one’s career in the high bureaucracies of state.
The Church had traditionally been a source where the worldly
powers could and would recruit consilium. The role of clergymen in
51
For Friesland and Groningen there is information about university education
of those involved in regional government. The level of university educated regional
government officials was relatively low, c. 20% for Friesland and even lower for the
Ommelanden. Cf. Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 158–161 and 204–207.
52
Van Nierop, Ridders, chapter 6.3 has shown that the nobility in Holland lost
their top position in the positions of baljuw and particularly schout to the urban and
rural patriciate in the sixteenth century.
53
See e.g. Van Gent, ‘Pertijelike saken’, 37–8, for the offices of schout and baljuw.
worldly bureaucracies will be dealt with in more detail shortly. Suffice

it here to say that the role members of the cloth played in the gov-
ernment and administration of bureaucracies at provincial and central
level, although decreasing in the sixteenth century, was by no means
over.
In a sense, the era of lawyers and pensionaries had only just
started. Our period had barely seen the moment when law graduates
had to be formally admitted to be able to proceed before provincial
courts.54 Similarly, the office of pensionaris, the permanent official who
represented the town in legal matters became a lasting one for most
important towns and cities only in the course of the fifteenth cen-
tury. Nevertheless, they seem to have been key positions in terms of
getting ahead in society. Working on the bar of a provincial court
could offer the possibility to show one’s capacities. The activities of
Judocus Aemson of Delft who pleaded the case of Jean of Montfoort
before the Parliament of Paris did not go unnoticed. Soon, in 1522,
he was appointed as a councillor of the Raad van Brabant.55 In many
ways, things worked much the same for the pensionaris. Although the
position of pensionary must be seen as a respectable career in itself,
as it gave an outsider the opportunity to become an important man
in his new town,56 he could hold this office as a career springboard.
He often pleaded cases for his town or city at various judicial le-
vels. He often represented his employer to the States. There were
plenty of opportunities for pensionaries to show their legal and admi-
nistrative expertise. They could even be actively head-hunted by the
prince.57 Rotterdam was loath to see its pensionaris go, but in 1586
54
From 1560 onwards, for example, a licentiatus in law was a requirement for
lawyers to be adimitted to the Hof van Holland. R. Huijbrecht, S. Scheffers and
J. Scheffers-Hofman, Album advocatorum. De advocaten van het Hof van Holland 1560–1811
(The Hague n.y. [1997]) 4.
55
Ridderikhoff, De Ridder-Symoens and Illmer (eds.), Premier livre, Biographies, I,
326–7, nr. 564.
56
As in the case of Paulus de Ammersoyen, from the town of Hattem in Guelders
and law graduate of Bologna, who became pensionaris of the town of Dordrecht and
held this office for several years, after which the town still asked him for all sorts of
legal matters. Kokken, Steden, 172–3. It is also worthwhile noting that even students
with a noble background did not regard the position of pensionaris beneath them.
57
Mario Damen, ‘Education or Connections? Learned Officials in the Council
of Holland and Zeeland in the Fifteenth Century’ in: Koen Goudriaan, Jaap van
Moolenbroek and Ad Tervoort (eds.), Education and Learning in the Netherlands, 1400–1600.
Essays in Honour of Hilde de Ridder-Symoens, Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History 123
(Leiden 2004) 51–67, there 64–5.
296 chapter five
Johan van Oldenbarnevelt who had excelled on various missions for

the town was called to higher duty and became landsadvocaat. Those
who had served their town as magistrates, students at regional admini-
strative level as first offices held, and those whose first career activi-
ties concerned the States were equally in the running for offices at
provincial and central level.
Another interesting point is that for offices at provincial and cen-
tral level recruitment could take place at another source of legal
expertise: the university itself. Five students had held teaching posi-
tions in law as their first employment, when their learning was
noticed. This was the case with Adrianus Lottini of Leiden, who
taught civil law at the University of Louvain, before becoming a
councillor of the Court of Holland. As professors of law they could
have been involved in consilia, legal advice sought by a prince or
other authority on a particular problem with an intricate legal side
to it. In many cases the law faculties played some role in this process.
It is clear that princes had a use for specialists in this field.58
What seems to be a common denominator at the three highest
levels is expertise in the field of (legal) administration, most clearly
shown in the virtual absence of students of medicine—with two
notable exceptions—and the high level of graduations in the higher
faculties, particularly that of in utroque iure. As for social background,
one can say that our sample shows that to get to the higher admini-
strative levels noble birth or patrician connections were not absolutely
necessary, as a not insignificant segment came from both higher and
lower bourgeois environments, in some cases even from craftsmen
background. Though this does by no means imply that birth and
connections were not of the greatest importance, it does show that
it was possible to overcome one’s relatively modest upbringing by
virtue of (academic) excellence and make a career at either provin-
cial or even central level. As for the other levels, is true that for stu-
58
Verger, ‘Teachers’, 153; De Ridder-Symoens,’ Conseils juridiques et monde
universitaire au xv e siècle. Une étude prosopographique’, in: Tijdschrift voor rechts-
geschiedenis LX (1992) 393–424. All faculties played a significant role in advising
authorities, though it would seem that in the case of law it had the most immedi-
ate effect in terms of career perspectives. For the desirability of university profes-
sors in government cf. also: Nijsten, Hof van Gelre, 384–88, where at least five
members of the Court of Guelders, four of them jurists, had been professors at the
Universities of Louvain and Cologne.
dents with a background in the town bourgeoisie or even crafts the

way was longer and it involved many offices at different levels.
In the medieval period the Church had always been a reservoir
where worldly authorities searched for expertise in many fields.59 A
considerable percentage of the clerics in the population were involved
in the government and administration of worldly territories, 31 or
almost one in five clerics. Most of them were involved in provincial
government, with of course the council of the bishop of Utrecht as
the central focus. Ten students took a seat on this council, all canons
in one of the five Utrecht chapters and more importantly, all law
graduates. Another student, Nicolaus Ruysch, was a councillor to
the bishop of Liège. But the neighbouring principalities of Holland
(5), Guelders (2), Utrecht, after incorporation in the Habsburg Empire
in 1528 (2) and Friesland (2) knew clerics who were part of the
provincial courts. Almost throughout the period clerics continued to
play a part in government and administration. Only for the last
cohort could it be said that the role of clerics in the population was
almost exclusively limited to the Church itself.
Clerics were involved at all levels of government and administra-
tion. Some were notary public in a town, others, like the often-men-
tioned Jacob Ruysch and Rodolphus Agricola, fulfilled the role of
pensionaris. Their status of clerics was certainly no impediment to
seeking office at whatever level of government.60
Recruitment for higher church offices primarily took place within
the institution of the Church itself. Those who managed to get to
high office already belonged to the clergy. Experience outside the
immediate environment of the Church did count, though. Legal expe-
rience in the service of princes or shown in universities through pro-
fessorships—and we shall meet some students who personify this
59
An overview in: H. Millet and P. Moraw, ‘Clerics in the State’ in: W. Reinhard
(ed.), Power Elites and State Building, The Origins of the Modern State in Europe,
13th–18th Centuries IV (Oxford 1996). Also for the case of Holland: Damen,
‘Serviteurs’.
60
Cf. H. Millet and P. Moraw, ‘Clerics in the State’, 179, where the authors
mention that in the city-states the room for clerics to develop their administrative
and legal potential was consciously limited. This statement might be true for the
Italian city-states or even the metropoles in the Southern Netherlands, but does not
seem to apply to the (smaller) towns in the Northern Netherlands, where the appre-
ciation for the intellectual skills of the clergy continued to be a factor until the six-
teenth century.
298 chapter five
move shortly—could well be a factor in a student’s advancement in

the Church. Making a career in the Church did not just mean to
get to higher positions within it. For members of the clergy acquir-
ing more than one benefice meant getting ahead at least financially.
Out of the 118 clergymen dealt with here, half enjoyed more than
one benefice. Thirteen held five or more positions in the Church.
A champion was Johannes Pollaert who apart from some smaller
benefices, was dean of Arnhem, provost of Roermond and held six
canonries in three different dioceses.
It has to be kept in mind that the status of cleric was by no means
an absolute one and sometimes has to be taken with a grain of salt.
For a number of church offices, ordination as a priest was not a
requirement. Many of the canons in the population did not receive
ordination or postponed this until very late in their career. Johannes
van Diepholt was only ordained in 1507, when he must have been
in his sixties. On the other hand, relations with promising clergy-
men obviously counted and an ordination to priest could be an occa-
sion to create the necessary bonds of friendship. When the cleric
Jacob Ruysch, at the time pensionaris of Amsterdam celebrated his
first mass as a priest, he received the very generous sum of 9 pounds
of all other five capital cities in Holland.61 There were a number of
students who left the clerical status once their career got under way,
sometimes when they had decided that marriage was a more favourable
option. Viglius van Aytta seems to have been very unclear about
what he wanted. His studies had been supported by a church benefice
that he had received through his uncle. Once he had made the
important step into the central bureaucracy he thought it appropri-
ate and leave the clergy to marry the daughter of a wealthy courtier,
Pierre Damant. After the death of his wife in 1552 he once again
took orders. In 1562 he was even appointed provost of St Bavo in
Ghent and was ordained by Cardinal Granvelle.
The iter italicum in Comparative Perspective

The results found for the population will gather more meaning if
compared to the student body at large, to give it more profile and
to assess how it differed from the vast group of young men enrolling
61
GAH, AS, kast 19–47, f. 80r; GAL, AS, inv. nr. 549, f. 101r.
Town Region States Province Central Total
1426–50 1 0 0 4 0 5
1451–75 4 0 0 6 0 10
1476–1500 2 0 1 4 1 8
1501–25 2 1 0 1 0 6
1526–50 2 1 1 3 2 9
1551–75 0 0 0 1 0 1
Total 11 2 2 19 3 37
Table 5.1.15. Positions in bureaucracies of state by clerics in the population.
in some studium. The exclusive nature of the iter italicum and the
strong focus on both law and medicine also make it worthwhile to
compare the careers of the population to similar student populations
that had attended other universities. In the case of law, a compari-
son with students from the Northern Netherlands and students from
Brabant visiting the famous law University of Orléans suggests itself.
For medical students, one might look to the careers of those stu-
dents attending Cologne.
Although a comparison with the student body at large is a very
difficult task, simply because we do not have enough evidence, not
to mention for the Northern Netherlands specifically, it is possible
to at least make some remarks about the general career sectors for
larger student populations. For the fifteenth century and to a some-
what lesser extent for the sixteenth it could be said that the Church
was by far the biggest employer and the place for students to look
for a livelihood. Very illustrative in this respect is the study of Kuhn
who examined the careers of the students of the University of Tübingen
between 1477 and 1534.62 No less than 67.4 per cent of the careers
of these students were in the Church, generally at the level of the
lower clergy. On the other hand the students working as civil servants
either in administration or the judiciary, including schoolmasters and
lawyers, amounted to only 21.5 per cent. Comparatively the per-
centages for the students in our population here were 35.0 per cent
62
Kuhn, Studenten, 55. Kuhn’s career recovery rate was 28%, which in itself is
very telling. Also Fuchs, Dives, 89–100. For this earlier period the percentage of
clergymen of the total population was 37%, against 19% for Tübingen and 17.7%
for Italy.
300 chapter five
ecclesiastical careers against 64.4 or almost half of the careers in the

other sectors. If we look closer to home, Friesland, the picture is
similar. Just over 70 per cent of Frisian students at the University
of Louvain at the beginning of the sixteenth century ended up in
the (lower) clergy, whereas those involved in the civil service, the
legal profession and education amounted to only 11.5 per cent.63
How different was the perspective for those Frisians that crossed the
Alps to study in Italy. The percentage of students with clerical careers
was decidedly lower, 18.8, of which half were clerics beyond parish
level. Those involved in civil service, the legal profession and edu-
cation amounted to 43.8 per cent of Frisian students.
Despite the rather tentative nature of these figures, there seems
to have been a rather different perspective for students in general
than for those who made it to the studia of Italy. For the overall
student population the Church would for a long time be the insti-
tution, where one could hope to acquire a small benefice.64 Outside
the Church the university itself offered possibilities. Furthermore, a
whole range of administrative offices, from town clerks to school-
masters, were within reach.65 This reflects the general nature of the
63
Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 288.
64
Apart from the already mentioned studies about Tübingen, Heidelberg and
Friesland, studies such as that of Bijsterveld, Laverend, 143–212, that deal with the
education of clergy members, in this case parish priests, can be highly informative.
Especially telling in this context was the difference in choice of faculty between the
actual personae and the appointed substitute priests who in reality provided the cura
animarum. The latter category was almost exclusively trained in the artes (97%), while
the official beneficiaries had a much wider variety of choices. Only 53.3% were
confined to the arts curriculum, while over a third had opted for law. The same
applied to their degrees. Substitute priests had no degrees beyond that of magister
artium, while a fifth of the official beneficiaries had a degree in one of the higher
faculties. For canons this percentage was 35.3%. Ibid. 192–203. Cf. also: Zijlstra,
Geleerde Friesland, 72–88; F.W. Oediger, Über die Bilding der Geistlichen im späten Mittelalter
(Leiden 1953) 66–7.
65
On the basis of own research, partly laid down in Tervoort, ‘Schoolmeesters’,
33–42, which deals with the educational background of schoolmasters in Holland,
one comes to a minimum of 50% of schoolmasters in four Dutch cities who had
studied at universities. An overwhelming majority of these schoolmasters, 85%, had
limited their university visit to the arts faculty, though often returned with either a
bachelor’s or master’s degree. The other 15% had studied mostly medicine and
invariably attained the highest position within the schools, that of rector scholarum
and moved on from there. The position of schoolmaster in general was the terrain
of arts students. I have the impression, based on a.o. Kokken, Steden, 171–91 and
Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 161–4 that something similar is true for most of the admini-
strative offices at town level, with the notable exception of the pensionaris, especially
those of the larger towns.
universities of northern Europe, where the huge arts faculties domi-

nated and whose suppositi ended their lives in relative anonymity in
a majority of cases. For those visiting the peninsula a more promis-
ing prospect was before them. Together the highly specialized nature
of the iter italicum with its focus on law and medicine, the comparatively
high proportion of graduates, as Italy was usual the last stage in a
peregrinatio academica, and last, but not least, the relatively high social
profile of this travelling band explain this higher level of expectation.
As the population is diverse, separating it into students of law and
students of medicine, will give us two samples that are more easily
comparable with smaller other such student samples. In the case of
law the students form the Northern Netherlands and those from the
duchy of Brabant who studied at the prestigious law University of
Orléans present us with exactly that. Not only was law their pri-
mary concern, the sizes of these populations were very similar as
well. These carefully documented and well-researched populations
enable us to determine whether the career perspective for the Italian
bunch resembled that of young men who attended the Loire uni-
versity. According to a scheme of different offices and dignities the
students that had visited Italian studia were compared to the other
two groups (table 5.1.16.).
ItalyLaw OrléansNN OrléansB

N=327 N=377 N=306
Academia 7.0 1.0 1.0

Clergy 32.4 29.0 23.9
Parish 16.2 16.7 12.7
Canon 12.2 15.7 16.0
Decanus, provost, etc. 5.2 0.5 1.0
Official, vicar-general 5.2 0.8 1.3
Curia 3.4 0.3 1.3
Religious order 2.1 2.3 4.9
Magistracy 10.4 8.6 15.0
Civil sevice town 6.1 11.7 5.6
Lawyers town level 2.8 3.7 3.3
Notary public 1.2 1.8 0.7
Regional Government 7.3 8.9 3.6
Provincial civil servant 15.6 11.5 13.4
Lawyers Provincial 3.4 3.7 3.6
302 chapter five
Table 5.1.16. (cont.)
ItalyLaw OrléansNN OrléansB

N=327 N=377 N=306
States 8.3 4.7 0.0

Central civil service 4.6 1.3 5.6
Lawyers Central 2.1 1.3 3.3
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
Table 5.1.16. Offices held by law students from Italy, students from the Northern
Netherlands and Brabant at the law University of Orléans compared, as percentages of
total population.66
Overlooking this table, one notices that there was not that much
difference between the career perspectives for law students of Italian
studia and those who had visited Orléans. Largely, the perspective
for these travellers was the same. There were some different nuances
here and there—somewhat less canons in Italy and somewhat more
provincial civil servants and deputies to the States—, but in these
cases the different time frame often explains these discrepancies.67
The different time frame, however, could not explain a number
of differences that are not wholly without significance. For one, the
number of academics under the students who travelled across the
Alps was significantly higher. Even discounting those who taught law
during their studies, often before graduation, which leaves us with
the seventeen professors and a percentage of 5.2, the difference is
substantial.68 Another significant difference was, though the number
66
Figures for Orléans based on De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Brabanders’, 243–289; Ead.,
‘Studenten uit het bisdom Utrecht’, 77–79; Ridderikhoff, De Ridder-Symoens and
Illmer (eds.), Premier livre. Seconde partie.
67
The terminus of 1575 for this thesis does slightly alter the balance compared
to the Orléans population, where the terminus of research was 1546. If we omit
the last cohort of students in Italy—when clerics in the population were very few
and when students flock to the provincial courts and the meetings of States—, the
percentage of canons amounted to 16.2%, for provincial civil servants to 12.6%
and for deputies to the States to 5.4%. All significantly closer to the percentages
found for Orléans.
68
The last cohort did not have any law students teaching at universities. Discounting
the last cohort would increase the percentage to 9.9 for academics in general and
no less than 7.7% of the law population with a professorial chair.
of clerics did not differ considerably, the extent to which these cler-
gymen succeeded in attaining offices at regional, diocesan and Curia
level. In both these cases it does seem plausible to link the difference
to the number and nature of degrees obtained by the population
visiting Italian universities. Both in terms of the amount of gradu-
ates and in particular of doctores, Italy as a university pole for law
seems to have outrun Orléans. Next, the high number of degrees
involving canon law obtained in Italy was important, while the Loire
university was much more focused on civil law. For professorships
the doctorate was a requirement. Also, for a number of church
officials, the official-principal chief among them, a prestigious degree
counted, almost became an unwritten requirement. Furthermore, it
could be argued that for those clerics attached to the Curia it seems
that an affinity with Italy and things Italian might have worked in
their favour.
As for the other significant difference, the percentage of students
represented at central level, the following should be taken into account.
In general, students from the Northern Netherlands who visited
Orléans—overwhelmingly from the western parts of the Netherlands
under Burgundian and later Habsburg rule—had to look to either
Brussels or Mechelen for central institutions, where theirs peers from
Brabant and even more so Flanders stood better chances.69 The situ-
ation was slightly different for the Netherlanders who visited Italy,
where the relative balance between students from the western and
eastern parts was much more equal geographically than for Orléans.
The contingent originating in the eastern parts of the Netherlands,
that had closer ties with the neighbouring German lands, did have
an alternative central institution that they could look to for employ-
ment, the Reichskammergericht.
On balance the career perspective for both these groups of trav-
elling students was similar and seems to have been significantly bet-
ter than for the larger student population. In fact, the two taken
together hand us a very significant proportion of the administrative
and judicial apparatus in the Northern Netherlands, for both bureau-
cracies of State and Church.
Another career comparison for the student of medicine can be
69
Damen, Staat, 432–6.
304 chapter five
made with the careers of students at the faculty of medicine at the

University of Cologne. The faculty in Cologne was relatively small
and rather exclusive in its social composition compared to the arts
faculty, second only to the law faculty. There also seems to have
existed to tightly knit network within the faculty, where relations did
count and lineages of professors emerged. The career destinations of
students who had visited Italy and those who had studied at Cologne
are compared in table 5.1.17.
ItalyMed CologneMed
N=91 N=121
Academia 46.2 49.6

Personal physician 17.6 24.8
Town physician 27.5 32.2
Private practioner 41.8 –
Clergy 17.6 14.9
Town government+admin. 23.1 –
States+province+central 7.7 –
Other 4.4 –
Table 5.1.17. Positions held by students of medicine in Italy and students of medicine
at the University of Cologne compared, as percentages of careers recovered.70
Again, one might say that the perspective is not dissimilar. Academia
seems to have been a common broad choice for both populations.
The number of professorships, though, was twice as high for the stu-
dents who had visited Italian studia. The number of personal physi-
cians of the Cologne population was higher and could well be
explained by the higher noble density and its relative importance in
the German lands. Medical students who ended up in the Church
for the two populations also differed slightly.71 On the whole, a sim-
ilar career perspective arises. Apart from the ‘obvious’ professions,
there was a significant section of the students that went to Italy that
had careers outside the teaching and practice of the medical pro-
70
Based on Rüdiger-Prüll, ‘Karriere’.
71
The definition handled for town physicians is not very clearly defined in
Rüdiger-Prüll, ‘“Karriere”’. I have the impression that those who had a private
practice are sometimes counted among town physicians.
fession. It would seem that they had explored a wider range of

options in terms of career sectors. The number of students who com-
bined offices in different career sectors—so called “Mischgruppen”—
was higher for the Italian population (nearly half ) than for students
of Cologne (almost one third).72
Another way of looking at the career perspective is to establish
what segment of particular institutions had enjoyed an education in
Italy. For the canons enjoying a benefice of the prestigious chapter
of Oudmunster or St Salvator in Utrecht in the period 1423–1528
it has been established that 98 had had a university education. No
less than 13 of them (13.3 per cent) had studied in Italy. Of these
13 there were 9 canons from the Northern Netherlands (9.2 per
cent). Where students of the Northern Netherlands who visited Italy
only formed the smallest section—approximately 3 per cent—of the
overall student population from the northern Low Countries, their
relative presence in one of the most important chapters in the
Netherlands was high. In the chapter itself these men played a role
of some importance as well. Of the seven deans in function from
1418 until 1559, three, Utenweer, Suggerode and Van Mierop, had
studied in Italy. The office of treasurer was held by Suggerode and
Nicolaus Ruysch, so that two out of nine treasurers from 1418 until
1558 were educated on the peninsula.73 Similarly, out of the 33 coun-
sellors in the episcopal council of bishop David of Burgundy (1456–96)
who were listed as “meester”, which is an indication of university
training, 7 had attended Italian universities.74
Of the 33 councillors of the Hof van Friesland in the period 1515–1578
who had had visited a university, no less than 9 had come though
Italy on their travels, this while only some 4.3 per cent of the total
72
Ibid. Rüdiger-Prüll concentrates on what he refers to as “Verlaufbahnung”,
professionalization, but he does not pay a lot of attention to careers outside the
immediate range of ‘medical’ careers.
73
Based on Van den Hoven van Genderen, Heren, 248, 716–7, and on more
elaborate information kindly received from the author. If the canons from outside
the diocese of Utrecht are omitted, the percentage of canons who had visited Italian
universities as part of the total university trained population would rise to over 10%.
One of the other deans, Herman van Lockhorst was the father of Wilhelmus van
Lockhorst who had studied in Bologna and Siena.
74
Based on Enklaar, Landsheerlijk bestuur, 168–79. As a percentage of the total
number of councillors—including those mostly noble councillors who never saw the
inside of a lecture hall—it would still amount to 4.9%.
306 chapter five
number of Frisian students actually made it to the peninsula in those

years.75 Of the c. 120 councillors appointed to the Hof van Holland
between 1428 and 1600, who had visited universities, again, a min-
imum of 20 (16.6 per cent) had studied at an Italian studium. Out
of the 18 advocaten-fiscaal at the Hof from the Northern Netherlands
3 had a law degree from an Italian studium.76 The relative overrep-
resentation of Italian graduates—that represent at best a few per-
centage points of the overall student population from the northern
Low Countries—with posts at these prestigious institutions seems to
reaffirm the rather strong career perspective for those young men
who visited studia like Bologna, Padua and Siena.
5.2. Climbing the Ladder: Social Mobility and Networks
After this close investigation of the careers and career paths of the
students in the population, it is time to take a next step and see to
what factors were important to claim their place in the social hier-
archy. The purpose of this section is twofold. Close scrutiny of the
social background and their careers should give us some idea about
career expectations and the possibility of social mobility of the stu-
dents in our population. A further focus on the social network in
which they found themselves will reveal some of the mechanisms at
work in the emergence and preservation of social elites and will
hopefully allow us to see to what extent their education, in casu, their
expensive stay in Italy contributed to their place in society, maybe
even to their social mobility.
This interesting question, nevertheless, presents a number of prob-
lems. Firstly, what do we exactly mean by social mobility? The term
has undoubtedly strong ‘modern’ connotations, derived from mod-
ern sociology.77 Can we use such a contemporary concept for a small
75
Based on: Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 153–5. This sample included one non-
Frisian student, Theodorus Lindanus. See also chapter 2.2.
76
On the basis of De Blécourt and Mijers (eds.), Memorialen, XXXII a.f.; some
corrections in Van Gent, ‘Pertijelike saken’, 473; Damen, Staat. Not counted in this
sample were the councillors who came from outside the Northern Netherlands.
77
Cf. J.W. Oerlemans, ‘Historische sociale mobiliteit’ in: Theoretische Geschiedenis 8
(1981) 161–86. He discusses a number of important issues, e.g. the extent to which
people in particular social layers in the distant past might be more interested in
consolidation of existing conditions rather than active pursuit of social mobility.
population in a distant past for which so many of the vital data and
sources are missing? For one, it forces us to label all the different
offices and professions that have been mentioned before according
to a strict scheme in order to assess their social value. The question
arises what criteria can be used to perform such a task. These
difficulties in trying to come to some sort of scheme to categorize
social layers in the Northern Netherlands have been outlined in sec-
tion 4.2. Similar problems arise here. We need to tread carefully in
this landscape. Salary or attached income as a criterion to measure
the social value of offices is often insufficient. For example, there
was no salary attached to the various offices in the magistracy. A
very prestigious position like that of raad extraordinaris of the Court
of Holland was unsalaried. A careful equilibrium between income,
emoluments and such volatile concepts as power and prestige will
have to do to give us some idea of the social value of the various
dignities and offices found for the students in the population.
There are other aspects to take into consideration: the dignity of
a clergyman for instance. Although the value of specific benefices
may have differed considerably, even a chaplain of a relatively
insignificant chapel was entitled to a certain amount of respect and
reverence that can hardly be put into monetary value. In a wider
sense this applies to most of the offices mentioned in this chapter,
as the regard for intellectual labour was higher than manual labour,
even though in some cases there may not have been a clear dividing-
line in terms of financial reward. These contemporary views natu-
rally have to be taken into consideration. The desire to be elevated
to the ranks of the nobility, though the immediate monetary conse-
quences of this step might have been absent altogether, was seen as
an important advancement. Not all contemporary notions about social
mobility and social exclusion can be taken at face value, though.
Many offices and dignities were nominally inaccessible to those of
illegitimate birth. As we shall see shortly, reality was not nearly as
harsh as (canon) law prescribed.
In short ‘social mobility’ in this study will refer to a process in
which a student managed to go beyond his immediate environment
and accessed positions in society that in terms of remuneration, pres-
tige or power can be considered a promotion.78 The effects of this
78
The term immediate environment refers to the categories as described in chapter
308 chapter five
upward mobility need not be permanent and do not necessarily apply

to his family in the wider sense. Members of the clergy might have
attained positions in the hierarchy of this institution that carried a
lot of prestige, but that did not reflect immediately on their fami-
lies. In many cases, though, there would be a lasting effect on his
heirs and other close family. Although this definition is still sufficiently
vague to illicit all sorts of questions, by using both the larger pic-
ture and concrete examples it will become clear that social mobi-
lity in the population was a realistic possibility for a number of
students in the population.
A first way of assessing this phenomenon is to look where those
students, who within the institution of the university itself were
perceived to be of inadequate means—the pauperes—ended up in
society. There was career information for 23 out of 58 pauperes.
However, 7 of them were non-specified clergy and should be left
out, although this is a first indication of where a considerable num-
ber of them might be located. For just 16 students (27.6 per cent),
qualified as poor, there was more concrete career information.79 If
we compare this figure to those for the other two university cate-
gories, the divites (46.3 per cent) and the nobility (63.5 per cent), it
will be obvious that there was some relation between status within
the studium and career outcome. Students with a poor background
were less likely to end up in those jobs that were prestigious enough
to be well documented.
So, where did they end up, these students that were considered
to be poor during their studies? Most of them, nine altogether, were
academics. Four students did not go beyond the rotulus artistarum often
during their own pursuits in the higher faculties. Five of them, how-
ever, managed to become professors; three in arts, one in medicine
4.2. I shall look into what is referred to as ‘intergenerational’ mobility (with regard
to the previous generation), but in some more spectacular cases ‘intragenerational’
mobility (within one lifetime or career) can be used to define the careers of certain
individuals. Such is the case, for instance, for Philippus Nicolai Cobelius. He came
from a privileged and extremely well-connected background that had lines running
to the States of Holland and several patrician families in various Dutch towns. Still,
his ascendancy to the Secret Council and his position as councillor to King Philip
II single his career out as one that can only be characterized as upwardly mobile.
Cf. Oerlemans, ‘Historische sociale mobiliteit’, 171.
79
Cf. Fuchs, Dives, 91–2, who came to 20% recovery rate of career information
for pauperes at the University of Heidelberg until 1450.
and a last one in law. Seven poor students ended up in the Church.
Three at parish level where they were rector or chaplain, two of
them entered the Dominican order and another one became procurator
fiscalis at the curia of Cologne. The last poor student who became
a member of the cloth was the already mentioned Theodorus Lindanus,
whose apparent modest background did not prevent him from pursuing
a career that not only brought him several offices higher up in the
Church (canon, vicar-general, inquisitor), but allowed him to become
an ex officio councillor of the Hof van Friesland. He was the only pauper
who was represented at provincial level.
There were more poor students to be found at town level, another
five: two of them town physicians (one of whom combined this office
with that of rector scholarum), one pensionary and even two magistrates.
Another three students acted as private secretaries to noble employ-
ers and a last one served certain young noblemen as praeceptor. There
was only one poor student who made it to the corridors of power
at the central level. Though from a bourgeois family from Dokkum,
Johannes Bogerman worked as a servant during his years at Bologna
and graduated pro paupere. After graduation he managed to become
a lawyer at the Reichskammergericht in Speyer. He moved on and
became professor of law at the University of Cologne and personal
councillor to the duke of Kleves. It is somewhat sad that when he
died after a career that took him well beyond the burgerij-milieu of
the small Frisian town of Dokkum, he left his widow in dire straits.
Although the careers of this small section of pauperes points to a
rather limited number of sectors—and generally the lower echelons
within these—, the possibilities of getting ahead were not absent.
When Jan Florisz from the provincial town of Alkmaar, after hav-
ing studied in Cologne as a pauper and graduated in medicine at
Ferrara, managed to become a professor of medicine at the University
of Cologne, this was a career move that can definitely be labelled
as upwardly mobile. The cases of Lindanus and Bogerman illustrate
that in some cases a move to the highest levels was not beyond
reach.80
80
Cf. Fuchs, Dives, 91–2, where he assesses the careers of the pauperes. According
to a scheme, where he identifies, what he refers to as “grosse Karriere”, which
include canons, bishops, abbots, teachers at the higher faculties, members of town
magistracy and higher. He identified 4.6% (17) of his sample as having had a “big
career”, nearly always in chapters. In the sample for the pauperes in our population,
310 chapter five
There is another way of trying to assess whether the students in

the population managed to climb the social ladder. This can be
done, albeit roughly, by comparing the social background of the
holders the various offices, to which a certain value has to be
attached.81 Such an evaluation on the basis of the scheme of social
stratification used in chapter 4.2., will give a clearer idea where the
students from these different layers of society found employment in
a general sense. Furthermore, this strategy will can give an indica-
tion to what extent students from the more modest social layers in
the Netherlands, those from the burgerij and those from the crafts,
succeeded in getting positions in society that were not immediately
accessible to them. A number of offices at different levels and in
different sectors have been selected. Rather than dealing with a
scheme on different levels outright as in section 5.1., I have chosen
to categorize the students from different background in sectors of
employment by employer. All of these samples involve over 40 indi-
viduals. Five categories will be dealt with. Students employed by uni-
versities as professors form a first category. Students in the various
dignities of the Church a second one. The third category consists of
students who were either self employed—notaries, advocati and prac-
tising physicians, even though they often had to be admitted to exer-
cise their profession by higher authorities, fall into this category—or
students who were personally attached to a patron either as personal
physicians, private secretaries or praeceptores. The next set of profes-
sions are the three most important positions within the town’s civil
service, those of pensionaris, town physician and rector scholarum. These
senior civil servants had to be appointed by town government.82 The
last category involved those students involved in government and
administration at town, regional, provincial and central level. Entering
according to Fuchs’ scheme, the percentage of students with a comparable career

was 10.3% (6). Even though the numbers are very small, this at least hints at the
possibility that the perspective for pauperes who made it to an Italian university was
somewhat more positive.
81
The inventory of various offices in section 5.1 gives an impression of how valu-
able/prestigious these offices were considered to be on the basis of research done.
The outline of social stratification in section 4.2 would serve as the other qualifier.
82
In the case of rectores scholarum the town government was not always re-
sponsible for their appointment. In some cases the prince or other collatores held the
privilege of appointing head schoolmasters. Cf. Post, Scholen, 37–55; Tervoort,
‘Schoolmeesters’, 11–18.
Social Background of Career Sample
Nobility
14%
Unknown
31%
Patriciate
23%
LB/Ambacht
9%
HBurgerij
23%
Graph 5.2.1. Social background of the career sample of students from the Northern
Netherlands at Italian universities (N=337).
these ranks ultimately depended on appointment by the prince or

his representative. It will be helpful to give a breakdown of the social
composition of the total career sample to compare the different cat-
egories to (graph 5.2.1.).
Looking at the social composition of these categories, there are a
number of interesting points to be made. A first obvious one is the
complete absence for this population of noble professors (table 5.2.1.).
Although some noble young men taught during their studies, the
pursuit of a chair as a career goal seems to have been alien to the
noble psyche. The competition for these positions was predominantly
the domain for those students from a bourgeois background. Among
the faculties law seems to have attracted comparatively more pro-
fessors from the urban and rural patriciate than the other faculties.
Especially for those students from the bourgeoisie and the artisan
milieu a chair could be considered a case of advancement in soci-
ety. Furthermore, a position in university could open a range of
career possibilities. Ludolphus Nicolai van Hoorn, most likely from
a lower bourgeois background, was teaching law at Louvain before
he received his appointment as canon of Oudmunster. He then
moved on to become a councillor to Bishop David of Burgundy.
Similarly, a chair in medicine could open the prospect of an attrac-
tive position as a personal physician.
312 chapter five
(N) Nobility Patriciate HBurgerij LB/Ambacht Unknown Total
Arts 0 2 5 4 3 14
Medicine 0 1 4 4 5 14
Law 0 4 6 1 1 12
Theology 0 0 2 1 1 4
Total Ind. 0 7 17 10 10 44
(%) Nobility Patriciate HBurgerij LB/Ambacht Unknown Total
Arts 0.0 14.3 35.7 28.6 21.4 100

Medicine 0.0 7.1 28.6 28.6 35.7 100
Law 0.0 33.3 50.0 8.3 8.3 100
Theology 0.0 0.0 25.0 25.0 50.0 100
Total Ind. 0.0 15.9 38.6 22.7 22.7 100
Table 5.2.1. Social categories of students in the population who became university pro-
fessors in absolute numbers and percentages of the total sample.
When we look at the social background of those students who made

a career in the Church (table 5.2.2.), one immediately notices the
substantial amount of students whose background was unknown. As
was mentioned before, it is likely that these students have to be
located in the bourgeois and crafts environment rather that the patri-
ciate and the nobility. One third of the clergy could not be cate-
gorized. Almost another third came from bourgeois and crafts, while
another third came from the wealthiest and most powerful shifts of
society. Participation of those labelled ‘unknown’ is particularly strong
in the lower levels of the Church hierarchy; at the parish level and
for those who entered the religious orders. We notice that both nobil-
ity and patriciate got their fair proportional share of benefices at
parish level. It is doubtful, however, if the parish flocks in question
saw much of their shepherds. A majority of these privileged clergy-
men accumulated several prebends. The noble student Alfer van
Montfoort was both rector ecclesiae of Polsbroek and a canon of St
Mary’s in Utrecht. It seems likely that he had a substitute for the
cura animarum in Polsbroek, as his duties as both canon and an epis-
copal ambassador would prevent him from visiting his parish often.83
83
Cf. Bijsterveld, Laverend, 106–124, in particular his conclusions about the
differences between “beneficianten” and “waarnemers”, p. 110, Table 1.15.
As we go higher on the Church ladder, the percentage of students

with completely unknown backgrounds decreases. The contrary is
true for those with a noble or patrician origin, whose share of higher
church dignities was well over 50 per cent for the generally more
profitable and prestigious ecclesiastical offices. The office of canon
was particularly sought after and it seems to have predominantly
been the playground for students from the nobility and patriciate,
both as a starting position and a final destination in a career.84 For
those students from more modest social backgrounds, a canonry has
to be viewed as a significant advancement to say the least, but often
as the final reward for services rendered. Although the share of stu-
dents from less privileged and unknown lineage in the higher offices
in the Church was smaller, it was not absent. As an institution the
Church did offer opportunities to students not so well off.
Parish 8 14 11 7 26 66
Canon 11 19 11 2 9 52
Region 5 7 4 1 3 20
Diocese 0 10 1 2 1 14
Bish/Curia 5 4 2 2 2 15
Order 1 3 1 4 10 19
Total Ind. 16 25 24 13 40 118
Parish 12.1 21.2 16.7 10.6 39.4 100

Canon 21.2 36.5 21.2 3.8 17.3 100
Region 25.0 35.0 20.0 5.0 15.0 100
Diocese 0.0 71.4 7.1 14.3 7.1 100
Bish/Curia 35.7 28.6 14.3 14.3 14.3 100
Order 5.3 15.8 5.3 21.1 52.6 100
Total Ind. 13.6 21.2 20.3 11.0 33.9 100
Table 5.2.2. Social categories of students in the population with offices in the Church
in absolute numbers and percentages of the total sample.
84
Cf. Van den Hoven van Genderen, Heren, 228–241. Although his scheme of
stratification is somewhat more refined, his study shows that at least 50% of the
canons of the chapter of St Salvator in Utrecht came form noble and patrician
backgrounds.
314 chapter five
Turning to the next category, which might be labelled the ‘free pro-
fessions’, the percentage of students whose background eludes us is
high again, with just over one in four. As most of these students
would fall into the categories of either the burgerij or the ambacht, it
would be justified to say that these professions were more the ter-
rain of students from bourgeois milieus supplemented by their fel-
low students from the crafts in the Netherlands. Although noble
students and those from the governing town and village elites did
not shrink from the private legal profession in particular, albeit at
provincial and central level, rather than in a town, a majority belonged
to those layers in society whose claim to power was relatively weak.
In the previous section, the profession of lawyer was identified as
one of those offices that could provide a springboard for a career
at some higher level or a salaried office in one of the bureaucracies
of state, particularly for those students for whom the threshold of
immediate access to these offices was beyond reach.
This is not so much true for the professions outside the legal
domain. The medical profession was not an attractive option for
noble students. Much more strongly one would say that the med-
ical profession was the domain of the town elite and the bourgeoisie.
Practising as a doctor medicinae—and this holds true even more for
the personal physician—could be considered a step up in society for
students from the lower echelons of the bourgeoisie and most definitely
for those whose fathers were involved in manual labour. When Joris
Willemsz of Noordwijk graduated as doctor medicinae in Ferrara in
1495 he had made progress in society, if we may believe that he
was the son of a barber, as his matriculation record shows.85 A bar-
ber’s son who managed to become doctor medicinae and who pracised
as a learned physician marks a successful climbing of the social lad-
der. Similarly, for the already mentioned Allard Cooltuyn who first
practised and later became town physician of Alkmaar, where his
father had been a shipbuilder belonging to the lower regions of the
middle shifts of the town, this career prospect cannot but be con-
sidered a step up in society.86 Students who freely entered the ser-
85
“Georgius de Noirtwyc filius Wilhelmi Barbitonsoris, Traj.” in: Wils, II, 472,
67. Also: Auctarium, III, 712, 11; 672, 3; 680, 40; 830, 832; Auctarium, VI, 638, 12;
652, 28; 654, 3; 687, 15; 691, 40; 728, 3, 8, 10, 13, 18, 27; 742, 5; 744, n. 5;
86
According the the “kohier van verpondinghe” for 1534 (RAA, Stadsarchief
Nota/Advo 3 7 10 1 5 26
Pract./Pers.
Phys. 1 9 12 8 13 43
Priv. Secr./
Praec. 1 2 5 3 4 15
Total Ind. 5 18 27 12 22 84
Nota/Advo 11.5 26.9 38.5 3.8 19.2 100

Pract. Phys. 2.3 20.9 27.9 18.6 30.2 100
Priv. Secr./
Praec. 6.7 13.3 33.3 20.0 26.7 100
Total Ind. 6.0 21.4 32.1 14.3 26.2 100
Table 5.2.3. Social categories of students in the population in the professions or in the
service of individuals in absolute numbers and percentages of the total sample.
vice of a noble patron as secretaries or praeceptores—again an option

not so popular with those from the higher echelons of society—also
came predominantly from the middle and lower layers of society.
These professions, nevertheless, could also represent a possibility to
move on.
The fourth set of offices are those in the town administration
under control of the magistracy. These were the most prestigious
offices in the urban civil service sector. Generally the pensionaris, the
stede doctoer and the rector scholarum did not only receive the highest
salaries, but were also issued cloth for their gowns, together with the
members of the magistracy. Learning and administrative skills were
the requirements for the job. The social composition of this group
of students differed slightly from the previous category in the sense
that the percentage of ‘unknowns’ was significantly lower. Again all
social categories were represented. Even noble students did sometimes
not refuse the office of town pensionary. Nicolaus Gerardi van der
vóór 1815, inv. nr. 707), Cornelis Allardsz’s total property and capital was esti-
mated at 250 Ponden Hollands. The cost of a year at the University of Louvain
would amount to approximately one tenth of his father’s total assets. Cf. De
Maesschalck, ‘Criteria’, 347–8.
316 chapter five
Pensionaris 2 7 9 1 2 21
Town Phys. 0 5 4 7 5 21
Rector S. 0 3 3 2 0 8
Total Ind. 2 13 14 7 7 43
Pensionaris 9.5 33.3 42.9 4.8 9.5 100

Town Phys. 0.0 23.8 19.0 33.3 23.8 100
Rector S. 0.0 37.5 37.5 25.0 0.0 100
Total Ind. 4.7 30.2 32.6 16.3 16.3 100
Table 5.2.4. Social categories of students in the population in senior civil servant
positions at town level in absolute numbers and percentages of the total sample.
Laen of Haarlem held this position in his native town after he had
already worked as receiver for the States of Holland. No noble stu-
dents were found who served as town physician or head school-
master. The action radius of this profession, the surgery and the
class room much like the lecture hall, was clearly considered to be
beneath somebody of noble birth, something that did not apply as
much to the office of pensionary, as he had to represent the town
at higher levels. It seems that students from the town elites felt them-
selves comfortable at this level. Especially as pensionary they would
be close enough to the magistracy one the one hand but have con-
tacts with bureaucracies at higher level where they could make con-
nections and show off their expertise. For the magistrate’s son Jacob
Ruysch this position helped him attain the office of raad at the Hof
van Holland.
The last category involved those students who ended up in the
most powerful positions in society, where appointment depended on
the approval of the prince or his representative. Indeed, in the case
of many of the regional governmental officers they were the prince’s
designated representative. What immediately catches the eye is the
very small percentage of students whose background was unknown.
A second major observation is that over two-thirds of those involved
in this career sector came from the most powerful and well-connected
sections of society, the nobility and the patriciate. As unsurprising
as this is, this still leaves us with one-third of students in this sector
whose access to the corridors of power at different levels was by no
means self-evident. At town level, the urban nobility and town patri-
ciate (vroedschapsfamilies) generally guarded their natural playground
fairly well. Research has shown, however, that access to the magis-
tracy for so-called homines novi outside the immediate range of gov-
erning families was never closed off. The admittance of new families
into the magistracy was an almost constant phenomenon.87 In this
light the percentage of students from non-elite families who made it
to town hall makes sense. For Maarten Jansz Coster, son of the dean
of the goldsmiths’ guild and medicine graduate of Bologna, being
appointed as burgemeester of Amsterdam was a step forward from his
immediate social background. It cannot, however, be interpreted as
a giant leap. His father was a wealthy craftsman at the very top of
the manual labour ladder and the presiding officer of an important
guild. Family wealth, connections and the combination with a doc-
tor’s degree in medicine that he used for his practice in Amsterdam
can explain that there were chances for Maarten to enter the ranks
of the vroede vaderen. This was also true for those students who came
from higher bourgeois families of wealth waiting in the wings.
Although this situation holds true to a certain extent for those stu-
dents who made it to the regional level, the absence of students from
the lower bourgeois and crafts milieus suggests that it was more
difficult for students from these layers of society to break into these
offices that had traditionally been the natural domain of the elite.
Cornelius Arnoldi van der Hoech, law graduate of Siena from a
bourgeois family in The Hague—his father had studied law in
Orléans—, did become rentmeester of Wassenaar and hoofdingelandt of
Delfland, but he had already practised as a lawyer at the Hof van
Holland and had even been a councillor there before he acquired
these positions at regional level. His access to these offices was by
no means immediate.
Even at the highest levels, though, participation of students from
relatively modest bourgeois and crafts backgrounds was not entirely
absent, even though they might have been incidental. For a student
87
Cf. Brand, Macht, 241–8; W.P. Blockmans, ‘Mobiliteit in de stadsbesturen
1400–1550’ in: D.E.H. de Boer and J.W. Marsilje (eds.), De Nederlanden in de late
middeleeuwen (Utrecht 1987) 236–60.
318 chapter five
Magistracy 9 20 13 4 2 48
Regional 10 8 7 0 0 25
Provincial 17 23 10 3 1 54
Central 6 5 4 0 1 16
Total Ind. 29 51 28 7 3 118
Magistracy 18.8 41.7 27.1 8.3 4.2 100

Regional 40.0 32.0 28.0 0.0 0.0 100
Provincial 31.5 42.6 18.5 5.6 1.9 100
Central 37.5 31.3 25.0 0.0 6.3 100
Total Ind. 24.6 43.2 23.7 5.9 2.5 100
Table 5.2.5. Social categories of students in the population in government and admin-
istration at town, regional, provincial and central level in absolute numbers and per-
centages of the total sample.
from a higher bourgeois milieu to make it to the administration at

county level was still unmistakably a case of social mobility. Henricus
Jacobi Meyster, a student of—most likely—law in Pisa, was the son
of a head schoolmaster in Haarlem. When he managed to become
deputy registrar at the Hof van Holland and receiver for the admiralty
in 1572, he was well beyond the classroom environment of his father.
His membership of the landraad in 1575 was a crown on his career.
For the already mentioned Johannes Bogerman the appointment to
the Reichskammergericht must have been an even greater step forward.
This overview of different employment sectors shows that partic-
ular sectors were more or less popular with students from different
social backgrounds. Teaching as a career was predominantly the ter-
rain of the bourgeoisie and offered chances to those from lower bour-
geois and crafts backgrounds. The nobility on the other hand avoided
the teaching profession. Similarly, private practice, whether this was
as a lawyer or medical doctor, was much more popular with non-
nobles and in particular the bourgeoisie than the small segment of
nobles who were nearly all involved in the legal profession. The civil
service sector at town level showed a similar breakdown. With the
exception of two noble students who acted as town pensionaries, all
of them were non-noble, and patrician and higher bourgeois stu-
dents seem to have made these offices their prerogative, although

students from lower strata did show a strong presence. It is in the
governmental sector at large that students from the elite of the
Northern Netherlands come into their own. Unsurprisingly, they are
comparatively overrepresented at all levels of government. This leaves
us with the Church. It would seem that careers of the students in
the Church reflect the social breakdown of the career sample most
closely. Again, this is not this strange as this institution had to cater
for the totality of society. It had dignitaries at every level. From
priests administering the sacrament to the faithful at parish level in
a small village—often instead of the official beneficiary—right to the
very top of the ladder from where the Church was governed.
Consequently, it was obvious that it had to recruit from most sec-
tions of society to fill the many posts. The career sample of the pop-
ulation clearly reflects the manifold character of the Church as an
institution. The more modest dignities would be held by students
with a more modest background and the more prestigious offices
could count on the attention of many a noble second son.
Although the careers in this sample thus do reflect some of the
more rigid social aspects of late-medieval and early modern Low
Countries’ society, it is clear that no sector of employment was
entirely closed to those layers of society not directly involved in it.
Every sector of employment showed that there were possibilities for
the lower strata to enter higher levels of employment than those
where their fathers had found theirs. At the highest levels there were
few, but nevertheless significant, cases of students from backgrounds
in the lagere burgerij and the ambacht who made it to important offices.
Generally, though, these steps on the ladder of society were taken
one at the time. In some cases the effect would not be clearly visi-
ble until the next generation. Lubertus Esthius of Beusekom in
Guelders, whose social origins are hidden from view, was a gradu-
ate in medicine of Bologna and eventually set up practice in Strasbourg.
His son studied in Strasbourg and Basle and finally managed to
become a professor of medicine at the University of Heidelberg and
even succeeded in becoming rector of the studium in 1601.88
In general, the social system was fairly closed, but society showed
88
Bronzino, Notitia, 46; Lindeboom, DMB, 553–4.
320 chapter five
cracks at all levels. All levels had to at some stage recruit members
from below. The town patriciate constantly renewed itself by admit-
ting wealthy and/or expert new men to the magistracy. The same
was true for higher levels of the nobility that had traditionally almost
monopolized the offices at regional and county level, supported by
the expertise of members of the clergy. The wealthy patriciate, though,
did serve as a potential recruitment pool for offices at regional and
even higher levels, provided they had something on offer. The grant-
ing of a noble title would formally copperfasten this process of upward
mobility. The process whereby the position of the nobility as the
first supplier of members of the governmental bureaucracies was chal-
lenged had started in the fifteenth century and continued at a more
rapid pace in the sixteenth. One needs to be careful not to inter-
pret this process as a solely involuntary development. For the nobil-
ity of Holland Van Nierop has shown that holding certain offices in
the bureaucracy of state became less attractive to a prospering nobil-
ity, because these offices became increasingly professionalized and
therefore time-consuming. This development demanded a different
type of office holder, a legal specialist rather than a knight provid-
ing the prince with due consilium.89 This offered new opportunities to
the non-noble elites who could live up to this role of legal special-
ist. Though the number of noblemen particularly in the provincial
courts diminished in the sixteenth century, they remained present.
Something seems to have changed, though. If we look at the coun-
cillors of the Hof van Holland after 1530, we notice that almost all
noble and non-noble members, with the exception of the high noble
stadtholders, are referred to as “meester” which is an indication of
university education and legal training seemed to have been part of
the exercise. For instance, the three noblemen in the population that
were appointed to the Court after 1530—Reinier van der Duyn,
Nicolaus van Valckesteyn and Cornelis van de Bouchorst—were all
law graduates.90 Similarly, the three noblemen who were assessores in
89
Van Nierop, Ridders, chapter 6, particularly, section 6.3; Janse, Ridderschap, 374.
90
Cf. also Zijlstra, Geleerde Friesland, 152–5, where he deals with the councillors
of the Court of Friesland. The decrease of the share of noblemen in the Court
starts somewhat later and continued to be quite high compared to the Court of
Holland. The difference in percentages of noble and non-noble councillors with a
law degree was marginal (70% against 75%), indicating that legal studies became
the Reichskammergericht—Dominicus Tettema, Johannes van Mepsche

and the just mentioned Reinier van der Duyn—all had been awarded
doctorates in utroque iure.
Ennoblement or more generally the desire to be recognized as a
noble was close to the hearts and minds of many in late-medieval
and early modern times. The students in the population were no
exception to this. The fact that they did have something to offer—
their knowledge in the field of law, medicine or theology—made
them candidates to climb the social ladder, possibly even be granted
such a title. Johan van Oldenbarnevelt certainly tried his best to
claim nobility for himself and his family. Not only did he register
“in specie nobilis” at the University of Louvain, but on his return
to the Netherlands after his graduation in Padua, he immediately
started proceedings with the Hof van Holland to have the lineage of
Van Oldenbarnevelt recognized as noble. Although this does not
seem to have been successful at first, in which the Troubles in the
Netherlands further complicated matters, the knighthood granted to
him by James I in 1611, must have come as a well-deserved reward.91
He was not the only one. At least twelve other students in the pop-
ulation in some way managed to receive a noble title during their
lifetime. Arnoldus Cornelii van der Mijle was another. Known orig-
inally as Aert Cornelisz, his marriage to Cornelia van Alblas brought
him the manor De Myl and he adorned himself and his sons with
this name. This, however, was insufficient to be regarded as a noble-
man. Only the granting of a noble title to him by Philip II in 1570—
because of his attempts to prevent disorder in 1566—gave him and
his lineage nobility.
There is another angle that needs to be taken into consideration
and this is the phenomenon of illegitimate birth. Officially, it pre-
vented young men from entering all sorts of offices and enjoying
certain privileges. Students, especially if they wanted to hold office
such as rector universitatis, and clergymen alike had to be of legitimate
birth. Officially, bastards could not enter the clergy and take higher
orders. Canon law forbade those blemished by a defectus natalium to
much more important for this position. His sample included four noble students
who had visited Italian universities, of which three held a doctorate in utroque.
91
Schillings, Matricule, IV, 710, 50; Haak (ed.), Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, 1; Fölting,
Landsadvocaten, 35–42.
322 chapter five
take orders, and only entering a monastery or a chapter of regular

canons could wash away this blemish. In practice a system of dis-
pensation had emerged, partly to make sure that there was a sufficient
number of fit candidates for offices in the Church.92 At universities
the student had to take an oath stating that he was of legitimate
birth. In practice, things were not as harsh as they seemed. It was
by no means impossible for illegitimate sons to make some sort of
career. There were at least twelve students in the population born
out of wedlock. With one exception they were all sons of clerics.
Although one of the students, Erasmus, was put into an Augustinian
monastery to lift this birth stain, most others managed to follow in
the footsteps of their fathers. Five bastards obtained canonries. Willem
van Lockhorst was the natural son of Herman van Lockhorst, dean
of the chapter of St Salvator, but this did not prevent him from
becoming a canon of St Peter’s in Utrecht, adding another prebend
of St Mary’s in Utrecht, and from following Pope Adrian VI to
Rome. Gerrit Suggerode was the son of a canon of the same name
at the chapter of St Lebuin’s in Deventer. He started his career as
a canon of the same chapter, but moved on from there to become
canon—later dean—of St Salvator, official-principal, inquisitor and
vicar-general of Utrecht. Even the sons of clerics outside the pow-
erhouse of Utrecht found few obstructions to finding their place in
society. It is certainly telling that the two outstanding scholars of the
population, Erasmus and Rudolf Agricola—son of Hendrik Huusman,
abbot of Selwert—were both illegitimate children. The system of dis-
pensation apparently worked fairly well for a number of students in
the population. Far from being hampered by their birth, their con-
nections within the Church—reinforced by their university studies—
allowed them to seek offices like their fathers and in some cases they
even managed to go beyond that.
Looking at the totality of the career sample of 337 students and
try to make some statements about social mobility, a number of
observations can be made. The first is that this is not possible for
a large section of the sample (29.8%), as there was insufficient mate-
rial to locate their background. The second observation must be that
92
Cf. also Bijsterveld, Laverend, 128–134; Van den Hoven van Genderen, Heren,
228–30.
it is very difficult to exactly determine if certain career moves con-

stitute upward mobility. Although we have seen a number of exam-
ples of definite social climbers, it is very difficult to put this into any
clear figures. In a sense, each case stands on its own and even with
a definition of social mobility as outlined above, many doubts and
complications remain in giving a final verdict on whether a student
managed to quit his sphere and reach the next step of the pyramid
or not. Ultimately, this verdict is subjective.
A number of premises has to be taken into account if one wants
to evaluate a tentative attempt at categorization. The jump from a
small village to a professorial chair in a large university city should
be interpreted as mobility. Similarly, for those students whose claim
to positions in the magistracy or higher Church hierarchy was weak
considering their background such career moves were taken to up-
wardly mobile. The step from the town patriciate—and in this respect
they differ from the urban nobility—to the bureaucracies at provincial
level was not an automatic one. For a schepenzoon to become a coun-
cillor at one of the provincial courts meant to take a step forward.
With these remarks in mind, the following table shows the tenta-
tive figures in terms of social mobility and stability for 234 individ-
uals, where we had information about both their origin and their
careers.93
Law Medicine Other Total
Mobility 53 24 6 83
Stability 112 16 12 140
Anomalous 0 11 0 11
Total 165 51 18 234
Table 5.2.6. Social mobility and stability of students in the population, whose back-
ground and careers were traced according to faculty.
93
A percentage of 36.6. For the later period of 1550–1750 the percentage of
recovery of both origin and careers for students from Brabant was 20%. Calculations
by W.T.M. Frijhoff based on Bots, Mathey and Meyer, Noordbrabantse studenten. In
a review article in Annales, Economies, Sociétés, Civilisations 36 (1981) 243–6.
324 chapter five
It should be clear that a majority of the students followed if not in

their father’s footsteps, then at least followed their trail. Sibrandus
Occo, son of Pompeius Occo who held a key position in the mag-
istracy of Amsterdam, also took up the offices of schepen, burgemeester
and tresorier in his native city. For Valerius van Cuyck, son of the
influential nobleman Johan van Cuyck, schepen and burgemeester of
Utrecht, his canonry in the Dom in Utrecht was a distinct career
possibility. Valerius’ elder brother Antonius succeeded his father in
the Utrecht magistracy as schepen.94 In most of these cases, students
opted or had to settle for careers not unlike their fathers’, or at least
in the same sphere c.q. the same level.
There was another interesting phenomenon that deserves our atten-
tion in this respect. A number of students opted for career paths
that at first sight do not seem to be obvious choices and they have
been labelled as ‘anomalous’ for the purpose of illustrating a sort of
mistaken sense of expectation. In these eleven cases we are dealing
with students who chose to study medicine and who also opted for
a career in medicine. This, despite the fact that such a choice was
not immediately obvious. In most cases they originated in a patri-
cian environment or in the higher bourgeoisie that had made the
connection with the patriciate.
For example, Hadrianus Junius was the son of Pieter de Jonge.
Pieter had studied law in Orléans, was appointed pensionaris of the
town of Hoorn and managed to secure a place in the magistracy.
His son, Adriaan decided to study medicine rather than the law and
his career direction was quite different from that of his father. After
his graduation in Bologna he had a medical practice, was town physi-
cian and rector scholarum in Haarlem, then moved to Denmark, where
he was appointed professor of medicine and royal physician, and
even dealt with William the Silent after his return to the Netherlands.
Although this has to be qualified as a rather spectacular career in
itself, it might not be exactly what one would expect from a son of
a lawyer who had made the grade, so to speak. We see something
similar in the case of the Van Foreest family of Alkmaar. This was
an influential patrician family with certain claims to nobility. Three
94
Similar career paths were continued in the next generation. Antonius’ son
Johan became a canon in the cathedral chapter and Tyman a councillor at the
Court of Utrecht. NNBW, VIII, 351.
members of this family chose to study medicine, all of them in Italy.

The first, Theodorus, was a brother of Jorden van Foreest, the father
of Petrus and Jacobus Forestus. Jorden was a very important mem-
ber of the Alkmaar magistracy and served his town as burgemeester,
schepen, tresorier and kerkmeester. In addition to this he was bailiff of
the nearby village of Bergen as well. Despite their father’s leading
role in Alkmaar’s government, these brothers chose medicine as their
subject of study and continued in medicine after graduation. Again,
one must say that the careers of Petrus and Jacobus were very
respectable, but seem to have been not that evident. Two of their
brothers ended up in the magistracy. Pieter, the eldest son, would
have been the natural candidate to follow his father’s line of duty.
In his own words, he followed the example of his uncle and con-
sciously chose medicine. Petrus Hogerbeets, son of a magistrates’
family in the town of Hoorn did the same.
On the one hand these examples seem to suggest that there was
not that much distance between the learned medical doctor and the
magistracy in the smaller towns of the Northern Netherlands, though
there is evidence that this situation changed somewhat in the sev-
enteenth century.95 On the other hand, there is something to be said
for the theory that these young men made a specific choice for learn-
ing, for the humanist model. Most of them were indeed scholars of
some renown in their day and strong supporters of humanist med-
icine. Petrus Forestus himself was said to have been inspired by his
uncle and deliberately chose to follow in his footsteps rather than in
his father’s.96
Overlooking the sample there were 83 cases in which students
managed to make a career or attain an office that was beyond their
immediate expectation. This means that for a not insignificant num-
ber of the careers recovered—one in four—the student in question
succeeded in getting either a more prestigious or powerful position—
and in most cases both—than what he might have expected ab ini-
tio. There were a number of patterns discernible. Most of them were
specific to the choice of faculty. Typical for students of medicine was
the move from lower bourgeois and artisan backgrounds ( pauperes
95
Cf. Frijhoff, ‘“Non satis dignitatis”’.
96
Henriëtte A. Bosman-Jelgersma, ‘De levensloop van Pieter van Foreest’ in: Ead.
(ed.), Pieter van Foreest, 16.
326 chapter five
are included in this category) to a professorial chair. Also reaching

the position of town and personal physician could mean a move
upward in society. Even for someone like Wilhelmus Lemnius—son
of the renowned medical doctor Livinus Lemnius who was securely
located in the higher echelons of the town of Zierikzee and even
took office in the magistracy—the appointment as royal physician of
Sweden cannot but be seen as social advancement.
For students from lower and higher bourgeois milieus, access to
the governing offices at town level was a step forward. Both students
of medicine and law were successful in taking this step. Medical doc-
tors and pensionarissen of bourgeois origins could through a number
of offices and missions—such as deputy to the States—become some-
what more important at town level. Other patterns of mobility mainly
involve students of law. The move from the town patriciate and even
more so from lower milieus to the provincial courts, that could put
a family on the provincial map, accounted for more than a quarter
of cases of social advancement. The step was even greater for those
who managed to become involved in the institutions at central level.
Especially in the fifteenth and sixteenth century a number of civil
servant lineages start to emerge. Generally not noble but coming
from the top layers of the towns, the sons from these families con-
tinued to look for public service at regional and provincial level,
while maintaining their close relations with their towns and the rep-
resentative institutions, the States. We will shortly meet a number
of students who fit this pattern.
Although social mobility was a distinct feature for a significant
part of the population, this does not necessarily imply that the role
that university education—much less that of a university education
in Italy—played in the careers of these students was the sole or even
most important factor contributing to their path in life. The complexity
of human society is such that it is very difficult to assess what fac-
tors actively contribute to somebody’s place in the social hierarchy
and his advancement in society. Nevertheless, several scholars have
attempted to put down a number of markers that can be consid-
ered important in the present historical context. The historian Reinhard
outlined a number of concepts with which it is possible to analyse
the functioning of social networks for the early modern period.97
97
W. Reinhard, Freunde und Kreature. “Verflechtung” als Konzept zur Erforschung historischer
These key concepts were family relations, friendship, patronage and

Landmannschaft. The last concept has to be interpreted in a wider
sense than having common geographical origins. Membership of the
same organizations and institutions—including attending the same
universities—form an integral part of it. All these different factors
do not exist in isolation, but they overlap and reinforce each other.
To illustrate the complexity of some of the networks and connections,
a number of case studies is presented in which these concepts are
highlighted and where we will try to see if the experience of having
studied (in Italy) played any part at all.
There can be little doubt that one’s social background and fami-
ly relations played a most important part in the formation of some-
body’s career. However, the other factors cannot be underestimated.
It is worthwhile to explore the network in the ecclesiastical capital
of the Northern Netherlands: Utrecht. More specifically, the con-
nections of a number of important clerics in the population who
enjoyed prebends in the city of Utrecht in the second half of the
fifteenth century and particularly under the rule of Bishop David of
Burgundy (1456–1496). This will show not only the connections of
these students, but will also reveal some of mechanisms at work in
the governing of the Church at diocesan level. If we briefly look
into the geographical and social background of these fifteen students,
one can only conclude that this seems a very mixed company. In
terms of geography, Utrecht was strongly represented with four cler-
ics. There were other clerics from het Sticht, one from Montfoort,
one from Kampen and one from Deventer. Holland was also strongly
represented with two students from Haarlem, one from Amsterdam,
one from Heusden, one from Leiden and a last one from Schiedam.
There was one student from Zeeland and one from Roermond in
Guelders. In terms of social background this small group was also
mixed. It included three noblemen, two of them bastards, eight stu-
dents from a patrician background, one student from a higher bour-
geois family, one from a lower bourgeois family and another two
whose background was somewhat of a mystery to us.
Five students had strong direct connections in Utrecht as such.
Führungsgruppen. Römische Oligarchie um 1600 (Munich 1979); more recent the volume
edited by W. Reinhard (ed.), Power Elites and State Building, The Origins of the Modern
State in Europe (13th–18th Century) (Oxford 1996).
328 chapter five
Stephanus van Rumelaer came from an important Utrecht family.

Gerardus de Turri was also from Utrecht, member of a bourgeois
family that had more sons in the Utrecht clergy. Alfardus van
Montfoort was a noble student whose family members held prebends
in the chapter of St Salvator. Johannes van Renesse belonged also
to a noble family with—again—a number of sons in the chapters of
Utrecht. The last one, Johannes van Diepholt was the son of the
Bishop Rudolf van Diepholt. Even after his father’s death his con-
nections in Utrecht did not vanish. The vicar-general of his father,
Theodoricus Utenweer of Leiden, continued to be a man of great
importance in Utrecht. All the other students did not have this direct
link with the powers that be in Utrecht (either secular or ecclesias-
tical). They were so to speak relative outsiders. How did their links
to the prebends in Utrecht emerge?
First of all, seven of those outsiders were not wholly without con-
nections in the sense that they came from the governing elite of se-
veral towns across the Netherlands. Second, they all had something
to bring, a university degree, in most cases a degree in law. Canons
with a degree were both useful and honourable for a chapter.98 In
some cases these clerics brought more than just their expertise. A
number of them had connections elsewhere, either though their fa-
mily or through their career up to that point. In three cases this
involved princes in the neighbouring territories. Johannes Pollaert,
from a patrician Roermond family, who accumulated a huge num-
ber of church offices in three dioceses, was an attractive candidate
for a canonry in the cathedral chapter, not just because he had a
law degree, but even more so because he was close to the duke of
Guelders, whom he had served as a councillor. Theodoricus Utenweer
of Leiden and Jacob Ruysch of Amsterdam held similar positions.
Both had served—and in Jacob’s case was still serving—as raad at
the Court of Holland, when they received their benefices in Utrecht.
Connections with this prestigious institution were highly valued. In
a similar way the connections that Ludolphus van Veen had in the
city of Kampen proved valuable as he could act as an ambassador
for matters in het Oversticht. Theodoricus Borre, canon of St John’s,
to look at another angle, was connected to the Curia in Rome.
98
Van den Hoven van Genderen, Heren, 269–72.
In other cases the connections to Utrecht and its chapters were

somewhat more difficult to stipulate. Reinier van Ethen, for instance
had had a productive career as pensionary of Leiden and Delft.
Through his father there were connections to the count of Holland,
as Claes Reiniersz had been rentmeester of Heusden. A second cousin
of his, Jan Reiniersz, was personal physician of the count of Holland
and a canon of the chapter of St Salvator, where Reinier was—not
without difficulty—admitted to a prebend in 1455. His connection
to the then vicar-general of Utrecht, Theodoricus Utenweer of Leiden,
who had worked closely together with Reinier’s brother, Bartholomeus
van Ethen, as ambassador to the king of England in the period
1442–4, must have been a welcome one. Apart from this, Reinier
had connections at the University of Cologne, where his uncle, Willem
van der Goude, was a professor of medicine who had also been rec-
tor of the studium.99 Teaching at the University of Cologne and his
law degree was most likely the only trump Ludolphus Nicolai van
Hoorn could play. We know nothing of the background of Johannes
Jacobi of Schiedam. At his postponed graduation in Bologna in 1451
he was mentioned as a canon of the cathedral chapter in Utrecht.
How he acquired it is not entirely clear. It is clear that he did have
connections in Utrecht, as he had studied at Padua with Petrus de
Mera, canon of Utrecht, provost of Emmerich and later choir bishop
of Utrecht.100
No matter how they entered the ranks of the venerable Utrecht
clergy, even though connections within and without could be of assis-
tance, once they were in, their expertise was used to the full. It is
not surprising that the emissaries who went to Rome to get confirma-
tion for the election of Gijsbert of Brederode as bishop of Utrecht
in 1455 were three of the students mentioned already: Dirk Utenweer,
canon of St John’s and vicar-general, Ludolf van Hoorn, canon of
St Salvator and official and Alfer van Montfoort, canon of St Mary’s.
Is it just a coincidence that exactly three students who had studied
in Italy were sent? Their mission concerning the confirmation failed
and rival David of Burgundy, bastard son of Philip of Burgundy,
was appointed to the see. This reversal of fate did not affect their
99
Ibid. 218–9; Keussen, Matrikel, 162, 21; De Blécourt and Mijers (eds.), Memorialen
Rosa, XLI.
100
Zonta, Acta, I, 246, nr. 771; 250, nr. 772; nr. 783.
330 chapter five
careers adversely. They could continue to hold high office in the

diocese.
Among these fifteen students there were three officials-principal,
four vicars-general, two advocati consistorii, nine members of the Utrecht
episcopal council and two members of the short-lived court de Schijve,
including its president, Ludolf van Veen. We find them in all chapters
in Utrecht, many in more than one, often holding the most impor-
tant dignities of dean and provost. In the sequence of Dirk Uterweer,
Ludolf van Veen, Gerardus de Turri, later to be followed by Gerardus
Suggerode we have a quartet of right-hand men—all of whom had
studied in Italy—to four consecutive bishops over a period of more
than seventy-five years, who managed to exert considerable influence
on the affairs in the diocese of Utrecht, not only in the ecclesiasti-
cal sphere, but in governing the worldly territory as well.
These men who had profited from their connections in a network
at one stage—and continued to do so—could now be the centre of
such a network themselves. Domdeken Ludolf van Veen was influential
in the appointment of his nephew, Jan van Uterwijk to the cathe-
dral chapter. Alfer van Montfoort, Dirk Uterweer, Ludolphus Nicolai
were all successful in exerting their influence when it came to mem-
bers of their family seeking office in Utrecht. So was Jacob Ruysch.
He not only managed to secure his own canonry for his nephew
Nicolaus, but was able to take care of the future of his illegitimate
offspring. His son Heyman became persona in Amsterdam, the Ruysch
home town, and his daughter Maria was married most advanta-
giously to Vincent Cornelisz van Mierop, treasurer of Charles V.
The key position he held in Holland—Utrecht was only one of his
side-tracks—and his wealth made good for the technically inferior
status of his children.101
Another network that is worth exploring is that centred around
one student, but not just any student: Viglius van Aytta. Viglius was
a second son from a quite well-off farmer, close the noble top layer
101
De Moor, ‘Magister Jacob Ruysch’; Damen, ‘Hommes de l’église’; Van den
Hoven van Genderen, Heren, 121; Brom, Archivalia, I, 107, nr. 303. The grandson
of Jacob Ruysch, Cornelius Vincentii van Mierop would in his turn become a very
influential figure in both Holland and Utrecht. For the networks around the chapters
in Utrecht see the reconstruction of Van den Hoven van Genderen, Heren, 363–78
and in particular the network around Adriaan Boeyens, Pope Adrian VI, 375–78,
where we can find connections with at least seven students in the population.
of the Frisian rural community. Although from a rural elite background,

he was not predestined to become the civil servant par excellence,
rising to the very top of the civil service at central level. This rise
to the top was not immediate, but first involved a number of offices,
and he made sure he used all the relations he had and had built
up to step by step climb right to the heart of government in the
Netherlands.
He was not wholly without connections. His uncle who took care
of his early education, Bernard Bucho, was a lawyer who had made
the grade. Bernard Bucho was a councillor at the Court of Holland
as well as dean of the Court Chapel in The Hague. He had many
contacts not only in Holland but also with Brussels, where the
Habsburg court was located, partly because he worked fervently for
the incorporation of Friesland in the Habsburg lands. Bernard was
in particularly close contact with two of his fellow councillors, Gerard
Mulert and Nicolaus Everardi.102 Viglius went to school with the
sons of Nicolaus. Both Gerard Mulert, who had moved on to the
Great Council of Mechelen and Nicolaus’ son, also named Nicolaus,
secretary of the Privy Council, were extremely valuable contacts while
Viglius’ career was developing outside the Netherlands. Another such
contact was Cornelius Vincentii van Mierop, son of the treasurer of
Charles V. Cornelis studied in Padua when Viglius was there and
would continue to be in contact with him. Cornelis himself was dean
of the Court Chapel in The Hague and would soon be appointed
as councillor of the Court of Holland as well, exactly the positions
Viglius’ uncle, Bernard had held.
The many contacts Viglius made on his peregrinatio academica were
extremely valuable to him. This network of fellow students and pupils
allowed him to make contact with all sorts of influential people. One
such valuable contact was Erasmus, who in many letters of intro-
duction on behalf of Viglius, written to many famous scholars all
over Europe praised him in an eloquent voice, even hailing him as
the “new Agricola” in a letter to Pietro Bembo. Both his contacts
with these famous people and his earlier writings made him a fit
candidate for a professorship in law. As a relative outsider it was
102
This is a different Nicolaus Everardi from the student in the population. This
Nicolaus Everardi was from Middelburg, acted as president of the Court of Holland
and moved on to the Council of Mechelen.
332 chapter five
possible for him to take up a chair in the Institutiones in Padua at

the end of 1532. Later on in his career—in between civil service
jobs—he took up another professorship in law at the University of
Ingolstadt from 1537 until 1541. During his entire career offers to
teach kept on coming.
His numerous contacts with his fellow students also assisted him
in his civil service career. Not just the earlier contacts in The Hague,
Brussels and Mechelen; there were lines running to other corners of
the Empire. One of the students under his tutelage at the University
of Dole was Hans Jörg Hermann, a son of Jörg Hermann, partner
of the Fugger family. He developed a direct contact with Jörg, who
arranged an audience for Viglius with the queen of Austria and her
sons Ferdinand and Maximilian. These many lines made it easier
for him to directly approach the Habsburg court directly, something
which he could do in Bologna at the end of 1532, when Charles V
was there for negotiations with Pope Clement VII. He made fur-
ther contacts there. Through another fellow student, Karel Boisot,
councillor of the emperor, he was introduced to Nicolas Perrenot
and his son Antoine, the future Cardinal Granvelle. All these many
contacts in combination with his indisputable learning and ability,
brought him a civil service career that most other students could
only dream of. One could say that he was the most head-hunted
civil servant of his days. The many posts that he held, assessor of the
Reichskammergericht, member of the Secret Council and the Council
of State among them, allowed him to continue to build up a net-
work, in which, instead of receiving favours, he was now able to do
them to others.
Among the many people who could now look to Viglius for sup-
port and influence were a number of students in the population. He
had already done his fellow student from Friesland, Hector van
Hoxwier, a favour in tutoring three nephews of his. His fellow stu-
dents and pupils could in many cases look for his support. No sur-
prise that Renichus of Burmania, whom Viglius had met in Bourges
and who graduated in law in Ferrara afterwards, was the one to
succeed Viglius as provost of Humsterland in 1539. Viglius had also
been instrumental in securing Nicolaus Everardi of Amsterdam a
professorship in Ingolstadt around the time Viglius left for the
Netherlands. Nicolaus was a Bologna law graduate who had served
with Viglius at the Reichskammergericht. When Viglius was charged with
the reorganization of this institution in 1547, we should not marvel
at the appointment of Johannes van Mepsche, former pupil and pro-

tégé of Viglius, who had just graduated in Bologna. Now was the
time when Viglius could write letters of recommendation, which he
did for Gisbertus Arentsma, when he wanted to study at Ingolstadt
with Nicolaus Everardi.103 His privileged position further enabled him
to become a real pater familias to his relatives. One of them, Volkert
van Montzima, had studied and graduated at Pavia and Viglius’
influence did play its part in Volkert being admitted to a prebend
in the chapter of St Salvator in 1571.104
Marriage was another factor of some importance in the wider
social network. It could be used to establish helpful links to other
important families, which in turn could have a positive effect on
potential careers of the sons in these families. This example involves
three students from three families of some standing in Holland. Let
us start at the beginning with the eldest one, Johannes Gasparis van
Hoogelande, law graduate of Bologna in 1539. He was the son of
Japer Lievensz van Hoogelande, originally from Zeeland, who was
councillor at the Hof van Holland. Johannes became an important
man in his own right: canon, treasurer and eventually dean of the
chapter of St Mary, official-principal of Utrecht and councillor of
the Court of Utrecht. His sister, Catharina, married Boudewijn van
Drenckwaert, from an influential, patrician Dordrecht family. A son
from this marriage, Cornelius Balduini van Drenckwaert, also stu-
died law in Bologna and graduated in 1568, after which he returned
to the Netherlands and managed to obtain a prebend in (yes!) the
chapter of St Mary, where his uncle was dean and treasurer. Cornelius
eventually followed in his uncle’s footsteps once more, when he
became treasurer of the chapter in 1589. Cornelius had a sister,
103
Von Pöllnitz, Matrikel, 619. Gisbertus was a nephew of Otto Truchsess, one
of the students in Padua who had strongly supported Viglius’ candidacy for a pro-
fessorial chair there. Postma, Viglius, 40.
104
Two other nephews, Pompeius and Bucho van Montzima, were also canons
of Oudmunster. The literature on Viglius is extensive. For his career, network and
patronage see in particular Folkert Postma, ‘Viglius Zuichemus ab Aytta’ in: Nationaal
Biografisch Woordenboek, VIII, 837–55; Id., Viglius; Id., Viglius van Aytta. De jaren met
Granvelle 1549 –1564 (Zutphen 2000); E.H. Waterbolk and Th. S.H. Bos (eds.),
Vigliana. Bronnen, brieven en rekeningen betreffende Viglius van Aytta (Groningen 1975) 7–8.
Viglius was a diligent correspondent and many students in the population apart
from those already mentioned are included in his correspondence; e.g. Sibrandus
Occo.
334 chapter five
Catharina, for whom an eligible match was found in the person of

Cornelius Junius, who happened to have studied and graduated in
Bologna in 1568. In other words, he had been a fellow student of
his brother-in-law, Cornelius van Drenckwaert.105 Junius, from an
important family of civil servants in The Hague, also had a career
to look forward to. He succeeded his father as rekenmeester of the
Court of Holland. When he left Holland with most of the rest of
the Court in 1572 for Utrecht, he was not wholly without connec-
tions in the Domstad.106 He even managed to be appointed council-
lor of the Court of Utrecht. These marriages thus link three families
via the cities of Dordrecht, The Hague and Utrecht, but one might
perhaps add Bologna to this list.
Let us now take another look at the location of one of our stu-
dents, Nicolaus van Valckesteyn, who graduated in both laws in 1560
in Siena, in his wider social network in Holland and see where this
leads us and how his relations can be examined a bit further in
direct and indirect ways. Nicolaus came from a privileged family.
His father was the noble Gerrit van Valckesteyn, lord of Rijsoord
and Strevelshoek, and his mother was Margaretha Nicolausdr Coebel,
a sister of Philippus Coebel, also a Siena law graduate (1549) and
a member of the Secret Council. In all probability Nicolaus’ choice
for the University of Siena did not come out of the blue. His other
uncle on mother’s side, Aert Coebel, was receiver for the common
land—a position earlier held by his father Nicolaus Coebel—who
had been assisted by Nicolaus’ elder brother François van Valckesteyn.
François in his turn took up the office of receiver of the common
land in the autumn of 1572. François was married to Maria, daugh-
ter of Cornelis Egmond van der Nijenburch, raad at the Hof van
Holland. Cornelis’ other daughter, Magdalena was married to Adrianus
Arnoldi van der Mijle. François van Valckesteyn was thus a brother-
in-law of Adriaan van der Mijle, who had also graduated in both
laws in Siena under the same promotor as Nicolaus, Adriano Borghese,
105
Cornelius van Drenckwaert graduated on 23 March 1568 (ASB, AS, inv. nr.
25, f. 225 v; inv. nr. 34, f. 78 v) and Cornelius Junius followed later that year in
August (ASB, AS, inv. nr. 25, f. 90 r; inv. nr. 34, f. 233 r/v). Junius seems to have
travelled around a bit, as he was also found in Padua that year.
106
Two of his fellow refugees and councillors at the Hof van Holland, Reinerus
van der Duyn and Jacobus du Quesnoy, had also studied in Italy. For further con-
nections of the Van Drenckwaert family cf. Koopmans, Staten, 277.
two years later.107 There will be some more information about Adriaan
later on, but suffice it to say here that he became raad at the Hof
van Holland, like his father-in-law, in 1565, appointed by William of
Orange.108
Nicolaus had a career of his own. He was receiver for the domains
of Voorne, but on 20 November 1572 he received another appoint-
ment. He was one of six new councillors of the Court of Holland,
appointed at a difficult moment. Most members of the court had
moved to Utrecht because of the unrest in Holland and only one
councillor and a number of scribes and secretaries—Nicolaus’ brother,
François, secretary since 1564, was one of them—had remained in
Holland. François in the meantime had been appointed receiver of
the common lands, since the previous receiver, Jacob Bol, who had
been appointed by the duke of Alba, had fled the country.109 Appointed
as councillor on the very same day was Cornelius Adriani van de
Bouchorst, who had graduated in both laws at the University of
Siena on the same day as Adrianus van der Mijle under the same
promotor as both Adriaan and Nicolaus.110 Nicolaus stayed in func-
tion until August 1573 and settled in his position as receiver for the
domains of Voorne. When his brother François died in October
1574, Nicolaus temporarily took up the office of receiver of the com-
mon lands to settle his brother’s unfinished business until a new
receiver was appointed, Jacob Muys, a first cousin of Adriaan van
der Mijle on his mother’s side. Nicolaus had other interests as well.
In 1575 the States of Holland granted him a patent for the construction
107
Minnucci and Morelli (eds.), Lauree, 280–1 and 296–7.
108
H.F.K. van Nierop, ‘Willem van Oranje als hoog edelman: patronage in de
Habsburgse Nederlanden?’ in: Tijdschrift voor geschiedenis 99 (1984) 651–676, there,
666.
109
For the relations between the States of Holland and the Hof van Holland in
this confusing period, cf. Koopmans, Staten, 134–9.
110
Minnucci and Morelli (eds.), Lauree, 280–1 and 296–7. Another new council-
lor was Dirk van Egmond van der Nijenburch, a relation of Cornelis van Egmond
van der Nijenburch, father-in-law of both Nicolaus’ brother and Adriaan van der
Mijle. De Blécourt and Mijers (eds.), Memorialen Rosa, xlviii. Cornelius Adriani van
de Bouchorst had studied together with Cornelius Arnoldi van der Hoech in Padua,
where they registered on the same day. Van der Hoech later graduated in Siena
and moved on to become a councillor at the rival Court of Holland in 1574. He
lost this position with the Pacification of Ghent. Still, he managed to hold on to
office and became rentmeester of Wassenaar and hoofdingeland of Delfland.
336 chapter five
of new watermills. From January first 1594 we find him again as

raad at the Hof van Holland until his death in 1601.
One can see that Nicolaus’ background was by no means unim-
portant. His noble origins and his close relations to a family (Coebel)
that had considerable influence in the States of Holland, made him
eligible for office. The position his brother held on to at a crucial
stage in the Revolt and Nicolaus’ choice to accept the appointment
to the Court meant that he would remain eligible for office in the
future. Through his brother he was related to the patrician Van der
Mijle family of Dordrecht. Adriaan van der Mijle was another impor-
tant contact. Also a Siena law graduate, he returned to the Netherlands
and took up a position as raad at the Hof van Holland in 1565. In
1568 he asked for permission to travel to Italy for health reasons,
although the coming of the duke of Alba probably had more to do
with his exile, as the following will show. Adriaan returned to Padua
and Venice, where he stayed until 1570. Though concrete evidence
is lacking, it seems not unreasonable to suppose that during these
years of exile in Padua he became acquainted with a law student
from Amersfoort, Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, who was studying in
Padua at the time. In 1570 Adriaan travelled to Heidelberg, where he
was friendly with Frederick III, who advised him to return to Holland
in 1573. This he did and he was almost immediately appointed to
the council of the stadtholder, William the Silent. He had close rela-
tions with both William the Silent and Johan van Oldenbarnevelt.
A daughter of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Maria, incidentally, mar-
ried Cornelis Adriani van der Mijle, a son of Adriaan.111 Adriaan
acted as a deputy for the States on many occasions until his appoint-
ment as president of the Court of Holland in 1583. In this capac-
ity Adriaan worked closely together with Johan van Oldenbarnevelt
to make Maurice of Orange commander in chief of the army.
Another deputy of Dordrecht, that Adriaan van der Mijle dealt
with, and an interesting figure in this constellation, was the Flemish
pensionary of Dordrecht, Joos de Menijn. During Alba’s reign he
also stayed in Italy, or so he claimed. His close relationship to Johan
van Oldenbarnevelt dated back to at least 1569, since Joos was
111
Another daughter of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt married Reinaldus van Brederode,
who also studied at Padua. See Den Tex, ‘Nederlandse studenten’, 97, nr. 215.
present at Van Oldenbarnevelt’s graduation.112 Joos became a councillor

at the Court of Holland in 1576 and stayed in function until 1584.
This web of direct and indirect relations, involving immediate fam-
ily, relations by marriage, friendship, patronage and Landmannschaft,
does show the complexity of building careers in difficult times. Apart
from the necessary connections, it involved choices. It also shows the
close connections that existed between deputies to the States and a
number of important civil servants at provincial level, spanning a
number of towns and families that had relations at various levels,
ultimately ending up at the very heart of the Dutch Revolt.
At other levels the situation was much the same and it did not
just apply to students of law, like the cases stated before. When
Cornelius Theodorici of Dordrecht enrolled in the University of
Cologne in 1501 he did not have to pay a matriculation fee, as his
father, Theodoricus Adriani, was professor of medicine there. Cornelius
graduated as magister artium in 1505 and then travelled to Italy where
he studied medicine at the University of Padua. In 1509 he was
back in Cologne where he entered the arts faculty and soon after-
wards took up teaching in the Bursa Cornelii. His connections in
the faculty of medicine—not just his father, but other relations from
the Dordrecht-clan at Cologne as well—surely helped him in get-
ting this teaching position.113 So too did their name and relations in
town government assist the Van Foreest brothers in being appointed
town physicians of Alkmaar, like it did assist Petrus van Hogerbeets
in the town of Hoorn, where both his brother and his father were
influential members of the magistracy.
If direct relations were absent, a favourable marriage could estab-
lish the necessary links with a town in which a student was a rela-
tive outsider. The appointment of Jacobus Wilhelmi of The Hague
as pensionaris of Leiden in 1494 was not a wholly unexpected appoint-
ment. On top of his degree in civil law of the University of Ferrara,
he had an impressive service record, which included legal service to
Margaret of York at the Court of Holland, the position of advocaat
van de ridderschap en de kleine steden and the office of pensionaris of
112
ASP, Archivio Notarile, Franceso Fabriani, inv. nr. 2335, f. 551r. “presen-
tibus . . . D. Iusto Antonio Flandro Menenio . . .”. Also Haak (ed.), Johan van
Oldenbarnevelt, 290–2; Tervoort, ‘“Doctor Ioannes ab Oldenbernevelt.”’
113
Keussen, Matrikel, I, 122*; II, 674, 66; Bernhardt, ‘Gelehrte Mediziner’, 124–5.
338 chapter five
Middelburg. All this and the fact that he was the son-in-law of Simon
Vrederick Willemsz van Valckesteyn, sheriff and veertigraad of Leiden,
cannot but have singled him out as the ideal candidate for the job.114
Connections did not always have to be long-standing ones. It could
be possible to penetrate a town elite within one or two generations,
even when any obvious connections were absent. They could be cre-
ated. To illustrate this, we only have to look into the background
and further life of Caesar Lodovici Porquin. If his name does seem
to have a non-Dutch ring to it, this is true. Caesar was the son of
Lodovico Poquino who came from an undistinguished family from
the town of Cieri in Piedmont to try his luck as a moneylender in
the Netherlands. After a number of unsuccessful attempts Lodovico
succeeded in setting up shop in the Zeeland town of Zierikzee in
1538. Things went well for him and soon he was able to expand
his financial business, setting up moneylending branches in other
towns. He developed connections within the elite of Zierikzee. His
first son, Caesar was born in 1543 and present at his baptism were
a number of notable people from the town of Zierikzee, the magis-
trate Wisse Herrensz Peck and one of the godfathers was the famous
physician Livinus Lemnius who had also visited Italy.115 His inte-
gration in society seems obvious, despite some of the nastier views
on people, especially foreign people, involved in moneylending. The
business continued to expand with branches in Middelburg and
Bergen-op-Zoom. Dealings with the government eventually earned
Lodovico a noble title to add to his very considerable wealth. For
Caesar, then, his doctor’s degree in utroque after an impressive tour
that brought him to Louvain, Padua, Siena to pick up the diploma
in Bologna, was not so much an investment made in a career for
himself. Rather his prestigious degree was the icing on a cake that
114
Brand, Macht, 145; F.J.W. van Kan, ‘Het nageslacht van Willem Luutgardenzn.,
schepen van Leiden III. De takken Van Valckesteyn, Corf en Van Tol’ in: De
Nederlansche Leeuw CIX (1992) 344–371, there 351–4.
115
Incidentally, the son of Wisse Peck, named Nicolaus Peckius, is a student in
the population. He visited Padua. Lieven lemnius also visited Italy. Again, his son,
the already mentioned Wilhelmus Lemnius graduated in Italy. Wilhelmus married the
daughter of Michiel Cornelisz Ewoutse, bailiff of Zierikzee, who was married to a
daughter of another famous physician from Zierikzee, Jason Pratensis. Jason and
Livinus had both studied in Montpellier in 1506 respectively 1516 (Gouron, Matricule,
9, nr. 95 and 29, nr. 481). Van Hoorn, Livinus Lemnius, 23, 31, 74; Van Herwaarden,
‘Medici’, 377–8.
his father had prepared. It added to his prestige. A further cherry

was put on top of this already impressive cake in the form of Caesar’s
marriage to the noble Agatha van Haemstede, daughter of Adolf
baljuw and vice-admiral of Zeeland, which eventually brought him
the further title lord of Moermont and the manor of Renesse. Wealth,
a degree, a noble title and an advantageous marriage that brought
in landed wealth. The foreign Porquin family had firmly established
themselves in the Netherlands in the course of one generation and
the second generation took this process a step further.116
At the end of this section just a few remarks about whether their
careers brought these students any wealth. The enormous diversity
of offices and dignities makes it impossible to adequately deal with
the monetary aspects of the students’ lives. There are further com-
plications that have to do with money and exchange rates, and the
way the income attached to a particular office was composed, even
leaving aside the question of prices, inflation, and so on. For many
offices the salaries paid—and payment was not always prompt—do
not necessarily tell the whole story and other significant supplements
in either coin or kind could be counted among the privileges attached
to a certain office. Thus, what follows amounts of necessity to not
more than some brief sketches.
The students in the population generally came from relatively
wealthy backgrounds. One gets the impression that a considerable
number of alumni of Italian studia continued to prosper financially
once they made their way back to the Netherlands. To illustrate
this, it seems useful to briefly examine the financial conditions of
some of the professions that were held by students in the population.
Salaried officials would be the most likely candidates in terms of
finding anything about their gainful employment, but even this cat-
egory can only be dealt with through many ‘ifs’. In many cases
salaries paid to certain officials hardly deserve the term salary, as
conditions could vary enormously from year to year, even when one
and the same person was in office. It can only be described as a mess.
For instance, the pensionaris of Dordrecht, the most important civil
servant of the city did not always receive the same salary. If we look
116
For Lodovico Porquin and some his son’s data, cf. M. Greilshammer, Een
pand voor het paradijs. Leven en zelfbeeld van Lowys Porquin, Piëmontees zakenman in de
zestiende-eeuwse Nederlanden (Tielt 1989), in particular 27–41, 53–55, 59–60.
340 chapter five
at what Paulus Rainaldi van Ammersoyen, law graduate of Bologna,

earned in the years 1484–5, there was just the slightest difference
between his salary of 1484, 24 l. Hollands, and the next year, 48 l.
Hollands. This was, however, not all he received. Apart from a num-
ber of privileges, such as the occasional gift of wine, Paulus was enti-
tled to a daily sum of money (30 groten = 0.75 l. Hollands for travels
in Holland and 36 groten for trips outside the county) for the days
that he represented Dordrecht elsewhere. He was a busy man and
travelled often to take up the case of Dordrecht and for those two
years he received between 120 and 150 l. Hollands in travel expenses.
By comparison, a skilled labourer like a master carpenter would earn
in the order of 10 groten per day, which with a full year’s employ-
ment would give him maximum earnings of just over 60 l. Hollands.117
The amounts paid for such offices could vary from town to town
as well. Reinerus Nicolai van Ethen, law graduate of Pavia, received
100 Rhenish guilders per year (= c. 100 l. Hollands) in salary when
he was pensionaris of Leiden from 1447 until 1454.118 Forty years later
in Leiden, when Jacobus Wilhelmi, law graduate of Ferrara, was
appointed as pensionaris, the effective level of his salary is unclear
for a number of years—Leiden was in last financially—and only in
1498 did he receive a full salary of 75 l. Hollands, which he could
supplement with travel expenses of 30 to 36 groten per day.119 The
state of affairs in a town could, thus, have an immediate effect on
the remuneration of its civil servants. Cornelius Johannis van Veen,
pensionaris of Leiden from 1555 to 1561, could count on 300 l. Hollands
per year and some clothing.120
The situation was much the same for town physicians. When
Gerardus Johannis Bentheim of Kampen was appointed town physi-
cian of his native city in 1434, he received a very high salary of
140 Rhenish guilders, which would be doubled in times of plague.121
117
Based on Kokken, Steden, 172–3, 286; Wages for craftsmen are all based on
L. Noordegraaf and J.T. Schoenmakers, Daglonen in Holland 1450–1600 (Amsterdam
1984) 25. A year of full-time employment is estimated at somewhere between 230
and 300. In this case, and the ones cited below, an accepted amount of 245 days
constitute a year of full employment. Differences in summer and winter wages have
been eliminated. The maximum of summer wages has been used.
118
Based on J.W. Marsilje, Het financiële beleid van Leiden in de laat-Beierse en Bourgondische
periode + 1390–1477 (Hilversum 1985) 102–6.
119
Based on Kokken, Steden, 181.
120
Fölting, Landsadvocaten, 31.
121
Lindeboom, DMB, 111.
He was to treat the town’s poor for free and was only allowed to
ask for wine from his other patients. In 1575 Petrus Forestus, then
town physician of Delft, was paid 84 l. Hollands per year in salary,
on top of which he received another 12 l. Hollands for appropriate
clothing and a number of other financial privileges, this only after
he had threatened to leave unless he received a raise in salary. When
he returned to his home town, Alkmaar, a second time to become
town physician there in 1595 he got 200 l. Hollands. Again, part of
his function was to treat the town’s poor people for free. He was,
however, allowed to receive payment from his wealthier patients.
The lists of patients and relations based on his Observationes makes
clear that he had a number of noble and wealthy patients who were
well able to pay for their treatment. This patient list includes a host
of students in the population, like Jacobus Coppier, lord of Kalslagen,
and both Arnoldus and his son Adrianus van der Mijle.122
Around 200 l. Hollands was the salary that a rector scholarum could
expect in some of the larger towns of Holland in the second half of
the sixteenth century. In 1555 the town of Haarlem had the rector
on the pay roll for 200 and the pensionaris for 120 l. Hollands. Both
received a further 9 l. for clothing. By comparison, a master carpenter
would earn 113 and an unskilled workman no more than 50 l.
Hollands with full employment for a year.123
Members of the magistracy did not receive a salary, as consider-
able wealth was expected of those involved in town government.
There were other emoluments such as the presentiegeld, a small sum
for attending the meetings of the vroedschap, gifts in the form of
wine and clothing and travel expenses. Someone like Jacobus Jacobi
Hobbe of Gouda, medicine graduate of Ferrara, burgemeester and vroed-
schapslid of his home town, came from a wealthy family of brewers.
In the three years between 1486 and 1489 that he was a Gouda
deputy to the meetings of the States of Holland he would have
received some 35 l. Hollands pocket money for his travels to the
meetings.124
Other offices were considerable better paid. In the fifteenth century
122
Hans L. Houtzager, ‘Stadsgeneesheer te Delft’ in: Bosman-Jelgersma (ed.) Pieter
van Foreest, 103; Henry W. van Leeuwen, ‘Patiënten en relaties’ in: Ibid. 165–176.
123
Based on GAH, SA, inv. nr. 7–11–1, nr. 6; GAH, SA, inv. nr. kast 19, nr.
135, f. 35r–36v; Noordegraaf and Schoenmakers, Daglonen, 61 and 72.
124
Calculations based on Kokken, Steden, 187 and 295.
342 chapter five
a non-noble councillor at the Court of Holland earned approximately

280 l. Hollands per year in salary until 1463. Later in the century
this salary had decreased to 153 plus expenses. In 1528 it had risen
again to 252 l. Hollands.125 There were the occasional gifts as well.
Most towns appreciated good relations with the members of the court
and gifts to its councillors were the rule rather than the exception.
On his appointment to the Court of Holland, Jacob Ruysch received
a gift of wine worth 32 groten from the town of Leiden.126 The ser-
vants of the States could also count on a reasonable reward for ser-
vices rendered. Bartholdus Gerardi van Assendelft was to receive 216
l. Hollands 127 per year as landsadvocaat. Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, his
successor at the end of the sixteenth century, when the office had
increased in importance, received 1200 l. per year, which was later
even increased to 1800.128
At central level, high salaries were awarded. The assessores of the
Reichskammergericht earned a salary of 500 Rhenish guilders per year
in the 1530s.129 These officials could also look forward to the occa-
sional contribution in coin or kind for support at crucial decisions.
In 1557 Viglius of Aytta as president of the Council of State and
the Secret Council received the princely sum of 1200 l. Hollands from
the States of Holland, approximately 24 times the maximum a dig-
ger in Haarlem could earn in a year. Philippus Coebel, member of
the Secret Council,—and one might add, brother of the receiver for
the common land Aert Coebel—was awarded 400 l. by the States
of Holland in 1565 for a trip to Denmark, apparently of vital impor-
tance to Holland’s seafaring trade.130
Professors could also expect a decent living. Apart from the fees,
graduation gifts and such, that they could look forward to, they
received a salary or a church benefice was set aside to support their
post. In general, professors would be more than able to live on their
125
Based on ARA, Rek. Rek., inv. nr. 147, f. 79r, cited in Damen, ‘Serviteurs’,
132; De Blécourt and Mijers (eds.), Memorialen, XLIII; Van Nierop, Ridders, 101.
126
GAL, AS, I, inv. nr. 522, f. 74r. Cited in: De Moor, ‘Magister Jacob Ruysch’,
86, who aptly remarks that this gift is the equivalent of four daily wages of a master
mason and that this was not the only gift he would have received.
127
Kokken, Steden, 83.
128
Fölting, Landsadvocaten, 38–9.
129
Postma, Viglius, 58.
130
Koopmans, Staten, 50–3.
income, although there is the definite impression that many supple-

mented their income by practising outside the lecture hall. A lawyer’s
or physician’s practice could make a bit of a financial difference. In
general, law professors made more than their peers in medicine who
in turn made more than their colleagues in the arts. Not all stipen-
dia were high, but for an ordinarius a sizeable sum of money could
be available. Viglius earned 300 Rhenish guilders as a law professor
in Ingolstadt, on top of which he was to receive another 50 guilders
per annum for his honorary position as councillor of Duke William
of Bavaria.131 Petrus Tiara, who became professor of Greek at the
new University of Leiden in 1575, received 400 l. Hollands.132
Members of the clergy could rely on their benefice. Although it
is not always easy to establish exactly how much a cleric could get
from his benefice, there are a number of sources and studies that
give us an indication of what a clergyman could look forward to.
The nominal value attached to benefices could vary considerably.
The income attached to certain parishes could be high even though
the parish itself might have been small. The parish of Avezaet, where
Johannes Vos was persona, was small, but the nominal value of the
benefice was apparently higher than the benefice for the persona of
the much more important church of St Martin’s in Groningen. On
top of the actual benefice there was more income coming the way
of parish priests. There is the distinct impression that canons were
generally very well off. Particularly those attached to the more pres-
tigious chapters in Utrecht—the cathedral chapter and the chapter
of St Salvator were apparently among the wealthiest in the Holy Roman
Empire—could look forward to a life of relative luxury. When Nicolaus
Ruysch became capitular canon of St Salvator in 1521, he could
expect c. 250 l. Hollands from his benefice, nearly four times as much
as the maximum earnings of a highly skilled artisan like a master
mason, which amount could be almost doubled by the other forms
of income that came with his seat in the chapter. Some higher dig-
nities had huge sums attached to them. The provost of Oudmunster
for instance could expect 1000 l. for his office. The domdeken would
131
Postma, Viglius, 66, and also 75, where Viglius’ unheeded request for a salary
of 500 Rhenish guilders is mentioned.
132
Lindeboom, DMB, 1973–4.
344 chapter five
receive an extra 200 l. for this office. An official-principal could look

for some 250 l. per year in salary.133
Of course these sums attached to offices and benefices are just
indications of what a holder of such an office might expect and do
not tell us anything about the actual wealth students inherited, for
one, and how much they earned through their own career. In this
respect it is also worth keeping in mind that students frequently held
more than one office at the same time. Especially the members of
the clergy were successful in securing a number of benefices for
themselves. What is clear is that a number of students did really
well for themselves. Even from these brief sketches it should be obvi-
ous that a large section of the population managed to get a hold of
exactly those offices that were among the most profitable both in
the civil service and the Church.
It is therefore no surprise to find a number of students in the
population who were really wealthy. In a fair number of cases, as
a majority of students came from the wealthier strata of society, the
wealth came from their family and their own career only further
contributed to it. In other cases, though, the accumulation of offices
brought students wealth of their own. Jacobus Ruysch, who at the
height of his career enjoyed eight church benefices on top of his
office as councillor at the Hof van Holland, was in all likelihood not
strapped for cash. Something similar could be said of his grandson
and heir, Cornelius van Mierop, whose father, by the way, was trea-
surer of Charles V. Not that Cornelis had any trouble making his
own money, as he was dean of the chapter of St Salvator, dean of
the Court Chapel in The Hague and provost of the cathedral chap-
ter in Utrecht as well. Domdeken Ludolphus van Veen at his death
in 1508 left an estate of c. 9,500 l. Hollands, for which a master
mason—very top of the labourer’s ladder—would have to work give
or take 175 years of continuous employment to accumulate.134 Students
like Viglius of Aytta and Johan van Oldenbarnevelt were hugely
wealthy. Van Oldenbarnevelt had accumulated some 250,000 l. at
the rather sad end of his fruitful career in 1619.
The overall impression is that the career path of the students in
133
Based on the material assembled by Van den Hoven van Genderen, Heren,
393–422; 748–54, in particular pp. 409, 750–4.
134
On the basis of Van den Hoven van Genderen, Heren, 406, 409, 417.
the population guided them to positions and offices through which

they were well able to support themselves. In many cases it even
allowed them to become extremely rich.
5.3. Summary
When speaking about the place students who had visited Italian uni-
versities occupied in society, the conclusion must be that they, or at
least more than half of them, can be found in a multitude of posi-
tions spread over different sectors of late-medieval and early mod-
ern society. It should also be clear that there was not one single
profile for them. The study of medicine would generally lead to a
different life than the study of law or theology. In some cases, the
expensive education students had enjoyed on the peninsula might
have played hardly any role at all in their working life—as we have
seen in the case of Caesar Porquin—but many more examples of
noble and patrician young men who returned to their manors or to
their fathers’ breweries could be cited.
On the whole, the trip to Italy, in particular when concluded with
a degree, seemed to guide the student to a type of career that might
be labelled as ‘professional’. This was probably even more true for
students of medicine than for their compatriots in law. As the know-
ledge and insights they had acquired were perceived to be of com-
paratively little use outside the lecture hall or the physician’s practice,
students of medicine after graduation often exchanged the college
bench for the professorial chair and/or started practising and had
to take up the chamber-pot, whether it belonged to a noble patron,
a town, or their private patients. There were more possibilities for
law students. Originally the Church had taken in many a law stu-
dent and several of them had occasion to use their legal skills in the
service of the Church or bishop as a worldly ruler. Especially at
provincial level, a law degree had enjoyed much appreciation and
law graduates in the population had found their way into the vari-
ous provincial courts and councils from the first to the last cohort.
This appreciation for legal skills had originated earlier in the Church
and the higher institutions of government and administration than
at local level. At local level a law degree was most appreciated for
those civil servants who had dealings with the increasingly legalized
apparatus of state ( pensionarissen and town lawyers) and only gradually
346 chapter five
did a university education, much less a law degree, become a pre-

requisite for a seat in town government, a process that only really
gained momentum in the seventeenth century. Over time, though,
in terms of career orientation of law students in the population, there
was a shift from the Church to the bureaucracies of State.
Broadly speaking, the student population could be considered to
be highly successful. Their higher faculty education, the compara-
tively high degree ratio and their social profile set them apart from
the overall Northern Netherlands student population and this is
reflected in their careers and the relative overrepresentation in offices
at high levels. It is quite another matter to decide to what extent
the university education contributed to their careers and to their
moving upwards in society. A number of offices were so to speak
almost socio-specific. The comparative social advantage the nobility
had in seeking office goes without saying. With only 13.8 per cent
of the career sample they could lay claim to a far higher percen-
tage of offices held in a number of sectors—a quarter of those in
government at all levels—while they almost discarded offices that
were not in accordance with their high social status. The wealthy
patriciate was the next recruitment pool for a number of important
offices, but even their ascension to the highest levels was by no means
immediate. A patrician son with a law degree who moved into the
provincial courts might not have exactly quit his sphere, but he cer-
tainly did explore a new one. As we climb down the social ladder,
the distribution over offices showed that the career perspective was
to a large extent linked to one’s social background. It is clear, never-
theless, that social mobility was a definite possibility for a significant
section of the population. Although there are few really spectacular
cases to report, a quarter of the career sample was able to make
moves that brought them a career that took them further than their
starting position in life.
There were a number of factors of importance involved in creat-
ing one’s future. Family and its status played a huge role. Not just
immediate family, but also the family one married into could help
further one’s career. Friendship and close relations that could date
back to a shared university visit could also be of importance. A uni-
versity education was therefore only one factor among many that
influenced one’s career. It was, however, an important one. For those
students who lacked an influential family and connections, their uni-
versity degree was often the only trump card they could play on the
labour market. For a number of positions in universities, at town

level—the pensionaris and the town physician—, the Church—canons,
official-principal—and in the provincial courts—raad, advocaat-fiscaal—
a university education, preferably concluded with a degree, had
become a necessary precondition for success, even for the well-con-
nected. Princes were willing to recruit outside the nobility to fill their
courts, but expertise had to be on offer. What better proof of exper-
tise existed than a degree from a prestigious Italian studium?
CHAPTER SIX
EPILOGUE: THE ITER ITALICUM AND ITS PLACE IN

THE CULTURE OF THE LATE-MEDIEVAL AND EARLY
MODERN NETHERLANDS
It was possible to reconstruct the iter italicum in an educational and

socio-professional sense, even though the nature of the journey these
students made could differ in both choice of faculty and career out-
come. It would, therefore, be unjustified to speak of a single clear-
cut profile (or two, three or even four, for that matter) of the student
visiting the peninsula. Before summarizing the main conclusions that
can be drawn from the previous chapters, I shall assess the place of
the iter italicum in its wider context, both in a cultural and political
sense. A recent handbook on the period we are dealing with here,
say from 1400, when the first students in the population were born,
until 1600, when those studying in the last cohort were at the
advanced stages of their careers, carries the subtitle Late Middle Ages,
Renaissance and Reformation.1 Particularly those last two key concepts
are illustrative of some of the major cultural developments of the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Another important process was that
of state formation. In the next section I shall evaluate the links
between the iter italicum and these three. In short, did the students
in the population leave traces of their involvement in these major
developments of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries? Though most
of the population have not left an enduring legacy in Renaissance
culture, traces of their participation in humanist discourse are to be
found. In the next section we look at their involvement in learned
networks, teaching, university circles, their publications, collections
and their patronage of the arts.
1
Thomas A. Brady jr., Heiko A. Oberman and James D. Tracy (eds.), Handbook
of European History 1400–1600. Late Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation, 2 vols.
(Leiden 1994–6).
350 chapter six
6.1. Renaissance and Reformation, State Formation and Revolt:

An Italian Connection?
There is almost general consensus about the important role of Italy as

the cradle of Renaissance humanism all over Europe. Various channels
through which humanism spread over the rest of Europe have been
pointed out in the mass of literature on the subject: mobility to and
from Italy, foreign correspondence of humanists, schools and universities
and the diffusion of books and manuscripts, in which the invention
of the printing press was a major agent of change.2 Even two recent
surveys on Humanism and the Culture of Renaissance Europe, respectively
the European Renaissance devote most attention to the birth of humanism
in Italy and its consecutive spread from Italy to other parts of Europe.
“Until the late fifteenth century, few northern students came primarily
for humanistic studies; but Italian law and medical science had some
connection to humanism. When such students returned north, they
not only carried both ideas and books with them but also in many
cases archieved influential positions that enabled them to become
patrons who promoted humanistic learning. The . . . self-proclaimed
cultural superiority of the Italians could not help but impress (and
sometimes offend) visitors from less advanced regions to Italy.”3
The same survey states that the most obvious principal mecha-
nism of the spread of humanism north of the Alps consisted of
schools and universities.4 And Italian universities, scholars and stu-
dents—or itinerant humanists as they are called—who visited Italy
figure prominently in this story. If Italy must be considered to be
the cradle of humanism and the source of its spread over Europe,
then the many thousands of students from all over Europe who visi-
ted the several faculties of the different Italian universities in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries must have played an important role
in this cultural movement. This mobility, travel to and from Italy,
has been identified as the most direct and personal means of diffusing
humanism.5 Moreover, Paul Oskar Kristeller stated that by far the
2
Paul Oskar Kristeller, Concetti rinascimentali dell’uomo e altri saggi (original title:
Renaissance Concepts of Man and Other Essays; Florence 1978) 140–156.
3
Charles G. Nauert, Humanism and the Culture of Renaissance Europe (Cambridge
1995) 95.
4
Ibid. 100.
5
Peter Burke, ‘The Spread of Italian Humanism’ in: Anthony Goodman and
Angus MacKay (eds.), The Impact of Humanism on Western Europe (London 1990) 3.
epilogue 351
most interesting group in the bulk of visitors to Italy consisted of

the many thousands of students who visited Italy for several years.6
Evidence for this statement is slowly but steadily building up. The
study trips to Italy of the sons of the patricians have led to the
flowering of the studia humanitatis in the town of Nuremberg.7 Similarly,
an article devoted to the ‘humanist challenge to medieval culture’
states that Germans “who lived and studied in Italy” played a pio-
neering role in the coming of humanism to Germany.8 Two elabo-
rate surveys on the coming of humanism to the Netherlands9 stipulate
that there was a considerable number—although no estimates are
given—of students who visited Italy. Yet, they are not awarded with
a paragraph of their own, even though one of the authors claims
that “. . . by 1500 a stay in Italy had become a ‘must’ for anyone
who wished to be taken for a man of learning.”10 The same article
states that “There were several other interesting Netherlanders in
Italy, apart from the host of students who left no trace in history.”11
This last remark has proved to be highly contestable. They did
leave traces in history: both at Italian universities and through their
careers. This is not the place for an in-depth analysis of the appro-
priation of the Italian intellectual and cultural experience, and its
further mediation to the Netherlands. The prosopographical analy-
sis of (networks in) the population does, however, allow us to suggest
a number of ways through which students who made the iter italicum
contributed to the cultural landscape of the Netherlands in the
Renaissance period. This, rather than singling out outstanding human-
ists familiar to all and setting them apart from the selection of students
6
Kristeller, Concetti, 141.
7
C. Santing, Geneeskunde en humanisme. Een intellectuele biografie van Theodoricus Ulsenius
(c. 1460 –1508) (Rotterdam 1992) 54; A. Sottili, ‘Nürnberger Studenten an ital-
ienischen Renaissance-Universitäten mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Universität
Pavia’ in: Id., Università e cultura. Studi sui rapporti italo-tedeschi nell’étà dell’Umanesimo
(1993) 319–373.
8
Charles G. Nauert jr., ‘The Humanist Challenge to Medieval German Culture’
in Daphnis 15 (1986) 277–306.
9
J. IJsewijn, ‘The Coming of Humanism to the Low Countries’ in: H.A. Oberman
and T.A. Brady (eds.), Itinerarium Italicum. The Profile of the Italian Renaissance in the
Mirror of its European Transformations (Leiden 1975) 193–301; Id., ‘Humanism in the
Low Countries’ in: Albert Rabil jr. (ed.), Renaissance Humanism. Foundations, Forms and
Legacy, 2. Humanism beyond Italy (Philadelphia 1988) 156–215; James K. Cameron,
‘Humanism in the Low Countries’ in: Anthony Goodman and Angus MacKay (eds.),
The Impact of Humanism on Western Europe (London 1990) 137–163.
10
IJsewijn, ‘Coming’ in: Oberman and Tracy (eds.), Itinerarium, 199–200.
11
Ibid. 230 [my italics: A.T.].
352 chapter six
to which they belonged, namely the students who undertook the iter
italicum, will give us an idea at what different levels this could take
place. A considerable part of this group of students was presupposed
and able to make a contribution to the cause of humanism at va-
rious levels. I shall shed some light on the wider circle of students
who came into contact with Italian universities and humanism and
therefore on the wider socio-cultural aspects of the spread of human-
ism to the Northern Netherlands through these students.
The term ‘humanism’ is problematic.12 It is not a term invented
by the humanists themselves, but was first used by German schol-
ars at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The term humanista
is a contemporary term that referred to men concerned with the
teaching of the studia humanitatis inspired by the classics. And while
it is true that the original basis of humanism lay in what we now
refer to as the humanities, modern scholars tend to handle a wider
definition.13 It is now widely accepted that humanism—originally, in
the narrower sense—had a serious impact on most scholarly disci-
plines in schools and universities. It is becoming increasingly clear
that relations between these two were stronger than was thought in
the past. University training (and often teaching) seems to have been
a common biographical factor of most of the humanists and the role
universities played in the socio-professional context of humanism is
presently more appreciated.14
Whereas humanism was not a coherent philosophical system, it
developed a certain method where textual criticism played a key
role. This philological approach enabled humanists to make a claim
on control over questions of authority and the original meaning of
texts, which also had serious implications for the notions of histori-
cal, scientific and societal development. In this methodological sense
humanism could and would challenge the traditional scholarly dis-
ciplines in the higher faculties—medicine, law and theology.15 And
while traditional institutions—such as universities—are not very prone
to immediate change, at the end of the fourteenth century human-
ist learning started to make an impact on Italian universities. The
12
Consider the reflections of Burke, ‘Spread’, 1–3 and Walter Rüegg, ‘The Rise
of Humanism’ in: H. de Ridder-Symoens (ed.), History I, 442–448.
13
Grössing, Humanistische Naturwissenschaft, 12; Santing, Geneeskunde, 15–18.
14
Denley, ‘Recent Studies’, 194–195.
15
Nauert, ‘Humanist Challenge’, 302–303.
epilogue 353
Italian universities were the first in Europe where humanist thought

figured in both informal and institutionalized ways. This was a gra-
dual, generational process, but humanist thought already had a firm
position within the faculties of arts and medicine in Italy in the
fifteenth century, and the faculties of law were soon to follow.16
So, in Burke’s terms of the most direct and personal means of

diffusing humanism, the 640 students in the population constituted
a vast potential. Was Italian humanism with its self-proclaimed supe-
rior learning a factor in attracting students? Furthermore, in what
way could these students contribute to the cause of humanism and
Renaissance culture? It is very difficult to establish that students from
the Northern Netherlands actually attended the lectures of these
humanist professors, let alone come into contact with those scholars
working outside academia. Occasionally, we have clear information
about whom these students wanted to study with. Hector van Hoxwier
specifically wanted to attend the lectures of Andreas Alciatus. In
1536 this famous propagator of the mos gallicus was already teach-
ing at the University of Pavia. He also gave lectures at the University
of Ferrara from 1542 until 1546. Pieter van Foreest chose to spend
time in Padua to hear Vesalius on anatomy. Most of these exam-
ples date from the sixteenth century, when the harvest of ego-
documents started to flow. Occasionally, one is able to gather this
sort of information for the fifteenth century. We know that Sebastiano
dell’Aquila, medical humanist and neo-platonist of some renown, was
a lecturer at the University of Ferrara. So was Coradino Gilino.
These two humanists were involved in a learned medical disputa-
tion about the ‘morbo francese’, syphilis, at the court of Ferrara with
that other more famous humanist, Nicolò Leoncino. At least two
students from the Northern Netherlands must have been in contact
with these scholars, because at the graduation of Georgius Wilhelmi
of Noordwijk on 22 December 1495, Sebastiano is mentioned as a
promotor, a supervisor. Similarly, Coradino is mentioned as supervi-
sor of another student from Holland, Arnoldus of Dordrecht at his
graduation on 19 April 1491.17 Erasmus was definitely not typical
16
Grendler, Universities, chapters 6, 9 and 13 for an overview.
17
Pardi, Titoli, 98–99. On Sebastiano dell’Aquila and Coradino Gilino, see Jon
Arrizabalaga, John Henderson and Roger French, The Great Pox. The French Disease
in Renaissance Europe (New Haven 1997) 66–84.
354 chapter six
for the students in the population, but the fact that he figures in it,
has to be attributed to his desire to collect books and manuscripts
in the heartland of humanism, Italy, like his father before him, when
he studied arts at Ferrara. The change of heart of Agricola has been
mentioned already.
There is a tendency nowadays to view the emergence of especially
Northern humanism in terms of generations and in terms of learned
circles. Especially since the last quarter of the fifteenth century this
population of students who visited Italy yields a harvest of several
dozens of people who considered themselves humanists. They adopted
Latin names and made their contribution to humanism in writing,
editing classical texts and in their behaviour. We can locate them
in several humanist circles. One of the earliest and probably most
influential circles at this stage was the one at Aduard, centred round
the monastery in the province of Groningen. If we look at the par-
ticipants of this circle, it is clear that there was a direct link to Italy.
Wessel Gansfort had certainly visited Italy, if not as a student.18
Another figure in this circle was Theodoricus Ulsenius. Although
there is no evidence that he ever studied in Italy, a study trip to
the peninsula has been suspected. Jacobus Canter, however, did study
in Italy. So did the future persona of St Martin’s Church, Wilhelmus
Frederici.
Few people would dispute the enormous influence Rodolphus
Agricola had on the spread of humanism in the crucial last three
decades of the fifteenth century. As we have seen, he was not how-
ever the only northerner participating in the discussions of the Aduard
circle who had visited Italian universities. He is known to have been
in direct contact with Wilhelmus Frederici, whose graduation in
Ferrara he attended. He had contacts with several other students
from the Netherlands, attending their graduations.19 He probably
18
Cf. Jaap van Moolenbroek, ‘Wessel Gansfort as a Teacher at the Cistercian
Abbey of Aduard. The Dismissal of Caesarius of Heisterbach’s Dialogus miraculorum’
in: Koen Goudriaan, Jaap van Moolenbroek and Ad Tervoort (eds.), Education and
Learning in the Netherlands, 1400–1600. Essays in Honour of Hilde de Ridder-Symoens (Leiden
2004) 113–32, for most recent status quaestionis.
19
At the university of Ferrara he attended no less than seven graduations of stu-
dents from the Netherlands in the period 1475–1478 (Wilhelmus Frederici, Jacobus
Walteri van Ameyde, Henricus ex Palude, Theodoricus Persijn, Cornelius Florentii
de Goes, Lambertus Vrylinck, Nicolaus Gryp de Hagis), Pardi, Titoli, 64–5 and
68–71. In Pavia Agricola attended the graduation of Johannes Vredewolt together
with Dirk Persijn in January 1473, Lauree Pavesi nella seconda metà del ’400. I (1450–1475),
ed. A. Sottilli (Bologna 1995) 216–8.
epilogue 355
knew some twenty-five students from the northern Low Countries

during his stay on the peninsula, seven of whom came from Groningen.
Though not all of these Groningers took part in the discussions of the
Aduard circle, they did share the humanist atmosphere of the University
of Ferrara in those years.20 For some, a shared interest in the bonae
litterae can be substantiated. A good example is Lambertus Vrijlinck
of Groningen, who graduated in medicine 22 December 1478.
Lambertus is known to have worked on a new commentary on De
consolatione by Boethius, which he later shared with the humanist
Johannes Murmellius of Roermond. Agricola had made a number
of notes in his manuscript that could well date back to their shared
visit to Ferrara. Agricola was not the only student from Groningen
present at Lambertus’ graduation. Another was Everardus Hubbeldinck,
future magistrate of Groningen. When Lambertus became the first
permanently residing town physician of Groningen in 1496, this
acquaintance must have been a pro, as was the fact that he had
attended the graduation of Wilhelmus Frederici, then the powerful
persona of St Martin’s Church.21
The humanists in the Aduard circle did have important connec-
tions. One of them was the frequently mentioned Domdeken and coun-
cillor Ludolphus van Veen, who held several other important functions
in the diocese. He was so to speak the eyes and the ears of the
bishop for the Oversticht, which included the IJssel towns and Groningen.
He also had contacts with people from the Aduard and Vollenhove
circles and brought some of them to the attention of Bishop David
who had considerable interest in humanists and their works. For an
important clergyman like Ludolphus to have connections to certain
members of the clergy in the Oversticht was obvious. He did how-
ever also know Wessel Gansfort in another capacity, as the latter
acted as personal physician to Bishop David in the seventies. He
was not the only councillor of Bishop David who was connected to
humanists. Johannes van Diepholt, who graduated in Bologna in
1476, was a man of some influence. He is mentioned—among other
20
Strong relations existed between the humanist court of Ferrara and the uni-
versity. Cf. Del Nero, La Corte; Grendler, Universities, 99–106.
21
M. Goris and L.W. Nauta, ‘The Study of Boethius Consolatio in the Low
Countries around 1500: the Ghent Boethius (1485) and the Commentary by Agricola/
Murmellius (1514)’ in: F. Akkerman, A.J. Vanderjagt and A.H. van der Laan (eds.),
Northern Humanism in European Context, 1469–1625. From the ‘Adwerth Academy’ to Ubbo
Emmius (Leiden 1999) 109–130, there 122. For the graduations: Pardi, Titoli, 64–71.
Murmellius was a pupil of Alexander Hegius at the school of St Lebuin’s.
356 chapter six
church offices—as scholasticus of the St Lebuin’s chapter in Deventer.

It would seem that in this capacity he was influential in the gov-
ernment of St Lebuin’s’ school. When one finds that “meister Johan
van Diepholt” was contacted in 1498 by the Deventer town coun-
cil to ensure that Johan van Breda, then town physician, would fol-
low in the footsteps of the late “meister Sander”, also known as
Alexander Hegius, it stands to reason that Johan had been involved
at an earlier stage, namely when Hegius came to be rector of the
school around 1483. It is however worth taking into account that
Johannes also enjoyed a benefice in Vollenhove.22
This Aduard circle set a standard for the discourse on humanist
learning and their members, who also came from the neighbouring
German lands, managed to exert considerable influence on schools
and their schoolmasters. The school at Deventer under Alexander
Hegius in perhaps the most famous example. Lines from this school
run to Groningen and Utrecht, as we have seen. This was the school
where a next generation of pupils was educated to a certain extent
in a humanist fashion. The young Erasmus visited this school and
both he and some of his classmates sought contact with the learned
men of the Aduard circle. A generation of schoolboys that visited
this school in the eighties and nineties of the fifteenth century thus
came into contact with the phenomenon called humanism. It also
was this generation that gave this renewed interest in the classics a
foothold in most of the northern Low Countries in the first three
decades of the sixteenth century, when this product was on offer in
many schools all over the area.23 It was up to people like Gerardus
Listrius, graduate in medicine of Pavia, who visited this school, but
later on taught there, as well as in Zwolle and Amersfoort, to carry
the torch. Another important step in the spread of humanism was
22
GAD, Stadsrekening 1498 II, f. 5v. “Item op den dach vors[eid] Ernst onse
bode gegaen myt onsen scriften na Utrecht an meister Johane van Diepholt omme
meister Johane van Breda onser stat medicus totter scolen te helpen in stede zeliger
meister meister Sander ende wairt meister Johan van Diepholt onser bode to
Apeldorn te gemuete gekomen is.” This passage quoted in J.C. Bedaux, ‘Alexander
Hegius als Dichter’ in: Akkerman, Vanderjagt and Van der Laan (eds.), Northern
Humanism, 52–62, there 54. Bedaux thinks this a strange passage. I do not think it
strange that the scholasticus of the chapter was contacted. He happened to reside in
Utrecht because he was a councillor to the bishop among his many offices.
23
Cf. P.N.M. Bot, Humanisme en onderwijs in Nederland (Utrecht 1955); Tervoort,
‘Schoolmeesters’, 77–83.
epilogue 357
the foundation of the Collegium Trilingue at the University of Louvain,

where Latin, Greek and Hebrew were the main subjects of study.
For this college there was another direct link with Italy, as its founder
Jerome Busleyden had visited the University of Padua. It was Erasmus,
however, who lent his support to this new foundation and tried to
find competent professors for the three chairs.24
Schools and universities were said to be the principal means of
spreading humanism. From the career profile of the population it
became apparent that it did not happen all too often that students
took up the position of schoolmaster. Normally, a student with a
degree from Italy could aspire to higher positions. There were how-
ever several men who had studied medicine in Italy that did serve
as rectores of Latin schools in towns. The said Vrijlinck, Canter, Listrius
and Hadrianus Junius are examples. The connection between teaching
in a Latin school and the study of medicine is an obvious one and
so a medicine graduate became a sought-after candidate for the posi-
tion of rector. Another example of more indirect involvement in the
matters of education is the humanist Willem Frederiks, who as per-
sona of St Martin’s Church was in a position to exert considerable
influence on the appointment of schoolmasters at the school in
Groningen. Someone like Reinier Snoy, a Bologna graduate in med-
icine and a magistrate at the municipal council of Gouda, served as
a patron to Cornelius Aurelius and he was able to influence—again—
the appointment of schoolmasters at the school in Gouda.25 In a
more general sense this is true for many students who were involved
in town government.
When we turn to the careers of the population, we have seen that
the position of professor of law, arts and medicine turned up fre-
quently. It is significant that at the faculty of medicine of the uni-
versity of Cologne no less than seven professors were Dutchmen who
graduated in Italy. The first official professor of Greek was some-
one who likewise had visited an Italian university. The law faculty
of Ingolstadt relied heavily on the expertise of two students in the
population, Viglius and Nicolaus Everardi. In this respect it is also
24
See for this college: H. De Vocht, History of the Foundation and the Rise of the
Collegium Trilingue Lovaniense, 1517–1550, 4 vols (Louvain 1951–55).
25
Cf. Koen Goudriaan, ‘The Gouda Circle of Humanists’ in: Koen Goudriaan,
Jaap van Moolenbroek and Ad Tervoort (eds.), Education and Learning in the Netherlands,
1400–1600. Essays in Honour of Hilde de Ridder-Symoens, Brill’s Studies in Intellectual
History 123 (Leiden 2004) 155–177.
358 chapter six
worthwhile to mention that the first four professors of medicine at the

university of Leiden—two of them from the Northern Netherlands—
had all studied in Padua, at that time the centre of medical human-
ist learning. They were joined by a professor of Greek in the person
of Petrus Tiara. The foundation of the anatomy theatre and the
botanical gardens at Leiden were partly inspired by what these pro-
fessors had seen in the Italian university cities.26
Apart from certain key positions in learned circles and and in cer-
tain professions, further traces of humanist learning and interests can
be found in writing and publishing, as well as in keeping a learned
correspondence. Students who visited Italy have been at the van-
guard in propagating these humanist ideas and forms. Erasmus, who
graduated at the University of Turin in 1506, is perhaps one of the
most well-known humanists. Though he desperately wanted to become
part of a learned circle in his younger years, he later became the
centre of an immense one himself.27 He corresponded with an incred-
ible amount of important people, both in the Netherlands and abroad.
Many of his fellow travellers to Italy were among them. Not all of
these men were necessarily famous. Wilhelmus Obrecht of Delft was
by no means a famous scholar. He was a praeceptor, however, and
maybe something of his friendly relations with the ‘Prince of human-
ists’ rubbed off. Viglius of Aytta was another one of Erasmus’ cor-
respondents and followed in the master’s footsteps in the sense that
he too became a centre of a learned network.28
Dozens of students wrote and published learned work on numer-
ous topics in many fields. The first piece of what is called northern
protohumanistic rhetoric at the University of Louvain was performed
by Johannes Snavel, a citizen of Zwolle who studied at the University
of Padua before he started to teach law at Louvain in the 1430s.
There was a definite Italian link in the first example of a humanist
play from the Northern Netherlands, written by Hermannus Knuyt
van Slyterhoven of Vianen. Although we can find no record of him
at the University of Bologna, it seems likely that Hermannus was
26
A.M. Luyendijk-Elshout, ‘Der Einfluß der italienischen Universitäten auf die
medizinische Fakultät Leiden (1575–1620)’ in: Georg Kauffmann (ed.), Die Renaissance
im Blick der Nationen Europas (Wiesbaden 1991) 339–353.
27
Peter G. Bietenholz (ed.), Contemporaries of Erasmus. A Biographical Register of the
Renaissance and the Reformation, 3 vols (Toronto 1985–87).
28
Cf. Postma, Viglius, who has studied Viglius’ correspondence in great detail.
epilogue 359
most certainly close to the studium and its students. During his stay
in Bologna in 1494 he wrote a comedy, Scornetta, about student life.29
In terms of the artes, several young men proved their competence in
the field of philosophy, rhetoric and paedagocial literature. This is
hardly the place to deal extensively with the merits of the works of
Agricola and Erasmus. The writings of both did have an enormous
impact on learned discourse not only in the Netherlands but far
beyond and for time to come.30
Another terrain where innovation had a direct link to Italy, through
students and recently discovered and newly edited texts, was histo-
riography. Of course there was the biography of Petrarch by Rodolphus
Agricola, but it went further than that. Humanist historiography is
characterized by a reorientation on the past in terms of subject mat-
ter, form and source material. Although it cannot be said that in
terms of subject matter northern humanist historiography differed
radically from its late-medieval predecessor, there were a number of
innovating aspects to it. Historiography for these northern parts in
general was characterized by a strong focus on what we might label
as ‘national’ identity. This did not just apply to the strong sense of
Frisian identity and the often mentioned Frisian love for freedom.
In other parts, notably Holland, incorporation in the Burgundian
empire gave impetus to a reassertion of Hollands place within a
larger political entity.31 The humanists took this tendency a step fur-
ther and started to claim a continuity with classical antiquity, based
on sources of classical antiquity that had become available only in
the latter part of the fifteenth century. Furthermore, they had to
come from Italy. This continuity with classical antiquity was pri-
marily based on the works of Caesar, Pliny the Elder and Tacitus.
Reference was made in their works to Germanic tribes roaming the
northern parts of the Netherlands. The great mediator of the works
of Tacitus had been Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini of Siena and the
works of Tacitus and Pliny had had been published in Italy since
1470. Wilhelmus Frederici, medicine graduate of Ferrara, had used
29
IJsewijn, ‘Humanism in the Low Countries’, 188–9.
30
The literature on these two giants is immense. See a.o.: F. Akkerman and A.J.
Vanderjagt (eds.), Rudolphus Agricola Phrisius (1444–1485) (Leiden 1988); James D.
Tracy, Erasmus of the Low Countries (Berkeley 1996) and the literature mentioned
there.
31
Cf. chapter 3.3.
360 chapter six
the works of Tacitus and Pliny for his De origine et laude Frisonum pub-
lished in 1499.32
In the case of Holland their forebears from classical times were
a little less easy to find. Erasmus, however, started to identify a
Germanic tribe from classical times, the Batavi, with contemporary
Holland and its inhabitants. He was the first northerner to connect
the two in the last of his Adagia, published by Aldus Manutius in
Venice in 1508, where he takes on Martial’s proverb of the Auris
Batava, which signified a boorish taste.33 Based on the Historiae of
Tacitus he stipulated that the isle of the Batavi was identical with
Holland and he went on the describe this country and the coura-
geous tribe—the Batavi, but read Hollanders—in the most positive of
terms. Erasmus’ historical identification of Batavia with Holland and
the Hollanders soon became a hot topic for discussion. The case
was taken up by two of Erasmus’ friends, Willem Hermansz and
Cornelius Aurelius, but other students in the population became
involved in this debate: Livinus Lemnius, but more importantly
Reinerus Snoy of Gouda, who contributed to the debate with his
De rebus Batavicis libri tredecim (1519).
Although the exact location of the isle of the Batavi and the
identification of their heirs would remain a topic of discussion for
many decades, the ‘Batavian Myth’ would capture the hearts and
minds of the intellectual establishment in Holland. We have seen
traces of this in chapter 3, where we signalled that in the second
half of the sixteenth century students from Holland started register-
ing themselves as batavus. Hadrianus Junius, who had been appointed
official historiographer of Holland in 1566, gave the result of his
appointment the very clear title Batavia. The ‘Batavian Myth’ took
on a further dimension during the Revolt and it was used to legiti-
mize open rebellion against Philip II.34
32
W. Zuidema, Wilhelmus Frederici, persona van Sint-Maarten te Groningen (1489–1515)
en de Groninger staatkunde van zijn tijd (Groningen 1888) 67, 139–152; C.P.H.M. Tilmans
‘Cornelius Aurelius en het ontstaan van de Bataafse mythe in de Hollandse geschied-
schrijving (tot 1517)’ in: B. Ebels-Hoving, C.G. Santing and C.P.H.M. Tilmans
(eds.), Genoechlike ende lustige historiën. Laatmiddeleeuwse geschiedschrijving in Nederland (Hilver-
sum 1987) 191–213, there 198.
33
There was some support for this thesis from Italian scholars. Rafael Maffei in
his Commentariorum urbanorum octo et triginta libri (Rome 1506) had situated the Batavi
in Holland. Cf. C.P.H.M. Tilmans, Aurelius en de Divisiekroniek van 1517. Historiografie
en humanisme in Holland in de tijd van Erasmus (Hilversum 1988) 128.
34
For humanist historiography in general the somewhat dated H. Kampinga,
epilogue 361
A minimum of eighteen students in the population published

learned treatises on various aspects of medicine. The influence of a
training in Italy is clearly observable in several of them. The likes
of Lemnius, Forestus, Junius, Heurnius and Paludanus were consid-
ered to be the pinnacle of medical learning in the Netherlands. The
connection with the University of Leiden has been mentioned already.
What is more, some of them stood the test of time. The Observationes
of Petrus Forestus was a collection of medical cases of great impor-
tance to medical science of the early modern era.35
Humanists figure prominently in the student population that went
to Italy. Several dozens of them published learned work. Some were
well-known prolific writers whose pages passed the printing presses.
The lesser gods might not even have seen their thoughts in print or
only part of it. There is no denying, though, that even these human-
ists of second rank functioned as propagators of this particular cul-
tural phenomenon of humanism, since they frequently constituted a
local elite. And it would seem that current historiography takes a
stronger interest in their life and work than the older historical writ-
ing has done.36
But there are also more indirect ways in which ideas may be
diffused. And for this we have to turn to other factors than imme-
diate contributions to culture. If we look at the social background,
the social status and the university curriculum of the population, one
would be inclined to think that a substantial part of it was predis-
posed to attain rank and influence, especially law graduates—and
indeed men like Cobelius, Viglius of Aytta and Johan van Olden-
barnevelt were destined for high places. In their capacity they could
act as patrons to to humanists and artists with less influence and
‘De humanistische geschiedschrijving’ in: P.A.M. Geurts and A.E.M. Janssen (eds.),
Geschiedschrijving in Nederland, II, Geschiedbeoefening (the Hague 1981) 20–41. For the
history of the ‘Batavian Myth’, see: I. Schöffer, ‘The Batavian Myth during the
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries’ in: Ibid., 85–109; Tilmans, Aurelius; Ead.,
‘Cornelius Aurelius en het ontstaan van de Bataafse mythe’, 191–213; Ead.,
‘Ontwikkeling’. Also, Gerardus Geldenhouwer van Nijmegen (1482–1542), Historische
werken. Lacubratiuncula de Batavorum insula. Historia Batavica. Germaniae Inferioris historiae.
Germanicarum historiarum illustatio, ed. István Bejczy and Saskia Stegeman (Hilversum
1998) 9–26.
35
Cf. Luyendijk-Elshout, ‘Einfluß’: Bosman-Jelgersma, Pieter van Foreest; Van Her-
waarden, ‘Medici’.
36
For example: Santing, Geneeskunde; Petrus Bloccius, Praecepta formandis puerorum
moribus perutilia, ed. A.M. Coebergh-van den Braak (Louvain 1991).
362 chapter six
money. In a wider sense students who went to Italy constituted a

literate group of potentially successful and influential men on whom
the culture of Renaissance Italy must have made an impression and
who were likely to support or even propagate Renaissance culture,
like Van Oldenbarnevelt who set aside a substantial sum for his sons
to visit Venice, Florence, Rome, Bologna and Padua; or Erasmus
whose fame attracted the attention of popes and princes.
Looking at students who went to Italy and trying to pinpoint how
they may have influenced discourse on humanism in the Northern
Netherlands is one way of looking at the connection with Italy. There
is another way of looking at this connection. Once humanism gained
foothold in the Northern Netherlands in the first half of the six-
teenth century—the result of the activities of maybe not so many
prolific protagonists and more powerful, but more passive propagators
and patrons—Italy was seen as the centre of humanist culture that
an educated man or a man who wanted to be educated had to visit.
And, indeed, the number of students attending Italian universities—
especially Padua and Siena—was clearly on the rise again in the
second half of the sixteenth century and continued to be so in the
first half of the seventeenth.37 The dissemination of humanism with
a link to Italy is not only visible in numbers. In the sixteenth century
a lot of students proudly start bearing a Latin version of their sur-
name and they designate their origin with a correct Latin adjective,
even using the term batavus, indicating that they come from Holland.
Rising numbers of students visiting Italian universities are not a
Dutch phenomenon: the same can be said for the Southern Nether-
lands, Germany, England and other parts of Europe.38 It is no won-
der that Justus Lipsius, who had been to Italy himself, could so well
understand the longing one of his young admirers had to go to Italy,
a longing, he says, “which is innate only in the best and noblest
minds.”39 For a visit to an Italian university should be part of the
educational—not always scholarly—upbringing of a young man of
37
See chapter 2; Frijhoff, Société.
38
H. de Ridder-Symoens, ‘Adel en universiteiten in de zestiende eeuw. Humanistisch
ideaal of bittere noodzaak?’ in: Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 93 (1980) 424; Péter Sàrközy,
‘Links to Europe: Hungarian Students at Italian Universities in the 13–18th Centuries’
in: Hungarian Studies Review XVII (1990) 47–55.
39
See the introduction; Epistolae, 198, nr. 90.
epilogue 363
learning and/or standing (they are not necessarily the same). The
trip to Italy became part of the Grand Tour. A visit to Italy was an
opportunity to experience an important part of European culture,
classic as well as humanist, something the Italian humanists them-
selves were already well aware of.
Overseeing the links with Italy in the coming of humanism to the
Low Countries, one can see that the students visiting the peninsula
played a role in many different ways. If we look at the geography
and the chronology of the coming of humanism to the northern Low
Countries, the following remarks are significant. The earliest and
strongest interest in humanism seems to have come from the north-
east of the Northern Netherlands, with Groningen as its focal point,
in the last quarter of the fifteenth century. From there the IJssel
towns and Utrecht seem to have taken on this renewed attention
for the classsics. The west of the Northern Netherlands followed
almost a generation later and much of the inspiration seems to have
come from the east. In a political and a cultural sense, Holland and
Zeeland were more focused on the Burgundian lands, while the east-
ern parts had closer relations with the neighbouring German lands.
Indirectly this was true for the popularity of Italy in the various
regions, as we have seen in chapter 3. It was in the last quarter of
the fifteenth century that Groningen in a period of prosperity sent
comparatively many students to Italy, to such an extent in fact that
one might say that the ecclesiastical top of Groningen, the town sec-
retary, the town physician and several members of the magistracy
had studied at Ferrara, Pavia and Bologna. The humanist climate
in Groningen thus carried the stamp of the iter italicum. For the next
generations first contacts with humanism could take place within the
Low Countries. The printing presses, a number of schools and cer-
tain teachers and colleges in the University of Louvain and Cologne
showed an increasing interest in the classics. For a number of stu-
dents, particularly of medicine, Italy kept the reputation as the heart-
land of humanism, where one could deepen and widen one’s learning.
In the cultural exchange between Italy and the Low Countries, these
hundreds of students continued to act as mediators and carry books
and ideas regarding all sorts of subjects back home with them.
A substantial portion of the students in the population reached
positions of power, influence and wealth. On top of this many were
considered to be men of learning on various topics. It was therefore
almost expected of them to play a further role in the culture of the
364 chapter six
late-medieval and early modern Netherlands. Here we will take a

brief look at some of the more tangible apsects of their interest in
Renaissance culture. Of course, many a student, often in his capa-
city of town magistrate, played a role in the immediate community,
as guardians of the parish churches, as members of religious frater-
nities such as the rather elitist papengilde in Alkmaar. In some cases
these students did more than take up their responsibilities and actively
contributed to religious culture in the form of the founding of chapels,
often done by important clerics like Ludolphus van Veen and Jacobus
Ruysch.
The canons Nicolaus Ruysch and Cornelis van Mierop certainly
were very interested in religious art. In conformity with the Renaissance
ideal they demanded a significant place for themselves within the art
objects. When the church of St John in the town of Gouda was
destroyed by fire in 1537, they played an important role in its rede-
coration. The parish church of Gouda had always had strong con-
nections with the chapter of St Salvator. These two canons were
most obliging in offering stained glass windows for the newly built
church, in which they had themselves depicted in full splendour.40
Sponsorship went further than the Church. Some students re-
cognized the role education had played in their lives and set aside
money for the express purpose of educating others. Dominicus Tettema
was mentioned already. Viglius set aside an even greater sum for
the foundation of a college in his name at the University of Louvain.
It should not surprise us that a number of scholars in the population
gathered a considerable amount of books. Books had been an essen-
tial part of their education. They continued to be just that for quite
a few students in their careers. Johannes van Hooghelande left more
than 200 books after his death in 1578. Quite a few legal works
were included in his collection. Martinus Johannis Aedituus had a
similar collection, though the main focus was on medicine rather
than law. It included a number of works he had written himself. A
relatively new thing was the collection of curiosities as well as books.
Bernardus Paludanus’ cabinet of curiosities was an international attrac-
tion. Many scholars from all over Europe came to the town of
Enkhuizen to look at the wonders of the world in his collection.41
40
See for theses images: Van den Hoven van Genderen, Heren, 292–6.
41
NNBW, IX, 752–4; Lindeboom, DMB, 1497–9.
epilogue 365
More than just documentary traces, then, were found for students
in the population. What is typical for the period of the later Middle
Ages and the early modern period is that in a number of cases we
start to get an idea of what they looked like. The portrait as a genre
did make a real impact. Having oneself depicted was no longer the
prerogative of popes and princes, and numerous students are known
to us both in print, in glass and on canvas. Particularly for the six-
teenth century there was an impressive harvest of portraits of students
in the population. Not only the super-civil servant Viglius van Aytta,
D.U.I., had his face painted for all eternity, even the faces of stu-
dents with more modest careers could be found. Petrus van Hogerbeets,
physician in the town of Hoorn was painted by Saenredam. Perhaps
the most famous of these portraits is the one of Erasmus by Quinten
Metsys. Invariably they are depicted as men of learning and/or stand-
ing, wearing their gowns, often holding books, the source of their
learning. They were in a position to act as commissioners and patrons
to artists, painters as well as poets, sculptors as well as singers.
One of the more well-known artists who was well able to profit
from his connections with mighty patrons, several of whom have a
direct link to Italy, was Jan van Scorel. He was born as an illegitimate
son of the village priest in Schoorl, a little village in the north of
Holland. He had acquired some fame as a painter. When he went
to Rome at the accession of Adrian VI as pope,—Adriaan Florisz
Boeyens, professor of the University of Louvain, pedagogue of Charles
V, canon of St Salvator in Utrecht—, he was awarded the position
of conservator of the antiques in the Palazzo Belvedere. He also
painted a portait of the only Dutch pope. During this time in Rome
he became acquainted with Willem van Lockhorst, who had stud-
ied at the universities of Bologna and Siena and was a canon at the
chapter of St Peter and St Mary’s in Utrecht, now working in the
Curia. After the death of Adrian, both returned to Utrecht. There
he enjoyed the patronage of Herman van Lockhorst—whose por-
trait he painted—, dean of the chapter of St Salvator, and father of
Willem. Both of them were most helpful in securing him a position
as canon of St Mary’s. This finally happened in 1528. This was cer-
tainly not the only support he received. Two of the witnesses at his
admission to the canonry were the often mentioned Nicolaus Ruysch
and Cornelis van Mierop.42
42
RAU, SM, inv. nr. 40–8, f. 180r, 192r–194v and 196v; Van den Hoven van
366 chapter six
A special sort of patron was Cornelis Johannis van Veen about

whose career something was mentioned in chapter 5. The life and
times of himself and his family exemplify issues discussed in this sec-
tion. And pieces of it can be drawn from a family portrait in which
he was depicted in 1584, now in the Musée du Louvre. It was
painted by his son, Otto van Veen. Otto had visited Italy like his
father before him and became an artist of considerable renown, and
his works bear the hallmarks of his stay in Italy. Another son was
an engraver. Cornelis, law graduate and magistrate who had fallen
from grace with the start of the Revolt, seems to have had no quar-
rel with his sons for the alternative career path they chose.
The painting shows a well-off family that seemed to have been
divided on the question of religion. Cornelis, who is depicted in a
fur-collared gown, seems to hold the middle between two of his sons,
the flamboyant Catholic artist and the more austere looking eldest
son, Simon, who was a member of the Calvinist church. The con-
trast in the painting is superficial. Simon had stayed in Leiden when
his father fled with the rest of the family. He had studied law at
the University of Leiden and managed to become pensionaris of Leiden,
like his father. In the 1590s he moved on to the Hof van Holland,
where he became advocaat-fiscaal and later councillor. His studies
in Leiden and his membership of the Calvinist church cannot con-
ceal that the the austere clothes he wears in the painting are just
clothes. His children were brought up as Catholics. Some of his
sons even became priests. More importantly he reconverted to
Catholicism on his deathbed. The man depicted in this painting is
the man that made a career move in in the 1570s by staying.43 This
is something he had in common with a number of students in the
population, but one in particular. There are many portraits of this
student and he is one of only two students in the population—
Erasmus the other—whose image has carried through the ages to
such an extent that his expression has decorated a postage stamp:
Johan van Oldenbarnevelt.
Genderen, Heren, 363–4, who fully sketches the complications that Van Scorel had
in obtaining all of the privileges of his prebend; M.A. Faries, ‘Jan van Scorel,
Additional documents from the church records of Utrecht’ in: Oud Holland 85 (1970)
3–24.
43
Cf. Simon Schama, Rembrandt’s Eyes (London 1999) 82–5, who omits Simon’s
deeper religious life. Cf. also Hans de Waardt, Toverij en samenleving. Holland 1500–1800
(Den Haag 1991) 158–9.
epilogue 367
Another important cultural and religious phenomenon of the the six-

teenth century was the advent of the Reformation. This juggernaut
managed to capture the attention of paupers and princes alike for
the next centuries. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the
religious question would be high on the political agenda as well. For
the students in the population the most tangible manifestion of this
development was to be the Dutch Revolt where religion was one of
the contributing factors to the emergence of civil unrest and then
outright rebellion, resulting in the foundation of the Republic of the
Seven United Provinces.
Truly, one would have to say that certainly up until the 1520s
the students in the population were generally more concerned with
preserving religious orthodoxy that with reforming it. The substan-
tial number of important clergymen with law degrees in the popu-
lation were intent on maintaining the all-important position of the
Church and presumably their place in it. We therefore find them
primariliy as guardians of the faith, sometimes dealing with heresy
in the diocese of Utrecht. Whether this was in a position of papal
inquisitor, like the Dominican Johannes de Houdaen, who was involved
in tracing presumed heretics on several occasions, or whether it were
the officials-principal of the diocese, frequently present at occasions
like the execution of the heretic Jan de Bakker, where Stephanus
Rumelaer was present.
Following the start of the Reformation in 1517, there is evidence
that the religious debate did concern a number of students in the
population. There was, of course, the towering figure of Erasmus
who involved himself in the discourse on the works of Martin Luther,
eventually villifying him in the eyes of Protestants and Catholics alike.
The issue of the reformation of the Church was debated elsewhere
as well. It was on the agenda in Groningen in the 1520s. Among
the most important debaters were a number of students who had
visited the peninsula. Most of the these early ‘reformers’ or students
who were interested in the concept of Church reformation had strong
connections with humanism.44
Interest in the Reformation took another form. A number of stu-
dents, nearly one in ten, now took routes that included universities
44
F. Akkerman, ‘The Early Reformation in Groningen. On two Latin Disputations’
in: Id. and Vanderjagt and Van der Laan (eds.), Northern Humanism, 1–44.
368 chapter six
that were highly suspect in the eyes of the Church. The universities
of Wittenberg, Heidelberg after 1559 and a number of other ones
did definitely deserve the reputation. This shows, if not outright con-
version, at the very least an interest in Protestantism or in certain
Protestant teachers. For a number of students their heterodox sym-
pathies are clear. Justus Velsius, a scholar of some renown who cor-
responded with a number of other learned men in the population
such as Viglius, developed his own fairly radical theology.45 Allardus
Cooltuyn was the brother of one of the important early Calvinist
reformers in the Northern Netherlands and at least a degree of sym-
pathy for the cause can be suspected.46 Cornelius Petri Haeck belonged
to a Calvinist circle in his home town Zierikzee.47 On the whole,
there were relatively few cases in which staunch supporters of either
Lutheranism or Calvinism can be detected at an early stage. Funnily
enough, the only Protestant minister in the population had visited
the Collegium Germanicum. Lucas Ritzardi was sent away from the
college and apparently for good reason. Many of his college peers
ended up strongly pushing the Counter-Reformation, among whom
the Jesuits figure prominently. Petrus Canisius, who did not visit the
Collegium Germanicum, but graduated at Bologna and joined the
Jesuit order, was a major figure in the Catholic Reformation.
The attitude on the other side of the Alps vis-à-vis students from
‘Germanic’ lands, which included the Netherlands, from the 1530s
onwards reveals a marked suspicion of Protestantism. Students from
these parts were often tainted by geographical association. The
response students could expect varied from university to university
and relied heavily on the wordly ruler in which the studium was
located. On the homefront in the Netherlands, this fear of Protestantism
spreading through visits to foreign universities eventually led to the
edict of Philip II in 1570 forbidding students from the Netherlands
to study anywhere else than Louvain Douai, Dole and Rome. Though
it was possible to get dispensation through an arduous legal road, it
would seem that this edict did have some effect. Certainly, the number
of students from the Low Countries at Italian studia declined for a
number of years, to such an extent in fact that the College of Doctors
45
Feist-Hirsch, ‘Strange Career’.
46
Vis, Cornelis Cooltuyn.
47
C.M. Rooze-Stouthamer, Hervorming in Zeeland (ca. 1520 –1572) (Goes 1996)
490–1.
epilogue 369
of the law University of Bologna protested in 1573, when the effects

of this ban became apparent. The college stated that Bologna was
indeed a good Catholic university. Even Pope Gregory XIII came
to the aid of the Alma Mater urging the duke of Alba not to hinder
students from the Netherlands who wanted to study at Bologna.48
And in fairness to the doctors, Bologna, at this stage, could be con-
sidered a Catholic stronghold. Although the comune of Bologna had
asked for leniency in the application of the bull In sacrosancta and
for protection for ultramontani studying at Bologna, there was no way
around it. The papacy insisted on its full implementation.49
A severe blow to Bologna’s international student reputation had
already been struck in 1562, when the age old German Nation of
the law University decided to migrate to Padua. When at least part
of the Nation returned in 1573, a new set of statutes for the German
Nation was approved by Pope Gregory XIII and Emperor Maximilian
in 1574.50 Especially after 1564 the studium in Bologna was carefully
monitored by the ecclesiastical authorities. Its location within the
boundaries of the papal state made sure that inquisitors even had
relatively easy access to the University. This rather stringent policy
led to a number of arrests of foreign students and teachers, includ-
ing one student in the population: Volkert Coyter.
The situation was somewhat different in other Italian university
cities. We have seen that the studium of Padua was relatively well
protected by Venice. At the studium pataviense there were even ways
out of the oath prescribed by In sacrosancta. The occasional student
graduated outside the immediate power of the bishop, under the
authority of a comes palatinus. A few students in the population grad-
uated in this fashion. At the very least one has to say that the atmos-
phere in both Padua and Siena were somewhat more lenient that
in Bologna.
The increasing popularity of the universities of Padua and Siena,
largely at the expense of the Alma Mater Bononiensis, is at least partly
connected to the different atmospheres of tolerance with regard to
the religious question that reigned within the lecture halls. Though
scanty, there seem to be some indications that those students who
48
ASB, AS, inv. nr. 129, f. 286r/v/; Brom, Archivalia, I, 213, nr. 618.
49
Kagan, ‘Universities’, 167.
50
Colliva (ed.), Statuta, 157, 162.
370 chapter six
visited Bologna in the last cohort were more inclined to support reli-
gious orthodoxy than their peers who visited the other two studia
mentioned. With the clear exception of Volkert Coyter—who was
arrested on charges of heresy while teaching at Bologna—most stu-
dents sided with the Catholic Church and in the specific context of
the Netherlands were opposed to the Revolt. It was probably more
than a mere coincidence that the three Bologna graduates in the
Hof van Holland in 1572 fled to Utrecht, while the three graduates
of Siena who also had studied in Padua only accepted—or first aban-
doned the office for fear of the duke of Alba to take it up after the
coast was clear in the case of Adrianus van der Mijle—their posi-
tion when the Revolt got under way.
Protestantism was not an attraction of Italian studia. The reputa-
tion of the (university) landscape, however, continued to attract stu-
dents, including those whose religious beliefs were suspect in the eyes
of the authorities on the peninsula. For the latter a place where one
could study in relative piece of mind was desirable and it became
a further issue in the choice for this or that university. It seems to
have favoured Padua the most. In that sense the Italian universities
differed somewhat from, for instance, the University of Orléans,
where Calvinism had made considerable impact and where this atmos-
phere probably succeeded in tempting a number of students who at
a later stage became actively involved in both Calvinism and the
Revolt.51
Students in the population were divided over the Revolt. This
division was often far from clear and could run through religious
lines and even through families. The Van der Mijle family was split
over the Revolt. Arnoldus and his son Cornelius sided with the king,
while Adrianus played a major part in the creation of the Republic.
Certain students were involved from very early onwards in sup-
pressing the spread of Calvinism. Theodorus Lindanus was actively
involved in persecuting Protestants in his capacity of inquisitor. A
number of younger noblemen, like Valerius Aylva, was involved from
the very start as members of the Compromise, signing the Smeekschrift,
offered to the regent, Margaret of Parma in 1566. Following the
51
Cf. C.M. Ridderikhoff, ‘Orléans and the Dutch Revolt’ in: C.C. Barfoot and
R. Todd (eds.), The Great Emporium. The Low Countries as a Cultural Crossroads in the
Renaissance and the Eighteenth Century, Studies in Literature 10 (Amsterdam 1992) 59–82.
epilogue 371
change in government in parts of the Netherlands, town govern-

ments and other bureaucratic institutions were purged of presumed
pro-Spanish elements. This meant leaving the field for a number of
students in the population who had attained positions of power. At
least twenty students were compromised after the Revolt gained a
foothold and had to withdraw from office or in many cases fled to
parts as yet not affected by the Revolt, at first Utrecht, later on the
Southern Netherlands. In some cases the choice was not pro- or
anti-Spanish, but directly linked to the religious question. A number
of convinced Catholics refused to side with a government that had
direct links to the Calvinist church.
Some twenty students were actively involved in the Revolt. Among
them were such towering figures as Johannes van Oldenbarnevelt,
who were instrumental to the success of the Revolt. Many of them
could take the seats in the bureaucracies that had been emptied by
the exodus of those loyal to the Spanish and/or Catholicism. In
general one could say that a majority of the students played little
or no part in either actively supporting or opposing the Revolt. Often
they let things pass and responded to circumstances while hanging
on to their positions in town governments continuing to represent
their towns and cities in the States. One gets the distinct impression
that, considering that we are dealing with a comparatively well-off
and successful—maybe even elitist—group of people, the majority
was not intent on creating too much upheaval in either religious or
socio-political terms.
A structural contribution was made by the students in the popu-
lation to state formation, in the sense that constituted a group of
legal specialists, who worked at different levels of bureaucracy all
over the Netherlands. In a more general sense the dissemination of
Roman law into the legal system in the Netherlands at large was
influenced by the generations of students that had visited Italian and
other foreign universities.52 In this sense, the iter italicum was both a
52
See for a discussion of the role of professional lawyers in the process of state
formation H. de Schepper and J.-M. Cauchies, ‘Legal Tools of Public Power in
the Netherlands, 1200–1600’ in: Antonio Padoa-Schioppa (ed.), Legislation and Justice,
The Origins of the Modern State in Europe C (London 1997) 229–268, in par-
ticular 264 a.f. and the literature cited; also Antonio Padoa-Schioppa, ‘Conclusions:
Models, Instruments, Principles’ in: Ibid., 335–69, in particular 347–9; Filippo
Ranieri, ‘From Status to Profession: The Professionalisation of Lawyers as a Research
Field in Modern European Legal History’ in: Journal of Legal History 10. 2 (1989)
180–190.
372 chapter six
cause and a consequence of the penetration of Roman law in the

Netherlands.53 In the period under investigation, this process continued
at a rapid pace. Attemps at centralization were accompanied by
attempts to harmonize the legal systems in function in the Low
Countries. In this process, students in the population were heavily
involved. Several students, like Viglius and Philippus Cobelius, were
known as outstanding scholars in their field, with a focus on the
humanist aspects of the corpus of legal texts.54
6.2. Conclusion
At the end of our own journey, what have we learned about these
young men that travelled across Europe in search for learning and
adventure? This book set out to describe the human geography of
Italian universities from the point of view of the Northern Netherlands,
as well as the socio-professional profiles and patterns of the iter italicum.
The population studied stood in a tradition that dated back to the
twelfth century when a few clergymen travelled to Italy in search of
knowledge and learning, at the time unavailable in the diocese of
Utrecht. When universities spread across the continent, Italy con-
tinued to call. The numbers fluctuated over time and varied from
university to university, but for Italy as a travel destination in ge-
neral there were two major peak periods: the third quarter of the
fifteenth and the third quarter of the sixteenth century. This last
peak period was only briefly interrupted and continued at increased
pace well into the seventeenth century.
The increase in the fifteenth century has to be viewed against the
more spectacular general increase in university students from the North-
ern Netherlands, so clearly observable in the figures for the ‘home’
universities of Cologne and Louvain. Although it was difficult to put
this into exact figures, it seemed that relatively few young responded
53
Cf. Mario Damen, ‘Education or Connections? Learned Officials in the Council
of Holland and Zeeland in the Fifteenth Century’ in: Koen Goudriaan, Jaap van
Moolenbroek and Ad Tervoort (eds.), Education and Learning in the Netherlands, 1400–1600.
Essays in Honour of Hilde de Ridder-Symoens, Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History 123
(Leiden 2004) 51–67; Marie-Charlotte Le Bailly, Recht voor de Raad. Rechtspraak voor
het Hof van Holland, Zeeland en West-Friesland in het midden van de vijftiende eeuw, Hollandse
Studiën 38 (Hilversum 2001).
54
See Postma, Viglius, for Viglius’ importance in the field of legal humanism.
epilogue 373
to this call from far away. The section of the overall student po-
pulation that made it to Italy was comparatively small and would
have rarely exceeded the 5 per cent mark. Closer inspection of the
university curriculum of these students did however paint a very
different picture.
The importance of the iter italicum for learned culture in the
Northern Netherlands far outweighs the relatively small size of the
population. There were a number of significant features that set them
apart from the student population from the northern Low Countries
at large. The distance, the high costs and the presence of viable,
comparatively closer and cheaper alternatives such as Cologne and
Louvain may all have been discouraging factors and were responsi-
ble for the relatively small number of students from these parts that
actually made the iter italicum. The ‘home’ universities, however, rep-
resented the overwhelming arts population, so typical for most north-
ern studia. Very few students came to Italy to study arts. If they did,
it was solely as a preparation for the degree in medicine or a con-
scious choice for the humanist curriculum. In general the studying
of the arts took place in the studia closer to the Netherlands of which
Louvain, Cologne and Paris were undoubtedly the most important.
The overwhelming majority of young men in our population came
through one of these universities, with in many cases a fully completed
arts curriculum behind them. The italiëganger was a more mature stu-
dent, in his early twenties, intent on following a specialized cur-
riculum in one of the higher faculties, either law or medicine.
The legal nature of academic pilgrimage to Italy has enjoyed con-
siderable attention in historiography, but perhaps not enough. We
may estimate that approximately 10–15 per cent of all law students
from the Northern Netherlands had come through an Italian uni-
versity of which Bologna and from the second half of the sixteenth
century Padua were clearly most important. When pinned down on
choice of faculty, the numerical importance of the population tra-
velling to Italy greatly increased. It is likely that Bologna was the
most important ‘foreign’ university for the study of law after Orléans,
a postion that Padua took over convincingly after 1550. The visit to
the peninsula was in most cases the last stage of the peregrinatio and
after a stay of some three years approximately half of the law stu-
dents retrurned home with a licentiate or much more often with the
doctor’s hat. A conservative estimate suggests that the Italian studia
would account for a minimum of a quarter to maybe as much as
374 chapter six
40 per cent of all degrees of licentiatus and higher taken by law stu-
dents from the Northern Netherlands. So, in terms of law graduates
Italy as a university pole was of the greatest importance. The careers
of these graduates, discussed in chapter 5, attest to their contribu-
tion to the society in the Netherlands.
The role of the professional lawyer has been identified as the main
instrument in the process of European state formation and the ratio-
nalization of government and administration. This held true for the
Netherlands as well, both at provincial and at central level. In their
attempts at centralization and rationalization of government in the
Netherlands, the Burgundian and Habsburg princes were greatly
assisted by these professional lawyers. From the career profile of the
law students in the population it would seem that the pack of law
graduates played a key role in this process, particularly those who
managed to attain office at central and provincial level. Even at the
lower levels of the town and the city, though, one finds that rela-
tions with higher authorities became increasingly legalized and paths
of protest were formulated along legal lines for which authorities at
local level were dependent on professional lawyers as well. At all
these levels students in the population have been active. Even the
particularist reaction against the centralization process that followed
with the Revolt did not seriously diminish the importance of law
and legal relations between the new authorities, the States.55
One aspect of the iter italicum that has been relatively underex-
posed is the medical character of the journey to Italy. There has
been considereable attention for the role of particularly Padua in the
sixteenth century,56 and several students of medicine from that cen-
tury we know very well because of their publications and the influential
positions they held in the world of academia and health care. The
evidence gathered from the population, however, suggests that Italy
as the centre for the study of medicine had predated the foundation
of the universities of Cologne and Louvain and even after their foun-
dation the Italian faculties of medicine continued to be far more
important both in terms of attendance and particularly in the num-
ber of doctores medicinae they delivered. This was especially clear for
most of the fifteenth century. Events and processes that shattered
55
See n. 52.
56
Cf. Poelhekke, ‘Leden’; Frijhoff, Société.
epilogue 375
attendance at the faculties of arts and medicine at the universities

of Padua and Ferrara, following 1480 and continuing well into the
sixteenth century, did not bring the search for medical knowledge
on the peninsula to an end, as Bologna and Pisa continued to absorb
a number of students. The rising number of medical students in the
last cohort did however not reach the levels of the the cohorts up
to 1475. That would only happen after 1575. Nevertheless, it is very
clear that the comparative numerical importance—already mentioned
for lawyers—of students of medicine that visited the likes of Padua,
Ferrara and Bologna was even greater than for their peers in the
faculty of law. We may estimate that at the very least one in three
students of medicine from the Northern Netherlands travelled through
Italy during their studies. The graduate of medicine and in particu-
lar the doctor medicinae was still somewhat of a rarity in the fifteenth
and sixteenth century Netherlands. Chances were that at least half
of them had graduated on the peninsula. Even after the foundation
of the University of Leiden, that would take over the torch as one of
the leading medical universities in Europe, the Italian universities led
by Padua accounted for close to a third of all degrees in medicine
taken by students from the northern Low Countries.57
This raises the question to what extent the development of an
organized system of health care in the Northern Netherlands was
influenced by the dozens of doctors coming from Italy in the fifteenth
century and presumably even before that. This question may never
be fully answered as it would seem that adequate sources are lack-
ing. It might prove possible that meticulous archival research at local
level could support the hypothesis that students who had witnessed
the medical care in the large Italian cities, strictly organized by the
colleges of doctors, were of importance in communicating a model
where the graduated doctor of medicine appointed by the town go-
vernment took on the role of supreme authority on health matters.
A medical degree was the ticket to gain access to positions in acade-
mia, but also increasingly for these positions in health care. Although
the graduation ratio for medicine students was highly inflated because
of the nature of the source material, a graduation ratio of two out
of three seems a plausible estimate.
57
On the basis of Frijhoff, Société, 383 and 389; De Ridder-Symoens, ‘Italian and
Dutch Universities,’ 54–57; own figures for Padua.
376 chapter six
The considerable number of degrees obtained in Italy testify to

the fact that at the very least a degree from an Italian studium,
whether this was in law or medicine, was perceived to be of con-
siderable importance. This notion that the doctorate from a presti-
gious university counted is found in many instances in which much
of the curriculum was followed at faculties at more nearby locations,
but that the act of graduation took place in Italy. There were a
number of cases in which students had to or decided to wait for a
considerable amount of time before they put the money together for
a degree of doctor, hanging on to their degree of licentiatus in the
meantime. This suggests that the notions of nobility through learn-
ing connected with a doctorate made some sort of impact, but it is
equally plausible to suggest that in the eyes of the candidate it may
have represented a useful tool in the competition for prestigious posi-
tions back home.
Another significant conclusion is that the iter italicum from the
Northern Netherlands amounts to little more than a broad geo-
graphical limitation ex post facto. Apart from the difference in profile
where the subject of study was concernced, there were differences
in terms of geographical participation. We have seen that partici-
pation from the various constitutive parts of the Northern Netherlands
differed according to time scale and subject matter, as well as social
background. In many cases affairs particular to a region in the
Netherlands were visible in the participation in the trip to Italian
studia, whether this was war and economic crisis in Holland in the
last quarter of the fifteenth century or the emergence of a central-
ized bureaucracy in Friesland in the first quarter of the sixteenth
century. These differences in participation rate at various stages in
the period under investigation did not come completely out of the
blue and both the situation on the peninsula and in the home regions
had to be taken into consideration to obtain a clearer view of the
mobility to Italy. Mobility to Italy could be region specific, even
specific to a particular city.
We saw that particularism was not entirely absent from the minds
of the students themselves. The process of centralization commenced
under the Burgundians in Holland and Zeeland at the beginning of
the period and continued under the Habsburgs until it incorporated
all of the Northern Netherlands was only partly successful. True,
students from the northern Low Countries, with both lord and lan-
guage in common, stuck together in far away places like Italian uni-
epilogue 377
versity cities. Even the iter italicum as a whole in the cohort 1551–75
seems to have taken on a general character similar for nearly all
regions in the Low Countries. The appearance of the adjectives flander
and belga indicate that for some students there was a sence of belong-
ing to a greater political, maybe even cultural entity: the Netherlands
as a whole. In general, though, students felt they belonged to a
smaller entity and identified primarily with their town, county, duchy
or in the case of students from Friesland and Groningen with a
‘nation’, even in such distant lands. The attempts at increased cen-
tralization and unification suffered as a consequence of the Revolt
and future generations of students visiting the peninsula continued
to identify themselves as batavus, frisius and geldrus rather than belga.
There was considerable development over time in some aspects
of the iter italicum. This change seems to have least affected those
who came primarily in search for the study of medicine. In general
these medical students came from backgrounds that were somewhat
more modest than their peers in the faculty of law. Their career
perpective did not really change significantly. A number of profes-
sorial chairs and positions in the growing health care market were
waiting for them. For law students matters were different. There was
a gradual shift from the Church as the main employer to the vari-
ous bureaucracies of state. Simplified one might say that in the
fifteenth century, the typical law graduate from an Italian studium,
especially Bologna, aimed at the ‘fat’ prebends in the chapters of
Utrecht and the high church offices of the diocese. In the next cen-
tury the various provincial courts would be the centre of attention
from graduates that came increasingly from universities like Padua
and Siena.
In general, the career perspective was a promising one. University
education was just one factor among others that decided a career
outcome. Nevertheless, the career sample was not found wanting in
terms of (family) relations and connections, that could date back to
sitting on the college bench together. A number of intricate networks
existed in which the students in the population found their way to
various positions of power. A shared trip to the peninsula could play
an important role in these constellations. The high density of grad-
uates of Italian studia in Groningen, the chapters and episcopal coun-
cil in Utrecht, the Courts of Holland and Friesland are excellent
examples of how an ‘old boys’ network could develop.
Another development over time was observed in the social
378 chapter six
background of the population. The iter italicum was also relatively

exclusive in its social character. Comparatively few pauperes made it
to the other side of the Alps. Most of them studied medicine rather
than law. Their share in the population decreased over time and
hardly any poor students were found in the later sixteenth century.
The reverse was true for noble students. They were relatively well-
represented from the start, but their share increased considerably
towards the sixteenth century. This increasing ‘aristocratization’ of
the university landscape was a more general feature of the sixteenth
century, but even more marked for the already exclusive trip to Italy.
Changing attitudes towards poverty and the poor can be observed
in the dealings of Italian studia with their suppositi. On the other hand
the increased interest in university studies from the nobility has to
viewed against a background in which positions in government that
had traditionally been very much the domain of the nobility became
more specialized and time-consuming. If they wished to continue to
be a part of government, they had to compete with graduates from
bourgeois milieus who were able and willing to replace them. There
was at least some pressure on noble students to not fall behind. In
a more general sense the elitist humanist model did make an impact
and a trip to the great cities in southern Europe suited the educa-
tional purposes of the elite.
Despite the rather elevated social profile of the population, there
was evidence that for those not belonging to the elites of the north-
ern Low Countries a degree from an Italian university could open
up career possibilities. Their education, among other important aspects
of social life, could indeed be an asset if one wanted to get further
in life. Unsurprisingly, many of the students studied here had to be
qualified as definite social climbers.
The importance of the iter italicum did not just lie in the con-
siderable number of students and graduates of law and medicine,
their key positions in government, administration, academia and
health care. More than just the graduation certificate was taken
home. Their role as mediators of concepts and ideas of Renaissance
humanism cannot be underestimated, both in active and passive roles.
Hitherto unknown classical texts (sometimes in Greek), new editions
of known ones, and an interest in the classics, of which the ideas
and merits were keenly debated in learned circles in the Netherlands,
were all part of the bagage of these academic pilgrims. Italian uni-
versities, but maybe even more Italy as a Renaissance society continued
epilogue 379
to be an inspiration and attraction right into the seventeenth cen-

tury. One gets the impression that from the second half of the six-
teenth century onwards, the lecture halls of the famous studia were
definitely not the only places to visit. The palazzi in Florence and
Venice, the ruins of Rome were high on the list of artists and stu-
dents alike.
The study of the history of universities in general and in a more
specific sense the history of those visiting and teaching in them is of
the utmost importance for our knowledge of various aspects of cul-
ture in the late-medieval and early modern Netherlands. With the
notable exception of Friesland and Groningen much remains to be
done to draw the map of the role the many thousands of students
played in the various parts of the Netherlands prior to the founda-
tion of the University of Leiden in 1575. The role that the ‘home’
universities of Louvain and Cologne played, among several other
important studia, cannot be underestimated in this respect. This book
set out to fill at least part of this gap in trying to assess student
mobility to Italy, those young men who covered quite a distance in
both time and space. Although the majority of the students studied
in this book started out like most others by studying at either Louvain
or Cologne, which again testifies to the importance of these institu-
tions, one must conclude that the peregrinatio academica to Italy occu-
pies a special place in the history of student mobility from the
northern Low Countries. For many students in the population the
iter italicum was the beginning of a success story, in which status and
rank, specialization and graduation were key words. This should not
take anything away from the fact that even within this compara-
tively successful group many young men remain unknown to us.
Though our knowledge of students in the population will continue
to increase with time, we should not close our eyes to the possibi-
lity that Gossowinus de Holandia, student of medicine at Padua in
1431, will probably forever remain anonymous. The limitations of
historical research often do not allow us to do justice to those who
have gone before us. Although many of them of necessity go unmen-
tioned in these pages, the iter italicum was only ever a real cultural
phenomenon in its dramatis personae. A next—difficult, maybe even
impossible—assignment would be to capture their minds as well as
their movements, their gaity and grief as well as their graduations,
their failures as well as their fame. The peregrinatio academica to Italy
certainly was alive with expectations, some of which did definitely
380 chapter six
come true. Perhaps our last thoughts should go to those who were
not able to see their expectations fulfilled. This could take us to a
corner beside the main entrance of St Nicolas’ Church in the city
of Bologna, where the law student IJsbrand van der Werve of Leiden—
already magister artium and proctor of the German Nation, a man of
promise—was buried in 1466 after he died of an epidemic disease.
Only half the sum he had paid upon matriculation with the German
Nation of the Alma Mater Bononiensis was laid down by the Nation
for his funeral service.58
58
(“Isbrandus Werf Leidensis epidemie morbo infectus mortem obivit sepultus in
ecclesia S. Nicholai, que contigua est vie publice ac monasterio S. Felicis, iuxta
fores maiores supradicte pariochialis ecclesie in angulo, que vie publice proximior
est.”); Acta, 205, 37; 210, 29; 211, 7; 211, 27.
APPENDIX
ADDITIONAL TABLES AND GRAPHS
Chapter 2: Dutch Students and Italian Universities (1426–1575):

Their Curriculum Studiosorum
Law % Med. % Arts % Theo. % Unkn. % Tot. =

100%
1426–50 12 63.2 5 26.3 0 0.0 1 5.3 1 5.3 19

1451–75 23 65.7 9 25.7 1 2.9 0 0.0 2 5.7 35
1476–00 50 83.3 9 15.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 1.7 60
1501–25 31 75.6 10 24.4 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 41
1526–50 11 30.6 24 66.7 0 0.0 1 2.8 0 0.0 36
1551–75 17 56.7 13 43.3 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 30
Total 144 65.2 70 31.7 1 0.5 2 0.9 4 1.8 221
Table A2.3.1. Choice of faculty at the University of Bologna (1426–1575) in 25-year periods
(% in italics).

100%
1426–50 20 30.8 34 52.3 1 1.5 1 1.5 9 13.8 65

1451–75 18 30.0 23 38.3 1 1.7 1 1.7 18 30.0 60
1476–00 6 50.0 4 33.3 0 0.0 0 0.0 2 16.7 12
1501–25 2 50.0 1 25.0 1 25.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 4
1526–50 9 60.0 3 20.0 0 0.0 1 6.7 2 13.3 15
1551–75 62 70.5 25 28.4 0 0.0 0 0.0 2 2.3 88
Total 117 48.1 90 37.0 3 1.2 3 1.2 33 13.6 243
Table A2.3.2. Choice of faculty at the University of Padua (1426–1575) in 25-year periods
(% in italics).
382 appendix

100%
1426–50 4 22.2 13 72.2 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 5.6 18

1451–75 18 25.4 34 47.9 2 2.8 1 1.4 16 22.5 71
1476–00 8 25.8 15 48.4 0 0.0 0 0.0 8 25.8 31
1501–25 3 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 3
1526–50 7 50.0 5 35.7 0 0.0 0 0.0 2 14.3 14
1551–75 12 80.0 3 20.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 15
Total 52 34.2 70 46.1 2 1.3 1 0.7 27 17.8 152
Table A2.3.3. Choice of faculty at the University of Ferrara (1426–1575) in 25-year periods
(% in italics).
DUI LUI DICan LICan DICiv LICiv DM DT Total Total Total

Per Deg Pop
1426–50 1 0 2 2 0 0 4 1 10 13 19
1451–75 4 0 7 1 1 1 0 0 14 20 35
1476–00 5 0 6 0 7 2 5 0 25 31 60
1501–25 3 1 1 1 3 0 7 0 16 28 41
1526–50 5 0 0 0 0 0 21 1 27 30 36
1551–75 11 0 1 0 0 1 12 0 25 29 30
Total Cat 29 1 17 4 11 4 49 2 117 151 221
% % % % % % % % % % %
1426–50 5.3 0.0 10.5 10.5 0.0 0.0 21.1 5.3 52.6 68.4 100
1451–75 11.4 0.0 20.0 2.9 2.9 2.9 0.0 0.0 40.0 57.1 100
1476–00 8.3 0.0 10.0 0.0 11.7 3.3 8.3 0.0 41.7 51.7 100
1501–25 7.3 2.4 2.4 2.4 7.3 0.0 17.1 0.0 39.0 68.3 100
1526–50 13.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 58.3 2.8 75.0 83.3 100
1551–75 36.7 0.0 3.3 0.0 0.0 3.3 40.0 0.0 83.3 96.7 100
Total Cat 13.1 0.5 7.7 1.8 5.0 1.8 22.2 0.9 52.9 68.3 100
Table A2.4.1. Graduations of students from the Northern Netherlands at the University of
Bologna in 25-year periods in absolute numbers and percentages (in italics).1
1
Tot1 gives the graduations at the University of Bologna; Tot2 gives the num-
ber of students who attended Bologna and eventually obtained a degree, not nec-
essarily at Bologna; Tot3 gives the total numbers of students from the Northern
Netherlands attending the University of Bologna.
DUI LUI DI Can LI Can DI Civ LI Civ DM M/LA DT Tot1 Tot2 Tot3
1426–50 0 0 5 2 1 0 15 0 0 24 37 65
1451–75 0 0 3 1 0 0 9 0 1 14 25 60
1476–00 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 7 12
1501–25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 4
1526–50 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 12 14
1551–75 5 0 0 0 0 0 7 1 0 13 41 88
Total Cat 7 0 8 3 1 0 34 2 1 57 125 243
% % % % % % % % % % % %
1426–50 0.0 0.0 7.7 3.1 1.5 0.0 23.1 0.0 0.0 36.9 56.9 100
1451–75 0.0 0.0 5.0 1.7 0.0 0.0 15.0 0.0 1.7 23.3 41.7 100
1476–00 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 16.7 0.0 0.0 16.7 58.3 100
1501–25 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 25.0 0.0 25.0 75.0 100
1526–50 14.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.1 0.0 0.0 21.4 85.7 100
1551–75 5.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.0 1.1 0.0 14.8 46.6 100
Total Cat 2.9 0.0 3.3 1.2 0.4 0.0 14.0 0.8 0.4 23.5 51.4 100
additional tables and graphs
Table A2.4.2. Graduations of students from the Northern Netherlands at the University of Padua in 25-year periods in absolute numbers and
percentages (in italics).
383
DUI LUI DICan LICan DICiv LICiv DM M/LA DT Tot1 Tot2 Tot3
384
1426–50 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 2 0 10 11 18
1451–75 0 0 4 1 3 1 23 1 1 34 39 68
1476–00 1 0 5 0 3 0 16 0 0 25 25 32
1501–25 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 3
1526–50 5 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 8 12 14
1551–75 14 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 17 17 17
Total Cat 20 0 9 1 8 1 53 3 1 96 106 152
% % % % % % % % % % % %
1426–50 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 44.4 11.1 0.0 55.6 61.1 100
1451–75 0.0 0.0 5.9 1.5 4.4 1.5 33.8 1.5 1.5 50.0 57.4 100
1476–00 3.1 0.0 15.6 0.0 9.4 0.0 50.0 0.0 0.0 78.1 78.1 100
appendix
1501–25 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 66.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 66.7 66.7 100
1526–50 35.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 21.4 0.0 0.0 57.1 85.7 100
1551–75 82.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 17.6 0.0 0.0 100.0 100.0 100
Total Cat 13.2 0.0 5.9 0.7 5.3 0.7 34.9 2.0 0.7 63.2 69.7 100
Table A2.4.3. Graduations of students from the Northern Netherlands at the University of Ferrara in 25-year periods in absolute numbers
and percentages (in italics).
additional tables and graphs 385
Chapter Three: Geographical Origin
Law Medicine Oth/Unkn. T. Reg. Deg.Law Deg.Med. Deg.Tot.
Holland 127 127 35 289 67 104 172

Zeeland 26 28 8 62 16 20 36
Utrecht 34 12 12 58 22 10 35
Guelders 21 14 15 50 13 12 27
Overijssel 28 7 8 43 16 4 21
Friesland 45 10 9 64 26 9 34
Groningen 40 10 4 54 28 8 36
Unknown 6 6 8 20 4 5 11
Total Cat 327 214 99 640 192 172 373
Cum%TL Cum%TM Cum%TO Cum%TR Cum%DL Cum%DM Cum%DT
Holland 38.8 59.3 35.4 45.2 34.9 60.5 46.1

Zeeland 8.0 13.1 8.1 9.7 8.3 11.6 9.7
Utrecht 10.4 5.6 12.1 9.1 11.5 5.8 9.4
Guelders 6.4 6.5 15.2 7.8 6.8 7.0 7.2
Overijssel 8.6 3.3 8.1 6.7 8.3 2.3 5.6
Friesland 13.8 4.7 9.1 10.0 13.5 5.2 9.4
Groningen 12.2 4.7 4.0 8.4 14.6 4.7 9.7
Unknown 1.8 2.8 8.1 3.1 2.1 2.9 2.9
Total Cat 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
L%Reg M%Reg O/U%Reg Tot.Reg. DL%TDR DM%TDR TDReg.
Holland 43.9 43.9 12.1 100 39.0 60.5 100

Zeeland 41.9 45.2 12.9 100 44.4 55.6 100
Utrecht 58.6 20.7 20.7 100 62.9 28.6 100
Guelders 42.0 28.0 30.0 100 48.1 44.4 100
Overijssel 65.1 16.3 18.6 100 76.2 19.0 100
Friesland 70.3 15.6 14.1 100 74.3 25.7 100
Groningen 74.1 18.5 7.4 100 77.8 22.2 100
Unknown 30.0 30.0 40.0 100 36.4 45.5 100
Total Cat 51.1 33.4 15.5 100 51.3 46.2 100
Table A3.1.1. Survey table of choice of faculty and degrees in higher faculties obtained according to region
in absolute numbers; in cumulative percentages; in percentages of the regional total.
386 appendix
Holland
Law Medicine Oth/Unkn. Tot. period TotalLaw TotalMed
1426–50 11 30 5 46 33 47
1451–75 30 36 18 85 51 53
1476–1500 17 18 6 42 60 26
1501–25 11 9 2 22 44 16
1526–50 15 16 2 33 35 31
1551–75 43 18 0 61 104 41
Total 127 127 35 289 327 214
Percent. % % % % Hol%TLaw H%TMed
1426–50 23.9 65.2 10.9 100 33.3 63.8

1451–75 35.3 42.4 21.2 100 58.8 67.9
1476–1500 40.5 42.9 14.3 100 28.3 69.2
1501–25 50.0 40.9 9.1 100 25.0 56.3
1526–50 45.5 48.5 6.1 100 42.9 51.6
1551–75 70.5 29.5 0.0 100 41.3 43.9
Total 43.9 43.9 12.1 100 38.8 59.3
Table A3.1.2. Choice of faculty in absolute numbers and percentages.
Amsterdam 34 Alphen 1
Leiden 33 Blokker 1
Haarlem 23 Bommel 1
Dordrecht 22 De Lier 1
The Hague 21 Egmond 1
Delft 18 Everdingen 1
Gouda 16 Geertruidenberg 1
Alkmaar 10 Geervliet 1
Brill 10 Gorinchem 1
Hoorn 10 Heemskerk 1
Rotterdam 9 Heukelum 1
Beverwijk 4 Huisduinen 1
Naarden 4 Jisp 1
Medemblik 3 Kalslagen 1
Schiedam 3 Kenenburg 1
Heusden 3 Laren 1
Bergen 2 Meerkerk 1
Edam 2 Monnikendam 1
Nieuwland 2 Muiden 1
Noordwijk 2 Oudeniedorp 1
Weesp 2 Portegaal 1
Wieringen 2 Purmerend 1
Zevenbergen 2 Ridderkerk 1
Rijnsburg 1
Rijswijk 1
Sassenheim 1
Schellinkhout 1
Schoonhoven 1
Steenbergen 1
Valkenburg 1
Vianen 1
Woerden 1
Zevender 1
Table A3.1.3. Towns and villages mentioned with their number of students.
Zeeland
1426–50 1 6 0 7 33 47
1451–75 7 12 7 26 51 53
1476–1500 4 4 1 9 60 26
1501–25 0 2 0 2 44 16
1526–50 3 1 0 4 35 31
1551–75 11 3 0 14 104 41
Total 26 28 8 62 327 214

% % % % Z%TLaw Z%TMed
1426–50 14.3 85.7 0.0 100 3.0 12.8

1451–75 26.9 46.2 26.9 100 13.7 22.6
1476–1500 44.4 44.4 11.1 100 6.7 15.4
1501–25 0.0 100.0 0.0 100 0.0 12.5
1526–50 75.0 25.0 0.0 100 8.6 3.2
1551–75 78.6 21.4 0.0 100 10.6 7.3
Total 41.9 45.2 12.9 100 8.0 13.1
Table A3.1.4. Choice of faculty in absolute numbers and in percentages.

388 appendix
Zierikzee 13 Emelisse 1
Middelburg 12 Goedereede2 1
Goes 6 Hulst 1
Borssele 4 Kortgene 1
Reimerswaal 3 Nisse 1
Veere 3 Poortvliet 1
Kapelle 2 Renesse 1
Baersdorp 1 Sluis3 1
Dreischor 1 Tholen 1
Yerseke 1
Table A3.1.5. Cities, towns and villages mentioned with their number of students.
Utrecht
1426–50 3 1 1 5 33 47
1451–75 2 1 2 5 51 53
1476–1500 12 1 5 18 60 26
1501–25 2 2 1 5 44 16
1526–50 2 3 0 5 35 31
1551–75 13 4 3 20 104 41
Total 34 12 12 58 327 214
% % % % U%TLaw U%TMed
1426–50 60.0 20.0 20.0 100 9.1 2.1

1451–75 40.0 20.0 40.0 100 3.9 1.9
1476–1500 66.7 5.6 27.8 100 20.0 3.8
1501–25 40.0 40.0 20.0 100 4.5 12.5
1526–50 40.0 60.0 0.0 100 5.7 9.7
1551–75 65.0 20.0 15.0 100 12.5 9.8
Total 58.6 20.7 20.7 100 10.4 5.6
Table A3.1.6. Choice of faculty in absolute numbers and as percentages.
2
Goedereede could also be counted among the county Holland.
3
In the fifteenth century, Sluis was still part of the county Flanders. Not until
the 1520s was it considered to be a part of Zeeland.
Utrecht 48
Amersfoort 7
Rhenen 2
Montfoort 1
Table A3.1.7. Cities towns and villages mentioned with their number of students.
Guelders
1426–50 4 4 2 10 33 47
1451–75 2 1 1 4 51 53
1476–1500 2 1 0 3 60 26
1501–25 3 0 0 3 44 16
1526–50 2 4 1 7 35 31
1551–75 8 4 11 23 104 41
Total 21 14 15 50 327 214
% % % % G%TLaw G%TMed
1426–50 40.0 40.0 20.0 100 12.1 8.5

1451–75 50.0 25.0 25.0 100 3.9 1.9
1476–1500 66.7 33.3 0.0 100 3.3 3.8
1501–25 100.0 0.0 0.0 100 6.8 0.0
1526–50 28.6 57.1 14.3 100 5.7 12.9
1551–75 34.8 17.4 47.8 100 7.7 9.8
Total 42.0 28.0 30.0 100 6.4 6.5

390 appendix
Nijmegen 12 Echteld 1
Arnhem 8 Elst 1
Tiel 3 Grave 1
Doesburg 2 Horst 1
Hattum 2 Oldenzaal 1
Sittard 2 Ommeren 1
’s Heerenberg 1 Rijswijk 1
Beusichem 1 Roermond 1
Brakel 1 St. Hubert 1
Delden 1 Venlo 1
Driel 1 Zevenaar 1
Duiven 1 Zutphen 1
Table A3.1.9. Cities, towns and villages mentioned and their number of students.
Overijssel
1426–50 7 4 3 14 33 47
1451–75 5 1 1 7 51 53
1476–1500 10 0 0 10 60 26
1501–25 3 0 0 3 44 16
1526–50 0 0 1 1 35 31
1551–75 3 2 3 8 104 41
Total 28 7 8 43 327 214
% % % % O%TLaw O%TMed
1426–50 50.0 28.6 21.4 100 21.2 8.5

1451–75 71.4 14.3 14.3 100 9.8 1.9
1476–1500 100.0 0.0 0.0 100 16.7 0.0
1501–25 100.0 0.0 0.0 100 6.8 0.0
1526–50 0.0 0.0 100.0 100 0.0 0.0
1551–75 37.5 25.0 37.5 100 2.9 4.9
Total 65.1 16.3 18.6 100 8.6 3.3
Table A3.1.10. Choice of faculty in absolute number and percentages.

Kampen 16 Almelo 1
Deventer 14 Hasselt 1
Zwolle 4 Ittersum 1
Steenwijk 2 Meer 1
Vollenhove 2
Friesland
1426–50 3 1 0 4 33 47
1451–75 2 1 1 4 51 53
1476–1500 0 0 1 1 60 26
1501–25 16 2 0 18 44 16
1526–50 7 2 1 10 35 31
1551–75 17 4 6 27 104 41
Total 45 10 9 64 327 214
% % % % F%TLaw F%TMed
1426–50 75.0 25.0 0.0 100 9.1 2.1

1451–75 50.0 25.0 25.0 100 3.9 1.9
1476–1500 0.0 0.0 100.0 100 0.0 0.0
1501–25 88.9 11.1 0.0 100 36.4 12.5
1526–50 70.0 20.0 10.0 100 20.0 6.5
1551–75 63.0 14.8 22.2 100 16.3 9.8
Total 70.3 15.6 14.1 100 13.8 4.7
Leeuwarden 13 Elahuizen 1
Sneek 4 Ferwerd 1
Bolsward 3 Hindeloopen 1
Dokkum 3 Kollum 1
Franeker 3 Lemmer 1
Dornum 2 Mantgum 1
Workum 2 Mirdum 1
Augustinusga 1 Staveren 1
Barrahuis 1 Wonseradeel 1
392 appendix
Groningen
1426–50 4 0 1 5 33 47
1451–75 2 1 2 5 51 53
1476–1500 12 2 1 15 60 26
1501–25 8 1 0 9 44 16
1526–50 5 1 0 6 35 31
1551–75 9 5 0 14 104 41
Total 40 10 4 54 327 214
% % % % Gr%TLaw Gr%TMed
1426–50 80.0 0.0 20.0 100 12.1 0.0

1451–75 40.0 20.0 40.0 100 3.9 1.9
1476–1500 80.0 13.3 6.7 100 20.0 7.7
1501–25 88.9 11.1 0.0 100 18.2 6.3
1526–50 83.3 16.7 0.0 100 14.3 3.2
1551–75 64.3 35.7 0.0 100 8.7 12.2
Total 74.1 18.5 7.4 100 12.2 4.7
Groningen 43
Emden 2
Aduard 1
Baflo 1
Coevorden(Dr) 1
Eelderwolde 1
Grimersum 1
Leermens 1
Mensingeweer 1
Bologna
Holland Zeeland Utrecht Guelders Overijssel Friesland Groningen Unknown TotalPer
1426–50 5 2 3 2 4 1 1 0 18
1451–75 19 6 3 3 2 0 0 1 34
1476–1500 19 4 11 3 10 0 11 2 60
1501–25 11 1 2 3 2 16 5 1 41
1526–50 19 0 2 5 0 3 3 4 36
1551–75 13 4 3 2 2 2 4 1 31
Total Reg 86 17 24 18 20 22 24 9 220
% % % % % % % % %
Region Holland Zeeland Utrecht Guelders Overijssel Friesland Groningen Unknown TotalPer
1426–50 27.8 11.1 16.7 11.1 22.2 5.6 5.6 0.0 100
1451–75 55.9 17.6 8.8 8.8 5.9 0.0 0.0 2.9 100
1476–1500 31.7 6.7 18.3 5.0 16.7 0.0 18.3 3.3 100
1501–25 26.8 2.4 4.9 7.3 4.9 39.0 12.2 2.4 100
1526–50 52.8 0.0 5.6 13.9 0.0 8.3 8.3 11.1 100
1551–75 41.9 12.9 9.7 6.5 6.5 6.5 12.9 3.2 100
Total Reg 39.1 7.7 10.9 8.2 9.1 10.0 10.9 4.1 100
Table A3.1.16. Attendance at the University of Bologna according to region; in absolute numbers and percentages.
393
Padua
394
1426–50 35 4 2 8 11 2 3 0 65
1451–75 44 9 2 1 0 0 2 2 60
1476–1500 8 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 12
1501–25 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4
1526–50 8 2 0 1 0 3 0 0 14
1551–75 39 10 10 6 2 14 7 0 88
Total Reg 137 28 15 16 14 19 12 2 243
% % % % % % % % %
appendix
1426–50 53.8 6.2 3.1 12.3 16.9 3.1 4.6 0.0 100
1451–75 73.3 15.0 3.3 1.7 0.0 0.0 3.3 3.3 100
1476–1500 66.7 25.0 8.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100
1501–25 75.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 25.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100
1526–50 57.1 14.3 0.0 7.1 0.0 21.4 0.0 0.0 100
1551–75 44.3 11.4 11.4 6.8 2.3 15.9 8.0 0.0 100
Total Reg 56.4 11.5 6.2 6.6 5.8 7.8 4.9 0.8 100
Table A3.1.17. Attendance at the University of Padua according to region; in absolute numbers and percentages.
Ferrara
1426–50 13 1 0 0 4 0 1 1 20
1451–75 40 11 1 1 5 3 4 4 69
1476–1500 19 5 1 0 0 1 6 0 32
1501–25 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2
1526–50 5 1 2 0 1 3 2 0 14
1551–75 3 2 4 1 0 2 3 0 15
Total Reg 80 20 8 2 10 10 17 5 152
% % % % % % % % %
1426–50 65.0 5.0 0.0 0.0 20.0 0.0 5.0 5.0 100
1451–75 58.0 15.9 1.4 1.4 7.2 4.3 5.8 5.8 100
1476–1500 59.4 15.6 3.1 0.0 0.0 3.1 18.8 0.0 100
1501–25 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 50.0 50.0 0.0 100
1526–50 35.7 7.1 14.3 0.0 7.1 21.4 14.3 0.0 100
1551–75 20.0 13.3 26.7 6.7 0.0 13.3 20.0 0.0 100
Total Reg 52.6 13.2 5.3 1.3 6.6 6.6 11.2 3.3 100
Table A3.1.18. Attendance at the University of Ferrara according to region; in absolute numbers and percentages.
395
Chapter Four: Social Background
396
Holland Zeeland Utrecht Gelre Overijssel Friesland Groningen Unknown Total
nobilis 26 4 8 7 5 15 7 1 73
pauper 34 9 1 3 2 1 8 0 58
dives 229 49 49 40 36 48 39 19 509
Total 289 62 58 50 43 64 54 20 640
n%pop. 4.1 0.6 1.3 1.1 0.8 2.3 1.1 0.2 11.4
p%pop. 5.3 1.4 0.2 0.5 0.3 0.2 1.3 0.0 9.1
d%pop. 35.8 7.7 7.7 6.3 5.6 7.5 6.1 3.0 79.5
R%pop 45.2 9.7 9.1 7.8 6.7 10.0 8.4 3.1 100.0
R%popNN 39.1 12.4 3.4 19.4 7.7 10.9 7.2 0.0
appendix
Holland Zeeland Utrecht Gelre Overijs. Friesl. Groning. Unkn. Total
n%Rpop 9.0 6.5 13.8 14.0 11.6 23.4 13.0 5.0 11.4
p%Rpop 11.8 14.5 1.7 6.0 4.7 1.6 14.8 0.0 9.1
d%Rpop 79.2 79.0 84.5 80.0 83.7 75.0 72.2 95.0 79.5
Holland Zeeland Utrecht Gelre Overijs. Friesl. Groning. Unkn. Total
NR%NTot. 35.6 5.5 11.0 9.6 6.8 20.5 9.6 1.4 100
PR%PTot. 58.6 15.5 1.7 5.2 3.4 1.7 13.8 0.0 100
DR%DTot. 45.0 9.6 9.6 7.9 7.1 9.4 7.7 3.7 100
R%Tot. 45.2 9.7 9.1 7.8 6.7 10.0 8.4 3.1 100
Table A4.1.1. Survey table: Nobiles, Divites and Pauperes in absolute numbers and percentages per region.
Nobiles Holland Zeeland Utrecht Gelre Overijssel Friesland Groningen Unknown Total Nob. Total
1426–50 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 4 93
1451–75 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 6 143
1476–1500 4 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 9 102
1501–25 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 1 5 63
1526–50 3 0 1 1 0 4 4 0 13 72
1551–75 16 2 2 6 1 8 1 0 36 167
Total Reg 26 4 8 7 5 15 7 1 73 640
N.%TP Holland Zeeland Utrecht Gelre Overijssel Friesland Groningen Unknown T.%Nob. Total
1426–50 0.0 0.0 1.1 0.0 3.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.3 100
1451–75 2.1 0.7 1.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.2 100
1476–1500 3.9 0.0 2.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 8.8 100
1501–25 0.0 1.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.8 0.0 1.6 7.9 100
1526–50 4.2 0.0 1.4 1.4 0.0 5.6 5.6 0.0 18.1 100
1551–75 9.6 1.2 1.2 3.6 0.6 4.8 0.6 0.0 21.6 100
Total Reg 4.1 0.6 1.3 1.1 0.8 2.3 1.1 0.2 11.4 100
397
Table A4.1.2. (cont.)
398
N.%PR Holland Zeeland Utrecht Gelre Overijssel Friesland Groningen Unknown Total per.
1426–50 0.0 0.0 20.0 0.0 21.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.3
1451–75 3.5 3.8 40.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.2
1476–1500 9.5 0.0 11.1 0.0 10.0 0.0 13.3 0.0 8.8
1501–25 0.0 50.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 16.7 0.0 100.0 7.9
1526–50 9.1 0.0 20.0 12.5 0.0 40.0 66.7 0.0 18.1
1551–75 26.2 14.3 10.0 27.3 12.5 29.6 7.1 0.0 21.6
Total Reg 9.0 6.5 13.8 14.0 11.6 23.4 13.0 5.0 11.4
Table A4.1.2. Nobiles per region in absolute numbers and percentages of the total population and the regional population in 25-year cohorts.
appendix
Nobiles Law Law% Med. Med% Other/Unkn. Other/Unkn.% Total N.
1426–50 3 75.0 0 0.0 1 25.0 4

1451–75 5 83.3 0 0.0 1 16.7 6
1476–1500 8 88.9 0 0.0 1 11.1 9
1501–25 4 80.0 1 20.0 0 0.0 5
1526–50 12 92.3 1 7.7 0 0.0 13
1551–75 32 88.9 1 2.8 3 8.3 36
Total Fac. 64 87.7 3 4.1 6 8.2 73
Table A4.1.3. Choice of faculty in Italy of noble students in absolute numbers and percentages
in 25-year cohorts.
Nobiles NLaw Law N%TLaw
1426–50 3 33 9.1
1451–75 5 51 9.8
1476–1500 8 60 13.3
1501–25 4 44 9.1
1526–50 12 35 34.3
1551–75 32 104 30.8
Total Fac. 64 327 19.6
Table A4.1.4. Noble students as part of the law faculty compared to their total share
in the population in absolute numbers and percentages in 25-year cohorts.
Pauperes Holland Zeeland Utrecht Gelre Overijssel Friesland Groningen Unknown T Paup. Total
400
1426–50 12 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 15 93
1451–75 15 6 1 0 0 0 3 0 25 143
1476–1500 5 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 9 102
1501–25 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 3 63
1526–50 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 72
1551–75 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 4 167
Total Reg 34 9 1 3 2 1 8 0 58 640
%Tpop Holland Zeeland Utrecht Gelre Overijssel Friesland Groningen Unknown T % Paup. Total
1426–50 12.9 2.2 0.0 1.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 16.1 100
1451–75 10.5 4.2 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.1 0.0 17.5 100
1476–1500 4.9 1.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 8.8 100
appendix
1501–25 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.6 3.2 0.0 4.8 100
1526–50 1.4 0.0 0.0 1.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.8 100
1551–75 0.6 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.6 0.0 0.6 0.0 2.4 100
Total Reg 5.3 1.4 0.2 0.5 0.3 0.2 1.3 0.0 9.1 100
P%Rpop Holland Zeeland Utrecht Gelre Overijssel Friesland Groningen Unknown Total per.
1426–50 26.1 28.6 0.0 10.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 16.1
1451–75 17.6 23.1 20.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 60.0 0.0 17.5
1476–1500 11.9 11.1 0.0 0.0 10.0 0.0 13.3 0.0 8.8
1501–25 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.6 22.2 0.0 4.8
1526–50 3.0 0.0 0.0 12.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.8
1551–75 1.6 0.0 0.0 4.5 12.5 0.0 7.1 0.0 2.4
Total Reg 11.8 14.5 1.7 6.0 4.7 1.6 14.8 0.0 9.1
Table A4.1.5. Pauperes per region in absolute numbers and percentages of the total population and the regional population in 25-year cohorts.
401
402 appendix
Pauperes Law Law% Med. Med.% Other/Unkn. Other/Unkn.% Total P.
1426–50 4 26.7 11 73.3 0 0.0 15

1451–75 7 28.0 12 48.0 6 24.0 25
1476–1500 4 44.4 2 22.2 3 33.3 9
1501–25 3 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 3
1526–50 0 0.0 2 100.0 0 0.0 2
1551–75 2 50.0 1 25.0 1 25.0 4
Total fac. 20 34.5 28 48.3 10 17.2 58
Table A4.1.6. Choice of faculty in Italy of “poor” students in absolute numbers and percentages
in 25-year cohorts.
Pauperes PLaw Law P%Tlaw
1426–50 4 33 12.1
1451–75 7 51 13.7
1476–1500 4 60 6.7
1501–25 3 44 6.8
1526–50 0 35 0.0
1551–75 2 104 1.9
Total Fac. 20 327 6.1

Table A4.1.7. “Poor” students as part of the law faculty compared to their total share
in the population in absolute numbers and percentages in 25-year cohorts.
Divites Law Med. Oth./Unkn. T. Div. Law% Med% Oth./Unkn.%
1426–50 26 36 12 74 35.1 48.6 16.2

1451–75 39 41 32 112 34.8 36.6 28.6
1476–1500 48 24 12 84 57.1 28.6 14.3
1501–25 37 15 3 55 67.3 27.3 5.5
1526–50 23 28 6 57 40.4 49.1 10.5
1551–75 71 39 17 127 55.9 30.7 13.4
Total Fac. 244 183 82 509 47.9 36.0 16.1
Table A4.1.8. Choice of faculty in Italy of divites in absolute numbers and percentages in
25-year cohorts.
Chapter 5: The Student in Society: Careers, Networks and Social Mobility
Nr 1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
Academia 14 21 12 13 19 9 88
Church 25 22 25 23 7 16 118
Health 6 6 3 6 13 19 53
City 4 17 12 12 11 23 79
Region 0 0 1 3 5 16 25
Province 5 6 7 10 7 27 62
States 0 9 3 3 2 15 32
Central 0 0 4 3 5 7 19
Other 0 6 0 6 2 16 30
Total Ind. 41 54 49 49 42 102 337
(%TPop) 1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
Academia 15.1 14.7 11.8 20.6 26.4 5.4 13.8

Church 26.9 15.4 24.5 36.5 9.7 9.6 18.4
Health 6.5 4.2 2.9 9.5 18.1 11.4 8.3
City 4.3 11.9 11.8 19.0 15.3 13.8 12.3
Region 0.0 0.0 1.0 4.8 6.9 9.6 3.9
Province 5.4 4.2 6.9 15.9 9.7 16.2 9.7
States 0.0 6.3 2.9 4.8 2.8 9.0 5.0
Central 0.0 0.0 3.9 4.8 6.9 4.2 3.0
Other 0.0 4.2 0.0 9.5 2.8 9.6 4.7
Total Ind. 44.1 60.8 48.0 77.8 58.3 61.1 52.7
(%TCar) 1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
Academia 34.1 38.9 24.5 26.5 45.2 8.8 26.1

Church 61.0 40.7 51.0 46.9 16.7 15.7 35.0
Health 14.6 11.1 6.1 12.2 31.0 18.6 15.7
City 9.8 31.5 24.5 24.5 26.2 22.5 23.4
Region 0.0 0.0 2.0 6.1 11.9 15.7 7.4
Province 12.2 11.1 14.3 20.4 16.7 26.5 18.4
States 0.0 16.7 6.1 6.1 4.8 14.7 9.5
Central 0.0 0.0 8.2 6.1 11.9 6.9 5.6
Other 0.0 11.1 0.0 12.2 4.8 15.7 8.9
Total Ind. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Table A5.1.1. Career sectors of the population (N), and as percentages of the total population, and of
careers recovered.
404 appendix
(NLaw) 1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
Academia 8 9 6 5 5 1 34
Church 15 12 20 18 6 9 80
Health 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
City 2 12 10 7 5 21 57
Region 0 0 1 2 5 16 24
Province 4 6 7 9 7 25 58
States 0 6 3 2 3 14 28
Central 0 0 4 3 5 7 19
Other 0 2 0 4 1 14 21
Total Ind. 20 26 37 34 22 70 209
(%TPop) 1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
Academia 24.2 17.6 10.0 11.4 14.3 1.0 10.4

Church 45.5 23.5 33.3 40.9 17.1 8.7 24.5
Health 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.9 0.0 0.3
City 6.1 23.5 16.7 15.9 14.3 20.2 17.4
Region 0.0 0.0 1.7 4.5 14.3 15.4 7.3
Province 12.1 11.8 11.7 20.5 20.0 24.0 17.7
States 0.0 11.8 5.0 4.5 8.6 13.5 8.6
Central 0.0 0.0 6.7 6.8 14.3 6.7 5.8
Other 0.0 3.9 0.0 9.1 2.9 13.5 6.4
Total Ind. 60.6 51.0 61.7 77.3 62.9 67.3 63.9
(%TCar) 1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
Academia 40.0 34.6 16.2 14.7 22.7 1.4 16.3

Church 75.0 46.2 54.1 52.9 27.3 12.9 38.3
Health 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.5 0.0 0.5
City 10.0 46.2 27.0 20.6 22.7 30.0 27.3
Region 0.0 0.0 2.7 5.9 22.7 22.9 11.5
Province 20.0 23.1 18.9 26.5 31.8 35.7 27.8
States 0.0 23.1 8.1 5.9 13.6 20.0 13.4
Central 0.0 0.0 10.8 8.8 22.7 10.0 9.1
Other 0.0 7.7 0.0 11.8 4.5 20.0 10.0
Total Ind. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Table A5.1.2. Career sectors of law students (N), and as percentages of the total population, and of careers
recovered.
(NMed) 1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
Academia 6 7 4 6 12 10 45
Church 5 4 2 4 0 1 16
Health 6 5 3 7 13 19 53
City 2 4 2 5 6 2 21
Region 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Province 1 0 0 1 0 0 2
Table A5.1.3. (cont.)
(NMed) 1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
States 0 3 0 1 0 0 4
Central 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Other 0 1 0 1 0 1 3
Total Ind. 15 16 8 13 16 23 91
(%TPop) 1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
Academia 12.8 13.2 15.4 37.5 38.7 24.4 21.0

Church 10.6 7.5 7.7 25.0 0.0 2.4 7.5
Health 12.8 9.4 11.5 43.8 41.9 46.3 24.8
City 4.3 7.5 7.7 31.3 19.4 4.9 9.8
Region 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Province 2.1 0.0 0.0 6.3 0.0 0.0 0.9
States 0.0 5.7 0.0 6.3 0.0 0.0 1.9
Central 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.4 0.5
Other 0.0 1.9 0.0 6.3 0.0 2.4 1.4
Total Ind. 31.9 30.2 30.8 81.3 51.6 56.1 42.5
(%TCar) 1426–50 1451–75 1476–1500 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
Academia 40.0 43.8 50.0 46.2 75.0 43.5 49.5

Church 33.3 25.0 25.0 30.8 0.0 4.3 17.6
Health 40.0 31.3 37.5 53.8 81.3 82.6 58.2
City 13.3 25.0 25.0 38.5 37.5 8.7 23.1
Region 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Province 6.7 0.0 0.0 7.7 0.0 0.0 2.2
States 0.0 18.8 0.0 7.7 0.0 0.0 4.4
Central 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.3 1.1
Other 0.0 6.3 0.0 7.7 0.0 4.3 3.3
Total Ind. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Table A5.1.3. Career sectors of students of medicine(N), and as percentages of the total population, and of
careers recovered.
% 1426–50 1451–75 1476–00 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
lect. artes 13.3 33.3 33.3 50.0 33.3 9.1 30.3

prof. artes 20.0 8.3 33.3 6.3 9.5 18.2 14.1
lect. 6.7 4.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 18.2 4.0
prof. med. 6.7 16.7 8.3 0.0 19.0 36.4 14.1
lect. 26.7 25.0 25.0 25.0 14.3 9.1 21.2
prof. law 26.7 8.3 0.0 12.5 19.0 0.0 12.1
prof. theol. 0.0 4.2 0.0 6.3 4.8 9.1 4.0
Total T. 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Table A5.1.4. Various teaching positions in Academia as percentage of the total number of teaching posi-
tions (N = 99).
406
Church careers Law 1426–50 1451–75 1476–00 1501–25 1526–50 1551–75 Total Cat.
parish 11 10 14 13 2 3 53
canon 10 8 8 6 4 5 41
preapos./(archci)diacon. 3 5 3 3 3 0 17
official/vicaris-generalis 3 2 5 2 2 3 17
bishop 1 0 0 0 0 1 2
curia pap. 4 0 2 1 1 3 11
order 0 1 3 1 1 1 7
abbot/rector 0 1 1 0 2 2 6
court chaplain 1 1 1 0 1 0 4
Total 33 28 37 26 16 18 158
Table A5.1.5. Positions in the Church held by students of law in the population.
appendix
Canonries Can. Dean
Cathedral Utrecht 17 1
St Salvator 9 5
St Mary 6 1
St John 6 1
St Peter 3 2
St Lebuin’s Deventer 5 1
OurLady Breda 3 1
Court of Holland 2 2
St Pancras Leiden 2
St Gudile Brussels 1
St Donaas Bruges 1
St Stephen Nijmegen 2 2
St Bavo Gent 2
St Andrew Keulen 1
St Gereon Keulen 1
St Apostol. Keulen 2
St Mary Luik 1
St Mary Aachen 2
St Servaas Maastr. 1
St Adrian Naaldwijk 1 1
St Salvator Susteren 1
Emmerich 1
St Antony Tournai 1
Roermond 2 1
St Marie Courtrai 1 1
St Mary Kapelle 1
St Cunibert Keulen 1 1
St Amersfoort 1 1
St Martin Surburg 1
Court Chapel Brussels 1 1
St Plechelmus Oldenzaal 2
Bratislava 1
Regular 2
Total 84 22
Table A5.1.6. Canonries held by students in the population.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Consulted Archives and Unedited Sources
Archivio di Stato di Bologna (ASB),

– Archivio dello Studio(AS), nr. 1, Liber examinium (1419–1434)
– AS, Atti del collegio canonico,
Mss. 18–25 (1431–1575)
– AS, Atti del collegio civile,
Mss. 26–44 (1483–1629)
– AS, Libri segreti del collegio canonico (1377–1598),
Mss. 126–130
– Archivio dello Studio (AS), Libri segreti del collegio civile (1378–1580),
Mss. 137–140
Archivio di Stato di Padova (ASP),

– Archivio Notarile (AN)
Ms. 1729 (Allesandro delle Vacche)
Mss. 2335–2342 (Francesco Fabiano)
Mss. 4104–4106 (Francesco Repetto)
Mss. 5006–5007 (Silvestro Rossi)
Archivio Antico dell’Università di Padova (AAUP)

Ms. 144
Mss. 330–332
Archivio della Curia Vescovile di Padova (ACVP)

– Series Diversorum
Mss. 36–55bis
Algemeen Rijksarchief (ARA)
Gemeentearchief Amsterdam (GAAD)
Gemeentearchief Haarlem (GAH)
Gemeentearchief Leiden (GAL)
Gemeentearchief Deventer (GAD)
Regionaal Archief Alkmaar (RAA)
Rijksarchief in de provincie Utrecht (RAU)
Streekarchief Hollands Midden (SAHM)

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INDEX OF PERSONAL NAMES
With the exception of modern authors, persons have been indexed by their Christian names. For
students, standardized, Latin Christian names have been used. Cross-references are used for their
surnames (excluding patronymics).
Aafje de Vroede 287 Ammersoyen, van, see Paulus

Abelius Sivius 264 Ancharano, de, see Petrus
Accursius 111 Andreas Alciatus 72, 77–8, 97, 185,
Adolf van Haemstede 339 353
Adolphus of Frisia 175 Andreas, V. 104
Adrian VI, pope 261, 322, 330, Andreas Vesalius 353
n. 101, 365 Angelo Cato 185
Adriano Borghese 334 Antoine Perrenot, cardinal Granvelle
Adrianus Boeyens, see Adrian VI 298, 332
Adrianus Junius 47, 93, 264, 266, Antonius Buser 136
268, 292, 324, 357, 360–1 Antonius van Cuyck 236, 324
Adrianus of Leiden 229 Aquila, dell’, see Sebastiano
Adrianus Lottini of Leiden 296 Arentsma, see Gisbertus
Adrianus van der Mijle 46, 194, Aristotle 44
247–8, 275, 282–3, 334–6, 341, Arnhem, van, see Carolus
370 Arnoldus Bernardi of Amsterdam
Adrianus van Teylingen 237 116, 137
Adrianus Theodorici of Leiden 273 Arnoldus Boot 134
Adrianus Walteri of Gouda 85 Arnoldus of Dordrecht 353
Aedituus, see Martinus Arnoldus (Cornelii) van der Mijle
Aelius Donatus 34 238, 321, 341, 370
Aemson, see Judocus Assendelft, van, see Bartholdus
Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini 359 Augustinus van Teylingen 26, 237
Aerschot, see Nicolaus Aurelius, see Cornelius
Aert Coebel 334, 342 Aylva, see Valerius
Agatha van Haemstede 339 Aytta, see Viglius ab
Agricola, see Johannes; Rodolphus
Alba, duke of, see Ferdinant Alvarez de Baden, see Frederick of
Toledo Baersdorp, see Cornelius
Albert, duke of Saxony 275 Bakker, de, see Jan
Alberto d’Este, marquis of Ferrara 68 Balduinus van Drenckwaert 333
Albertus Adriani of Delft 28–9 Bartholdus van Assendelft 278, 342
Albertus Johannis of Friesland 133 Bartholomeus van Ethen 77, 236,
Alblas, van, see Cornelia 248, 266, 273, 275, 286, 290, 329
Alciatus, see Andreas Bartholomeus van Wassenaar 31
Aldus Manutius 360 Bartolus of Saxoferrato 111
Alexander Hegius 355, n. 21, 356 Batenborch, van, see Machteld
Alexander de Villa Dei 34 Beek, van, see Suger
Alfardus van Montfoort 47, 56, Behaim, see Friederich
102–3, 234, n. 78, 247, 312, 328–30 Bembo, see Pietro
Allardus Cooltuyn 216, 291, 314, 368 Bentheim, van, see Johannes
Ameronghen, van, see Jacobus Bermar, see Theodoricus
Ameyde, van, see Jacobus Bernard Bucho 37, 331
432 index of personal names
Bernardus ten Broecke (Paludanus) 150, 167, 169, 171, 178–9, 191–2,
195, 361, 364 266, 273, 275, 282–3, 330–2, 344,
Bernardus de Spenio 93 365
Bernardus Wigboldus of Groningen Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy
283 150, 154, 168, 171, 174, n. 56, 275,
Bieselinge, van, see Joachimus 280
Biso Mulaert 45 Christian III, king of Denmark 283
Bladeghen, see Gerardus; Henricus; Christophorus Gaergoet 270
Tielman Clement VII, anti-pope 59
Blotius, see Hugo Clement VII, pope 332
Bodaeus, see Egbertus Cobelius, see Coebel
Boethius 355 Coebel-family, see Aert; Margaretha;
Bogerman, see Johannes Philippus
Boisot, see Carolus Conradus of Haarlem 86, n. 143
Bol, see Jacob Cooltuyn, see Allardus
Boot, see Arnoldus Coradino Gilino 353
Borghese, see Adriano Cordus, see Valerius
Borgo d’Este, marquis of Ferrara 63, Cornelia van Alblas 321
69 Cornelius Andree of Sittard 47
Borre, see Theodoricus Cornelius Aurelius 357, 360
Borsselen, van, see Maximilianus Cornelius Baersdorp 266
Bouchorst, van der, see Cornelius Cornelius van der Bouchorst 320,
Brederode-family, see Gisbertus; 335
Reinout III; Reinout; Robertus Cornelius van Drenckwaert 236,
Broecke, ten, see Bernardus 333–4
Bronchorst, van, see Petrus Cornelius Egmond van der Nijenburch
Bruyn, see Johannes 334
Bucho van Montzima 333, n. 104 Cornelius Florentii of Goes 192, 233,
Burckhardt, J. 13 n. 75, 354, n. 19
Burgundy, dukes of 150, 171, 193, Cornelius Haeck 368
272, 277, 374, 376; also see Charles Cornelius van der Hoech 317, 335,
the Bold; Philip the Good n. 110
Burke, P. 13, 353 Cornelius Jacobi of Reimerswaal 281
Burmania, family 215; see Kempo; Cornelius Junius 215, 334
Renichus Cornelius (Cornelii) Junius 215
Buser, see Antonius Cornelius van Mierop 36–7, 111,
Busleyden, see Jerome 225–6, 305, 330, n. 101, 331, 344,
364–5
Caesar Porquin 338–9, 345 Cornelius (Adriani) van der Mijle
Callixt III, pope 103 336
Canisius, see Petrus Cornelius (Arnoldi) van der Mijle 46,
Canter, family 215; see Jacobus; 194, 370
Johannes Cornelius Petri of Leiden 155
Capitibus Listae, de, see Franciscus Cornelius of Reimerswaal 231
Capo di Lista, see Capitibus Listae Cornelius Theodorici of Dordrecht
Carolus van Arnhem 275 337
Carolus Boisot 332 Cornelius van Veen 289, 340,
Caspar Stephani of Arnhem 290 366
Catharina van Drenckwaert 334 Cornelius van der Veer 281
Catharina van Hoogelande 333 Cosimo de Medici, duke of Florence,
Cato, see Angelo grand duke of Tuscany 75, 79
Charles IV, emperor 66, n. 95, 73 Coster, see Martinus Aedituus
Charles V, emperor 37, 61, 111, Coyter, see Volcardus
index of personal names 433
Cuyck, van, see Antonius; Johannes; Franciscus de Capitibus Listae 231

Valerius Franciscus Zabarella 111
Cyprian, Venetian landlord 49 François van Valckesteyn 334–5
Frederick II, king of Denmark 292
Damant, see Pierre Frederick III, count palatine of the
David of Burgundy, bishop of Utrecht Rhine 336
168, 275–6, 285, 287, 305, 311, Frederick of Baden, bishop of Utrecht
327, 329, 355 276
Diepholt, van, see Johannes; Friederich Behaim 49
Rodolphus Frijhoff, W.Th.M. 2–3, 4
Dirk, see also under Theodoricus Froben, see Johannes
Dirk Egmond van der Nijenburch
335, n. 110 Galeazzo II Visconti, ruler of Milan
Dominicus Tettema 105–6, 283, 321, 77
364 Gansfort, see Wessel
Dornum, van, see Henricus Geertruyt van Neck 289
Drenckwaert, van, see Balduinus; Gelmers, family 237; see Theodoricus
Catharina; Cornelius Georgius Nicolai Everardi 252
Duyn, van der, see Reinerus; Georgius Stephani de Everdingen
Wilhelmus 94–5
Georgius van Theemseke 281, 282
Eelts, see Johannes Georgius Wagner 108, 118
Egbertus Bodaeus 116 Georgius Wilhelmi of Noordwijk 314,
Egidius van Wissekerke 275 353
Egmond van der Nijenburch, see Gerardus (van) Bentheim 174, 340
Cornelius; Dirk; Magdalena; Maria Gerardus van Bladeghen 216
Erasmus 36, 47, 70, 81, 86, 216, Gerardus Heyle 70, 92, 216, 220
220, 232, 284, 322, 331, 353–54, Gerardus van Langerack 288
356–60, 362, 365–6, 368 Gerardus Listrius 283, 356–7
Ercole d’Este, duke of Ferrara 71, Gerardus Mulert 331
233 Gerardus van der Mye 281
Eric XIV, king of Sweden 266 Gerardus Nodianus 233
Este family, marquises and dukes of Gerardus Suggerode 259, 305, 322,
Ferrara 71; see Alberto; Borgo, 330
Ercole Gerardus de Turri 328, 330
Esthius, see Lubertus Gerardus Weghe 231
Ethen, family van, see Bartholomeus; Gerardus Wouman 268, 286, n. 46
Nicolaus; Reinerus Gerrit van Valckesteyn 334
Everardus Hubbeldinck 355 Gilino, see Coradino
Ewijck, van, see Gisbertus Gisbertus Arentsma 234, 333
Gisbertus of Brederode, bishop-elect
Federico da Montefeltro, duke of of Utrecht 47, 103, 167, 285,
Urbino 261 329
Ferdinand I, emperor 266, 283, 332 Gisbertus van Ewijck 132
Ferdinand Alvarez de Toledo, duke of Gisbertus Horstius 47
Alba 158, 335–6, 369–70 Gisbertus Longolius 251, 268, 288
Folquinus Horst 135 Godefridus Pannekoeck 35, 191
Foreest, van, family 36, 237, 324–5, Godefridus Steegh 266, 283
337; also see Jacobus; Jorden; Petrus; Gossowinus de Hollandia 38
Theodorus Goude, van der, see Wilhelmus
Forestus, see Foreest Granvelle, see Antoine Perrenot
Francesco I, grand duke of Tuscany Gregory XIII, pope 80, 369
76 Grundmann, H. 7, 197–8
Gryp, see Nicolaus Hütten, von, see Ludwig

Guarino Guarini of Verona 70 Huusman, see Henricus; Rodolphus
Agricola
Habsburg-family 114, 150, 171, 272, Huygh, see Jacobus
374, 376; also see Charles V; Huynge, family 237; also see Theso
Ferdinant I; Maximilian I;
Maximilian II; Philip the Fair; Ignatius of Loyola 80
Philip II; Rudolph II IJsbrandus van der Werve 127,
Hadrianus Junius, see Adrianus 380
Haeck, see Cornelius
Haemstede, van, see Adolf; Agatha Jacob Bol 335
Hargen, van, see Splinter Jacob Muys 335
Hans Jörg Hermann 332 Jacob Volkertz 37
Hector van Hoxwier 78, 272, 275, Jacobus van Ameronghen 262
332, 353 Jacobus van Ameyde 354, n. 19
Hegherdoer, de, see Martinus Jacobus Canter 354, 357
Hegius, see Alexander Jacobus Coppier 341
Hekeren, van, see Theodoricus Jacobus van Foreest 325
Henricus van Bladeghen 75, 216 Jacobus Hobbe 341
Henricus Brouwer 216 Jacobus Hugonis of Haarlem 63
Henricus of Deventer 172 Jacobus Huygh 228
Henricus van Dornum 276 Jacobus Piin 236
Henricus of Echteld 189 Jacobus du Quesnoy 334, n. 106
Henricus Huusman 322 Jacobus Ruysch 287
Henricus of Kampen 233 Jacobus ( Jacobi) Ruysch 46, 151,
Henricus Meyster 318 225, 275, 287, 297–8, 316, 328,
Henricus ex Palude 354, n. 19 330, 342, 344, 364
Henricus Phippen 232 Jacobus Schellinkhout 146
Hermann, see Hans Jörg; Jörg Jacobus Theodorici of Medemblik
Hermannus of Frisia 230 235
Hermannus Jacobi of Eelderwolde Jacobus Wilhelmi of The Hague 278,
79 337, 340
Hermannus Knuyt van Slyterhoven Jacqueline of Bavaria 150
358–9 James I, king of England 321
Hermannus van Lockhorst 220, 322, Jan de Bakker 367
365 Jan van Scorel 365
Heurnius, see Johannes Jarges, family, 237
Heyle, see Gerardus Jason Pratensis 338, n. 115
Heyman Ruysch 287, 330 Jasper van Hoogelande 134, 333
Hieronymus Lauwerijnz 232 Jean of Montfoort 295
Hoech, van der, see Cornelius Jerome Busleyden 357
Hogerbeets, (van), see Petrus Joachimus van Bieselinge 266
Hoogelande, van, see Catharina; Jasper; Johannes Agricola 217, 221
Johannes Johannes Alberti of Delft 281
Horst, see Folquinus Johannes Bentheim 265
Horstius, see Gisbertus Johannes Bogerman 221, 232, 309,
Houdaen, van, see Johannes 318
Hoxwier, van, see Hector Johannes van Breda 356
Hubbeldinck, see Everardus Johannes Bruyn 83
Hubertus Luetanus 121 Johannes Canter 185
Hubertus van Rossum 220, 276 Johannes Coster 216
Hugo Adriani of Dordrecht 216 Johannes van Cuyck 324
Hugo Petri of Goedereede 231 Johannes David 168, 204, 260
Hugo Blotius 35, 48, 232, 283 Johannes of Deventer 172
Johannes van Diepholt 204, 220, 230, Kempo van Burmania 126–7
260, 298, 328, 355–6 Knuyt van Slyterhoven, see Hermannus
Johannes Dodonis of Rotterdam 73 Kristeller, P.O. 350
Johannes Eelts 234 Kuhn, W. 299
Johannes Florentii of Alkmaar 309
Johannes Froben 283 Laen, van der, see Nicolaus
Johannes van Groesbeek 170, n. 47 Lambertus Vrijlinck 354, n. 19,
Johannes Heurnius 266, 361 355, 357
Johannes van Hoogelande 134, 138, Langerack, see Gisbertus Longolius;
236, 333, 364 Gerardus
Johannes van Houdaen 226, 261, Lannoy, Philip 1, n. 1
367 Lemnius, see Livinus; Wilhelmus
Johannes Jacobi of Schiedam 329 Leoncino, see Nicolò
Johannes of Leiden 232 Lindanus, see Theodorus
Johannes Maii 90 Lipsius, Justus 1–2
Johannes (van) Mepsche 237, 276, Listrius, see Gerardus
321, 333 Livinus Lemnius 37, 216, 326, 338,
Johannes Montanus 120–1 360–1
Johannes Murmellius 36, 355 Lockhorst, van, see Hermannus;
Johannes van Nieuwland 276 Wilhelmus
Johannes van Nuwenstein 170, n. 47 Lodovico Porquin 220, 338–9
Johannes van Oldenbarnevelt 48, 87, Longolius, see Gibertus
123, 136, 238, 272, 278, 295–6, Lorenzo de Medici, ruler of Florence
321, 336–7, 342, 344, 361–2, 366, 78–9
371 Loyola, see Ignatius of
Johannes Petri of Reimerswaal 135 Lubertus Esthius 319
Johannes Pollaert 275, 298, 328 Lucas Ritzardi 121, 368
Johannes Redanus 93 Ludolphus Nicolai of Hoorn 47,
Johannes Reineri 329 102–3, 285, 311, 329–30
Johannes van Renesse 328 Ludolphus van Veen 275, 276, 278,
Johannes Sixtinus 223 328, 330, 344, 355, 364
Johannes Snavel 102, 358 Ludwig von Hütten 35, 48
Johannes van Speulde 275, 282 Luetanus, see Hubertus
Johannes van Uterwijk 330 Luschin von Ebengreuth, A. 11
Johannes van Veen 289 Luther, see Martin
Johannes Vighe 188
Johannes Vos 257, 343 Maarten van Rossum 220
Johannes Vredewolt 77, 90, 288 Machteld van Batenborch 288
Johannes ( Johannis) Vredewolt 77, Magdalena Egmond van der
90, 236, 287–8, 354, n. 19 Nijenburch 334
Johannes van Wachtendorp 232 Mainardus of Leeuwarden 137
John III, king of Sweden 266 Mainardus Theodorici of
John III, duke of Brabant 289 Huisduinen 137
Jonge, de, see Junius Manutius, see Aldus
Joos de Menijn 336–7 Margaret of Parma 370
Jorden van Foreest 325 Margaret of York 337
Jörg Hermann 332 Margaretha Coebel 334
Judocus Aemson 276, 295 Maria Egmond van der
Julius Caesar 359 Nijenburch 334
Julius II, pope 80 Maria van Oldenbarnevelt 336
Junius, see Adrianus; Cornelius; Maria Ruysch 225, 287, 330
Cornelius (Cornelii); Petrus Martin Luther 367
Justus Lipsius 1–2, 362 Martinus Aedituus 93, 216, 265,
Justus Velsius 93, 251, 368 317, 364
Martinus de Hegherdoer 103, 187, Nicolaus Nicolai Everardi (of

251 Amsterdam) 252, 357
Martinus of Zierikzee 82 Nicolaus Nicolai Everardi (of
Mary of Burgundy 154 Middelburg) 331
Mary of Hungary, regent of the Nicolaus ( Johannis) Offhuys 233
Netherlands 282 Nicolaus (Tilmanni) Offhuys 233
Maurice of Nassau 283, 336 Nicolaus Peckius 338, n. 115
Maximilian I of Habsburg, emperor Nicolaus Raet 46, 151
154 Nicolaus Ruysch 36, 225–6, 276,
Maximilian II of Habsburg, emperor 287, 297, 305, 330, 343, 364–5
283, 332, 369 Nicolaus (van) Valckesteyn 236, 320,
Maximilianus van Borsselen 276 334–6
Medici-family 79; see Cosimo; Nicolò Leoncino 70, 91, 97, 353
Francesco; Lorenzo Nierop, H. van 320
Menijn, de, see Joos Nieuwland, van, see Johannes
Mepsche, (van), see Johannes Nodianus, see Gerardus
Mera, see Petrus Nuwenstein,van, see Johannes
Meyster, see Henricus
Metsys, see Quinten Obrecht, see Wilhelmus
Michael van Brede 170, n. 47 Occo, see Pompeius; Sibrandus
Michael Gerardi of Deventer 132, Offhuys, see Nicolaus ( Johannis);
228 Nicolaus (Tilmanni)
Michiel Cornelisz Ewoutse 338, Oldenbarnevelt, van, see Johannes;
n. 115 Maria; Wilhelmus
Mierop, van, see Cornelius, Vincent Orange, house of, see Maurice of
Mijle, van der, family 215, 237, 336, Nassau; William the Silent
371; also see Adrianus; Arnoldus Otto Truchsess 234, 333, n. 103
(Cornelii); Arnoldus (Adriani); Otto van Veen 366
Cornelius (Adriani); Cornelius
(Arnoldi); Johannes Paludanus, see Bernardus ten Broecke
Moelen, van der, see Petrus Palude, ex, see Henricus
Molendino, see Moelen Pannekoeck, see Godefridus
Montanus, see Johannes; Wilhelmus Paulus Adriani of Middelburg 36,
Montfoort, van, see Alfardus; Jean 261, 266
Montzima, van, see Bucho; Pompeius; Paulus van Ammersoyen 278, 295,
Volcardus n. 56, 340
Mulaert, see Biso Peck(ius), see Nicolaus; Wisse
Mulert, see Gerardus Perrenot, see Antoine; Nicolas
Murmellius, see Johannes Persijn, see Theodoricus
Muys, see Jacob Petrarch 359
Mye, van der, see Gerardus Petrus de Ancharano 228
Petrus van Bronchorst 272
Nannius, see Petrus Petrus Canisius 86, 253, 283, 368
Neck, van, see Geertruyt Petrus Forestus 47, 114, 266, 291,
Nicolas Perrenot 332 341, 353, 361
Nicolaus Aerschot 46, 151 Petrus Hispanus 34
Nicolaus Coebel 334 Petrus van Hogerbeets 325, 337,
Nicolaus van Ethen 286, 329 365
Nicolaus Everardi of Amsterdam 252, Petrus Ivonis of Alkmaar 256
281, 332 Petrus Junius 324
Nicolaus Everardi of Middelburg 331 Petrus de Mera 224, 260–1, 329
Nicolaus Gryp 354, n. 19 Petrus van der Moelen 170, n. 47,
Nicolaus of Heemskerk 86, n. 143 275
Nicolaus van der Laen 282, 315–6 Petrus Nannius 36
Petrus Tiara 343, 358 Rumelaer, see Stephanus

Petrus van Zijl 214 Ruysch 215; see Heyman; Jacobus,
Philip II, king of Spain 4, 67, 150, Jacobus ( Jacobi); Maria; Nicolaus
156, 158, 278, 283, 321, 360, 368
Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy Saenredam, J. 365
150, 154, 168, 174, n. 56, 274, 277, Sager, family 215
286, 329 Schoen, see Philippus
Philip the Fair, heir to the dukes of Schwinges, R.C. 35
Burgundy 156, 232 Scorel, van, see Jan
Philippus Bartholomei of Leiden 90, Sebastiano dell’Aquila 353
n. 147 Sibrandus Occo 324, 333, n. 104
Philippus Coebel 236, 282–3, 308, Siffridus Balduini of Wieringen 159
n. 78, 334, 342, 361, 372 Sigismund, emperor 66, n. 95
Philippus Schoen 188 Silvius, see Abelius
Phippen, see Henricus Simon van Valckesteyn 338
Piccolomini, see Aeneas Simon van Veen 289, 366
Pierre Damant 298 Sixtinus, see Johannes
Pietro Bembo 331 Snavel, see Johannes
Piin, see Jacobus; Wilhelmus Snoy, see Reinerus
Pius IV, pope 62, 64, 75 Sottili, A. 77
Pliny 359–60 Spenio, see Bernardus de
Pollaert, see Johannes Speulde, van, see Johannes
Pompeius Occo 324 Splinter van Hargen 272
Pompeius van Montzima 333, Steegh, see Godefridus
n. 104 Stelling-Michaud, S. 7, 12
Porquin, see Caesar; Lodovico Stephanus (van) Rumelaer 135, 234,
Pratensis, see Jason 262, 328, 367
Stoep, see Wilhelmus
Quinten Metsys 365 Stone, L. 16
Suger (Theodorici) van Beek 235
Raet, see Nicolaus Sulenius, see Wilhelmus
Rashdall, H. 14
Redanus, see Johannes Tacitus 359–60
Reinerus van der Duyn 281, 320–1, Tettema, see Dominicus
334, n. 106 Tex, J. den 66
Reinerus van Ethen 77, 236, 286, Teylingen, family van 36, 215
329, 340 Teylingen, van see Adrianus;
Reinerus Snoy 264, 357, 360 Augustinus
Reinhard, W. 326 Theemseke, van, see Georgius
Reinout III of Brederode 194 Theodoricus Adriani of Dordrecht
Reinout van Bredrode 238, 336, 337
n. 111 Theodoricus Bermar 63
Rembrandus Johannis of Wieringen Theodoricus Borre 328
159 Theodoricus Gelmers 174
Renesse, van, see Johannes Theodoricus van Hekeren 134
Renichus van Burmania 78, 332 Theodoricus Johannis of Rotterdam
Robertus of Brederode 194, 204, 211, 119
260 Theodoricus Persijn 138, 261, 288,
Rodolphus Agricola 71, 77, 92, 354, n. 19
137–8, 185, 233, 252, 288, 297, Theodoricus Petri of Haarlem 118
322, 354–5, 359 Theodoricus Ulsenius 354
Rodolphus van Diepholt 220, 328 Theodoricus Utenweer 47, 102–3,
Rossum, van, see Hubertus; Maarten 225, 275, 286, 305, 328–30
Rudolph II, emperor 266, 283 Theodorus van Foreest 325
Theodorus Lindanus 80, 207, 209, Wassenaar, van see Bartholomeus

257, 260, 309, 370 Weigle, F. 80
Theso Huynge 237 Werff, see Werve, van der
Tiara, see Petrus Werve, van der, see IJsbrandus
Tielman van Bladeghen 216 Wessel Gansfort 354–5
Tietema, see Dominicus Wilhelmus Balduini of Delft 68
Truchsess, see Otto Wilhelmus van der Duyn 233
Turri, de, see Gerardus Wilhelmus Frederici of Groningen
256, 354–5, 357, 359
Ulsenius, see Theodoricus Wilhelmus van der Goude 329
Urban VI, pope 59 Wilhelmus Lemnius 37, 216, 266,
Utenweer, see Theodoricus 326, 338, n. 115
Uterwijk, van, see Johannes Wilhelmus van Lockhorst 261, 322,
365
Valckesteyn (van), see François; Gerrit; Wilhelmus Montanus 121
Nicolaus; Simon Wilhelmus van Noordwijk 220
Valerius Aylva 370 Wilhelmus van Oldenbarnevelt
Valerius Cordus 47 238
Valerius van Cuyck 236, 324 Wilhelmus Obrecht 232, 283,
Veen, van, see Cornelius; Johannes; 358
Ludolphus; Otto; Simon Wilhelmus Piin 134, 236
Veer, van der, see Cornelius Wilhelmus Stoep 232
Velsius, see Justus Wilhelmus Sulenius 283
Verius, see Wilhelmus Wilhelmus Thomae of Steenbergen
Vesalius, see Andreas 223
Vighe, see Johannes Wilhelmus Verius 37
Viglius van Aytta 36–7, 281, 282, Wilhelmus van Zijl 214
298, 330–33, 342–4, 357–8, 361, Willem Hermansz 360
364–5, 368, 372 William the Silent, prince of
Vincent van Mierop 37, 111, 225–6, Orange 266, 283, 292, 324,
330 335–6
Visconti, family, see Galeazzo William, duke of Bavaria 343
Volcardus Coyter 40, 81, 234, Winandus of Arnhem 74
369–70 Wisse Peck 338
Volcardus van Montzima 333 Wissekerke, van, see Egidius
Vredewolt, see Johannes; Johannes Wouman, see Gerardus
( Johannis)
Vrijlinck, see Lambertus Zabarella, see Franciscus
Vroede, de, see Aafje Zijl, van, family 214, 235; also see
Petrus; Wilhelmus
Wachtendorp, van, see Johannes Zijlstra, S. 31, 177, 179
Wagner, see Georgius Ziso Mulaert 45
EDUCATION & SOCIETY
IN THE MIDDLE AGES & RENAISSANCE
ISSN 0926-6070
1. M.M. Hildebrandt. The External School in Carolingian Society. 1992.

ISBN 90 04 09449 0
2. B. Lawn. The Rise and Decline of the Scholastic ‘Quæstio Disputata’. With
Special Emphasis on its Use in the Teachings of Medicine and Science.
1993. ISBN 90 04 09740 6
3. A. Maierù. University Training in Medieval Europe. Translated and Edited by
D.N. Pryds. 1994. ISBN 90 04 09823 2
4. T. Sullivan, o.s.b. Benedictine Monks at the University of Paris., A.D. 1229-
1500. 1995. ISBN 90 04 10099 7
5. C. Fuchs. Dives, Pauper, Nobilis, Magister, Frater, Clericus. Sozialge-
schichtliche Untersuchungen über Heidelberger Universitätsbesucher
des Spätmittelalters (1386-1450). 1995. ISBN 90 04 10147 0
6. M.J.F.M. Hoenen, J.H.J. Schneider & G. Wieland (eds.). Philosophy and
Learning. Universities in the Middle Ages. 1995. ISBN 90 04 10212 4
7. J. Verger. Les universités françaises au Moyen Age. 1995.
ISBN 90 04 10312 0
8. J. Davies. Florence and its University during the Early Renaissance. 1998. ISBN
90 04 11003 8
9. C. O’Boyle. The Art of Medicine. Medical Teaching at the University of
Paris, 1250-1400. 1998. ISBN 90 04 11124 7
10. W. J. Courtenay & J. Miethke (eds.). Universities and Schooling in Medieval
Society. With the Assistance of D.B. Priest. 2000. ISBN 90 04 11351 7
11. B. Roest. A History of Franciscan Education (c. 1210-1517). 2000.
ISBN 90 04 11739 3
12. N.G. Siraisi. Medicine and the Italian Universities, 1250-1600. 2001.
ISBN 90 04 11942 6
13. D.A. Lines. Aristotle’s Ethics in the Italian Renaissance (ca. 1300-1650).
The Universities and the Problem of Moral Education. 2002. ISBN
90 04 12085 8
14. W.J. Courtenay. Rotuli Parisienses. Supplications to the Pope from the
University of Paris. Volume I: 1316-1349. 2002. ISBN 90 04 12563 9
15. W.J. Courtenay & E.D. Goddard (eds.). Rotuli Parisienses. Supplications to
the Pope from the University of Paris. Volume II: 1352-1378. 2004.
ISBN 90 04 13189 2
16. D.A. Bullough. Alcuin. Achievement and Reputation. 2004.
ISBN 90 04 12865 4
17. R. Gramsch. Erfurter Juristen im Spätmittelalter. Die Karrieremuster und
Tätigkeitsfelder einer gelehrten Elite des 14. und 15. Jahrhunderts.
2003. ISBN 90 04 13178 7
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Register. Vol. I. The Religious Orders. 2004. ISBN 90 04 13586 3
19. J. Miethke. Studieren an Mittelalterlichen Universitäten. Chancen und
Risiken. Gesammelte Aufsätze. 2004. ISBN 90 04 13833 1
20. F.P. Knapp, J. Miethke & M. Niesner (eds.). Schriften im Umkreis
mitteleuropäischer Universitäten um 1400. Lateinische und volkssprachige
Texte aus Prag, Wien und Heidelberg: Unterschiede, Gemein-
samkeiten, Wechselbeziehungen. 2004. ISBN 90 04 14053 0
21. A. Tervoort. The iter italicum and the Northern Netherlands. Dutch
Students at Italian Universities and Their Role in the Netherlands’
Society (1426-1575). 2005. ISBN 90 04 14134 0
22. Th. Kouamé. Le collège de Dormans-Beauvais à la fin du Moyen Âge. Stra-
tégies politiques et parcours individuels à l’Université de Paris (1370-
1458). 2005. ISBN 90 04 14135 9

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THE ITER ITALICUM AND THE NORTHERN NETHERLANDS

EDUCATION AND SOCIETY

Jürgen Miethke (Heidelberg)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

© Copyright 2005 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands

Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal

printed in the netherlands

List of Tables, Graphs, Figures and Maps .............................. ix

Chapter One Introduction ...................................................... 1

Chapter Two Dutch Students and Italian Universities

Chapter Three Geographical Origin .................................... 143

Chapter Four Social Background .......................................... 197

Chapter Five The Student in Society: Careers, Networks

Chapter Six Epilogue: The Iter Italicum and Its Place

Appendix: Additional Tables and Graphs .............................. 381

Bibliography ................................................................................ 409

Biographies of Students on CD-ROM

Table 2.1.1. Students from the Northern Netherlands men- 26

Cologne, compared to choice of faculty at

Table 5.1.2. Numbers of students per faculty (and as a per- 243

Table 5.2.2. Social categories of students in the population 313

Table A3.1.1. Survey of choice of faculty and degrees in 385

Table A4.1.1. Survey table: Nobiles, Divites and Pauperes in 396

Graph 2.1.1. Individuals students from the Northern Nether- 27

Graph 2.3.6. Matriculations of students from the Netherlands 96

Northern Netherlands at the University of Padua

Figures and Maps

Figure 2.2.1. Outline of the structure of the Bolognese model. 50

But don’t the splendours of Italy herself, once mis-

and to whom I am greatly indebted. Their works are mentioned in

Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel (1998), for oﬀering me

busy period of the completion of my thesis. His sister Muirean had

I understand, noble young man that you are long-

Until the late eighteenth century students from diﬀerent parts of

for instance, a quest for adventure or simply seeking the pleasures

until 18145 has contributed much to our knowledge of the position

des procurateurs de la nation germanique de l’ancienne université d’Orléans (1444–1546) 2e par-

1426 as a starting point. First, from the perspective of university his-

Gelderland, Overijssel, Frisia, Drenthe and Groningen).11 Together

Context: University History

history is a subject worth studying in itself has grown slowly, albeit

to be part of the venerable and famous few: they became a fash-

ment and social stratiﬁcation of students are now considered impor-

International student mobility involves another very important

other universities have gained the interest of historians and students

Nevertheless, some general patterns are recognizable. Attendance

Methodology and Sources

An aspect of considerable importance attached to the new practice

methodological tool. A prosopography is a collective biography of a

with a prosopographical approach. For a brief overview see De Ridder-Symoens,

pauper. It is clear that it means that a certain student was unable to

assignment is to make an inventory of all the persons who actually

one of its constituting parts. Depending on the particular structure

Outline of the Book: Themes and Questions

In chapter 2 the population will move centre stage. This chapter

as the main attraction of the Italian universities. Taking inventory

as a Northern Netherlands phenomenon at all? It will be interest-

lectures.61 Further examination of both regional origin and social

for the satisfactory functioning of state apparatus. It will be fruitful

DUTCH STUDENTS AND ITALIAN UNIVERSITIES

This chapter deals with a reconstruction of the university curricu-

2.1. Introducing the Population

In this study a population of 640 students from the Northern