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milian II (1564-76), who also ordained that instead of
the customary formal profession of Catholic Faith,
the candidate for degrees had only to declare himself a
Catholic — disregarding the Bull of Pius IV (13 Nov.,
1564). The emperor withdrew one professorship
from the Jesuits and, at the demand of the Diet,
ordered the house of studies to be closed. During the
reign of Rudolph II (1576-1612), who was bj' educa-
tion a strict Catholic, a Counter- Reformat ion was
begun. This was due to the efforts of the cathedral
provost Melchior Khlesl, appointed chancellor of the
university in 1579. The first step was the publica-
tion on 2 July, 1581, and 31 March, 1591, of the papal
Bull of 13 Nov., 1564; the entrance of Protestants
into the university was thus prevented. In 1565 the
Jesuits attempted to obtain university degrees for
the students trained at their school, but their appeal
was rejected both at this date and in 1573. The
university was not altogether wrong in regarding as
an infringement of its privileges the permission
granted the Jesuits in 1570 to hold philosophical and
theological courses in their college. It felt its very
existence threatened, especially as the Jesuits, e. g.
in 1593, had one thousand students, while the entire
university had but two hundred. The dispute was
settled by Emperor Matthias (1612-19) on 25 Feb.,
1617, who again gi-anted the Jesuits two professor-
ships in theology, and in addition three in philosophy.
Finally, during the reign of Ferdinand II (1619-37),
the entire theological and philosophical faculties
were handed over to the Jesuits, and their college was
incorporated into the university (21-22 Oct., 1622;
17 Nov., 1622; 9 Aug., 1623; Sanclio pragmatica
of 13 Oct., 1623, confirmed by Ferdinand III on 4
May, 1640). The Society renounced in perpetuity
any claim to the dignity of rector of the university,
but on the other hand the rector of the Jesuit college
had a seat and vote directly after the superintendent
appointed by the ruler. The election of professors
and the methods of teaching were left to the Society.
The intent of the Sanclio pragmatica was to
make the university Catholic in its further develop-
ment. This end was the easier to attain as the Jesuits
controlled all the preparatory schools. The matter,
however, was more difficult in regard to the students
of law and medicine, among whom many were still
openly or secretly non-Catholic. The restriction to
Catholics was finally effected in these departments by
decrees and by the edict of 17 Nov., 1651, which expelled
all non-Catholics from the country. Following the
example of otlier vmiversities, as Paris, Cologne, and
Mainz, Ferdinand III (1637-57) appointed (17 May,
1649) the feast of the Immaculate Conception as the
church feast of the university; henceforth before
attaining a degree, the rectorship, or a professorship,
the candidate was obliged to profess his beUef in the
Immaculate Conception. From 2 Dec, 1656, the
dean-elect had also to make this profession. The
Dominicans alone were exempted (31 Oct., 1649)
from this obligation, but on this account they were
excluded from the position of dean. Thanks to the
zeal and learning of the Jesuits, the theological and
philosophical departments flourished greatly; those
of law and medicine, however, lagged behind. There-
form of studies carried out liy Ferdinand 1 had not the
desired success in these two branches, as money was
hwking, and the very .scanty salaries of the professors
were seldom paid. The great disadvantage in tlie
faculty of law was that German common Uiw, though
necessary in practice, was not taught. The students
of medicine were more fortunate, for after winning the
baccalaureate they generally attended an Italian
university, partitMilarly Padua, where better facilities
for study were offered, and a shorter period of attend-
ance re(|uired. Thus the members of the faculty
of medicine were generally phy.sicians educated in
Italy, as Johann Wilhelm Mnnnagetta (d. 1660), aiul
Paul de Sorbait (d. 1691). However, owing to the
lack of students and of equipment, there was no stimu-
lus to woik. Numerous proposals of reform were
made, such as those of 1629, 1687, and 1735, but all
attempts to bring the two faculties to a higher level
failed on account of the financial embarrassment of
the Government.
Reorganization in Die Reign of Maria Theresa: University a Stale Inslituiion. — During the reign of Maria Theresa (1740-80) the university was com- pletely reconstructed. What led to this change was the calling to Vienna in 1745 of Gerhard van Swieten (1700-72), a medical professor at Leyden, as court physician and university professor. The reforms of the medical faculty, which he planned, went into effect on 7 February: i. e. the designation of van Swieten as director of studies, appointment of pro- fessors by the empress, not as before by the university consistory, rigid supervision of the examinations by the Government, establishment of a professorship of chemistry, founding of a botanical garden, and the delivery of clinical lectures in the hospital. The university soon excelled the University of Leyden, previously so celebrated; this was effected by the appointment of distinguished teachers, as, in 1749, for chemistry and botany, Alexander Ludwig Laugier, whose successor in 1769 was Nikolaus Jacquin; in 1754, for practical therapeutics, Anton de Haen, whose successor in 1776 was MaximiUan StoU; and Ferdinand Leber, in 1761, for surgery. The theological and philosophical faculties were reformed in 1753. The professors of philosophy were forbidden to dictate their lectures to the students as formerly, or to teach the Aristotelean doctrine. The plan drawn up for the reform of the department of law b}- Prince- Archbishop Count Trautson and Sigismund Popowitsch, professor of eloquence, was put in force in 1753. New courses in constitutional law, the law of nature, feudal law, the Theresian laws for the hereditary Austrian domin- ions, and, as an experiment, history, were established. The director of studies was Johann Franz von Bour- guignon. Up to 1757 all matters pertaining to instruc- tion were controlled by Prince-Archbishop Count Trautson, the "protector of studies". The position of superintendent was abolished in 1754.
These reforms took from the university the last vestiges of its former autonomy, made it entirely subsidiary to the purposes of the State, and turned the professors into state officials. Intellectual life was restricted by the directors of studies who prescribed the text-books to be used, and by the Government censorship of books. The medical faculty suffered least from these limitations and continued todevelop. The aim of the prevailing system was to exclude entirely the influence of the Church and of the Society of Jesus; its leading spirits were van Swieten and, in the course of time, the freemason Joseph von Sonnenfels (1733-1817). Thus in 1755 the conferring of the degi-ees at St. Stephen's was abolished, and the influence of the chancellor limited; in 1757 the .Jesuit rector was removed from the university consistory, and in 1759 the directors of studies belonging to the Society were removed. The court commission of studies, with van Swiet en as vice-president , was created on 23 March, 17(>0, as the chief board of supervision. In the same year the commission made a request for the admission of Protestants to the courses in law and medicine, but did not secure this until 177S. From 18 Jan., 1782, the university was open to all creeds. The suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773 necessitated the reorganization of the theological and philosophical faculties. The property of the Jesuits went to the fund for stipends for students (Jesuit- fond); ex-Jesuits were excluded from the new appoint- ments to the theological chairs. The process of separating the university from the Church continued (hiring the last years of the reign of Mariji Theresa
