HEIDELBERG
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HEIDELBERG
philosophical theses which maintained in part the
uselessness of moral effort and the doctrine of justifica-
tion by faith alone. The university as a botly looked
([uite unfavourably upon the reform movement which
Luther and his followers had inaugurated. Pope
Adrian VI, in a Brief, dated 1 December, 1523, warned
individual members of the university who were in-
clined towards the new teachings, to oppose the Ref-
ormation in speech and writing and to guide back to
the path of truth all who had gone astray — an admo-
nition which the university accepted in a spirit of
gratitude. But when in consequence of the attitude
of certain professors, the Reformed teachings began to
take a firmer hold at Heidelberg, Elector Louis V in
1523 ordered an inquiry. Matters did not then reach a
crisis, though in spite of the elector's exertions, the
university became more and more unsettled, its rev-
enues were considerably reduced, and the professors
exceeded the students in numbers. In 1545 some of
the citizens and university members declared them-
selves in favour of Luther's teaching; Elector Fred-
erick II remained a Catholic, but his consort Dorothea,
a Danish princess, and their household received Com-
munion under both kinds on Christmas Day of that
year. The last two Catholic electors, Louis V and
Frederick II. with the support of learned advisers, had
made repeated attempts at timely reforms in the
university. The only outcome was a revision of the
constitutions of the faculty of arts undertaken by
the professor of Greek, Jakob Mikyllus, and approved
by the university in 1551. To terminate the brawls
between the occupants of the different students' halls,
the three halls were, in accordance with the elector's
desire, united in 1546 with the college of arts and by
this means with the university proper, and were thus
consolidated under their own statutes and administra-
tion. Frederick II also founded the Sapientia College
in 1556, to accommodate sixty to eighty poor but
talented students from the Palatinate. With the
consent of Pope Julius III it was established in 1560
in the abandoned Augustinian monastery. Under
Frederick III in 1561, it was transferred to the Protes-
tant Consistory and turned into a theological semi-
nary; as such it continued until 1803 when its revenues
were given over to a more advanced institute at Heidel-
berg. In 1560 the grammar school which had declined
under Otto Henry was revived as a preparatory college.
The university recognized the pope's authority for
the last time, when, on the invitation of Julius III, it
resolved to send two professors as delegates to the
Council of Trent, an intention which was not after all
carried into effect. Under Otto Henry (1556-59),
who immediately after his accession established Lu-
theranism as the State religion, the last two Catholic
professors resigned their chairs. Reforms affecting
economic management and administration, faculty
organization, number, subjects, and order of courses,
and the appointment of professors, were carried out by
Otto Henry with the assistance of Mikyllus and Philip
Melanchthon, in 1556 and during the following years
when the elector's brother, the Palatine Count George
John, was rector. The latter chose a pro-rector from
among the professors, and subsequently it became
customary to associate a pro-rector with the rector
magnificentissimus. Through these innovations, the
university was transformed into a school of the Evan-
gelical-Lutheran and later of the Calvinistic stamp.
At that time the rigid Calvinists of the theological
faculty gave the Reformers their most important doc-
trinal formulary in the Heidelberg Catechism. As
under Louis VI (1576-S3) all the Calvinist professors
were dismissed from the university, so under his suc-
cessor, John Casimir (1583-92), the Lutherans were
sent away and the Reformed readmitted. In 15S8
some further regulations for the faculties, discipline,
and economy were proposed and were carried out by
Frederick IV. The university gained an international
reputation, but its prosperity was destroyed by the
Thirty Years War. In September, 1622, the city and
castle of Heidelberg were taken by Tilly and the uni-
versity practically aljolished. It was reorganized in
1629 as a Catholic institution and some of the chairs
were filled by Jesuits ; but the tempestuous conditions
then prevalent made the fostering of science impossi-
ble and the work was entirely suspended from 1631 to
1652. After the occupation of Heidelberg, the Biblio-
theca Palatina was presented to the pope by Duke
Maximilian of Bavaria and sent in wagons to Rome,
a fortunate arrangement for this collection which
otherwise would have been liurned to ashes, with the
other libraries of the city, in May, 1693. In 1S15 and
1816 a number of these MS. were returned to Heidel-
berg. After the Peace of Westphalia, Elector Charles
Louis restored the university as a Protestant institu-
tion and reorganized its economic management. On
1 November, 1652, it was reopened and a number of
distinguished scholars were invited there, among
others Samuel Pufen<lorf, professor of natural and in-
ternational law. The jjhilosopher Spinoza also re-
ceived a call to Heidelljerg but declined it, fearing that
on account of the religious conflicts philosophical
teaching would be restricted within narrow limits.
In the Palatine-OrK'ans war Heidellierg was burned by the troops of Louis XIV. At that time the elec- tor's castle also went up in flames. The foundation of this residence had been laiil l)v the Palatine Count Rudolph I (1294-1319), who built for himself a castle on the Jettenliiihl aliox-e the city, which is the oldest part of the entire structvu-e. When Rupert III became King of the Romans (1400-10) he erected a stately building, the interior of which was especially rich in design. Opposite, near the picturesque group of fountains, stood Louis's buikling. Both were forti- fied by Louis V, and the south wing was completed by his brother, Frederick II. The actual edifice dates from Otto Henry, Frederick IV, and Frederick V. Otto Henry's building is in the classic Early Renais- sance style adorned with numerous plastic escutcheons, ornaments, and statues. Of the later ruins, Freder- ick's building is best preserved. It was erected in 1601-07 by the architect Johannes Schoch, and, like Otto Henry's, is remarkable for its numerous orna^ mental figures. In addition to these there is the English building, with its exquisite, fairy-like gardens and fountains, built in Italian later Renaissance style by order of Frederick V and his wife Elizabeth, who was a granddaughter of Queen Mary Stuart. The castle was partly blown up and partly burned by the French in May, 1693. During these terrible times the professors and students sought safety in flight, and in 1694 established the university temporarily at Frank- fort and then at Weinheim. In 1700 it was moved back to Heidelberg. Three years later, under the Catholic Elector John William of the House of Pala- tine Neuburg, the first Jesuits were appointed as teachers. A Catholic faculty of theology was estab- lished side by side with that of the Reformers and invested with equal prerogatives. The first Jesuit rector served during the year 1709. John William in 1712 began the new university buildings which were completed in 1735 in the reign of Charles Philip, who in 1720 transferred the electoral residence, which had been maintained at Heidellierg for sLx hundred years, to Mannheim, where he built a new palace.
Tlirough the efforts of the Jesuits a preparatory seminary was established, the Seminarium ad Carohmi Borromteum, whose pupils were also registered in the university. After the suppression of the Jesuit Order, most of the schools they had conducted passed into the hands of the French Congregation of Lazarists (1773). They deteriorated from that time forward. The university itself continued to lose in brilliance and prestige until the reign of the last elector, Charles Theodore, of the Hou.se of Sulzbach, who established
