ThemedievalUniversity of Dublin (Latin:Universitas Dubliniensis) was an early unsuccessful attempt to establish auniversity inDublin, thecapital city of theLordship of Ireland. Founded in1320, it maintained an intermittent existence for the next two centuries, but it never flourished, and disappeared for good at theReformation in Ireland (1534–41). It was located inSt Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. It had no connection with the presentUniversity of Dublin, better known asTrinity College Dublin, which was founded in1592.[1]
Pope Clement V granted the papal brief to found the university in1311 toJohn de Leche,Archbishop of Dublin. De Leche died two years later, without having taken any steps to implement the brief, and his successorAlexander de Bicknor had many more pressing matters to deal with. It was not until 1320 that, by the authority of thepapal brief of 1311, Bicknor issued acharter formally establishing the university.[1] He appointed regent masters to elect theproctors and the chancellor. The chancellor, although subject to the authority of the Archbishop of Dublin, had jurisdiction over the members of the university and power to enact collegestatutes, with the consent of the regents and the archbishop. There were two faculties, Theology and Law. The university had the power to confer degrees, and three Doctors of Theology were appointed. From the beginning, there was an intimate connection between the university andSt Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and the university was accommodated at the cathedral. Membership of the university seems to have been synonymous with being acanon of the cathedral, and theDean of St Patrick's,William de Rodyard, was elected the firstchancellor.[2] Michael Hardy was the first Master and Doctor of Theology.[3]
Cardinal Newman in his sketch of its history noted that after this quite promising beginning, no further progress was made in putting the university on a solid foundation: it may well be said that the university never got properly started. The frequently disturbed political conditions in medieval Dublin were no doubt one reason for this, but the key problem seems to have been the lack of funds. Ireland in theMiddle Ages was not a rich country, and the Irish, even if they had wished to do so, were unable to provide the money which could have put the university on a secure financial footing. There was a notable absence of wealthy privatebenefactors like those who founded so many colleges atOxford andCambridge, nor was theEnglish Crown generous with itsendowments to the university.[1]
Over the next two centuries, sporadic efforts were made to revive the university. In1358, on the petition of the Irish clergy, KingEdward III of England established another chair oftheology; and in 1364 his sonLionel of Antwerp, theLord Lieutenant of Ireland, founded a lectureship; but in the absence of sufficient funds, the university continued to languish.[1] It has been speculated (on the basis of a tradition recorded by ArchbishopJames Ussher) that theFranciscan friar and annalist FriarJohn Clyn may have taken adoctorate from the university, during the first half of the fourteenth century.[4]
In 1475, when, as Cardinal Newman remarks, the university could scarcely be said to still exist,Pope Sixtus IV was persuaded byJohn Walton, Archbishop of Dublin, to issue a brief to re-establish it; but very little seems to have been done to comply with the brief.[5] At theSynod of Dublin in 1494,Walter Fitzsimon, Walton's successor asArchbishop of Dublin, levied a contribution on the clergy of the archdiocese for the payment of the lecturers' salaries, and it seems that some funds were made available, although they may have been used as an extra stipend for the canons of the cathedral.[1]
The university disappeared altogether at theIrish Reformation of 1534–41. Even under theRoman CatholicQueen Mary I, who tried, so far as practicable, to reverse the effects of the Reformation, no effort seems to have been made to revive the university.[1]
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