SORBONNE, s8r'b6fe, LA. An institution of learning in Paris, founded by Robert do Sorbon. Robert was born October 9, 1201, in Sorbon, near the town of Bethel, not far from Rheims. During the subsequent cen turies and even to the present day, the place-name of this man has been attached to the focus of intellectual activity in France. Robert pursued his studies in Paris, look ing forward to the priesthood. He became a priest, a doctor of theology, and a canon, first in the Cathedral of Cambrai„ and then in that of Paris. By his eloquence and piety he soon won renown and was presently made chaplain, and perhaps confessor to King Louis IX., known as Saint Louis. Impressed by the importance of theological science and by the necessities of poor young men who might need support while engaged in the study of theology. Robert de Sorbon es tablished a society of secular ecclesiastics. The King and some of the ecclesiastical dignities favored this enterprise; and in the year 1257 a site was secured by royal bounty for the home of the society. It was near the Palais des Thermes, in the heart of what has long borne the name of the Latin Quarter. There were other similar associations or colleges, but this was destined to perpetuity and distinction. • The founder called the ctstablishinent La Communaute des paurres maitre:8 Oudiant en theologie; but the public shortened this long phrase. a 11 d before the close of the century the college was called, from its founder's name, La Sorbonne. which it has borne amid all the changes of social and intellectual life from that day to the present. Its Latin title was Domus Sorbonnle. The House was a hall of residence and of study—not a place for sys tematic instrnetion and lectures. For the work of Ilobertus, the Papal approbation was secured in 1268. Several years later. to this theological seminary the founder added a college for the hu manities and philosophy, and he died soon after wards, at Paris, seventy-three years old (1274).
His life is full of interest and may be read in a memoir by Jadart, published at Rheims, in 1880. The principal incidents are well presented in the Biographic generale, and by Baroux in La gran* cyclopedic (vol. xxx.). The early
muniments of this foundation may be found in Deniiie's masterly compendium of Doc u In en ts relatifs d PUnirersite de Paris (Paris, 1883), in the Cartularium Unirersitatis Purisiensis, tom. 1., (Paris, From its origin until the present time the Sor bonne has been the centre of intellectual activity, and until the French Revolution it was recog nized as especially the seat of theological learn ing. The Faculty pronounced their opinions on the most important questions and their decisions were recognized as of great authority. The read er need only consult the llistory of France by Henri Martin to discover many illustrations of this statement. The Faculty intervened in the trial of Jeanne d'Are; it condemned the views of Luther and showed great hostility toward re formers; censured many noteworthy books and opposed the Cartesian philosophy; and addressed the Czar in regard to a reunion of the Creek and Latin churches. Among the books which it condemned were the treatise of Del vetius, De PEsiwit, the fourth volume of Buffon's Natural History, and Rousseau's Emile. Among the glories of the Sorbonne was its encourage ment of printing in France, by giving quarters for their presses to Ulric Gering and other early printers.
The buildings of the Sorbonne were recon structed at the beginning of the seventeenth cen tury by Richelieu, who merits the distinction of a second founder. The church which he caused to be built as the college chapel is one of the celebrated monuments of ecclesiastical architecture in Paris. His tomb is there, not far from the tomb of Robert de Sorbon. The Sor bonne was given to the city of Paris in the mid dle of the nineteenth century, and the con struction was begun of a magnificent building for the departments of science and letters. This edifice, called La Nouvelle Sorbonne, was com pleted in 1889, and it is perhaps the finest uni versity building in the world. Its lecture-rooms and laboratories are well equipped. and the mural decorations (especially the great picture of Puri, Chavannes) are of rare beauty. In the transitbm from the old to the new Sorbonne Greard published a noteworthy pamphlet, en titled Xos adieux d la rieille Sorbonne.