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GÁBOR ITTZÉS ormation university as such was established in Marburg, and that school was not recognised by the Emperor until 1540.* Wittenberg University, by contrast, came into being as a late medieval institution of higher learning. Its foundation was necessitated by the 1485 division of the House of Wettin. Undivided Saxony had one of the oldest universities in Germany,’ but when Leipzig fell to the Albertine line at the time of the division, the Electoral lands remained without a school of higher education. Elector Frederick the Wise (1463, 1486-1525), succeeding his father, Ernest (1441, 1464-1486) the following year, sought to rectify that situation from the beginning of his reign. His efforts came to fruition in the opening years of the sixteenth century. Wittenberg University was effectively founded in 1502, when it received imperial recognition" from Maximilian I (1459—1519)." Five years later (1507) it was also recognised by the Pope," which was a crucial step for the financial security of the school, as a considerable number of teaching positions were supplied by church endowments or the religious orders settled in the Electoral capital. Ihe process was completed the next year (1508), when Frederick Zum Quellenwert von Lutherbriefen, in M. Beyer — G. Wartenberg (eds.), Humanismus und Wittenberger Reformation: Festgabe anläßlich des 500. Geburtstages des Praeceptor Germaniae Philipp Melanchthon am 16. Februar 1997, Leipzig, Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 1996, 123-144; SCHEIBLE, Heinz, Melanchthon: Eine Biographie, München, Beck, 1997, 28-56; Lück, Heiner (ed.), Martin Luther und seine Universität: Vorträge anläßlich des 450. Todestages des Reformators, Köln — Weimar — Wien, Böhlau, 1998; DinGEL, Irene -WARTENBERG, Günther (eds.), Die Theologische Fakultät Wittenberg 1502 bis 1602: Beiträge zur 500. Wiederkehr des Gründungsjahres der Leucorea, Leipzig, Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2002; KATHE, Heinz, Die Wittenberger Philosophische Fakultät 1502-1817 Köln -— Weimar — Wien, Böhlau, 2002; ARNO, Sames (ed.), 500 Jahre Theologie in Wittenberg und Halle 1502-2002: Beiträge aus der Theologischen Fakultät der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg zum Universitätsjubiläum 2002, Leipzig, Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2003; Lück, Heiner, Wittenberg, Universität, in TRE vol. 36, 2004, 232-243; KocH, Hans Theodor, Die Wittenberger Medizinische Fakultät (1502-1652): Ein biobibliographischer Überblick, in S. Oehmig (ed.), Medizin und Sozialwesen in Mitteldeutschland zur Reformationszeit, Leipzig, Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2007, 289-348; SCHEIBLE, Heinz, Die Philosophische Fakultät der Universität Wittenberg von der Gründung bis zur Vertreibung der Philippisten, Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 98 (2007), 7-44. 3 SCHNEIDER, Hans, Marburg, Universitat, in TRE vol. 22, 1992, 68-75, here 68-69. Second only to Heidelberg in today’s Germany, the University of Leipzig was founded in 1409, when German students and faculty withdrew from Prague after the John Hus affair and the Decree of Kutna Hora, which granted three votes to the Czech nation against the one combined vote of the three other nations, including the Germans (cf. SpINKA, Matthew, John Hus: A Biography, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1968, 94—100). 5 UBW 1:1-3 (No. 1). He was German King from 1486 and de facto Emperor after the death of his father (Frederick III, 1415, 1452-1493), but the Pope only recognised him as Emperor-elect in 1508, and he was never crowned. ” UBW 1:17 (No. 19). + 12 +
