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GÁBOR ITTZÉS
Taken together, the developments analysed above and summarised here
transformed the Leucorea from an essentially late medieval institution into the
leading university of the Reformation, adapted to its new role by virtue not only
of its faculty, but also of its institutional structures, educational programme,
and financial base. On closer examination we have seen that the process of
change was characterised by much experimentation; there were detours, dead¬
ends, circuitous routes, indirect advances. However, if we take a step back and
look at the big picture, the transition appears remarkably swift and efficient.
The essential part took place within a few short years. The success is surely
unthinkable without Luther’s drive, Spalatin’s diplomacy, and Melanchthon’s
organisational genius, but beyond individual merit the collective achievement
also shows what creative energies the Reformation released, and what capacity
its theological impulses had to transform social institutions far beyond the
sphere of theology and church life.
Table 17 Overview of regular professorships by faculty (1507-1536)
Faculty 1507 1508 1516 1518 1521 1525 1536
Theology 4 5 3 3 3 2-1 341
Law 8 7 7 n. d. 1* 5 4
Medicine 1 2 1 2 2 2 3
Arts 15 15 12 18 13 8-1 11
Total 28 29 23 23+ 19° 1742 21+1
* Only one law lecture is listed in the catalogue, but the inventory may not be complete.
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