Master of Arts

An academic degree higher than that of Bachelor. The conferring of the degree of Master of Arts, as a title invested with certain specific academic privileges, is closely connected in origin with the early history of the University of Paris, which was the mother-university in arts as Bologna was in law. Originally, the degree meant simply the right to teach, the Licentia docendi, and this right could be granted, in Paris, only by the Chancellor of the Cathedral of Notre Dame, or the Chancellor of St. Genevi?ve. According to the Third Council of Lateran, held in 1179, this Licentia docendi had to be granted gratuitously, and to all duly qualified applicants. It was the Chancellor's right to determine the question of the applicant's fitness. But in time, as the number of candidates for the degree increased, and the university developed, the ceremony of presentation before the Chancellor became more and more of a formality, and the responsibility for the fitness of the candidate devolved upon his teacher, and his teacher's associates. Although, however, the Chancellor's licence unquestionably conferred the right to teach, it did not make the recipient a full Master. For this it was required, in addition, that the faculty in which the Licentia docendi was given, should formally recognize the recipient as a Master, and admit him to a place among themselves. This ceremony, by which the Licentiate became a full Master, was known as Inceptio. As the term implies, the ceremony involved a beginning of actual teaching, the Licentiate delivering a lecture before the faculty. The term "Commencement", as applied to graduation exercises, is but the English equivalent of the medieval Inceptio, and was first used at Cambridge. The ceremony of formally investing the young teacher with the title and insignia of a Master consisted in the bestowal of the biretta, or Master's cap, the open book, and the kiss of fellowship, after which he took his seat in the magisterial chair. Half a year or so elapsed between the granting of the Licence and the Inception. No examination was required before Inception, the candidate's fitness having been tested before the conferring of the Licence. Those who received the Licentia docendi from the Chancellor were admitted to Inception as a matter of course. The candidate for the Licence in Arts had to pass two examinations, a preliminary one, conducted by the Chancellor, and another conducted by the faculty itself. In going to receive the Licence, the candidates were arranged in the order of their academic standing, a custom which developed into the modern system of graduation honours. The ceremony was conducted with great pomp. Part of the proceedings consisted in the "Collations", or the giving of lectures by some of the candidates. The Chartularium of the University of Paris gives the formula used by the Chancellor in conferring the Licence as follows: "Et ego auctoritate apostolorum Petri et Pauli in hac parte mihi commiss? do vobis licentiam legendi, regendi, disputandi et determinandi ceterosque actus scholasticos seu magistrales exercendi in facultate artium Parisiis et ubique terrarum, in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen." (Chartularium, II, App. 679.) +