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The Scots College ( la, Collegium Scoticum; french: Collège des Écossais) was a college of the
University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, founded by an Act of the Parliament of Paris on 8 July 1333. The act was a ratification of an event that had already taken place, the founding of the Collegium Scoticum, one of a number of national colleges into which the University was divided. The Scots College came to an end in 1793 when the
National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year Nation ...
abolished the colleges and reorganized the University along different lines.


Early history

At some time not long before 1323 King
Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...
of
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
sent an embassy including the
Earl of Moray The title Earl of Moray, Mormaer of Moray or King of Moray was originally held by the rulers of the Province of Moray, which existed from the 10th century with varying degrees of independence from the Kingdom of Alba to the south. Until 1130 t ...
and his kinsman
David de Moravia David de Moravia (died 1326) was Bishop of Moray during most of the First War of Scottish Independence. He was elected Bishop of Moray, probably in early 1299. Extended details exist regarding the election because of an extant letter of Pope Bo ...
(1299–1326), the
Bishop of Moray The Bishop of Moray or Bishop of Elgin was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Moray in northern Scotland, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics. If the foundation charter of the monastery at Scone is reliable, then the Bishopric of Moray ...
, "to conclude a treaty of 'confederacy' " renewing the
auld alliance The Auld Alliance ( Scots for "Old Alliance"; ; ) is an alliance made in 1295 between the kingdoms of Scotland and France against England. The Scots word ''auld'', meaning ''old'', has become a partly affectionate term for the long-lasting a ...
between Scotland and France. A passionate benefactor of religious learning, the Bishop in 1325 endowed the lands of Grisy-Suisnes, just outside Paris to be used as a source of funds for students from his parish studying at the University of Paris. The Collegium Scoticum came into existence in 1325 and its foundation was confirmed by Charles le Bel,
King of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the fir ...
, in August 1326. The College accepted both lay and clerical students. In 1707, the minimum age for admission was fixed at fifteen, but that was often ignored. It competed with the Jesuit college to attract good students.


Scottish Catholic refuge

When the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
was disestablished in Scotland, the Scots College became a centre for Catholic Scots abroad and a political centre for persons who hoped to reconvert Scotland.
Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...
, contributed to it even from prison. Meanwhile, the college buildings at Rue des Fosses de S. Victor became a repository for many valuable Scottish state documents. James Beaton
bequeathed A bequest is property given by will. Historically, the term ''bequest'' was used for personal property given by will and ''deviser'' for real property. Today, the two words are used interchangeably. The word ''bequeath'' is a verb form for the act ...
his property, including the
archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual ...
s of the
Diocese of Glasgow The Archdiocese of Glasgow was one of the thirteen (after 1633 fourteen) dioceses of the Scottish church. It was the second largest diocese in the Kingdom of Scotland, including Clydesdale, Teviotdale, parts of Tweeddale, Liddesdale, Annanda ...
, and a great mass of important correspondence, to the Scots College. Some of these documents had already been deposited by him in the
Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has i ...
monastery in Paris. Efforts to reconvert Scotland militarily and politically failed. Neither
James VI & I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...
nor his son
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
were inclined to change religions, but the restored monarch, Charles II converted on his deathbed and his successor, his brother, James II, was a Catholic. The Protestant English found it necessary to depose him in favour of his Protestant daughter, (alternatively he abandoned his throne, and the Convention Parliament invited) Queen Mary II, and the college once more became a centre for exiled Scottish Catholics. "When James II. came to France he interested himself in the college, and persuaded Louis XIV., in 1688, to grant a new patent. ... This patent was registered by the Parliament, July 12th, 1688; it completely freed the college of all its debts, and gave it the official position which it had hitherto lacked." In the last political movement of any significance raised by the Scottish Catholics, the college became a rallying point for the supporters of Prince Charles Edward Stuart (
Bonnie Prince Charlie Bonnie, is a Scottish given name and is sometimes used as a descriptive reference, as in the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean. It comes from the Scots language word "bonnie" (pretty, attractive), or the French bonne (good). That ...
).


French Revolution

During the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
the people of Paris paid little respect to either Catholicism or Protestantism. Social transformation had changed paradigms entirely. The Scots College, seen as an aristocratic institution, was sacked in 1792 and many of its valuable documents were destroyed. The building was taken for use as a prison during the
Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First French Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public Capital punishment, executions took pl ...
. Among its famous prisoners,
Louis de Saint-Just Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just (; 25 August 17679 Thermidor, Year II 8 July 1794, was a French revolutionary, political philosopher, member and president of the French National Convention, a Jacobin club leader, and a major figure of the F ...
was briefly imprisoned here during the revolt of Thermidor. He was rescued (equally briefly) by forces under François Hanriot before he was recaptured and executed at the guillotine.


Modern mementos

One of its chapels had a bronze urn containing the brain of
King James VII James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...
. After he died of a brain hemorrhage on 16 September 1701 at Saint-Germain-en-Laye his body was laid in a coffin at the Chapel of Saint Edmund in the Church of the English Benedictines in the Rue St. Jacques. However, during the French Revolution, his body was desecrated and the other remains were lost.


Notable alumni

*
Robert Barclay Robert Barclay (23 December 16483 October 1690) was a Scottish Quaker, one of the most eminent writers belonging to the Religious Society of Friends and a member of the Clan Barclay. He was a son of Col. David Barclay, Laird of Urie, and his ...
*
George Buchanan George Buchanan ( gd, Seòras Bochanan; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth century Scotland produced." ...
*
James Drummond, 2nd Duke of Perth James Drummond, 2nd Duke of Perth, etc., (c. 167417 April 1720) was a Scottish nobleman. He held the Peerage created for his father, James Drummond, 4th Earl of Perth, by the exiled Stuart monarchs at St Germain. Life The eldest son and heir of ...
* Thomas Innes * Alexander MacdonellMacDonald, Donald. "Alexander MacDonell." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 17 February 2019


See also

*
Auld Alliance The Auld Alliance ( Scots for "Old Alliance"; ; ) is an alliance made in 1295 between the kingdoms of Scotland and France against England. The Scots word ''auld'', meaning ''old'', has become a partly affectionate term for the long-lasting a ...
* Scots College, Douai * Collège des Écossais, Montpellier *
Scots College (disambiguation) Scots College or Scots School may refer to: Catholic seminaries * Scots College (Paris), France, (founded 1325) * Scots College, Douai, France, (founded 1573) * Scots College (Rome), Italy, (founded 1600), also known as The Pontifical Scots Col ...


Notes


Bibliography

*{{cite book , author=Grant, Sir Alexander , title=The Story of the University of Edinburgh During Its First Three Hundred Years Volume I , publisher=Longmans, Green and Co. , year=1884 , location=London


See Also

* Irish College in Paris * Scots College Rome *
Royal Scots College The Royal Scots College (Real Colegio de Escoceses) is a major seminary in Salamanca, Spain, for the Catholic Church in Scotland. It was located originally at Madrid, then Valladolid, and then Salamanca (from 1988). History The Royal Scots Colleg ...
, Salamanca, Spain Colleges of the University of Paris 1333 establishments in Europe 1330s establishments in France