SORBONNE, the name formerly borne by the old faculty of theology in Paris, and now applied to the seat of the académie of that city and of the three faculties of theology, science, and literature. (See Feance, vol. ix. p. 513; Paris, vol. xviii. p. 281; and Universities.) The Sorbonne owes its origin and its name to Robert de Sorbon, a poor priest of Champagne, who, arriving in Paris about the beginning of the reign of St Louis, attained high repute by his sanctity and eloquence, and was appointed by the king to be his chaplain. Assisted by royal liberality, he built upon Mont Sainte-Geneviève a modest establishment in which were accommodated seven priests charged with the duty of teaching theology gratuitously; to this he added a college of preparatory studies, all under the direction of a provisor, under whom was an annual prior who had the actual management. The new institution was authorized by letters patent of 1255, and canonically sanctioned by Pope Alexander IV. in 1259. Destined originally for poor students, the Sorbonne soon became a meeting-place for all the students of the university of Paris, who resorted thither to hear the lectures of the most learned theologians of the period,—Guillaume de Saint Amour, Eudes de Douai, Laurent l’Anglais, Pierre d’Ailly. At the close of the century it was organized into a full faculty of theology, and under this definitive form it conferred bachelor’s, licentiate’s, and doctor’s degrees, and the severity of its examinations gave an exceptional value to its diplomas. The so-called “thèse Sorbonique,” instituted towards the beginning of the 14th century, became the type of its order by the length and difficulty of its tests. Ultimately the professors of the Sorbonne came to be resorted to, not only for ...