As
for _competitive_ examinations like the defunct Mathematical and
Classical Triposes here--with Senior Wranglers, Wooden Spoons and
what lay between--of all European Universities, Louvain alone
used the system and may have invented it. At Louvain the
candidates for the Mastership were placed in three classes, in
each of which the names were arranged in order of merit. The
first class were styled _Rigorosi_ (Honour-men), the second
_Transibiles_ (Pass-men), the third _Gratiosi_ (Charity-passes);
while a fourth class, not publicly announced, contained the names
of those who could not be passed on any terms. '_Si autem (quod
absit!),_' says the Statute, '_aliqui inveniantur refutabiles,
erant de quarto ordine._' 'These competitive examinations'--I
proceed in the historian's words--'contributed largely to raise
Louvain to the high position as a place of learning and education
which it retained before the Universities were roused from their
15th century torpor by the revival of Learning.
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