UNIVERSITY DEGREES.
It does not appear that there were any degrees in either the Greek or Roman academies; the only distinction was that of masters and scholars. The first seminaries of learning among christians were the cathedral churches and monasteries, but in process of time the schools belonging to them were regulated, and men of learning opened others in places where they could find protection and encouragement. Hence the origin of universities, which at first were merely a collection of those schools, to which Princes and great men gave liberal endowments, and granted particular immunities and privileges. Degrees were not conferred till the universities were incorporated; a circumstance extremely probable, when we recollect that all civil honours must be derived from the supreme magistrate.
The most ancient degrees were those of Bachelor and Master of Arts. Before the existence of a certain statute, which obliged the theologists to be regents in arts previously to their ascending the chair of Doctor, they were only students, and bachelors, or masters of divinity, without reading the arts. At that time the degrees in arts were held in such estimation, as to be thought superior to that of doctor in any other faculty.
The degree of Doctor was not known in England till the time of Henry II. It afterwards became common, and was taken not only by Professors of Divinity, Law, and Medicine, but by those of Grammar, Music, Philosophy, Arts, &c. As the Doctors of those professions, however, seldom obtained great honour or riches, this degree declined and fell into neglect. That of Music is the only one which has survived.