The first philosophical faculty in Saxony.

What is it about?

The University of Leipzig was founded in the year 1409. In the faculty of arts - the heart and the basis of the old university as a whole - there were numerous controversies during the first century of existence. From the very beginning it competed with the old University of Prague, its historic mother, for an independent manner of philosophical thinking. The so-called "Wegestreit" between the "via moderna" and the "via antiqua", and the "Poetenstreit" between traditional and new humanistic patterns of science and philosophy were constituents of late medieval philosophy in Germany. Especially the various forms of academic disputation, that is ordinary, extraordinary and quodlibetal disputation, played an important part within the first hundred years of existence of this university, specifically its faculty of arts. The famous disputation between Johann Eck and Martin Luther at Leipzig in the year 1519 was one of the culminating points of this practice. Considerable work remains to be done on the exploration of late medieval philosophy. The analysis of the collection of medieval philosophical manuscripts originating from the old University of Leipzig could provide some new material for our historical knowledge of this period. On occasion of the 600-th anniversary of the foundation of the University of Leipzig the article throws a light on the early intellectual history of that institution.

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