University scepter
The university scepter ( sceptrum universitatis ), like the seal ( Typar ), is one of the insignia of the late medieval university . They have existed since the 14th century, usually as a couple. In doing so, the university showed its special legal position to the outside world, namely to be its own corporation with its own jurisdiction and thus its own domain and as a sign of the dignity of the rector . In some universities, the scepter was carried by the pedel in front of the rector on ceremonial occasions .
It is based on the princely scepter both in form and in function . They have a long shaft, which is usually divided by knobs or rings and a crown as the upper and a knob as the lower end of a handle part.
The university sceptres were usually very laboriously manufactured and not infrequently reworked over time due to not always careful use or due to changing artistic taste.
literature
- Walter Paatz : Sceptrum universitatis. The European university scepter. Heidelberg Art History Treatises, NF 2, Heidelberg 1953.
- Masterpieces of European Gothic goldsmithing: exhibition for the 600th anniversary of the university. Old University, October 1 to November 2, 1986, [editor], Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; [Catalog texts, Jürgen Miethke and Johann Michael Fritz], Heidelberg 1986.
