I've been reading Janet P Foggie's 'Renaissance Religion in Urban Scotland: the Dominican Order, 1450-1560.' Can anyone point me in the direction of further reading on the Studia Solemnia, that is the houses which were big enough to have young men who required teaching but which were not attached to a university? Was the course of study imposed there roughly equivalent to a first degree (Master of Arts) at St Andrews or Glasgow? Given that the next step was to study Theology at a university, and given that Theology was usually approached as a second degree, this seems a reasonable assumption, but it's only an assumption so far. What, and how, did they study? Foggie mentions public lectures: how public was public? I would assume local clergy might attend, and perhaps the songmen of the parish church if it was big enough to have a significant choir, but would local lay persons be invited/accepted? Would women be barred altogether?

Any information gladly received.

Pat