Authentica habita

Authentica habita,[1] or Privilegium Scholasticum, was a document written in c. 1155[1] by the Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa.

[2] In it, he set out for the first time some of the rules, rights and privileges of students and scholars.

A particular difficulty was the practice of the Right of Reprisal, where their property could be seized on foot of debts incurred by their countrymen.

The emperor incorporated the document into Justinian’s Codex, the extant body of Roman law, indicating its significance.

One medieval commentary to the document exists, written by Bartolomeo Bolognini[3] in 1492.