As to Paris, the next stage in Scot’s educational progress, the historian of that University becomes much more convincing when he claims for _Lutetia_ the honour of having contributed in a special sense to the formation of this scholar’s mind. For here tradition has preserved one of those sobriquets which are almost invariably authentic. Scot, it seems, gained here the name of _Michael the Mathematician_,[18] and this corresponds, not only with what is known concerning the character of his studies, but also with the nature of the course for which Paris was then famous. There is another circumstance which seems to point strongly in the same direction. Every one must have noticed how invariably the name of Scot is honoured by the prefix of _Master_. This is the case not only in his printed works, but also in popular tradition, as may be seen in the well-known rhyme:—‘Maister Michael Scot’s man.’[19] A Florence manuscript, to which we shall presently refer more fully, throws some light upon the meaning of this title, by describing Scot as that scholar, ‘who among the rest is known as the chief Master.’[20] It is matter of common knowledge, that this degree had special reference to the studies of the _Trivium_ and _Quadrivium_, being the scholastic crown reserved for those who had made satisfactory progress in the liberal arts. Scot then, according to the testimony of early times, was the supreme Master in this department of knowledge. But it is also certain that Paris was then recognised as the chief school of the _Trivium_ and _Quadrivium_, just as Bologna had a like reputation for Law, and Salerno for Medicine.[21] We are therefore warranted to conclude that Michael Scot could never have been saluted in European schools as ‘Supreme Master,’ had he not studied long in the French capital, and carried off the highly esteemed honours of Paris.