Dictamen, or the art of letter writing, became a distinct branch of study in medieval universities, particularly in Italy at the University of Bologna. The growing relations between the church and state, the rapid progress of the law, a growing commerce, and the complex interrela tions of the feudal society and the prelates required standards and models of prose composition. The present art of letter writing has been the logical result of the past and is founded in the traditional or liberal art of rhetoric.