Medieval university is an institution of higher learning which was established during
High Middle AgesThe High Middle Ages was the period of European history in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
period and is a
corporationA corporation is a legal entity separate from the shareholders and employees. In British tradition it is the term designating a body corporate, where it can be either a corporation sole or a corporation aggregate...
.
The first
EuropeanEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
medieval institutions generally considered to be
universitiesA university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
were established in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, and
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in the late 11th and the 12th centuries for the study of
artsLiberal arts are the skills derived from the Classical education curriculum.-Definition:The term liberal arts denotes a curriculum that imparts general knowledge and develops the student’s rational thought and intellectual capabilities, unlike the professional, vocational, technical curricula...
,
lawLaw is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets...
,
medicineMedicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, and
theologyThe term "theology" literally means the study of God, deriving from the Greek word theos, meaning 'God', and the suffix -ology from the Greek word logos meaning "discourse", "theory", or "reasoning"...
. These universities evolved from much older schools and monasteries, and it is difficult to define the date at which they became true universities, although the lists of
studia generaliaStudium Generale is the old name for a medieval university which was registered as an institution of international excellence by the Holy Roman Empire. Most of the early Studia Generalia were found in Italy, France, England, Spain and Portugal, and these were considered the most prestigious places...
for higher education in Europe held by the
VaticanThe Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Roman Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
are a useful guide.
"The word
universitas originally applied only to the scholastic guild (or guilds)—that is, the corporation of students and masters—within the
studium, and it was always modified, as
universitas magistrorum, or
universitas scholarium, or
universitas magistrorum et scholarium. In the course of time, however, probably toward the latter part of the 14th century, the term began to be used by itself, with the exclusive meaning of a self-regulating community of teachers and scholars whose corporate
existence had been recognized and sanctioned by civil or ecclesiastical authority."
Origins
The question which of the contemporary world's universities are the oldest depends on how a university is defined. Some higher education institutions like the Nalanda University or
University of ConstantinopleThe University of Constantinople, sometimes known as the University of the palace hall of Magnaura in the Byzantine Empire was founded in 425 under the name of Pandidakterion...
have their origins in late antiquity and thus claim to be the oldest universities. If a univeristy is defined as an "
academic degreeA degree is any of a wide range of status levels conferred by institutions of higher education, such as universities, normally as the result of successfully completing a program of study.- History :...
-granting higher education institution" then what is now the University of Al-Karaouine (established in 859) and what is now
Al-Azhar UniversityAl-Azhar University in Egypt, founded in 970~972, is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Sunni Islamic learning in the world and the world's second oldest surviving degree granting university. It is associated with Al-Azhar mosque in Islamic Cairo. The university's mission includes the...
(established in 975) can claim to be the oldest universities since the
University of ConstantinopleThe University of Constantinople, sometimes known as the University of the palace hall of Magnaura in the Byzantine Empire was founded in 425 under the name of Pandidakterion...
, which was refounded in the 9th century as a secular institute of higher learning to support the state administration, did not grant degrees, and neither did the many higher institutes of learning in pre-modern China. However, medieval specialists have defined the term university to mean a higher institution that is also a legally autonomous corporation, and by this definition universities are the unique creation of the West European
High Middle AgesThe High Middle Ages was the period of European history in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
. By this definition, neither Early Medieval
cathedralThe idea for widespread schools dates back to Charlemagne, a king of the Franks. He knew that the Frankish empire would be weak without an education. Because a Frankish King started it, it quickly spread throughout northern and central France. Over time, the schools were fused with the church and...
or monastic schools, nor Byzantine, Islamic, Chinese or Indian institutions of higher learning were universities, since they lacked the corporate legal structure of the later Western European university. Medieval specialists have coined the term "Islamic college" for institutions such as the medieval Al-Azhar
madrasa, precisely to clarify the point that, unlike the medieval European university, pre-modern Islamic colleges were not corporations. Toby Huff summarizes the difference as follows: "From a structural and legal point of view, the madrasa and the university were contrasting types. Whereas the madrasa was a pious endowment under the law of religious and charitable foundations, the universities of Europe were legally autonomous corporate entities that had many legal rights and privileges. These included the capacity to make their own internal rules and regulations, the right to buy and sell property, to have legal representation in various forums, to make contracts, to sue and be sued."
By this definition of a university, the first university in medieval Europe, and thus the world, was the
University of BolognaThe University of Bologna is the oldest continually operating degree-granting university in Europe, the word 'university' being first used by this institution at its foundation. The true date of its founding is uncertain, but believed by most accounts to have been 1088...
(established in 1088). Some scholars have argued that the first universities in Europe were influenced in certain ways by the
MadrasahMadrasah is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious...
s in
Islamic SpainAl-Andalus was the Arabic name given to the parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Arab and North African Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492....
and the
Emirate of SicilyThe Emirate of Sicily was an Islamic state on the island of Sicily , which existed from 965 to 1072.-First Arab invasions of Sicily:...
at the time, and in the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. Other scholars however, have questioned this, highlighting the very significant differences in the structure, methodologies, procedures, and curricula and legal status of the "Islamic college" (
madrasa) versus the European university.
With the increasing growth and urbanization of European society during the 12th and 13th centuries, a demand grew for professional
clergyClergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. The term ultimately comes from the Greek κλῆρος - klēros, "a lot", "that which is assigned by lot" or metaphorically, "inheritence"....
. Before the 12th century, the intellectual life of Western Europe had been largely relegated to
monasteriesMonastery , a term derived from the Greek word μοναστήριον, neut. of μοναστήριος - monasterios denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer Monastery (plural: monasteries), a term derived from the Greek word μοναστήριον, neut. of μοναστήριος - monasterios...
, which were mostly concerned with the performing the
liturgyA liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions. The word may refer to an elaborate formal ritual such as the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy and Catholic Mass, or a daily activity such as the Muslim salat and Jewish services...
and prayer; relatively few monasteries could boast true intellectuals. Following the
Gregorian ReformThe Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, circa 1050–80, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy...
's emphasis on canon law and the study of the
sacramentA sacrament, as defined in Hexam's Concise Dictionary of Religion is what Roman Catholics believe to be "a rite in which God is uniquely active." Augustine of Hippo defined a Christian sacrament as "a visible sign of an invisible reality." The Anglican Book of Common Prayer speaks of them as "an...
s, bishops formed
cathedral schoolThe idea for widespread schools dates back to Charlemagne, a king of the Franks. He knew that the Frankish empire would be weak without an education. Because a Frankish King started it, it quickly spread throughout northern and central France. Over time, the schools were fused with the church and...
s to train the clergy in
Canon lawCanon Law, the ecclesiastical law of the Roman Church, is a fully developed legal system, with all the necessary elements: courts, lawyers, judges, a fully articulated legal code and principles of legal interpretation. The academic degrees in canon law are the J.C.B. , J.C.L...
, but also in the more secular aspects of religious administration, including logic and disputation for use in preaching and theological discussion, and accounting to more effectively control finances. Learning became essential to advancing in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and teachers also gained prestige. However, demand quickly outstripped the capacity of cathedral schools, each of which was essentially run by one teacher. In addition, tensions rose between the students of cathedral schools and burghers in smaller towns. As a result cathedral schools migrated to large cities, like
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and
BolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of northern Italy...
.
The first universities in Europe (
University of BolognaThe University of Bologna is the oldest continually operating degree-granting university in Europe, the word 'university' being first used by this institution at its foundation. The true date of its founding is uncertain, but believed by most accounts to have been 1088...
(1088),
University of OxfordThe University of Oxford , located in the UK city of Oxford, is the oldest surviving university in the English-speaking world and is regarded as one of the world's leading academic institutions. Although the exact date of foundation remains unclear, there is evidence of teaching there as far back...
(1096),
University of ParisThe historic University of Paris was founded in the mid 12th century, likely between 1160 and 1170 , In 1970 it was reorganized as 13 autonomous universities...
(1150),
University of ModenaThe University of Modena and Reggio Emilia , located in Modena and Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, is one of the oldest universities in Italy, founded in 1175, with a population of more than 20,000 students....
(1175),
University of PalenciaThe University of Palencia was founded by Alfonso VIII at the request of Bishop Tello Téllez de Meneses and was the first university of Spain. It was the model upon which was patterned the University of Salamanca....
(1208),
University of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge , located in the City of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, is the second oldest university in the English-speaking world and the fourth oldest in Europe...
(1209),
University of SalamancaThe University of Salamanca , located in the town of Salamanca, west of Madrid, is the oldest university in Spain , and one of the oldest in Europe. It was founded by Alfonso IX of León in 1218 as a "General School"...
(1218),
University of MontpellierThe University of Montpellier was a French university in Montpellier in the Languedoc-Roussillon région of the south of France. Its present-day successor universities are the University of Montpellier 1, Montpellier 2 University and Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III.-History:The university...
(1220),
University of PaduaThe University of Padua , located in Padua, Italy, was founded in 1222. It is among the earliest of the universities and the second oldest in Italy...
(1222),
University of ToulouseThe University of Toulouse is a consortium of universities and other institutions of higher education and research, named after one of the earliest universities established in Europe in 1229, and including the successor universities to that earlier university...
(1229) and
University of OrleansThe University of Orléans is a French university, in the Academy of Orléans and Tours.-History:In 1230, when for a time the doctors of the University of Paris were scattered, a number of the teachers and disciples took refuge in Orléans; when pope Boniface VIII, in 1298, promulgated the sixth book...
(1235)) began as private corporations of teachers and their pupils. Soon they realized they need protection against local city authorities. They petioned secular power for privileges and this became a model. Emperor
Frederick IFrederick I Barbarossa was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1154, and finally crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155. He was crowned King of Burgundy at Arles on 30 June 1178...
in
Authentica Habita (1158) gave the first privileges to students in Bologna. Another step was when
Pope Alexander IIIPope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...
in 1179 "forbidding masters of the church schools to take fees for granting the license to teach (
licentia docendi), and obliging them to give license to properly qualified teachers".
Establishment
A predecessor of the modern university was in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, especially under the guidance of
Peter AbelardPeter Abelard was a medieval French scholastic philosopher, theologian and preeminent logician. The story of his affair with and love for Héloïse has become legendary...
, who wrote
Sic et NonSic et Non, an early scholastic text whose title translates from Medieval Latin as "Yes and No," was written by Peter Abelard. In the work, Abélard juxtaposes apparently contradictory quotations from the Church Fathers on many of the traditional topics of Christian theology...
("Yes and No"), which collected texts for university study. Dissatisfied with tensions between burghers and students and the censorship of leading intellectuals by the Church, Abelard and others formed the
Universitas, modelled on the mediaeval
guildA guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade.The earliest guilds were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel and a secret society...
, self-regulating, permanent institution of higher education. The University of Paris became one of the first clearly established universities, when
Pope Gregory IXPope Gregory IX, born Ugolino di Conti, was pope from March 19, 1227 to August 22, 1241.The successor of Pope Honorius III , he fully inherited the traditions of Pope Gregory VII and of his uncle Pope Innocent III , and zealously continued their policy of Papal supremacy.-Early life:Ugolino was...
issued the bull
Parens Scientiarium (1231).
This was revolutionary step:
studium generale (university) and
universitas (corporation of students or teachers) existed even before, but now it got
autonomyAutonomy is a concept found in moral, political, and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it refers to the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...
. "[T]he papal bull of 1233, which stipulated that anyone admitted to be a teacher in
ToulouseToulouse is a city in southwest France on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With 1,102,882 inhabitants as of Jan...
had the right to teach everywhere without further examinations (
ius ubique docendi), in time, transformed this privilege into the single most important defining characteristic of the university and made it the symbol of its institutional autonomy . . . By the year 1292, even the two oldest universities, Bologna and Paris, felt the need to seek similar bulls from
Pope Nicholas IVPope Nicholas IV , born Girolamo Masci, was Pope from February 22, 1288 to April 4, 1292. A Franciscan monk, he had been legate to the Greeks under Pope Gregory X in 1272, succeeded Bonaventure as general of his order in 1274, was made Cardinal Priest of Santa Prassede and Latin Patriarch of...
."
By the 13th century, almost half of the highest offices in the Church were occupied by degreed masters (
abbotThe word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
s,
archbishopIn Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. In many Christian Churches, this means that they lead a diocese of particular importance called an archdiocese, or in the Anglican Communion an Ecclesiastical Province, but this is not always the case. An archbishop is equivalent to a bishop in...
s,
cardinalsA cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and making themselves available...
), and over one-third of the second-highest offices were occupied by masters. In addition, some of the greatest theologians of the
High Middle AgesThe High Middle Ages was the period of European history in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
,
Thomas AquinasSaint Thomas Aquinas, O.P. was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church in the Dominican Order from Italy, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus and Doctor Communis...
and
Robert GrossetesteRobert Grosseteste , English statesman, scholastic philosopher, theologian and Bishop of Lincoln, was born of humble parents at Stradbroke in Suffolk. A.C...
, were products of the medieval university.
The development of the medieval university coincided with the widespread reintroduction of
AristotleAristotle was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology.Together with Plato and Socrates , Aristotle is one of...
from
ByzantineThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
and
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
scholars. In fact, the European university put Aristotelian and other natural scientce texts at the century of its curriculum, with the result that the "medieval university laid far greater emphasis on science than does its modern counterpart and decendent."
Although has been assumed that the universities went into decline during the
RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
because the scholastic and Aristotelian emphasis of its curriculum was less popular than the cultural studies of Renaissance humanism, Toby Huff has noted the continued importance of the European universities, with their focus on Aristotle and other scientific and philosophical texts, into the early modern period, arguing that they played a crucial role in the
Scientific RevolutionIn the history of science, the scientific revolution was a period when new ideas in physics, astronomy, biology, human anatomy, chemistry, and other sciences led to a rejection of doctrines that had prevailed from Ancient Greece through the Middle Ages, and laid the foundation of modern science...
of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. As he puts it "Copernicus, Galileo, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, and Newton were all extraordinary products of the apparently procrustean and allegedly Scholastic universities of Europe....sociological and historical accounts of the role of the university as an institutional locus for science and as an incubator of scientific thought and arguments have been vastly understated."
Characteristics
Initially medieval universities did not have a
campusA campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
. Classes were taught wherever space was available, such as churches and homes. A university was not a physical space but a collection of individuals banded together as an
universitas. Soon, however, some universities (such as
CambridgeThe University of Cambridge , located in the City of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, is the second oldest university in the English-speaking world and the fourth oldest in Europe...
) began to buy or rent rooms specifically for the purposes of teaching.
Universities were generally structured along three types, depending on who paid the teachers. The first type was in
BolognaThe University of Bologna is the oldest continually operating degree-granting university in Europe, the word 'university' being first used by this institution at its foundation. The true date of its founding is uncertain, but believed by most accounts to have been 1088...
, where students hired and paid for the teachers. The second type was in
ParisThe historic University of Paris was founded in the mid 12th century, likely between 1160 and 1170 , In 1970 it was reorganized as 13 autonomous universities...
, where teachers were paid by the church. Oxford and Cambridge were predominantly supported by the crown and the state, a fact which helped them survive the
Dissolution of the MonasteriesThe Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, denotes the administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, nunneries and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their income, disposed...
in 1538 and the subsequent removal of all the principal
CatholicThe word Catholic is derived from the Greek adjective , meaning "universal". In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages. For some, the term "Catholic Church" refers to the church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, made up of the Latin Rite and the 22...
institutions in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. These structural differences created other characteristics. At the Bologna university the students ran everything -- a fact that often put teachers under great pressure and disadvantage. In Paris, teachers ran the school; thus Paris became the premiere spot for teachers from all over Europe. Also, in Paris the main subject matter was theology, so control of the qualifications awarded was in the hands of an external authority - the Chancellor of the diocese. In Bologna, where students chose more secular studies, the main subject was law.
University studies took six years for a
Bachelor's degreeA bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for four years, but can range from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
and up to twelve additional years for a master's degree and doctorate. The first six years were organized by the
faculty of artsThe Faculty of Arts was one of the four traditional divisions of the teaching bodies of medieval universities, the others being Theology, Law and Medicine...
, where the seven
liberal artsLiberal arts are the skills derived from the Classical education curriculum.-Definition:The term liberal arts denotes a curriculum that imparts general knowledge and develops the student’s rational thought and intellectual capabilities, unlike the professional, vocational, technical curricula...
were taught: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music theory, grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The primary emphasis was on logic.
Once a
Bachelor of ArtsBachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences or both....
degree had been conferred, the student could leave the university or pursue further studies, in one of the three other faculties –
lawLaw is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets...
,
medicineMedicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, or
theologyThe term "theology" literally means the study of God, deriving from the Greek word theos, meaning 'God', and the suffix -ology from the Greek word logos meaning "discourse", "theory", or "reasoning"...
– in which to pursue the
master's degreeA master's degree is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
and doctorate degree. Theology was the most prestigious area of study, and the most difficult.
Courses were offered according to books, not by subject or theme. For example a course might be on a book by
AristotleAristotle was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology.Together with Plato and Socrates , Aristotle is one of...
, or a book from the
BibleThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
. Courses were not elective: the course offerings were set, and everyone had to take the same courses. There were, however, occasional choices as to which teacher to use.
Students entered the University at fourteen to fifteen years of age. Classes usually started at 05:00 or 06:00. Students were afforded the legal protection of the clergy. In this way no one was allowed to physically harm them; they could only be tried for crimes in a church court, and were thus immune from any
corporal punishmentCorporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to change an undesirable attitude or behaviour...
. This gave students free rein in urban environments to break secular laws with impunity, a fact which produced many abuses: theft, rape and murder were not uncommon among students who did not face serious consequences. This led to uneasy tensions with secular authorities. Students would sometimes "strike" by leaving a city and not returning for years. This happened at the
University of Paris strike of 1229In 1229, a student riot at the University of Paris resulted in the deaths of a number of students, and the ensuing "dispersion" or student strike in protest lasted more than two years and led to a number of reforms of the medieval university...
after a riot (started by the students) left a number of students dead; the University went on strike and they did not return for two years. As the students had the legal status of clerics which, according to the Canon Law, could not be held by women, women were not admitted into universities.
A popular textbook for university study was called the
SentencesThe Four Books of Sentences is a book of theology written by Peter Lombard in the twelfth century. It is a systematic compilation of theology, written around 1150; it derives its name from the sententiae or authoritative statements on biblical passages that it gathered together.- Origin and...
(
Quattuor libri sententiarum) of
Peter LombardPeter Lombard or Petrus Lombardus; was a scholastic theologian and bishop and author of Four Books of Sentences, which became the standard textbook of theology, for which he is also known as Magister Sententiarum.-Biography:Peter Lombard was born in Lumellogno , to a poor...
; theology students and masters were required to write extensive commentaries on this text as part of their curriculum. Much of medieval thought in philosophy and theology can be found in
scholasticScholasticism is derived from the Latin word scholasticus , which means "that [which] belongs to the school," and was a method of learning taught by the academics of medieval universities circa 1100–1500...
textual commentary because scholasticism was such a popular method of teaching.
Most universities of international excellence in Europe were registered by the
Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
as a
Studium GeneraleStudium Generale is the old name for a medieval university which was registered as an institution of international excellence by the Holy Roman Empire. Most of the early Studia Generalia were found in Italy, France, England, Spain and Portugal, and these were considered the most prestigious places...
. Members of these institutions were encouraged to disseminate their knowledge across Europe, often giving lecture courses at a different
Studium GeneraleStudium Generale is the old name for a medieval university which was registered as an institution of international excellence by the Holy Roman Empire. Most of the early Studia Generalia were found in Italy, France, England, Spain and Portugal, and these were considered the most prestigious places...
.
See also
- University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
- List of medieval universities
- List of oldest universities in continuous operation
- Medieval university (Asia)
Medieval universities did not exist in Asia in the strict sense of the phrase. However, there were important centres of learning that can be compared to the universities of Europe...
- Ancient university
Ancient university is a term used to describe the medieval and renaissance universities of England and Scotland that have continued to exist.-Great Britain:The ancient universities in United Kingdom are, in order of formation:...
- Renaissance of the 12th century
The Renaissance of the 12th century was a period of many changes during the High Middle Ages. It included social, political and economic transformations, and an intellectual revitalization of Europe with strong philosophical and scientific roots...
- Studium Generale
Studium Generale is the old name for a medieval university which was registered as an institution of international excellence by the Holy Roman Empire. Most of the early Studia Generalia were found in Italy, France, England, Spain and Portugal, and these were considered the most prestigious places...
- Ancient universities of Scotland
The ancient universities of Scotland are medieval and renaissance universities which continue to exist until the present day. The majority of the ancient universities of the British Isles are located within Scotland, and have a number of distinctive features in common, being governed by a series of...
- Town and gown
Town and gown are two distinct communities of a university town; "town" being the non-academic population and "gown" metonymically being the university community, especially in ancient seats of learning such as Oxford, Cambridge and St Andrews, though also in more modern university towns such as...
- Nation (university corporation)
External links