The Rise of Medieval Universities

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The Rise of Medieval Universities

Overview

The European university is a particular organization that emerged out of the conditions of medieval society. Students and teachers in Europe applied the medieval trend of guild organization to protect themselves from local laws, high prices, and prejudices. Wider needs within medieval society for people with skills and learning boosted student numbers, and universities grew to meet the demand.

Background

The collapse of the Roman Empire in the fourth century created a period of anarchy and economic crisis across Europe. The intellectual climate changed drastically, and large numbers of books and papers were lost or destroyed. The overall need for learned men fell in parallel with the decline of trade, economics, and local administration. Greek and Roman learning was preserved in Eastern Europe in the Byzantine Empire, and over time Islamic scholars absorbed and spread the ancient texts throughout the Middle East. In Western Europe the few surviving texts were scattered in monastery libraries. However, the early medieval monks were more interested in theological and philosophical texts than pagan mathematics or science, so few copies were made of such works. Over the centuries many surviving ancient texts decayed into dust, or were destroyed in wars and other disasters.

Latin was the language of the monks and the surviving texts were rewritten in abbreviated medieval style of Latin, often based on poor translations from Greek. Over time the curriculum of medieval learning became set, based on large compendiums of simplified Greek knowledge compiled by encyclopedists such as Boethius (480-524). Medieval learning was based on the seven liberal arts. The quadrivium (four) were mathematically based, comprising arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy, but these were much less popular than the linguistic trivium (three) of grammar, rhetoric, and logic, which led to further study in theology, philosophy, medicine, and law. The main demand for higher education was within the church, and the majority of students were clergy, as were their teachers.

In the eleventh century new contact with the East, in the form of the Crusades, helped to recover lost ancient knowledge. While the Crusades were mainly destructive and religious-driven wars, there were some positive outcomes for European society. Western scholars came to realize that Islamic intellectuals had a storehouse of ancient learning wider than their own. The Arabic scholars had added new material to the classics, either on their own, or by absorbing the intellectual traditions of nearby cultures such as Hindus and Babylonians. There was also contact with the Muslim world in Spain, the southern half of which was an Islamic state. Many European scholars traveled to Spain to learn Arabic and other so-called oriental languages.

European economics and politics slowly began to develop, and the growth in trade and government administration saw an increased need for literate and numerate scholars. The survival of ancient texts in Western monasteries had made them the focal points of medieval learning. The cathedral schools, especially those in capital cities or at pivotal trade routes, began to grow with the slow rise of trade and economic stability. These became centers for copying the new texts recovered from the East. While originally intended for religious study, various reforms made these schools accept secular students as well. As student numbers climbed, these centers of learning gradually evolved into universities.

Impact

The word university originates from the term universitas, which originally meant any collection of professionals in a guild or organization. The motivations behind these corporations were to provide their members with protection from rival groups, and enable price regulation and monopolies. Over time the term became narrowed to mean strictly a society of academics.

There is some debate among scholars about which particular place can be called the first university. The medical school at Salerno, in southern Italy, is often cited as the first university, or at least one of the first universities. Salerno was well known as a health resort from the ninth century. It was also a meeting place of Greek, Latin, Arabic, and Jewish learning, being a port situated on important trade routes. It became a universitas sometime in the twelfth century, and obtained formal recognition in 1231, but remained solely a medical school and did not influence the style and organization of later universities.

The universitas that was to inspire the majority of other institutions in southern Europe was Bologna. The Italian town had a law school of great renown, which attracted students from all over Europe, often from wealthy backgrounds. Like many medieval towns, Bologna discriminated against foreign residents. They were taxed at higher rates, charged more for lodging and food, had harsh laws imposed upon them, and were liable for military service. Near the end of the twelfth century the foreign law students at Bologna formed a union to provide protection from these local customs and laws. The students had to fight for their rights, and it took a three-year strike before their absence caused the authorities to give in to their demands. Students, it was discovered, were a vital part of the local economy, and so they could demand better treatment, or take their money elsewhere. To keep the students at Bologna they were granted cheap rent, food, and taxes, as well as exception from military service and the right to set teaching fees.

In Paris, at around the same time, the teachers of that city formed themselves into a corporation, a universitas magistorum. Students in Paris tended to be French, but their teachers were often foreign, and so organized themselves for protection and mutual benefit. Students were allowed to join the guild as junior members and, if they passed their examinations, could slowly advance up the corporate hierarchy. Paris was the model that later northern European universities followed.

Universities began to spread across Europe. Often disputes within a university led to migrations of teachers and students and the formation of new universities. Migrations from Bologna led to the founding of Padua (1222). Further moves from Padua led to the creation of a university at Vercelli (1228). Some historians claim that up to half the universities of medieval Europe originated from such disputes. Universities also sprung up seemingly on their own, although usually following the organizational principles of either Bologna or Paris. By 1500, there were 62 recognized universities in Europe.

The fortunes of universities were closely tied to the towns they existed within, or near. Many famous schools, such as Oxford and Cambridge, were founded at busy commercial centers. There was often conflict between the town authorities and the academic guilds. Many riots occurred in the early history of universities, referred to as "town versus gown battles." One of the questions at stake was who had legal authority over academics. Over time it became accepted that scholars could not be arrested or tortured by town authorities, except for murder. In effect, universities became independent entities with their own code of conduct and discipline.

In the early universities, lectures were usually held in the master's room, or a hired hall, as these universities owned no buildings of their own. Classes consisted of a master reading aloud and commenting on an established text, while the students copied down the lecture word for word. This gave the students both the original text and a learned commentary on the work. Lecturers who spoke too softly, or too quickly, were often shouted at by their students, and in some cases attacked. As the lecturers relied on the fees paid by their students, teachers could be boycotted, and driven by economic necessity to alter their teaching or leave. The use of Latin as the academic language meant that academics could study and teach in any European country. University students and teachers were very mobile, often traveling to several institutions in their careers, and helped create a European wide sense of learning.

Universities taught the seven liberal arts and at least some of the advanced topics of theology, law, medicine, and philosophy. Many universities began to include practical courses in response to public demand. Courses in the art of letter writing trained the clerks, money-counters, and administrators of the flourishing economy.

However, the era of growth did not last, as the fourteenth century was beset with famines, disease, and war. The conflict that came to be called The Hundred Years' War disrupted trade, and the plague known as the Black Death killed approximately a third of Europe's population. The universities continued as well as they could, although many were forced to suspend classes for extended periods. These disruptions had wider social implications, for while the twelfth century had been a time of expanding intellectual horizons, particularly with the influx of Arabic and ancient knowledge, the university curriculum now became fixed and rigidly taught.

By the sixteenth century many critics regarded the universities as places of backward, unimportant studies. University academics were accused of following their ancient sources too closely, while ignoring the dramatic changes in European religion, politics, economics, and wider discoveries of the world. Yet the universities survived and even flourished, for social changes had once again increased the demand for educated men to fill positions in commerce and administration, and the universities held a monopoly on higher learning. Universities continue to evolve today, and yet still retain some of their earliest characteristics, as formed in the medieval period.

DAVID TULLOCH