Medieval universities supplied higher education, just like modern colleges do. There are, nevertheless, a number of significant distinctions, ranging from student kinds to the curriculum. A network of universities emerged throughout Europe starting in the 12th century, primarily in what is now France, Italy, and England. Theology, medicine, law, and liberal arts were taught at these medieval universities. In the beginning, colleges resembled corporations with both professors and students. They functioned as centers of learning and teaching for men from other nations.
A company established for the purpose of higher education during the Middle Ages was known as a medieval university. Between the 11th and the 15th centuries, the Kingdoms of England, France, Spain, Portugal, and Scotland, as well as the Kingdoms of Sicily and Naples, established the first Western European institutions commonly referred to as universities for the study of the arts and the higher disciplines of theology, law, and medicine.It is challenging to pinpoint the precise moment at when these universities transformed from far earlier Christian cathedral schools and monastic institutions, however the Vatican’s listings of studia generalia for higher education in Europe serve as a helpful reference.
The word universitas was always amended to universitas magistrorum, universitas scholarium, or universitas magistrorum et scholarium. Originally, the word universitas exclusively referred to the scholastic guilds, or the corporation of students and masters, within the studium. Eventually, most likely in the late 14th century, the name started to occur by itself to refer only to an autonomous group of academics and instructors who were approved and acknowledged by governmental or religious authorities.
This Western-style organizational structure began to expand from the medieval Latin west during the Early Modern era and finally supplanted all other higher education establishments to become the standard for higher education globally.
ANTECEDENTS
The university is typically thought of as a formal establishment with roots in the Christian Middle Ages. Before universities were founded, Christian cathedral schools and monastic schools (scholae monasticae), run by nuns and monks, provided higher education for hundreds of years in Europe.[More information required] In several locations, there is evidence of these direct forerunners of the university dating back to the sixth century AD.
Throughout the 12th and 13th centuries, as European civilization grew more urbanized and expanded, there was an increasing need for professional clergy. In response to the Gregorian Reform’s focus on canon law and sacrament studies, bishops established cathedral schools to instruct clergy in both canon law and the more secular facets of church governance, such as logic and disputation for use in preaching and theological discussion, and accounting to control finances more effectively. Pope Gregory VII was critical in promoting and regulating the concept of modern university, as his 1079 Papal Decree ordered the regulated establishment of cathedral schools that transformed themselves into the first European universities.
Both instructors’ status and advancement in the ecclesiastical hierarchy depended on their ability to learn. The cathedral schools, each essentially under the direction of a single schoolmaster, soon found themselves overrun by demand. Furthermore, there was an increase in hostilities between burghers in smaller towns and students from cathedral schools. Cathedral schools moved to major towns like Bologna, Rome, and Paris as a result.
Madrasahs and early European colleges share certain similarities, as noticed by S. F. Alatas, who suggests that the madrasahs in Islamic Spain and the Emirate of Sicily had an impact on the founding institutions of Europe. However, this has been contested by George Makdisi, Toby Huff, and Norman Daniel, who point out the absence of proof for a real transmission from the Islamic world to Christian Europe and the differences in the structure, methodologies, procedures, curricula and legal status of the “Islamic college” (madrasa) versus the European university.
THE EVOLUTION OF MEDIEVAL HIGHER EDUCATION
These medieval universities were not the first of their sort, of course. Prior to them, there were schools run by monasteries and cathedrals that were part of the Church. Following the fall of the Roman Empire, these institutions emerged as early as the sixth century. Their teachers were both nuns and monks since they were directly governed by the Church. During this period, the principal centers of intellectual, cultural, and artistic advancement were monasteries.
MONASTIC SCHOOL
An educational establishment housed inside a church. Such schools were mostly dedicated to religious studies. The pupils did, however, also obtain general education. Following their education, these pupils were supposed to become monks or clerics.
But as metropolitan areas gained importance, so did the demand for higher education institutions. As a result, several universities started to appear in cities all throughout Europe starting in the 12th century. Pope Gregory VII’s Papal Decree of 1079 marked the beginning of the final transition from cathedral schools to universities. Early colleges placed a strong emphasis on theological education, and their alumni became prominent members of the Church. Their curriculum also included other topics, such liberal arts, at the same time.
IMPORTANCE OF MEDIEVAL UNIVERSITIES
It is impossible to overstate the significance of universities in the Middle Ages. They train the incoming government officers of the realm to be future priests’ preachers in their halls. They had a significant influence on the populace by dictating beliefs and behavior.
The Middle Ages were practically formed by the medieval universities! They developed into trading centers, havens, and even cities. They so incited such terror and rage that even popes and monarchs, like Wittenberg at the end of the Middle Ages, trembled.
Universities in medieval Europe kept changing as they grew increasingly diversified into the Renaissance. Liberal arts undergraduates were the focus of universities in Northern Europe. Graduate studies in theology continue to be taught by top faculty members. Doctorate students in law and medical are offered by Italian universities. Their design enabled scholars to do study in a wide range of disciplines, such as philosophy, law, medicine, and the humanities. These modifications were a part of the Renaissance and Reformation’s social upheaval.
FEATURES
Unlike the campuses of modern universities, medieval universities did not initially have the same physical amenities. Classes were held in houses and churches, or anywhere there was a space available. A university was a group of people united as a universitas, not a physical location. But soon, colleges started to build, own, or rent buildings specifically for the purposes of teaching.
Generally speaking, universities were divided into three categories based on who was paying the instructors. The earliest kind was in Bologna, where students employed instructors and covered their salaries. The second kind was in Paris, where the church provided salaries for instructors. The state and the crown provided Oxford and Cambridge with a great deal of support, which allowed them to weather the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538 and the subsequent expulsion of all major Catholic institutions from England. Other traits were produced by these structural variations. The university in Bologna was run entirely by students, which frequently placed instructors under a lot of strain and disadvantage. Since teachers ran the schools in Paris, the city rose to prominence as a destination for educators from across Europe. In Paris, theology was also the primary subject.
Teachers and researchers also have a tendency to be mobile. The marketization of education resulted from universities frequently competing to get the most qualified and well-liked instructors. To persuade students to study at their institution, universities released lists of distinguished experts. Peter Abelard’s students accompanied him to Paris, Corbeil, and Melun, demonstrating that well-liked educators brought their students along.
STUDENT
The ages of the students who attended the medieval university varied; they could have been as young as 14 if they were studying the arts in Oxford or Paris, or as old as 30 if they were studying law in Bologna. Students during this time of study frequently lived alone and distant from home; as a result, they gained a reputation for wild revelry among both modern historians and contemporary pundits. Students receive criticism all the time. In the Middle Ages for neglecting their studies for drinking, gambling and sleeping with prostitutes. In Bologna, some of their laws permitted students to be citizens of the city if they were enrolled at a university.
STUDY COURSES
A Bachelor of Arts degree was granted at completion of the third or fourth year of university studies, but a Master of Arts degree required six years of study. The faculty of arts, which teaches the seven liberal arts—arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music theory, language, logic, and rhetoric—organized the studies for this. Latin was the language of instruction, and pupils were expected to communicate in it. Grammar, logic, and rhetoric were the three subjects that made up the trivium, which was taught first. Arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy made up the quadrivium. Following the trivium’s preparatory coursework, the quadrivium was taught with the goal of awarding a Master of Arts degree. Three Aristotelian philosophies eventually found their way into the curriculum: metaphysics, physics, and moral philosophy
Scholasticism was such a popular mode of instruction that a great deal of medieval thought, both in philosophy and theology, may be found in scholastic textual commentary. The classic grammar textbook was Aelius Donatus’ Ars grammatica; Eberhard of Béthune’s Priscian and Graecismus were also studied. Rhetoric was studied through the works of Cicero. Readings in logic included Summulae Logicales by Petrus Hispanus (later Pope John XXI), Gilbert de la Porrée’s De sex principiis, and Porphyry’s introduction to Aristotelian logic. Tractatus de sphaera was considered the definitive text in astronomy.
Following the awarding of a Master of Arts degree, the graduate could choose to quit the institution or continue their education in one of the higher faculties, law, medicine, or theology, with the last option being the most prestigious. Originally, only few universities had a faculty of theology, because the popes wanted to control the theological studies. Until the mid-14th century, theology could be studied only at universities in Paris, Oxford, Cambridge and Rome. First the establishment of the University of Prague (1347) ended their monopoly and afterwards also other universities got the right to establish theological faculties.
The Sentences (Quattuor libri sententiarum) by Peter Lombard was a well-liked textbook for theological study; both masters and theology students were required to lecture or write extensive commentaries on this text as part of their curriculum; studies in the higher faculties could take up to twelve years for a master’s degree or doctorate (though initially the two were synonymous), though again a bachelor’s and a licentiate’s degree could be awarded along the way. Courses were offered according to books, not by subject or theme; for instance, a course might be on a book by Aristotle or a book from the Bible. Elective courses were not offered; instead, everyone had to take the same courses.
IN SUMMARY
To sum up, the Medieval University represents a significant aspect of Middle Ages intellectual history. The university was a technology that enabled intellectual growth and economic awakening on the European continent in this era, and it is the direct ancestor of the contemporary university that is now found all over the world.
