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{{short description|Corporation organized during the Middle Ages for the purposes of higher education}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}{{About|Western European institutions|other early centers of higher learning|Ancient higher-learning institutions|an overview of medieval foundations|List of medieval universities}}
[[File:Archiginnasio ora blu Bologna.jpg|thumb|The [[University of Bologna]], established in [[medieval Italy]] (1088), is the [[List of oldest universities in continuous operation|world's oldest university in continuous operation]].]]

A '''medieval university''' was a [[Corporation#History|corporation]] organized during the [[Middle Ages]] for the purposes of [[higher education]]. The first Western European institutions generally considered to be [[University|universities]] were established in present-day Italy, including the Kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]] and [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]], and the Kingdoms of [[Kingdom of England|England]], [[Kingdom of France|France]], [[Kingdom of Spain|Spain]], [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portugal]], and [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]] between the 11th and 15th centuries for the study of the [[Liberal arts|arts]] and the higher disciplines of [[theology]], [[law]], and [[medicine]].<ref name="de Ridder-Symoens 1992, 47–55">de Ridder-Symoens (1992), pp. 47–55</ref> These universities evolved from much older [[Christianity|Christian]] [[cathedral school]]s and [[monastic school]]s,<ref name=Riche/><ref>Rüegg, Walter: "Foreword. The University as a European Institution", in: ''A History of the University in Europe. Vol. 1: Universities in the Middle Ages'', Cambridge University Press, 1992, {{ISBN|0-521-36105-2}}, pp. XIX–XX</ref><ref>Verger, Jacques. "The Universities and Scholasticism," in ''The New Cambridge Medieval History. Volume V: c. 1198–c. 1300''. Cambridge University Press, 2007. p. 257.</ref> and it is difficult to define the exact date when they became true universities, though the lists of [[studium generale|studia generalia]] for higher education in Europe held by the [[Roman Curia|Vatican]] are a useful guide.

The word {{lang|la|universitas}} originally applied only to the [[Scholasticism|scholastic]] [[guild]]s—that is, the corporation of students and masters—within the {{lang|la|studium}}, and it was always modified, as {{lang|la|universitas magistrorum}}, {{lang|la|universitas scholarium}}, or {{lang|la|universitas magistrorum et scholarium}}. Eventually, probably in the late 14th century, the term began to appear by itself to exclusively mean a self-regulating community of teachers and scholars recognized and sanctioned by civil or ecclesiastical authority.<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica: History of Education. The development of the universities.</ref>

From the [[Early Modern period]] onward, this [[Western world|Western]]-style organizational form gradually spread from the [[Western culture#The birth of the European West during the Middle Ages|medieval Latin West]] across the globe, eventually replacing [[Ancient higher-learning institutions|all other higher-learning institutions]] and becoming the pre-eminent model for higher education everywhere.<ref>Rüegg, Walter (ed.): ''Geschichte der Universität in Europa'', 3 vols., Munich: C.H. Beck, 1993, {{ISBN|3-406-36956-1}}</ref>

== Antecedents ==
{{Main|Byzantine university|Carolingian schools|Studium generale}}
{{Further|Classical education|List of oldest universities in continuous operation}}
[[Image:Map of Medieval Universities.jpg|thumb|400px|A map of [[Medieval Europe|medieval universities in Europe]]]]

The [[university]] is generally regarded as a formal institution that has its origin in the [[Christianity in the Middle Ages|Medieval Christian]] setting in [[Medieval Europe|Europe]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Rüegg |first=Walter |year=1992 |chapter=Foreword: The University as a European Institution |title=A History of the University in Europe |volume=1: Universities in the Middle Ages |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=0-521-36105-2 |pages=XIX–XX}}</ref><ref>{{harnvb|Verger|1999}}</ref> For hundreds of years prior to the establishment of universities, European higher education took place in [[Christianity|Christian]] [[cathedral school]]s and [[monastic school]]s (''scholae monasticae''), where [[Christian monasticism|monks and nuns]] taught classes.{{Clarify|date=February 2023|reason=Did monks and nuns teach at cathedral schools, or generally only at monastic schools?}} Evidence of these immediate forerunners of the university at many places dates back to the 6th century AD.<ref name=Riche>{{cite book |last=Riché |first=Pierre |year=1978 |title=Education and Culture in the Barbarian West: From the Sixth through the Eighth Century |location=[[Columbia, South Carolina]] |publisher=[[University of South Carolina Press]] |isbn=0-87249-376-8 |pages=126–127, 282–298}}</ref>

With the increasing growth and urbanization of European society during the 12th and 13th centuries, a demand grew for [[Priesthood in the Catholic Church|professional clergy within the Catholic Church]]. Following the [[Gregorian Reform]]'s emphasis on [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|canon law]] and the study of the [[Sacraments of the Catholic Church|sacraments]], the [[Bishops in the Catholic Church|Catholic bishops]] formed cathedral schools to train their clergy in canon law, and also in the more secular aspects of religious administration, including logic and disputation for use in [[Sermon|preaching]] and [[Theology|theological discussion]], and accounting to control the Church's 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.<ref>{{cite book |first=Thomas |last=Oestreich |date=1913 |chapter=Pope St. Gregory VII |editor-last=Herbermann |editor-first=Charles |title=Catholic Encyclopedia |location=New York |publisher=Robert Appleton}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=February 2023}} Learning became essential to advancing in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and teachers also gained prestige. Demand quickly outstripped the capacity of cathedral schools, each of which was essentially run by one [[schoolmaster]]. In addition, tensions rose between the students of cathedral schools and [[Burgher (title)|burghers]] in smaller towns. As a result, cathedral schools migrated to large cities, like [[Bologna]], [[Rome]], and [[Paris]].

S. F. Alatas has noted some parallels between [[madrasah]]s and early European [[college]]s and has inferred that the first universities in Europe were influenced by the madrasahs in [[Al-Andalus|Islamic Spain]] and the [[Emirate of Sicily]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Alatas |first=S. F. |date=2006 |title=From Jami'ah to University: Multiculturalism and Christian–Muslim Dialogue |journal=[[Current Sociology]] |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] on behalf of the [[International Sociological Association]] |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=112–132 [123–4] |doi=10.1177/0011392106058837 |s2cid=144509355 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/29439 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923024727/https://zenodo.org/record/29439/files/6.1From_Jamiah_to_University.pdf |archive-date=2017-09-23}}</ref> George Makdisi, [[Toby Huff]] and Norman Daniel, however, have questioned this, citing the lack of evidence for an actual transmission from the Islamic world to [[Christian Europe]] and highlighting the differences in the structure, methodologies, procedures, curricula and legal status of the "Islamic college" (''madrasa'') versus the European university.<ref>{{cite journal |first=George |last=Makdisi |title=Madrasa and University in the Middle Ages |journal=Studia Islamica |volume=32 |issue=32 |date=1970 |pages=255–264 [p. 264] |quote=Thus the university, as a form of social organization, was peculiar to medieval Europe. Later, it was exported to all parts of the world, including the Muslim East; and it has remained with us down to the present day. But back in the middle ages, outside of Europe, there was nothing anything quite like it anywhere. |doi=10.2307/1595223 |jstor=1595223}}</ref><ref>The scholarship on these differences is summarized in {{cite book |first=Toby |last=Huff |title=Rise of Early Modern Science |edition=2nd |pages=149–159; pp. 179–189}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Norman |last=Daniel |date=1984 |title=Review of ''The Rise of Colleges. Institutions of Learning in Islam and the West'' by George Makdisi |journal=[[Journal of the American Oriental Society]] |publisher=[[American Oriental Society]] |volume=104 |issue=3 |page=587 |doi=10.2307/601679 |jstor=601679}}</ref>

== Establishment ==
[[File:ChiostroPietroMartireNapoli.jpg|thumb|left|Established by the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]] in 1224, the [[University of Naples Federico II]] is the world's oldest [[Public university|state-funded university]] in continuous operation.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Storia d'Italia |date=7 August 1981 |publisher=UTET |isbn=88-02-03568-7 |volume=4 |location=Torino |page=122}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Fulvio|last=Delle Donne|title=Storia dello Studium di Napoli in età sveva|publisher=Mario Adda Editore|year=2010|language=it|isbn=978-8880828419|pages=9–10}}</ref>]]

[[Hastings Rashdall]] set out the modern understanding<ref>{{cite book |last=Pryds |first=Darleen |editor-last=Courtenay |editor-first=William J. |editor2-last=Miethke |editor2-first=Jürgen |editor3-last=Priest |editor3-first=David B. |year=2000 |title=Universities and Schooling in Medieval Society |chapter=''Studia'' as Royal Offices: Mediterranean Universities of Medieval Europe |series=Education and Society in the Middle Ages and Renaissance |volume=10 |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |page=83 |isbn=90-04-11351-7 |issn=0926-6070 |quote=In his magisterial work on European universities, Hastings Rashdall [considered that] the integrity of a university is preserved only when the institution evolved into an internally regulated corporation of scholars, be they students or masters.}}</ref> of the medieval origins of European universities, noting that the earliest universities emerged spontaneously as "a scholastic [[Guild]], whether of Masters or Students... without any express authorization of King, Pope, Prince or Prelate. They were spontaneous products of the instinct of [[Voluntary_association|association]] that swept over the towns of Europe in the course of the eleventh and twelfth centuries.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rashdall |first=Hastings |author-link=Hastings Rashdall |title=The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages |volume=1 |location=[[Oxford]] |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |pages=17–18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3oFKAAAAYAAJ |access-date=26 February 2012 |quote=The University was originally a scholastic Guild, whether of Masters or Students. Such Guilds sprang into existence, like other Guilds, without any express authorisation of King, Pope, Prince, or Prelate. They were spontaneous products of the instinct of association that swept over the towns of Europe in the course of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. |date=1895}}</ref>

Among the earliest universities of this type were the [[University of Bologna]] (1088), [[University of Paris]] (c. 1150), [[University of Oxford]] (1167), [[University of Modena and Reggio Emilia|University of Modena]] (1175), [[University of Palencia]] (1208), [[University of Cambridge]] (1209), [[University of Salamanca]] (1218), [[University of Montpellier]] (1220), [[University of Padua]] (1222), [[University of Naples]] (1224), [[University of Toulouse]] (1229), [[University of Orleans]] (1235), [[University of Siena]] (1240), [[University of Valladolid]] (1241) [[University of Northampton (13th century)|University of Northampton]] (1261), [[University of Coimbra]] (1288), [[University of Macerata]] (1290), [[University of Pisa]] (1343), [[Charles University in Prague]] (1348), [[Jagiellonian University]] (1364), [[University of Vienna]] (1365), [[University of Pécs]] (1367), [[Heidelberg University]], (1386) and the [[University of St Andrews]] (1413) begun as private corporations of teachers and their pupils.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.topuniversities.com/blog/10-oldest-universities-world|title=10 of the Oldest Universities in the World |date=2016-09-16 |work=Top Universities|access-date=2017-05-30|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211092625/https://www.topuniversities.com/blog/10-oldest-universities-world|archive-date=2017-02-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://theculturetrip.com/europe/italy/articles/the-12-oldest-universities-in-the-world/|title=The 13 Oldest Universities In The World|last=Seelinger|first=Lani|work=Culture Trip|access-date=2017-05-30|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001122048/https://theculturetrip.com/europe/italy/articles/the-12-oldest-universities-in-the-world/|archive-date=2017-10-01}}</ref>
[[Image:Meeting of doctors at the university of Paris.jpg|thumb|Illustration from a 16th-century manuscript showing a meeting of [[Doctor (title)|doctor]]s at the [[University of Paris]]]]

In many cases universities petitioned secular power for privileges and this became a model. The [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick I]] in ''[[Authentica habita|Authentica Habita]]'' (1158) gave the first privileges to students in Bologna. Another step was [[Pope Alexander III]] 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".<ref name="Gürüz">
Kemal Gürüz, [http://www.ionio.gr/microsites/css/2006/docs/2007/QAIntro.K.Guruz.2007.doc Quality Assurance in a Globalized Higher Education Environment: An Historical Perspective] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216111819/http://www.ionio.gr/microsites/css/2006/docs/2007/QAIntro.K.Guruz.2007.doc |date=2008-02-16}}, Istanbul, 2007, p. 5</ref> Rashdall considered that the integrity of a university was only preserved in such an internally regulated corporation, which protected the scholars from external intervention.  This independently evolving organization was absent in the universities of southern Italy and Spain, which served the bureaucratic needs of monarchs—and were, according to Rashdall, their artificial creations.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pryds |first=Darleen |editor-last=Courtenay |editor-first=William J. |editor2-last=Miethke |editor2-first=Jürgen |editor3-last=Priest |editor3-first=David B. |date=2000 |title=Universities and Schooling in Medieval Society |chapter=''Studia'' as Royal Offices: Mediterranean Universities of Medieval Europe |series=Education and Society in the Middle Ages and Renaissance |volume=10 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |pages=83–99 |isbn=90-04-11351-7 |issn=0926-6070}}</ref>

The University of Paris was formally recognized when [[Pope Gregory IX]] issued the bull ''[[Parens scientiarum]]'' (1231).<ref name="Gürüz" />  This was a revolutionary step: ''[[studium generale]]'' (university) and ''universitas'' (corporation of students or teachers) existed even before, but after the issuing of the bull, they attained [[autonomy]]. "[T]he papal bull of 1233, which stipulated that anyone admitted as a teacher in [[Toulouse]] 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&nbsp;.... By the year 1292, even the two oldest universities, Bologna and Paris, felt the need to seek similar bulls from [[Pope Nicholas IV]]".<ref name="Gürüz" />

[[Image:Mob Quad from Chapel Tower.jpg|thumb|This [[Mob Quad]] group of buildings in [[Merton College, Oxford]] was constructed in three phases and concluded in {{circa|1378}}]]

By the 13th century, almost half of the highest offices in the Church were occupied by degree masters ([[abbot]]s, [[archbishop]]s, [[cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinals]]), and over one-third of the second-highest offices were occupied by masters. In addition, some of the greatest theologians of the [[High Middle Ages]], [[Thomas Aquinas]] and [[Robert Grosseteste]], were products of the medieval university.

The development of the medieval university coincided with the widespread reintroduction of [[Aristotle]] from [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] and [[Averroes|Arab scholars]].  In fact, the European university put Aristotelian and other natural science texts at the center of its curriculum,<ref>Toby Huff, ''Rise of early modern science'' 2nd ed. p. 180-181</ref> with the result that the "medieval university laid far greater emphasis on science than does its modern counterpart and descendent".<ref>Edward Grant, "Science in the Medieval University", in James M. Kittleson and Pamela J. Transue, ed., ''Rebirth, Reform and Resilience: Universities in Transition, 1300-1700'', Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1984, p. 68</ref>

Although it has been assumed that the universities went into decline during the [[Renaissance]] due to the scholastic and Aristotelian emphasis of its curriculum being 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 Revolution]] of the 16th and 17th centuries. As he puts it "[[Copernicus]], [[Galileo]], [[Tycho Brahe]], [[Kepler]], and [[Isaac Newton|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".<ref>Toby Huff, ''Rise of Early Modern science,'' 2nd ed., p. 344.</ref>

== Characteristics ==
[[Image:Treatises On Natural Science, Philosophy, And Mathematics - Mensuration.jpg|thumb|upright|Diagrams, in a volume of treatises on [[natural science]], [[philosophy]], and [[mathematics]]. This 1300 manuscript is typical of the sort of book owned by medieval university students.]]

Initially medieval universities did not have physical facilities such as the [[campus]] of a modern university. 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 a ''universitas''. Soon, however, universities began to rent, buy or construct buildings specifically for the purposes of teaching.<ref>A. Giesysztor, Part II, Chapter 4, page 136: University Buildings, in A History of the University In Europe, Volume I: Universities in the Middle Ages, W. Ruegg (ed.), Cambridge University Press, 1992.</ref>

Universities were generally structured along three types, depending on who paid the teachers. The first type was in [[University of Bologna|Bologna]], where students hired and paid for the teachers. The second type was in [[University of Paris|Paris]], where teachers were paid by the church. Oxford and Cambridge were predominantly supported by the crown and the state, which helped them survive the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] in 1538 and the subsequent removal of all principal [[Catholic]] institutions in England. 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.

It was also characteristic of teachers and scholars to move around. Universities often competed to secure the best and most popular teachers, leading to the marketisation of teaching. Universities published their list of scholars to entice students to study at their institution. Students of [[Peter Abelard]] followed him to Melun, Corbeil, and Paris,<ref>James M. Kittleson, ''Rebirth, reform and resilience: Universities in transition 1300–1700'' (Columbus, Ohio State University Press, 1984), p. 164.</ref> showing that popular teachers brought students with them.

== Students ==
Students attended the medieval university at different ages—from 14 if they were attending Oxford or Paris to study the arts, to their 30s if they were studying law in Bologna. During this period of study, students often lived far from home and unsupervised, and as such developed a reputation, both among contemporary commentators and modern historians, for drunken debauchery. Students are frequently criticized in the Middle Ages for neglecting their studies for drinking, gambling and sleeping with prostitutes.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5022p3bhfmEC&q=false&pg=PA125|title=Medieval Violence: Physical Brutality in Northern France, 1270-1330|first=Hannah|last=Skoda|date=21 February 2013|publisher=OUP Oxford|via=Google Books|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515114214/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5022p3bhfmEC&lpg=PA150&dq=medieval+universities+nations&pg=PA125#v=onepage&q=false&f=false|archive-date=15 May 2018|isbn=9780199670833}}</ref> In Bologna, some of their laws permitted students to be citizens of the city if they were enrolled at a university.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Life in the Medieval University |last=Rait |first=Robert S. |author-link=Robert Rait |orig-year=1912 |date=1931}}</ref>{{page number needed|date=February 2021}}

=== Course of study ===
[[Image:Laurentius de Voltolina Vorlesung vor Studenten - Min 1233 - Kupferstichkabinett Berlin.jpg|thumb|A [[Bologna]] university class,1350s]]

University studies took six years for a [[Master of Arts]] degree (a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree was awarded after completing the third or fourth year).  Studies for this were organized by the [[faculty of arts]], where the seven [[liberal arts]] were taught: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music theory, grammar, logic, and rhetoric.<ref>Hastings Rashdall, ''The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages'', 3 volumes; Powicke, F. M., and Emden, A. B. (eds.), 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 1936.{{page number needed|date=February 2021|reason=and the volume number; and why cite this old edition when a newer one has already beed cited in same article?}}</ref><ref>Leff, G.; North, J.; "Chapter 10: The Faculty of Arts", in ''A History of the University in Europe, Volume I: Universities in the Middle Ages''; Ruegg, W. (ed.), Cambridge University Press, 1992.</ref>{{page number needed|date=February 2021}} All instruction was given in [[Latin]] and students were expected to converse in that language.<ref>Rait, Robert S. (1912); ''Life in the Medieval University'', p. 133. <!--Why is this citing the old edition when a newer one is already cited in this article?--></ref> The ''[[trivium]]'' comprised the three subjects that were taught first: grammar, logic, and rhetoric.<ref name="Rait 138">Rait (1912), p. 138.</ref> The ''[[quadrivium]]'' consisted of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. The quadrivium was taught after the preparatory work of the trivium and would lead to the degree of Master of Arts.<ref>Gilman, Daniel Coit, et al. (1905). New International Encyclopedia. Lemma "Arts, Liberal".</ref> The curriculum came also to include the three [[Aristotelianism|Aristotelian]] philosophies: [[Aristotelian physics|physics]], [[Aristotelian metaphysics|metaphysics]] and [[Aristotelian ethics|moral philosophy]].<ref name="Rait 138" />

[[Image:Blava 2007-3-28-33.jpg|thumb|left|[[Universitas Istropolitana]], a former university building in present-day [[Bratislava]], [[Slovakia]]]]

Much of medieval thought in philosophy and theology can be found in [[Scholasticism|scholastic]] textual commentary because scholasticism was such a popular method of teaching. [[Aelius Donatus]]' ''[[Ars grammatica]]'' was the standard textbook for grammar; also studied were the works of [[Priscian]] and ''Graecismus'' by [[Eberhard of Béthune]].<ref>Rait (1912), pp. 138–139.</ref> [[Writings of Marcus Tullius Cicero|Cicero's works]] were used for the study of rhetoric.<ref name="Rait 138" /> Studied books on logic included [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]]'s [[Isagoge|introduction to Aristotelian logic]], [[Gilbert de la Porrée]]'s ''De sex principiis'' and ''Summulae Logicales'' by Petrus Hispanus (later [[Pope John XXI]]).<ref name="Rait 139">Rait (1912), p. 139.</ref> The standard work of astronomy was ''[[Tractatus de sphaera]]''.<ref name="Rait 139" />

Once a Master of Arts degree had been conferred, the student could leave the university or pursue further studies in one of the higher faculties, [[law]], [[medicine]], or [[theology]], the last one 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 [[Charles University|University of Prague]] (1347) ended their monopoly and afterwards also other universities got the right to establish theological faculties.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rüegg |first1=Walter |last2=Briggs |first2=Asa |title=Geschichte der Universität in Europa 1: Mittelalter |date=1993 |publisher=Beck |location=München |isbn=3-406-36952-9 |page=63 |language=de}}</ref>

A popular textbook for theological study was called the ''[[Sentences]]'' (''Quattuor libri sententiarum'') of [[Peter Lombard]]; theology students as well as masters were required to lecture or to write extensive commentaries on this text as part of their curriculum.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tkachenko|first=Rostislav|date=2017-06-16|title=Peter Lombard on God's Knowledge: Sententiae, Book I, Distinctions 35-38, as the Basis for Later Theological Discussions.|journal=Sententiae|volume=36|issue=1|pages=17–31|doi=10.22240/sent36.01.017|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uhzV368KRDMC&q=discussion+%28or+%27disputation%27%29+of+the+Sentences+was+an+integral+part+of+the+medieval+theological+University+curriculum&pg=PA52|title=The University in Medieval Life, 1179-1499|last=Janin|first=Hunt|date=2014|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-5201-9|pages=52|language=en}}</ref>  Studies in the higher faculties could take up to twelve years for a master's degree or doctorate (initially the two were synonymous), though again a bachelor's and a [[Licentiate (degree)|licentiate]]'s degree could be awarded along the way.<ref>Pedersen (1997).</ref>{{page number needed|date=February 2021}}

Courses were offered according to books, not by subject or theme. For example, a course might be on a book by [[Aristotle]], or a book from the [[Bible]]. 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.<ref>Pedersen (1997), Chapter 10: "Curricula and intellectual trends".</ref>

Students often entered the university at fourteen to fifteen years of age, though many were older.<ref>Rashdall ([1895] 1987), vol. 3, p. 352.</ref> Classes usually started at 5:00 or 6:00&nbsp;a.m.

=== Legal status ===
{{Further|Tenure (academic)}}

As students had the legal status of clerics, [[Canon Law]] prohibited women from being admitted into universities. Students were afforded the legal protection of the clergy, as well. In this way, no one was allowed to physically harm them; they could only be tried for crimes in an [[ecclesiastical court]], and were thus immune from any [[corporal punishment]]. This gave students free rein in urban environments to break secular laws with impunity, which led to many abuses: theft, rape, and murder. Students did not face serious consequences<ref>Rashdall ([1895] 1987), vol. 3, p. 360.</ref> from the law. Students were also known to engage in drunkenness. Sometimes citizens were forbidden to interact with students because they made accusations against the university.

This led to uneasy tensions with secular authorities—the demarcation between [[town and gown]]. Masters and students would sometimes "strike" by leaving a city and not returning for years. This happened at the [[University of Paris strike of 1229]] after a riot left a number of students dead. The university went on strike and they did not return for two years.

Most universities in Europe were recognized by the [[Holy See]] as {{lang|la|[[Studium generale|studia generalia]]}}, testified by a [[papal bull]]. Members of these institutions were encouraged to disseminate their knowledge across Europe, often lecturing at a different {{lang|la|studium generale}}. Indeed, one of the privileges the papal bull confirmed was the right to confer the {{lang|la|ius ubique docendi}}, an entitlement to teach everywhere.<ref>Rashdall [1895] 1987, vol. 1, ch. I, p. 8.</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Ancient higher-learning institutions]]
* [[Ancient university|Ancient universities]] in the UK
* [[Ancient universities of Scotland]]
* [[List of oldest universities in continuous operation]]
* [[Nation (university)]]
* [[Renaissance of the 12th century]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* Cobban, Alan B. ''English University Life in the Middle Ages'' Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1999. {{ISBN|0-8142-0826-6}}
* [[Hilde De Ridder-Symoens|De Ridder-Symoens, Hilde]] (ed.): ''[[A History of the University in Europe|A History of the University in Europe. Vol. I: Universities in the Middle Ages]]'', Cambridge University Press, 1992, {{ISBN|0-521-36105-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Dunphy |first=Graeme |chapter=The Medieval University |date=2015 |editor1-last=Classen |editor1-first=Albrecht |editor2-last= |editor2-first= |title=Handbook of Medieval Culture |volume=1 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |location=Berlin & New York |pages=1706-1734 |isbn=9783110267303 |url=https://www.academia.edu/127774166 }}
* Ferruolo, Stephen: ''The Origins of the University: The Schools of Paris and their Critics, 1100-1215'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998. {{ISBN|0-8047-1266-2}}
* [[Charles Homer Haskins|Haskins, Charles Homer]]: ''The Rise of Universities.'' Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1972. {{ISBN|0-87968-379-1}}
* Lee, John S., and Steer, Christian (eds.), [https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781783273348/commemoration-in-medieval-cambridge/ ''Commemoration in Medieval Cambridge''] History of the University of Cambridge, Boydell, 2018. {{ISBN|9781783273348}}
* Pedersen, Olaf, ''The First Universities: Studium Generale and the Origins of University Education in Europe'', Cambridge University Press, 1997.
* [[Robert Rait|Rait, Robert S.]]: ''Life in the Medieval University'', Cambridge University Press, [1912] 1931, {{ISBN|0-527-73650-3}}
* [[Hastings Rashdall|Rashdall, Hastings]]; revd. by Powicke, F. M., and Emden, A. B.: [https://archive.org/details/universitieseur05rashgoog ''The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages''], 3 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, [1895] 1987,  {{ISBN|0-19-821431-6}}
* Seybolt, Robert Francis (trans.): ''The Manuale Scholarium: An Original Account of Life in the Mediaeval University'', Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1921
* Thorndike, Lynn (trans. and ed.): ''University Records and Life in the Middle Ages'', New York: Columbia University Press, 1975, {{ISBN|0-393-09216-X}}
*{{cite book |last=Verger |first=Jacques |contribution=Universität |title=Lexikon des Mittelalters |volume=8 |at=cols:1249–1255 |publisher=J.B. Metzler |place=Stuttgart |date=1999 |title-link=Lexikon des Mittelalters}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.medievalists.net/2008/10/19/the-shift-of-medical-education-into-the-universities/ The Shift of Medical Education into the Universities]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040811153008/http://www.csupomona.edu/~plin/ls201/medieval2.html The Educational Legacy of Mediaeval and Renaissance Traditions.]
* [https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/medievalbook/intro.htm From Manuscript to Print: Evolution of the Mediaeval Book.]
* [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/vitry1.html Life of the Students at Paris.]
* [http://historymedren.about.com/library/atlas/blatmapuni.htm Mediaeval History: A Mediaeval Atlas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304121715/http://historymedren.about.com/library/atlas/blatmapuni.htm |date=2016-03-04 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040826022620/http://www.cam.ac.uk/cambuniv/pubs/history/medieval.html Cambridge, A Brief History: The Mediaeval University.]
* [http://www.bede.org.uk/university.htm Mediaeval Science, the Church, and Universities]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080216111819/http://www.ionio.gr/microsites/css/2006/docs/2007/QAIntro.K.Guruz.2007.doc Quality Assurance In A Globalized Higher Education Environment: An Historical Perspective] ([[DOC (computing)|DOC]] file)
* [http://www.elfinspell.com/UniversitiesTitle.html The Rise of Universities (classic), Charles Homer Haskins, 1923]

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[[Category:Medieval European universities| ]]
[[Category:History of academia]]
[[Category:History of education in Europe]]
[[Category:Medieval organizations]]
[[Category:Types of university or college]]