Summarizing the History of the European University

History of the University

I. The Medieval University

In modern historiography, the Middle Ages, a period of more than a thousand years, are no longer a nightmare of Western history, but rather a cultural era of originality.

One of the most original legacies of the Middle Ages is the birth of the university.

Although some people believe that the origins of the university can be traced back to Ancient Greece and Rome, as well as to the pre-Qin period in China, the modern university basically originated directly from the medieval European university, and a series of organizational structures and institutional principles of the modern university have a direct historical connection with the medieval European university; these structures and institutions have been greatly developed and improved in the course of the evolution of the history of the centuries. These structures and systems have been greatly developed and improved over the centuries, and have played an important role in the inheritance, continuation and creation of human civilization.

(I) Historical conditions of the origin of the medieval university

The late Middle Ages had a profound impact on the subsequent development of Europe, both economically, politically, and culturally, and many of the institutional frameworks of the West began to take shape against the socio-historical backdrop of this period.

1, the impact of the early medieval education system

Carolingian reforms: Charlemagne's emphasis on culture and education, Alcuin's edict to build cathedral schools and monastic schools.

2. Intellectual and Academic Revival

The Translation Movement: Efforts to Develop *** Literature and Greek Literature Beginning in the first half of the thirteenth century, translation turned into a major scholarly activity, with its geographic center in Spain.

Revival of scholarship: scriptural philosophy, lectures of masters (Abelard).

Emergence of intellectuals

3. Influence of cities and guilds

Economic revival and the rise of cities: there was a close relationship between education and urbanization.

The organization of guilds: in the medieval city, foreign scholars, who had no urban citizenship and whose personal safety was not guaranteed, needed some form of organization to bring them together.

In the self-governing cities of the time, guilds were the most common form of organization among the civic classes, in addition to religious organizations.

The guild was a free alliance of individuals in the medieval city, formed by merchants and craftsmen, to help each other materially and spiritually, a union that internally governed and supervised its own members, and externally protected the interests of the organization from being infringed upon.

Guilds within the implementation of a strict hierarchy, divided into master (master), helpers (journeyman) and apprentices (apprentice) three levels of power and obligations vary.

The master is a full member of the guild, and the master and apprentice have entered into some kind of contract as a charter for the internal organization of the guild.

After a period of study, the apprentice can only truly become a member of the guild by earning the title of Master, and can then practise independently.

In the Middle Ages, under the control of the powerful ecclesiastical and feudal forces, the guilds were the best form of organization to maintain a certain degree of self ***, and the scholars saw the benefits of this form of organization, and began to imitate the industrial and commercial guilds to form their own guilds.

(ii) Modes, stages, and geographical trends in the emergence of the medieval university

The controversy about the earliest universities: the University of Salerno, the University of Bologna, the University of Paris?

Natural formation: the University of Bologna, the University of Paris, the University of Oxford

Beehive derivation: the University of Cambridge, the University of Padua, the University of Vichery

Authoritative founding: the University of Naples, the University of Toulouse, the Pontifical University of Rome

1198 - 1300: Emergence of 18 universities, 16 more active

1300-1378: Foundation of 19 universities

1378-1500: The Great Schism as a watershed. The Great Schism" as a watershed The emergence of a large number of universities 63 (or 66) by 1500.

New universities are still being established in the 16th century.

Geographic trends: southern Italy - southwestern Europe - central and eastern Europe

3) Types and characteristics of medieval universities

Teacher-type: the University of Paris

Teachers' guilds Teacher-oriented. Administering the university

Faculties: all four Faculties Faculties were the basic units of the University of Paris and were the most important governing bodies

Fellowships: organizations of teachers and students

Student-type: the University of Bologna

Guilds of students Administering the university with the main body of students

Fellowships: the Union of the South of the Mountain, the Union of the North of the Mountain

Teachers were employed by students, students of fellowships elected by students, students of fellowships elected by students. The teachers were employed by the students, and the students of the guilds elected their own rector, who represented the university in the judiciary

Mixed: University of Montpellier, University of Prague

Early German universities were modeled after the University of Paris, with its four faculties, but the students of the Faculty of Law were given a greater degree of autonomy, and were influenced in this by the University of Bologna.

(iv) The relationship between the university and the outside

"The university is the accidental product of a uniquely both divided and decentralized society" - Harold Perkin

The Western Middle Ages, which can be described as a disordered society. The authority of the church began to weaken, the power of secular royalty began to grow, and civil society began to develop as a result of the rise of the city.

The medieval university was born out of this disorganized society, in which power was falling apart.

The university fought for more and more power in the gaps of the power struggle, and gradually became a self-governing institution.

As the Western Roman Empire fell apart, the strong central authority of Europe ceased to exist, and there was no longer a center of supreme authority and power in the medieval West; Europe became a fragmented and highly decentralized civilization.

"At the center of its political and rational consciousness was a dualism based on Pope Gilesi's doctrine of the two swords, secular versus religious, imperial versus papal, and the Holy Roman Empire versus the Roman diocese, with both sides claiming to be the rightful successors of the ancient Roman emperors.

" This dualism divided medieval society into two clear-cut powers: on the one side, the ecclesiastical power dominated by the pope, including archbishops, presiding bishops, and parish priests; and on the other side, the secular power centered on the emperor, including the king, the nobility, and the lord of the manor.

Both powers had their own forms of law, secular and ecclesiastical, and correspondingly two types of courts to deal with legal matters.

The conflict and struggle between the wealth and power of the two powers was therefore inevitable.

Especially from the 11th century onwards, the secular states were being formed and strengthened with the revival of commerce and the rise of cities, while the Church refused to relax and even strengthened its domination over the Western world, and a fierce struggle was waged between ecclesiastical power and imperial power in the political arena of medieval society.

The unique political situation of the late Middle Ages provided favorable external conditions for the emergence and development of universities.

The University and the Church

In 1215, Pope Alexander IV, in his encyclical Quasi Lignum Vitea, also claimed that "the sciences of the Parisian schools are in the Church as the tree of life is in the earthly paradise, a radiant light in the temple of the soul. A radiant light ...... It was in Paris that mankind, crippled by original sin and blinded by ignorance, recovered their sight and beauty through the knowledge of true light emanating from divine science.

" The popes were attracted to the universities because they were able to disseminate their teachings for them, and were able to consolidate their doctrines among the many religious communities, while winning the battle against the ever-expanding heresies.

This not only strengthened the central power of the Pope, but also prevented the expansion of secular power and local feudalism.

In addition, they hoped to recruit well-educated new members from the universities as successors.

Popes Celestine II and Celestine III, as well as Alexander III, were students at Abelard.

Throughout the Middle Ages, the university system was shrouded in the Church.

From the 1240s onwards, those who studied in Paris excelled in the ecclesiastical courts, in the Catholic academies, and in the Papacy.

One-sixth of the cardinals ordained by Innocent III, and one-half of those ordained by Gregory IX (1227-1241), studied or taught in Paris.

The University and the Crown

In his law on the freedom of learning, Frederick the Great mentions that it is through knowledge that the world is enlightened and life is subordinated to God.

This statement accurately demonstrates the view of the highest secular authority that scholarship both enriches knowledge and keeps the social order stable.

The University and the City

The early years of the university's birth in the city did not attract much attention from city officials.

In their quest for knowledge, students and faculty moved around, from country to country, from city to city.

As the number of students and faculty grew, the city began to struggle with this uncontrollable international population, and so in the early years of the university, it was largely ostracized.

But over time, city authorities found that the *** and removal of the university not only deprived their city of its reputation as a center of science, but also of a substantial amount of the revenue generated by the activities of the university community.

At the same time, the universities were places of education for the training of counselors and officials for the cities and the churches.

(5) The acquisition of university privileges: residence; judicial autonomy; *** rights and rights of movement; the granting of licenses to teach; exemption from taxes, exemption from military service; other privileges and the scope of the privileges; the decline of the privileges

The university is a valuable legacy of the Middle Ages in Western Europe to the modern world.

In medieval Western Europe, universities enjoyed a variety of privileges.

These privileges included freedom of residence, undisturbed order of life and teaching, judicial autonomy, *** and migration, exemption from taxes and military service, and autonomy in granting licenses to teach, among others.

These privileges, on the one hand, were gained by the university, its faculty and students in their struggle with the church, the king and the city to defend their rights; on the other hand, they were gained by the university's skillful use of the conflict between the king and the church.

In addition to "struggle" and "exploitation," the university's unique social status, such as the monastic status of its faculty and students, the fact that it provided educational opportunities for high-ranking monks, including the pope, and the fact that it became dependent on the needs of the city and of commerce, Preferential treatment of universities was part of a tradition of respect for knowledge, and so on, all of which, naturally, played an important role in the privileges granted to universities.

These privileges not only protected the freedom of the university and contributed to its widespread emergence, but also expanded the dissemination of knowledge, laying the foundation for academic autonomy and academic freedom in modern European universities.

Through the study of university privileges in the Middle Ages, one can see the interactions and problems between the social forces of the time and the development of universities, which are still inspiring today.

(vi) Internal Organization and Management of the University

Faculties

Faculties of Arts, Law, Medicine, and Theology

Faculties had their own head, usually called a dean (decanus).

There is also a treasurer (receptor), a scepter bearer, a ****ing seal, and a constitution.

Deans first appeared in the 13th century at the Universities of Paris and Montpellier.

The dean was a member of the faculty, elected from among the faculty, and was responsible for the day-to-day management of the college, teaching, debates and examinations.

Hometown associations

An important feature in many universities, hometown associations are mainly groups created by students, but also by students and faculty **** with the same effort.

There are four hometown associations at the University of Paris: the French Hometown Association, the Picardy Hometown Association, the Normandy Hometown Association, and the English Hometown Association (the English Hometown Association includes students from Central and Northern Europe).

In these student universities, such as Bologna and Padua, the universities were generally divided into two confederations (the South of the Mountains and the North of the Mountains), which were themselves divided into hometown associations according to smaller geographical areas.

Schoolhouses

In France, England, and Germany, the model of education created by schoolhouses had a huge impact on the evolution of secondary and higher education in modern Europe.

The collegium was originally a residence for poor students.

It later became an autonomous or semi-autonomous academic community that studied and lived in donated houses.

The University of Paris has had houses from the beginning, the earliest being the Collège des Dix-huit (House of the Eighteen), built in 1180 for 18 poor students.

In 1186, the College of St Thomas was founded.

Around 1257, Robert of Sorbonne founded La Sorbonne.

At the end of the 14th century, the University of Paris had about 70 houses.

Merton College, Oxford, England, built in 1264.

The first schoolhouse in Cambridge, Peterhouse, was founded in 1284 and was modeled on Merton College.

In southern Europe, the importance of the schoolhouse was less pronounced than in west-central Europe.

Schoolhouses in southern Europe never acquired any organizational or educational significance.

The reason for this was that Italian students were often closely connected with the citizens, with whom they were lodged in the same accommodation and enjoyed the same political rights.

The oldest schoolhouses in Bologna were at first authorized by their founders to provide accommodation, food, and financial assistance only to a small number of poor students, and not to provide instruction.

(VII) Admission to the University, its programs and teaching

1. The rite of admission to the University

Young people living in the Middle Ages were admitted to the University when they reached the age of about 14 years.

The new students went through a rite of passage, and at first it was an informal "cleansing" ceremony popular among university students, meaning the removal of the vulgar habits and barbarism of the young ***.

Not only did the older students who were first admitted to the university try to extort money from the newcomers, but they also made fun of them as evil, dirty monsters, with a strange smell like livestock, confused eyes, and long ears reminiscent of the tusks of a wild boar.

Therefore, they first had to be physically punished and baptized to remove these things before enrolling in school.

The new-born was dressed up as a monster with a long beak, horns and claws, and began a comic imitation of the penitential rite of confession, confessing that he had those queer bad habits, and the people removed what they imagined to be the double horns and the sarcoma, and bathed him, and filed off his incisors.

The essence of this ritual, in the words of our day, was that the new students were bullied by the older ones when they entered school.

As the number of victims grew and the rituals became more and more overdone, the university had to intervene.

In 1340, the University of Paris issued a statute stating that old students were not allowed to take money from new students, and that bullies would be severely punished if the superintendent and the rector knew about it.

2. Courses

Faculty of Arts: the Seven Arts and Aristotelian Philosophy; Faculty of Advanced Studies

After the ceremony of admission, the studies could begin.

The school year was then divided into four semesters, the first from October 9 to December 16; the second from January 13 to Palm Sunday; the third from the first Sunday after Easter to the Friday after Pentecost; and the last from the Monday after the feast of the Holy Trinity to July 20th.

The holidays*** were eleven weeks long: four weeks for the Christmas holiday, three weeks for the Easter holiday, and ten days for the Whitsunday holiday, a system which has changed very little up to the present day.

During the Middle Ages, universities in Europe generally had four faculties: literature, medicine, law, and theology.

Of these, the Faculty of Literature was the foundation for the remaining three.

All students first had to enter the Faculty of Literature.

The main subjects of study were the trivium, i.e., grammar, rhetoric, and logic; the quadrivium, i.e., music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy; and the three great philosophies, i.e., natural philosophy, moral philosophy, and metaphysics.

The specifics of the curriculum of the Faculty of Literature were constantly changing at different times and in different universities, but the broad scope remained fixed in the seven arts and the philosophical writings of Aristotle.

Only after graduating as Masters of Arts could students in the medieval universities advance to the three higher faculties of Theology, Law, and Delivery.

3. Teaching

Speeches: ordinary, special, and cursory

Debates: ordinary and free

The most common method of teaching at the university was the lectio, which consisted of readings, commentaries, and introductions to assignments, interspersed with varying degrees of discussion.

Lectures are divided into three categories according to their importance in the overall teaching.

The most important type of lectures is known as ordinary lectures, which are the basic method of teaching mandated by the university and are usually used by older, more experienced teachers.

The next type of lectures is the extraordinary lectures, which are supplemental to the ordinary lectures and are given by lesser-known teachers.

The last type of lectures is called cursory lectures, which are usually given by bachelors or older students as part of their teaching training.

University teachers generally use the first two types of lectures in their teaching, depending on the content.

The rough lecture, on the other hand, because it is most often given by students, has hardly found a place in the university system.

The other important university teaching method that corresponds to the lecture is the debate (disputatio), which is an old teaching method.

Debate also takes two different forms.

One form is Abelard's "yes" and "no" method of debate (ordinary debate), and the other is the "question debate" (free debate). The other is quaestiones disputatio (free debate).

Question debates are the more common form of debate and are held every two weeks.

The questions are given by the teacher the night before the debate, the students think about the questions beforehand, the debate is divided into two groups, and the teacher comes out to summarize the questions (determine).

As a form of the highest level, the atmosphere of the question debate is active, intense and conducive to the development of students' agile thinking, so the question debate has become a major feature of university teaching.

Among university teachers, large debates (quaestiones quodlibetales) are also held twice a year to explore some profound issues.

4. Degrees

Degrees: master's and doctoral degrees, bachelor's degrees

Master's degree (master) originally meant a master in a profession, which in the case of universities means teacher.

Doctor (doctor) is derived from the Latin word doctus, which is the past participle of doceo, a verb meaning "to teach" in Latin.

Originally, both master's and doctoral degrees were used to refer to university faculty members, and there was no distinction between higher and lower degrees; they were just used differently at different universities.

"The titles master, doctor, and professor were completely synonymous in the Middle Ages."

At the early University of Paris, and at other universities modeled on it, master was a popular title for teachers in the faculties of theology, medicine, and the arts, and the title professor was sometimes used, but the title doctor was rarely used.

At the University of Bologna, the title of doctor was particularly favored by the faculty of law, and the title of professor was often used, but it was not generally the custom to address the master.

Only later did the two titles gradually begin to make a difference: graduates of the liberal arts at the University of Paris who passed an examination and were deemed to have the character and intelligence to be teachers were awarded the title of Master; for graduates of theology, law, medicine, etc., those who passed the examination were awarded the title of Doctor.

Since the liberal arts were the basic subjects at that time, and only after graduating in the liberal arts could one continue one's education in theology, law, medicine, etc., the master's degree and the doctor's degree slowly began to become two different grades, with the master's degree being the lower grade, and the doctor's degree being regarded as the higher title.

By the 15th century, the doctorate had become the exclusive title of the senior faculty, and the master's degree the exclusive title of the junior faculty, so that the master's degree and the doctorate, which had been used interchangeably, became two different degree levels.

The etymology of the word bachelor has been variously interpreted by different people: one theory is that the word bachelor originally meant a slave without property (Vassi non casato); another is that it derives from a term used in the guilds, viz. "novice"; one interpretation is that the word baccalaureate originally meant "fruit of the laurel tree", which was derived as a symbol of success; another is that it is a corruption of the Latin baccalarius, meaning "subordinate"; and another is that it is a corruption of the Latin baccalarius, meaning "servant".

In medieval European universities, the term was used to refer to students who could help faculty members with their teaching activities, but who had not yet earned a master's degree.

As the university grew, the levels of degrees became clearer: the first degree was the bachelor's degree, which was similar to a guild's license to apprentice; the second degree was the master's or doctoral degree, which was similar to a guild master's degree, and which made one fully qualified to teach at one's alma mater, and soon graduates of some of the larger universities were given the right to teach at universities around the world without having to sit for exams (Licentiate). Licentia ubique docendi) without examination.

Once the hierarchy of degrees was established, the requirements for the degrees also varied.

Except in the lower levels of the Faculty of Letters, some students were not satisfied with the Bachelor's level and still continued their studies to obtain a higher Master's or Doctoral degree.

5. Examinations

After a student has studied the prescribed courses for 4 to 5 years in a literature department, he or she can prepare for the first examination.

Examinations for the award of degrees in the medieval universities were not only numerous, but also of considerable duration.

Each university had different rules, and even within the same university the rules and content of the examinations varied considerably from period to period.

In the early Middle Ages, before the bachelor's degree was formalized, no examination was generally necessary for a student to obtain the title of bachelor, and any student who was enrolled for four or five years could be called a bachelor as long as his teacher allowed him to engage in teaching activities.

Later, in order to prevent unqualified students from taking part in teaching, the universities began to formalize the bachelor's degree by enacting statutes, and the term bachelor was gradually restricted to refer only to candidates in the Faculty of Literature who had passed the prescribed examinations and received permission to give a cursory lecture.

The examination became an indispensable step towards the B.A. degree.

At the University of Paris, if a student thought he was qualified to become a Bachelor, he should first ask his teacher to issue a Schedula, which proved that he had completed a specified course of study.

Once this voucher has been scrutinized by the examiners, the candidate for the degree is ready to sit for the preliminary exams (Responsiones), which are held in December, just before Christmas, and in which he discusses grammar and logic with one of the teachers.

If he passes, he can take the "examen determinantium" or the "baccalarian dorum", in which he will have to He will have to prove that he meets the requirements and will have to show that he has mastered the works specified in the syllabus by answering questions from the faculty board.

The final step is the determinatio (decisive examination) for the baccalaureate: the candidate has to give a few lectures during Lent to prove that he is capable of continuing his university career.

If this exam is successfully passed, at this point the candidate has the right to call himself a Bachelor and to officially participate in teaching activities.

After two years of study and teaching, a bachelor at the University of Paris can expect to finally finish his studies with a full university license to teach a master's degree.

This final examination is divided into several stages.

The most important is a series of commentaries and answers to questions from a committee of four teachers under the direction of the Superintendent or Deputy Superintendent.

The successful candidates are licensed by the university director a few days later in a solemn ceremony, at which time the candidate delivers a report (collatio), but this is only a formality.

About six months later he becomes a master in the process of "inceptio" (audition).

The night before the inceptio, he attends a solemn discussion called his vesper.

On the day of the "trial" he delivered his first lecture in the presence of the whole College, and received his degree with honors.

We can see that at the University of Paris, the process of obtaining a master's degree is much longer than that of passing a bachelor's degree.

The doctoral degree at the University of Bologna is obtained through two examinations: the individual examination (examen privatum) and the public examination or defense.

The examen privatum is the real qualification exam, the so-called conventus is really just a ceremony.

The individual examination is very rigorous and is conducted by the Vicar General or his deputy with four other teachers.

The examination takes the form of a speech or a commentary on two prepared texts, and the examiners may ask questions of the candidates.

The examination process consists of three main stages: first, the candidate takes an oath to abide by the rules of the examination and not to show favoritism; second, the examiners rigorously administer the examination; and, finally, the examiners conduct a secret ballot on the results of the candidate's examination in order to decide whether or not the student is qualified to receive a teaching license and a doctorate.

If the candidate passes the individual examinations, he is at that point still only a person who has been granted a permit to take the examination, and it is only after the public examination that he can obtain a doctoral degree and teach as a teacher.

6. Awarding and Conferring of Degrees

In principle, university degrees should be awarded by the universities themselves.

But this was not the case in the early European medieval universities, especially the University of Paris.