The Rise of Universities

Charles Homer Haskins wrote a short but instructive account of the Catholic universities and the Age of Scholastic Learning. As Haskins indicated in this book, there was a plurality of Scholasticism. In fact, he called the phenomenon "Scholasticisms" Haskins indicated that Medieval Catholic universities were quite informal compared to contemporary structured university systems. Haskins also informed the read that what some call The High Middle Ages was a time of the development of parliamentary political and legal systems, Gothic architecture, the beginning of Big Capitalism. etc. Haskins began this study with a brief description of Catholic university organization. The Medieval University was located where the students and masters (teachers)could rent buildings and arrange accomodations in a city or town. In other words, unlike the modern university campus, there was no campus, no established buidings or grounds, and no specially built facilities. Such European campuses and buildings only began in the late 14th. and 15th. centuries (the late 1300s and 1400s). Haskins informed his readers that what were called universities were actually guilds of masters and students. Both the masters and students had to be well organized to avoid predatory lending, rents, food prices, etc. Merchants and those who profited from university life were economically forced to lower prices, interest rates, rents, etc. The fact was that students and masters could relocate easily. The local businessmen, landlords, bankers, etc. had to figure that a lower profit was better than no profit. There were unique characteristics of Medieval universities. The masters taught basic and advanced classes. The universities were international in that all teaching, learning, and scholarship were done in Latin, and students would be admonished or even fined for not using Latin. Students and masters were not confined to one university. Often students would attend lectures at different universities prior to taking examinations at the University of Paris for example. The use of Latin was so prevalent that the area around the University of Paris was and is called the Latin Quarter. Haskins gave a brief but useful description of the curriculum of Medieval universities. The undergraduate courses were called the Trivium-Rhetoric, Grammar (Latin Grammar, writing, and the classics), and logic. The latter was ususally based on Aristotle's treatises on logic. The Quadrivium consisted of studies of Astronomy, Music (the pensive Gregorian Chant), Plane Geometry, and Arithmetic which may have included algerbra. As some readers may know, these seven areas of study were known as The Seven Liberal Arts. When students successfully finished the complete Liberal Arts curriculum, they could teach the Seven Liberal Arts upon approval of the university chancellor and/or local bishop. Haskins then gave a brief description of more advanced studies which included Law (Canon Law and Secular Law), Medicine,

Haskin's text, "The Rise of Universities," is fascinating for a number of reasons. First, the story is superbly told in this set of three lectures given in the very early 1920's at Brown University. Second, the insights Haskins inserts at various points of the discourse are worthy of great consideration, and we very easily feel we are listening to someone who is an expert in the subject, one who knows far more than he is telling at the given moment. Third and finally, we realize we are reading a "historical" book, not just because the subject concerns history, but because Haskin's own role in helping re-introduce the medieval world to a new generation of American scholars was history in the making. His more famous and acclaimed text, "The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century," was a critical component in doing just that, but here we see Haskins "where it all started," in the lecture room at Brown, and we close our eyes and imagine we are sitting in on these discourses exactly as they appeared nearly one hundred years ago. The work comprises three lectures on the medieval university, the first focusing on the earliest universities in terms of their structure, organization, and even linkage to today's universities, the second on the medieval university professor, and the third on the medieval university student. The material is presented in an extremely accessible manner, and one need not be a medievalist or medieval historian to follow the content. Much of the content is simply fascinating to anyone who wonders where today's universities can trace their lineal heritage. We read about the attempt to "date" the start of the world's oldest universities (Paris, Bologna, Oxford, Cambridge, and others), the differences between "northern" and "southern" universities, the specialties of each of the institutions, and the motivations for creating both student and teacher guilds. We also read about issues that faced the medieval professor, including the management of the classroom and its' students, the awarding of degrees, and even a little about medieval instructional techniques. We learn, too, about student life during these years, including the ever-constant quest to find money to finance schooling, the in-town brawls, and the requirements for exiting the university with an official degree. A special "extra" is the inclusion of some of the poetry written by medieval students and preserved through the years. This is not an in-depth look at the subject, nor was it ever intended to be. (For such a book, try out History of the University in Europe: Universities from 1945 to Present by Hilde de Ridder-Symoens, which, at four volumes, is not only highly detailed, but also current and exceptionally well written.) What it is, though, is an excellent introduction to the topic that still contains many good insights on the topic and is well developed and clearly presented. As such, this book likely has two main audiences: those who wish for an introduction on t

Not much has changed since the 13th century. In some ways students were freer in that they had more leeway to choose their professors. On the other hand, especially in Theology and Philosophy departments, the inquisition was a fear near at hand. Haskins seemed to argue that students' freedoms was somewhat equal in the end to now. Getting drunk and wasting time was as much a part of univeristy life (in some circles) then, as now, and the number one issue of students was money -- typically how they can get it from their parents. Most students and their parents expected some vocational, profit making, activity to be the end result of their studies. Some students were serious; some often got drunk, sang, or got in fights, or both; and some wrote poetry and played the guitar. Everyone was expected to speak Latin, despite what their native tongue might be. They learned Latin so they could read works by ancient Roman poets, like Ovid, who also sang praises to being in nature, good times with friends, and playing the guitar. There was also law to study, or various associated studies, which was profitable. Parents didn't encourage their children, very often, to study Theology as there wasn't much money as an end result of it for most. Many interesting details given in his effort. Universities formed, essentially, as a student union to protect their rights against cheating local townspeople and professors. On occasion a whole union of students would leave a town, if they felt cheated, taking their business elsewhere. The Pope, about this time, I think, approved of union formations (which I feel was the death blow to communism in Europe, in the end, and will be in China as well; plus they keep America somewhat safe from being an out and out plutocracy). I don't know if students these days feel themselves part of a union though. Haskins has a very down-to-earth point of view and argues, for whatever purpose, that the modern university owes its direct linage to the universities of the thirteenth century in Europe and he does this with effectiveness and enjoyable, but scholarly, descriptions. Haskins has the distinction of being the father of Medieaval studies in America.