First of all, medieval universities

In modern history, the Middle Ages, which lasted more than 1000 years, is no longer a terrible nightmare in western history. On the contrary, this is a primitive cultural era.

The birth of universities is one of the most primitive heritages in the Middle Ages.

Although some people think that the origin of universities can be traced back to ancient Greece, Rome and the pre-Qin period in China, universities in the modern sense basically originated directly from European universities in the Middle Ages, and a series of organizational structures and institutional principles of modern universities have direct historical ties with European universities in the Middle Ages. These structures and systems have been greatly developed and perfected in the course of hundreds of years of historical evolution, and played an important role in the process of inheritance, continuation and creation of human civilization.

(A) the historical conditions of the origin of medieval universities

The late Middle Ages had a profound influence on the later development of Europe. In the economic, political and cultural aspects, under the social and historical background of this period, many institutional frameworks in the West began to take shape.

1, the influence of early medieval education system

Reform of Carolingian Dynasty: Charlemagne attached importance to culture and education, and Alku established cathedral schools and monastery schools by decree.

2. The revival of knowledge and scholarship.

Translation Movement: Strive to Develop * * * Literature and Greek Literature Since the first half of13rd century, translation has become a major academic activity with Spain as its geographical center.

Revival of learning: scholasticism, master lecture.

The emergence of intellectuals

3. The influence of cities and guilds

Economic recovery and the rise of cities: there is a close relationship between education and urbanization.

Guild organization: In medieval cities, foreign scholars did not have the citizenship of the city and their personal safety could not be guaranteed, so some forms of organization were needed.

In the autonomous cities at that time, besides religious organizations, guild organizations were the most common organizational forms among citizens.

Guild is a free alliance between individuals formed by businessmen and craftsmen in medieval cities in order to help each other materially and spiritually. This alliance can manage and supervise its members internally and protect the interests of the organization externally.

Guilds implement a strict hierarchical system, which is divided into three levels: master, helper and apprentice, with different rights and obligations.

The master is a full member of the guild, and a contract is concluded between the master and the apprentice as the guild's articles of association.

After a period of study, apprentices are awarded the title of master before they can become members of the guild and work independently.

Under the control of powerful church forces and feudal forces in the Middle Ages, guilds were the most self-sustaining organizational form. Scholars saw the benefits of this form of organization and began to imitate the industrial and commercial guild to form their own guild.

(2) The road, stage and geographical trend of medieval universities.

Controversy about the earliest universities: University of Salernitana, University of Bologna, University of Paris?

Natural formation: Bologna University, Paris University, Oxford University.

Bee Colony Derivation: Cambridge University, Padua University, Vicelli University.

Authoritative founders: University of Naples, University of Toulouse, University of the Holy See.

1198 ——1300:18 colleges and universities appear, 16 colleges and universities are more active.

1300 ——1378:19 Establishment of universities.

1378—— 1500: Taking the Great Watershed as the watershed, a large number of universities appeared to 1500 63 (or 66).

/kloc-new universities are still being established in the 0/6th century.

Regional trend: South Italy-Southwest Europe-Central and Eastern Europe.

3) Types and characteristics of medieval universities

Type of teacher: University of Paris

Teachers' Association manages universities with teachers as the main body.

College: All four colleges have colleges. College is the basic unit of Paris University and the most important management institution.

Hometown Association: the Organization of Teachers and Students

Type of student: University of Bologna

The student union manages the university with students as the main body.

Hometown Association: Shannan League, Shanbei League

Teachers are hired by students, and students of fellow villagers' associations elect their own principals, which represents the university with judicial power.

Mixed: Montpellier University, Prague University

The early universities in Germany modeled on the University of Paris and established four colleges. However, students in law schools are more independent, which is influenced by the University of Bologna.

(D) the relationship between universities and the outside world

"University is the accidental product of a unique divided and dispersed society"-Harold Perkin

The Western Middle Ages can be said to be a disorderly society. The authority of the church began to weaken, the power of secular imperial power began to grow, and civil society began to develop because of the rise of cities.

Medieval universities were born in such a disorderly society with separated powers.

Universities have gained more and more power in the gap of power struggle and gradually become an independent institution.

With the disintegration of the Western Roman Empire, the powerful central government in Europe ceased to exist, and there was no center with the highest authority and power in the Middle Ages. Europe has become a divided and highly dispersed place of civilization.

"In the center of its political consciousness and rational consciousness, it is a dualism based on Pope Gilesi's double sword theory, that is, secularism and religion, empire and pope, holy Roman empire and Roman diocese, both of which claim to be the legal heirs of the ancient Roman emperor.

This dualism divides medieval society into two distinct forces: on the one hand, the church forces led by the Pope, including archbishops, elders and parish priests; On the other side are secular forces with the emperor as the core, including kings, nobles and manor owners.

These two forces have their own applicable legal forms, secular law and church law, and correspondingly there are two kinds of courts dealing with legal affairs.

Therefore, the contradiction and struggle of financial resources and power between the two forces is inevitable.

Especially since 1 1 century, secular countries have gradually formed and become stronger with the recovery of commerce and the rise of cities. At this time, the church refused to relax or even strengthen its rule over the western world, and religious forces and imperial power launched a fierce and changing struggle in the political arena of medieval society.

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

Universities and churches

12 15, Pope Alexander IV also declared in his encyclical "Quasi-Mu" that "school science in Paris, like the paradise of the tree of life on earth, is a bright light in the temple of the soul ... It is in Paris that people are disabled because of original sin and ignorance.

"The Pope has a special liking for universities, because universities can spread their teachings, consolidate their position in many religious groups, and win in the struggle against the expanding heresy.

This not only strengthened the central rights of the Pope, but also prevented the expansion of secular rights and local feudal forces.

In addition, they also hope to recruit some well-educated new members from universities as successors.

Pope celestine II, celestine III and Alexander III are all students of Abelard.

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

From 65438+1940s, those who studied in Paris did well in church courts, Catholic schools and the Holy See.

One sixth of the cardinals appointed by Innocent III and one half appointed by Gregory IX (1227- 124 1) all studied or taught in Paris.

University and royal family

Frederick the great mentioned in the Law on Freedom of Learning that the world can be enlightened through knowledge and life can be subordinated to God.

This sentence accurately shows the view of the highest authority in the world: learning can not only enrich knowledge, but also maintain the stability of social order.

University and city

In the early days when universities were born in cities, they did not attract much attention from municipal officials.

In order to seek knowledge, teachers and students move around, from one country to another, from one city to another.

When the number of teachers and students increased, cities began to worry about this uncontrollable international population, so in the early days of the birth of universities, they basically held an exclusive attitude towards universities.

However, with the passage of time, the city authorities found that the * * * and relocation of universities not only made their city lose its reputation as a science center, but also lost considerable income brought by university group activities.

At the same time, universities are also educational places to train consultants and officials for cities and churches.

(5) Obtaining university privileges: the right of residence; Judicial autonomy; * * * Move right and right; Issuing teaching licenses; Right to tax exemption and service; Other privileges and the scope of privileges; Decline of privilege

Universities are precious wealth left by Western Europe in the Middle Ages to modern society.

In medieval western Europe, universities enjoyed various privileges.

These privileges include freedom of residence, undisturbed life and teaching order, judicial autonomy, migration, tax exemption, independent issuance of teaching licenses and so on.

On the one hand, these privileges are obtained by universities and their teachers and students fighting against churches, kings and cities in order to safeguard their rights; On the other hand, it was also obtained by the university skillfully using the contradiction between the king and the church.

In addition to "struggle" and "utilization", the unique social status of universities, such as the monk status of university teachers and students, the educational opportunities provided by universities for senior monks including the Pope, the dependence of university education on urban and commercial needs, and the preferential treatment of universities are part of the tradition of respecting knowledge, naturally play an important role in obtaining university privileges.

These privileges not only protected the freedom of universities and promoted their general rise, but also expanded the dissemination of knowledge, laying the foundation for academic autonomy and academic freedom of modern European universities.

Through the study of university privileges in the Middle Ages, we can see the interaction and problems between social forces and university development at that time, which is still enlightening today.

(vi) Internal organization and management of the University

university

Faculty of arts, law school, medical school, seminary.

A college has its own head, which is usually called a dean.

There is also a financial supervisor (receiver), the holder of the baton, and a seal with the same seal and articles of association.

Dean first appeared in Paris University and Montpellier University in13rd century.

The dean is a member of the teachers, elected from among them, and is responsible for the daily management, teaching, debate and examination of the college.

Fellowship/association

In many universities, hometown association is an important feature. Hometown association is mainly a group founded by students, and some students and teachers work together.

There are four associations in the University of Paris, namely, France Association, Piccadilly Association, Normandy Association and England Association (the English Association includes students from Central and Northern Europe).

In Bologna, Padua and other student universities, universities are generally divided into two alliances (Shannan Alliance and Shanbei Alliance), and the alliances themselves are divided into hometown associations according to smaller geographical areas.

Snow shed

In France, Britain and Germany, the educational model created by schools had a great influence on the evolution of secondary education and higher education in modern Europe.

The college was originally the residence of poor students.

Later, it became an autonomous or semi-autonomous academic group. They study and live in donated houses.

Paris University has a dormitory from the beginning. The earliest dormitory is Collège des Dix-huit, which was built in 1 180 for 18 poor students.

1 186, St. Thomas College was founded.

/kloc-around 0/257, Robert of Sorbonne established La Sorbonne.

/kloc-At the end of 0/4th century, there were about 70 dormitories in Paris University.

Merton College, Oxford, England, was built in 1264.

The first house in Cambridge, Peter House, was built in 1284, based on Merton House.

In southern Europe, the importance of school buildings is not as significant as in central and western Europe.

Schools in southern Europe have never gained any organizational and educational significance.

The reason is that Italian students often have close ties with citizens. They live with citizens and enjoy the same accommodation conditions and political rights.

The oldest school in Bologna was originally inspired by its founder. It only provided accommodation, food and financial assistance to a few poor students, but did not provide teaching.

(7) University enrollment, courses and teaching.

1. University Entrance Ceremony

Young people living in the Middle Ages can enter universities at the age of 14.

Freshmen have to go through an entrance ceremony, which is an informal "cleansing" ceremony popular among college students at first, meaning to get rid of the vulgar habits and barbaric behaviors of young people.

The old classmates who just entered the university not only want to squeeze the new students in money, but also make fun of them as evil and dirty monsters, thinking that they have strange smells like animals, confused eyes and long ears, which remind people of wild boar's fangs.

Therefore, before they enter school, they should first get rid of these things through corporal punishment and baptism.

The newborn was dressed as a monster with a mouth, horns and claws and began a funny imitation confession ceremony. When he admitted his strange bad habits, people cut off their imaginary horns and sarcoma, bathed him and filed off his front teeth.

The essence of this ceremony, in our words today, is that freshmen will be bullied by their old classmates as soon as they enter school.

As more and more victims and rituals go too far, universities have to start to intervene in these things.

1340, the University of Paris promulgated a law stipulating that old classmates are not allowed to accept money from new classmates, and those who bully new classmates will be severely punished once they are known by the supervisor and the principal.

2. Courses

Faculty of Arts: Seven Arts and Aristotle's Philosophy; Colleges of higher learning

After the entrance ceremony is completed, the study can begin.

At that time, the school year was divided into four semesters. The first stage was 65438+1October 9 to 65438+February 65438+June 6. The second stage is from 65438+ 10 month 13 to palm branch full day; The third stage is from the first Sunday after Easter to the Friday after whitsunday; The last stage is from Monday after the Holy Holidays to July 20th.

Holiday * * * Duration 1 1 week: 4 weeks Christmas holiday, 3 weeks Easter holiday, 10 Whitsunday holiday. This system has hardly changed until today.

European universities in the Middle Ages generally had four departments: literature, medicine, law and theology.

Among them, the literature department is the foundation of the other three departments.

All students must first enter the literature department.

The main content of learning is trivium, that is, grammar, rhetoric and logic; Quadrivium, namely music, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy; It also includes three philosophies, namely natural philosophy, moral philosophy and metaphysics.

In different periods, the specific contents of the courses in different universities and literature departments are constantly changing, but the scope is still fixed in the Seven Arts and Aristotle's philosophical works.

Only after graduating with a master's degree in arts can students in medieval universities be further promoted to the three higher-level departments of theology, law and sending students to school.

3. Teaching

Speech: general speech, special speech, coarse speech.

Debate: general debate, free debate

The most commonly used method in university teaching is Lectio, which consists of reading, commenting and introducing homework, interspersed with different degrees of discussion.

Speeches are divided into three categories according to their importance in the whole teaching.

The most important lecture is called general education, which is a basic method required by university teaching regulations and is usually adopted by older and experienced teachers.

Secondly, as a supplement to unconventional lectures, special lectures are taught by less well-known teachers.

The last kind of speech is called a cursory speech, which is usually given by bachelor or older students as part of teaching and training.

University teachers generally use the first two speech methods according to different teaching contents.

But the rough lectures are given by students most of the time, so it is difficult to find their place in the whole university system.

Another important teaching method corresponding to university lectures is debate, which is an ancient teaching method.

There are also two different forms of debate.

One form is Abelard's "yes" and "no" debate method (general debate), and the other form is "interrogation debate".

Question debate is a common form of debate, which is held every two weeks.

The topic of the debate was given by the teacher the night before the debate, and the students thought about it in advance. After the debate, it was divided into two groups: the support group and the opposition group, and then the teacher came out to sum up these problems.

As the most advanced form, the lively and intense atmosphere of question debate is conducive to cultivating students' agile thinking. Therefore, question debate has become a major feature of university teaching.

Among university teachers, two large-scale debates were held in 2006 to discuss some profound issues.

4. Degree

Degree: Master, Doctor, Bachelor.

Master originally meant to be a master in an industry, and in college it meant a teacher.

Doctor comes from the Latin word doctus, which is the past participle of doceo and means "teaching" in Latin.

At first, both masters and doctors were used to address university teachers. There is no difference between high and low, but it is used differently in different universities.

"Master, doctor and professor were completely synonyms in the Middle Ages".

In the early Paris University and other universities based on the Paris University model, master was a popular title for teachers of theology, medicine and liberal arts. Sometimes the title of professor was used, but the title of doctor was rarely used.

At the University of Bologna, law school teachers especially like to use the title of doctor, and the title of professor is often used, but generally there is no habit of calling them masters.

Later, the two titles gradually began to differ: the liberal arts graduates of Paris University passed the examination and were considered to have the morality and intelligence to be teachers, and were awarded the master's title; For graduates of theology, law and medicine, those who pass the examination will be awarded the title of doctor.

Because liberal arts was a basic subject at that time, they could continue their studies in theology, law and medicine after graduation. So slowly the master's degree and doctor's degree began to become two different grades. Master's degree is a lower grade, and doctor's degree is regarded as a higher title.

In the15th century, doctors became the special title of teachers in senior departments, while masters became the special title of teachers in lower departments. The original interchangeable master's and doctoral titles have been divided into two different degree levels.

Different people have different interpretations of the etymology of the word "bachelor": one view holds that the original meaning of the word "bachelor" refers to Vasinon Casato; Another way of saying it is that it comes from a term in the guild, that is, the meaning of "novice"; One explanation is that the word bachelor originally meant "the fruit of laurel" and extended to a symbol of success; Another explanation is the mistake of Latin baccalarius, which means "subordinate", for example, a slave with lower social status or an apprentice of a craftsman.

In medieval universities in Europe, the word was used to refer to students who could help teachers with teaching activities but had not yet obtained a master's degree.

With the development of universities, the grades of degrees are gradually becoming clear. The first degree is a bachelor's degree, which is similar to letting an apprentice be a full-time teacher in a guild. The second degree is a master's degree or a doctor's degree, similar to the master of the guild. After getting this degree, they are fully qualified to teach at their alma mater. Soon, the graduates of some large universities obtained the qualification of teaching in universities all over the world without examination (Licentia ubique docendi).

After the formation of high and low-level degrees, the requirements for degrees are also different.

In addition to the lower-level literature department, there are still some students who are not satisfied with their bachelor's degrees, but continue their studies and get higher master's or doctoral degrees.

Step 5 check

When students have completed the required courses of literature department for 4~5 years, they can prepare for the preliminary examination.

Degree-granting examinations in medieval universities not only had various names, but also lasted for a long time.

Every university has different regulations. Even in the same university, the examination rules and contents have changed greatly in different periods.

In the early Middle Ages, before the formalization of the bachelor's degree, students generally got the bachelor's title without taking the exam. After four or five years of enrollment, any student can be called a bachelor as long as the teacher allows him to engage in teaching activities.

Later, in order to prevent unqualified students from participating in teaching, universities began to introduce laws and regulations to regularize bachelor's degrees, and the word bachelor was gradually restricted, referring only to candidates who passed the examinations prescribed by the Department of Literature and obtained permission to swear.

Examination has become an indispensable step to get a bachelor's degree.

In Paris University, if a student thinks he is qualified to become a bachelor, he should first ask his teacher to issue a certificate to prove that he has completed the required courses.

After the examiner carefully examines this voucher, the degree applicant can attend the Responsiones held before Christmas in June+February, 5438, in which he wants to discuss grammar and logic with a teacher.

If he passes the preliminary exam, he can take the decisive exam or baccalarian dorum exam, at which time he must prove that he meets the specified requirements and show that he has mastered the works specified in the syllabus by answering questions from the teachers' committee.

The final step is the final exam to get a bachelor's degree: the candidate must give several lectures during lent to prove his ability to continue his college career.

If the exam is successfully passed, candidates will have the right to claim to be bachelors and formally participate in teaching activities.

After two years of study and teaching, the bachelor of Paris University is expected to finally complete his studies, get a master's degree and obtain a formal university teaching license.

The final exam is also divided into several different stages.

The most important thing is that under the leadership of the director or deputy director, a committee composed of four teachers conducts a series of comments and answers.

In a few days, the successful candidate will be granted a license by the president of the university in a grand ceremony. At this time, candidates will release a collatio, but this is only a form.

About half a year later, he officially became a master in the process of "entering the business".

On the night before the "trial lecture", he will take part in a grand discussion called his "evening prayer".

On the day of "trial lecture", he gave his first lecture in front of all the faculty and staff of the college and got his honorary degree certificate.

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

There are two kinds of examinations to get a doctorate in Bologna University: private examination and public examination or defense.

The individual examination is the real qualification examination, and the so-called public examination is actually just a ceremony.

Individual examinations are very strict and are presided over by the vice bishop or his agent and four other teachers.

The exam is in the form of a speech or an explanation and comment on two prepared articles. The examiner can ask some questions for the candidates to answer.

The examination process mainly includes three stages: first, candidates should swear to abide by the examination rules and must not practice favoritism; Secondly, the examiner strictly presides over the examination; Finally, the examiner votes the examinee's test results in secret to decide whether the student is qualified for a teaching license and a doctorate.

If a candidate passes a single exam, he is still only a person who has obtained permission to take the exam. Only after a public examination can he get a doctorate and become a teacher.

6. Issuance and conferment of degrees

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

However, this was not the case in European universities in the early Middle Ages, especially the University of Paris.