Universities in the Renaissance

Abstract

The earliest universities appeared in the twelfth century in Bologna and Paris. These institutions grew out of preexisting schools already established in the two cities. Bologna and Paris provided a very influential model for newer institutions, with Southern European universities conforming to the example of Bologna, while Northern European universities adhered to the model of Paris. Northern European universities gave prominence to theology and arts teaching and mostly awarded bachelor’s and master’s degrees. By contrast, Southern European universities concentrated on law and medicine and mostly awarded doctoral degrees; they accorded marginal importance to theology, which was generally taught in the general schools of the mendicant orders.

Gradually, universities spread throughout Europe: until the first half of the fourteenth century, they proliferated mostly in the south and west of Europe; following the foundation of Prague University in 1348, they developed in Central Europe too. At the end of the seventeenth century, approximately 60 universities were in operation in Europe. From the beginning of the seventeenth century, the growth of universities began to slow down gradually.

Renaissance European universities maintained the structure and organization of the medieval pattern. The innovation fostered, among other factors, by humanism, led to the foundation of new subjects (such as botany), to the application of humanist philological method to a wide spectrum of subjects, and to the expansion of the canon of authoritative texts. Humanists eventually took up positions in universities, becoming a driving force for change from the fifteenth century onward. Their entry into the academic world led to serious conflicts in Northern Europe, but they were received more positively in Southern Europe. European universities exerted a profound impact on society, which was not limited to research findings applied to everyday life. The Lutheran Reformation had its origin in an academic dispute which was to be held at the University of Wittenberg, where Luther was teaching biblical studies. His links with other colleagues, as well his teaching activity, played a crucial role in the defense and dissemination of the Reformation.