Rise of Universities

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Rise of Universities

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University

• The first university appeared in Bologna, Italy.
• The first university in northern Europe was the
  University of Paris.

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University

• In the second half of the twelfth century, some
  students left Paris and went to England, founding
  a university at Oxford. There were 80 European
  universities by 1500.

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• Students began their university education with
  the traditional liberal arts grammar, logic,
  arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy.
• Medieval universities taught through the lecture
  method.
• There were no written exams.
• To graduate, the student had an oral examination
  with a committee of teachers.

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Universities

• The student would receive a bachelor of arts and
  later might earn a master of arts, if he passed.
• No women attended these universities.

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University

• A student could go on to study law, medicine, or
  theologythe study of religion and God.
• A student who passed the oral exam in one of
  these received a doctoral degree.

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Scholasticism

• Theology was the most highly regarded subject at
  medieval universities.
• The main point of scholasticism was to harmonize
  Christian teachings with Greek philosophy,
  especially Aristotle.
• Aristotle had arrived at his conclusions through
  rational thought, however, not faith, and some
  ideas contradicted Church teachings.

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Scholasticism

• Saint Thomas Aquinas made the most important
  attempt to reconcile Aristotle with Christianity,
  to reconcile the knowledge through Scripture with
  the knowledge gained through reason and
  experience.
• Aquinas believed that the truths of reason and
  the truths of faith did not contradict.

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Medieval Architecture

• In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, an
  explosion of building in medieval Europe,
  especially of churches, took place.

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Medieval Architecture

• The Romanesque basilica was topped with a long,
  round, stone arched structure called a barrel
  vault.

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Medieval Architecture

• Because stone roofs were so heavy, the churches
  needed massive pillars and had little space for
  windows.
• The Romanesque churches, therefore, were dark and
  resembled fortresses.

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Medieval Architecture

• In the twelfth century the new, Gothic style
  appeared.
• The Gothic cathedral is one of the artistic
  triumphs of the High Middle Ages.

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Medieval Architecture

• The Gothic cathedrals rose higher, therefore,
  creating an impression of the building reaching
  towards God.
• Since Gothic cathedrals had fairly thin walls,
  they could have windows, which were filled with
  magnificent stained glass.
• The windows also created a play of natural light
  inside the cathedral natural light was believed
  to be a symbol of the divine light of God.