The formation of modern science is a topic that has been sufficiently developed, but has not lost its relevance today: to understand the nature of science that determined the nature of industrial civilization, the study of its genesis is of paramount importance. Despite the fact that many aspects of this topic have been studied quite well by historians of science, philosophy and culture, there are still many questions concerning, in particular, the period that could be called the prehistory of the formation of modern European science and which played a very important role in the revision principles of ancient ontology and logic, thereby preparing the transition to a different type of thinking and worldview, which formed the prerequisite for science and philosophy of modern times. This refers to the period of the late Middle Ages - XIV-XVI centuries. This era is characterized by a general atmosphere of skepticism, which until now has not been sufficiently taken into account, but which is essential for understanding the intellectual shifts that took place at the end of the 16th-17th centuries. and which is called the scientific revolution.
Medieval science developed in large cities, where for the first time in Europe higher educational institutions appeared - universities (Paris, Oxford, Cambridge, Prague). Universities contributed to the development and dissemination of knowledge, as well as the creation of new branches of knowledge, which a little later took shape in various sciences - medicine, astronomy, mathematics, philosophy, etc. Science began to reproduce itself, which accelerated its progress.
Gradually, a completely new layer of society is being formed - students, which to this day is the engine of education and science in modern society.
Medieval universities created such effective forms of education that they are used to this day. For example, a lecture (literally, a reading) at a medieval university was by necessity the main form of communication of knowledge. Books were scarce and expensive, and so reading and commenting on theological and scientific writings was an important form of information. Universities have formed academic titles and degrees, faculties as educational units. Disputing, a form of education that was widespread in medieval universities, has died out, but scientific discussions and seminars are of great importance both in modern science and in higher education.
Teaching was conducted in Latin, as well as worship in Catholic churches. Until the 18th century Latin was the international scientific language; Copernicus, Newton and Lomonosov wrote in it. Until now, solemn speeches are read in European universities, and diplomas are written in Latin. At solemn acts, professors appear in medieval doctoral robes and caps. Thus, modern science preserves the memory of the first universities, the emergence of which was one of the main prerequisites for scientific progress.
In the Middle Ages, many technical discoveries were made that contributed to the development of science later, many of these achievements we use to this day. Around the 11th century the first watch with a chime and wheels appears, and two centuries later - a pocket watch. At the same time, a modern steering design was created, which made it possible in the 15th century. cross the ocean and discover America. The compass was created. Of greatest importance was the invention of the printing press; printing made the book accessible. Thus, the time, which is considered the period of "darkness and obscurantism" created the prerequisites for the emergence of science. In order to form scientific knowledge, it was necessary to be interested not in what is unusual, but in what is repeated and is a natural law, i.e. from relying on everyday experience, based on the testimony of the senses, to move on to scientific experience, which happened gradually in the Middle Ages.
European medieval science
The era of the Middle Ages is attributed to the beginning of the II century. n. e., and its completion by the XIV-XV centuries. The Middle Ages is based on theological values. The Church intervenes in all spheres of human life. Philosophy, like science, act as "servants" of theology. Positions diverging from Christian dogmas are condemned.
Therefore, science in the Middle Ages is often assessed as a kind of intellectual aspiration, deprived of the freedom of search and fettered by prejudices and delusions. The tasks of scientific research are also directed towards the attainment of grace and salvation.
In the Middle Ages, the postulates of creation implied the allocation creative nature ( nature naturers ) and created nature ( nature natural ) . Middle Ages knew seven liberal arts — triumvium: grammar, dialectic, rhetoric; quadrium: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music. Every scientist was obliged to master all these sciences - arts. In the XII-XIII centuries. the texts of Arabic-speaking scientists devoted to natural scientific research were known, Arabic numerals were widely used. The most important inventions of the compass, gunpowder, clock, horse collar, steering rack came from the East. Science was dominated by the scholastic method with its necessary component - citing authorities, which deprived the significance of the task of studying natural patterns.
Medieval scholars, as a rule, came from Arab universities, called their knowledge natural magic, understanding by it a reliable and deep knowledge of the secrets of nature. Magic was understood as a deep knowledge of the hidden forces and laws of the Universe without violating them, and, therefore, without violence against Nature. Patristics (from lat. pater - father) - the teaching of the church fathers - was the first stage in the development of medieval philosophy. From the 1st to the 6th centuries the problems of philosophy within the framework of patristics were represented by: Basil the Great, Augustine the Blessed, Gregory of Nyssa, Tertullian, Origen, and others. They discussed the problems of the essence of God, the movement of history towards a certain final goal (“city of God”), the relationship between free will and the salvation of the soul. Of great importance was the fact that the mind was conceived as striving to expand its boundaries, and the intelligible nature placed its hopes on the possibilities of the human mind.
Medieval patristic classic Tertullian(160-220) exposed the gulf between the reality of faith and the truth of speculation, each time showing the disproportion between faith and reason. Faith does not need rational-theoretical argumentation; the truths of faith are revealed in the act of revelation. His creed "I believe because it is absurd" shows that cognitive-rational structures have no power in the sphere of faith's attraction.
Representative of early patristics Origen(about 185-253/254) drew attention to the fact that Nature surpasses the clearest and purest human mind. The universe is co-eternal with God, before our world and after it there were and will be other worlds. The process of changing the world in his Christological teaching was associated with the depth of the fall of the spirits, their return (salvation) to the original state of goodness, which was not final, since the spirits, by virtue of free will, could experience a new fall.
Scholasticism (from Latin - school), which took shape in the 9th-12th centuries, seeks to update religious dogmas, adapting them to the convenience of teaching at universities and schools. Great importance is attached logic reasoning, in which they see the way to comprehend God. With the flourishing of scholastic scholarship, the honing of the logical apparatus, rational methods of justifying knowledge, in which thesis and antithesis, arguments and counterarguments collide, is associated. Everyone who is engaged in teaching activities calls himself a scholastic: Eriugena, Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, Abelard, Anselm of Canterbury.
Important questions remain about the relationship reason and faith, science and religion. The relationship between philosophy and theology is interpreted ambiguously. Anselm of Canterbury(1033-1109) believes that truths obtained by reason, but contrary to the authority of Holy Scripture, should be forgotten or rejected. Abelard(1079-1142) strives for a clear distinction between faith and knowledge and proposes to first examine religious truths with the help of reason, and then judge whether they deserve faith or not. He owns the famous principle: "To understand in order to believe." Unlike faith, philosophy, like knowledge, relies on the evidence of reason.
The Middle Ages were characterized by a struggle between nominalism and realism that touched the being general concepts - "universals". The nominalists denied the ontological (existential) meaning of general concepts. Universals exist only in the mind. In the XIV century. Ockham expresses this idea of nominalism by declaring that only single things, i.e., individuals, can be the object of knowledge. Realists argued that universals exist in reality and independently of consciousness.
Nominalists created the doctrine of dual truth who insisted on the separation of the truths of theology and the truths of philosophy. What is true in philosophy can be false in theology, and vice versa. The principle of the duality of truth pointed to two fundamentally different pictures of the world: the theologian and the natural philosopher. The first associated truth with divine revelation, the second with natural reason.
The famous scientist Albert the Great (1193-1207) sought to reconcile theology (as an experience of the supernatural) and science (as an experience of the natural). He considered observation to be the main method of scientific research and was sure that in the study of nature it is necessary to turn to observation and experience. In his secret workshop, he performed countless experiments.
For Roger Bacon (c. 1214-1294) there were three main modes of knowledge: authority, reasoning and experience. He considered experimental science to be the mistress of speculative sciences. Having an encyclopedic education and a broad outlook, he emphasized the importance of studying works from originals and the need for knowledge of mathematics. R. Bacon sought to create a kind of encyclopedia of sciences, in which, in addition to mathematics, there were physics, optics, astronomy, alchemy, medicine, and ethics. Interestingly, R. Bacon distinguished three types of experience: external, acquired with the help of the senses, internal, interpreted in the spirit of mystical illumination, and fore-experience, which God endowed the "holy fathers of the church."
In teaching Thomas Aquinas(1225-1274) there are indications of the intellectual method, i.e. comprehending contemplation, which grasps not the image of the object, beyond which neither physics nor mathematics can go, but the prototype of this image, the actual form of the object, "which is being itself and from which being comes."
Interesting ideas about the process of cognition developed by the English philosopher and logician Occam(c. 1285-1349). He was confident in the independence of scientific truths from theology, their close connection with experience and reliance on reason. Sensory knowledge deals with single objects. However, it loses the character of their exact reproduction. “Representation as such is a state or act of the soul and forms a sign for the external thing corresponding to it.” Therefore, in the soul we find a sign for the corresponding manifestation in the external world. Ockham distinguishes between intuitive knowledge, associated with the perception and experience of a single thing, and abstract knowledge, which can be abstracted from a single thing. The well-known principle of Occam ("Occam's razor"), which says that "essences should not be multiplied unnecessarily", entered the treasury of human intellectual thought, which means that each term denotes only a certain subject. The formation of concepts in Ockham is due to potency - the aspiration of the human soul for the subject of knowledge. His doctrine of concepts is called terminism . Natural concepts referring to things themselves, Occam calls "terms of the first intention", and artificial ones, referring to many things and the relations between them, are called "terms of the second intention". It is they who become the object of analysis in logic. Occam limited the application of the concept of causality to the sphere of empirical ascertainment. Occam's ideas were widespread in medieval universities.
Among the peculiarities of medieval science, scientists consider its orientation to a set of rules in the form of comments, a tendency to systematize and classify knowledge. Compilation, so alien and unacceptable to the science of modern times, is a characteristic feature of medieval science, associated with the general ideological and cultural atmosphere of this era.
The emergence of the first universities
The Middle Ages is a complex, important and interesting period of human history. Various events take place at this time: states experience feudal fragmentation (for example, German lands), unite their lands (for example, Spain), cities rise and develop - the most important centers of trade, science, culture, and civilization. Its own culture is being formed, the ancient one is being revived. All this calls to life a strong machine of state power, and, accordingly, there is a need for qualified employees - lawyers, theologians, doctors, so science, education, and schools begin to actively develop.
In the XII century, the world's first higher schools - universities - began to appear in Europe. Some universities, for example, in Seville, Paris, Toulouse, Naples, Cambridge, Oxford, Valencia, Bologna were founded in the XII - XIII centuries. The rest, for example, in Uppsala, Copenhagen, Rostock, Orleans were founded later - in the XIV - XV centuries.
For all European (especially Western European) countries, the language of science, as well as worship, was Latin. Thousands of schoolchildren were required to learn Latin at that time. Many could not stand it and ran away from cramming and beatings. But for those who still endured, Latin became a familiar and understandable language, and therefore the lecture in Latin was understandable to listeners from different countries.
On the professorial chair, which was supported by a triangular music stand, lay a huge book. The word "lecture" means "reading". Indeed, a medieval professor read a book, sometimes interrupting the reading with explanations. The content of this book students had to perceive by ear, learn by memory. The fact is that books in those days were handwritten and were very expensive. And not everyone could afford to buy it.
Thousands of people flocked to the city where the famous scientist appeared. For example, at the end of the 11th century in the city of Bologna, where Irnerius, an expert on Roman law, appeared, a school of legal knowledge arose. Gradually, this school became the University of Bologna. It was the same with Salerno, another Italian city that became famous as the main university center of medical science. Opened in the 12th century, the University of Paris won recognition as the main center of theology. Following several higher schools of the XII century. most medieval universities arose in the 13th and 14th centuries. in England, France, Spain, Portugal, Czech Republic, Poland and Germany.
The first universities were organs of medieval science, which was uniform in all countries of Latin influence and was taught in the same way, in the common Latin language for all peoples; in addition, the universities have taken the form of medieval guilds, the essential features of which are sworn partnership, regulation and monopolization of labor and production, are repeated in all countries.
There was another feature that marked the medieval university: its ecclesiastical character. Whoever was the founder of the university—whether a city commune, or a secular or ecclesiastical prince, or, finally, the universal power of the pope or emperor—its members are indifferently called clerics (clerici), and the economic well-being of the school rests primarily on ecclesiastical prebends.
At the beginning of the 15th century, students in Europe attended 65 universities, and at the end of the century - already 79. The most famous among them were: Paris, Bologna, Cambridge, Oxford, Prague, Krakow.
Two effects accompanied the activities of universities. The first is the birth of a certain class of scientists, priests and lay people, to whom the church entrusted the mission of teaching the truths of revelation. The historical significance of this phenomenon lies in the fact that, along with the traditional two authorities - ecclesiastical and secular - a third one appeared - the power of intellectuals, whose influence on social life became more and more tangible over time.
The second effect is associated with the opening of the University of Paris, where students and teachers of all classes flocked. University society from the very beginning did not know caste distinctions; rather, it formed a new caste of heterogeneous social elements. And, if in subsequent eras the university acquires aristocratic features, the medieval one was originally “folk”, in the sense that the children of peasants and artisans through a system of privileges (in the form of low tuition prices and free housing) became students. Their "nobility" was no longer determined by their class origin, but hung over the accumulated cultural baggage.
Structure of a medieval university
University teachers created associations in subjects - faculties. They were headed by deans. Teachers and students elected the rector - the head of the university. Medieval high school usually had three faculties: law, philosophy (theology) and medicine. But if the preparation of the future lawyer or physician took 5-6 years, then the future philosopher-theologian - as much as 15 years. Before entering one of the three main faculties, the student had to complete the preparatory - artistic faculty, which studied the already mentioned "seven liberal arts" ("artist" in Latin - "art"). In the classroom, students listened to and recorded lectures (in Latin - "reading") of professors and masters. The teacher's erudition was manifested in his ability to explain what he read, to connect it with the content of other books, to reveal the meaning of terms and the essence of scientific concepts. In addition to lectures, debates were held - disputes on issues raised in advance. Hot in heat, sometimes they turned into hand-to-hand fights between the participants.
In the XIV-XV centuries. there are so-called colleges. At first, this was the name of the student hostels. Over time, lectures and debates also began to be held in them. The collegium founded by Robert de Sorbon, confessor of the French king, the Sorbonne, gradually grew and gave its name to the entire University of Paris. The latter was the largest higher school of the Middle Ages.
Bachelor, licentiate and master
In medieval universities, there were four faculties: the lowest - artistic, or "liberal arts", which gave the right to study further, and three higher - medical, legal and theological. The main task of the faculty was to control the quality of teaching. At the artistic faculty, training lasted from 5 to 7 years; the student became first a bachelor and then a master of arts. According to the statutes, this degree could not be obtained by a person under the age of 21. The master received the right to teach, but he could continue his studies at one of the higher faculties. The highest degree awarded by the faculties was the degree of Doctor, or Master, i.e. professor (teacher, lecturer) who received this degree, subject to the fulfillment of the requirements that the issuance of a license implies. The title "Master" was gradually assigned to the professors of the Artistic Faculty, and the title "Doctor" - to the professors of the three higher faculties. Due to the variability of national traditions, "masters" could also be called those who received the highest academic degree at the senior faculty.
The educational process was multi-stage; the passage of each stage ended with the receipt of a certain title, which fixed a certain level of qualification in accordance with a strict standard. Over time, additional degrees appeared in the practice of the medieval university - bachelor's and licentiate. The bachelor's degree, which was actually an apprentice of the scientific workshop, opened access to obtaining other degrees. To obtain it, it was necessary to pass the appropriate exam. Continuing education bachelors were entitled to teaching, performing the duties of teachers of the lowest rank. For example, at the Faculty of Theology, they began their teaching career as a bachelor-tutor ("cursor"), then successively moved to the following degrees: "biblicus" (Bible commentator); "Sententiary" (teacher of "Sentences" by Peter Lombard). The highest bachelor's degree was the degree of "baccalariusformatus" (an established teacher, practiced in disputes and sermons, ready to receive a licentiate degree).
The procedure for awarding a bachelor's, doctor's or master's degree was theatrical, its details determined by the university statute. The bachelor's candidate was offered a plot for the interpretation of an authoritative text. It was forbidden to answer according to pre-made notes. In the case of correct answers, the student was given bachelor's clothes, putting on which he took a place among the bachelors. After that, he again demonstrated his knowledge, took an oath of allegiance to the faculty. His mentor gave a speech in honor of the applicant, giving an assessment of his personal qualities.
To obtain higher degrees, the candidate had to conduct many hours of debate, read sermons and trial lectures. The introduction of a licentiate into the college of professors was accompanied by a well-known ritual. He was to receive a doctor's hat as a symbol of teaching dignity. In the procedure, furnished with great solemnity, the main role was played by a dispute that took place over more than one day. Disputes were not just a form of qualification tests: they were the essence of scholastic science, subject to the laws of the intellect (ratio). They were preceded by commenting on some authoritative text. Of great importance was the ability to isolate the main problem and break it down into questions in order to further conduct a debate, the result of which was the product of the subject's own thought ("determinatio"). Bachelors took part in the debate. The final decision of the controversial issue belonged to the new doctor. Getting a doctor's hat was a big expense. For many licensed, it was beyond their means. Thus, an independent degree appears - a "licentiate", an average between a bachelor's degree and a doctorate, or master's degree.
The Western European higher school - university was distinguished by a high degree of institutionalization and structure. It developed sufficiently reliable methods to protect the academic community from corruption.
What was taught in medieval universities
The goals of learning at the dawn of university life are set out in a document from the early 13th century: “Some (students) studied solely for the purpose of knowing ... others to become famous ... others studied in order to gain later benefits ... few of them studied to receive edification or edification others…teachers and doctors multiplied their prebends and solicited places…”.
The whole university system demanded the strictest external order, quite the opposite of modern academic freedom. Not only the academic year, but also the day was precisely delineated. In the early morning (usually not later than 5 o'clock in summer) the obligatory lectures (ordinariae) began and ended at about 8 or 9 o'clock in the morning. After dinner or in the evening, optional readings (extraordinariae) took place. At the beginning of the academic year, the teachers of the artistic faculty distributed among themselves the books to be read, and at first there was no division of labor, and each "artist" had to gradually sort through all the books, which made it completely impossible to delve into the specialty. This system was especially inconvenient in the senior, special faculties, where the number of associate professors was negligible; among physicians, for example, one read all theoretical, the other all practical medicine. Even books in many universities were divided by a special commission, chaired by the rector, into departments (puncta), for the reading of which exact dates were set (puncta taxata). The slightest deviation from the planned order entailed large fines. The university authorities even resorted to spying on professors, for which students and students were involved. For example, 12 weeks were allotted for the Nicomachean Ethics in Paris, 50 lectures for the aphorisms of Hippocrates, and 38 lectures for a book on fevers. During lectures, the associate professor took a seat in the department; the scholars of the senior 3 faculties sat on the benches, while the "artists" were instructed to sit on the floor, on a straw bedding, "in order to inspire them with humility." Street in Paris, on which the auditoriums of artists were located, in the 14th century. was nicknamed Rue de Fouarre (Vicus straminis, Straw Street). In 1366, Pope Urban VI prescribed the same "order" for Oxford artists. Associate professors were forbidden to dictate their lectures; yet this way of teaching became so ingrained in some universities that some of the noble scholars began to send their servants to take notes of the lectures.
The regulation of student life followed from the rules of the organization of the corporate system: everything had to be scheduled, deviation from the rules seemed to be a violation of the usual norms of life.
Over time, faculties appeared in every medieval university: legal, medical, theological. But the training began with the "preparatory" faculty, where the so-called "seven liberal arts" were taught. And since in Latin art is “artes”, the faculty was also called artistic. Students - "artists" first studied grammar, then rhetoric, dialectics (by which logic was meant); only after that did they move on to arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. The "artists" were young people, and according to the university regulations, they could be flogged, like schoolchildren, while older students were not subjected to such punishments. These facts are reflected, for example, in the poetry of the Vagantes.
Medieval science was called scholastic (literally - school). The essence of this science and its main vice was expressed by an old proverb: "Philosophy is the servant of theology." And not only philosophy, but also all the sciences of that time had to strengthen the truths of religion with each of their conclusions. The scholastic method did not question faith, but the methods used in scholasticism made a real revolution in mental attitudes, they helped to accept the possibility of the existence of different opinions, weaned fear of innovations, used observation and experiment, contributed to the development of inner spiritual life.
The auditorium of a medieval university resembled the auditorium of a modern university: in the same way, benches are arranged in stepped rows, below there is a massive oak pulpit, behind which stands a professor lecturing. The students listened and wrote with lead on waxed boards. The age of the students was the most diverse. You could see people of different nationalities: Spaniards, Germans, French, English. For all European (especially Western European) countries, the language of science, as well as worship, was Latin. The word "lecture" meant "reading". A medieval professor read a book, sometimes interrupting the reading with explanations. The content of this book students had to perceive by ear, assimilate by memory, rewrite. The erudition of the teacher was manifested in his ability to explain what he read, to connect it with the content of other books, to reveal the meaning of terms and scientific concepts.
Disputes occupied an important place in the academic life of the medieval university. At the so-called master's disputes, the master who taught the students skillfully drew them into the dispute. Offering to confirm or dispute the theses put forward by him, he forced students to mentally compare these theses with the opinions of the "fathers of the church", with the decisions of church councils and papal messages. During the dispute, each thesis was opposed by the opponent's counterthesis. The offensive tactic is to lead the enemy to such a forced confession, which either contradicted his own statement, or diverged from the unshakable church truths, which was tantamount to accusation of heresy. Hot on the heat, sometimes disputes developed into hand-to-hand fights between the participants.
The course at the university was designed for a long time. However, in those days, younger students came to the university than today. Thus, in the 13th century in Paris, students first studied for six years at the Faculty of Arts. During this period, a student could become a "bachelor" and help in secondary roles in teaching others. But he could not start teaching until he was twenty years old. The theology course was taught for eight years at first, but tended to lengthen. After completing the course at the Faculty of Arts and several years of teaching, the student devoted four years to the study of the Bible and two to the study of the "Sentences" of Peter Lombard. After that, he could become a bachelor and lecture on the Bible for two years, and for one year on the Maxims. He received a master's or doctoral degree in another four to five years.
Some students, of course, withstood such a long study in the hope of moving up the church ladder. However, the curriculum itself was clearly oriented toward teaching, toward graduating teachers or professors. And since the study of the "art" prepared for the study of higher sciences and theology, which was considered the queen of all sciences, obtaining a master's or doctoral degree in theology, giving the right to teach, was naturally seen as the pinnacle of an academic career. From this it is easy to understand why the most prominent thinkers of the Middle Ages were theologians.
Conclusion
The formation of the first universities in Europe, starting from the XII century, was caused by the strengthening of the development trends of feudal society. If in the early Middle Ages society did not particularly need educated people, and in general society itself was formed on the basis of the remnants of ancient civilization and the traditions of the barbarian kingdoms, then in the developed Middle Ages, due to the growth of cities, the complication of public relations, people felt the need for knowledge, intellectual skills . Church and monastic schools could not meet the needs of secular society, the laity, society needed a new type of school - city schools and universities.
The algorithm for the development of medieval educational needs can be defined as follows: from the elementary rudiments of knowledge, through the study of traditional ancient sciences, to mastering the sciences in demand in medieval society and, if desired, the search and study of scientific and spiritual truths, various jobs where knowledge and skills were required .
The rights to the university were originally given by patrons: kings, dukes, bishops, city administration, in a word, the authorities of those lands on which the university was organized. But the Pope himself won in this series. Knowledge was associated with the concept of the word of God, before knowledge was concentrated in churches and monasteries, so the church tried to put the inner life of the university under its control. This applied to the sciences (theology first of all), and benefices, and even appearance and rules of life at school and at home. But the motley student environment made its own adjustments, the kings and their administration interfered in the affairs of the universities, and little by little the universities achieved various privileges, turning into a special corporation with their own laws and rules. The regulation of university life corresponded to the guild rules of the Middle Ages. But intellectual life could not be driven into the limits of shop-floor restrictions. So there was a motley environment and mores of universities. Here teachers from the mendicant monastic orders, and illustrious professors, had weight. Persons of various classes, including wandering schoolchildren, became students. The university corporation consisted of many federations: faculties, nations, colleges, hostels, boarding houses, merchants, and so on. The life of the university was run by an elected person - the rector. The university intervened in the intellectual and political collisions and conflicts of the era. Universities have become a significant part of urban life and the intellectual life of Europe.
This is how the medieval university developed: from city schools to a guild organization that grew into a powerful corporation, and then into a state within a state.
The focus of university education was higher than the need for elementary arithmetic, reading, and writing. Medieval society felt the need for a deeper study of law, theology, and medicine. The first step towards comprehending these sciences was the study of the seven liberal arts, the traditions of which were laid down in antiquity: grammar was studied, then rhetoric, dialectics (by which logic was meant); only after that - arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. Graduated specialists in the majority became professional teachers, many others occupied various jobs in society, where knowledge and skills were required. When considering students, one should separate the student elite who have already taught, the bulk of the students, and the undergraduate students.
The educated elite of universities and practitioners were concerned about many intellectual issues. To obtain a diploma, it was necessary to study for many years, re-read many books, master the art of eloquence, and for lawyers and doctors also practical knowledge. It is not surprising because popes, cardinals, famous poets and writers, clever administrators, legal experts, famous surgeons, scientists and warlock alchemists came out of the university environment. The same environment provided the basic foundation of knowledge for the humanists. In general, the issues of compatibility of comprehending divine knowledge with the need to take money for one’s work, issues of searching for true nobility (by blood or knowledge), issues of reforming science (from scholasticism), searching for secret, uncommon, knowledge, questions about the compatibility of knowledge and art.
But the bulk of the students and also teachers were worried about the search for earnings. This mass flowed directly into the life of cities and villages (organization of schools) and contributed to the formation of the profession of practicing physicians, notaries, secretaries, prosecutors, school teachers. Near the university environment, scribes, booksellers and other suppliers of the necessary working supplies for writing and sciences were fed, the city dweller could choose in various life situations between acting at his own peril and risk (in legal incidents, in treatment, and even in drafting petitions) and the experience of a specialist .
Such corporate formations and free associations of students and mentors with their privileges, established programs, diplomas, titles and knowledge, like universities and their inhabitants, have not been seen in antiquity either in the west or in the east.
List of used literature
1. Verger J. Prototypes (History of the Medieval University) // Higher School Bulletin. 1991.
2. Ivanovsky V.N. Public education and universities in the Middle Ages // Reading book on the history of the Middle Ages. Under the editorship of P.G. Vinogradov. M., 1898. T.4.
3. From the history of universities in Europe XIII - XV centuries. Voronezh, 1984.
4. Copston F. History of medieval philosophy. - M.: Enigma, 1997
5. Kokhanovsky V.P., T.G. Leshkevich, T.P. Matyash, T.B. Fathy. "Philosophy of Science in Questions and Answers". Rostov-on-Don, 2006.
6. Kublanova B.M. How they studied at a medieval university // A book for reading on the history of the Middle Ages. M., 1951. Part 1.
In the XII century. as a result of the increased need for scientific knowledge and the people who possess it - scientists - the process of education began on the basis of cathedral schools in the largest cities of Western Europe, higher schools - universities. Initially, the concept of "university" (from the Latin universitas - set) meant a corporation of teachers, professors and students, "scholars", whose goal is to study and increase a single Christian knowledge.
The first universities appeared in Bologna (1158), Paris (1215), Cambridge (1209), Oxford (1206), Lisbon (1290). It was in these educational institutions that the basic principles of academic autonomy were formulated, and democratic rules for managing higher education and its internal life were developed. Thus, universities had a number of privileges granted to them by the Pope: issuing permits for teaching, awarding academic degrees (previously it was the exclusive right of the church), exempting students from military service, and the educational institution itself from taxes, etc. rector and deans.
Usually the structure of the university included four faculties: artistic, legal, medical and theological. In medieval higher schools, a hierarchy was established: the theological faculty was considered the senior, then the legal, medical and artistic faculties. On this basis, the artistic faculty, where the “seven liberal arts” were studied, is called junior or preparatory in some historical and pedagogical studies, however, the rules of the university did not provide for this. At the theological faculty, they studied mainly the Holy Scriptures and the “Sentences” of Peter Lombard (beginning of the 12th century - 1160), the training lasted about 12 years, students, continuing their studies, could teach themselves and hold church positions, at the end of their studies they were awarded the title of master theology, and then a licentiate (a teacher admitted to lecturing, but who has not yet defended his doctoral dissertation).
The Faculty of Law considered Roman and Catholic law, after four years of study, students received a bachelor's degree, and after another three years - a licentiate. Education at the Faculty of Medicine included the study of the works of Hippocrates, Avicenna, Galen and other famous doctors. After four years of study, students were awarded a bachelor's degree, and for two years they had to practice medicine under the guidance of a master. Then, after five years of study, they were allowed to take examinations for the title of licentiate.
On the basis of the school course of the trivium, students of the artistic faculty studied the quadrium, especially geometry and astronomy in detail, in addition, they considered scholasticism, the works of Aristotle, and philosophy in the course of study. After two years, students received a bachelor's degree, master's training lasted from three to ten years. The main goal of education in all faculties was the achievement of academic degrees.
Classes at universities lasted throughout the day (from 5 am to 8 pm). The main form of education was lectures by the professor. Due to the insufficient number of books and manuscripts, this process was laborious: the professor repeated the same phrase several times so that the students could memorize it. The low productivity of training is partly due to its duration. Once a week, a debate was held, aimed at developing independent thinking, students were required to attend debates.
The student's duties included attending lectures: obligatory daytime and repeated evening lectures. An important feature of the universities of that era is disputes. The teacher assigned a topic. His assistant - a bachelor - led the discussion, that is, he answered questions and commented on the speeches. If necessary, the master came to the aid of the bachelor. Once or twice a year, debates were held “about anything” (without a strictly defined topic). In this case, burning scientific and philosophical problems were often discussed. The participants in the disputes behaved very freely, interrupting the speaker with whistles and shouts.
As a rule, a great career awaited a university graduate. Yesterday's students became scribes, notaries, judges, lawyers, prosecutors.
Universities arose in the Middle Ages. It is a mistake to say that the university as a form of educational institution existed earlier. There were magnificent Confucian schools of the “semicircular pool school” back in the time of the Tang empire, the Pandidakterion high school in Constantinople operated from the 9th century, and the Al-Karaouin school in Morocco has been operating from the 9th century to the present day, but all this is by nature not universities. This does not detract from their glory and dignity at all, but the university is something very specific.
1. How Universities Arise
Universities arose in the 11th century, when the West entered a period of amazing growth, when the Middle Ages in its classical sense, with all the attributes of a feudal society, set in. The beginning of this period is marked by the Gregorian reform and the strengthening of the positions of the papacy. Then there is the rise of cities, the assertion of senior relations. It is against the backdrop of these processes that university corporations emerge.
No one founded the first universities, they arise on their own. Therefore, the statements “Philip Augustus founded the University of Paris in 1200” or “Frederick Barbarossa founded the University of Bologna” are fundamentally wrong. These schools arose on their own, having acquired the only conceivable then and very convenient form of mutual oath ( conjuratio), which quickly became known as university- a community of equal people who brought each other a mutual oath, which possessed what would later be called a legal entity. Universitas- this is not only an association of masters and students, any city commune, any corporation of artisans was university. Subsequently, at the beginning of the XIII century, this term began to be used only in relation to educational organizations.
We cannot talk about the existence of universities in the 11th and 12th centuries, but rather about pre-university formations, studios, training centers. This is a very important, interesting, rich in traditions era. At this time, the reception of Roman law was made, canon law was created, and rational theology was born.
2. The life of a new type of intellectual
In previous periods, intellectuals lived either at the court of a prince, emperor, king, or, more often, in monasteries. Intellectuals of a new type lived in the city and taught to all comers, who were becoming more and more. It is no coincidence that the science that arose was called school science, or scholasticism. The thinkers of that era took the formal logic of Aristotle and applied it to new areas of knowledge. A system was created that sets the algorithm of actions in cases where the opinions of authorities on a particular issue differed. This was extremely important, since nothing was done in the Middle Ages without recourse to authorities.
The intellectual of the new formation was not a practitioner, but a specialist in the field of thinking. It was not necessary to know Roman law well in order to judge the peasants in the English Manor: society lived according to other laws. Wounds and fractures were better treated not by a connoisseur of Hippocrates and Galen, but by a poorly educated barber surgeon. A highly learned theologian could not captivate his flock with a passionate sermon, as did a simple Franciscan monk. But a person who took a university course was able to think logically - this gave him the opportunity to formulate a problem and cope with any task. Since this period, the transformation of the world has gone by leaps and bounds.
3. Formation of university corporations
Universities arose at the beginning of the 13th century. Paris, Bologna, Montpellier, Oxford are the places where they arose on their own. What is a corporation and affiliation? The German scientist Exle gave a very good definition: "a corporation is a community of the living and the dead." The first university charter of 1215 in Paris gives a very large place to the regulations for the funeral of masters and students, clearly prescribing what and how each member of the corporation should do.
This logic is very clear. What is the most important thing in the life of a medieval person? Death and how he will leave this life. The further existence of his soul depends on this. If he dies in a foreign land, who will take care of a righteous death? These are the people who took the mutual oath. They took a mutual oath to live in peace, not to conflict. And for this it was necessary to determine the order of lectures, exams, rules of conduct, uniforms (what is now called a dress code). And, most importantly, to guarantee mutual assistance. Thus, an organizational form was developed, which quickly began to be replicated. Secular or ecclesiastical authorities simply took the ready-made form of charter and opened new universities.
The status of university corporations was based on independence from the local secular authorities, representatives of the king and, most importantly, from the local spiritual authorities. Initially, the bishop controlled the teaching, issuing permission to teach ( licentia docendi). After the emergence of the university, the bishop's chancellor continued, with the permission of the Pope, to issue permits in a new form - licentia ubique docendi, that is, the right to teach everywhere in Christendom. This right was given only after an examination conducted by a corporation of equal people. It was she who decided whether the applicant was worthy to enter the corporation or not worthy, whether he was worthy of conferring the title of bachelor, master, doctor or not worthy. And the chancellor only agreed with this decision and issued permission. This can be called the basis of Western European intellectualism.
Undoubtedly, European intellectualism as an autonomous corporation exists with the permission of the authorities. If there is no charter issued by the Pope (less often by the emperor, sometimes by the king who tried to make himself independent of the emperor), then there is no university.
4. Social magic
I like to ask: “Tell me, please, who was Thomas Aquinas by social origin?”. And, as a rule, people cannot answer this question, although his father was an earl. Who was the origin of Jean Gerson? His parents were peasants, and of rather low status. Who was Erasmus of Rotterdam? He was illegitimate, his father is a priest. This is important: entering the world of people of knowledge, a person, as it were, broke with his former environment (although origin was always extremely important for medieval society), acquiring a new social status. The French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu called this moment social magic: there was one person, but there was another. From my point of view, the ability to award degrees is the most important thing that constitutes the essence of the university corporation. This ability was perfectly conveyed by Soviet folklore: "You may not be a scientist, but you must be a candidate."
5. University logic
Over the years, the situation changed: the independence of the university weakened, the role of secular authorities became stronger, but the universities still had great authority, which allowed them to act as advisers to monarchs. What we call university culture is forming very quickly: a special type of thinking, folklore, habits, discursive practices that are characteristic of university people. This type of culture survived the Middle Ages and set a certain type of communication for the universities of modern times. Thus, the indispensable medieval rampage of students is inherited by the German universities of the Enlightenment. Students- burshi they were simply obliged to behave defiantly towards the philistine townsfolk. As you know, M. V. Lomonosov mastered the manners of the Bursh so well that only a miracle saved him from serious troubles in Germany, and the quietest person Pierre Bezukhov ties the bear to the quarter, demonstrating his involvement in the German traditions of university culture. A similar code of behavior is miraculously reproduced in other eras and in other regions.
The logic of the corporation, which asserted that “our degrees are our inalienable right, no one can take them away from us,” was also characteristic of Soviet scientists. It was this that became an important argument for the refusal of the Academy of Sciences to deprive Academician Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov of his scientific title.
This logic is inherent in both modern universities and academies. To undertake their reform without understanding their medieval nature is rather strange. This does not mean the preservation of the archaic principle. But successive university reformers such as Wilhelm von Humboldt and John Newman looked to the origins of university autonomy and corporatism.
6. The spread of the university form to the world
Universities have spread all over the world - this can be seen as European expansion. If we compare with this other social and political institutions exported by Europe (European parliamentarism, freedom of speech, the doctrine of human rights) and taking root far from everywhere, then the triumphal procession of universities around the world looks more than convincing. Today there is no such country where there is no university, and the best are often located outside Europe. That is, the university turned out to be a surprisingly tenacious form, invented in the great era of the XII-XIII centuries, from my point of view, in the golden age for European civilization.
7. History of the study of university culture
There is a lot of current research on the history of the university, but the most interesting things were said by the French medievalist Jacques Le Goff, his critics, his supporters in the 50s-60s of the 20th century. Interesting is the attempt to include Russian universities in the context of European history - these are the works of A. Yu. Andreev on the transfer of the university idea to Russia, the works of E. A. Vishlenkova and her co-authors, which show from the inside how university traditions took root and formed in Russia.
Promising will be research on the history of universities, which, unfortunately, we do not have. But the last generalizing work in Russian on the history of European universities was published in 1896 (albeit republished in 2012). It remains to be hoped that the situation will change soon: the history of medieval universities is in demand in our country today more than ever.
Andreev A. Yu. Russian universities of the XVIII - first half of the XIX century in the context of the university history of Europe M., 2009.
Vishlenkova E.A., Galiullina R.Kh., Ilyina K.A. Russian professors: university corporatism or professional solidarity. M., 2012.
De Libera A. Medieval thinking. M., 2004.
Le Goff J. Intellectuals in the Middle Ages. SPB, 2003.
Suvorov N. S. Medieval universities, M., 1896, 2nd ed. M., 2012.
"The medieval university was undoubtedly a product of Western European medieval civilization. In a certain sense, some of the educational institutions of classical antiquity were its predecessors: the philosophical school in Athens (IV century BC), the school of law in Beirut (III - VI centuries), Imperial University in Constantinople (424 - 1453). Their organization and the program of individual courses are reminiscent of medieval ones. Thus, in Beirut there was a compulsory five-year academic course with certain cycles, in Constantinople, teachers of grammar, rhetoric, philosophy and law were gathered in one center. no less in antiquity, a number of necessary prerequisites were missing:
1) there was no universal religion - Christianity;
2) there was no need for a mass release of specialists;
3) the separation of political power from religion has not yet been observed; secular power has not been formed yet;
4) there was no detailed specialization of knowledge;
5) agriculture dominated, etc.
The Middle Ages also did not know the significance of the university, which we use now. For the 20th century, as a rule, the university was the totality of all sciences, as opposed to special higher educational institutions. In the Middle Ages, the term "universitas" meant not the universality of learning, but any organized union, any corporation. The words "corpus", collegium, were also used to designate them. These associations thus included people with common interests and independent legal status. In Bologna, Padua, Montpellier, there were in fact several universities, but they considered themselves parts of one "universitas". Even the city was called the university of citizens (universitas civium), any craft workshop. Only in the XIV - XV centuries. the university will become a separate academic institution. Schools (studium) were distinguished from universities. They were divided into:
1. general (generale), that is, not local, but intended for all representatives of nations who, thanks to acquired academic degrees, had the right to teach in any area of the Christian world (facultas docendi ubique terrarum);
2. studium universale;
3. studium commune;
4. studium soempne, i.e. ordinary.
...There were the following types of schools:
1. Monastic:
a) internal schools for boys preparing for monastic vows;
b) external schools for lay boys.
2. Cathedral or cathedral - at episcopal residences:
a) for the training of future clergymen:
b) for the laity.
3. Parish, which were kept by priests.
Parish and external monastic and cathedral schools were attended by boys aged 7-15. They studied reading, writing, counting, church singing.
By the XIV century. the common name is approved - universitas scolarium et magistrorum. By this time, the concept of the university was taking shape. The university had a number of rights and privileges:
1) study not only the seven liberal arts, but also law (civil and canonical), theology, medicine. In medieval universities, as a rule, there were four faculties: the junior - preparatory, it is also the faculty of the seven liberal arts, artistic, artistic, philosophical; seniors - medical, legal, theological;
2) the right to receive part of the beneficiary church income for education;
3) a holder of a degree from one of the schools to teach at any other university without additional examinations (ius ubique docendi);
4) special jurisdiction for schoolchildren by choice or before teachers or the local bishop instead of the general jurisdiction of city judges;
5) the right to issue their own laws, statutes and orders regulating the remuneration of teachers, teaching techniques and methods, disciplinary norms, the procedure for conducting exams, etc.
There were other privileges, which were mostly local in nature. Thus, we have, in fact, the idea of a "scientific workshop". Everywhere the general designation "studentes" began to take shape: this was the name not only for students, but for everyone who "studies", that is, devotes himself to scientific pursuits, teachers and students.
Thus, these associations were organized on the model of craft and merchant guilds and sought to achieve corporatism, that is, the right approved by the highest authority to have common property, elected officials, statutes drawn up by the members of the association themselves, a press, and their own court. The struggle for these rights dragged on for a long time. The new word "university" caused the same hostility as the word "commune".
There were three main forms of teaching.
1. A complete, systematic presentation of the subject, according to the program set out in the statutes, was called lectio at certain hours. These lectures were divided into ordinary (obligatory) and extraordinary (additional). The fact is that in the Middle Ages, schoolchildren did not attend a course in a particular science, say, a course in philosophy or Roman law, etc. Then they said that such and such a teacher reads or such and such a student listens to such and such a book. Roger Bacon in the thirteenth century formulated it this way: "If someone knows the text, he knows everything that relates to the science about which this text speaks." Some books were considered more important and obligatory (ordinary) for the student, others less important and optional (extraordinary). The difference in lectures also led to the division of teachers into ordinary and extraordinary. For ordinary lectures, as a rule, morning hours (from dawn to 9 o'clock in the morning) were appointed, as more convenient and designed for more fresh forces of the audience, and extraordinary lectures were read in the afternoon hours (from 6 to 10 o'clock in the evening). The lecture lasted 1 - 2 hours. Before the start of the lecture, the teacher made a brief introduction, in which he determined the nature of the work on the book and did not shy away from self-promotion. The main task of the teacher was to compare different versions of the texts and give the necessary explanations. The statutes forbade students from requiring repetition or slow reading. Schoolchildren had to come to lectures with books. This was done in order to force each listener to directly get acquainted with the text. Books at that time were very expensive, so schoolchildren rented texts. Already in the XIII century. universities began to accumulate manuscripts, copy them and create their own exemplary texts. Audiences in the modern sense of the word did not exist for a long time. Each teacher read to a certain circle of his students in any rented room or at home. Bologna professors were among the first to arrange school premises, and from the 14th century. cities began to create public buildings for auditoriums. Schoolchildren, as a rule, were grouped in one place. In Paris, it was the street of Straw (Foire), so named because the students sat on the floor, on the straw, at the feet of the teacher. Later, a semblance of desks appeared - long tables, at which up to 20 people could fit. The department began to settle down on a dais, under a canopy.
2. Repetitio is a detailed explanation of a separate text from different angles, taking into account all possible doubts and objections. At the University of Paris, it was more often to check all the sources related to a particular problem in various manuscripts and look at the relevant comments in various essays. In German universities, they took place in the form of a dialogue between a teacher and a student. The teacher asked questions and judged the student's progress by the answers. There was another form - the repetition of part of what was read. At the same time, they were preparing for disputes.
3. One of the most common forms of teaching was the dispute (disputatio). The leadership of the universities attached great importance to them. It was disputes that were supposed to teach schoolchildren the art of dispute, the protection of acquired knowledge. Dialectics came to the fore in them.
The most common method of conducting disputes was the method proposed by Pierre Abelard pro et contra, sic et non (for and against, yes and no). Every two weeks, one of the masters gave a speech on the broadest possible topic and, in conclusion, named theses or questions that were to be the subject of a dispute, then for several days he collected all the pros and cons from the schoolchildren. The most curious and most solemn was the disputation "about anything" (disputatio de quodlibet) that took place at the preparatory faculty. Discussion topics were varied:
1. Dispute held by Matteo Aquasparta in the 13th century. on the topic "Is the necessary existence due to the knowledge of this thing, or can something that does not exist be the object of the intellect?", reflected the struggle between two philosophical trends - nominalism and realism.
2. It was necessary to prove or disprove the Aristotelian syllogism "All people are animals. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is an animal."
3. The whole day there could be a dispute about whether the preaching of the word of God could be abandoned due to the prohibition of secular authorities.
4. Is it possible to bind demons and the forces of darkness with a spell?
5. Is a duel and tournament allowed according to canonical laws?
Joking questions were also allowed, but of a non-judgmental nature (although from the point of view of our morality they may seem such): about the loyalty of concubines to priests; the attitude to such a plot was quite seriously discussed: the priest visited the daughter of a baker, but was forced to flee from a competitor, ran into a pig barn, where the baker entered and asked: "Who is there?" Pop replied: "No one but us"; can there be more than one angel in the same place?
The university authorities strove for academicism in disputes. Harsh language, shouting and insults were forbidden. Nevertheless, disputes often turned into battles between masters and scholars. The oak barrier did not save either.
Upon graduation, the student passed an examination, which was taken by a group of masters from each nation, headed by a dean. The student must prove that he has read the recommended books and participated in the required number of disputes (six for his master, three university-wide). They were also interested in the behavior of the student. Then he was allowed to a public debate, which was supposed to answer all the questions. The award was a first bachelor's degree. For two years the bachelor assisted the master and received the "right to teach" (licentio docendi), becoming a "licentiate". Six months later, he became a master and had to give a solemn lecture to bachelors and masters, take an oath, arrange a feast.
European higher education is a product of medieval culture. It was then that the basic principles and traditions of universities were laid down, which are inherited from era to era. Many of them continue to be relevant today. It is all the more interesting to trace where and why they arose and how they manifest themselves in modern times.
University hierarchy
The flourishing of the first universities in the 12th century coincided with the active development of guild production. Medieval universities were created in the same way as craft workshops: students gathered around a famous scientist, who at the same time helped him run the household, studied under his guidance and participated in research.
Over time, this resulted in the emergence of academic degrees: the status of a schoolboy, bachelor and master was similar in meaning to the status of a student, apprentice and master in the shops.
It was simply impossible to go from one stage to another: those who wished were offered a special task. And if for artisans such a task was the creation of a “masterpiece” - the best sample of a product, then for members of the scientific guild it was a demonstration of knowledge.
After a student comprehended the "seven liberal arts" and passed the exam, he could apply for a bachelor's degree, and after defending his dissertation - a master of arts. The master could already continue his studies at one of the higher faculties, after which he received a doctoral degree. Continuous training could last 20 years, which, taking into account medieval life expectancy, took a good half of it.
Organization of universities
European universities then, as now, consisted of many substructures. The division into faculties appeared with the creation of the first universities. The most in demand in the Middle Ages were lawyers - due to the development of the practice of written legislation - and theologians - due to the expansion of the influence of Christianity. Medicine by this time had become more effective than pagan healing practices.
So any medieval university had four faculties: theological, legal, medical and artistic (faculty of "liberal arts") - preparatory. At the Faculty of Art, students comprehended the trivium (grammar, logic and rhetoric), and then the quadrium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and harmonics), after which they entered one of the three senior faculties.
It is noteworthy that the faculties of law and medicine still retain a privileged position, and obtaining the relevant specialties entails memorizing a large amount of theory in the best traditions of the Middle Ages.
An analogue of modern student fraternities were the "nations" into which the faculties were divided. Members of the "nations" together defended property and educational interests, organized informal student life, and helped each other in trouble.
Colleges emerged at the same time as hostels for needy students. They were created by monastic orders or the aristocracy, and successful graduates ensured their existence. Gradually, colleges became the centers of university life: they often taught here, organized libraries and peculiar part-time jobs for students (for example, correspondence of manuscripts, educational consultations, secretarial service). Oxford and Cambridge generally turned from the 14th century into a confederation of separate colleges that hired teachers and staff. In the English-speaking educational environment, this type of university structure still prevails.
Scientific vagrancy
Academic mobility today is a university principle, the ability to easily move between higher educational institutions for teaching and learning. This is exchange studies, inviting foreign teachers to give courses, and the like. The principle dates back to the Middle Ages, when universities represented a single space without national and social boundaries.
Education was universal.
They taught everywhere in Latin, the faculties and programs of study at all universities were the same, students studied the same books and solved the same scholastic problems.
Academic degrees were recognized in all universities of the Christian world. In addition, in the Middle Ages, it was much easier for a student to go to another city and personally meet the scientist of interest to him, rather than find the manuscripts of his lectures.
Traveling between universities for the sake of scientific knowledge was so widespread that even a special type of medieval bohemians engaged in "scientific vagrancy" arose - goliards. The backbone of the goliards were students who studied from time to time in different places and opposed feudalism with its desire to assign each person to a specific business and place. Among the goliards, the student anthem of all time, Gaudeamus, was born, glorifying professors, wine and student freedom.
Special status of the scientific community
Like today, the scientific community of the medieval university was the bearer of a special worldview and privileges. The first method of knowledge was scholasticism - a combination of Christian theology and the logic of Aristotle. On the basis of scholasticism, a type of scientific thinking was formed, which is familiar to us even now. Learning and teaching began to be based on quoting authorities, formal logic, rationalism, and reasoning through problem solving.
In the Middle Ages, the opinion spread that education endows a person not only with knowledge, but also with virtues. It seemed to communicate true nobility, superior to nobility by birth. This is how the intelligentsia began to form.
In many countries, students and scientists were exempted from taxes, military service, and in general from all types of activity except intellectual. This formally equated them with the aristocracy.
Scientists themselves emphasized the status, adopting the customs of the nobility. For example, at the University of Vienna, on the eve of receiving a bachelor's or master's degree, the candidate had to take a ceremonial bath, which resembled the process of receiving a noble title. In the universities of Spain, newly minted doctors were given a sword, as in a knighting ceremony.
Universities also owe the principle of self-government to the Middle Ages. The university was then created as a state within a state. For its organization, it was necessary to obtain the approval of the secular and ecclesiastical authorities, but otherwise self-government and democracy reigned in the universities. Leading positions were elected, decisions were made at general meetings, academic degrees were awarded collectively. Everyone was admitted to universities, regardless of social and financial status. The higher school was endowed with such internal freedom because its existence was beneficial for the city: firstly, it provided an influx of citizens, and secondly, educated workers did their job much more efficiently.
The myth that women have no place in science also comes from the Middle Ages. At that time, education was not available to women, as beings guilty of original sin. But besides this, scientists were strongly recommended to observe celibacy, since education, like worship, was incompatible with anything related to femininity.
Prototypes of lectures and seminars
The two main forms of educational activity for universities were laid down in the Middle Ages. Medieval schoolchildren gained knowledge through lectures and debates. The lecture format has changed little. They were a reading by a professor of scientific or theological literature with comments and explanations.
Reading lectures from dictation was not encouraged, if not prohibited at all.
The studied texts were quite voluminous. For example, theologians read the Bible, doctors - the works of Avicenna and Hippocrates. Before the start of the lesson, the lecturer, as a rule, gave an overview of the author's works and the book under study, and proved the authenticity of the text. To facilitate teaching, “sums” began to be created - collections of key ideas of books with comments, analogues of anthologies.
Disputes, scholastic disputes, were the prototypes of seminars. Disputes were built on the art of dialectics: they had to turn to their advantage the logical and stylistic mistakes of opponents, look for contradictions in their speeches. Ordinary debates were held weekly and looked like disputes of opponents of modern discussion clubs - a consistent statement of arguments and counterarguments to the theses.
During the dispute, it was necessary to observe the moral code and the Christian canon. Harsh and abusive expressions were ordered to be replaced by neutral ones such as "inadmissible" or "not true."
Nevertheless, disputes often turned into fights, sometimes with the use of a stick - an indispensable attribute of a student. Perhaps this is the reason for the appearance of the winged expression "argumentum ad baculum" - "argument to the stick."
Something like modern conferences were "anything" disputes (quadlibets) that could go on for weeks. They often discussed topics of a frivolous or topical political nature. Favorite, for example, was the topic "On the fidelity of prostitutes to clerics."
Medieval dedicated
From the Middle Ages came the tradition of introducing new recruits to university life. Initiation took place through an initiation rite that was synonymous with being reborn as a student. In the society of that time, initiation occupied an important place, because a person was determined primarily by the community to which he belonged. And belonging to the university was extremely honorable.
A vivid example of initiation is the rite "Knocking down the horns". The rite symbolized farewell to village ignorance. Bachelors humiliated a novice student, who was called a "bull" - an aggressive and unclean animal. A medieval entrant was beaten, homemade horns were tied to his head, and then they were broken off.
In the process of initiation, newcomers could be forced to eat slop, gargle with urine, pull out teeth, and so on. The whole action ended with a parody of the scholastic test, in which it was necessary to demonstrate ingenuity.
Gaudeamus igitur, Juvenes dum sumus! ("So let's have some fun while we're young!")
Since the founding of the first universities, the student body has led an emphatically hedonistic lifestyle. And if the members of the "scientific guild" did not pore over the books, then they certainly idly wandered around the city or drank wine, discussing the essentials.
Drinkers were an attribute of learning.
For example, according to the charter of the Sorbonne, fines for behavior were measured by measures of wine, and the expression "to get drunk theologically" existed in modern times. At the same time, the tradition of holding feasts after the award of an academic degree was established at the expense of a newly minted bachelor or master.
Students' attacks on townspeople and constant fights with each other were commonplace. In order to reduce the damage from such behavior, student duels were organized. And although killings on them were very rare, most of the participants received serious injuries and even mutilations. Aggressive epicureanism was considered a necessary aspect of university education, and therefore was forgiven by the authorities.
The archetype of the mendicant student also arose in the Middle Ages. Then for the first time teachers began to take a fee for lecturing, the magnificent procedures for obtaining degrees, the purchase of books and writing materials, and uniforms required large expenses. Most also paid for housing and food. Therefore, the medieval student was in the eternal search for earnings, and indeed any source of existence.
Autonomy and self-government, the unity of teaching and research, educational mobility, structure and hierarchy, the special status of scientists and the traditions of informal student life - all this the modern university inherited from the medieval one. Of course, the university culture has changed over time, but its fundamentals have remained the same. And in terms of democracy, modern higher education is even more reminiscent of medieval than the education of subsequent eras.
