The Rise of Universities

The Rise of Universities is a lucid, compressed account of the medieval institutions that gave Europe its enduring model of higher learning. Haskins traces the emergence of Bologna, Paris, and Oxford from cathedral schools, professional guilds, and urban intellectual life, explaining curricula, privileges, examinations, and the unruly social world of masters and students. Written in elegant, economical prose, the book belongs to the early twentieth-century revival of medieval studies and corrects the myth of a stagnant Middle Ages by emphasizing institutional creativity. Charles Homer Haskins, one of America's foremost medieval historians, brought to the subject formidable linguistic training, archival discipline, and a lifelong interest in the twelfth-century intellectual awakening. As a Harvard professor and author of The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century, he was especially attuned to the ways law, theology, philosophy, and administration generated new scholarly communities. His public service during the Wilson era also sharpened his appreciation for institutions and their historical power. This book is recommended to readers seeking a concise yet authoritative introduction to university origins. Students of education, medieval history, and intellectual culture will find Haskins's synthesis both accessible and enduringly suggestive.