The Medieval University
In Our Time: Culture
BBC
4.5 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 17 March 2011
⏱️ 42 minutes
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Summary
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the medieval universities.In the 11th and 12th centuries a new type of institution started to appear in the major cities of Europe. The first universities were those of Bologna and Paris; within a hundred years similar educational organisations were springing up all over the continent. The first universities based their studies on the liberal arts curriculum, a mix of seven separate disciplines derived from the educational theories of Ancient Greece. The universities provided training for those intending to embark on careers in the Church, the law and education. They provided a new focus for intellectual life in Europe, and exerted a significant influence on society around them. And the university model proved so robust that many of these institutions and their medieval innovations still exist today.With:Miri RubinProfessor of Medieval and Early Modern History at Queen Mary, University of LondonIan WeiSenior Lecturer in Medieval European History at the University of BristolPeter DenleyReader in History at Queen Mary, University of London.Producer: Thomas Morris.
Transcript
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| 0:45.1 | Hello there are a hundred and 15 universities in Britain today but 800 years ago that number was just two |
| 0:51.0 | Oxford and Cambridge they were the first examples of a new type of educational |
| 0:55.2 | institution which had first appeared in Italy and France in the 11th and 12th centuries. |
| 1:00.3 | Within a few generations, universities were providing a similar education in Latin to people all over Europe. |
| 1:07.0 | The medieval universes offered a rigorous training in subjects including law, medicine and |
| 1:11.4 | and above all theology. Their influence was medicine and above all, theology. |
| 1:13.1 | Their influence was tremendous and forever altered the intellectual landscape of the continent. |
| 1:17.9 | The university model of further education proved so durable that it changed little in the |
| 1:22.2 | following seven centuries. |
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