Editing Medieval university (section)

== Students ==
Students attended the medieval university at different ages—from 14 if they were attending Oxford or Paris to study the arts, to their 30s if they were studying law in Bologna. During this period of study, students often lived far from home and unsupervised, and as such developed a reputation, both among contemporary commentators and modern historians, for drunken debauchery. Students are frequently criticized in the Middle Ages for neglecting their studies for drinking, gambling and sleeping with prostitutes.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5022p3bhfmEC&q=false&pg=PA125|title=Medieval Violence: Physical Brutality in Northern France, 1270-1330|first=Hannah|last=Skoda|date=21 February 2013|publisher=OUP Oxford|via=Google Books|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515114214/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5022p3bhfmEC&lpg=PA150&dq=medieval+universities+nations&pg=PA125#v=onepage&q=false&f=false|archive-date=15 May 2018|isbn=9780199670833}}</ref> In Bologna, some of their laws permitted students to be citizens of the city if they were enrolled at a university.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Life in the Medieval University |last=Rait |first=Robert S. |author-link=Robert Rait |orig-year=1912 |date=1931}}</ref>{{page number needed|date=February 2021}}

=== Course of study ===
[[Image:Laurentius de Voltolina Vorlesung vor Studenten - Min 1233 - Kupferstichkabinett Berlin.jpg|thumb|A [[Bologna]] university class,1350s]]

University studies took six years for a [[Master of Arts]] degree (a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree was awarded after completing the third or fourth year).  Studies for this were organized by the [[faculty of arts]], where the seven [[liberal arts]] were taught: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music theory, grammar, logic, and rhetoric.<ref>Hastings Rashdall, ''The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages'', 3 volumes; Powicke, F. M., and Emden, A. B. (eds.), 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 1936.{{page number needed|date=February 2021|reason=and the volume number; and why cite this old edition when a newer one has already beed cited in same article?}}</ref><ref>Leff, G.; North, J.; "Chapter 10: The Faculty of Arts", in ''A History of the University in Europe, Volume I: Universities in the Middle Ages''; Ruegg, W. (ed.), Cambridge University Press, 1992.</ref>{{page number needed|date=February 2021}} All instruction was given in [[Latin]] and students were expected to converse in that language.<ref>Rait, Robert S. (1912); ''Life in the Medieval University'', p. 133. <!--Why is this citing the old edition when a newer one is already cited in this article?--></ref> The ''[[trivium]]'' comprised the three subjects that were taught first: grammar, logic, and rhetoric.<ref name="Rait 138">Rait (1912), p. 138.</ref> The ''[[quadrivium]]'' consisted of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. The quadrivium was taught after the preparatory work of the trivium and would lead to the degree of Master of Arts.<ref>Gilman, Daniel Coit, et al. (1905). New International Encyclopedia. Lemma "Arts, Liberal".</ref> The curriculum came also to include the three [[Aristotelianism|Aristotelian]] philosophies: [[Aristotelian physics|physics]], [[Aristotelian metaphysics|metaphysics]] and [[Aristotelian ethics|moral philosophy]].<ref name="Rait 138" />

[[Image:Blava 2007-3-28-33.jpg|thumb|left|[[Universitas Istropolitana]], a former university building in present-day [[Bratislava]], [[Slovakia]]]]

Much of medieval thought in philosophy and theology can be found in [[Scholasticism|scholastic]] textual commentary because scholasticism was such a popular method of teaching. [[Aelius Donatus]]' ''[[Ars grammatica]]'' was the standard textbook for grammar; also studied were the works of [[Priscian]] and ''Graecismus'' by [[Eberhard of Béthune]].<ref>Rait (1912), pp. 138–139.</ref> [[Writings of Marcus Tullius Cicero|Cicero's works]] were used for the study of rhetoric.<ref name="Rait 138" /> Studied books on logic included [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]]'s [[Isagoge|introduction to Aristotelian logic]], [[Gilbert de la Porrée]]'s ''De sex principiis'' and ''Summulae Logicales'' by Petrus Hispanus (later [[Pope John XXI]]).<ref name="Rait 139">Rait (1912), p. 139.</ref> The standard work of astronomy was ''[[Tractatus de sphaera]]''.<ref name="Rait 139" />

Once a Master of Arts degree had been conferred, the student could leave the university or pursue further studies in one of the higher faculties, [[law]], [[medicine]], or [[theology]], the last one being the most prestigious. Originally, only few universities had a faculty of theology, because the popes wanted to control the theological studies. Until the mid-14th century, theology could be studied only at universities in Paris, Oxford, Cambridge and Rome. First the establishment of the [[Charles University|University of Prague]] (1347) ended their monopoly and afterwards also other universities got the right to establish theological faculties.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rüegg |first1=Walter |last2=Briggs |first2=Asa |title=Geschichte der Universität in Europa 1: Mittelalter |date=1993 |publisher=Beck |location=München |isbn=3-406-36952-9 |page=63 |language=de}}</ref>

A popular textbook for theological study was called the ''[[Sentences]]'' (''Quattuor libri sententiarum'') of [[Peter Lombard]]; theology students as well as masters were required to lecture or to write extensive commentaries on this text as part of their curriculum.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tkachenko|first=Rostislav|date=2017-06-16|title=Peter Lombard on God's Knowledge: Sententiae, Book I, Distinctions 35-38, as the Basis for Later Theological Discussions.|journal=Sententiae|volume=36|issue=1|pages=17–31|doi=10.22240/sent36.01.017|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uhzV368KRDMC&q=discussion+%28or+%27disputation%27%29+of+the+Sentences+was+an+integral+part+of+the+medieval+theological+University+curriculum&pg=PA52|title=The University in Medieval Life, 1179-1499|last=Janin|first=Hunt|date=2014|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-5201-9|pages=52|language=en}}</ref>  Studies in the higher faculties could take up to twelve years for a master's degree or doctorate (initially the two were synonymous), though again a bachelor's and a [[Licentiate (degree)|licentiate]]'s degree could be awarded along the way.<ref>Pedersen (1997).</ref>{{page number needed|date=February 2021}}

Courses were offered according to books, not by subject or theme. For example, a course might be on a book by [[Aristotle]], or a book from the [[Bible]]. Courses were not elective: the course offerings were set, and everyone had to take the same courses. There were, however, occasional choices as to which teacher to use.<ref>Pedersen (1997), Chapter 10: "Curricula and intellectual trends".</ref>

Students often entered the university at fourteen to fifteen years of age, though many were older.<ref>Rashdall ([1895] 1987), vol. 3, p. 352.</ref> Classes usually started at 5:00 or 6:00&nbsp;a.m.

=== Legal status ===
{{Further|Tenure (academic)}}

As students had the legal status of clerics, [[Canon Law]] prohibited women from being admitted into universities. Students were afforded the legal protection of the clergy, as well. In this way, no one was allowed to physically harm them; they could only be tried for crimes in an [[ecclesiastical court]], and were thus immune from any [[corporal punishment]]. This gave students free rein in urban environments to break secular laws with impunity, which led to many abuses: theft, rape, and murder. Students did not face serious consequences<ref>Rashdall ([1895] 1987), vol. 3, p. 360.</ref> from the law. Students were also known to engage in drunkenness. Sometimes citizens were forbidden to interact with students because they made accusations against the university.

This led to uneasy tensions with secular authorities—the demarcation between [[town and gown]]. Masters and students would sometimes "strike" by leaving a city and not returning for years. This happened at the [[University of Paris strike of 1229]] after a riot left a number of students dead. The university went on strike and they did not return for two years.

Most universities in Europe were recognized by the [[Holy See]] as {{lang|la|[[Studium generale|studia generalia]]}}, testified by a [[papal bull]]. Members of these institutions were encouraged to disseminate their knowledge across Europe, often lecturing at a different {{lang|la|studium generale}}. Indeed, one of the privileges the papal bull confirmed was the right to confer the {{lang|la|ius ubique docendi}}, an entitlement to teach everywhere.<ref>Rashdall [1895] 1987, vol. 1, ch. I, p. 8.</ref>