The Thirteenth, Greatest of CenturiesWalsh, James J. (James Joseph)
History
The Thirteenth, Greatest of Centuries
Walsh, James J. (James Joseph)
Civilization, Medieval -- 13th century; Universities and colleges -- History
are founded mainly on the worse side of it. Goodness is proverbially
uninteresting, a happy people has no history and the ordinary life of
the university student needs a patient sympathetic chronicler; and
such the medieval universities have not found as yet. But they do not
need many allowances, if it will only be remembered under what
discouragements they labored and how much they accomplished.
The reputation of the medieval universities has suffered from this
very human tendency to be interested in what is evil and to neglect
the good. Even as it is, however, a good deal with regard to the
discipline of the universities in the early times is known and does
not lose in interest from the fact, that the main factor in it was a
committee of the students themselves working in conjunction with the
faculty, and thus anticipating what is most modern in the development
of the disciplinary regime of our up-to-date universities. At first
apparently, in the schools from which the universities originated
there was no thought of the necessity for discipline. The desire for
education was considered to be sufficient to keep men occupied in {75}
such a way that further discipline would not be necessary. It can
readily be understood that the crowds that flocked to hear Abelard in
Paris, and who were sufficiently interested to follow him out to the
Desert of the Paraclete when he was no longer allowed to continue his
lectures in connection with the school at Paris, would have quite
enough of ruling from the internal forum of their supreme interest,
not to need any discipline in the external forum.
In the course of time, however, with the coming of even greater
numbers to the University of Paris, and especially when the attendance
ran up into many thousands, some form of school discipline became an
absolute necessity. This developed of itself and in a very practical
way. The masters seem to have had very little to do with it at the
beginning since they occupied themselves entirely with their teaching
and preparation for lectures. What was to become later one of the
principal instruments of discipline was at first scarcely more than a
social organization among the students. Those who came from different
countries were naturally attracted to one another, and were more ready
to help each other. When students first came they were welcomed by
their compatriots who took care to keep them from being imposed upon,
enabled them to secure suitable quarters and introduced them to
university customs generally, so that they might be able to take
advantage, as soon as possible, of the educational opportunities.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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