The ascendancy of the Sorbonne: The relations between centre and periphery in the academic order of the third French Republic

Abstract

The position of the Sorbonne at the peak of the hierarchy of French universities over much of the past century and a half rests in part on the dominance of Paris, already under way in the ancien regime and accentuated by the Revolution and Napoleon; it is also a consequence of the location of many other important intellectual institutions and of a very animated literary and artistic life in Paris. No other country in the West in this period shows such a dominion of one university over all the other universities of that country. In all Western societies, certain universities have greater prestige and attractive power among teachers and students than other universities. But France stands out from all others in this regard. Not even Oxford and Cambridge, in Great Britain, gained the dominance which the Sorbonne had in France. Efforts were made to force the Scottish universities into their pattern, but these were never wholly successful. The University of London especially University College never yielded to the model constituted by Oxford and Cambridge. The great provincial universities were also able to maintain their intellectual self-respect in the face of the ancient universities. They became creative centres of science and scholarship and succeeded in holding the affection of many of their teachers. In Germany after 1 870, the range of dispersion in status between the most and the least distinguished universities was narrow. The universities were not financially dependent on the central government; competition between states for the eminence of their universities intensified competition among universities. For most of the nineteenth century there was no central government, and when one was established education remained with the constituent states. The University of Berlin had an advantage coming from its position in the largest and most powerful German state. Munich had the advantage of being supported by a wealthy kingdom. After the formation of the Reich, the University of Berlin had the additional advantage of being located in the capital of the Reich. Nevertheless, there were very distinguished scholars and scientists in nearly all German universities and nearly all of them had their acknowledged charms.