The Medieval German University: Transformation and Innovation*

Abstract

The German medieval universities entered the picture late but abo as a new type. Territorial rulers, city authorities and their boards combined the older types of Bologna and Paris and out of them formed the new “German type”: the Four‐faculties‐University which was forced to tolerate not only the different branches in one and the same “universitas” but moreover the enormous differences relating to the social backgrounds of lawyers, theologians, medical doctors and men of arts. The territorial structure of the Holy Roman Empire finally explains the fast growing number of universities. The rulers, however, were concerned about increasing the prestige and profit of their dynasties and rule rather than about general education and science. University studies and education nevertheless introduced one of the most momentous processes of innovation in Germany. Until the Reformation more than 250000 persons had attended the universities, about 80 percent as men of liberal arts however. This fact has to be kept in mind when dealing with a comparative history of education in Europe. *This contribution is concieved as an essay, as a state of the art. It is based on a selection of older and recent works mentioned in the select bibliography at the end of the article and on proper reflection. Therefore, I omitted to add notes to the text.