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The influence of universities in the middle ages
The influence of universities in the middle ages
The impact of education in the middle ages
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“Education is a state-controlled manufactory of echoes.”- Norman Douglas
There is much truth to the quote stated above by Norman Douglas, especially during the 900-1300 when industrialization, agricultural innovation, international trade, and religious conquest rocked the European, Asian, and Islamic societies. The quest for unification and cultural/religious spread during this turbulent times were answered by universities that created men of an educated class. Higher education became the state and religion controlled medium to reinforce the agenda of established religious leaders and political authorities. The court Elites and local religious leaders prized education and spend considerable wealth towards establishing and growing it, for the sole purpose of advancing their own agenda. (Thesis) Higher Education institutions during the period 900-1300 reinforced established authorities religiously, politically, and economically..
The rise of higher education throughout the world, made it powerful tool to spread religious and philosophical ideas by political and religious authorities. Whether it was in Latin Christendom, Islamic nations, India, or china, religion was the undeniable force of unification and identification of a country. Since religion was held at such an esteem in society, it was only befitting that education interjected itself into religion. As religious authorities began to see the benefits of higher education on spreading religious unification, education became the weapon to spread the religious agenda of established authorities. In Latin Christendom, with the support of the king Charlemagne (768-824), Christian monasteries and the royal courts became close allies, furthering higher education in this societies. (...
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In the state of uncertainty and change during the 900-1300 religious leaders and political leaders turned to higher institutions to create unification and maintain regulations. This resulted in large institutions becoming the puppets of local authorities to spread their desired agenda. While Universities did in fact increase religious conquest, political propaganda, and economic growth in European, Asian, and Islamic societies, in the end they only managed to reform the political and religious agenda of local authorities who controlled them.
Works Cited
Smith, M. G. (2012). Crossroads and Cultures: A History of the World's Peoples (Vol. I). Boston: Bedfords/St.Martin's.
Zanden, J. L. (2014, January 4). Economic growth in a period of political fragmentation, Western Europe 900-1300. International Institute for Social History/ Utrecht University , pp. 6-12.
Bentley, Jerry H., and Herbert F. Ziegler. Traditions & Encounters: A Global Persepective on the Past. Ed. Jessica Portz. 5th ed., 2011. 290-295. Print.
Backman, Clifford R., Christine Axen, and Clifford R. Backman. Sources for the Cultures of the West. New York: Oxford UP, 2014. Print.
The influence of religion on humankind can be traced back to the first records of history. Religion has served as a pillar of strength to some and binding chains to others. There are vast amounts of information and anthropological studies revealing the interaction of religion and humankind. However, for the purposes of this paper, the time periods of study will be broken up into three sections. Each section will give a general description of how religion affected the institution of the state and its Sovereignty in a Euro-centric perspective. The first period is the early period, which will encompass from Christianity and the Roman Empire to the Medieval times (approx. 311 to 1100 A.D.).
The Age of Faith was emerging and knowledge was increasingly informed by both a ...
Cole, Joshua. Western Civilizations: Their History and Their Culture. 3rd Ed. 2. W. W. Norton & Company, 2011. Print.
Schultz, Emily A. & Lavenda, Robert H. 2005, Cultural Anthropology, 6th edn, Oxford University Press, New York, Chapter 3: Fieldwork.
Education in the 1500 and the 1600’s was less valuable than what it is now. (Andrews 107). Back then, people didn’t value education. It just was too expensive for the general public, which turned away a lot of people for the later grades. The later grades were for higher ranking jobs. They required more education in order to be skillful at them. So education was mostly for higher classed people.
The presence of European missionaries continued to be felt in many corners of the world throughout the colonial era and continuing into the Imperial era, creating new forms of interaction and often conflicts between Christianity and other world religions. The Ottoman Empire engaged in a prolonged conflict of this nature, as did the dynasties of China. These conflicts continued into the Imperial era as Christianity began to take hold in Africa and India. In many of these countries, religion came to be associated with education, which took on an increasingly important role thanks to the ideas introduced by the Enlightenment. As the world came to place a higher value on reason, logic, and learning, the presence of religion in conquered territories took on the dual purposes of converting and teaching the native people. In th...
[4] Bentley, Jerry H. "22." Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the past. New York: McGraw Hill, 2008. N. pag.
Through the 9th and 12th century there was a golden age of knowledge in the Islamic Empire that would influence the works and advancements of almost everything having to do with learning during the Renaissance. The beginning of the golden age in Islam began with the creation of a new numbering system that would surpass the inefficient and clunky system that was roman numerals. This would also give way to the creation of the decimal point which is still used to this day. Which is an example of humans developing their knowledge, and the Islamic peoples transmitting their knowledge to influence the modern world.
One major contribution from the Middle Ages that has made a profound impact which still affects us today is the rise of universities and higher education. This new form of community teaching led to a rapid increase in the percentage of people who were literate in the Middle Ages and continued to flourish into a world-wide phenomenon which has changed the world of today and allows millions of people to delve deeper into their preferred area of interest and allow them to obtain a degree.
Education, as we know it today, did not exist in the Middle Ages. Illiteracy was dominant among the population. Scribes were the exception to the rule. Churches were the main source of knowledge and schooling. Real interest in learning grew along with the development of towns. The towns’ officials needed to be educated. At the same time a need for legal institutions was created and so started the university phenomenon. Modern education was on its way.
In the 20th century, we spend the first 20 to 25 years in some kind of learning environment. People nowadays also have to be aware that it is becoming harder to get through life comfortably without getting a degree in college after high school. School is something that is a system in our everyday lives: everyone must do it or else have a difficult time providing for them and family. We take advantage of our right to be educated, but we do not like it all of the time. The 12th century had an entirely different story. Medieval students avidly sought out something that we today take for granted. Thinking about how different things were for the people of the medieval era, it is oft times hard to see the similarities between schools then and now.
Although many people were illiterate in the Middle Ages, this time period was also the beginning of the university system and more widespread education. The development of the educational system in the Middle Ages was a crucial step in the development of the western world, and ultimately evolved into today’s university system. Classical, medieval education, and the educational tactics used in the Middle Ages are still prevalent today in the United States, and other countries’ higher educational systems. In this paper I will examine the education systems in place during the Middle Ages, including the aspects of student life, the subjects that were taught and how they were taught, and how all of these aspects evolved into the modern university
Medieval universities generally consisted of a ‘community of scholars’ who had the authority to award students with degrees. Majority of these scholars were monks or priests because in 600-1500 A.D. there was a strict religious hierarchy to create stability within the society. Therefore majority of the higher education took place in cathedrals or monastery schools. Unlike today, universities in the ‘dark ages’ did not have a university campus. Neither did they have a government who would make the majority of the decisions. Because of this, churches which were seen as the government as at that time religion had a massive impact on the s...