Life in the Medieval University

by Robert S. Rait

Originally published during the early part of the twentieth century, the Cambridge Manuals of Science and Literature were designed to provide concise introductions to a broad range of topics. They were written by experts for the general reader and combined a comprehensive approach to knowledge with an emphasis on accessibility. Life in the Medieval University by Robert S. Rait was first published in 1912. The book presents an account of the various aspects of life in medieval universities, incorporating information on administrative structures, discipline, conflicts with local people and academic instruction.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Medieval History

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1912

About the author

Sir Robert Sangster Rait was Professor of Scottish History and Literature, 1913 to 1930, and Principal of Glasgow University from 1929 until 1936. He was awarded an LLD by the University in 1930.

Rait graduated MA from King's College, Aberdeen in 1894. He obtained a First in Modern History at New College, Oxford where he became a Fellow in 1900. Soon after his appointment to the Glasgow chair, he served in the war trade intelligence department during the First World War, and was awarded a CBE.

Rait was responsible for leading the University through the difficult years of the Depression, when the number of students fell sharply along with revenues. He was Historiographer Royal for Scotland, 1919 to 1929, and he was a trustee and, from 1932, Chairman of the National Library of Scotland. He was knighted in 1933.

Reviews

[Lois Bujold · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published 1912, now public domain. Covers somewhat the same ground as my just-read-prior The University in Medieval Life by Hunt Janin. A more recent book (2008), Janin explains a lot more background, and translates his quotes in Latin, French, German, etc., bless him, for an audience not automatically assumed to have learned them all in school. So I'd rec Janin as a better first read on the subject.

Rait is a good supplement, giving further illuminating human anecdotes (what I mainly came for) in as far as they can be gleaned from the few surviving sources.

Rules and regulations, the more arcane the better, make fascinating reading if you think about them for even a moment, because most of them don't come out of the air, but rather as responses to some prior real problem. One highlight, from a long paragraph detailing the prohibitions (many) against amusements includes the forbidding of students keeping dogs or falcons, "for if one can have them in the House, all will want them, and so there will arise a constant howling" [not said whether from the dogs or the students, but really, either could apply] to disturb the studious. Later in the same paragraph the prohibition is expanded to include ferrets, bears, wolves (!), and "stage", which may be a misprint of stags (also !) or some other creature even the dictionary does not enlighten me upon.

Clearly, not a regulation that would be imposed at the Wealdean Royal College of Shamans in Easthome, but I digress.

This is followed by the side remark by Rait, "The principle on which modern deans of colleges have sometimes decided that "gramophones are dogs" and can therefore be excluded from college, can be traced in numerous regulations against musical instruments, which disturb the peace essential to learning." Thus giving the reader two historical snapshots in one, a special benefit of reading older works.

Pretty quick read, just 8 chapters.

Ta, L.

[Todd Howell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit bare in some parts and too much Latin intermingled with the book.

A good overview, though I was disappointed that I didn't see any mention of the effect of the Black Plague on universities.

[J. Boo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was hoping for greater coverage of the curriculum, but this was still a good read. The first section, which focuses on the University of Bologna, is the best. Perhaps part of this is due to Bologna's structure - it was student-run, and organizationally feels very odd to anyone modern familiar with university governance. Also has a great "you are a first year student at Bologna, what happens now?" chapter. Coverage of the French (Paris), English (mainly Oxford), German, and Scottish universities somehow isn't quite as interesting.

Rait does periodically break into Latin, but my feeble skills were generally either enough to grasp what was being discussed, or the topic was such that I felt that I didn't actually need to know exactly what was going on. I suppose that's the benefit of reading for pleasure, and if you're interested in the topic, the book certainly is pleasurable. If you're less interested, the Bologna section is still worth it, and you can skip the rest.

By the way, the Paston family of absurdly prolific letter-writers show up in the Oxford section. I cheered.

[Maxwashl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was interesting to see the life and rules associated with being a collegiate back then. I wish the author spent more time on the 7 liberal arts, but it was good enough for a brief history book. I also wish he had translated all of the Latin phrases used because I don't know the language and had to find a dictionary online to see what the phrases meant. I think pictures of places (Like buildings/an equivalent of a campus, the chained books/libraries, dorm rooms, and lecture locations maybe) and academic dress for this book would have been nice too if possible. I'm always too needy for pictures though...

[Heather dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pros: Very good description of where a lot of traditions come from as well as what the students and villages went through living together at this time. It goes into a lot about the hazing at the times, the general studies, how draconic the rules were on doing anything and the punishments inflicted.

Cons: Lots of Latin. There are occasional overviews of what the Latin is about and if it doesn't include that you can still get the general gist from context clues. However, if you are the type of person who wants to understand what these lines actually say you will have to break out the Latin-English dictionary and figure it out yourself.

[Seawood · Rating 2 out of 5]

I learnt some interesting bits and pieces from this but it really needs updating to reflect the fact very few people are able to understand even snippets of Latin these days, let alone great chunks of it. Also someone really needs to improve the formatting; it's a dense text and the poor paragraphing makes it hard to follow.