The Urban Revolution and the Emergence of Univerities, 12th/13th century
A.) Early Medieval Economy
With the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the Barbarians, Roman civilization experienced a breakdown. In some areas, Roman cities were
deserted (Cologne), in others they experienced a drastic decline in population, so that entire city quarters were given up, the buildings used
as supply of stones in case a house needed repair (Rome, Barcelona). New city walls including smaller areas were built.
Barbaric society was economically subsistent. Germanic society did not know of a division of labour. The individual German theoretically was
a farmer, herdsman, warrior and craftsman in one. Trade was limited to vital necessities. Germanics who had earned money (silver, gold)
stockpiled it; in Scandinavia still today Viking era coinhords are found - they have dug up their savings, often under the fireplace in their kitchen.
B.) The Monasteries
Roman technical know-how did not entirely disappear. In some regions destruction was less severe and city life, although on a smaller scale,
continued - in the coastal cities of Italy (Rome, Naples, Venice), in Aquitaine (sw France). The MONASTERIES became centers of christian
Roman culture.
Under Charlemagne, the monasteries (monks) were given the task of baptising the heathen Saxons. They also brought civilization into their
backward region, in form of agricultural technique and craftsmanship. Monasteries were economic entities owning many pieces of land spread
over wide areas. Within the villages belonging to a monastery, division of labour was introduced - some lay brethren specialized on beer
brewing, some on wheel making, some on barrel making (for wine), some on candlestick making etc.
C.) Cities and the Urban Revolution
Cities were, in those days, little more than large villages; many of the city's inhabitants made their living by farming. There were a few trading
cities (shipbuilding, sailmaking business) and bishop's cities (church supplies, construction workers).
The CHURCH REFORM MOVEMENT of the 10th and 11th century demanded monasteries to focus on the service of god - claiming monks were
too much occupied with the administration of their successful economic enterprises.
The church's economic activities were reduced. But meanwhile society had become accustomed to the quality products produced on the
monasteries' estatates. The craftsmen who had made these products moved into cities (or into places which were given the status of a city);
each craft formed a separate guild and they continued doing their job. The central element of a medieval city was their MARKET, held in the
open on market square. On one end of the square was the church, on the other CITY HALL, where city council was held. The major streets
lead from the market to the city gates; the city was surrounded by a CITY WALL.
Cities were under a special city law. Every inhabitant of the city was a free man (as opposed to serfs living on the countryside). A serf who
succeeded in running away from his farm and lived for one year and one day in a city without his owner claiming him was given full freedom.
If noblemen moved into the city, they equally lost their status as noblemen. The city wall was necessary to separate the areas of different law.
Cities were governed by the city council, headed by the BURGHERMASTER or Lord Mayor. The councilmen represented the wealthy patrician
(merchant) families. There were no elections; if a councilman died, the others co-opted (picked) a new councilman, mostly from the family of
the deceased. Councilmen served for lifetime.
In the 12th century, an increased demand for craftsmen's products - there was a construction boom : cathedrals, castles, royal palaces
requiring such products - lead to a strong growth of existing cities and the mushrooming of new cities in northern and eastern central Europe
- the URBAN REVOLUTION. Cities now were centers of trade, of refined production; cities also became centers of administration. Many cities
had special functions, such as bishop's cities, port cities and mining cities.
D.) Cathedral Schools and Universities
In the Frankish Kingdom of Charlemagne, monasteries were the leading centers of learning. They continued to keep this function for centuries.
In the 11th and 12th century, archbishops and bishops competed with each other in building huge cahedrals. Such undertakings required
knowledge and skill; CATHEDRAL SCHOOLS came to compete with the better monasteries as leading institutions of learning.
To build a cathedral took decades, and once it was finished, often a part of it was torn down to be rebuilt larger in a different style.
Ultimately, bishops and monks, according to the demands of the REFORM CHURCH, focussed more on the service of god, and schools were
established as separate institutions.
Around 1200, three UNIVERSITIES existed - Bologna (Italy), the Sorbonne (Paris, France) and Oxford; as institutions of learning, they are older,
only their status was new.
At universities, 4 subjects could be studied : LAW, THEOLOGY, MEDICINE and PHILOSOPHY.
Law studies were based on IMPERIAL LAW, a law code passed under Emperor Justinian (a Byzantinian Emperor) in the 6th century. This law
applied nowhere in Catholic Europe, but as generations of students studied it, over time it came to influence western law.
Medicine was based on the writings of AVERROES (Abd-Ru Shin, an Arab).
Theology was based on the BIBLE, the Church fathers (ST. AUGUSTINE etc.)
Philosophy included all other modern sciences (mathematics, history, physics, biology, .....); a favourite textbook was ARISTOTLE.
Universities remained to be church institutions (until the days of Napoleon Bonaparte). The students came there from anywhere in Europe. The
language of education was Latin; good students were expected to read Greek as well. A famous early university teacher was ABAELARD; early
universities were dominated by a style called SCHOLASTICISM.
This page is part of World History at KMLA Last revised on September 18th 2001
