High Middle Ages · 1088-1300

The first universities

In Bologna, Paris and Oxford, students and teachers band together into a new kind of community: the university. Students explore what medieval scholars studied, how translations from Arabic changed European learning, and how much of it survives in schools today.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
13–16
On the map
3 steps, AD 1088 to AD 1200
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In Bologna, Paris and Oxford, students and teachers band together into a new kind of community: the university. Students explore what medieval scholars studied, how translations from Arabic changed European learning, and how much of it survives in schools today.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate the first universities on the map and explain why they grew in those towns.
  • Describe what students studied, from the seven liberal arts to law, medicine and theology.
  • Explain how translations made in places such as Toledo brought Greek and Arabic learning to European universities.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1088

Bologna

Open the map in 1088 and turn on Historical Events (Cultural Milestones). Find the University of Bologna. Why might a rich town on the roads of northern Italy attract students of law?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1200

A network of learning

Move to 1200 and zoom out over Western Europe. Find Bologna, Paris and Oxford. How might a student travel between them, and what language would he speak?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1200

Where books crossed

Pan southwest to Toledo in Castile. In the 1100s scholars here translated Arabic books into Latin. Why was a city that had long been under Muslim rule a good place for this?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The word "universitas" first meant a guild or association of people. Why might students and teachers want to form one?
  2. In Bologna the students hired their teachers and could fine them for being late. What would you think of that system?
  3. Students began with grammar, logic and rhetoric. Why might these skills come before law or medicine?
  4. Many works of Aristotle reached Western universities through Arabic translations. What does that say about the links between cultures?
  5. Women were almost never allowed to study at medieval universities. How did that shape who could become a doctor, lawyer or scholar?
4

Game round

9 min

Play Rule History as Charlemagne, who founded palace and monastery schools four centuries earlier. Afterwards, compare: his schools trained clergy for the king, while universities were run by teachers and students themselves. Which is better?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.