The medieval power struggles that helped forge today’s universities

By Giles Gasper. As universities prepare for a new regime of regulation aimed at monitoring the quality of their teaching, they may find some comfort in the 900-year-old history of debates around autonomy, governance, who can award qualifications and even the relationships between students and their teachers. Who held power over universities and their pursuit of intellectual inquiry was hotly contested in the Middle Ages. Universities were beholden to popes and kings, but also, in some cases to students. More...