Abelard and the Origin and Early History of Universities

A classic in its field, Compayré's Abelard and the Origin and Early History of Universities (originally published in 1892) is as applicable today as when it was written, giving an idea of what these great associations of masters and students which played such an important part in the past, must have been in their beginnings, in their internal organization, their programs of study, their methods of instruction, and in their general spirit and external influence. Compayré, the well-known French educationalist, has prepared in this volume an account of the origin of the great European universities that is at once the most scientific and the most interesting in the English language. Naturally the University of Paris is the central figure in the account; and the details of its early organization and influence are fully given. Its connection with the other great universities of the Middle Ages and with the modern university movement is clearly pointed out. Abelard, whose system of teaching and disputation was one of the earliest signs of the rising universities, is the typical figure of the movement; and Compayré has given a sketch of his character and work, from an entirely new point of view, that is most instructive. Compayré's works were still being published well into the 20th Century, including Montaigne and the Education of the Judgment, Peter Abelard and the Rise of the Modern Universities and Jean Jacques Rousseau and Education from Nature.