Medieval universities, starting in the 12th Century, established hardy traditions even before they got permanent quarters. The oldest university buildings still standing were begun at Merton College, Oxford, in 1264; Merton also acquired England's first university library (opposite) in the 1370s. By then, several European schools were famed for specialized courses: Bologna for the law; Salerno for medicine; Paris for theology. By then, too, students were writing home their ageless appeal: "I am studying. . . with the greatest diligence, but the
Matter of money stands greatly in the way. . ." A classic criticism of students had already been voiced by a French cleric: "Some studied merely to acquire knowledge, which is curiosity; others to acquire fame, which is vanity; others still for the sake of gain. . . . Very few studied for their own edification, or that of others." But in spite of student problems, the vigorous universities of the Middle Ages established a precedent of inestimable value to later generations: they firmly asserted for all time the principle of free intellectual inquiry.
PRECIOUS MANUSCRIPTS repose in the 14th Century library of Merton College, Oxford. Books were hard to come by in the Middle Ages, and were often chained in place for safekeeping.
THE PILGRIM'S GOAL, Mont-Saint-Michel looms in the distance. Before the causeway was built in 1879 the shrine was inaccessible by land during high tide.
World History
