Changes

As John C. Scott describes, the university in the Western World was a creation of the Middle Ages.<ref>Scott, John C. "The Mission of the University: Medieval to Postmodern Transformations." <i>The Journal of Higher Education</i> 77, no. 1 (2006): 1-39 .</ref> The very first institutions for higher learning apart from the monastery were known as cathedral schools, specifically designed by the bishop in major cities to train and educate clergy. As European societies became increasingly complex and new forms of specialized education were in need, the university extended as a natural outgrowth of these cathedral schools. For instance, the University of Paris (est. c.1150) was an extension of the cathedral school at Notre Dame, the cathedral in Paris.<ref>Haskins, C.H. <i>The Rise of Universities</i>.(Holt and Company, 1923), pg. 292.</ref>However, the University of Paris is not unique in it’s Christian affiliation. Cambridge’s first college was founded by the Bishop of Ely (in the province of Canterbury) in 1284. Oxford too, the oldest university in the English speaking world, is known to have had strong ties with the Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians and Carmelites as early as the thirteenth century. So, it would be safe to say that the creation of the modern, western university had its roots in Christendom, particularly the cathedral schools and monastic movements of the Middle Ages. It would be hard to defend an anti-intellectual caricature of religion in light of these realities.