Medieval universities!

The creation of universities is one of the greatest and most lasting achievements of medieval Europe, establishing a model that is today the standard form of higher education throughout the world.

These have helped to improve society for centuries! Image
While other institutions of learning existed before (such as monastic schools) both in Europe and outside of it, medieval universities were a totally new concept as they were organized like guilds of students and masters which allowed them to be independent of local authorities! Image
This is what the concept of "universitas" referred to originally, a guild.

These medieval universities did not refer to some specific building resembling a modern day campus, but were an organization.

Teaching happened in homes of teachers, public places or rented halls. Image
These guilds and unions of students and teachers were able to protect themselves against local laws and customs.

For example many academics were foreigners from elsewhere and had to fight against various city laws that discriminated against foreign residents. Image
This led to many "town versus gown" disputes in the early history of universities. Sometimes riots took place!

But eventually universities were able to successfully establish themselves as independent entities with their own code of conduct and discipline. Image
The decentralized nature of medieval West contributed to the rise of these institutions.

And in turn, universities connected Europeans and contributed to a sense of common identity. Lectures were in Latin and academics could study and teach anywhere in Europe. Image
Movements of students and teachers resulted in emergence of new universities in nearby towns and cities.

The medieval universities helped to enable an academic community that transcended state borders.

Eventually, this model of education would spread all over the world! Image
"Silence!"

They listen to the teacher and learn.

Medieval lectures didn't look that much different than today!

This image depicts a university lecture from around 1400. Image
A meeting of doctors at the university of Paris!

From 16th century.

By the end of middle ages in 1500, there were already over 60 universities in Europe.

Amazing institutions and simply an amazing story in which everyone won and entire humanity benefited! Image

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Aristocratic Fury

Aristocratic Fury Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @LandsknechtPike

Feb 10
We're not grateful enough to donkeys for their contributions to human civilization!

They were crucial for many ancient cultures, enabled trade, helped in agriculture and carried the burdens of empires.

Without them, we wouldn't be where we are today!

A thread on donkeys. 🧵
Recent studies have shown that donkeys were domesticated around 7,000 years ago somewhere in northeastern Africa.

They soon became of utmost importance for early civilizations in Egypt, Mesopotamia, ancient Greece and ancient Rome.

They've been helping humans for a long time.
Donkeys can carry people and are probably the first animal humans ever rode!

Donkeys were the most important load carriers in ancient Egypt and played a crucial role in agriculture, transportation and trade.

A case can be made that they were the actual "human's best friend".
Read 31 tweets
Jan 27
Morion helmets are associated with Spanish conquistadors in modern popular culture.

But comb morions were not fully evolved until 1540s.

Early conquistadors who were part of the notorious campaigns led by Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro would not wear these! ImageImage
The predecessor of morion was the cabacete, popular among infantry in late 15th century Spain.

Here are two example of such helmets from 1470 and 1480-90.

An early conquistador could possibly wear this more primitive type of helmet. ImageImage
Morions evolved out of cabacete and were associated with Spain even though by late 16th century they were used all over Western Europe.

The name morion itself is due to (false) association with the Moors due to Spanish origin.

Here are two French morions from around 1575: ImageImage
Read 6 tweets
Jan 25
The Torres de Quart in Valencia!

Built between 1441 and 1493 during what is considered as the "Valencian Golden Age", these "Quart Towers" guarded the entrance to the city of Valencia as part of the old medieval wall.
In 1562 they became used as a gunpowder store until they were converted into women's prison in 1626.

They imprisoned female prostitutes here.
In 17th century they also became known as the Lime Towers because lime was only allowed to be transported into the city through this gate.
Read 6 tweets
Jan 25
The legendary plague doctor Doctor Schnabel (Doctor Beak) from Rome!

An engraving made in 1656 by Paul Fürst from Nuremberg, depicting a fictional plague doctor with protective gear during the outbreak of plague in Rome that year.

It includes a satirical poem.
The "macaronic" (mixture of languages used for puns, in this case Latin and German) poem begins with the famous words:

"Vos Creditis, als eine fabel, quod scribitur vom Doctor Schnabel"

(You believe it’s just a fable, what is written about Doctor Beak).
The poem continues...

"He flees the contagion
and gets his wages from it.
He seeks corpses to make a living,
like a Crow in a garbage heap.
Ah, believe it, and don’t look away from here,
because the plague rules over Rome."
Read 5 tweets
Jan 24
Flag of Polish infantry from 17th century!

They copied the cross of Burgundy from the Spanish tercios.

Władysław IV Vasa who became king in 1634 was a big admirer of Spanish military ever since he met Ambrosio Spinola in Breda in 1624 and saw the famous tercios in person.
The Kraków militia with the banner of cross of Burgundy!

This old symbol with origins in medieval Duchy of Burgundy that came to Spain through Habsburgs became a symbol of the Catholic cause in 17th century, having been used by both the Habsburgs and the Polish.
Władysław would implement military reforms to westernize his army.

This included the adoption of pike infantry, modernizing the artillery and improving the Commonwealth Navy.

He was an experienced warrior himself and fought battles against Ottomans, Muscovites and Swedes.
Read 4 tweets
Jan 23
Why did the famous Polish "Winged Hussars" have wings?

Where did the wings originate from and did they have any practical purpose? 🧵
The Polish hussars became famous for their wings and are mostly depicted with wings attached to their back in modern portrayals of them.

But originally, wings were attached to shields, saddles or even to rider's arm!

Let's take a look at the evolution of hussar wings.
Hussars were originally Serbian mercenaries from the Balkans.

They imitated the Ottoman light cavalry shock troops such as the feared delis and served for Hungarians in 15th century, most famously for the Black Army of Matthias Corvinus.
Read 21 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(