Paris and the University of Paris 557faults, was common. For important books the practice
from late antiquity was to use parchment dyed purple
with silver or gold ink. This method or style continued,
though in frequently, until the 12th century.
Parchment was made in monastic workshops fol-
lowing various local recipes. With the great increase
commercial activity and the number of schools, stu-
dents, and universities, the manufacture of parchment,
as did the work of copying, became commercialized,
industrialized, and organized. Monastic communities
continued to manufacture parchment. From the 13th
century, PAPERgradually replaced parchment for more
mundane uses. Parchment continued to be used for
manuscripts, as well as for deluxe books throughout the
15th century. PRINTINGdid not lead to the disappearance
of parchment, which continued to be produced for
works for princes or kings. Parchment was even used in
printing, for luxurious books.
Further reading:Ronald Reed, Ancient Skins, Parch-
ments and Leathers (London: Seminar Press, 1972);
Ronald Reed, The Nature and Making of Parchment(Leeds:
Elmete, 1975); Herbert Fahey, Parchment and Vellum(San
Francisco: Fahey, 1940).
Paris, Matthew SeeMATTHEWPARIS.
Paris and the University of Paris Paris is in the
middle of a well-populated region in FRANCEagricul-
turally rich in gain, vines, and forests and favorable for
TRADEand communication. It began on an island, the
Île de la Cité, on the Seine River. It was the Gallo-
Roman town of Lutetia Parisiorum. The Roman gover-
nor’s palace was in the west and the temple of Jupiter
on the eastern end of the island. The island remained
the center for government and for religion for the city.
The town was heavily damaged by BARBARIANraids in
the third century and contracted for a time to the
island.
EARLY HISTORYCLOVISand the Merovingians made it a Christian town.
Clovis died at the age of 45 in a royal villa there in 511.
He founded a monastery dedicated to Saint Geneviève
and other monasteries and abbeys in the town such as
Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Saint-Victor, Saint-Martin-des-
Champs, the royal abbey of Saint Denis outside the
town, and Saint-Maur-des-Fossés. Robert the Strong (d.
866) was elected king after he defended the town
against VIKINGSin the mid-ninth century. Paris became
the principal town of the Capetians. It grew quickly
after that, with the right or north bank forming the
center of population around the church of Saint-Ger-
main-l’Auxerrois; along certain roads, the Rue Saint-
Martin and the Rue Saint Denis; and at the outlets of
bridges or gates. The WINEtrade grew and there were
FAIRSfrom the early 12th century on the road to the
monastery of Saint Denis.
On the left bank, schools were established among
vineyards. On the Île de la Cité, the building of the new
cathedral of NOTRE-DAMEbegan in 1163. Around 1200,
its bishop, Maurice de Sully (ca. 1120–96), set an urban
parochial organization and King PHILIP II AUGUSTUS
expanded his administration and lived in the city. His
palace of the Cité and royal residence became the center
of his realm with archives, the royal chapel, administra-
tive offices, and the royal courts. He kept his treasury and
prisons in the city at the church of the Temple and in the
fortress of the Louvre. In 1190 he started building a wall
and towers around the new sections of the city. He pro-
moted commerce and protected it on the Seine, so MER-
CHANTSgave Philip II Augustus their support by lending
him money and managing his finances.AN EDUCATIONAL CENTER AND THE UNIVERSITY
From the 12th century, Paris became an important edu-
cational center, with schools at Notre-Dame and the
abbeys of Saint-Victor and Sainte-Geneviève. Scholars
traveled from all over CHRISTENDOMfor the teaching of
famous masters such as Peter ABÉLARD. They were ini-
tially under the authority of the chancellor of the school
at Notre-Dame, but with the royal support, they had
organized themselves into an autonomous community. It
was powerful and privileged by 1200, with the univer-
sity, exempt from secular justice and royal taxation.
These privileges made 13th-century Paris the intellectual
capital of Christendom with teachers such as ALBERTUS
Magnus and Thomas AQUINAS.UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM AND ORGANIZATION
In the 13th century the MENDICANT ORDERSestablished
convents on the Left Bank, and colleges were created for
the students, such as the Sorbonne in 1257. The disci-
plines taught in the new university were THEOLOGY, espe-
cially at Notre-Dame; the SEVEN LIBERAL ARTS; and above
all dialectic, which became the great specialty of the uni-
versity. Schools of LAWand MEDICINEappeared slightly
later. The first object of these communities was to orga-
nize mutual aid among members, who were often sub-
jected to the hostility of the population and the local
authorities. They obtained, with the support of popes, the
statutes and privileges of 1215 and numerous fiscal and
legal exemptions, gaining a great deal of autonomy. The
university organized the internal discipline of the schools
and fixed programs. Teaching masters accepted whom
they wished and a license to teach was granted by the
chancellor after examination by a jury of masters. By
1260 there appeared the nationsof France, Picardy, NOR-
MANDY, and ENGLAND, into which students were divided
by geographical origin; the office of rector; the head
of the university; and finally the four faculties of arts,
theology, canon law, and medicine, each run by a