Paris Universitas - History

History

The historic University of Paris (French: Université de Paris), second oldest university in continuous operation, appeared in the second half of the 12th century and grew up around the Notre Dame Cathedral. The medieval Latin term universitas actually had the more general meaning of a guild, and the university of Paris was known as a universitas magistrorum et scholarium (a guild of masters and scholars). The university had four Faculties: Arts, Medicine, Law, and Theology.

The ancient university disappeared with ancient France under the Revolution. All the French universities were replaced by a single centre, the University of France. After a century (in 1896), people recognized that the new system was less favourable to study and restored the old system, but without the faculty of theology.

Following the cultural revolution commonly known as "the French May", resulting in the closing of the university for only the third time in history, the university was in 1970 reorganised as 13 autonomous universities. Most of these universities have joined, or are in the process of forming (March 2008), new groupings along the lines of a collegiate university. Typically, these groupings take the legal form of a Center for Research and Higher Education (Pôle de Recherche et d'Enseignement Supérieur, or PRES), though some have opted for other forms of organization. Paris Universitas was one of the two new large university centers in the city of Paris, along with Paris Centre Universités.