The University
Examining the relationship between education and science in Renaissance Italy
Initiated in Italy in the 14th Century, the Renaissance gave birth to thinkers who would slowly begin to overhaul Medieval dependence on established doctrine. In its place rose humanism. A tenant of Renaissance ideology, humanism stressed rationality and evidence over authority. The Renaissance created an atmosphere conducive to questioning, investigating, and individual achievement. Renaissance universities of Europe became centers of academic exploration, dragged out of their Medieval slump by innovative faculty. These impressive faculty members inspired students who would become impressive in their own rights, and perhaps even return to the university to teach the next generation in a cycle of influence. One such example of the university cycle occurred at the University of Padua, the European authority on medical education. Padua University achieved this status in part by boasting Vesalius, Colombo, and Fabricious as its staff. These faculty members made great individual strides in medicine encouraged by Renaissance humanism.
Italy is home to some of the oldest universities in the world; its long history as a center of learning facilitates the examination of the university’s influence on Renaissance science. The Renaissance precipitated a proliferation of new universities as well as the renovation of the old. City leaders believed university learning would improve society and therefore built many new institutions, a belief we hold on to today. Humanist thought of the Renaissance was key to the improvement of the university system: critical perspective and scholarly investigation became tenants of Renaissance education and, more specifically, transformed the methods of science. Italian Renaissance universities influenced science by providing intellectual resources and communities to expedite the development and spread of scientific knowledge.
During the Renaissance, the language of all universities was Latin, and the philosophy of all universities was Aristotelian. Grendler states that Italian universities were the most popular for their doctoral programs in medicine and law. However, they also offered courses in the arts, such as humanities, philosophy, logic, and mathematics. Italian Renaissance universities were loosely structured – this allocated the professors, impressive men like Galileo and Vesalius, the autonomy to produce original research. The three most impressive and prolific universities of Renaissance Italy were the University of Bologna, the University of Padua, and the University of Pisa.
The University of Bologna, established in 1088, was the largest Italian university. Here, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus studied canon law, but he preferred the humanities of philosophy and grammar as well as studying astronomy on the side. Copernicus next studied medicine at the University of Padua, the seat of medical learning. At Padua, he studied under leading professors and read many medical treatises; he is supposed to have begun this heliocentric theory while attending the university.
Italy is home to some of the oldest universities in the world; its long history as a center of learning facilitates the examination of the university’s influence on Renaissance science. The Renaissance precipitated a proliferation of new universities as well as the renovation of the old. City leaders believed university learning would improve society and therefore built many new institutions, a belief we hold on to today. Humanist thought of the Renaissance was key to the improvement of the university system: critical perspective and scholarly investigation became tenants of Renaissance education and, more specifically, transformed the methods of science. Italian Renaissance universities influenced science by providing intellectual resources and communities to expedite the development and spread of scientific knowledge.
During the Renaissance, the language of all universities was Latin, and the philosophy of all universities was Aristotelian. Grendler states that Italian universities were the most popular for their doctoral programs in medicine and law. However, they also offered courses in the arts, such as humanities, philosophy, logic, and mathematics. Italian Renaissance universities were loosely structured – this allocated the professors, impressive men like Galileo and Vesalius, the autonomy to produce original research. The three most impressive and prolific universities of Renaissance Italy were the University of Bologna, the University of Padua, and the University of Pisa.
The University of Bologna, established in 1088, was the largest Italian university. Here, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus studied canon law, but he preferred the humanities of philosophy and grammar as well as studying astronomy on the side. Copernicus next studied medicine at the University of Padua, the seat of medical learning. At Padua, he studied under leading professors and read many medical treatises; he is supposed to have begun this heliocentric theory while attending the university.
All images from photographs personally taken in Bologna, Italy.
Another great center of learning, renovated by the powerful Medici family, the University of Pisa boasts Galileo Galilei as an alumnus. Pressured by his father to study profitable medicine, Galileo soon discovered that his interests were elsewhere. The range of studies offered at the Renaissance university allowed students more freedom to explore fields. Just think – what if Galileo had never studied mathematics and became a doctor? How would this change affect the history of science, and the history of human progress? Mathematics and natural philosophy struck his fancy, and in 1589 he became Pisa’s chair of mathematics. Eventually, Galileo moved on to the University of Padua, where he taught from 1592-1610. During this period, perhaps thanks to Italian universities’ lack of structure, Galileo made many of his discoveries.
The anatomist Vesalius received his doctorate in medicine from Padua and was recruited as chair of surgery and anatomy upon graduation. His also guest lectured at Bologna and Pisa. Vesalius did much to transform the old university reliance on ancient texts to hands-on, updated methods. He performed numerous dissections and disproved the accepted ideas of Galen’s comparative anatomy. Universities, with their anatomical amphitheaters, allowed medical instructors like Vesalius to demonstrate dissections and surgeries, publically correcting anatomical mistakes and reunifying the job of the surgeon. The effects of the university on scientific knowledge during the Italian Renaissance included the proliferation of individual research, the freedom to explore a range of studies, and community-wide instruction and correction of mistakes.
The anatomist Vesalius received his doctorate in medicine from Padua and was recruited as chair of surgery and anatomy upon graduation. His also guest lectured at Bologna and Pisa. Vesalius did much to transform the old university reliance on ancient texts to hands-on, updated methods. He performed numerous dissections and disproved the accepted ideas of Galen’s comparative anatomy. Universities, with their anatomical amphitheaters, allowed medical instructors like Vesalius to demonstrate dissections and surgeries, publically correcting anatomical mistakes and reunifying the job of the surgeon. The effects of the university on scientific knowledge during the Italian Renaissance included the proliferation of individual research, the freedom to explore a range of studies, and community-wide instruction and correction of mistakes.
Sources and Further Reading:
- Grendler, Paul F. “The Universities of the Renaissance and Reformation.” Renaissance Quarterly 57.1 (Spring 2004): 1-42. JSTOR. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1262373
- Museo Galileo. “Galileo Portal.” Last modified 2010. http://portalegalileo.museogalileo.it/egjr.asp?c=36216
- BBC History - Historic Figures. "Andreas Vesalius." http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/vesalius_andreas.shtml
- Larsen, Jordan. "Circulating Systems: The University's Role in the Discovery of Pulmonary Circulation." Essay for HSCI 3013-995, Universtiy of Oklahoma, 2014.