Schools and schooling in late medieval Regensburg

The late-medieval period saw significant educational expansion across much of Europe. In the German-speaking territories alone, there were some fifteen new university foundations before the end of the fifteenth century. Nor was this increase limited to university study; access to elementary and secondary education also grew substantially. This was especially true in the cities where ecclesiastical and civic institutions enrolled a large number of students, including some of very modest means. Thus, on the eve of the Reformation the great German cities, and even many of the smaller towns, were increasingly literate.;Indeed, it is one of the great ironies that the late Middle Ages, which saw unprecedented expansion in the number of schools, in access to books, and in rates of literacy, should be so maligned in the popular and even professional imagination. Too often, historians view the late Middle Ages backwards through the eyes of religious and cultural reformers who naturally rejected that which preceded them. However, it was not the intellectual, religious, and cultural sterility of the late Middle Ages, but its fertility which begat the reform movements of the Renaissance and Early Modern periods.;Through the lens of the city of Regensburg, this dissertation explores the impact of these educational changes and the educational “system” in which they occurred. It includes a detailed reconstruction of the educational landscape of late-medieval Regensburg as well as extensive biographical registers of Regensburg's teachers and university students. In particular, it focuses on those questions relating to access, social uses, and curriculum. In addition, it examines the relationship between civic and ecclesiastical authorities vis-à-vis education and explores the growing demand for educated men within the civic administration. Finally, it assesses the role of education as an avenue for economic and social advancement.