CLEP Western Civ I

Answer: C - The University of Bologna was founded in Italy in 1088. Previously, the church had authority over who could teach and what could be learned. In Bologna circa the 1000s, groups of students from various nations gathered and collectively hired local scholars to teach them. The students naturally grouped themselves by their nations of origin, and local scholars who wanted to teach outside of the church sought patronage with the local student “nations.” In time, the student “nations” coalesced, creating the first university. It was a corporation of students and scholars, each of whom had collective bargaining power to direct the course of the institution. In 1158, the University of Bologna received a charter as a formal, government-recognized institution, and the government stepped in to ensure that the church could not wield power over teaching licensure or curriculum. Apart from that intervention, universities generally remained autonomous from church or state influence from that point forward.