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The ancient universities are British and Irish medieval universities and early modern universities founded before the year 1600. Four of these are located in Scotland, two in England, and one in Ireland. The ancient universities in Britain and Ireland are amongst the oldest extant universities in the world.

Foundation[Italics is changed text based on Peer Review]

Assigning a precise date to the founding of these ancient universities is impossible. Because of how they evolved from preexisting schools and not founded solely, dates become tricky. When defining terminology, until after the Middle Ages, "University", was not a common term. The term "universitas" was first used in 1215 as "a description for the collected academic world..." but did not replace "Studium generale" until much later. Universities then emerged through a complex process that involved the issuance of Papal bulls and the establishment of studia generalia.

Although studies took place in locations such as University of Oxford, controversy over foundation dates formed due to the requirements needed to be officially recognized as a university. Disregarding received certification, the foundation of these universities marked a pivotal moment in the history of education in medieval Europe.

The surviving ancient universities in England, Scotland, and Ireland are, in order of formation:

Year	Name	Nation of Founding	Location	Notes
1096	University of Oxford	Kingdom of England	Oxford, England	The official website of Oxford has shown, "There is no clear date of foundation, but teaching existed at Oxford in some form in 1096 and developed rapidly from 1167, when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris." Teaching suspended in 1209 (due to town execution of two scholars) and 1355 (due to the St Scholastica riot).
1209	University of Cambridge		Cambridge, England	Founded by scholars leaving Oxford after a dispute caused by the execution of two scholars in 1209. It was generally recognised as a studium generale by the late 13th century and this was either confirmed or formally granted by a Papal bull in 1318.
1413	University of St Andrews	Kingdom of Scotland	St Andrews, Scotland	Founded by a papal bull building on earlier bodies established between 1410 and 1413, but officially recognized in 1413
1451	University of Glasgow		Glasgow, Scotland	Founded by a papal bull of Pope Nicholas V
1495	University of Aberdeen		Aberdeen, Scotland	King's College was founded in 1495 by papal bull and Marischal College in 1593; they merged in 1860
1582	University of Edinburgh		Edinburgh, Scotland	Established by the town council under the authority of a royal charter granted by James VI
1592	University of Dublin	Kingdom of Ireland	Dublin, Ireland	Founded by charter of Queen Elizabeth I; Trinity College is the only constituent college of the university

Governance

These universities are often governed in a quite different fashion to more recent foundations. The ancient universities of Scotland also share several distinctive features and are governed by arrangements laid down by the Universities (Scotland) Acts. In addition to these universities, some now-defunct institutions were founded during this period, including the University of Northampton (1261–1265), the university or college at Stamford, Lincolnshire (1331?–1335), the university or college at Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire (1592–1605), and the college in Durham (1657–1660) founded under Oliver Cromwell, for which a charter as a university was drawn up under Richard Cromwell but never sealed. There was also the medieval University of Dublin which was an early but largely unsuccessful attempt to establish a university in Dublin, the capital city of the Lordship of Ireland. Founded in 1320, it maintained an intermittent existence for the next two centuries, but it never flourished, and disappeared for good at the Reformation in Ireland (1534–41). It was located in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. It had no connection with the present University of Dublin, better known as Trinity College Dublin, which was founded in 1592.

Undergraduate Master of Arts degree

Main articles: Master of Arts (Scotland) and Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin)

The ancient universities are distinctive in awarding the Magister Artium/Master of Arts (MA) as an undergraduate academic degree. This is commonly known as the Oxbridge MA, Trinity MA (Dublin), or the Scottish MA.

The ancient universities in Scotland confer the MA degree at graduation with honours and a final mark; in contrast, the ancient universities in England and Ireland award the MA purely after a period of good standing following graduation as Bachelor of Arts, usually around three years.

Because they award the MA as an undergraduate Arts degree, the ancient universities award differing titles for their postgraduate master's degrees in the Arts and Humanities, such as the taught Master of Letters ("MLitt (T)"). Some confusion can arise as to whether such degrees are taught degrees or the most established (and advanced) two-year research degrees, although this is often specified.

Acts of Parliament related to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge

While both universities received grants of liberties and privileges by royal charter, the charters granted to Cambridge in 1231 and to Oxford in 1248 being the earliest recorded on the Privy Councils list of chartered bodies, neither university was created or incorporated by royal charter. After existing for the first few centuries of their existence as common law corporations, they were formally incorporated by the Oxford and Cambridge Act 1571, under Elizabeth I. The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act 1859 repealed the parts of the 1571 act that required the mayor, aldermen, citizens or municipal officer of the City of Oxford to take any oath for the conservation of the liberties and privileges of the University of Oxford.

In the 19th century a series of acts and commissions reduced the powers of the universities to make their own statutes. A Royal Commission in 1850 looked into both universities and proposed major reforms to their constitutions. These were enacted by the Oxford University Act 1854 and the Cambridge University Act 1856. The Universities Tests Act 1871 removed almost all religious tests from both universities (and from Durham University). The Oxford and Cambridge Universities Act 1877 set up commissioners to look into further reform of the statutes of both universities and of their constituent colleges. Further Royal Commissions into both universities were established in 1919, resulting in the Oxford and Cambridge Universities Act 1923, setting up a commission to again make statutes and regulations for the universities and their colleges. This has resulted in there being two kind of statutes at these universities – those made by the universities themselves, which may be changed by them, and the "Queen-in-Council" statutes made under the 1923 act or the Education Reform Act 1988 that can only be changed with permission from the Privy Council.

Universities (Scotland) Acts

Main article: Ancient university governance in Scotland

The Universities (Scotland) Acts created a distinctive system of governance for the ancient universities in Scotland, the process beginning with the 1858 Act and ending with the 1966 Act. Despite not being founded until after the first in these series of Acts, the University of Dundee shares all the features contained therein.

As a result of these Acts, each of these universities is governed by a tripartite system of General Council, University Court, and Academic Senate.

The chief executive and chief academic is the University Principal who also holds the title of Vice-Chancellor as an honorific. The Chancellor is a titular non-resident head to each university and is elected for life by the respective General Council, although in actuality a good number of Chancellors resign before the end of their 'term of office'.

Each also has a students' representative council as required by statute, although at the University of Aberdeen this has recently been renamed the Students' Association Council.

Teachings of England

The degrees earned were originally just licenses to teach; therefore, the students with a bachelor's degree were obligated to teach a lecture under the presence of an experienced faculty member to demonstrate their understanding of a topic. At the University of Cambridge, the student had until their last term to have an experiment as an independent teacher.

The technical term for teaching in public schools was originally "regere", then it became "regent" for a teacher in schools. The universities' obligation soon became a necessary-regency for graduates, where for a period of time they became teachers in schools. For Cambridge, the term was limited to 5 years for masters or two for doctors; meanwhile at the University of Oxford, it was only limited to one year for their graduates. Afterwards, they would get the option to continue as regent or declare themselves as a non-regent. If someone chose to resume their role as a regent, after their necessary-regency, then they were allowed to volunteer as a regent for up to two years.

Classes and Schedule

Throughout the Middle Ages days were measured through canonical hours at which the seven daily prayers of the church were sung.  Bells ringing throughout college chapels rang through the whole town to signal these periods.

These included:

• At night
• At dawn
• At mid-morning
• At midday
• At mid-afternoon
• At dusk
• At nightfall

This bell ringing would help operate classes on campus and keep a common schedule.  For example, Cambridge statutes would not not allow a student taught mandatory lecture to commence past dawn, except for canon lawyers who were allowed the period dawn til mid-afternoon.  This was enforced so that student teachers could use time between dawn and mid-afternoon to study as well.

Later universities

Main article: List of UK universities by date of foundation

Following the creation of the ancient universities, no more universities were created in Britain and Ireland until the 19th century except three defunct universities in England (Northampton, Stamford and Durham), which were quickly shut down after opening due to strong opposition-lobbying efforts by Oxford and Cambridge.

Which of the 19th-century institutions should be considered the earliest post-ancient university is a matter of debate. The main university-level foundations up to the mid 19th century were:

• St David's College, Lampeter by the Bishop of St David's in 1822 (royal charter 1828) (now part of University of Wales Trinity Saint David)
• University College London as a joint stock company in 1826 under the name "London University" (royal charter as University College, London 1836)
• King's College London by royal charter in 1829
• Durham University by act of parliament in 1832 (royal charter 1837)
• University of London by royal charter in 1836
• Queen's College Belfast (now, Queen's University Belfast), Queen's College Cork (now University College Cork) and Queen's College Galway (now NUI Galway) by royal charters in 1845
• Bedford College, London founded by Elizabeth Jesser Reid in 1849 and the first institution of higher learning for women in the British Isles; now part of Royal Holloway, University of London
• Queen's University of Ireland by royal charter in 1850, with the above Queen's Colleges as constituent institutions (dissolved 1882; replaced by the Royal University of Ireland, which was in turn replaced by the National University of Ireland and Queen's University Belfast)
• Catholic University of Ireland in 1851 (royal charter as University College Dublin 1908)
• Owens College Manchester in 1851, now the University of Manchester (via the Victoria University of Manchester)

Only Durham, London and the Queen's University of Ireland were recognised as universities at the time of their foundation, granting their first degrees in 1837, 1839 and 1851 respectively. Durham was a collegiate university, London was an examining board, and the Queen's University was a federal university. The other institutions, while teaching at university level, were colleges, some becoming universities later. In addition, many other universities trace their roots to institutions founded in this period, including the University of Strathclyde to the Andersonian Institute (1796), Heriot-Watt University to the School of Arts of Edinburgh (1821), Birkbeck, University of London to the London Mechanics' Institute (1823), the University of Manchester (via UMIST) to the Manchester Mechanics' Institute (1824) and (via Owen's College) to the Manchester Royal School of Medicine (also 1824), the University of Chester to Chester Diocesan Training College (1839), Plymouth Marjon University to St John's College, Battersea (1840) and St Mark's College, Chelsea (1841), the University of Winchester to Winchester Diocesan Training School (1840), the University of Roehampton to Whitelands College (1841), York St John University to York Diocesan College (1841) and the York Diocesan Institution for Female Teachers (1846), and St Mary's University, Twickenham to St Mary's College (1850). Many medical schools also date from the 18th century or earlier, including St Thomas's Hospital Medical School (now part of King's College London) between 1693 and 1709, St George's, University of London in 1733, Middlesex Hospital Medical School (now part of University College London) in 1746, London Hospital Medical College (now part of Queen Mary, University of London) in 1786.

The redbrick universities were established as university colleges in the latter half of the 19th century and mostly became universities in the early 20th century. The Royal University of Ireland (1881, as the successor of the Queen's University of Ireland), the Victoria University (1881), and the University of Wales (1893) were the only other universities established in the 1800s, all as federal or examining universities. The first unitary university in the British Isles outside of Scotland was the University of Birmingham (1900).

Peer Review

I appreciate the grammar review but most importantly, the bit asking for context on what requirements were needed for an ancient university to be recognized. This is for sure a segment I'm going to add starting now. I need to dig deep into this because off of memory, there weren't too many requirements? I remember reading them but overlooked adding them for some reason. I feel confident that addition will add clarity and more content.

Most of the grammar suggestions I revised. A lot of it was simply overlooked weirdness but I appreciate the review a ton because I can't say I would've caught and spun it the way they suggested. Simply adding "the" in front of "foundation" adds so much more clarity to a sentence than thought while writing it.

Overall I really appreciate the peer review. It's accomplished exactly what I'd hope it would. It's helped me feel confident in my writings so far and give me a direction to go immediately. There's absolutely nothing I disagree with.

Text:

#1*I would reword the first sentence, "To understand 'Foundation' in the context....." Maybe try something like "The term "Foundation", in regards to ancient universities, refers to the official recognition and establishment of said institutions." or something of the like.

#2*In the last sentence in the bolded paragraph "Disregarding recieved certification....", is "foundation" a term or a noun? It's kind of ambigous. I would either capitalize it or add a "the" before it.

#3*Was the Papal Decree why he ordered the formation of schools, or was it in addition to the formation? I would change up the wording a bit, as it seems ambiguous. If the Papal Decree is what ordered the schools then maybe put something like "... the Papal Decree which ordered the formation...."

#4*What were the requirements that were needed for an ancient university to be recognized? I'd add a bit of information there.

#5*For the edit in the table for the "University of St Andrews" I would combine it into a single sentence instead of 2. Something like ".... established between 1410 and 1413, but officially recognized in 1413."

***Good Job! Your paragraph is well thought out and I find it very interesting, it has good content. The only thing I can really see that needs a change is grammar ambiguity. Not everything is straightforward and easily understandable. It's a good lead in to the article though, nicely done.

Lead

Very short lead but gives enough of a lead.

Article body

Foundation section is barely sourced.

Want to add notable alumni or figures of the universities listed.

Papal Bulls and Foundation/Studium Generale

Teachings at St Andrews, Glasgow, and others took place but never was "Founded/Recognized" until Papul Bulls or Royal Officials came along. I'm thinking some of this context under the heading "Foundation" could be useful. Can't go into the definition of "Studium Generale" because it has its own page but referencing this would be nice. (10/20)

Page 12 of Rashdall, Hastings (2010). The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 1108018106.

really awesome source on how and why University became a term and what that meant to schools

Bulls had purpose to "give beneficed ecclesiastics the right of studying in them while continuing to receive the fruits of their benefices..." - univ of europe^

"Studium generale is the old customary name for a medieval university in medieval Europe." - wikipedia of studium generale

"No school which did not possess this privilege could obtain it without a Bull from Emperor or Pope" - univ of europe^

Interesting background onto the official foundings of universities and controversies of foundation dates such as oxford

Notable Figures

??? might need to dig harder than thought

Putting this on the down low for now. Might come back to this later.

References

Pedersen, Olaf. The First Universities: Studium Generale and the Origins of University Education in Europe. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2009.

Ridder-Symoens, H. D., & Rüegg, W. (2003). Universities in the Middle Ages. Cambridge Univ. Press.

Yuko Harayama (1997) The Evolution of the University in Europe and in the United States, Higher Education in Europe, 22:1, 9-19, DOI: 10.1080/0379772970220102

Jobson Lyon, Charles (2009). The History of St. Andrews, Ancient and Modern. BiblioLife. ISBN 978-1103782949

Devine, Thomas (1995). Glasgow: Beginnings to 1830. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719036910

Rashdall, Hastings (2010). The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 1108018106.

Goal for Friday

Talk about more of an updated objective. Finding a lot of fun digging into the foundation and background of these early universities and the term.

Talked about where to go from here and thoughts on brought up topics. Goal is to dabble into the foundation research (because it really interests me) and Miguel is looking into the beginnings of introducing degrees of science. Requested a book from the library. Very productive meeting for exact direction to go until we meet again. Last minute idea of tuition was asked? Might look into this for curiosity.