How did universities help spread new ideas to people of the middle ages?

Answer 1

The spread of new ideas in the universities was enhanced by the fact that the universities were similarly constituted, so credentials from one could be used at just about any other, and by the fact that the language of all the universities was Latin. Both of these facts meant that teachers and students could travel rather freely from one place to another, and their knowledge went with them.

The spread of new ideas was not automatic, however, and the early universities were very slow to allow it to come about. In fact, it might be said the early universities actively discouraged new ideas.

The universities of Western Europe began with the founding of the University of Bologna, in 1088. Initially, the Universities were often very conservatively attached to the writings of ancient authors. New ideas were not part of the curriculum. If you wanted to know how many teeth a horse had, you would look in the writings of Aristotle to find out. If there was no information there, or in similar works, then the answer was regarded as being unworthy of discussion. You did not look in a horse's mouth.

By 1210, the situation was sufficiently out of hand that the Church intervened. The idea that science was a captive of ancient authors, who were nearly all pagan, did not sit well on the Church leadership. So various councils of the Church issued a series of edicts, called the Condemnations of 1210-1277, which initially banned the teaching of Aristotle at the University of Paris (though not at other universities) and eventually had the effect of freeing the universities of conservative dependence on a few ancient authors. Following this, people who had a more open interest in new ideas were far freer to study, investigate, and teach them than they had been before.

This meant that the works done by Muslim scientists and mathematicians could be more freely published and studied in western Europe. Fibonacci, a mathematician who had studied in Algeria, wrote a book on the mathematics of the Arabic numeral system, called Liber Abaci, in 1202, and this began to be studied in universities and other schools. The scientific method was studied, enhanced, and promoted, beginning in the 13th century as well. Arabic medicine and physical science, which mixed freely the traditions of ancient Greece and Persia, also became important throughout western Europe. These works were translated into Latin, and spread, in that language, through western European institutions.

As these works were spread, they were further enhanced by the study and writings of a number of important western scholars, such as Thomas Aquinas, Roger Bacon, and William of Ockham. Again, the writings of these people could be easily shared because of the common language and standards of the western universities.