The University Side



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Imagine walking to class in the morning. You're coming not out of a dorm room or apartment but a boarding house, and you're not wandering down Drury's peaceful sidewalks but down narrow, noisy streets. This was a typical day in the life of those students attending school in the university quarter of Paris--known today as the Latin Quarter. The name comes from both scholars and professors using Latin for hundreds of years, as that was what was taught at the extraordinary La Sorbonne, or University of Paris.

At the heart of this area, the distinguished university became very popular in the thirteenth century. Students back then would be summoned to classes by the bells of the Notre Dame cathedral around five or six in the morning and would disperse into the different lecture halls (Bennett 181). Today, college students still frequent the Latin Quarter, though not only for classes--there are many shops, restaurants, and other things to do. This area was, and still is, where students were housed, went to school, ate, and went out, so their lives were kept in this part of the city.
a guide to things to see and do in the latin quarter paris france

When visiting the Latin Quarter today, it's like getting a glimpse into the past. There may be more modern noises, like car horns and airplanes overhead, rather than the typical clamor of medieval streets, but the essence is still the same. Whether it is in the students mingling in between classes or people frequenting the bars, the Latin Quarter remains a prominent piece of Paris' history.


Sources:
Mehtala, Amanda, and Arthini Pulenthiran. "Paris Neighborhood Guide: Latin Quarter." Theatre in Paris, 2018, https://www.theatreinparis.com/blog/paris-neighborhood-guide-latin-quarter
Bennett, Judith M. Medieval Europe: A Short History. 11th Ed., McGraw-Hill, 2011.

10 comments:

  1. It's interesting how many similarities there are today as back then for college students. And also like how you talked about the bell system from class to class. While at Drury we don't have that bell system, but we still use the bells that go off every time the new hour hits.

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  2. I find it interesting that the same historical site is still around, and can be seen through the modern lens.

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  3. I think I would get stressed out just walking to class! I really like how you relate this back this back to our everyday lives today. I also liked reading how the walk through these parts has changed since those times. Great blog post.

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  4. I like how you incorporated both the similarities and the differences between life for college students today. It is indeed very quiet for us to walk to class, but the bell system will have deeper meaning to me now that I know some of the history behind it

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  5. When you mentioned that the bells of the Notre Dame would sound at five or six in the morning, I couldn't help but wonder how the middle ages perception of time worked. How did they wake up at a specific time of the day consistently?

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    1. People slept in sleep cycles until electricity, referred to as first sleep and second sleep. They were attune through basic night and day and bells chiming. Clocks will come into play by the 14th century in urban areas.

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  6. Emma, I liked the uniqueness of this post. I would not like walking down the noisy streets every single day, I know that. However, being summoned to class by the bells of the Notre Dame Cathedral would be really cool. I would like to visit the Latin Quarter and see the medieval parts that still exist. Great post!

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  7. I love how this post brings the University of Paris to life. I could not imagine waking up at 5 every morning for class. It is so interesting to observe how the original universities of the 13th century really shaped the education we receive today.

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  8. I wonder if they ever had a snooze button for all bells chimes. Did the entire town get up when the bells rang or just the students.

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  9. I loved how you set the scene for the readers, I think this helped to imagine how different this university is from Drury. I also liked how you made some connections students from the past and students of modern day in Paris may share.

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