Masters, Students, and Their Books in the Late Medieval German Universities

Books produced or owned by university masters and students in late medieval Germany reveal an “unofficial” side of academic intellectual life that has received little attention from historians. Alongside material they needed for their area of professional specialization, many at Vienna, Erfurt, and other German universities filled their books and their libraries with other reading material drawn from outside the academy, which points to humanistic interests and especially to a strong current of affective spirituality and practical pastoral care. This paper concentrates on the latter through a study of both records of book ownership and some surviving manuscripts. This spiritual current, which drew on texts and ideas current in monastic circles, shows especially clearly how the late medieval university participated in the religious and intellectual culture of society on the eve of the Reformation

Archaeology · German · Humanism · Political science · Reading (process · Sociology · Spirituality · Classics · Historical Influence and Diplomacy · Historical, Literary, and Cultural Studies · History · Law · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity