First published in 1988, this book traces the evolution of Oxford and Cambridge from the twelfth through the sixteenth centuries. An overall view of the functioning of the universities, touching on the development of the academic hierarchy and teaching offered by these institutions, is given in this single-volume reappraisal of the institutions.

This work presents a composite view of medieval English university life. The author offers detailed insights into the social and economic conditions of the lives of students, their teaching masters and fellows. The experiences of college benefactors, women and university servants are also examined, demonstrating the vibrancy they brought to university life. The second half of the book is concerned with the complex methods of teaching and learning, the regime of studies taught, the relationship between the universities in Oxford and Cambridge, as well as the relationship between "town" and "gown".

A detailed study of the King's Hall, Cambridge, from its foundation in the early fourteenth century until its dissolution in 1546. It is based largely on the 26 extant volumes of the King's Hall accounts which form one of the most remarkable sequences of medieval collegiate records in Europe. The rich profusion of the material has made it possible to reconstruct the economic, constitutional and business organisation of a medieval academic society, thereby providing for the college that same kind of exhaustive treatment which has been lavished upon other categories of medieval institutions. Dr Cobban discusses the vital contribution made by the King's Hall to the evolution of the University of Cambridge and shows how the interpretation of medieval Cambridge history has to be considerably modified. He demonstrates the important formative influence of the King's Hall in shaping the course of English collegiate development and the ways in which this College was finely attuned to the new educational trends of the age.

First Published in 1999. This work presents a composite view of medieval English university life. The author offers detailed insights into the social and economic conditions of the lives of students, their teaching masters and fellows. The experiences of college benefactors, women and university servants are also examined, demonstrating the vibrancy they brought to university life. The second half of the book is concerned with the complex methods of teaching and learning, the regime of studies taught, the relationship between the universities in Oxford and Cambridge, as well as the relationship between "town" and "gown".

This fresh and readable account gives a complete history of the University of Oxford, from its beginnings in the 11th century to the present day - charting Oxford's improbable rise from provincial backwater to modern meritocratic and secular university with an ever-growing commitment to new research.

First published in 1988, this book traces the complex evolution of Oxford and Cambridge from the twelfth through the early sixteenth centuries. In the process, the author incorporates new research on Cambridge University that has become available only recently. Alan B. Cobban is able to give an overall view of the functioning of the English universities, touching on the development of the academic hierarchy, the various features of the curriculum and the teaching offered by these institutions. The author also addresses the social and economic circumstances of students and the relations between the universities and their respective town and ecclesiastical authorities. Cobban draws on much recent work to supply new details and altered perspectives in this single-volume reappraisal of the history of these two distinguished educational institutions.

Subjects ranging from legal history to college endowments reflect the current emphasis of research in medieval history on economic, religious and social themes.