Universities are institutions that produce and impart quality knowledge, and are a type of elite educational institution that cultivates talent and helps them rise in social status.
Since their founding around 1200, universities have played a crucial role in shaping and developing modern-day Europe, ultimately serving as a socio-cultural force that has enabled Europe to achieve global preeminence.
As a result, countries around the world are now adopting the European-style university system into their higher education systems.

This book is a historical book that examines the entire process of establishment and development of European universities.
It is characteristic that it covers in relatively detail the development of individual academic disciplines incorporated into universities in each period since the Middle Ages.
Furthermore, by paying attention to the way universities interact with the external society as well as the internal systems and academic activities of the university, it also possesses the characteristics of European cultural history and ideological history viewed through the lens of the university.
Through this perspective, we explore the private significance of universities as major public knowledge institutions and further argue for the need for reforms suited to a knowledge-information society.