University History in the Low Countries
| Autor | Willem Frijhoff |
| Cargo | Erasmus University Rotterdam |
| Páginas | 71-95 |
CIAN-Revista de Historia de las Universidades, 20/1 (2017), 71-95 - DOI: https://doi.org/10.20318/cian.2017.3729
ISSN: 1988-8503 - www.uc3m.es/cian
University History in the Low Countries
Willem Frijhoff *
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Recibido
Aceptado
Historia de la Universidad en los Países Bajos
Abstract The University history of the
Low Countries is largely tributary of the di
fferent fate of the two halves of that region
In the South presentday Belgium in fact a
unitary state from the th century onwards
the University of Louvain initially founded
for the whole Low Countries was long the
only institution of higher education It was
temporarily joined by that of Douai later
incorporated into France In the North the
presentday Netherlands universities and
other institutions of higher education were
only founded from the independence in the
late th century onwards but then in huge
numbers due to the confederal character of
the Dutch Republic In the revolutionary and
Napoleonic era the whole university land
scape was thoroughly altered and most of
the institutions in the North suppressed Af
ter new universities were founded on
the same footing in both countries then again
temporarily united Although the Nether
lands and Belgium went their own way ever
Resumen La historia de la Universidad
de los Países Bajos es en buena medida here
dera del destino diverso de cada una de las dos
mitades de la región En el Sur actualmente
Bélgica de hecho un estado unitario desde
el siglo XVI en adelante la Universidad de Lo
vaina fundada inicialmente para el conjunto
de los Países Bajos fue durante mucho tiempo
la única institución de educación superior Se
unió temporalmente por ello a Douai más tar
de incorporado en Francia En el Norte Ho
landa hoy en día universidades y otras insti
tuciones de educación superior sólo se funda
ron a partir de la independencia a inales del
siglo XVI en adelante cuando crecerían expo
nencialmente debido al carácter confederal
de la República Neerlandesa En la era revolu
cionaria y napoleónica todo el panorama uni
versitario quedó alterado y la mayoría de las
instituciones del Norte suprimidas Después
de se fundaron nuevas universidades en
el mismo nivel en ambos países que otra vez
quedarían temporalmente unidos Aunque los
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20318/cian.2017.3729
* willemfrijhoffgmailcom
72
CIAN, 20/1 (2017), 71-95. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20318/cian.2017.3729
WILLEM FRIJHOFF
since their separation in both countries
show a similar institutional evolution in spite
of the linguistic problems in the South This
is relected in the cooperation between scho
lars on university history of the whole Low
Countries region In this article I irst sketch
briely the political evolution of the Low Cou
ntries and that of the university landscape
and its institutional provisions compulsory
for a good comprehension of the university
historiography After a survey of the process
of institutionalisation of university history in
the European context ever since the s
the binational associations and the re
newal of the focus on the social dimension of
university history and the history of science
are briely discussed Throughout the article
the most important studies and memorial vo
lumes of the last decades are quoted
Keywords historiography Low Coun
tries universities colleges Latin schools
Países Bajos y Bélgica siguieron sus propios
caminos desde su separación en ambos
países muestran una evolución institucional
similar a pesar de los problemas lingüísticos
en el Sur Esto se releja en la cooperación entre
los estudiosos de la historia de la universidad
de los Países Bajos en toda la región En este
artículo primero presento un breve esquema
de la evolución política de los Países Bajos
y de la universidad y sus disposiciones insti
tucionales algo obligatorio para una buena
comprensión de la historiograía universitaria
Después de un estudio del proceso de institu
cionalización de la historia universitaria en el
contexto europeo desde la década de las
asociaciones binacionales y la renovación de
la atención a la dimensión social de la historia
universitaria y la historia de la ciencia se dis
cutirán brevemente A lo largo del artículo se
darán cita también los estudios más importan
tes y volúmenes conmemorativos aparecidos
en las últimas décadas
Palabras clave historiograía Países
Bajos universidades colegios escuelas latinas
The Low Countries constitute a territory in northwestern Europe that in spi
te of its apparent geophysical social and cultural unity is characterized by
a huge variety of political destinies institutional histories and cultural leg
acies Its university history is closely related to the political evolution and the
historical fate of the different parts of this territory In order to understand
the history of the universities in the Low Countries it is therefore important
to be aware of the rather complex history of the territories concerned My
approach of university history will therefore be divided into two parts in the
irst part I shall focus on the universities of the Low Countries in the second
part on the writing of their history This is a huge domain that in the past has
been mainly covered by an institutional approach in particular by monogra
phies commanded or written at the occasion of university centenaries and
other celebrations and because of the importance of the Low Countries in
the history of science and scholarship by monographic studies on individual
scholars andor their publications or their achievements The choices that
had to be made for this article focus in particular on the aspects for which
the universities of the Low Countries were and still are known in the inter
national world of learning A history of student movements ideological stru
ggles in the arts and sciences or the recruitment of students and professors
to name only some hot topics in the social history of the university would
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