The Innovation of Books in the Medieval Universities

Abstract

　The coming of the universities in the 12th century brought about a revolution in the history of the books. ① The medieval universities completed a new production system of manuscripts: pecia system. ② They developped the book-selling and book-lending business rapidly. ③ The books became marketable and the amount of circulation of books grew up greatly.
　These changes of the conditions of books corresponded to those of the method of the education. In the high Middle Ages, the oral methods were the nucleus of the education. But in the universities, the books formed the basis of the education and they were indispensable to the education in the universities. Each master and student could possess a number of books.
　As the conclusion, we could say that the popularization of books dated from the medieval universities.