photo credit: carlos_seo
The term Sorbonne (in French La Sorbonne) is commonly used to refer to the historic University de Paris located in Paris (France) or one of its successor institutions, but this is a recent use, and La Sorbonne it has actually had different meanings through the centuries.
It is in the center of Paris, in the fifth arrondissement, in front of the Lyceum Louis-le-Grand and the France secondary school, near to Pantheon of Paris (Le Panthéon), and of Luxembourg Garden (which belongs to the Luxembourg Palace, seat of the Senate of France), in the so-called Latin Quarter, where many higher schools are concentrated.
In their classes, completely rebuilt between 1885 and 1901, are taught today mainly humanities, history, geography, law and languages.
The name is derived from Sorbonne College (College of Sorbonne), founded in 1257 by Robert de Sorbón being one of the first significant colleges of the University of medieval Paris, and created with the aim of facilitating the teaching of theology to poor students. The university as such is about a century older than the school, and other minor schools had already been founded at the end of the twelfth century.
Three centuries later it became a center privileged for the debates of the theology faculty and had an important role in the lawsuits religious of the country, against Jesuits in the XNUMXth century and against the Jansenists in the XNUMXth century. The Sorbonne College was suppressed during the French Revolution and reopened by Napoleon in 1808 and finally closed in 1882.
Over time the school, although he was only one of many at the university, he became the center of theological studies and the term "Sorbonne" was frequently used as a synonym for Faculty of Theology from Paris.
photo Credit: Glynnish