Première étape ou couronnement de parcours ?: L’Université de Paris dans le cursus des étudiants étrangers à la fin du Moyen Âge

The purpose of this article is to examine the role played by the University of Paris in the curriculum of foreign students who attended at the end of the Middle Ages. Drawing upon a prosopography of these students, who were frequently masters, and their academic mobility, it has been possible to reconstruct their entire course of study at all the universities of the Latin West. The present study investigates the density of student exchanges between Paris and the universities of the Holy Roman Empire, whilst also examining the explanatory context surrounding the diachronic variations. The analysis of students’ attendance at the University of Paris is undertaken in relation to the archetypical student of the end of the Middle Ages. This is achieved in order to provide a demonstration of the changes and evolution in the profile of the student body, as evidenced by a shorter duration of studies and less degrees, with the result that Paris is regarded as the apogee of a student’s career.