Gown and town: The university and the city in Europe, 1200-2000

The paper explores town-gown relations in Europe across the centuries from the point of view of the university. It argues that the history of their relationship can be largely divided into two distinctive periods: one, in the period 1200-1800, when the University was in the town, but not of it; the other, post-1800, when the two were much more closely connected. It also briefly examines the influence of the American campus model on the European university system.