The University of Paris, France was established in the first half of the 12th Century but only officially recognized some time between 1150 and 1170. In its formative years it grew up around Notre-Dame Cathedral in an ad hoc fashion 
with faculties of arts, medicine, law and theology. The former was the entrance phase for undergraduates – only if successful were they allowed to study further at the second oldest university in the world.
In a fashion copied to some extent by all other medieval universities, students wore academic robes and shaved their heads like priests and monks as a sign that they fell under the protection of the Church, with the result that the King’s Courts and Laws were powerless to control them. Academic excellence was promoted through competition between the Palantine, Notre-Dame and Sainte-Geneviève Abbey schools, and students as young as thirteen flocked to study there from all over Europe.
In 1215, the Apostolic Legate introduced rules governing the appointment of Professors at the University of Paris for 
the first time. Educators in the arts were required to have studied for at least 6 years and to have reached the age of 21, while Professors of Theology had to be aged over 29 with 2 more years study. In 1229 the Pope had to intervene again, after the Queen suspended courses following a spat. From then on, the University had a more secure independent legal persona with the right to formulate its own rules and appoint its own officials.
In the years that followed, faculties became clearly defined as were the rules for awarding bachelor’s degrees and doctorates. Simple boarding establishments 
called Colleges were established to create a sense of unity among students living in far-flung places all over Paris. Throughout the 15th Century the University of Paris fought hard and long to maintain an identity trapped between King, Church and Society as the second oldest university in the world.
Following the French Revolution the National Convention decided on 15th September 1793 to suppress all other universities in favor of a single University of France, and that theology should no longer be taught at academic level. The gracious academic buildings belonging to the University of Paris were taken over for civil purposes and all students were sent home. In 1896 the previous system of separated faculties was restored although there was still 
no provision for religious education.
As if all this was not enough for the second oldest university in the world, the grand old lady of Parisian Education was closed twice more again. The first occasion was upon the German invasion of 1940 and the second following student riots in 1968. In 1970 it was subdivided into 13 separate universities largely independent of each other. Four of these maintain a presence in the historic Sorbonne building and claim a legacy going back to the 12th Century, although the original institution was not located there. There is no system that binds them to a single academic level, and their standards vary. Hopefully these were not the rioters' goals.
