The Rise of an Academic Elite: Deans, Masters, and Scribes at the University of Vienna before 1400, ed. Monica Brînzei. Studia Sententiarum 6. Turnhout: Brepols, 2022, xi, 697 pp.

Over the course of 1364–1365, new studia generalia were authorized by Pope Urban V in Kraków, Vienna, and Orange, expanding the range of universities in Europe beyond the existing centers of learning. Of these three newly established institutions, the University of Vienna endured a particularly tenuous first two decades. While its founder Duke Rudolf IV of Austria intended for it to be a flagship of theological learning within the Holy Roman Empire, permission to teach theology was not granted until a full charter was secured in 1384. The final two decades of the fourteenth century then led to a more stable and long-lasting founding. At this time the university also benefited from an influx of talent emigrating from Paris. The recent papal schism between Avignon and Rome left students and faculty of the German nations less welcome in French territory and seeking new posts.