[Comunities of knowledge. Schools and colleges in Paris in the XIIIth century]

The social and institutional history of the university of Paris still frequently remains detached from the study of the intellectual dynamics which were produced in its midst. The concept of "communities of knowledge" allows us to fill this gap by narrowly associating the history of knowledge to its concrete conditions of production and teaching. This model permits us to give attention to the maintenance, in the midst of the Parisian university of diverse "schools" endowed with orientations and specific programmes of research. The appearance of colleges can equally be situated in this perspective, which permits us to better grasp the interaction between the political and intellectual stakes which lay stress on the history of the university in the XIIIth century. Finally, it neveals the image of an institution more fragmented than unified.