The main approach is holistic – the book aims less at covering the history of individual universities, but rather the character and historical trajectory of the institution as a whole.
[6][7] In the English-language discourse, the book has been welcomed as an overhaul of Hastings Rashdall's long-time standard work The Universities in Europe in the Middle Ages and its 1936 revision by the medievalists F. M. Powicke and A.
Edward Grant regards the first part as "the best single volume on the history of medieval universities", noting its comprehensiveness, readability and authority produced by competent editorship and "outstanding contributors".
[2] Susan Rosa believes that this volume "sets a standard for competency in historical research", favourably mentioning the collaborative effort which produced little overlap between the various topics.
[4] Matthew Kempshall calls the book "a product of an array of distinguished European scholars", but feels that it might have gone too far in idealizing the university as a supranational institution transcending state particularisms.