Echoing Voices: Protests and the University of Paris Across the Centuries

Classroom at the University of Lyon with markings made during the student occupation in May 1968.

George Garrigues

by: Alexandra Paul

The French, especially Parisians, are notorious for the frequency and scale of their protests. So, it should come as no surprise that one of the earliest recorded European student strikes occurred at the University of Paris. This two-year demonstration stretched between 1229 and 1231 - before the time of the Aztec Empire, the invention of the printing press, and the fall of Constantinople. Over 700 years later in 1968, French students would once again take to protesting in the May 68 unrest. By comparing these two events, which are so separated by time and motivation, it becomes clear that student activism is hardly a new phenomenon. Instead, these expressive and sometimes explosive aspects of student life are a core part of universities' and colleges’ places in our society.

The first of the two protests began in February 1229. In the preceding days, students from the University of Paris rioted because of a dispute with a tavern owner. The university was considered part of the Catholic Church and its students were governed by ecclesiastical courts. However, the outrage caused by the students’ destructive behaviour drove the French regent to intercede and prompt the university to allow the students to be punished by the city guard. The guardsmen soon found a group of students, who may not have been involved in the riot at all, and killed them.

Furious, both the university masters and students left Paris and dispersed to other parts of France, even to other parts of Europe. This placed an intellectual and economic strain on the city and negotiations began to reopen the university’s doors. In 1231, the Pope, an alumnus of the school, issued a bull guaranteeing it would be independent from local ecclesiastical and secular authority by coming directly under papal patronage. As part of the agreement, the masters retained the right to stop lectures for several reasons, including over rent prices.

Racing through time, we come to France in March 1968, when student occupation protests began a chain reaction that led the government to briefly stop functioning. A small far-left group, including 150 students, occupied an administration building at the University of Paris’ Nanterre campus to protest classism and control over university funding. The administration called police and while the group dispersed without incident, it led to months of conflict between students and authorities. Eventually the university shut down in May, including its Sorbonne campus. Shortly after, the national student union and the university teachers’ union organized a protest with more than 20,000 participants and a subsequent riot led to the arrest of hundreds of students. The demonstrations escalated after negotiations broke down with authorities refusing to drop charges against students and reopen the campuses. Students barricaded themselves along part of the River Seine and the ensuing confrontation lasted for hours and resulted in hundreds of arrests and injuries.

The harshness of the government and brutality of the police sympathized the student cause with the public and major unions called for a general strike. Over one million Parisians marched in protest, finally finding success as the prisoners were released and the Sorbonne campus reopened. However, students soon occupied it to air their grievances with French government and society, while workers shifted to protest their own issues. Across the country, students took over many university buildings and a third of the workforce went on strike. Less than 30 days after the University of Paris first shut down, President Charles de Gaulle secretly fled to West Germany to ensure support from French armed forces, leading to a brief government breakdown.

Ultimately, the University of Paris strike in the thirteenth century was concerned with the autonomy of university administration and governance. While today, French universities and their students are subject to French laws, the schools still maintain a great deal of autonomy from the government and certainly from the Church. The protests in the May 68 turmoil were driven by grievances with the social, political, and economic state of the world – considerably broader than those motivations seven centuries earlier. The students involved in the occupations, demonstrations, and street battles have not yet seen all their issues resolved, though many have improved.

The true bond between these two events, beyond their connections to the University of Paris, is the violent suppression and ensuing backlash against government forces. In 1229, the university shut down for two years after its students were killed by city guardsmen. In 1968, over one million citizens marched in support of students after their brutalization during their protests. In neither scenario did violence from police forces deescalate the immediate situation or dissuade the students from protesting. Instead, it prompted even more drastic action from those affected.

Universities across the world are focal points for social issues and debates pertinent to their locality and time. While the government can hardly be expected to allow student demonstrations to devolve into anarchy, the introduction of widespread state-sponsored violence, whether by police or military forces, has not proven to ease tensions. Instead, it pushes other members of the university community and eventually the public into sympathizing with those they are trying to silence. Universities should strive to remain forums for students to express their views, where they can be challenged by their peers without fear of violent retribution from the administration or government. Young people are a driving force for change and as my generation continues to find its voice, these environments are as critical for us as they were in 1229 or 1968. Whether protesting climate change inaction or campus sexual violence, the student right, which has really become a rite of passage, to protest is precious and should be respected at all levels of authority.