The doctorate: from the Middle Ages to the research-based doctorate

The purpose of this chapter is to depict the evolution of the doctorate from its origins in the Middle Ages, within the scope of the medieval university, to the emergence of the modern university, as reflected in the establishment of Humboldt's University of Berlin. Through the description of the main traits of this evolution the chapter explains that the doctorate is a 'living body' that changes and adapts to the university that hosts it and, therefore, to the circumstances that shape, in each historical period, this institution. Many of the outlines assumed by this evolution, on the other hand, appear to imply that the changes in relation to what is now the PhD can be interpreted, at least in some ways, as 'just a little bit of History repeating'.