In medieval Europe, the doctorate appeared as a license to teach at a medieval university.
Its roots can be traced to the early church when the term “doctor” referred to the Apostles, church fathers and other Christian authorities who taught and interpreted the Bible. The right to grant a licentia docendi was originally reserved to the church which required the applicant to pass a test, to take oath of allegiance and pay a fee. The Third Council of the Lateran of 1179 guaranteed the access – now largely free of charge – of all able applicants, who were, however, still tested for aptitude by the ecclesiastic scholastic. This right remained a bone of contention between the church authorities and the slowly emancipating universities, but was granted by the Pope to the University of Paris in 1231 where it became a universal license to teach (licentia ubique docendi). However, while the licentia continued to hold a higher prestige than the bachelor’s degree (Baccalaureus), it was ultimately reduced to an intermediate step to the Magister and doctorate, both of which now became the exclusive qualification for teaching.
Doctoral training was a form of apprenticeship to a guild at the university. The traditional term of study before new teachers were admitted to the guild of “Master of Arts”, seven years, was the same as the term of apprenticeship for other occupations. Originally the terms “master” and “doctor” were synonymous, but over time the doctorate came to be regarded as a higher qualification than the master degree.
The terms “master”, “doctor” today (from the Latin – meaning literally: “teacher”) and “professor” signify different levels of academic achievement, but in the Medieval university they were equivalent terms, the use of them in the degree name being a matter of custom at a university. Most universities conferred the Master of Arts, although the highest degree was often termed Master of Theology/Divinity or Doctor of Theology/Divinity depending on the place.
The earliest doctoral degrees (theology – Divinitatis Doctor (D.D.), law – Legum Doctor (LL.D., later D.C.L.) and medicine – Medicinæ Doctor (M.D., D.M.)) reflected the historical separation of all higher University study into these three fields. Over time, the D.D. has gradually become less common outside theology, and is now mostly used for honorary degrees, with the title “Doctor of Theology” being used more often for earned degrees. Studies outside theology, law, and medicine were then called “philosophy”, due to the Renaissance conviction that real knowledge could be derived from empirical observation. The degree title of Doctor of Philosophy is of a much later time, and was not introduced in England before 1900. Studies in what once was called philosophy are now classified as sciences and humanities.
The oldest university in Europe, University of Bologna in Italy, was the first institution to grant the degree of Doctor in Civil Law in the late 12th century; it also conferred similar degrees in other subjects, including medicine.
The University of Paris used the term “master” for its graduates, a practice adopted by the English universities of Oxford and Cambridge, as well as the ancient Scottish universities of St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh.