中世纪大学指的是欧洲中世纪形成的一系列高等教育组织。这些教育组织主要提供神学、法学、医学和博雅教育。它们是原型则是更古老的基督教座堂学校和修道院学校，而其形成现代意义上的大学的具体时间并不能确定。而罗马天主教的教皇则将其称为“studia generalia”。

“universitas”（大学）一词在这个时候指的是“studia generalia”之内的一些学生团体，实际上这个词在中世纪早期一般都不会单独出现，而是要加上别的修饰词，例如“universitas magistrorum”、“universitas scholarium”和“universitas magistrorum et scholarium”，“universitas”一词到了14世纪后半期才开始单独使用。

A medieval university is a corporation organized during the High Middle Ages for the purposes of higher learning.

The first institutions generally considered to be universities were established in Italy, England, France, Spain, and Portugal between 11th and 14th centuries for the study of the Arts and the higher disciplines of Theology, Law, and Medicine. These universities evolved from much older Christian cathedral schools and monastic schools, and it is difficult to define the exact date at which they became true universities, although the lists of studia generalia for higher education in Europe held by the Vatican are a useful guide.