Reflecting upon a recently published collection of essays dealing with the study of philosophy and theology at the religious study-houses (studia) and at the papal and royal court in the 13th and 14th century, the review-article presents an overview of the various approaches to researching the relevance of the institutional context for understanding the forms and doctrinal contents of the period’s intellectual production. On the basis of the volume under discussion, five basic approaches are identified and discussed: first, a focus (...) on the institutional framework of education at the religious orders’ studia; second, a (re)reading of important works in the context of the studia’s teaching practices; third, the regional particularity of certain study-houses; fourth, the formative role of individual personalities for the order’s intellectual profile; and fifth, the papal and fifth, the papal and royal court as specific setting of some influential philosophical and theological debates. (shrink)