Historically, schools of higher learning were referred to as stadium generale or universitas; titles conferred by the Pope of the day, with the latter being the higher honor. This early association with religion can still be seen in the similarities between academic dress and church robes. However, the early schools were not religious orders as a rule, but rather scholastic guilds made up of students and teachers organized around a cathedral or monastery. Not necessarily priests, the scholars wore clothes that were a sober reflection of lay fashions. In this respect, it was the degree that signified the scholar’s full membership in the learned corporation, not the robe. In medieval times the term “bachelor” was used to describe the assistant of a small landowner; the apprentice as opposed to the master who was already skilled, hence the academic use of the term “master” as well. Both of these titles were in widespread use in the universities during the thirteenth century. As such, there was a structure within these institutions related specifically to the degree of knowledge obtained by the scholar. This hierarchy, along with the medieval style of clothing, became the basis of academic dress.