 It was the dominant school in Paris until the late 12th century, when it began to be eclipsed by the new colleges established around the monasteries on the Left bank, which were not under the authority of the Bishop of Paris, but directly under the pope.In this way, the School of Notre Dame was the ancestor of the University of Paris, when it was chartered in about 1200.The first monasteries appeared in Paris during the Merovingian Dynasty (481–731 AD) and were mostly located around the Mountain of Sainte-Geneviève on the Left Bank, where the old Roman city of Lutetia was situated.