Bologna

:For the food product, see Bologna sausage.

The University

The University of Bologna, founded in 1088, is the oldest existing university in the world, and was an important center of European intellectual life during the Middle Ages, attracting scholars from throughout Christendom. A unique heritage of medieval art, exemplified by the illuminated manuscripts and jurists' tombs produced in the city from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, provide a cultural backdrop to the renown of the medieval institution. The Studium, as it was originally known, began as a loosely organized teaching system with each docent collecting fees from students on an individual basis. The location of the early University was thus spread all throughout the city, with various Colleges being founded to support students of a specific nationality.

Related Topics:
University of Bologna - Middle Ages - Christendom

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The Collegio di Spagna (College of Spain), in the southern part of the city, remains an example of one such early college. Initially, courses were only available in Canon or Civil Law. Gratian and Irnerius, two of the formative influences on legal study both taught at the university in the 12th century. In 1563, when Bologna was part of the Papal States, the University was centralized by means of the Archiginassio, now an important library, which until Napoleonic times housed all faculties.

Related Topics:
Gratian - Irnerius - 12th century - Papal States

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In the Napoleonic era, the headquarters of the university were moved to their present location on Via Zamboni (formerly Via San Donato), in the north-eastern sector of the city centre. Today, the University's 23 faculties, 68 departments, and 93 libraries are spread across the city and include four subsidiary campuses in nearby Cesena, Forlì, Ravenna, and Rimini. Noteworthy students present at the university in centuries past included Dante, Petrarch, Thomas Becket, Pope Nicholas V, Erasmus of Rotterdam, and Copernicus. In more recent history, Luigi Galvani, the discoverer of biological electricity, and Guglielmo Marconi, the pioneer of radio technology, also worked at the University. The University of Bologna remains one of the most respected and dynamic post-secondary educational institutions in Italy. To this day, Bologna is still very much a university town, and the city's population swells from 400,000 to nearly 500,000 whenever classes are in session. This community includes a great number of Erasmus, Socrates, and overseas students. Several American Universities, such as Brown University and the University of San Francisco sponsor exchange programs, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies maintains a permanent campus in the city.

Related Topics:
Cesena - Forlì - Ravenna - Rimini - Dante - Petrarch - Thomas Becket - Pope Nicholas V - Erasmus of Rotterdam - Copernicus - Luigi Galvani - Biological electricity - Guglielmo Marconi - Brown University - University of San Francisco - Johns Hopkins University - School of Advanced International Studies

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