University of Bologna

Bononia Culta was an epithet first given the city by the Roman poet Martial. Nobody has the faintest idea what the Roman-era city did to deserve it, but starting in the 11th century, Bologna did its best to live up to it.

The Bolognesi like to claim their university is the oldest in the world, and give it a founding date of 1088, but the matter isn’t so clear. All the medieval universities had very informal beginnings, as loose communities of teachers and students; some grew out of cathedral schools that go back to the 800s, and their growth into institutions was gradual and poorly documented.

What is certain, though, is that – along with the establishment at Paris – Bologna’s was the most important centre of learning in medieval Europe. Unlike Paris’, this one was at first run by the students, not the teachers, and they organized into guilds to maintain their rights.