University Of Bologna

The University of Bologna (Italian: Università di Bologna, UNIBO), founded in 1088, is the oldest university in continuous operation and one of the leading academic institutions in Europe. It is one of the most prestigious Italian universities, commonly ranking first in national rankings. The university has about 85,000 students in its 11 schools. It has a strong tradition in teaching law (especially canon and civil law), medicine (the oldest medical school in the world) and humanities.
It was an active centre of European intellectual life during the Middle Ages, attracting scholars from throughout Europe. The Studium became a leading centre for Renaissance culture under the patronage of Prince Federico II d’Este, Duke Ercole I d’Este and Pope Julius II. In 1749 it was ranked as the best university among those existing at that time outside Italy by Frederick III, Elector Palatine; today’s German akademischer Titel “Dr. rer. pol.” is due to this fact.[citation needed] Since 2000 nine Nobel laureates have been associated with the University.
UNIBO was founded on 3 November 1088 by Countess Matilda of Tuscany, whose will mandated it as a free place of teaching (“loca libera docendi”) open to all nations (“ad omnes nationes”), without distinction or discrimination on account of race or creed; this made it one of medieval Europe’s first secular public institutions along with Paris’s Sorbonne and Oxford’s Merton College.:37
In May 1175 a bull issued by Pope Alexander III guaranteed its autonomy from then-powerful rulers like Frederick Barbarossa. This status allowed Bologna to develop into an independent city-state,:44 sovereign from surrounding feudal lordships despite being part-of what were then often competing empires such as those led respectively at various times by Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and Pope Innocent III.:74 The city expanded rapidly starting from 1219 when Emperor Frederick II declared it an Imperial Free City (“civitas imperialis”). In 1330 Nuzzo Bonacolsi took over power but soon lost control again until 1363 when he was succeeded by Obizzo II degli Alberti who contributed significantly to expanding both territory under his rule and number of students enrolled at UNIBO which peaked around 20 thousand between 1400–1450 before going into decline after his death due to plague followed by successive wars fought against Venice for territorial control over neighboring Ferrara until 1484 when peace was restored under Pope Innocent VIII thanks also to personal efforts exerted by Cardinal Giovanni Dominici who had studied at UNIBO himself back in 1460s.:79
From 1513 onwards pope Leo X increased pressure on professors demanding more orthodoxy from them while also seeking ways to curb Lutherans who were increasingly attracted towards Reformed Protestantism;:105 these efforts would lead eventually to Counter-Reformation policies fully implemented starting from 1561 under Pius IV with help from Cardinals Borromeo –legend has it that he personally burned heretical books while riding through town atop a donkey–and Ghislieri who later becamePope Pius V known for excommunicating Elizabeth I of England among other things..
Under Napoleon Bonaparte’s rule after 1805 number of students decreased drastically reaching just below 600 by 1810 down from around 8 thousand only thirty years prior; however once Austrian domination over northern Italian states ended following Battle Of Waterloo UNIBO quickly regained much lost ground so that already by 1820 there were close 2 thousand students enrolled which grew steadily if not spectacularly until today where close 85 thousand attend classes within its eleven schools covering wide range disciplines ranging from economics, engineering, literature and languages, medicine, pharmacy amongst others .