The city of Bologna is about 375 km north of Rome or a bit more than 100 km north of Florence.
The universita di Bologna (in Latin Universitas Bononiensis) is probably the oldest university in the world that is still active (without any discontinuity). It is situated in the Italian city of Bologna, but has also antennae in other Italian cities (such as Ravenna and Rimini) and even abroad (Buenos Aires).
The history of the Universita di Bologna goes back to the end of the Eleventh Century. Probably in 1088, a number of foreigners grouped together with two intentions: protection against the city authorities (who dealt quite harshly with foreigners) and a high quality education.
Incidentally: the "foreigners" I've mentioned, included also Italians from other cities. Italy at that time was a patchwork of different city states, and an inhabitant of Bologna would consider an inhabitant of Venice a foreigner.
The first official document about the University of Bologna was a charter granted by Emperor Frederick II Barbarossa in 1158, but one of the first alumni from Bologna died between 1125 and 1140. So the founding of the University has to precede the charter by several years.
The earliest curriculum taught at the University of Bologna were the liberal arts (grammar, logic, rhetoric, music, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy) plus the canonical and civil law as preserved in the Byzantine Empire. The University of Bologna was probably the first to publish the Codex Justiniani in western Europe.
Some of the more familiar names of alumni from Bologna include the authors Petrarch and Erasmus, the painter Albrecht Dürer, the pharmacist Paracelsus, the engineers Guglielmo Marconi and Enzo Ferrari, and the couturier Giorgio Armani.
2. University of Oxford
Answer: England
Oxford is situated about 90 km west of London.
The University of Oxford is another "old school" of which there is no official founding date. However, historians have found evidence that there was already some kind of teaching organized at Oxford in 1096. In 1167, King Henry II decreed that none of his subjects were allowed to study in Paris, they all had to follow courses in Oxford. The first foreign student (Emo of Friesland) arrived in 1190, and King Henry III finally granted a royal charter in 1248.
Famous alumni of the University of Oxford include (to name but a few) ex-US president Bill Clinton, the economist Adam Smith, the scientist Stephen Hawking, the author Aldous Huxley, the church reformer John Wycliffe, the philosopher Thomas Hobbes and the explorer Walter Raleigh.
3. Universidad de Salamanca
Answer: Spain
Salamanca is about 215 km to the west of Madrid.
The university of Salamanca was founded in 1134. It obtained the royal charter in 1254 and the title of university in 1255 (this by way of a Papal Bull).
The best known alumni of Salamanca are the author Miguel de Cervantes and the conquistador Hernan Cortes.
4. Universidade de Coimbra
Answer: Portugal
In 1290, the Portuguese king Denis I founded a school for high education in Lisbon. This school was relocated a few times and finally ended up in Coimbra, a city about 200km north of Lisbon.
The University of Coimbra has students from more than 70 countries. But the list of the best known alumni includes only some Portuguese, most notably the politicians Marquis de Pombal and Antonio de Salazar.
5. Univerzita Karlova
Answer: Czech Republic
The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles IV, and Pope Clement VI, produced three separate bulls in 1347, 1348 and 1349 allowing the foundation of a university in Prague. This university was named after Charles IV and opened in 1349. Most Czech sources though set the founding date on 1348.
The university used German and Czech as major languages (after the abolition of Latin courses). In 1882 the Charles University split into a German and a Czech part. During the Second World War, the Czech part was closed, but it reopened after the War and then the German part was closed.
Notable alumni were the church reformer Jan Hus and the writers Franz Kafka, Milan Kundera and Rainer Maria Rilke.
6. Uniwersytet Jagiellonski
Answer: Poland
Krakow is a city in Poland, about 300 km south of the capital Warsaw.
The Jagiellonian University was founded in Krakow (Poland) in 1364 by king Casimir III. Its initial emphasis was on the law faculty.
Famous alumni from the Jagiellonian University include the astronomer Copernicus, king John III Sobieski, the priest Karol Wojtyla (later Pope John Paul II), and the writer Stanislaw Lem.
7. Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
Answer: Germany
Heidelberg is a German city, roughly 650 km to the south-west of Berlin.
In 1386 Pope Urban VI issued a bull founding a university in Heidelberg, at that time the capital of the Pfaltz (a county ruled by Count Ruprecht I). There were four faculties: philosophy, medicine, jurisprudence (law) and theology. The university knew a tremendous success in the XVIth Century, but was almost closed down in 1801. However, Count Karl Friedrich von Baden preserved the university and reinstated many professorial chairs. That's why the university is named after Ruprecht and Karl, both Counts who made a lasting contribution to the university's success.
Notable alumni of Heidelberg include the Belgian politician Auguste Beernaert, the mathematician Daniel Bernouilli, the theologian Johann Eck, the politicians Joseph Goebbels and Helmut Kohl, the industrialist Gustav Krupp, and the composer Robert Schumann.
8. University of St Andrews
Answer: Scotland
St Andrews is a small town in Scotland, about 80 km to the north-east of Edinburgh. The University was founded in 1410 and got Papal approval in 1413. King James I of Scotland confirmed the University's charter in 1432.
The university consists of four faculties: Medicine, Divinity (theology), Arts (including economics, history and philosophy) and Sciences.
Some of the notable alumni of St Andrews are the physician Edward Jenner, the poet Alexander Hume, the television presenter Hazel Irvine and the clergyman John Knox.
9. Universität Basel
Answer: Switzerland
Basel is a major city in Switzerland, on the frontier with Germany. It is about 100 km north of the capital Bern.
The University of Basel was founded in 1460, in execution of a Papal Bull by Pope Pius II.
Originally it had four faculties: Theology, Law, Medicine and Arts. Arts has meanwhile been split into the four faculties Sciences, Humanities, Psychology and Business & Economics.
Famous alumni are the psychologist Carl Jung and the mathematician Leonard Euler.
10. Uppsala universitet
Answer: Sweden
Uppsala is a city in Sweden, about 70 km north of Stockholm.
The university of Uppsala was founded in 1477 in accordance with a Papal Bull issued by Pope Sixtus VI. The four original faculties were theology, law, medicine and philosophy.
Notable alumni of the university of Uppsala include the Nobel Peace Prize winner Dag Hammarskjöld, the physicists Anders Celsius and Rolf Sievert, the botanist Carl Linnaeus and the novelist August Strindberg.
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor stedman before going online.
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