There are tens of thousands of universities around the world, and many of them have a long and distinguished past. But which is the oldest?
Bologna is known for its beauty and amazing taste, but the city has another impressive historical feat: the world’s oldest continuously operating university. Since 1088, the University of Bologna has been a place of study, and the organization took its official form in the 12th century.
Although the University of Bologna is the oldest official university, it is not the oldest institution of higher education. This title goes to Al Quaraouiyine University in Fez, Morocco. It has been active as a school since 859 AD, for the vast majority of its life, and as a university since 1963.
This mosque was first established as a mosque by Fatima al-Fihri, the daughter of a rich merchant, and as a school, it provided Islamic education. Over time, it expanded its curriculum to include subjects such as mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and law, attracting students from the Islamic world and beyond.
Al-Qarawiyin played an important role in the development of the Islamic world in the medieval period. It became a vital center for the exchange of knowledge between Islamic and European scholars and helped preserve and transmit ancient Greek and Roman texts. The graduates of this university include prominent figures such as philosophers such as Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Arabi and the Jewish philosopher Maimonides, all of whom were among the most important scientists and thinkers of the Middle Ages.
Meanwhile, the University of Bologna can also have impressive graduates. Its alumni list includes Pope Alexander VI, Thomas Becket, and the poet Francis Petrarch, all of whom attended the university in its first few hundred years.
After being founded by the Italian jurist Irenius in 1088, the university offered only doctoral studies. It continued like this for centuries, but recently they have expanded their reach and had 81,220 students for the 2017/18 academic year. Of these, 6293 were international students.
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It also houses the oldest college in the world, the Collegio di Spagna, founded by Cardinal Gil Alvarez de Albornoz in 1364.
Soon after the University of Bologna came the University of Oxford. There is evidence of teaching in Oxford, England as far back as 1096, and its history is a big reason why it is one of the most famous universities in the world.
The list of graduates is impressive. In total, Oxford has educated 31 British Prime Ministers, 20 Archbishops of Canterbury, 12 Saints, 27 Nobel Laureates and 50 Nobel Laureates.
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