University of Montpellier
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The University of Montpellier was a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 in Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....

 in the Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon is one of the 27 regions of France. It comprises five departments, and borders the other French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées on the one side, and Spain, Andorra and the Mediterranean sea on the other side.-Geography:The region is...

 région of the south of France. Its present-day successor universities are the University of Montpellier 1
University of Montpellier 1
The University of Montpellier 1 is a French university, in the Academy of Montpellier. It is one of the three successor universities to the University of Montpellier.-See also:* University of Montpellier...

, Montpellier 2 University
Montpellier 2 University
Montpellier 2 University is a French university in the académie of Montpellier. It is one of the three universities formed in 1970 from the original University of Montpellier...

 and Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III
Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III
University of Montpellier III Paul Valéry is a French university in the Academy of Montpellier. It is one of the three successor universities to the University of Montpellier, specialising in the arts, languages and social sciences.- History :...

.

History

The university is considerably older than its formal founding date, associated with a bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....

 issued by Pope Nicholas IV
Pope Nicholas IV
Pope Nicholas IV , born Girolamo Masci, was Pope from February 22, 1288 to April 4, 1292. A Franciscan friar, he had been legate to the Greeks under Pope Gregory X in 1272, succeeded Bonaventure as Minister General of his religious order in 1274, was made Cardinal Priest of Santa Prassede and...

 in 1289, combining all the long-existing schools into a university.

It is not known exactly when the schools of liberal arts were founded that developed into the Montpellier faculty of arts; it may be that they were a direct continuation of the Gallo-Roman schools that gathered around masters of rhetoric. The school of law was founded by Placentinus
Placentinus
Placentinus was an Italian jurist and glossator. Originally from Piacenza, he taught at the University of Bologna. From there he founded the law school of the University of Montpellier, in 1160....

, from the school of law at Bologna
University of Bologna
The Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna is the oldest continually operating university in the world, the word 'universitas' being first used by this institution at its foundation. The true date of its founding is uncertain, but believed by most accounts to have been 1088...

, who came to Montpellier in 1160, taught there during two different periods, and died there in 1192. The faculty of law has had a long career. Professors from Montpellier were prominent in the drafting of the Napoleonic Code
Napoleonic code
The Napoleonic Code — or Code Napoléon — is the French civil code, established under Napoléon I in 1804. The code forbade privileges based on birth, allowed freedom of religion, and specified that government jobs go to the most qualified...

, the civil code by which France is still guided and a foundation for modern law codes wherever Napoleonic influence extended. The faculty of law was reorganized in 1998.

The famous school of medicine was founded perhaps by people trained in the Spanish medical schools; it is certain that, as early as 1137, there were excellent physicians at Montpellier. The school of medicine owed its success to a policy of the Guilhem lords of Montpellier
Lords of Montpellier
The following is a list of lords of Montpellier:* William I of Montpellier 26 November 986–1019* William II of Montpellier 1019–1025* William III of Montpellier 1025–1058* William IV of Montpellier 1058–1068* William V of Montpellier 1090–1121...

, by which any licensed physician might lecture there: with no fixed limit to the number of teachers, lectures multiplied, and there was a great choice of teachers. The statutes given in 1220 by Cardinal Conrad von Urach, legate of Pope Honorius III
Pope Honorius III
Pope Honorius III , previously known as Cencio Savelli, was Pope from 1216 to 1227.-Early work:He was born in Rome as son of Aimerico...

, which were confirmed and extended in 1240, placed this school under the direction of the Bishop of Maguelonne, but the school enjoyed a great deal of de facto autonomy. In 1529, after some years as an apothecary, Nostradamus
Nostradamus
Michel de Nostredame , usually Latinised to Nostradamus, was a French apothecary and reputed seer who published collections of prophecies that have since become famous worldwide. He is best known for his book Les Propheties , the first edition of which appeared in 1555...

 entered the University of Montpellier to study for a doctorate in medicine. He was expelled shortly afterwards when it was discovered that he had been an apothecary, a "manual trade" expressly banned by the university statutes.[8] The expulsion document (BIU Montpellier, Register S 2 folio 87) still exists in the faculty library. Rabelais
François Rabelais
François Rabelais was a major French Renaissance writer, doctor, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He has historically been regarded as a writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes and songs...

 took his medical degree at Montpellier, and his portrait hangs among the gallery of professors.

The Jardin des plantes de Montpellier
Jardin des plantes de Montpellier
The Jardin des plantes de Montpellier is a historic botanical garden and arboretum located on Boulevard Henri IV, Montpellier, Hérault, Languedoc-Roussillon, France...

, founded in 1593, is the oldest botanical garden
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

 in France. It was in this school that the biological theory of vitalism
Vitalism
Vitalism, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is#a doctrine that the functions of a living organism are due to a vital principle distinct from biochemical reactions...

, elaborated by Barthez
Paul Joseph Barthez
Paul Joseph Barthez was a French physician, physiologist, and encyclopedist who developed a take on the biological theory known as vitalism....

 (1734-1806), had its origin. The French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

 did not interrupt the existence of the faculty of medicine. The Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...

 monastery that had been converted into the bishop's palace, was given to house the medical school in 1795. A gallery devoted to the portraits of professors since 1239 contains one of Rabelais.

The school of theology had its origins in lectures in the convents: St. Anthony of Padua
Anthony of Padua
Anthony of Padua or Anthony of Lisbon, O.F.M., was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. Though he died in Padua, Italy, he was born to a wealthy family in Lisbon, Portugal, which is where he was raised...

, Raymundus Lullus
Ramon Llull
Ramon Llull was a Majorcan writer and philosopher, logician and tertiary Franciscan. He wrote the first major work of Catalan literature. Recently-surfaced manuscripts show him to have anticipated by several centuries prominent work on elections theory...

, and the Dominican Bernard de la Treille all lectured. Two letters of King John II
John II of France
John II , called John the Good , was the King of France from 1350 until his death. He was the second sovereign of the House of Valois and is perhaps best remembered as the king who was vanquished at the Battle of Poitiers and taken as a captive to England.The son of Philip VI and Joan the Lame,...

 prove that a faculty of theology existed at Montpellier independently of the convents, in January, 1350. By a Bull of 17 December, 1421, Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V , born Odo Colonna, was Pope from 1417 to 1431. His election effectively ended the Western Schism .-Biography:...

 granted canonical institution
Canonical institution
Canonical institution is a technical term of the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, meaning in practice an institution having full recognition and status within the Church.-Benefices:...

 to this faculty and united it closely with the faculty of law.

In the 16th century the local triumph of Calvinism interrupted the somewhat somnolent Catholic school of theology, which was reinstated in 1622; but the rivalries of Dominicans and Jesuits interfered seriously with the prosperity of the faculty, which disappeared at the Revolution. In better days, among Montpellier's illustrious pupils of law were Petrarch
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca , known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism"...

, who spent four years at Montpellier, and among its lecturers were William of Nogaret, chancellor to Philip IV
Philip IV of France
Philip the Fair was, as Philip IV, King of France from 1285 until his death. He was the husband of Joan I of Navarre, by virtue of which he was, as Philip I, King of Navarre and Count of Champagne from 1284 to 1305.-Youth:A member of the House of Capet, Philip was born at the Palace of...

, Guillaume de Grimoard, afterwards Pope Urban V
Pope Urban V
Pope Urban V , born Guillaume Grimoard, was Pope from 1362 to 1370.-Biography:Grimoard was a native of Grizac in Languedoc . He became a Benedictine and a doctor in Canon Law, teaching at Montpellier and Avignon...

, and Pedro de Luna, afterwards antipope Benedict XIII
Antipope Benedict XIII
Benedict XIII, born Pedro Martínez de Luna y Pérez de Gotor , known as in Spanish, was an Aragonese nobleman, who is officially considered by the Catholic Church to be an antipope....

.

Like all other provincial universities of France, that of Montpellier was suppressed at the outbreak of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

 in 1793. The faculties of science and of letters were re-established in 1810; that of law in 1880. The university of Montpellier was officially refounded in 1969.

The University today

The modern University of Montpellier II
Montpellier 2 University
Montpellier 2 University is a French university in the académie of Montpellier. It is one of the three universities formed in 1970 from the original University of Montpellier...

 concentrates in science and technology. The Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III
Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III
University of Montpellier III Paul Valéry is a French university in the Academy of Montpellier. It is one of the three successor universities to the University of Montpellier, specialising in the arts, languages and social sciences.- History :...

 completes the trio of universities in the old city.

See also


External links

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