Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)

The Catholic University of Leuven (of Louvain in French, and historically in English), located in the town of Leuven, was considered the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium.

The University of Leuven was founded in 1425 by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull of Pope Martin V. It flourished for hundreds of years as the most prominent university in what would become Belgium, and one of the more prominent in Europe.

During the French rule over Belgium in the French Revolutionary Wars, the French Republic closed the university in 1797. After Belgium was joined to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the State University of Louvain was founded in 1816, lasting until 1835. In 1834, a few years after Belgium had gained its independence, the separate Catholic University of Mechelen was founded. This new Roman Catholic university moved its seat to Leuven and took the name "Catholic University of Leuven", seeing itself as a "re-founding" of the older University of Leuven. This claim to continuity with the older institution was not recognised at law, with Belgium's highest court ruling that the two institutions were different foundations. Nonetheless, the Catholic University of Leuven is very frequently identified as a continuation of the older institution.

In 1968, the Catholic University of Leuven split to form two institutions:

This entry deals with the historic university/universities, 1425–1797 and 1834–1968. For the current successor institutions and their separate development since 1968, see the individual articles linked above.

In the 15th century the city of Leuven, with the support of John IV, Duke of Brabant, made a formal request to the Holy See for a university.Pope Martin V issued a papal bull dated 9 December 1425 founding the University in Leuven as a Studium Generale. In its early years, the university was modelled on those of Paris, Cologne and Vienna. The university flourished in the 16th century due to the presence of famous scholars and professors, such as Adriaan Florenszoon Boeyens (Pope Adrian VI), Desiderius Erasmus, Johannes Molanus, Joan Lluís Vives, Andreas Vesalius, Ferdinand Verbiest and Gerardus Mercator.

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