State University of Leuven

The State University of Leuven was a university founded in 1817 in Leuven in Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was distinct from the Old University of Leuven (1425-1797) and from the Catholic University of Leuven, which moved to Leuven after the State University had been closed in 1835.

The State University of Leuven was founded by King William I of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1817 in Leuven. This continued the history of having a major university in Leuven, with the Old University of Leuven having been active from 1425-1797, and the State University used the same campus and facilities and a dozen of professors of the Old University taught there.

Belgium's independence from the Netherlands in 1830/31, plunged the universities into disorder. Attempting to prevent university education from being fragmented, the new government closed Leuven's faculties of law and natural science but backed down due to protests. A proposal to concentrate university education at Leuven was rejected by parliament on 4 August 1835. On 27 September 1835, the state university was officially closed, with most professors moving to the state universities of Ghent and Liège.

Meanwhile, the bishops of Belgium had founded a new Catholic University at Mechlin. This provoked serious riots in the cities of Ghent, Leuven and Liège by liberals, who feared the Church encroaching on state education. After the State University had been closed, the Catholic University moved its headquarters to Leuven on 1 December 1835 and then took the name of Catholic University of Leuven, again leading to protests by liberals, particularly due to its efforts to usurp the heritage and identity of the historical Old University of Leuven.

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