Université de Montpellier
| Université de Montpellier | |
Seal of the University of Montpellier
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| Latin: Universitas Montempestellarium | |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Established | 1289 |
| President | Philippe Augé |
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Academic staff
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1,900 |
| Students | 41,000 |
| 1,700 | |
| Location | Montpellier, France |
| Campus | Urban/College town |
| Affiliations | Coimbra Group |
| Website | umontpellier |
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The University of Montpellier (French: Université de Montpellier) is a French public research university in Montpellier in south-east of France. Established in 1289 the University of Montpellier is one of the oldest of the world.
The university was split into three universities during 45 years (the University of Montpellier 1, the University of Montpellier 2 and the Paul Valéry University Montpellier 3) between 1970 and 2015 when it was subsequently reunified by the merger of the former two, with the latter, now named Paul Valéry University Montpellier, remaining a separate entity.
The university is considerably older than its formal founding date, associated with a papal bill issued by Pope Nicholas IV in 1289, combining all the centuries-old 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, from the school of law at Bologna, 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, 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 prestigious 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 University. It is the world's oldest medical school still in operation. The school of medicine owed its success to a policy of the Guilhem lords of Montpellier, by which any licensed physician might lecture there: with no fixed limit to the number of teachers, lectures multiplied, thus providing a great choice of teachers coming from all around the Mediterranean region (Guilhem VIII act of January 1181). The statutes given in 1220 by Cardinal Conrad von Urach, legate of Pope Honorius III, 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.
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