The University of Bologna, Italy began evolving towards the end of the 11th Century as Masters in the arts of Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic began to apply themselves to studying Law. It has made a huge contribution to 
European thinking regarding Science and the Humanities over many years that have followed since. During the 19th Century, the noted historian Giosuè Carducci and colleagues determined the most likely foundation date to have been 1088 which is still generally accepted today.
The oldest recorded students were two gentlemen named Pepone and Irnerio. The former was a schismatic thinker with a habit of challenging Popes while the latter is remembered as lucerna iurus or the Guiding Light of Law. The Holy Roman Emperor King Frederico 1st built on this foundation of independent thought when he issued his Constitutio Habita in 1158 in terms of which what is now the oldest functioning university in the world became a place of independent research.
During the 14th Century a group of artistes schooled in Arithmetic, Astronomy, Grammar, Logic, Medicine, Philosophy and Rhetoric pooled their skills with the Juristic thinkers and in 1364 the teaching of Theology began. In the 15th Century Hebrew and Greek studies were instituted, followed by those in natural magic, or Experimental Science a Century later. Debate ensued between protagonists of the Laws of Nature and those supportive of more conservative Philosophy and Theology that raged for Centuries.
Experiments in Plastic Surgery were followed by the introduction of the microscope for Anatomical Research – by the end of the 17th Century the University of Bologna could rightly claim to be the destination place of study for those in search of cutting edge knowledge and objective proof. Scientific and Technological Research received added impetus from the arrival of the Industrial Revolution and the need for Electro-Technical Research – in 1888 representatives of universities everywhere converged to celebrate 800 continuous years of academic excellence.
Two 20th Century World Wars drained Italy of many of its resources and had a debilitating effect on the University of Bologna too. In the past three decades this trend has been reversed through the acquisition of additional lecture rooms, research centers and administrative offices. The next step will be to relocate the world’s oldest University to a new City Campus, and to recycle the older buildings for university purposes too.
Today the University of Bologna boasts over 100,000 active students and is ranked among the Top 50 Universities in the World – not bad at all for the Grand Old Mother of all other functioning Universities in such a competitive world.
