Ancient university
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ancient university is a term used to describe the medieval and renaissance universities of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland that have continued to exist. Because no universities were founded in these countries between the 17th and 19th centuries, an ancient university effectively means one that was founded before the 17th century.
[edit] The British Isles
The ancient universities in the British Isles are, in order of formation:
- University of Oxford – founded before 1167
- University of Cambridge – founded 1209
- University of St Andrews – founded 1413
- University of Glasgow – founded 1451
- University of Aberdeen – founded 1495
- University of Edinburgh – founded 1583
- University of Dublin – founded 1592 (the only ancient university situated outside of the present United Kingdom)
Due to its previous status as a college of the University of St Andrews, the University of Dundee is organised in the same way as the ancient universities in Scotland, awards MA degrees and can be said to be ancient in some respects.
"Oxbridge" is a portmanteau name for the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the two oldest in England (see Oxbridge rivalry).
The ancient universities of Scotland share several distinctive features and are governed by arrangements laid down by the Universities (Scotland) Acts.
Since Aberdeen is made up of King's College of 1495 and Marischal College of 1593 (which two did not merge until 1860), the institution's prospectus light-heartedly claims that for some time Aberdeen boasted "as many universities as England."
No more universities were created in the United Kingdom until St Davids College, Lampeter was established in 1822 (Royal Charter 1828), University College London in 1826, King's College London in 1829 (both received their Royal Charter and became part of the University of London in 1836), and the University of Durham in 1832 (Royal Charter 1837). The Red Brick universities of the 19th century followed.
[edit] Elsewhere in the world
Several of the medieval universities of Continental Europe are the oldest in the world; older than any of the institutions listed above. The University of Bologna was founded in 1088, the University of Paris was founded somewhere around 1150 and the University of Palencia (Spain) was founded in 1212.
The first Greek universities are considered to be Theodosius' University in Constantinople in the 4th century; the University of Constantinople was founded in the 9th century as a secular institute of higher learning, but its operation was discontinued after the Ottoman conquest. Plato's Academy (5th century B.C.) can also be considered the first university-like institution in Europe.
If the definition of a university is broadened to those that did not originally grant degrees but now do, then some ancient institutes predate even the University of Bologna (for example, Nalanda University had been established by the 5th century BC in India, Nanjing University was founded in 258 in China, Al-Azhar University was founded in 988 in Egypt and the University of Parma was founded in 1064 but only became a university in 1502).
