The University of Bologna established around 1088 is recognized as the world's oldest university in continuous operation.
In Roman law, the Universitas was a "national" guild / union of masters and scholars, turned into one for legal purposes. Initially called a "Studium Generale" by the Pope, it was a Universal Study place, having the capacity to issue degrees. Each guild gave some protection against local authorities, and also some leverage dealing with teachers booksellers and landlords. By the early 13th century these national guilds had coalesced into two corporations, the "universitas" cismontanorum (this side of the mountains) for students from Italy (outside Bologna) and the "universitas" ultramontanorum for students from north of the Alps.
In Paris the Sorbonne opened in 1150, becoming known as the Université de Paris. In England Henry II banned English students from attending this university with Oxford (which had opened earlier) expanding considerably. Cambridge University 100 kms east, formed in 1209 after Oxford townspeople executed students for causing a woman's death.
The University of Naples Federico II (Italian: Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II) named after its founder, Frederick II in 1224 is said to be the oldest state-funded university in the world.
Click here for other medieval universities and their background.
Below are www.TopUniversities.com rankings plus details of where to go via wiki links
Click here for an alternative ranking of the top universities based on reputation by timeshighereducation.com ranked on "best in their field in research" according to a select group of experts and with endowment grants at far higher levels than we can perhaps expect to see here in Australia. Their Top 20 list excluded UCL London, Hong Kong, Nanyang Singapore, Pennsylvania, and the two Australian universities Melbourne, and N.S.W. replacing them with six additional universities.
Below is the full Top 20 list from www.TopUniversities.com
25. University of Sydney Camperdown Sydney
32. Australian National University Canberra
42. UQ University of Queensland St Lucia Brisbane
226. QUT Queensland University of Technology Brisbane
268. GU Griffith University Mt Gravatt Brisbane
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