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Founding of the University of Copenhagen
On 1 June 1479, under a 1475 bull from Pope Sixtus IV, King Christian I of Denmark formally founded a university in Copenhagen, modeled on the Univer…
Timeline
- 1475Rome · RomeAt the request of King Christian I of Denmark, Pope Sixtus IV issued a bull on 19 June 1475 approving the establishment in Denmark of a university with the right of universal teaching and degree conferral. The bull freed Northern kingdoms from having to rely entirely on overseas institutions such as Cologne and Paris to train senior clergy.
- 1475–1479Copenhagen · CopenhagenAfter obtaining the bull, the crown and the church secured premises, benefices, and teachers around the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen. The system imitated the University of Cologne, planning faculties of theology, canon and civil law, medicine, and arts (philosophy), and established the first administrative structure.
- 1479Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen · CopenhagenOn 1 June 1479, the University of Copenhagen officially opened, with Peder Albertsen as its first rector. The four-faculty structure gave Denmark its first complete medieval university, where graduates could earn papally recognized degrees at home, rooting a Northern European scholarly center in the strait city.
Sources
- University of Copenhagen https://www.britannica.com/topic/University-of-Copenhagen
- History of the University of Copenhagen https://about.ku.dk/profile-history/history/
- A History of the University in Europe, Volume 1 — Hilde de Ridder-Symoens (ed.) (1992)