04/20/1303 AD founded
The Sapienza University of Rome was foundedwith the Papal bull In Supremae praeminentia Dignitatis, issued by Pope Boniface VIII, as a Studium for ecclesiastical studies more under his control than the universities of Bologna and Padua, making it the first pontifical university.
In 1431 Pope Eugene IV completely reorganized the studium with the bull In supremae, in which he granted masters and students alike the broadest possible privileges and decreed that the university should include the four schools of Law, Medicine, Philosophy and Theology. He introduced a new tax on wine to raise funds for the university; the money was used to buy a palace which later housed the Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza church.
However, the university's days of splendour came to an end during the sack of Rome in 1527, when the studium was closed, some of the professors having been killed and others dispersed. Pope Paul III restored the university shortly after his election to the pontificate in 1534.
In the 1650s the university became known as Sapienza, meaning wisdom, a title it retains. In 1703, with his private funds, Pope Clement XI purchased some land on the Janiculum, where he created a botanical garden, which soon became the most celebrated in Europe through the labours of the Trionfetti brothers. The first complete history of the Sapienza University was written in 1803–1806 by Filippo Maria Renazzi.
Subjects Who or What founded?
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Pope Boniface VIII (Benedetto Caetani) Pope of the Roman Cathol...
Objects To Whom or What was founded?
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Sapienza University of Rome Public research universi...
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