Heritage

Medieval beauty

A city of science and scholarship since the Middle Ages, Montpellier has always maintained a fruitful relationship with its university. As the successor to the Faculty of Medicine founded in 1220, the University of Montpellier was one of the first to emerge in the Western world.

Over the centuries, it has left its mark on the city. Today, the University of Montreal boasts a prestigious historical heritage, including both its buildings and its collections, as well as scientific, artistic, and documentary collections of inestimable value.

Over the years, it has continually expanded its collections, many of which are designated as historic monuments.

Facts: 1220 – Founding of the first University of Montpellier – 6,000 – Historical drawings and prints – 4.5 hectares in the heart of the city

History

Deeply rooted in the history of its city and region, the University of Montpellier is one of the oldest universities still in operation in Europe.

Middle Ages

Montpellier, founded around the year 980, was from the outset a place where Christian, Jewish, and Muslim cultures met and interacted. The city’s academic reputation took root in the medical field with the authorization in 1180 to practice and teach medicine. A century later, medical education was recognized by the Church, making Montpellier the oldest continuously operating medical school in the Western world.

Around the same time, legal scholars began to gather in Montpellier around renowned professors such as Placentin of Bologna. In 1289, the University of Montpellier was officially established by Pope Nicholas IV’s papal bull *Quia sapientia*. Known as a *Studium generale*, it offered courses in medicine, law, the humanities, and theology at the time.

The University of Montpellier was founded by and for its faculty and students and enjoys a high degree of autonomy in its operations. One of its defining characteristics is the prominence of medicine and, increasingly, of law.

Renaissance

In the 16th century, the city of Montpellier became a leading intellectual center and established itself as a European hub for law and medicine. During this period, it attracted many scholars and scientists who shared humanist values, including François Rabelais, Guillaume Rondelet, and Pierre Richer de Belleval.

Universities were proliferating in France and competing with the University of Montpellier. To counter its rivals, the University of Montpellier was granted unique specializations: anatomy, botany, biology, and so on. Closely linked to medicine, the study of medicinal plants became increasingly widespread in Montpellier with the creation of the Botanical Garden in 1593. The city was considered the capital of botany until the 18th century.

Revolution

Like all French universities, the University of Montpellier was abolished during the Revolution. This did not prevent medical professors from continuing to teach in a semi-clandestine manner. However, the need for structured instruction became apparent in Frimaire of Year III (December 1794). The Convention then established three Schools of Health in Paris, Strasbourg, and Montpellier.

It was at that time that the School of Medicine moved into the former bishop’s palace, where it remains to this day. In 1803, the establishment of the School of Pharmacy rounded out the scientific education offered in Montpellier. As for the Faculty of Law, it was dissolved in 1808 and was not reestablished until 1878.

19th century

Montpellier’s academic landscape began to change in the early 19th century with the establishment of the Faculty of Sciences in 1809. At the time, it comprised seven professorships: transcendental mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, zoology, botany, and mineralogy. The late 19th century was marked by the unification of all the city’s faculties into a single university, housed in the university palace, now the rector’s office.

20th century

Montpellier’s institutions continued to grow throughout the 20th century, playing a full part in the scientific boom that characterized that era and building a dense network of educational and research institutions. The Faure Law (November 12, 1968) led to the creation of three new universities:

• Montpellier I University,
• Montpellier II University,
• Montpellier III Paul Valéry University.

The faculties (law, humanities, medicine, sciences, and pharmacy) were dissolved and became either UERs (later UFRs) for medicine, law, and pharmacy (UM1), or fully-fledged universities for the humanities (UM3) and the sciences (UM2).

21st century

A new chapter in the shared history of Montpellier 1 and Montpellier 2 Universities began with the launch of the merger process in September 2012. Seeking to expand their national and international reach, the two universities combined their complementary strengths, and the University of Montpellier was established on January 1, 2015. With 17 academic departments, 73 research units, and more than 48,000 students, it has become the largest university in Languedoc-Roussillon and the sixth largest in France.