List of early modern universities in Europe
The list of early modern universities in Europe comprises all universities that existed in the early modern age in Europe. It also includes short-lived foundations and educational institutions whose university status is a matter of debate. The operation of the degree-awarding university with its corporate organization and relative autonomy, which had emerged in the Christian medieval world, was continued into the new era. The number of universities which had been in existence at one time during the period rose from around eighty medieval universities to nearly two hundred. While the universitas arrived in Eastern Europe as far as Moscow, many were established further west either by the new Protestant powers or the Catholic Counter-Reformation spearheaded by the Jesuits. At the same time, the Spanish founded colonial universities and the British colonial colleges in the New World, thus heralding the spread of the university as the center of higher learning around the globe.
Definition
A short definition of the university and its defining characteristics as they evolved in the medieval and early modern era is offered by the multi-volume History of the University in Europe of the European University Association:List of universities existing in the early modern age, but created before
The list is sorted by the date of recognition. At places where more than one university was established, the name of the institution is given in brackets.11th century
12th century
13th century
| Recognized | University | Modern country |
| Beginning of 13th c. | Paris | France |
| Beginning of 13th c. | Oxford | United Kingdom |
| Beginning of 13th c. | Montpellier | France |
| 1209–25 | Cambridge | United Kingdom |
| 1215 | Arezzo | Italy |
| Before 1218/9 | Salamanca | Spain |
| 1222 | Padua | Italy |
| 1224 | Naples | Italy |
| 1229 | Toulouse | France |
| 1231 | Salerno | Italy |
| c.1235 | Orléans | France |
| 1241 | Valladolid | Spain |
| 1246 | Siena | Italy |
| c.1250 | Angers | France |
| 1261 | Northampton | England |
| 1272 | Murcia | Spain |
| 1290 | Macerata | Italy |
| 1290 | Lisbon | Portugal |
| 1300 | Lleida | Spain |
14th century
| Recognized | University | Modern country |
| 1303 | Avignon | France |
| 1303 | Rome | Italy |
| 1308 | Coimbra | Portugal |
| 1308 | Perugia | Italy |
| 1311 | Dublin | Ireland |
| 1332 | :fr:Université de Cahors|Cahors | France |
| 1336 | Camerino | Italy |
| 1339 | Grenoble | France |
| 1343 | Pisa | Italy |
| 1347 | Prague | Czech Republic |
| 1349 | Firenze | Italy |
| 1350 | Perpignan | France |
| 1354 | :es:Universidad Sertoriana de Huesca|Huesca | Spain |
| 1361 | Pavia | Italy |
| 1364 | Cracow | Poland |
| 1365 | Orange | France |
| 1365 | Vienna | Austria |
| 1367 | Pécs | Hungary |
| 1369 | :it:Università lucchese|Lucca | Italy |
| 1386 | Heidelberg | Germany |
| 1388 | Cologne | Germany |
| 1389 | Erfurt | Germany |
| 1391 | Ferrara | Italy |
| 1395 | Budapest | Hungary |
| 1396 | Zadar | Croatia |
15th century
| Recognized | University | Modern country |
| 1402 | Würzburg | Germany |
| 1404 | Turin | Italy |
| 1409 | Leipzig | Germany |
| 1409 | Aix-en-Provence | France |
| 1411 | St Andrews | United Kingdom |
| 1412 | Parma | Italy |
| 1419 | Rostock | Germany |
| 1422 | Dole | France |
| 1425 | Leuven | Belgium |
| 1431 | Poitiers | France |
| 1432 | Caen | France |
| 1434 | Catania | Italy |
| 1441 | Bordeaux | France |
| 1450 | Barcelona | Spain |
| 1451 | Glasgow | United Kingdom |
| 1452 | Valence | France |
| 1453 | Istanbul | Turkey |
| 1454 | Trier | Germany |
| 1456 | Greifswald | Germany |
| 1457 | Freiburg | Germany |
| 1459 | Basel | Switzerland |
| 1459 | Ingolstadt | Germany |
| 1460 | Nantes | France |
| 1464 | Bourges | France |
| 1465 | Bratislava | Slovakia |
| 1470 | Venice | Italy |
| 1471 | Genoa | Italy |
| 1474 | Zaragoza | Spain |
| 1476 | Mainz | Germany |
| 1476 | Tübingen | Germany |
| 1477 | Uppsala | Sweden |
| 1479 | Copenhagen | Denmark |
| 1483 | Palma, Majorca | Spain |
| 1489 | Sigüenza | Spain |
| 1495 | Old Aberdeen | United Kingdom |
| 1498 | Frankfurt on the Oder | Germany |
| 1499 | Alcalá de Henares | Spain |
| 1500 | Valencia | Spain |
List of universities created in the early modern age
16th century
| Recognized | University | Modern country |
| 1502 | Wittenberg | Germany |
| 1505 | Seville | Spain |
| 1506 | Frankfurt | Germany |
| 1516 | Seville | Spain |
| 1521 | Toledo | Spain |
| 1526 | Santiago de Compostela | Spain |
| 1527 | Marburg | Germany |
| 1531 | Granada | Spain |
| 1534 | Sahagún | Spain |
| 1537 | Lausanne | Switzerland |
| 1539 | Nîmes | France |
| 1540 | Macerata | Italy |
| 1540 | :es:Universidad de Oñate|Oñate | Spain |
| 1542 | Baeza | Spain |
| 1544 | Königsberg | Russia |
| 1547 | Gandía | Spain |
| 1548 | Reims | France |
| 1548 | Messina | Italy |
| 1548 | Tournon | France |
| 1548/9 | Osuna | Spain |
| c.1550 | Irache | Spain |
| 1550 | :es:Universidad de Almagro|Almagro | Spain |
| 1551 | Tortosa | Spain |
| 1552 | :es:Universidad de Orihuela|Orihuela | Spain |
| 1553 | Dillingen | Germany |
| 1555 | Burgo de Osma | Spain |
| 1556 | Milan | Italy |
| 1556 | Prague | Czech Republic |
| 1556 | Rome | Italy |
| 1557/8 | Jena | Germany |
| 1558/9 | Évora | Portugal |
| 1559 | Geneva | Switzerland |
| 1559 | Nice | France |
| 1559/60 | Douai | France |
| 1560 | Mondovì | Italy |
| 1562 | Ancona | Italy |
| 1565 | Estella | Spain |
| 1568 | Braunsberg | Poland |
| 1570 | Olomouc | Czech Republic |
| 1572 | Pont-à-Mousson | France |
| 1574 | Oviedo | Spain |
| 1574 | Tarragona | Spain |
| 1575 | Leiden | Netherlands |
| 1575/6 | Helmstedt | Germany |
| 1576 | Ávila | Spain |
| 1577 | Rome, Collegium Divi Thomae, | Italy |
| 1578 | Palermo | Italy |
| 1578 | Vilnius | Lithuania |
| 1581 | Cluj-Napoca, Babeș-Bolyai University | Romania |
| 1582/3 | Edinburgh | United Kingdom |
| 1583 | Orthez | France |
| 1585 | Fermo | Italy |
| 1585 | Franeker | Netherlands |
| 1585/6 | Graz | Austria |
| 1587 | El Escorial | Spain |
| 1587 | Girona | Spain |
| 1592 | Malta | Malta |
| 1592 | Dublin | Ireland |
| 1593 | New Aberdeen | United Kingdom |
| 1594 | Zamość | Poland |
| 1596/1604 | Saumur | France |
| 1598 | :fr:Académie de Montauban et de Puylaurens|Montauban | France |
| 1599 | Vic | Spain |
| 1599/1602 | Sedan | France |
17th century
| Recognized | University | Modern country |
| 1601/4 | Die | France |
| 1603 | Aix-en-Provence | France |
| 1607 | Giessen | Germany |
| 1612/4 | Groningen | Netherlands |
| 1614 | Solsona | Spain |
| 1614/6 | Paderborn | Germany |
| 1617 | Sassari | Italy |
| 1617/8 | Molsheim | France |
| 1619 | Pamplona | Spain |
| 1620 | :de:Universität Rinteln|Rinteln | Germany |
| 1620/5 | Salzburg | Austria |
| 1620 | Cagliari | Italy |
| 1621 | Strassburg | France |
| 1622/3 | Altdorf | Germany |
| 1625 | Mantua | Italy |
| 1629/32 | Osnabrück | Germany |
| 1632 | Tartu | Estonia |
| 1633 | Kassel | Germany |
| 1635 | Trnava | Slovakia |
| 1636 | Utrecht | Netherlands |
| 1640 | Turku | Finland |
| 1647/8 | Harderwijk | Netherlands |
| 1648 | Bamberg | Germany |
| 1652 | Kiel | Germany |
| 1654 | Duisburg | Germany |
| 1655 | Nijmegen | Netherlands |
| 1657 | Košice | Slovakia |
| 1661 | Lemberg | Ukraine |
| 1665 | Prešov | Slovakia |
| 1666/8 | Lund | Sweden |
| 1668 | Innsbruck | Austria |
| 1669 | Zagreb | Croatia |
| 1671 | Urbino | Italy |
| 1671 | Montbéliard | France |
| 1674 | Linz | Austria |
| 1685 | Strassburg | France |
| 1691 | Besançon | France |
| 1693/4 | Halle | Germany |
18th century
| Recognized | University | Modern country |
| 1701 | La Laguna | Spain |
| 1702 | Breslau | Poland |
| 1710 | Charité | Germany |
| 1714/7 | Cervera | Spain |
| 1722 | Dijon | France |
| 1722 | Pau | France |
| 1727 | Camerino | Italy |
| 1732/4 | Fulda | Germany |
| 1733/7 | Göttingen | Germany |
| 1735 | Rennes | France |
| 1742/3 | Erlangen | Germany |
| 1745 | Braunschweig | Germany |
| 1748 | Altamura | Italy |
| 1755 | Moscow | Russia |
| 1760 | :de:Universität Bützow|Bützow | Germany |
| 1765 | Corte | France |
| 1765 | Freiberg | Germany |
| 1768 | Nancy | France |
| 1769 | Malta | Malta |
| 1770 | Berlin | Germany |
| 1771 | Münster | Germany |
| 1772/3 | Modena | Italy |
| 1773 | Istanbul Technical University | Turkey |
| 1775 | Clausthal | Germany |
| 1777 | Bonn | Germany |
| 1781 | Stuttgart | Germany |
| 1782 | Budapest University of Technology and Economics | Hungary |