University of Padua

The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from Bologna. Padua is the second-oldest university in Italy and the world's fifth-oldest surviving university and is one of Europe’s oldest and most prestigious universities. The University of Padua was one of the most prominent universities in early modern Europe, known particularly for the rigor of its Aristotelean logic and science. Today, Padua continues to be one of the most prominent universities in Europe and world. It is made up of 32 departments and eight schools, which co-ordinate the courses managed by each department, as well as 49 specialization schools and 43 research and service centers. Padua is part a network of historical research universities known as the Coimbra Group. In 2021, the university had approximately 72,000 students including undergraduates, postgraduates, and doctoral students. History The university is conventionally said to have been founded in 1222 when a large group of students and professors left the University of Bologna in search of more academic freedom ('Libertas scholastica'). The first subjects to be taught were law and theology. The curriculum expanded rapidly, and by 1399 the institution had divided in two: a Universitas Iuristarum for civil law and Canon law, and a Universitas Artistarum which taught astronomy, dialectic, philosophy, grammar, medicine, and rhetoric. There was also a Universitas Theologorum, established in 1373 by Urban V. The student body was divided into groups known as "nations" which reflected their places of origin. The nations themselves fell into two groups: the cismontanes for the Italian students the ultramontanes for those who came from beyond the Alps From the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, the university was renowned for its research, particularly in the areas of medicine, astronomy, philosophy and law. At the time it was the most renowned school of medicine internationally. During this time, the university adopted the Latin motto: Universa universis patavina libertas (Paduan Freedom is Universal for Everyone). Nevertheless, the university had a turbulent history, and there was no teaching in 1237–1261, 1509–1517, 1848–1850.