University of Zagreb A Short History of the University The first university institution in Croatia was founded by the Dominicans in Zadar in 1396 as the `studium generale' for theology. Its international character can be seen from the fact that one of its first students had been fra Bonaventura of Ferrara (inscribed in 1396). In its earliest period it had twenty students from Italy, two from Poland and one from Germany. This institution had the privilege of conferring doctorates of theology. It existed until 1806, when it was canceled during the French (Napoleon's) occupation. Unfortunately, in that period many documents witnessing the early history of the Croatian University had been destroyed. Leopold I., the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, issued a Diploma in 1669, by which the status and privileges of a university were accorded to the Jesuit Academy in the Royal Free City of Zagreb. This represents the beginning of the University of Zagreb. The Jesuits also started the first grammar school in Zagreb in 1607. Croatia was at that time one of the states of the Holy Roman Empire and bore the old name: the Kingdom of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia. Let us mention some of the Universities that were founded before and after the Universities of Zadar and Zagreb: Bologna 1219, Padova 1220, Paris 1220, Oxford 1249, Lisabon 1290, Rome 1303, Cambridge 1318, Florence 1321, Praha 1348, Krakow 1364, Vienna 1365, Erfurt 1379, Heidelberg 1385 | |
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