Heidelberg University - Wikipedia

On October 18, 1386, the University of Heidelberg was opened. From the article:

"Heidelberg University (German: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; Latin: Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest university and one of the world's oldest surviving universities. It was the third university established in the Holy Roman Empire.[6]

Heidelberg has been a coeducational institution since 1899. The university consists of twelve faculties and offers degree programmes at undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral levels in some 100 disciplines.[7] Heidelberg comprises three major campuses: the humanities are predominantly located in Heidelberg's Old Town, the natural sciences and medicine in the Neuenheimer Feld quarter, and the social sciences within the inner-city suburb Bergheim. The language of instruction is usually German, while a considerable number of graduate degrees are offered in English.[8]

As of 2017, 33 Nobel Prize winners have been affiliated with the university.[9] Modern scientific psychiatry, psychopharmacology, psychiatric genetics,[10] environmental physics,[11] and modern sociology[12] were introduced as scientific disciplines by Heidelberg faculty. Approximately 1,000 doctorates are completed every year, with more than one third of the doctoral students coming from abroad.[13][14] International students from some 130 countries account for more than 20 percent of the entire student body.[15]

Internationally renowned and consistently ranked among Europe's top universities,[16] Heidelberg is one of the most prestigious universities in the world, a German Excellence University, as well as a founding member of the League of European Research Universities and the Coimbra Group. The university's noted alumni include eleven domestic and foreign Heads of State or Heads of Government.

The Great Schism of 1378 made it possible for Heidelberg, a relatively small city and capital of the Electorate of the Palatinate, to gain its own university.[17] The Great Schism was initiated by the election of two popes after the death of Pope Gregory XI in the same year.[17] One successor resided in Avignon (elected by the French) and the other in Rome (elected by the Italian cardinals).[17] The German secular and spiritual leaders voiced their support for the successor in Rome, which had far-reaching consequences for the German students and teachers in Paris: they lost their stipends and had to leave.[18]

Rupert I recognized the opportunity and initiated talks with the Curia, which ultimately led to a Papal Bull for foundation of a university. After having received, on 23 October 1385, permission from pope Urban VI to create a school of general studies (Latin: studium generale), the final decision to found the university was taken on 26 June 1386 at the behest of Rupert I, Count Palatine of the Rhine.[19] As specified in the papal charter, the university was modelled after University of Paris and included four faculties: philosophy, theology, jurisprudence, and medicine.[20]

On 18 October 1386 a special Pontifical High Mass in the Heiliggeistkirche was the ceremony that established the university.[19] On 19 October 1386 the first lecture was held,[19] making Heidelberg the oldest university in Germany.[21] In November 1386, Marsilius of Inghen was elected first rector of the university.[22] The rector seal motto was semper apertus—i.e., "the book of learning is always open."[23] The university grew quickly and in March 1390, 185 students were enrolled at the university.[24]"