University of Montpellier

Copyright Albertvillanovadelmoral

Though most people think of the Sorbonne when they think of French universities, there are many other wonderful schools too. The University of Montpellier is one of France’s oldest and most venerable, formally founded in 1289 and truly dating back to at least 1137. Not only is it one of France’s oldest schools, but one of the oldest universities in the world.

Before Pope Nicholas IV issued a Papal bull bestowing university status in 1289, there were a series of venerable liberal arts schools in Montpellier. Italian jurist and glossator (legal student) Placentinus came to Montpellier from the University of Bologna’s law school in 1160 and taught there during two different periods. He died in Montpellier in 1192.

Professors from Montpellier’s law school were very instrumental in the drafting of the Napoléonic Code of 1804. These civil laws are still in use in modern-day France, though with some changes over the years.

Faculty of Medicine, Copyright Albertvillanovadelmoral

Montpellier’s school of medicine was in existence at least as early as 1137, staffed by doctors trained in Spanish medical schools. It’s the world’s oldest medical school still in operation.

In the 14th century, the medical school famously argued the cause of Bubonic Plague was a miasma penetrating the body’s pores. Montpellier-educated doctors urged people not to bathe, for fear it would open pores and invite in the miasma. This miasma was supposedly created by air exposed to decaying bodies, humid weather, and fumes resulting from poor sanitation.

Faculty of Law, Copyright Vpe

University garden, Copyright Vpe

Le Jardin des Plantes de Montpellier was founded in 1593 on the orders of King Henri IV, and under the leadership of Pierre Richer de Belleval, an anatomy and botany professor considered the father of scientific botany. France’s oldest botanical garden, it was inspired by Orto Botanico de Padova (Padua), and in turn inspired le Jardin des Plantes de Paris in 1626.

Today, the garden is home to 2,680 plant species, 500 of which are native to the Mediterranean region. About 1,000 of these species are in a greenhouse. There are also palm trees, orange trees, aquatic plants, ferns, orchids, succulents, and medicinal plants.

Copyright Vpe

The school of theology dates back to at least 1350, as evidenced in two letters of King Jean II. Pope Martin V bestowed canonical institution upon the school in a Papal bull of 17 December 1421, and it was thus closely united with the law school.

The Catholic theology school was thrown into haywire by the 16th century triumph of Calvinism in the region, though the Catholic school was reinstated in 1622. However, the Jesuit vs. Dominican rivalry put even more strain on the school, and it eventually disappeared upon the French Revolution.

Office of the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Copyright Vpe

Marine biology station, Copyright Fagairolles 34

Like all other French universities, Montpellier too was closed upon the French Revolution in 1793. In 1810, the schools of letters and science were reopened, and the law school reopened in 1880.

In 1969, the university was officially reorganised, as a result of the famous student riots all over France in May 1968. It henceforth was split into three schools. University of Montpellier I had medicine, law, and economy; II had science and technology; and III had liberal arts, social sciences, and humanities.

On 1 January 2015, I and II merged to become a newly-recreated University of Montpellier. III became a separate institution, Paul Valéry University.

Papal bull of 1289, establishing the university, Copyright Vpe

Faculty of Pharmacy’s drugstore, Copyright Vpe

My character Imre always dreamt of studying literature by the Sorbonne, but after Csilla and their other friends move to a strawberry farm in Béziers, run by the Jewish Scouts and Guides of France, Imre can’t take the separation and rushes down to that farm. He gets his own living quarters on the farm, and commutes about 30 minutes to the university.

In Montpellier, Imre runs across some of Csilla’s Abonyiak friends whom they’d falsely believed died. I thought all these people had died too, but once they were no longer just names and death dates, I didn’t have to heart to kill so many of them. I arranged for their survival through transports to various factories, being left behind upon evacuation, and death march escapes.

Faculty of Medicine court of honour (formerly the cloister of Montpellier Cathedral’s monastery), Copyright Vpe

Bell tower of cathedral, seen from Faculty of Medicine, Copyright Vpe