Charles University in Prague
Charles University in Prague
Univerzita Karlova v Praze
Latin: Universitas Carolina Pragensis
Motto:
--
Established:
1347 or 1348
Type:
Public
Rector:
Professor Václav Hampl
Staff:
--
Students:
~42,500
Location:
Prague, Czech Republic (EU)
Campus:
Urban
Affiliations:
Coimbra Group
EUA
Europaeum
Website:
http://www.cuni.cz/UKENG-1.html
Charles University in Prague (also simply Charles
University; Czech: Univerzita Karlova v Praze; Latin:
Universitas Carolina; German: Karls-Universität zu Prag) is
the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic.
Founded in 1347, it was the first university in the Holy
Roman Empire and in Central Europe in general. It is one
of the oldest universities in Europe.
Its seal shows its protector, Emperor Charles IV, with
his coats of arms as King of the Romans and King of Bo-
hemia kneeling in front of St. Wenceslas, the patron
saint of Bohemia. It is surrounded by the inscription, Si-
gillum Universitatis Scolarium Studii Pragensis (English: Seal
of the Prague academia, Czech: Pečeť studentské obce
pražského učení).[1]
According to the recent Academic Ranking of World
Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, it ranked
as the leading university in the Czech Republic and the
second one in Central and Eastern Europe after the Mo-
scow University.
History
Medieval university (1349–1419)
The establishment of a medieval university in Prague
was inspired by Charles of Luxembourg.[2] He asked his
friend and ally, Pope Clement VI, to do so. On 26 January
1347 the pope issued the bull establishing a university in
Prague, modeled on the University of Paris, with the full
(4) number of faculties, that is including theological. On
7 April 1348 Charles, the king of Bohemia, gave to the es-
tablished university privileges and immunities from the
secular power in a Golden Bull[3] and on 14 January 1349
he repeated that as the King of the Romans. Most Czech
sources since the 19th century—encyclopedias, general
histories, materials of the University itself—prefe