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The University of Naples Federico II (Italian: Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, pronounced [universiˈta ddeʎʎi ˈstuːdi di ˈnaːpoli fedeˈriːko seˈkondo]) is a public research university in Naples, Campania, Italy. Established in 1224 and named after its founder, Frederick II, it is the oldest public, non-denominational, non-sectarian and state-funded university in Italy and the world, and one of the world's ten oldest universities in continuous operation.
It was Europe's first university dedicated to training secular administrative staff, and is one of the world's oldest academic institutions in continuous operation. With over 90,000 students (2022) it is among the largest universities in Europe, long the only state university in Naples, until the establishment of the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli in 1991, formerly Seconda Università di Napoli.
The motto of the university is Ad scientiarum haustum et seminarium doctrinarum, taken from the circular letter of Frederick II. Over the course of its thousand-year history, Federico II alumni have included the presidents of the Italian Republic Enrico De Nicola, Giovanni Leone and Giorgio Napolitano. Additionally, students and alumni have won 2 Academy Awards.
In October 2016, the university hosted the first ever Apple iOS Developer Academy and in 2018 the Cisco Digital Transformation Lab. It occupies the second position among the major universities (> 40,000 students) of the Italian universities system (third position if the online Pegaso University, also from Naples, is included).
The university of Naples Federico II was founded by the king of Sicily and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II on 5 June 1224. It is the world's oldest state-supported institution of higher education and research. One of the most famous students was Roman Catholic theologian and philosopher Thomas Aquinas.
Frederick II had specific objectives when he founded the university in Naples: first, to train administrative and skilled bureaucratic professionals for the curia regis (the kingdom's ministries and governing apparatus), as well as preparing lawyers and judges who would help the sovereign to draft laws and administer justice. Second, he wanted to facilitate the cultural development of promising young students and scholars, avoiding any unnecessary and expensive trips abroad: by creating a State University, Emperor Frederick avoided having young students during his reign complete their training at the University of Bologna, which was in a city that was hostile to the imperial power.
The University of Naples was arguably the first to be formed from scratch by a higher authority, not based upon an already-existing private school. Although its claim to be the first state-sponsored university can be challenged by Palencia (which was founded by the Castilian monarch c.1212), Naples certainly was the first chartered one.
Frederick, by the grace of God Emperor of the Romans ever Augustus and King of Sicily [...] to all the faithful of the Kingdom of Sicily who read this letter.
With the favor of God, [...] we desire that in every part of our Kingdom many become wise and prudent by drawing from the fountain of sciences and a nursery of knowledge, [...] We therefore decree that in the most delightful city of Naples, arts shall be taught and studies cultivated in connection with every profession, so that those hungry and famished for knowledge may find in our Kingdom means to satisfy their desires and not be compelled, in pursuit of knowledge, to wander and beg in foreign lands. [...]
The conditions we offer to students are as follows: firstly, that in said city there shall be doctors and masters in every faculty. The students, then, no matter where they come from, shall be assured of lodging, staying, and returning without suffering any harm to their person or property. The best accommodations in the city shall be rented to scholars for a maximum fee of two ounces of gold, and this amount shall not be exceeded. [...] Loans shall be granted to students, based on their needs, by those designated for this purpose upon the pledge of books, which shall be temporarily returned upon receipt of the guarantee of other students. [...]
— Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Circular letter, Syracuse, Sicily, 5 June 1224, XII indiction.
Through a circular letter, the Emperor firmly invited all students to journey to Naples before September 29 (the feast day of Saint Michael the Archangel), a date that became customary for the commencement of the academic year. This letter was transmitted through the collection of letters attributed to Pier della Vigna, who served as the emperor's prime minister. In an era when students typically paid their own instructors, at the Frederickian university from its inception, the teachers were compensated by the emperor; the students were protected and supported, and deserving ones could avail themselves of honor loans and accommodations.
The choice of Naples as the location was not only due to cultural reasons (the city had a long-standing tradition in this regard, linked to the figure of Virgil, explicitly referenced in a document of the time), but also for geographic and economic considerations (maritime trade and transport, the mild climate, and the strategic position within the Kingdom were primarily decisive). For the organization of the Studium, the expertise of two eminent Campanian jurists, Pier della Vigna and Taddeo da Sessa, was enlisted.
For the new university to compete with older ones, Frederick II forbade citizens of the kingdom from attending foreign universities, particularly the University of Bologna, under the threat of corporal and pecuniary sanctions. At the same time, educational institutions within the kingdom were not allowed to offer courses in the same disciplines taught by the University of Naples, leading to the closure of several of these schools.
The artificiality of its creation posed great difficulties in attracting students; Thomas Aquinas was one of the few who came in these early years. Those years were further complicated by the long existence, in nearby Salerno, of Europe's most prestigious medical faculty, the Schola Medica Salernitana. The fledgling faculty of medicine at Naples had little hope of competing with it, and in 1231 the right of examination was surrendered to Salerno. The establishment of new faculties of theology and law under papal sponsorship in Rome in 1245 further drained Naples of students, as Rome was a more attractive location. In an effort to revitalize the dwindling university, in 1253, all the remaining schools of the university of Naples moved to Salerno, in the hope of creating a single viable university for the south. But that experiment failed and the university (minus medicine) moved back to Naples in 1258 (in some readings, Naples was "refounded" in 1258 by Manfred Hohenstaufen, as by this time there were hardly any students left). The Angevin reforms after 1266 and the subsequent decline of Salerno gave the University of Naples a new lease on life and put it on a stable, sustainable track.
Frederick II's political-university objective was not limited to the training of suitable officials for the state service, but also encompassed the creation of a broad intellectual elite capable of consolidating the Empire through legal elements as well as cultural contributions.
The Studium was organized in an original manner, different from the so-called Bolognese or Parisian model of the university. It was a closed institution with very strict rules. Students and professors were forbidden from leaving its walls. This type of university organization was also adopted in some Spanish universities.
The original location of the University of Naples remains uncertain, but it is hypothesized to have been situated in the region of Nido, next to the Church of San Marco and the Monastery of Donna Romita. During the reign of Charles I, several reforms were introduced in the organization of the university, including the establishment of the Magistrate of the students and the introduction of new academic titles. The chairs were defined more clearly, becoming six: Medicine, Canon Law, Civil Law, Theology, Grammar, and Logic. During the reign of Charles I of Anjou, the University of Naples saw the presence of important figures such as Andrea and Bartolomeo da Capua, Andrea Bonello, Filippo da Castrocoeli, and St. Thomas Aquinas, the latter being the beneficiary of a monthly subsidy granted by the King. Others like Giacomo Belvisio, Andrea d'Isernia, and Arnaldo di Villanova were also renowned under his successor.
However, periods of political instability and the Spanish conquest brought turmoil once again to the university. Ferdinand the Catholic sold the office of Magistrate of the students to the city, and Viceroys abolished the students' exemption privileges. Despite attempts at reform, abuses persisted, and the university failed to regain its reputation.
Initially the studies were directed towards law (fundamental for the formation of jurists), the liberal arts, medicine and theology: the latter, compared to other subjects, was taught in religious institutions, in particular in the convent of San Domenico Maggiore, where Thomas Aquinas taught from 1271 to 1274.
During the Angevin period (1265–1443) the structure and organization of the university remained substantially unchanged.
In 1443, with the advent of Aragonese rule, the university was closed for about twenty years. In 1465 it was reopened until 1490. From 1443 to 1501, the humanities became the primary focus of higher education in Naples (until then, clerical subjects had been the priority). Only from 1507 did the university enjoy a more lasting serenity, remaining definitively open in the Monastery of San Domenico Maggiore.
After the arrival of the Spaniards in the early sixteenth century, the University of Naples was no longer subject to suspensions and closures, except for brief interruptions due to riots, epidemics, and famines. However, its conditions remained precarious, without a stable headquarters and with some of the lowest salaries in Italy and Europe. Royal absolutism and the Church's fears regarding the spread of religious reform movements generated a climate of tight control over cultural institutions. A papal bull in 1564 imposed on all professors and doctors of the university the oath of fidelity to the Catholic faith.
Towards the end of the 16th century or the beginning of the 17th, a dispute arose with the University of Salerno regarding medical degrees, which attracted many students thanks to benefits such as the lack of obligation to enroll or attend classes for several years. The Princes of Avellino were among the main supporters of the University of Naples, obtaining the hereditary privilege of Grand Chancellor. However, the desertion of young doctors caused problems.
Since 1616, the university headquarters were located in the Palazzo dei Regi Studi (now home to the National Archaeological Museum of Naples), a building that was once a cavalry barracks, specially renovated by the architect Giulio Cesare Fontana on the orders of Don Pedro Fernández de Castro, count of Lemos and viceroy of Naples. In 1618, Viceroy Ossuna added the oath of allegiance to the Immaculate Conception.
Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy, during his visit to Naples in 1698, stated in one of his works:
The academy [the University] was built with public funds, namely royal funds, very spacious, with 120 large rooms, both lower and upper, divided into five floors. In these rooms, one studies from philosophy to theology, other higher sciences, and anatomy. In that academy, there are more than 4000 students, all studying free of charge, and any remuneration goes to the royal masters. In the same academy, a special room has been created for discussions and testimonies of students: those who complete their studies are testified by the discussions in the aforementioned room. Near that room, there is another one dedicated to anatomy; it is not large and is built according to the conventions for anatomy. In this academy in Naples, there are 400 doctors, physicians, pharmacists, and medical professionals with 2000 people. They all live free of charge, nourished by the science of the Neapolitan viceroy, and of the princes, and counts, and dukes, and marquises, and nobles, and merchants, and of every kind of Neapolitan resident.
— Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy
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