Charles IV founds the University

JAN 01 1348 · 12:00

The Karolinum, seat of Charles University, the first university north of the Alps and east of Paris. Place: Karolinum, Old Town Figures: Charles IV, King of Bohemia, Holy Roman Emperor · Arnošt of Pardubice, first archbishop of Prague Charles IV is raised at the French court, educated by the future Pope Clement VI, crowned King of the Romans at Bonn in 1346, and King of Bohemia at home a year later. He speaks five languages. He has decided that his hereditary kingdom shall be the heart of his empire, not a province of it. Prague will become its capital, its theological seat, and its school. On April 7, 1348, with papal bull and royal charter in hand, he founds the studium generale at Prague: four faculties (arts, theology, law, medicine), four nations (Bohemian, Bavarian, Polish, Saxon), and the right to confer degrees recognized across Christendom. It is the first university north of the Alps and east of the Rhine.