The origin of the Studium Senarum
From the fall of the Siena Republic to XIX century
L’Universitą di Siena nel Novecento
Verso orizzonti internazionali
The origin of the Studium Senarum
The first document attesting the existence of the Atheneum in Siena is a decree issued by the Podestą in 1240. This document reveals the particular legal model of the Atheneum, based on the direct organization of the Town. The citizens who rented rooms to the students had, in fact, to pay a fee and with these proceeds the Commune provided to hire teachers, chosen, of course, among the very best.
Alongside the Law School existed also a grammar school and a medical school. The latter soon became authoritative, as evidenced by the presence among the teachers of Peter of Spain, distinguished physician and philosopher, who was elected pope in 1276 under the name of John XXI.
The first major expansion of the University of Siena came in 1321, when many students moved there from the University of Bologna. The City of Siena immediately deliberated to allocate large sums of money to best accommodate these students, to whom were granted many privileges.
August 16th 1357, the Siena Studium was numbered by Emperor Charles IV among the Universities of the Holy Roman Empire. This recognition allowed the Atheneum to confer academic degrees in all faculties, excluding theology, and granted many privileges and immunities to scholars and students.
From the fall of the Siena Republic to XIX century
After the fall of the Republic of Siena in 1555, the city authorities requested and obtained from the Grand Duke Cosimo de' Medici a promise to maintain the University.
In 1808 the French troops occupied Tuscany, closed the Siena Studium, but maintained the Medical School which reached in those times very high academic levels. The University was reopened only after the Restoration.
The University of Siena improved its situation after 1859, thanks to a series of legislative awards that gave fame to the Pharmacy, Medicine and Obstetrics Schools. Despite such fervor, in 1892 the Minister of Education Ferdinando Martini proposed the project of suppression of small universities, including the Siena one. The idea was immediately challenged by local institutions and citizens: the minister withdrew the project.
The University of Siena in XX century
The XX century has seen a remarkable development of the University. In 1933 the Faculty of Pharmacy was set up, and in the ‘60s those of Math Physic and Natural Sciences as well as Economics and Business.
The birth in the 70s of the Faculty of Education, in 1992 the degree course in Communication Sciences and the Faculty of Engineering, and finally the foundation of the Political Science Faculty in 1997 have demonstrated the leadership capacity of the University to intercept and adopt the demands coming from different sections of society, resulting in a rapid expansion of research and training of the University of Siena.
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Bruno A. (1997). Lo sviluppo dell’Ateneo. In La storia di Siena, vol. III, Alsaba, Siena.
(1991). L’Universitą di Siena. 750 anni di storia, Amilcare Pizzi Editore, Milano.
