The Odest Universities in Continuous Operation

This is a list of the oldest existing universities in the world. To be included in this table, an educational institution must satisfy a traditional definition of university^{[Note 1]} at the time of its founding. Chronologically, it must have been founded before 1500 in Europe or be the oldest university derived from the medieval European model in a region. It must also be still in operation, with institutional continuity retained throughout its history, and so some early universities, most notably the University of Paris (which was suspended from 1793 to 1896), the University of Salerno and the University of Montpellier are excluded (see map).

The word university is derived from the Latin: universitas magistrorum et scholarium, roughly meaning "community of teachers and scholars". The term was coined by the Italian University of Bologna, which, with a traditional founding date of 1088, is considered the first university.

Year	Name	Contemporaneous location	Current location
1088	University of Bologna	Kingdom of Italy,  Holy Roman Empire	Bologna,Italy
1096-1167 (charter granted in 1248)[10]	University of Oxford	Kingdom of England	Oxford,United Kingdom
1209 (charter granted in 1231)[12]	University of Cambridge	Kingdom of England	Cambridge,United Kingdom
1134 (charter granted in 1218)	University of Salamanca	Kingdom of León	Salamanca, Spain
1222 (probably older)	University of Padua	Lombard League	Padua, Italy
1224 (1258)	University of Naples Federico II	Kingdom of Sicily	Naples, Italy
1240	University of Siena	Republic of Siena	Siena, Italy
1241	University of Valladolid	Kingdom of Castile, Crown of Castile	Valladolid, Spain
1290	University of Macerata[17]	Papal States	Macerata, Italy
1290	University of Coimbra[17]	Kingdom of Portugal  Lisbon	Coimbra, Portugal
1293	University of Alcalá	Crown of Castile	Alcalá de Henares, Spain
1303	Sapienza University of Rome	Papal States	Rome, Italy
1308	University of Perugia	Papal States	Perugia, Italy
1321	University of Florence	Republic of Florence	Florence, Italy
1336	University of Camerino	Papal States	Camerino, Italy
1343	University of Pisa	Republic of Pisa	Pisa, Italy
1348	Charles University of Prague	Kingdom of Bohemia	Prague, Czech Republic
1361	University of Pavia	Domain of the House of Visconti	Pavia, Italy
1364	Jagiellonian University	Kingdom of Poland	Kraków, Poland
1365	University of Vienna	Holy Roman Empire	Vienna, Austria
1386	Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg	Holy Roman Empire	Heidelberg, Germany
1391	University of Ferrara	House of Este	Ferrara, Italy
1404	University of Turin	Duchy of Savoy	Turin, Italy
1409	University of Leipzig	Holy Roman Empire	Leipzig, Germany
1413	University of St. Andrews	Kingdom of Scotland	St. Andrews,United Kingdom
1419	University of Rostock	Holy Roman Empire	Rostock, Germany
1434	University of Catania	Kingdom of Sicily	Catania, Italy
1450[21]	University of Barcelona	Crown of Aragon	Barcelona, Spain
1451	University of Glasgow	Kingdom of Scotland	Glasgow,United Kingdom
1456	University of Greifswald	Holy Roman Empire	Greifswald, Germany
1457	Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg	Holy Roman Empire	Freiburg, Germany
1460	University of Basel	Holy Roman Empire	Basel, Switzerland
1472	Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich	Holy Roman Empire	Munich, Germany
1477	Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen	Holy Roman Empire	Tübingen, Germany
1477	Uppsala University	Kingdom of Sweden within the  Kalmar Union	Uppsala, Sweden
1479	University of Copenhagen	Kingdom of Denmark within the  Kalmar Union	Copenhagen, Denmark
1481	University of Genoa	Republic of Genoa	Genoa, Italy
1495	University of Aberdeen	Kingdom of Scotland	Aberdeen,United Kingdom
1495	University of Santiago de Compostela	Galicia, Crown of Castile	Santiago de Compostela, Spain
1499	University of Valencia	Crown of Aragon	Valencia, Spain