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Discover the universities of Catalonia The origins of the current university system in Catalonia date back to the end of the thirteenth century. In 1300, authorised by a papal bull from Boniface VIII in 1297, King James II granted the privilege to found the “Estudi General” (centre of study) in Lleida. This was accompanied by a regulation that forbade the establishment of other centres of study in the cities elsewhere in his kingdoms. The University of Lleida, heir to that “Estudi General”, has recently commemorated seven centuries of history. The ban was fiercely defended by the civil and ecclesiastical powers of Lleida and prevented the establishment of new centres of study in the Principality of Catalonia, despite repeated efforts by monarchs and the municipal councils of Barcelona and Girona. Martin the Humane founded the school of medicine in Barcelona, in 1401, but successive attempts to turn it into a centre of study were not successful until 1539. Although Alphonse the Magnanimous granted a centre of study to Girona in 1446, it was not established until a century later. From 1539 to 1620, centres of study or universities were established in Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona, Tortosa, Vic and Solsona. Together with the university of Lleida, these kept operating until the defeat of Catalonia in 1714. Philip V suppressed them all and chose Cervera for the site of a single university for all Catalonia. This began its academic activity on 7 January 1715. 1837 saw the re-establishment of the University of Barcelona, which incorporated the universities of Cervera and the City of Majorca in 1842. It was thus established as the centre of a university catchment area that covered Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. This situation was to continue, with the brief exception of the Autonomous University of 1933-39, until the creation of the new Autonomous University of Barcelona in 1968. Technical education began in the latter part of the eighteenth century and was the result of an initiative by the Board of Trade of Catalonia, established in 1758. This institution was a platform created by the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie of Catalonia to promote the Principality’s business. With a clear view to the future, it set up technical schools (navigation, stenography, drawing and fine art, languages, chemistry, botany and agriculture, mechanics, physics and economics) from 1769 onwards. In 1851, the Chamber of Commerce schools were integrated into the Escola Industrial Barcelonesa (Barcelona School of Industry), which was established by Royal Decree to provide teaching in industry and trade. This and other technical schools that were founded in Barcelona and other cities in the second half of the nineteenth century (Terrassa, Vilanova i la Geltrú, Canet de Mar), came together in 1971 to form the Technical University of Barcelona, which was given its current name of Polytechnic University of Catalonia in 1984. However, it was with the transfer to the Government of Catalonia of jurisdiction for universities in 1985 that the outline of Catalonia’s current university system appeared and was extended throughout Catalonia. In 1990, the Parliament of Catalonia established the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. The following year saw the establishment of the University of Lleida, the University of Girona, and the Rovira i Virgili University in Tarragona, successors of the respective centres of study of Girona, Lleida and Tarragona, which had been suppressed in 1714. In 1995, the Open University of Catalonia, was also established upon the initiative of the Government of Catalonia. This is a distance-learning university that provides an innovative approach in higher education through the use of multimedia and interactive technology. In addition to the legislation of the Parliament of Catalonia, different private and public initiatives have led to the creation of other universities that have been recognised by Parliament: Ramon Llull University, in 1991, the University of Vic and the International University of Catalonia in 1997, and the Abat Oliba CEU University in 2003.
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