University of Pisa

The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, when Pope Clement VI issued the bull In Supremae Dignitatis recognising it as a Studio Generale with privileges and autonomy otherwise given only to a few European cities such as Prague and Heidelberg. Its origins probably date to the eleventh century, and by the twelfth century Pisa already had a Universitas in the original sense, a community of students and lecturers, where the mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci worked. In 1473, under Lorenzo de Medici, the university was strengthened and the Palazzo della Sapienza was founded, which remains its historic seat. In 1543 Cosimo I de Medici founded a botanical garden, now one of the oldest in the world.