The first European university is often considered to be the University of Bologna, founded in 1088, although some dispute this statement based on the intangibility of the definition of “university.” In addition, the concept of the University of Bologna as the “mother of European Universities” was created as a symbol for Italy’s national unity, which detracts from the legitimacy of its being considered the first If the term "university" requires that a single corporate body be made up of students and professors of different disciplines, rather than that a corporate body simply exists, the University of Paris, founded in 1208, can be considered the first university; however, the University at Magnaura Palace was founded much earlier, in the 9th century. The University of Magnaura can be defined as a university because it brought prominent scholars together to create a “focal point of medieval Greek science and culture”.
