 the university of montpellier () was a french university in montpellier hÃ©rault, in languedoc-roussillon region in south-east france. its present-day university legacy has been renamed and is currently known as the university of montpellier 1, montpellier 2 university and paul valÃ©ry university, montpellier iii. moreover, the prestigious and famous secondary high-school lycÃ©e joffre is also a direct heir from the outstanding montpellier university system. ==history== the university is considerably older than its formal founding date, associated with a papal bill issued by pope nicholas iv in 1289, combining all the long-existing schools into a university. it is not known exactly when the schools of liberal arts were founded that developed into the montpellier faculty of arts; it may be that they were a direct continuation of the gallo-roman schools that gathered around masters of rhetoric. the school of law was founded by placentinus, from the school of law at bologna, who came to montpellier in 1160, taught there during two different periods, and died there in 1192. the faculty of law has had a long career. professors from montpellier were prominent in the drafting of the napoleonic code, the civil code by which france is still guided and a foundation for modern law codes wherever napoleonic influence extended. the faculty of law was reorganized in 1998. the prestigious school of medicine was founded perhaps by people trained in the spanish medical schools; it is certain that, as early as 1137, there were excellent physicians at montpellier university. it is the world's oldest medicine school still in operation. the school of medicine owed its success to a policy of the guilhem lords of montpellier, by which any licensed physician might lecture there: with no fixed limit to the number of teachers, lectures multiplied, thus providing a great choice of teachers coming from all around the mediterranean region (guilhem viii act of ja
1289_establishments Buildings_and_structures_in_Montpellier Defunct_universities_and_colleges_in_France Education_in_Montpellier Educational_institutions_established_in_the_13th_century University_of_Montpellier