University of Lleida

In 1297, Pope Boniface VIII authorized the establishment of a university in the Crown of Aragon. In 1300, James II of Aragon used the papal authorization to establish the Estudi General de Lleida.

As the only university in the Crown of Aragon, the city of Lleida prospered when citizens from across the kingdom came to attend the new university. The school was funded by both the city of Lleida and the local the cathedral chapter.

Lleida and the Studium Generale Lleida continued to grow as a successful university town until the 16th century, when other universities were founded in the kingdom, robbed the university of some of its prestige as the only university in the region. While still a prominent university, it suffered a long period of decline through the 17th century. After the War of the Spanish Succession, reformers implemented a new university model. Cervera, a town east of Lleida, was chosen to be the location of the first of a new type of university. Cervera had supported King Philip V while Lleida had opposed him from the beginning of the war. It was decided that the older universities model would be removed as punishment for the lack of support from the Principality of Catalonia. On 9 October 1717, a royal decree from Philip V ordered the closure of Estudi General of Lleida along with other Catalan universities.

In 1841, the foundation of a teacher training school marked the first step towards the foundation of the Universitat de Lleida. However, it would be another 125 years before more progress was made, and other studies were revived as extensions of other universities in Barcelona. Finally, on 30 December 1991, the Catalan Parliament passed an act which brought the various studies together, and founded the Universitat de Lleida with Víctor Siurana i Zaragoza as its director. The foundation of the Universitat de Lleida was formalized after the creation of the Statutes of the Universitat de Lleida on 27 October 1994.