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Which institution is considered the first true university in the West?

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Gothic-style stone buildings of Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge, surround a large green courtyard in Cambridge, England. — University Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge, England.

The University of Bologna is considered the first true university in the West, founded in Italy late in the 11th century.1

While a famous medical school emerged at Salerno in the 9th century, it remained strictly a medical institution and is not classified as a university in the broader sense. The University of Bologna, by contrast, became a renowned center for canon law and civil law, and its structure—organized as guilds of students and masters—served as the foundational model for modern universities throughout Europe.12