15th century Beginnings in Nantes The Duke's University of Brittany was founded by Bertrand Milon on 4 April 1460, on the initiative of Duke
Francis II of Brittany, by a papal bull from
Pope Pius II, given in
Siena. This embodied
Francis II's wish to assert his independence from the
King of France, while universities were being opened on the outskirts of the duchy in
Angers in 1432,
Poitiers in 1432 and
Bordeaux in 1441. A first attempt to move the university from
Nantes to
Rennes took place at the end of the 16th century.
King Henry IV sought to punish Nantes, a league town, for its support of the
Duke of Mercœur. The university was ordered to move to
Rennes, a city that had remained loyal to the monarchy, in a letter of patent dated 8 August 1589. However, the institution was not moved due to a lack of funding. The faculties of literature, theology and medicine were retained in Nantes, but the faculty of medicine was in decline. There were subsequently several attempts to transfer the rest of the faculties from Nantes to Rennes, notably in 1778. However, the three faculties in Nantes were opposed to this project, pointing out the poor treatment of the Faculty of Law after its transfer to Rennes. A short-lived faculty of letters was also created in 1810. However, it was closed by the
Bourbon Restoration by a decree of 31 October 1815. The Faculty of Letters did not reopen until 1839 with the
July Monarchy, and then had five chairs (French literature, Ancient literature, Foreign literature, History and Philosophy). The six institutions are grouped together in an "
EPE", a legal status as an 'experimental'
collegiate university, weighing nearly 7,000 staff and teachers, including about 1,000 researchers, 156 research laboratories, and 60,000 of the 68,000 students in the
Breton capital, including 7,000 international students. == Organization ==