The University of Franeker (1585–1811) was a university in Franeker, Friesland, the Netherlands. It was the second-oldest university of the Netherlands, founded shortly after Leiden University.
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History
Also known as Academia Franekerensis or the University of Friesland, it consisted of departments of Theology, Law, Medicine, Philosophy, Mathematics and Physics. Among its well-known students was Peter Stuyvesant, last director-general of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, as well as René Descartes.
Initially the university had an excellent reputation, attracting students from far and wide, but from 1700 its fortune changed. The university was disbanded by Napoleon in 1811, along with the Universities of Harderwijk and Utrecht. After the end of the French régime, the university was not restored. Instead, an Athenaeum illustre was founded, which did not have the right to issue doctoral degrees. In 1843, the Athenaeum itself was disbanded because of a lack of students.
Legacy
Today, Franeker has no institute of higher education, although postgraduate students from the University of Groningen are permitted to defend their thesis in the Franeker Martinikerk, provided they are Frisian or their thesis subject has a connection to Friesland.
Two institutions continue the legacy of University of Franeker, the Academie van Franeker (established in 2018 by The Municipality of Franekeradeel, the Campus Fryslân of the University of Groningen, the Protestant Community of Franeker, and the Foundation for the Management of Diaconal Goods Franeker), and the Euler-Franeker Memorial University (chartered by the government of Curaçao, a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands).
Notable professors and alumni
Jean-Nicolas-Sébastien Allamand (1713-1787), professor of philosophy (1747-1749) then professor of mathematics and philosophy, University of Leiden
Lieuwe van Aitzema, historian and diplomat
William Ames, theologian
Willem Baudartius, theologian
Balthasar Bekker, theologian
Court Lambertus van Beyma, delegate of the Frisian States
Govert Bidloo, anatomist and personal physician of William III of Orange-Nassau, Dutch stadholder and king of England
Cornelius van Bynkershoek, jurist and legal theorist, president of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands
Steven Blankaart Dutch physician and entomologist
Johannes Bogerman, professor for theology, president of the Synod of Dort
Sebald Justinus Brugmans, professor of physics and mathematics 1785
Petrus Camper, professor of philosophy, anatomy and surgery in 1750
Johannes Cocceius, professor for Hebrew and theology, 1643
René Descartes (1596-1650), student (1629-1630)
Johannes van den Driesche, professor of Oriental languages at Oxford in 1575 and in Franeker in 1585