The University of Aberdeen is a public research university in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is an ancient university founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen, petitioned Pope Alexander VI on behalf of James IV, King of Scots to create King's College.This makes it Scotland's third-oldest university (after the University of St Andrews and the University of Glasgow) and fifth-oldest in the English-speaking world. The university as it is today was formed in 1860 by a merger between King's College (which had always referred to itself as the University of Aberdeen) and Marischal College, a second university founded in 1593 in Aberdeen city centre as a Protestant alternative to King's College. Today, the University of Aberdeen is consistently ranked among the top 200 universities in the world and is one of two universities in Aberdeen, the other being The Robert Gordon University.
The university's iconic buildings act as symbols of the City of Aberdeen, particularly Marischal College in the city centre and the spire of King's College in Old Aberdeen. There are two campuses; the main King's College campus is at Old Aberdeen approximately two miles north of the city centre, around the original site of King's College, although most campus buildings were constructed in the 20th century during a period of expansion. The university's Foresterhill campus is located next to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and houses the School of Medicine and Dentistry and School of Medical Sciences.
The University has approximately 13,500 students from undergraduate to doctoral level, including many international students. In addition, the university's Centre for Lifelong Learning acts as an extension college, offering higher education courses to the local community even for those without the usual qualifications for admission to degree-level study. A full range of disciplines are offered and in 2012 the university offered over 650 undergraduate degree programmes.
The first university in Aberdeen, King's College, was founded in February 1495 by William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen, Chancellor of Scotland, and a graduate of the University of Glasgow drafting a request on behalf of King James IV to Pope Alexander VI resulting in a Papal Bull being issued.The first principal was Hector Boece, graduate and professor of the University of Paris, who worked closely with Elphinstone to develop the university. Despite this founding date, teaching did not actually start for another ten years, and the University of Aberdeen celebrated 500 years of teaching and learning in 2005.
Following the Scottish Reformation in 1560, King's College was purged of its Roman Catholic staff but in other respects was largely resistant to change. George Keith, the fifth Earl Marischal was a moderniser within the college and supportive of the reforming ideas of Peter Ramus.In April 1593 he founded a second university in the city, Marischal College. It is also possible that the founding of another college in nearby Fraserburgh by Sir Alexander Fraser, a business rival of Keith, was instrumental in its creation. Aberdeen was highly unusual at this time for having two universities in one city: as 20th-century University prospectuses observed, Aberdeen had the same number as existed in England at the time (the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge). In addition, a further university was set up to the north of Aberdeen in Fraserburgh from 1595, but was closed down about a decade later.
Marischal College with the new front under construction; circa 1900 Initially, Marischal College offered the Principal of King's College a role in selecting its academics, but this was refused - the first blow in a developing rivalry. Marischal College, being located in the commercial heart of the city (rather than the ancient but much smaller collegiate enclave of Old Aberdeen), was quite different in nature and outlook. For example, it was more integrated into the life of the city, such as allowing students to live outwith the College. The two rival colleges often clashed, sometimes in court, but also in brawls between students on the streets of Aberdeen.
The nearest the two colleges had come to full union was as the "Caroline University of Aberdeen", a merger initiated by Charles I of Scotland in 1641. Following the civil conflicts of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a more complete unification was attempted following the ratification of Parliament by Oliver Cromwell during the interregnum in 1654. This united university survived until the Restoration whereby all laws made during this period were rescinded by Charles II and the two colleges reverted to independent status.Charles I is still recognised as one of the university's founders, due to his part in creating the Caroline University and his benevolence towards King's College.Further unsuccessful suggestions for union were brought about throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries.
