The Athenaeum of Siena, born in 1240, was one of the first Italian universities.
Shortly after its establishment, the Studium Senese felt the need of an institution conceived to meet both study and stay demands. Since the Sienese bishop had suggested to build a structure aimed to host university students, the Domus Sapientiae was founded following a bill in 1408.
In 1416 the Domus Sapientiae was finally opened to the first ten students; remarkably, one of them was from Maiorca Island. Over time, such a residence came to be a coveted place to study and live; the number of foreign students grew more and more and relevant Italian and European authorities started to wrote commendatizie to recommend their most worthy students. As testified by the Sienese Archivio di Stato, commendatizie were written by the King of Portugal, by Count Guido of Urbino, by the Emperor Federico III, by the Cardinal Iacopo Ammannati.
The Domus Sapientiae was a coveted place even if providing a humblish lifestyle. Furniture, too, was quite stark; on the other hand, as far as food was concerned, students could also ask for a specific kinds of meat. Over the years the number of students increased more and more, leading to particularly rigorous behavioural rules inside the Collegio, such as disciplinary control of aggressive students as well as rules aimed to prevent students leaving the University of Siena to attend rival ones, such as the University of Pisa. In case, for instance, that a student asked to collect his books and clothes, the Collegio asked a fidejussor to guarantee for the student coming back as well as for any of his debts.
The Domus Sapientiae was suppressed at the beginning of the XIX century, when the University moved its headquarters to the Rettorato building which, over time, came to be the present international Athenaeum. Collegio Santa Chiara – a Graduate College within the University of Siena, now endowed also with the Refugio building, thanks to an agreement with the Conservatori Riuniti – was conceived to retrieve the Domus Sapientiae’s activities. It aims to renew, within the University itself, those traditions both in interdisciplinary studies and in new disciplines which was one of the main features of Middle Ages universities.
