Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven

The Catholic University of Leuven was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. The university was founded in 1425 as the University of Leuven by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V. During France's occupation of Belgium in the French Revolutionary Wars, the university closed by a decree of the French Republic. After Belgium was annexed by the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, a State University of Louvain was founded in 1816, lasting until 1835. In 1834, a few years after Belgium gained its independence, the Catholic University of Leuven was refounded, taking this new name, and it is identified with the Old University.