A university charter is a charter issued by an authority to create or recognize a university. The earliest universities – Bologna, Paris and Oxford – arose organically from concentrations of schools in those cities rather than being created by charters. The first university charters were issued in Europe in the 13th century, with the University of Naples, created by a charter of Emperor Frederick II in 1224, being widely considered the first deliberately-created university (or studium generale); King Alfonso VIII of Castille issued a charter in 1208 to create the University of Palencia but the status of that institution is doubtful. The first papal creation was the University of Toulouse in 1229, via a papal bull of Pope Gregory IX. Through the 13th century, most university foundations con