The Krakow university is Poland's second largest and most revered. Its over 42,000 students and 6,700 faculty members make Krakow’s 640-year-old Jagiellonian University a major European institution of higher education.

Krakow University–Alma Mater Cracoviensis–dates back to 1364 when Poland’s King Casimir III the Great (1333-1370) established a Studium Generale in the city with permission from Pope Urban V. In 1400 the Krakow Academy owed its restoration and modernization to the legacy left by the Polish queen-saint Jadwiga (1384-1399). The Jagiellonian University has got its present name after her royal husband, King Ladislav II Jagiello (1386-1434), who fulfilled faithfully her will, and after his successors from the Jagiellonian dynasty that would support the school later on.