In 1816 King William I of the newly established United Kingdom of the Netherlands ordered the foundation of three universities in the southern part of the realm (present-day Belgium). This collection of essays reappraises the sometimes turbulent beginnings of the universities of Ghent, Louvain and Liège as well as their internal organisation, recruitment policies and academic agenda. Due attention is given to the way in which these initial years were framed ideologically in later commemorations.

The articles in this volume are based on papers given at the conference ‘Tweehonderd jaar rijksuniversiteit Leuven: Breuken en continuïteiten in het universitaire geheugen’ at the Rijksarchief Leuven (7 October 2017).