Leiden University was founded in 1581 in a monastery as the first university in the Netherlands. Due to the ever-growing number of faculties, many buildings were given a university function and some faculties were built on behalf of the university.
A number of members of the Royal House have lived and studied at Leiden University. King Willem Alexander studied history and lived at Rapenburg 116 and Queen Beatrix studied Law and Sociology in Leiden and lived at Rapenburg 45.