[1] It was officially closed in 1812, mainly due to the lack of funds, even though some documents kept inside library Archivio capitolare in Altamura show that professors continued to teach until 1821.

The idea was from the archpriest of Altamura Cathedral, Marcello Papiniano Cusani, who, a few months earlier, suggested using the money saved inside a fund called Monte a Moltiplicoin order to establish a university.

[1] Moreover, Charles III liked the idea, since it was compatible with his reform policy, aimed at providing a secular education, by opening royal schools and universities.

Cusani, determined, managed to finance the university with the offers from four religious institutions of the city (Italian: quattro luoghi Pii della città).

Gioacchino de Gemmis was the author of a university reform program and he started courses of experimental physics, botany, mineralogy and it made it forbidden to write notes during the lessons.

Later on, those evening meetings were extended also to lawyers, doctors, nobles and traders of the city, and in his living room discussions also embraced economics, politics, philosophy and social themes.

[11] In 1799, the overthrow of the Bournons dynasty, the birth of the Parthenopean Republic, the so-called Altamuran Revolution and the return of the Bourbons after a few months halted the courses as well as any other activity of the university.

[12] In 1806, with the new king Joseph Bonaparte, determined to end feudalism, Gioacchino de Gemmis was appointed again as rector of the University of Altamura, but the lack of funds still was a big issue.

In the period 1809-1812, the number of students fell from 100 to 70 and in 1812 courses were officially closed, even though some documents stored in library Archivio capitolare of Altamura show that professors continued to teach until 1821.

In the 1840s, Luca de Samuele Cagnazzi and Gioacchiono Grimaldi talked to the mayor of Altamura and proposed using the funds of- Monte a Moltiplico in order to open a science experiment room (Italian: gabinetto di scienze).

After their project was approved, both of them collected the instruments needed and in a short time they managed to create an experiment room for physics and mineralogy "gabinetto fisico mineralogico".

Today the collection belongs to the same high school, located in piazza Zanardelli, called liceo classico "Luca de Samuele Cagnazzi".

In one of his writings, Luca de Samuele Cagnazzi recounted how hard it was for his Altamuran friend - Paolo Ruggeri - to study math, which was his favorite subject.

Luca de Samuele Cagnazzi, in his autobiography, remembers him as an open-minded person, who "hated the superstition that was promoted by silly priests".

He also studied mathematics and philosophy, and he was largely self-taught since at that time there was "little love for these sciences"[18][19] In order to show his scientific skills, he wrote a treatise in which he demonstrated the certainty of the Earth's motion, dismissing the beliefs and oppositions of that period.

Another notable teacher was Luca de Samuele Cagnazzi, who was an ex-student of the same university selected to be the assistant of Professor Giuseppe Carlucci for the chair of philosophy and geometry.