The old University of Leuven (or Studium Generale Lovaniense), founded in 1425 by the civil authorities of Brabant duke John IV of Brabant, as well as the municipal administration of the city of Leuven,[16] despite the initial opposition of the chapter of Sint-Pieter,[17] was formally integrated into the French Republic when the Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I, ceded the South Netherlands to France by the Treaty of Campo Formio[18] signed on 17 October 1797.