By Magnol's time the city of Montpellier was already long established as an important commercial and educational centre. The University of Montpellier was officially founded in 1289 (though it is said to be older) and it was the first French university to establish a botanic garden, donated in 1593 by Henry IV of France, for the study of medicine and pharmacology. Its medical school attracted students from all over Europe. Individuals well-known in medicine and botany such as Leonhart Fuchs (1501–1566), Guillaume Rondelet (1507–1566), Charles de l'Ecluse (1526–1609), Pierre Richer de Belleval (c. 1564-1632), and the great writer (and doctor) François Rabelais (c. 1493-1553), all studied at this university. So it was in one of the intellectual and botanical capitals that Magnol took his education. He got his doctor's degree (M.D.) on 11 January 1659. After receiving his degree, his attention once again shifted to botany, this time even more seriously.