The University of Montpellier, founded in 1289 and still in operation today, is one of the most brilliant medical schools in the medieval world. Arnaud de Villeneuve, chemist, astrologer and great scholar, developed the distillation of both alcohol and floral waters. Apothecaries took advantage of this real innovation in the field of odorant compositions and learned the art of conceiving essences and elaborating perfumes.