Alcala 1958

ALGALA -T heOld By ARTH UR BURROWE S, M .A . Hi sto ry Dep ar tm en t Co lle ge fo r Men C e O B S, . . t ry artment ll ge

I N the cen tral mos tpar t of Sp ain ,about 20 mil es wes t an d no rth of Ma dri d, lie s the ancie nt ci ty of Alcala de Henar es.Toda yAl ca laboa sts a popu ­ lati on of on ly abou t 20 ,0 00per son s, but its inte rest for the tou rist or the stud ent of histor y ex ceed sits impor tan cein the ey es of the census -tak er. Fo r Alc ala is a re­ min der of forme rglo rie s. Its name is asso­ cia ted with the name sof me n who hel ped wri te the his tor y of Sp ain 's gol den ag e. Here Cer van tes wa s bo rn ; here live d for a time the Fra nci sca nSa in t Di dacu s;and her e stoo d a once- fam ou sunive rsi ty. Gree ks ma y ha ve fou nd ed the ear lies t sett lement on the sit e of Alcal a, but the cer tain his tor yof the town be gin swit h the Rom ans ,who est ab lish edthe re a cit y known as Complut um. Wh en the We ster n empire fel l an d Vi sig oth sbe cam e mas ters of the Ibe rian pen ins ula ,that name wa s ret ain ed. Un der Mos lem rule the town bec ame A1 Kal a Nahar , al- gal a in Ar ab ic, me aning "c ast le." At the end of the 11t h cen tury the Christ ian scap tur ed the ci ty, and Arch­ bis hop s ofTo led obec ameits ove rlo rds . One of thes e wa s to be the real fou nde r of Alc ala 's gre at un ive rsi ty. Alcala , howe ver , bec am e at leas t some­ th ing of a co llege town befor e the Un ive r­ sit y came int o be ing. In the 13t h cen tury the re rei gn ed ove r the Chr istia n kin gdom of Cas tile one Sancho IV . San cho 'ssobr i­ que t, "T he Fi er ce ,"is no t alt oge ther sug ­ I l ost , id, s t es. y l t • l t , 0 s s, i y s tance -t er. - r i s. - t s t y i 's . tes ; ciscan t s; f ous rsity. s ed li t t a, i y i s s, lis ed l tu . l t s e i i ula, i ed. l e l , la ic, i tle." y i ians c ed , - of T l o e rds. One r 's i rsity. , er, e - i e r• i g. y ed i i n o til o . 's i- ce," t - t,

ge sti ve of one dev oted to the fin er thi ng s, yet it is he wh o con cei ved the ide aof bri ng­ ing hi gher educati on to the ban ks of the riv er Hena res . In May , 1293, he charg ed the the n Ar chb ish op, Gon zalo Gudiel, to esta blis ha stu di umgenera te at Alc ala . Wh eth eror not mu ch cam e of the pla n, ano the r two cen tur iespassed befor ehis tor y onc e mo re de igned to take not e of Alc ala 's pe da go gic alendeav ors . In lieu of ev ide nc e we may ho pe fu llyass ume tha t Sanc ho an d Ar chb ish opGudie l were not un suc ces sfu l. Per haps, at the ver y lea st, the y liv ed to see a goodly cro p of yo un g Castilli an sch ola rs mas ter the int ric aci es of the fiv e dec len­ sio ns . Me anwh ile,the site of their eff or ts wa s to beco me the hom e of on e who took hi s de gre e in the sci en tia sa nc torum . St. Di da cu s,or San Di eg ode Alcala ,wa s not a na tiv e of the town whose nam e he bears. Th e town of San Ni co lasde l Pu erto, in the di oc ese of Sevil le, ha s the hon or of be ing hi s bir thp lac e. Alc ala, howe ver ,ha s as goo d a cla im upo n him as any of the sev eral places in wh ich he lab ore d as a Fr anciscan mi ssioner. Du rin g the last 13 yea rs of hi s lif e, from 14 50 to 14 63 ,mo st of hi s tim e wa s passed ther e. It was the re that he di ed . Wh en Visca ino ent ere d a cer tain bay in the coa st of Califo rni a in 16 08 he nam ed it aft er San Di eg o de Al ca la; an d Jun ipe roSerra con firme dthi s ch oic e of a name by de dicati nghi s fir st mi ssi on to the same sai nt. ive s, ceived - tion s res. , e ishop, l i ~ li h i l.e l . er , r t ries p e y 's gogical ors. nce fully e o ishop i l ces ful. s, , l g rs icacies e - . hile, ts e e ti toru . cus, o , ti e icola l t , ese le, i g t lace. , r, i l i d ci c . i g s , , . . ino d t i rnia it o l ; i ro ed i e ing on t.

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