Alcala 1958

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Grand Coll ege of St . Ilde fons o at Alc ala , and thus did the Un ive rsi ty ge t its real beg inn ing. Sta ffe d by scholar s obtain ed from the Un ive rsi ty of Sal amanc a, the sch ool ope ned its doo rs in15 08 . An impr es­ siv e facu ltywas soo n offe rin g an impres siv e arr ay of cou rse s to stud ent s who were, we trust , dul y impress ed. We mi ght no te with inte rest that a ma thema tici an,on e Pedro Ciru elo, was employed to teac h the the ology of St . Thomas! Xi me ne stook pai ns, mor eove r, tha t eru­ dit ion shou ld be imp arte d in wo rthy sur­ rou ndi ngs . A hos pita l and rec rea tion al fac ilit ieswere bui lt. Other col leg es join ed that of St . Ildefo nso , and nea rly al l the rel igi ou sord ers in Sp ain loca ted the re. In all Spain , the Un ive rsi ty bec ame sec ond on ly to that of Sal amanc a. Be for ethe 16t h cen tur y wa s out, Xime ne s' end owme nt rea che d 42 ,000 ducats, an ample sum. Th e cen tury of its birt h, how eve r, also wit nes sedthe be gin nin gsof the Un ive rsi ty' s trou bles . The Car dina l had en vi sa ge dan aut onomousins titu tion . He had even pro­ vid ed that the studen ts of. St . Ild efo nso should ann ual ly choo se the rec tor. Eve n bef ore hi s death a cer tain insub ordina tion spr ang up among hi s bel oved studen ts. ( 0sha de of Thucy did es,is the cy cli cthe ory of his tor y then true afte r al l? ) An d the Car dina l Prima te, who prot ected sch olars from the Inq uis ition, wa s apparentl ywont to ind ulge them . Di sci pline be ing thu s a proble m, a cer tain fac tion in the sch ool deeme d it exp ed ien tto remove the sch ool to Madri d. This han ker ing aft er a bett er loc atio n seems to have recu rred in the ne xt cen tur y, but the cit y of San cho , Dida cus and Ximen es ret ain ed its glo ry unt il 18 22 . In 18 36 the fin alcha ng eto the capit alwa s effec ted , and tha t yea r thus mar ks the end of the Un i­ ver sity of Alc ala . Its fou nde r's dre am of un ive rsi ty aut onomy had pre vio usl ybeen sha tter ed by roy al int erf ere nce . i rsity i ing. f s e rsity anca, l i . es- lt f ring an sive s s ts , ed. atician, el , l l gy . as! nes , r, - i l t d y - ings. l and tio al ilities lt. l es . nso, l i ious o e. i , i rsity e l anca. e century was out, Ximenes' endowment d 2, 0 l . , r, sed nings i rsity's les. i l s ged ous tion. - ts i . f nso l y se . i r i ation ts. dides, c t of history then true after all?) Cardinal Prim te, isition, y wont l . line i , i ti n l d ie t l d. ring y, , Didacus and Ximenes i ed il . l e al fected, s - i l . r's µ rsity y i usly e l ference.

MR . BUR ROWES Th e last year s of St . Di da cus co inc ide with som eth ing of a sec ond spr ing in the his tor y of educati onat Alc ala . In 14 59 an­ other Ar chb ish opof To led o,Alo nzo Car illo, was com mi ssi onedby Pi us II to esta blis h clas ses in gra mm ar and the libe ral arts . Anoth er 40 ye ar s were to pas s, how eve r, bef ore the Un ive rsi tyreal ly took its start . Wh en it did, it di d so under the guid ­ anc e and pat ron age of Car dina l Fra nci sco Xime ne sde Cis neros, a giant in thos e day s. Th e end of the 15t h cen tur y wit nes sed , of course ,the be gi nn in g of Spain 'spri ma cy among the na tio ns of Europe . Isa bel la Cato lica and Fe rdi nand ,the not- too- devo ut Cato lico, un ited the Spa nis h kingdo m and eje cted the Moors . Wi th som e aid from Columbu s, the y als o launch ed Spain upo n her car eer as a gre at col oni al power. The nex t gen era tion would see a who le ga lax y of Sp anish sa int s pla ce Spain in the fro nt ranks of the Ca tho licCou nter -Re form ation. Card inal Xi men es fig ur es emine ntly and hon ora bly in bot h the pol itic al and the rel igi ou s histor y of hi s times. In 14 99 Xim enes rec eived from Po pe Ale xan der VI perm iss ion to esta blis h the . last years . cus i e thing of a second spring in the y on l . • ishop le o, il , is ioned li h s s ar l . r s , r, i rsity l . . - r age i l ncisco nes , s. y sed, , ning Spa 's cy g ti ns urope. Isabel la li a and Ferdinand, the not-too-devout lic , i i h . s, ed i al . tion l y i s i t lic - eformation. i l e e es tly bly i al i iou y enes i r i ion li h

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