Bible Encyclopedias
University of Saragossa

The Catholic Encyclopedia

This university was not definitively established until 1585 its real founder being Don Pedro Cerbunc, Prior of the Cathedral of Saragossa, and later Bishop of Tarrazona, who, by commission of the city of Saragossa, organized the university, prepared its statutes, and endowed it with an income of 30,000 reales. At the end of the sixteenth century theology, philosophy, canon and civil law, medicine, and the humanities were taught. The university was subject to the municipality that had created it until the time of Charles III. The influence of this university was always great in lower Aragon, and during the reign of Charles III, it was great throughout the kingdom. It produced the economists and the principal Jesuits who contributed so much to give to the reign of Charles III the laicist character that it developed. At about this time the so-called Voltairean ideas were introduced into the university, the "Academia de Buen Gusto" was established, and political economy began to be dealt with, which gave rise to many noisy polemics, led by Normante and Carcaviella. The study of economics was introduced by Aio and Aurano, and the Royal Academy of Aragon and the Academia de San Lucas helped in the development of letters. Among the professors were the physician Juan Sobrarias, the poet Antonio Geron, Pedro Malon de Chaide, Juan Lorenzo Palmireno, Pedro Simon de Abril, the Jesuit Mice Andrés Serveto de Aviñon, Clemente Comenge, Bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo, Juan Francisco Guillén, Archbishop of Burgos, Ustarroz, Aramburo, Carrillo, Portolés, Vargas Machuca, etc. With regard to its government and to the programme of its studies, the University of Saragossa, like all the universities of Spain, has lost its individual life, the professors being reduced to the level of state officials, each having the anarchical individual license of explaining the matter assigned to him according to any programme he may see fit, or according to no programme at all. The university has faculties of law, medicine, exact sciences, physics and chemistry, and letters (historical section). There are on an average 600 students, nearly half of whom study medicine, and about one quarter each, law and science, while the remainder follow the studies of letters.