The College of Spain, founded by Cardinal Egidio Albornos (1310-1367) as the "domus hispanica", also known as the Royal College of San Clemente degli Spagnoli and the Royal College of Spain, is a university college for Spanish students based in a medieval university, the most famous of the twenty four founded between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is the oldest college in the world open to international students, inheritor of the phenomenon of nations in the tradition of the medieval university, and also the only one of its kind preserved in continental Europe.
In 1360, Cardinal Egidio Albornos freed Bologna from the tyrannical rule of Giovanni da Oleggio and built a college for Spanish students at his own expense. The college was built between 1365 and 1367 to accommodate the students of the Studium Bolognese outside the territory thanks to his will (September 29.1364) on the site of the ancient houses of the Delfini (Dalfini) family.
The college was taken as a model for those that would be built later to fulfill similar functions, at the University of Salamanca, such as the Colegio Viejo (or Colegio Mayor de San Bartolome) of 1401, as well as those that would arise in other Spanish universities between the fifteen and sixteenth centuries.
During these almost seven centuries of history, the College has experienced very difficult moments (wars, political changes, times of crisis), but it has always managed to overcome them. In 1715, the rector and the members of the college appealed to the Senate to allow the reopening of the College, which had remained closed during the War of Succession. In 1796, with the French invasion, Napoleon decreed its closure, and on April 11.1812, its property was seized and sold. Even at the beginning of the twentieth century, the College faced serious difficulties due to the siege of the institution: a serious attempt to confiscate and take control of its assets, which threatened its security.
Fortunately, the charity of Joaquin Ignacio de Arteaga y Echague, Duke of Infantado and Marquis of Aris and Armunius, Almirante of Aragon, etc. , a descendant of the Albornoz family, who bravely fulfilled his role as the heir of an illustrious noble family, saved the college and ensured its continued existence .
Among the famous students that the college accepted are Antonio de Nebrija, Antonio Agustin, Herná n Nú ñ ez de Toledo, Pedro Belluga, Antonio Bernabeu, Ignacio di Loyola, Pietro d'Arbues and Miguel de Cervantes. In 1530, Charles V Habsburg spent four months here on the occasion of his coronation as emperor.
Designed by Matteo di Giovannello (known as Gattapone), the college consists of two floors with a central courtyard with an arcade around which the rooms are distributed, leading to the Gothic church of San Clemente.
The students' rooms face the street, with a fortified structure with loopholes.
The exterior facade was later rebuilt in the Renaissance style. This framework for protecting private territory clarifies the college's purpose: to be relatively self-sufficient in relation to the city. The palace has a magnificent portal of 1525 by Andrea and Formigine.
In the portico was a fresco by Annibale Carracci in a bad state of preservation. There are also two frescoes by Bartolomeo Ramenghi (also called Bartolomeo da Bagnacavallo), and a fresco by Camillo Procaccini, contained in the apse of the chapel of San Clemente, was destroyed in 1914. In the chapel there is a valuable polyptych by Marco Zoppo.
In 2011, over thirty years of restoration work was completed, removing the "false Gothic" layers and returning valuable frescoes, among them the late fourteenth-century Madonna dellumilta by Lippo di Dalmasio.
In 2012
the college received the Cultural Heritage Award from Europa Nostra, recognized as "the highest representative heritage organization in Europe, with members from more than 40 countries" for the following reason: "There could hardly be a finer example of our shared European heritage: a medieval college for of Spanish students at an Italian university – the oldest university in the world – using the Italian motif of a loggia around a courtyard reminiscent of the collegiate architecture of England or France. The jury admired the beauty and detail of this painstaking restoration, especially the frescoes, and the courage and determination shown in maintaining both momentum and funding over such a long period. "
In 1360, Cardinal Egidio Albornos freed Bologna from the tyrannical rule of Giovanni da Oleggio and built a college for Spanish students at his own expense. The college was built between 1365 and 1367 to accommodate the students of the Studium Bolognese outside the territory thanks to his will (September 29.1364) on the site of the ancient houses of the Delfini (Dalfini) family.
The college was taken as a model for those that would be built later to fulfill similar functions, at the University of Salamanca, such as the Colegio Viejo (or Colegio Mayor de San Bartolome) of 1401, as well as those that would arise in other Spanish universities between the fifteen and sixteenth centuries.
During these almost seven centuries of history, the College has experienced very difficult moments (wars, political changes, times of crisis), but it has always managed to overcome them. In 1715, the rector and the members of the college appealed to the Senate to allow the reopening of the College, which had remained closed during the War of Succession. In 1796, with the French invasion, Napoleon decreed its closure, and on April 11.1812, its property was seized and sold. Even at the beginning of the twentieth century, the College faced serious difficulties due to the siege of the institution: a serious attempt to confiscate and take control of its assets, which threatened its security.
Fortunately, the charity of Joaquin Ignacio de Arteaga y Echague, Duke of Infantado and Marquis of Aris and Armunius, Almirante of Aragon, etc. , a descendant of the Albornoz family, who bravely fulfilled his role as the heir of an illustrious noble family, saved the college and ensured its continued existence .
Among the famous students that the college accepted are Antonio de Nebrija, Antonio Agustin, Herná n Nú ñ ez de Toledo, Pedro Belluga, Antonio Bernabeu, Ignacio di Loyola, Pietro d'Arbues and Miguel de Cervantes. In 1530, Charles V Habsburg spent four months here on the occasion of his coronation as emperor.
Designed by Matteo di Giovannello (known as Gattapone), the college consists of two floors with a central courtyard with an arcade around which the rooms are distributed, leading to the Gothic church of San Clemente.
The students' rooms face the street, with a fortified structure with loopholes.
The exterior facade was later rebuilt in the Renaissance style. This framework for protecting private territory clarifies the college's purpose: to be relatively self-sufficient in relation to the city. The palace has a magnificent portal of 1525 by Andrea and Formigine.
In the portico was a fresco by Annibale Carracci in a bad state of preservation. There are also two frescoes by Bartolomeo Ramenghi (also called Bartolomeo da Bagnacavallo), and a fresco by Camillo Procaccini, contained in the apse of the chapel of San Clemente, was destroyed in 1914. In the chapel there is a valuable polyptych by Marco Zoppo.
In 2011, over thirty years of restoration work was completed, removing the "false Gothic" layers and returning valuable frescoes, among them the late fourteenth-century Madonna dellumilta by Lippo di Dalmasio.
In 2012
the college received the Cultural Heritage Award from Europa Nostra, recognized as "the highest representative heritage organization in Europe, with members from more than 40 countries" for the following reason: "There could hardly be a finer example of our shared European heritage: a medieval college for of Spanish students at an Italian university – the oldest university in the world – using the Italian motif of a loggia around a courtyard reminiscent of the collegiate architecture of England or France. The jury admired the beauty and detail of this painstaking restoration, especially the frescoes, and the courage and determination shown in maintaining both momentum and funding over such a long period. "
Translated automatically from Ukrainian. View original
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