The Pontifical and Royal University of St. Catherine or University of Osma (Spanish ''Pontificia y Real Universidad de Santa Catalina'' or ''Universidad de Osma'') was founded in 1550 by the Portuguese bishop

Pedro Alvarez de Acosta Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...

El Burgo de Osma Burgo de Osma-Ciudad de Osma is the third-largest municipality in the province of Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It has a population of about 5,250. It is made up of two parts: *the smaller Ciudad de Osma (city ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It was closed in 1841. The building that housed the university is now a hotel.

History

1st stage: Greatness (1541 - 1751)

The university was founded in 1541 by the Bishop of Osma, Pedro Alvarez de Acosta (1539-1563), with faculties of arts, canon law, medicine and theology; it was authorised on 5 August 1550 by a canonical bull of

Pope Julius III Pope Julius III ( la, Iulius PP. III; it, Giulio III; 10 September 1487 – 23 March 1555), born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 February 1550 to his death in March 155 ...

, and dedicated to

St. Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine); grc-gre, ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς ; ar, سانت كاترين; la, Catharina Alexandrina). is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, w ...

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

took it under his protection by a royal decree of 31 January 1562. Thus it obtained the double title of a pontifical and a royal university.

2nd stage: Decay (1751 - 1807)

Political and educational changes, as well as the lack of economic resources it fell into decline from 1751. Examinations were suspended between 30 October 1770 and 1 December 1778. The university resumed with great intellectual splendour, but during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

it closed again on 5 August 1807.

3rd stage: Suspension (1814 - 1841)

Although it reopened on 7 October 1814, no studies or professorships were normalised. There was another closure between 19 November 1833 and 1 October 1839, when the university was considered a centre of political turmoil. It was moved to

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 (INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial population. ...

until its final closure during the academic year 1841-1842 after El Burgo de Osma had supported the losing side in the

First Carlist War The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833 to 1840, the first of three Carlist Wars. It was fought between two factions over the succession to the throne and the nature of the Monarchy of Spain, Spanish monarchy: the conservative a ...

. The building later became a secondary school, a prison, a vocational institute, and is now the ''Hotel Termal Burgo de Osma''. A summer school is now held every year in the town using the university's name.

Building

The building is square, and is structured around a large courtyard with columns. Works started in the year 1541 and were completed in 1549; various reforms were carried out by Bernasconi in 1779. The façade is in the

plateresque Plateresque, meaning "in the manner of a silversmith" (''plata'' being silver in Spanish), was an artistic movement, especially architectural, developed in Spain and its territories, which appeared between the late Gothic and early Renaissance in ...

style. It has two large columns that are decorated with grotesques and figures in relief at their base, while they appear grooved on the top. On the lintel that frames the main door, the niche between columns contains the image of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, flanked by two coats of arms of Bishop Acosta. A triangular pediment crowns this second body. Above this is the imperial coat of arms of Philip II, from the later period. Inside it has a square Renaissance courtyard with two floors connected by a monumental staircase. The central courtyard is surrounded by double arches supported by columns of smooth shafts.

Current use

La Red de Hosterías Reales de Castilla y León, Castilla Termal y el Grupo Olmedo Hoteles transformed the former university into a quality hotel that includes a thermal area of 1,500 square meters on two basement floors and 62 rooms.Torrijos P. Universidad de Santa Catalina. Burgo de Osma. Soria. 06/10/2008.
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Alumni and notable professors

Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (born Gaspar Melchor de Jove y Llanos, 5 January 1744 – 27 November 1811) was a Spanish neoclassical statesman, author, philosopher and a major figure of the Age of Enlightenment in Spain. Life and influence of ...

(1744-1811) writer, jurist and politician. * Basilio Ponce de León (1570 - 1629) theologian and poet.

References

Bibliography

* Ibáñez G. La Universidad de Santa Catalina de Burgo de Osma. Recuerdo de Soria. 1900; (7):41-6. * García García M. El Colegio-Universidad de Santa Catalina. Celtiberia. 1959;(17):133–8. 1961;(21):35-50. 1964;(27):127-32. * Iruela JM. Una Universidad castellana: la de Santa Catalina de El Burgo de Osma. Revista de Soria. 1969;(7-9). 1970;(11). * Bartolomé Martínez B. Las Cátedras de Gramática en la Universidad del Burgo de Osma (1550-1840). Hispania Sacra. 1976;(XXIX):27-75. * Bartolomé Martínez B. Brotes de rebeldía y politización en la Universidad de El Burgo de Osma en el siglo XIX. Celtiberia. 1979;(57):111-8. * Bartolomé Martínez B. Visitas y reformas en el Colegio-Universidad de Santa Catalina de El Burgo de Osma. Historia de la Educación. 1984;(3):27-50. * Bartolomé Martínez B. El Colegio-Universidad de Santa Catalina en El Burgo de Osma y su tiempo. 1550-1840. Almazán. 1988. * Frías Balsa JV. Médicos graduados en la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de El Burgo de Osma, durante el siglo XVII. Soria Semanal. 5/1/1991; p. 7-8. * Frías Balsa JV. La Universidad de Santa Catalina (El Burgo de Osma) y América. Celtiberia. 1992; (84):357-8.

External links

El Burgo de Osma

{{Authority control Santa Catalina Province of Soria 1541 establishments in Spain Santa Catalina Plateresque architecture in Castile and León Defunct universities and colleges in Spain