Colegio Imperial de Madrid (also known as the Colegio Imperial de la Compañía de Jesús or El Colegio de San Pedro y San Pablo de la Compañía de Jesús en la Corte) was the name of a Jesuit teaching institution in Madrid.

Founded at the end of the sixteenth century and reached its peak in the seventeenth century, acquiring the title of "Imperial College" thanks to the patronage of the Empress Maria, daughter of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and the wife of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor. Philip IV of Spain is considered the founder of the Reales Estudios in 1625. Subjects included theology, philosophy, geography, and the sciences. Lope de Vega, Francisco de Quevedo and Pedro Calderón de la Barca can be counted amongst the institution's pupils. The institution's library served as the most important one in Madrid until the 18th century, large part of which is now shared by the Universidad Complutense y la Real Academia de la Historia.

When the Society of Jesus was suppressed in 1767, Charles III of Spain re-established the university as the Reales Estudios de San Isidro in 1770, as a continuation of the studies there. The Jesuits returned from 1816-1820; 1823-1834. Between 1835 and 1845, it became once again a lay institution, with the name of Estudios Nacionales, incorporating with the Universidad Literaria de Madrid.

The school employed various distinguished teachers from all over Europe, including:

• Jean-Baptiste Cysat, Swiss (in Madrid from 1628)
• Jean Charles della Faille, Belgian
• Claude Richard, French, made senior cosmographer
• Hugh Sempill (Hugo Sempilius), Scottish
• Alexius Silvius Polonus, Polish
• Francisco Antonio Camassa, Italian
• Jean Francois Petrey, French
• Jacob Kresa, Austrian, also later became senior cosmographer

The baroque Church of the Colegiata de San Isidro still stands on the site of the Colegio Imperial, which is now called El Colegio Imperial de Madrid y los Reales Estudios de San Isidro.

[edit] External links

• (Spanish) Instituto San Isidro, antiguos Reales Estudios y Colegio Imperial
• (Spanish) Monumentos de Madrid
• (Spanish) El Colegio Imperial de Madrid y los Reales Estudios de San Isidro

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