Lovanienses - an international network of scholars

This is where I will publish the names (and lives) of Italian, Spanish and Portuguese students at the University of Leuven in the 16th century: famous (and less famous) traveling lovanienses like 

Agostino de' Agostini (1500-1551) - Henry VIII's doctor

Antonio Buonvisi (1487-1558) - merchant in Lucca, Lyon, London and Leuven

Juan Martín Cordero (1531-1600) - writer and autobiographer

Francisco de Enzinas (1518-1552) - writer with multiple identities

Aquiles Estaço (1524-1581) - professor in Portugal, Spain and Italy

Girolamo Faletti (1518-1564) - poet and musician in Ferrara

Damião de Góis (1502-1574) - historian, world traveler ... and prisoner

Diego Gracián de Alderete (1494-1584) - writer and translator

Gaspar Grajal (1530-1575) - professor ... and prisoner

Giovanni Ludovico Madruzzo (1532-1600) - bishop of Trento

João Micas (1524-1579) - merchant and diplomat, from Lisbon to Ferrara, and from Naxos to Tiberias

Pietro Pasqualigo (1472-1515) - ambassador from Venice

Martín Pérez de Ayala (1503-1566) - bishop of Valencia

André de Resende (1498-1573) - father of Portuguese archaeology

Riccardo Sbruglio (1480-1561) - poet and traveling scholar

Christophe Andreas von Spaur (1543-1613) - bishop of Bressanone, member of the Madruzzo family

Juan de Verzosa y Ponce de León (1523-1574) - hellenist, poet and diplomat

 

Some of these scholars belong to the alberghi of the Frescobaldi, Gualterotti, Doria and Grimaldi, some of the most wealthy families in Florence and Genoa. Others are anonymous members of a religious order, or pauperes, i.e. poor students who only pay a limited inscription fee.

Some particular events with an impact on Leuven deserve some extra attention, because of the prominent role of these Italian, Spanish and Portuguese scholars

• the foundation of the Leuven Collegium Trilingue (1517)
• King João III's decision to sponsor Portuguese scholars willing to study in Leuven (1530's)
• the Valencia-Breda network of Juan Luis Vives and duchess Mencía de Mendoza (1530's)
  
• the siege of Leuven by the Franco-Guelders troups of Maarten van Rossem (1542)
• the arrival of the first Jesuits in Leuven in the 1540's
• the lovanienses and their contribution to the Council of Trent (1545-1563)
  
• the Real Pragmática (1559): King Philip II's decision to forbid Spanish students to continue their studies outside Spain
  
• the international network of governor Margaret of Parma (1559-1567)
  

This is work in progress, so please come back later to see more. Looking for information? Just send an email to thomascole281 @ gmail dot com