Lovanienses - an international network of scholars

This is where the names (and lives) will be published of Italian, Spanish and Portuguese students at the University of Leuven in the 16th century. The following is a chronological list of famous and less famous traveling lovanienses. The year in bold indicates their (presumed) first visit of Leuven.

Pietro Pasqualigo (1472 - 1496 - 1515) from Venezia - ambassador in Lisbon and Brussels

Diego Gracián de Alderete (1494 - 1515 - 1584) from Tordesillas - writer and translator

Riccardo Sbruglio (1480 - 1517 - 1561) from Udine - poet and traveling scholar

Brás de Barros (1500 - 1525 - 1559) from Braga - bishop of Leiria

Diogo de Murça (1495 - 1529 - 1567) from Vila Real - rector of Coimbra university

André de Resende (1498 - 1529 - 1573) from Évora - father of Portuguese archaeology

Jacopo Bannisio (1466 - 1530 - 1532) from Curzola - dean and diplomat

Ruggero de Tassis (1513 - 1530 - 1593) from Bergamo - dean and university chancellor 

Antonio Maria Bergagna (1515 - 1530 - 1560) from Asti - printer and bookbinder

Inácio de Morais (1500 - 1532 - 1580) from Bragança - professor in poetry and law

Francisco de Encinas (1518 - 1539 - 1552) from Burgos - writer with multiple identities

Damião de Góis (1502 - 1539 - 1574) from Alenquer - diplomat, historian, traveler and prisoner

Jeroni Munyós (1520 - 1541 - 1591) from Valencia - mathematician, geographer and linguist

Michel Piquer (1520 - 1541 - 1580) from Tarragona - monk and astrolabe maker 

Girolamo Faletti (1518 - 1542- 1564) from Savona - poet and musician in Ferrara and beyond

Juan de Verzosa (1523 - 1542 - 1574) from Zaragoza - hellenist, poet and diplomat

Francesc Calça (1521 - 1542 - 1603) from Barcelona - soldier, philologist and historian

Joan Jeroni Doménech (1516 - 1542 - 1592) from Valencia - pioneer of the Jesuit order

Francisco de Strada (1518 - 1542 - 1584) from Palencia - pioneer of the Jesuit order

Andrés de Oviedo (1518 - 1542 - 1577) from Toledo - jesuit patriarch of Ethiopia

Bernardino Gómez Miedes (1515 - 1542 - 1589) from Alcañiz - writer and canon

João Micas (1524 - 1542 - 1579) from Lisboa - merchant from Ferrara to Naxos and Tiberias

Martín Pérez de Ayala (1503 - 1543 - 1566) from Cartagena - bishop of Valencia

Iacopo Guidi (1514 - 1543 - 1588) from Volterra - bishop of Penne and Atri

Miquel Thomàs de Taixequet (1528 - 1545 - 1578) from Palma de Mallorca - bishop of Lleida

Aquiles Estaço (1524 - 1545 - 1581) from Vidigueira - professor in Portugal, Spain and Italy

Giovanni Ludovico Madruzzo (1532 - 1546 - 1600) from Trento - bishop

Sebastián Fox Morcillo (1527 - 1548 - 1560) from Sevilla - writer and teacher

Antonio Buonvisi (1487 - 1549 - 1558) from Lucca - merchant in Lucca, Lyon, London and Leuven

Pedro Juan de la Estanosa (1530 - 1550 - 1576) from Monzón - mathematician and engineer

Frederic Furió i Ceriol (1527 - 1550 - 1592) from Valencia - writer and defender of modern languages

Agostino de' Agostini (1500 - 1550 - 1551) from Venezia - Henry VIII and cardinal Wolsey's doctor

Pietro Spiga (1530 - 1551 - 1598) from Cagliari - pioneer of the Jesuit order in Sardinia

Joan Martí Cordero (1531 - 1552 - 1600) from Valencia - writer and autobiographer

Gaspar Grajal (1530 - 1555 - 1575) from Villalón de Campos - professor, theologian and prisoner

Christophe Andreas von Spaur (1543 - 1557 - 1613) from Bressanone - jesuit and bishop

Some of these scholars belong to the alberghi of the Frescobaldi, Gualterotti, Doria and Grimaldi, the wealthiest 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)
• the Valencia network of Juan Luis Vives and duchess Mencía de Mendoza (1520's and 1530's)
  
• King João III's project to sponsor Portuguese scholars willing to study in Leuven (1530's)
• Maarten van Rossem's siege of Leuven (1542) - presented at IMC 2024
• the arrival of the first Jesuits in Leuven (1540's)
• Affaitati, Madruzzo, Tasso and many more: Italian families in Leuven - presented at Lectio 2023
• lovanienses and their role in the Council of Trent (1545-1563)
  
• the consequences of 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)
  

More scholars and their networks can be found on David de la Croix' website Repertorium Eruditorum Totius Europae

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