Collegium Melitense
Jesuit College in Valletta, Hospitaller Malta
The Collegium Melitense was a Jesuit college in Valletta, Hospitaller Malta, which existed between 1592 and 1769. Lectures at the educational institution began in 1593, and it moved to a purpose-built building adjacent to a Jesuit church in 1597. The 17th century saw an expansion of its curriculum and an increase in the number of students in the college, and in 1727 it was recognised as a university and subsequently it also became known as the Academia Parthenia. After the Jesuits were suppressed from Malta, the college was reorganised into the Pubblica Università di Studi Generali, which was established on 22 November 1769. The latter is now known as the University of Malta.
History
Plans to open a Jesuit college in Malta were made several times in the 16th century. In 1553, Bishop Domenico Cubelles sought the assistance of the Jesuits to open a college, but there was a shortage of manpower so the request was denied. By 1578, the Jesuits, the Inquisition and the Bishop were negotiating on whether or not to open a college, and in 1592 Pope Clement VIII intervened and ordered the establishment of the college. On 12 November 1592, the Collegium Melitense was formally established by a legal instrument entitled Instrumentum Fundationis Collegii, which was published by the notary Giacomo Sillato and witnessed by Grand Master Hugues Loubenx de Verdalle, Bishop Tomás Gargallo, Inquisitor Ludovico dell'Armi and the Jesuit priest Pietro Casati.
The college became operational in 1593, shortly after the end of a plague epidemic, with its staff initially consisting of 12 Jesuits.
The public source identifies “Collegium Melitense” as jesuit College in Valletta, Hospitaller Malta. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Collegium, Melitense and Jesuit.
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This entry incorporates text from “Collegium Melitense” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.