University of Évora

The University of Évora, the second-oldest in Portugal, was founded in the 16th century by the Archbishop of Évora Cardinal Infante Dom Henrique, future king of Portugal, and the Pope Paul IV. Its administrative control was granted to the newly formed Society of Jesus. This measure could be seen as part of Henry's policies to attract Jesuits to the kingdom. The Jesuit college in Évora operated between 1559 and 1759, when it was surrounded by cavalry troops on February 8 of 1759, as a consequence of the Jesuit banishment promoted by the Minister of the Kingdom Marquis of Pombal. The Colégio do Espírito Santo became famed as a centre of learning and rivalled the University of Coimbra. Among its eminent theologians and philosophers were Luis de Molina (1535-1600), Pedro de Fonseca (1528-1599), St. Francisco de Borja, St. João de Brito, Manuel Álvares. Several prelates of the Portuguese Empire were trained at this university: D. Afonso Mendes, Patriarch of Abyssinia, and D. Pedro Martins, first bishop of Japan. The classrooms are decorated with appropriate azulejos (ceramic tiles) such as "Plato teaching his followers" and "Aristotle teaching Alexander the Great". The University of Évora resumed work in 1973 as a state-run university. The diplomas are granted in the 18th century Baroque chapel (Sala dos Actos) (restored in 1973), that dominates the Tuscan-arched Renaissance cloister. == See also ==