Royal Patronage and Private Support in the Emergence of Spanish American Universities

Abstract

During the colonial period, at least twenty‐five universities were established in fourteen cities from Guadalajara to Santiago de Chile. Most of them were founded in cities that were home to a large group of Spanish or ‘Creole’ residents and where resided a royal tribunal (Real Audiencia), a bishopric, and a see of provincial houses of religious orders. Their size and character varied, but, all of them depended on metropolitan paradigms. In Castille, several new universities were founded between the end of the 15th century and the first half of the 16th century. None of them were free corporate bodies, as was the case during the Middle Ages. On the contrary, they were founded by private individuals who bound these institutions to their personal will, as their patrons. One of these patrons was the king, who created several universities, first in the conquered kingdom of Granada, and then within conquered American dominions, and assured for himself the right of patronage. We may consider three periods of development. The first, which extends throughout the 16th century, three royal universities were created in the three archepiscopal sees: Lima (1551), Mexico (1551) and Santo Domingo (1558). These institutions were supported by the king and were governed by their respective Real Audiencia. The second period covers the first quarter of the 17th century to its end. Patronage was an onerous right, and the king was not in favor of supporting new universities, so he authorised, under certain conditions, that students could graduate with university recognition from Dominican and Jesuit institutions. This permission would be nullified when a public university was founded in that city. For example, Santa Fe de Bogota, Quito Charcas, Cuzco, and Guatemala housed one or more of these monastic universities. In the third period, fiom the end of the 17th century to the end of the colonial period, we witness a clear process of secularisation. New royal universities appeared in Guatemala, Santiago de Chile, and Guadalajara. During this time, only one new religious university was established (in La Habana in 1787, where there was not yet a bishopric). Three new universities were run by the secular clergy: Huamanga (1677), Cuzco (1692), and Caracas (1786). At the same time, at least ten religious universities were closed, some because they were shadowed by royal universities and some because of the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767. In fact, furthering this process of secularisation, even universities that had been run by the Jesuits, like Charcas and Cordoba, became public institutions before the Independence.