Ramón Ruiz Amado

“ The older students were obliged to study theology; civil law was excluded, although the canonists introduced it in the seventeenth century. Besides theology and canon law, the course of study included logic, philosophy, medicine, Hebrew, Greek, rhetoric, and grammar. Demetrio de Creta was engaged to teach Greek, and the mathematician, Pedro Ciruelo, explained the theology of St. Thomas. Cisneros not only founded a university, but built a new town, certain portions of which were devoted to the houses of the students and booksellers. Numerous colleges also sprang up ”

“ Cisneros enforced very rigid examinations. In the theological course which was divided into ten terms, there were five tests. The first and most dreaded was the Alfonsina, which corresponded to that of the Sorbonne of Paris. Those who failed usually went to other universities. To the successful licentiates, letras de orden were given, the first being designated by an L, and the others by superior or inferior letters, according to their merit. The number of students never exceeded 2,000, one-third of the attendance at Salamanca. ”

“ De la Fuente, Historia de las Universidades (Madrid, 1885) , II sq.; Denifle, Die Entstehung der Universitäten des Mittelalters (Berlin, 1855) ; Rashdall, The Universities of Europe (Oxford, 1895) , II, pt. ”