The English College, Lisbon (Portuguese: ) was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

seminary that existed from the 17th century to the 20th century.

Early history

Philip III of Spain Philip III (; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain and King of Portugal, Portugal (where he is known as Philip II of Portugal) during the Iberian Union. His reign lasted from 1598 until his death in 1621. He held dominion over the S ...

issued a royal charter for the college on 3 December 1621, with a papal brief from

Gregory XV Pope Gregory XV (; ; 9 January 1554 – 8 July 1623), born Alessandro Ludovisi, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 February 1621 until his death in 1623. He is notable for founding the Congregation for the ...

following on 29 September 1622.A History of the Pontifical English College of Sts Peter and Paul Lisbon
/ref> In 1624, Pedro Coutinho, a member of a prominent family, proceeded to found a college for English students wishing to study for the Catholic priesthood and for mission work in England and Wales. :s:Historical account of Lisbon college/Chapter 1 It was known as SS. Peter and Paul's (with greater formality the ''Pontifical English College of Sts Peter and Paul - Lisbon''). It was awarded the same rights and privileges as the

English College, Rome The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English Colleg ...

, and was one of the

Pontifical College A pontifical university or athenaeum is an ecclesiastical university established or approved directly by the Holy See, composed of three main ecclesiastical faculties (Theology, Philosophy and Canon Law) and at least one other faculty. These acade ...

s in the sense of being centrally controlled from Rome, one of the substantial group of institutions set up with the aim of maintaining the Catholic faith in England, Ireland, and Scotland. In 1628, the first students arrived from the

English College, Douai The English College ( French: ''College des Grands Anglais'') was a Catholic seminary in Douai, France (also previously spelled Douay, and in English Doway), associated with the University of Douai. It was established in 1568, and was suppresse ...

. The moving force behind the foundation was the priest William Newman (1577–1640), though he never became head of the college. Newman had been entrusted with property from the estate of the late Nicholas Ashton, a Catholic chaplain in Lisbon. Initial progress was slow after a papal brief of

Pope Gregory XV Pope Gregory XV (; ; 9 January 1554 – 8 July 1623), born Alessandro Ludovisi, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 February 1621 until his death in 1623. He is notable for founding the Congregation for the ...

in 1622, with only a church erected on property given by Coutinho, who also gave endowment. Richard Smith, the Catholic bishop in England, took a hand and sent one of his

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

s, Joseph Haynes (also Hynes, Harvey). The foundation was supported by the arrival of group of students and teachers from the

in 1628, the first president being Haynes. Haynes, however, then died quite suddenly, shortly after the college opened in 1629. The second president was Thomas White, ''alias'' Blacklow, with William Clifford as vice-president. He was at the college for three years from 1630. His rules for its governance brought it under the

Bishop of Chalcedon Chalcedon (; ; sometimes transliterated as ) was an ancient maritime town of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, Turkey. It was located almost directly opposite Byzantium, south of Scutari (modern Üsküdar) and it is now a district of the city of Istan ...

(the title used at the time by the Catholic bishop in England). Pursuing further funding and students in England, he was dissatisfied at the results and resigned. Following the French revolution and the closure of seminaries in Douai and Paris, the Lisbon college was enlarged to accommodate 40 more people.

Later history

The college suffered severely from the

earthquake of 1755 The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination with ...

, but continued its work. It assembled an extensive belle-lettristic library in English over the second half of the eighteenth century, including works by Shakespeare, the earliest to reach Portugal and indeed the earliest known to have circulated in the Portuguese-speaking world. The college finally closed in 1973, James Sullivan being the final president of the college. In 1974 the archives and library of the college were transferred to

Ushaw College Ushaw College (formally St Cuthbert's College, Ushaw) is a former Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic seminary, which until 2011 was also a Colleges of Durham University#Types of College, licensed hall of residence of Durham University near th ...

, Durham. The college had remained on the site it was originally established on, until its closure. ''The Lisbonian Society'' was set up by alumni of the college to maintain the legacy and communicate with former students.

People associated with the College

*Peter Baines, president 1865-1882 *James Barnard, president 1776-1782 *Gerard Bernard, alias Woodbury, president 1756-1776 * John Ignatius Bleasdale, student * Edward Booth, student * James Yorke Bramston, student *Francis Clayton (alias Whitaker), professor and president 1652-1653 * William Clifford, vice-president *

Humphrey Ellis Humphrey Ellis, D.D. (died 1676), was an English Roman Catholic priest, real name Waring, a leader of English Catholics in the Commonwealth period. Life Ellis belonged to a family "of great antiquity and good account", and finished his theolo ...

, student in 1628 *

Daniel Fitter Daniel Fitter (born in Worcestershire, England, 1628; died at St. Thomas' Priory, near Stafford, 6 Feb., 1700) was an English Catholic clergyman who was affected by but managed to navigate his way through the religious strife of the late seventeen ...

, student * Peter Gooden, student *

John Goter John Gother (died 1704), also known as John Goter, was an English convert to Catholicism, priest, controvertist and eirenicist. Life Born at Southampton, England, Gother was educated a strict Presbyterian, but part at least of his mother's famil ...

, student and president-elect *

Victor Guazzelli Victor Guazzelli (19 March 1920 – 1 June 2004) was a Roman Catholic bishop. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster (1970–1996) and held the titular see of Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also know ...

, student later bishop * Thomas Hall, student *

William Hall William Hall, Will Hall or Bill Hall may refer to: Actors *William Brad Hall (born 1958), American actor * William Hall (actor), American actor *William Hall (actor, born 1903) (1903–1986), American actor * William Hall Jr. (died 2025), American ...

, student *William Hart, third President of the college, serving from 1634 to 1637 * Thomas Haydock * Roger Hesketh * William Hilton, born in 1825; educated at Lisbon; ordained 1850; served some time on the mission in the Diocese of Shrewsbury, England; made a domestic prelate in 1881; and returned to Lisbon as president in 1883. *Joseph Ilsley, professor of theology and canon law, served as vice-president and president of the college 1853-1865 *Edward Jones, professor, vice-president(1699-1707) and long serving president from 1707 to 1729 and from 1732 to 1737 (his death) *John Manley, president 1729-1732 and from 1737 to 1755 (his death) *John Perrot (alias Barnesley), convert to Catholicism, professor, vice-president 1653–59, president 1659-1672 * Edward Pickford, student and first alumnus president * Richard Russell, bishop in Portugal, diplomat who served as secretary to the Queen of Portugal * John Sergeant, Cambridge-educated convert to Catholicism who served as professor in Lisbon * Thomas Tylden (alias Godden), Oxford-educated convert to Catholicism, trained in Lisbon, served as professor, vice president and president *Mathias Watkinson, long-serving president from 1672 to 1706 * Thomas White, second president 1630–1633 *Edmund Winstanley, president 1819 - 1852

References

;Attribution {{Authority control 1624 establishments in Portugal Educational institutions disestablished in 1973 Catholic seminaries Defunct universities and colleges in Portugal

Early history

Later history

People associated with the College

See also

References