University of Zaragoza

Beginnings

Ecclesiastical schools were the initial elements of the University of Zaragoza. These schools were later consolidated into the School of Zaragoza, led by Bishop Braulio during the seventh century (who would later be made the patron saint of the university). The School of Arts officially became a university in 1542, though some scholars argue it could be considered a university of arts since 1477.

Foundation

The studium generale of arts, also called studio mayor or primitive University of Zaragoza, was in the Magdalena and St. Nicholas neighborhoods. Its main building was a broad tower of circular base on the old wall of the city, and it had more than 20 chambers distributed in three different floors. Besides the normal chambers that were granted and rented by the university to both pupils and teachers, on the first floor the tower had the chamber called general mayor, where the grades were given, and also a library. On the second floor were the prison, the latrines and the doorkeeper's chamber. Finally, on the last floor there were bigger rooms with balconies, and the chamber of the four Masters of Arts. The studium had also bought more chambers in the tower surroundings and on the city wall; the most important were the five chambers called El Cocinador, and eleven more in the studium's square, called El Corralet chambers.

The studium's head was the chancellor, a position always held by the archbishop of Zaragoza, and the second in command was the vice-chancellor, who was also the high master of the studium. The high master collected taxes from any pupil, with the exception of the poor, the cleric from La Seo cathedral, or any student he would want to forgive such payment. Under him were the four masters of arts, four positions reserved for selected individuals who held a master of arts degree, and who were in charge of teaching liberal arts. Under them there were the bachilleres, who mostly taught advanced Latin grammar, and the camareros, who provided more basic Latin lessons. The lowest-ranking teachers were the cubicularios, also called repetidores in other studiums, who merely repeated the lessons from the other teachers. The studium also had a rector, who was an apostolic position that represented the archbishop's power in this primitive university, and had the power of approving all the academic positions in the studium, and administrated the fees from the students for reparations and other needs of the university.

The primitive University of Zaragoza had a Faculty of Aristotelian Logic and another of philosophy (it included both natural philosophy and Aristotelian ethics), and all together they formed the Faculty of Arts. But this studium generale also had a Faculty of Grammar, which had several hundred students during the early 16th century, while the Faculty of Arts had near 50. In order to get their grades, the students had to be endorsed by another older student or teacher, pass private exams, and pay fees. Lessons were taught in the mornings and afternoons, which meant that many of them would rent chambers to stay in at night.

This primitive University of Zaragoza had physician master Pedro La Cabra as its first high master, and after him the maestre Luis Gorriz, who died in 1510. After him, the archbishop appointed his personal physician, master Juan Tarabal, who remained in this position until 1520, when the archbishop died because of the plague. That year Tarabal was substituted by master Gaspar Lax, a prolific author and prominent European figure in logic, philosophy and mathematics, whose works were used in many other contemporaneous universities. Lax had been teaching in the University of Paris and later in the university of Huesca, and from 1520 he was simultaneously high master and one of the four masters of arts. This high master had Erasmian friends, both in Paris and Zaragoza, and allowed Erasmus's works to be taught in this studium. The same year, 1520, Michael Servetus – the brilliant nephew of Gaspar Lax – started his studies under the direction of his uncle and the other three masters of arts (Exerich, Ansías, Miranda, Carnicer, Villalpando). Servetus became himself a Master of Arts in 1525, a position he held until 1527, when he had a brawl with his uncle Gaspar Lax, and after being expelled from the studium he left Spain for Toulouse Studium Generale. Lax remained the high master until his death in 1560.

Recent history

The university, with a total of about 40,000 students, has a teaching staff of about 3,000 in different positions and an administrative and technical staff of about 2,000. It is distributed across campuses located in Zaragoza, Huesca and Teruel.

The University of Zaragoza covers a wide spectrum of knowledge organized within the areas of engineering and technology, experimental sciences, health sciences, social and juridical sciences and humanities. In 2010, the University of Zaragoza had six research institutes, one affiliated research institute, five joint research institutes and three research centers. At this time, the annual figure allocated by the University of Zaragoza to research and development was €60 million. By 2011, the university had an estimated 3,803 researchers and 8,305 partnering companies.

Immunotherapy cancer research in Aragon

The University of Zaragoza is one of the world leaders in immunotherapy cancer research. A large amount of this research is led by the individual teams of Julián Pardo, Luis Martinez and Alberto Anel. Their research has led to significant contributions in the understanding of cancer cell immunity and they have numerous patents intended for cancer treatments.