The latin municipal school of Granada in the 16th century

Abstract

The latin school of Granada was one of the early examples of exclusively municipal schools in the reign of Castile. The school worked from as early as 1508 under the control and sponsorship of the city council of Granada. The constitution of the school presents a typical humanist latin school in which the studia humanitatis were taught and logic and religious instruction stood apart. Until 1522 the city council employed the bachiller Gonzalo Hernández as a teacher. Being substituted in 1523 due to the loss of his chair, he fi led a lawsuit against the city. The documentation of this case offers valuable information not only about the latin school but also about the less known general situation of education in Granada during the fi rst quarter of the 16th century. One of the witnesses, bachiller Gabriel de Olmedo, could have been the teacher of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza and also of Fray Luis de Granada. The history of the Granada municipal latin school ended with it being integrated into the new university.