A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE
A question often asked of us (both in Spain and in Scotland)
is: Why is there a Scots College in Salamanca.. or even
in Spain? The answer begins in 1560 when the Scots Parliament
outlawed the practice of the Catholic religion in Scotland.
To ensure a supply of priests for the Scottish Mission,
seminaries were founded at Tournay (later moved to Douay),
Rome, Paris and Madrid. Honourable mention should also be
made of the Benedictine monasteries of Regensburg and Würzburg
which also provided priests for Scotland in those difficult
times.
Colonel
William Semple of Lochwinnoch, after a life spent in the
military and diplomatic service of the Spanish crown, founded
(with his wife, Doña María de Ledesma) a college
in Madrid in 1627, entrusting its running to the Jesuits.
Their deed of foundation stipulated that the college was
for students "Scottish by birth, preferably those of
superior character and virtue and those who promise more
fruit in the welfare of souls, and they have to spend whatever
time may be necessary in studying Grammar and Philosophy,
Theology, Controversies and Sacred Scripture, so that when
they are well versed in all of these, they may proceed to
the said Kingdom of Scotland to preach the Gospel and convert
heretics... when they leave the said seminary for this purpose,
others are to be received in their place having the same
end, and thus the matter will continue for as long as the
aforesaid conversion may require".
For
various reasons too complex to treat here, the College in
Madrid did not produce very many priests for the mission
in Scotland and at times was almost on the verge of extinction.
Such was the case when in 1771 John Geddes (later to be
Vicar Apostolic of the Lowland District in Scotland) obtained
from Carlos III the use of the former Jesuit Colegio de
San Ambrosio in Valladolid. Luckily, for us Scots at least,
in 1767 the king had suppressed the Society of Jesus in
his realm and many of the former Jesuit buildings lay empty.
The original Cédula Real (Royal Charter) of 1771
granting us part of the building was followed in the same
decade by others which gave us the use of more of the building
and granted us similar constitutions and rights as had the
English Colegio de San Albano, founded in Valladolid in
1589.
From its new base Valladolid, the Royal Scots College sent
a steady stream of priests to Scotland, achieving one of
our finest hours when by 1798 we remained the only Scots
seminary on the Continent functioning when the other colleges
were suppressed in the turmoil which followed the French
Revolution and the rise of Napoleon, although we too had
to close our doors briefly from 1808-1816 due to the Peninsular
War. In 1812 our country house, built in the village of
Boecillo less than twenty years previously, twice played
host to the Duke of Wellington and his army in the course
of his campaigns against the French. It is also worth noting
that in the early 19th century a number of priests trained
in Valladolid went as chaplains with the Scots who were
driven from their highland homes to seek refuge in Canada;
some of these priests became founding bishops of dioceses
there.
While the College had a long and fruitful stay of more
than two hundred years in Valladolid, occupied a distinguished
building in that city and had many friends and pastoral
contacts there, the decision was taken to move to the beautiful
University city of Salamanca in 1988: this was done principally
to give our students the possibility of attending the Pontifical
University (established by Pius XII in 1940, restoring the
ancient Salmantino tradition of teaching Theology and Canon
Law to the highest level), thus allowing them access to
S.T.L. and J.C.L. degrees.
For
some years after our arrival in the 'City by the Tormes'
we rented a building from the Marist Brothers and ended
up buying it from them. This building, while in a very pleasant
site, bore all the hallmarks of a Spanish 'rush job' of
the mid 60's; these hallmarks were exacerbated in 1992 when
we were linked up for the first time with the city mains
water supply... and the plumbing system could not cope.
The virtually continuous presence of plumbers and electricians
convinced us that drastic measures were needed... and we
took them.
Having taken architectural advice from Scotland and from
Spain, we embarked on the great adventure of la reforma;
a process which, painful though it sometimes was, has given
us the building we solemnly blessed in October 1996 and
now occupy with pride (and comfort). And why are we still
here? Read again the quote from the deed of foundation (making
ecumenical changes where necessary): that students trained
here "may proceed to Scotland and Preach the Gospel".
From an article
by Denis Carlin
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Monsignor
Joseph Toal, a priest of the 
