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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.
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. From an article by Denis Carlin
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The
Royal Scots College Salamanca © 2005 |
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. 
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.