three Germans set up their press there for a couple of
years.
The Reformation posed a massive challenge to the
universities in so far as their authority derived from the
Roman Catholic Church. Although the influence of great
teachers, such as ERASMUSat Fribourg and Johan REUCH-
LINat Tübingen, promoted humanist studies, in many
places the teaching of Greek fell under suspicion of en-
couraging heresy. Institutions such as the Dominican-
dominated university of Cologne led the antihumanist,
antireformist backlash (see EPISTOLAE OBSCURORUM VIRO-
RUM). New colleges and new universities however were
founded, more receptive to new ideas. The university of
Wittenberg, nursery of the Reformation, was founded in
1502 by imperial decree, although with papal approval.
Corpus Christi College, Oxford, founded in 1517, made
special provision for Greek instruction in its statutes; feel-
ings in Oxford ran so high over the question of Greek that
there were street brawls between the pro-Greek faction
and its opponents (dubbed, inevitably, “Trojans”).
The first Protestant university was founded at Mar-
burg (1527) by Luther’s supporter, PHILIP OF HESSE; it soon
attracted students from all over Europe. Other famous
Lutheran universities were Königsberg (1544), Jena
(1558), and Helmstedt (1575). Calvin’s GENEVAN ACAD-
EMY, although a theological college rather than a univer-
sity, similarly welcomed students from other countries. In
Scotland the universities of St. Andrews (founded 1411)
and Glasgow (1459) readily embraced Protestantism, the
latter being John KNOX’s university, while in England Cam-
bridge became a stronghold of Puritanism. Leyden, the
first Dutch university to be founded (1575), quickly es-
tablished an association with ARMINIANISM; in the 17th
century it also became famous for its science—a rare phe-
nomenon among universities at the time. During the Re-
naissance period advances in science were generally made
by individuals in the teeth of opposition from the Church
and the traditional academic establishment or left to pri-
vate enterprise, of which the college endowed in London
by Sir Thomas GRESHAMis an example.
The universities’ potential for assisting the COUNTER-
REFORMATIONwas speedily recognized by the Church,
spearheaded by the Jesuits, who had their own university,
the GREGORIANA, in Rome. As early as 1556 they estab-
lished themselves at Ingolstadt, which had long been a
bulwark against the reformers. Secular rulers sympathetic
to the Counter-Reformation cause might even found a
university and hand it over to the Jesuits to run, as Duke
Charles III of Lorraine did at Pont-à-Mousson in 1572. In-
deed, by 1600 the Jesuits had established a virtual mo-
nopoly over higher education in France, with the
exception of Paris. The universities of Spain, heartland of
Catholic orthodoxy, were renowned in the 16th century
for their study of scholastic philosophy, revitalized at Sala-
manca by Francisco de VITORIA.
Further reading: Jonathan Davies, Florence and Its
University during the Early Renaissance (Leyden, Nether-
lands: Brill, 1998); Paul F. Grendler, The Universities of the
Italian Renaissance (Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity Press, 2002).University Wits The name given by the critic G. E. B.
Saintsbury (1845–1933) to a distinct group of educated
young men in England who, lacking patrons, made their
living by writing for the theaters and bookstalls of the
1580s. Chief among them were Thomas LODGE and
George PEELEfrom Oxford, and Robert GREENE, Christo-
pher MARLOWE, and Thomas NASHEfrom Cambridge.Urbino A city and former ducal capital in the Marches
of central Italy. Umbrians, Etruscans, Celts, Gauls, Ro-
mans, and the Church ruled Urbino until it passed to the
MONTEFELTRO(1234–1508) and DELLA ROVERE FAMILIES
(1508–16, 1521–1631). As the ducal capital (1474–1536)
Urbino was an important center of culture and learning,
despite the political weakness of the duchy. When the cap-
ital was moved to Pesaro (1536) Urbino itself became a
minor mercantile center, known mainly for its MAJOLICA
ware.
During the reigns (1474–1508) of the two Montefel-
tro dukes, Federico and Guidobaldo, the city was admired
throughout Italy for its humanist learning and cultivated
ways. The court was the setting for Castiglione’s THE
COURTIER, the splendid ducal palace and library were built
to house the Montefeltro treasures and manuscripts, the
mausoleum of San Bernardino was constructed, and the
university was founded in 1506. The 15th-century cathe-
dral was destroyed by earthquake in the 18th century. BRA-
MANTEand RAPHAELwere born in Urbino, and Luciano
LAURANA, PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA, Girolomo GENGA, and
(probably) FRANCESCO DI GIORGIO MARTINIwere involved
in the construction of the Palazzo Ducale. Later Federico
BAROCCIwas the city’s principal artist.Urfé, Honoré d’ (1567–1625) French author
D’Urfé was born in Marseilles but as an active supporter of
the Catholic party, he was forced to leave France after its
defeat by Henry IV; he took refuge in the duchy of Savoy,
fighting for the duke, with whose family his mother was
connected, in the war between Savoy and Genoa. D’Urfé’s
best-known work is L’Astrée (1607–27; translated as As-
trea, 1657–78), a pastoral romance in five parts set in the
fifth century: the plot revolves around the love of the
shepherd Céladon for the shepherdess Astrée, their indi-
vidual adventures, and the lovers’ eventual reunion. L’As-
trée had a considerable influence on 17th-century
literature and outshone d’Urfé’s earlier writings, which in-
clude Epîtres morales (1598), inspired by the Platonic
theory of love, and the pastoral poem Sireine (1604).44880 0 UUnniivveerrssiittyy WWiittss