old schools began to be filled, and the newly endowed Salamanca excelled them all. It was called the "Spanish Athens", and was said at one time to have seven thousand students. It was there that Peter Martyr gave lessons on Juvenal (1488), before such an immense audience that the entrance to the hall was completely blocked up and the lecturer had to be carried in on the shoulders of the students.[1] It should be mentioned to the credit of Salamanca that her Doctors encouraged the designs of Columbus, and that the Copernican system found early acceptance in its lecture rooms.[2]
In the beginning of the sixteenth century other schools for higher education were established at Toledo, Seville, Granada, Ognate, Ossuna, and Valencia. But all these schools were far excelled by the new university of Alcala, founded by Ximenez in 1500. It was so magnificent an establishment that the Spaniards called it the "eighth wonder of the world." The college of San Ildefonso was the head of the new university. Moreover, Ximenez founded several other institutions, adapted to all kinds of wants. Most renowned was the "College of Three Languages" for the study of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. For poor young students in the classics, Ximenez endowed two boarding schools, where forty-two scholars were supported three years free of expense. The students attended the lectures given by the six professors of languages,
