Henrique Leitão & José Maria Moreno Madrid

“Academiae Mathematicae Oropesani Collegii La primera Academia jesuita de Matemáticas en España (ca.1610-1614)”

The teaching of mathematics by the Society of Jesus in Spain was officially institutionalized in the Imperial College of Madrid in 1625. However, about a decade before, a brief teaching experiment regarding this topic took place at the San Bernardo College, in Oropesa (Toledo). There, an Academy of Mathematics led by the Dalmatian Jesuit Ivan Ureman operated, although only for two or three years and in an eminently informal manner. The aim of this article is to unravel the particularities of this singular experience, contextualizing it in the educational practices of the Society of Jesus during the Modern Age. A manuscript of the Royal Library of the Monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial coming from the San Bernardo College will be the main source for the study. It consists of a compilation of scientific compendia of various kinds that would have been used to instruct the students of the college. One of the compendia is, in fact, the only scientific text attributed to Ivan Ureman that has survived to the present day.