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Profilo storico | Historical Profile 67

The devolution of Ferrara to the Holy See in 1598 led the Reggio citi-
zens to hope for a relaunch of the city as seat of the Studies for the Este
states: it was an illusion and the opening of the Jesuits school and the
Episcopal Seminary (1619) entailed the opening of prestigious cultural
institutes, but independent respect the citizen University tradition.
Nevertheless, till 1772, the College of Judges and Lawyers continued to
award degrees, even though averagely only three per year, except for short
periods marked by more degrees. Also the degrees by the Medical College
went on, which had a famous exponent in Antonio Vallisneri (1661-1730).
The XVII and XVIII centuries saw the development of the academies, as
the one of the Mutes, the one of practical Jurisprudence and the one of
Infecund, this last was divided in chairs of teaching at the time present in
Reggio: Ordinary, Institute, moral Theology, Philosophy and Medicine.
In 1752, the higher education in Reggio was reunited by Francesco
III in the spaces of the Seminary, opened to laymen, which was placed
in Busetti Palace. The following year, the Este government issued then
a provisional Regulation for the university of the Studies of the city of Reggio
(figura: del provvedimento): for twenty years, the dual political structure
of the Dukedom of Modena and Reggio – always formally distinct –
seemed to be reflected in the analogous dualism of Academy.
The foundation of the Reggio Academy of Hypochondriacs (1747)
came back at the same period, a prestigious cultural pole, which included
personalities as Lazzaro Spalanzani, Agostino Paradisi and Bonaventura
Contri: after 1753, also the Hypochondriacs were transferred to the Pal-
ace of the Seminary, flowing progressively into the University of Reggio.
The eighteenth-century University, in Reggio, included teachings that
concerned moreover the Law (Canonical Institutions, Justinian Insti-
tutions, Civil ordinary Law and Canonic Law), the theological courses
(Dogmatic and moral Theology), medical courses (Theoretical and prac-
tical Medicine) and logical-mathematical courses.
After around twenty years, the “academic dualism” between the Reggio

Frontespizio del Regolamento provisionale Frontispiece of the Provisional Regulation
per l’Università degli Studi della città di Reggio, 1753 (foto GMO) for the University of Reggio, 1753 (photo by GMO)