English College of St Gregory
The English College of St Gregory was a Roman Catholic seminary in Seville, Spain. It was founded by the English Jesuit Robert Persons in 1592, when Roman Catholicism was illegal in England, to provide his native country with priests.
The dedication of the college to St Gregory recalls the Gregorian mission of AD 596, which resulted in the Anglo-Saxons being converted to Christianity.
In 1596, in Seville, Persons wrote Memorial for the Reformation of England, concerning how England might be returned to the Roman Catholic faith.
The institution was short of funds, but it was supported by the Jesuits until Charles III expelled the order from Spain in 1767. Its assets were then transferred to the English College, Valladolid, which had also been founded by Persons. This continued to function under the protection of the Spanish crown.
