The College of St. Omer was a an expatriate institution for the Catholic education of English students, that operated from about 1594 to 1793. It was located at Saint-Omer, in Artois, France. Through most of its history, it was operated by the Jesuits.

Founding

During the reign of Elizabeth I Catholic education was outlawed in England. The English church had created several colleges in continental Europe to make up for this, at Douai, Rome, and Valladolid, but these primarily addressed the training of priests. Father Robert Parsons, S.J. (1546-1610), had been instrumental in founding the school at Valladolid, but recognized a need for a school for laymen. Saint-Omer was chosen as a site conveniently close to England (it is 24 miles from Calais), and ruled by Spain as part of Flanders.

The college was originally founded in 1594 as the English Jesuit College at St. Omer in Flanders. In 1599 it gained the direct patronage of King Philip. After an initial period of growth and prosperity, the unrest caused by the English Civil War caused the number of students to drop as low as 24 in 1645. As stability returned to the government, the school's effectiveness was also restored.

French rule

St. Omer and much of the province of Artois were formally ceded to France in 1658. But the Catholic French monarchy was as friendly to the school as the Spanish crown had been before. As the eighteenth century began, two fires ravaged to town and the university. But each time it was rebuilt, and even expanded. Buildings from this second reconstruction in the 1720s remained in use into the twentieth century, serving as a military hospital in World War I.

The college enjoyed its greatest period of prosperity, which extended from around 1720 to 1762. During a period when formal sworn affiliation with the Church of England was required to attend Oxford and Cambridge, it provided advanced education for several generations of English Catholics. Since the colleges founded in the American colonies were also church affiliated, Catholic families there sent young men to St. Omer for education.

Final years

In 1762, the Jesuits were formally expelled from France, beginning the college's decline and eventual end. The expulsion split the college. The Jesuit faculty and many of the students fled to Belgium, and operated for a time under the protection of the Bishop of Liege. King Louis XV continued the college at St. Omer, under the direction of secular clergy. When the Jesuit order was suppressed everywhere in 1773, this dual system ended, but the college never regained its prominence.

In 1793, the French Revolution ended the St. Omer college. The faculty and students were imprisoned until February, 1795. English penal laws had changed regarding Catholic education, so when released, some of the staff and most of the then about 100 students returned to England. A former student, Thomas Ward, donated a mansion and grounds at Stonyhurst, in Lancashire. The modern school, Stonyhurst College continues as a direct descendant of the College of St. Omer.

External link

• Stonyhurst web site