Joseph Calasanz
Aragonese who opened in Rome the first free school for the poor in Europe, and saw his order suppressed at eighty-eight.
- Early modern era
- Spain
- Feast day August 25
- 1557 – 1648
- Priest
- Founder
Listen to the life 0:57
Having come to Rome to obtain a benefice, Joseph Calasanz found there the children of Trastevere and gave up every career: in 1597, in a sacristy, he opened a free school open to all — the first in Europe. It had a thousand pupils within ten years, and the Piarists spread to Italy, central Europe and Spain. Then came the fall: internal accusations, denunciations to the Inquisition, an old man of eighty-five led on foot through the streets between two officers, his deposition in 1643, and in 1646 the suppression of his order by Innocent X. He died two years later, at ninety, without seeing the rehabilitation, which came in 1656. Pius XII made him universal patron of Christian schools.
