1429

The Almo Collegio Castiglioni, the most ancient among the colleges of Pavia and, accordingly, of Italy, was founded by the Cardinal Branda Castiglioni, a powerful and influential prince of the Church, under the protection of Saint Augustine. Pope Martino IV, by note on 19th March 1429, allowed the Cardinal to build in Pavia a college for twenty-four students who were poor but with refined intellectual gifts and good morals; who were both religious and laic, Italians and foreigners and wanted to “insistere studere et proficere” in one of the faculties of the general Studium of Pavia: theology, civil law, medicine and arts.

1475

REVERENDISSIMUS DOMINUS BRANDA EPISCOPUS CUMANUS MORIMUNDI COMENDATARIUS AC [ducali con ] SILIARIUS HO/ OPPUS FIERI INSTITUTUIT RECTORE DOMINO IACOBO DE VITTUDONO CUMANO ET LAUDENSI [canonico]ANNO 1475 DIE 23 DECEMBRIS

The engraving located in the northern wall of the Castiglioni’s Chapel refers to the great-grandson of the homonymous cardinal, the founder of the College. He was Bishop of Como, Jurisconsult, orator and advisor of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the one who commissioned the frescos of the Chapel. These are pictorial testimonies of Pavia before the arrival of Bramante in Lombardia. These frescos depict the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Adoration of the three wise men, the Resurrection and the symbols of the four Evangelists. The available sources cannot indicate precisely the master, or masters, who created such frescos. In the past, these were attributed to a team of painters guided by Vincenzo Foppa and Bonifacio Bembo. In fact, these two famous painters, on the 28th of September 1475, rented a house that overlooked the College because they were decorating, with paintings representing the life of Christ, the partition of the Church of San Giacomo alla Vernavola. Recent studies have challenged the paternity of the College frescos so as to identify, generically, “the Master of the Castiglioni’s Chapel or Master of the Castiglioni’s Annunciata” as the director of the worksite.

1803

An Ordinance of the Vice-president of the Italian Republic, issued on the 5th of Dicember 1803, established that the Castiglioni College be aggregated to Ghislieri College, becoming, in that period, “National College”. It should have assumed the denomination of “National and United Castiglioni College”, and the total patronage of the foundation and the right of nominating its alumni, who would have enjoyed the same treatment and respected the same rules of the Ghislieri’s boarders, remained under the control of the grandchildren’s descendants of the Cardinal Branda.

1805

The buildings of the College and its garden were auctioned and then purchased by the Brugnatelli’s family. Four distinguished professors of the University of Pavia came from this family: Luigi Valentino (1761-1818), an internationally renowned chemist, founder of the electrochemistry and discoverer of the electroplating; his son Gaspare (1795-1852) who, from the chair of chemistry moved to that of natural history and technology; Tullio (1824-1906), son of Gaspare, professor of general chemistry who became rector of the University and Luigi (1859-1928), son of Tullio, chair of mineralogy teaching and founder of the mineralogy master. Luigi Brugnatelli did not have heirs, and, for this reason, he left the College to the Pavia municipality with the request to make it available to the University.

1954

The town of Pavia donated the Castiglioni Brugnatelli College to the University, thanks to the request of the then Great Rector of the University, Prof. Plinio Fraccaro, who instituted the first female University College of Pavia.