was transferred from the regular clergy to secular doctors. Caspar Meneses, doctor of medicine, and master of arts, was at that time appointed rector, under the protection of the viceroy, Don Francisco Toledo, who may be considered as the real founder of this seminary of learning.
It obtained the name of the university of St. Mark, instead of that of St. Domingo, by which it had been before distinguished, in 1574, at which time many titular saints having been proposed, the rectors, masters, and prelates, proceeded to draw the lots. The decision was in favour of St. Mark, who was declared the patron of the establishment. A convenient site for the ere6tion of a new building, in a central part of the city, having been made choice of in 1576, it was begun, and has progressively risen to the size and splendour which are admired at the present time.
The illustrious protector of the academy, Don Francisco Toledo, being desirous that the professorships and courses of public instruction should be permanently established, assigned to them a fund of twenty thousand three hundred and twelve piastres, arising from the tributes paid by the Indians. This fund having been secured, the lectures which were to be given daily by the professors were regulated as follows: two on grammar; one on the general Indian tongue, necessary at that time for the propagation of the gospel; three on philosophy; three on theology; three on laws; two on canons; and two on medicine.
The above rent being subject to the decrease of the numbers of the Indians on whom the contributions were levied, the receipts gradually fell off, until at length it became necessary to seek a more solid and secure fund for the discharge of the
