Such Roman Academies were always connected to larger educational structures conceived during and following the Italian Renaissance, at the height of which (from the close of the Western Schism in 1418 to the middle of the 16th century) there were two main intellectual centers, Florence and Rome.
Scientific, literary, and artistic culture attained there a development as intense as it was multiform, and the earlier Roman and Florentine academies were typical examples of this variety.
One of several meeting places for scholarly events and discussion was the house of the Cardinal and Byzantine Greek exile Basilios Bessarion, which itself has come to be referred to as an academia (academy).
A thrifty humanist scholar who refused the customary patronage of rich cardinals, Pomponio Leto hosted a circle of friends who shared in the pagan-influenced humanism which was becoming characteristic of the Renaissance in Rome and elsewhere.
At a time when Rome was rife with political intrigue fomented by the Roman barons and the neighbouring princes, Paul II (1464–71) arrested Pomponio and the leaders of the Academy on charges of irreligion, immorality, and an alleged conspiracy against the pope.
The 16th century saw at Rome a great increase of literary and aesthetic circles or 'academies', more or less inspired by the Renaissance, all of which assumed, as was the fashion, odd and fantastic names.
As a rule these academies, all very much alike, were merely circles of friends or clients gathered around a learned man or wealthy patron, and were dedicated to literary pastimes rather than methodical study.
It was at this point that academies became practical and efficacious instruments of culture, with a direct influence on public opinion; in this way, too, they claimed the special attention of the heads of the state.
After the French Revolution and the restoration to Rome of the papal government, the new conditions suggested the adoption of the "Academy" as a link between the old and the new, and as a means of invigorating ecclesiastical culture and of promoting the defence of the Church.
This literary academy was founded in 1690 by Giovanni Mario Crescimbeni and Gian Vincenzo Gravina, in memory of Queen Christina of Sweden, who had abdicated the Swedish crown in 1654 and converted to Catholicism, moving to Rome where she spent much of the rest of her life and became renowned as patron of arts and music.
After her death in 1689, the Academy of Arcadia was established in her memory, electing the late Queen Christina of Sweden as its symbolical head ("Basilissa").
The Arcadians proposed to return to the fields of truth, always singing of subjects of pastoral simplicity, drawing their inspiration from Greco-Roman bucolic poetry.
Clement XII gave it formal recognition in 1718 and assigned it a hall in the Sapienza (University of Rome), thereby making it a source of encouragement for young students of theology.
In 1720 Clement XIII ordered that among its members twenty indigent secular priests should receive for six years from the papal treasury an annual allowance of fifty scudi and, other things being equal, should have the preference in competitive examinations.
This academy was the product of the notable 18th century movement in liturgical studies which owed so much to the great theologian and liturgist, Benedict XIV (1745-8).
It continues its work under the direction of the Lazarists, and holds frequent conferences in which liturgical and cognate subjects are treated from the historical and the practical point of view.
This academy arose from an urgent need to organize Catholic apologetics in response to the anti-Christian polemics of the "Encyclopédie", coupled with events surrounding the Revolution.
The Roman priest Giovanni Fortunato Zamboni founded it in 1801, with the avowed aim of defending the dogmatic and moral teaching of the Church.
A number of these dissertations have been printed, and form a collection of several volumes entitled "Dissertazioni lette nella Pontificia Accademia Romana di Religione Cattolica".
One of the members, A. Coppi, drew up its first rules, according to which the Academy was to devote itself to the study of Latin and Italian literature, hold a weekly meeting, and a public session monthly.
The historiographer of the Academy was to edit its history and to collect the biographies of famous men, Romans or residents in Rome, who had died since the foundation of the "Tiberina".
When Leo XII ordered (1825) that all the scientific associations in Rome should be approved by the Sacred Congregation of Studies, the "Tiberina received official recognition; its field was enlarged, so as to include research in art, commerce, and especially in agriculture.
Pius VII had done much for the promotion of agriculture in the States of the Church, and Leo XII was desirous of continuing the good work of his predecessor.
Under Gregory XVI, in 1831, a year of grave disorders and political plottings, the Academy was closed, but it was soon reopened by the same pontiff, who desired the "Tiberina" to devote itself to general culture, science, and letters, Roman history and archaeology, and to agriculture.
Its meetings are held weekly, and in 1873 it began to publish bimonthly reports of its proceedings under the title "Memorie per gli Atti della Pont.
When Leo XIII at the beginning of his pontificate undertook the restoration of scholastic philosophy and theology, this academy was founded (1880) for the diffusion of Thomistic doctrine.
Some are Roman, and others are foreign: It was founded in 1701 by Clement XI, to prepare for the diplomatic service of the Holy See a body of men trained in the juridical sciences and in other requisite branches of learning.
The academic course includes ecclesiastical diplomacy, political economy, diplomatic forms (stile diplomatico), the principal foreign languages, and, in addition, internships at the bureaux of various congregations for such students as wish to prepare themselves for an office in any of these bodies.
We may mention, besides the above-named founders, Carissimi; Frescobaldi, the organist; Giuseppe Tartini, violinist and author of a new system of harmony; and Muzio Clementi, pianist.
Its proceedings are published annually in the "Nuovo Bulletino di Sacra Archeologia”, and its sessions are held in the palace of the Cancelleria Apostolica.