e inmates of the nobles'
college of St Michael. These colleges were offshoots from and attached
to the Augustinian monastery of Santa Cruz, an important religious and
scholastic establishment, where the poet's uncle D. Bento de Camoens, a
virtuous and very learned man, was professed. The Renaissance, though
late in penetrating into Portugal, had by this time definitely
triumphed, and the university of Coimbra, after its reform in 1537 under
the auspices of King John III., boasted the best teachers drawn from
every country, among them George Buchanan. The possession of classical
culture was regarded as the mark of a gentleman; the colleges of Santa
Cruz required conversation within the walls to be in Greek or Latin, and
the university, when it absorbed the colleges, adopted the same rule. In
these surroundings, aided by a retentive memory, Camoens steeped himself
in the literature and mythology of the ancients, as his works show, and
he was thus able in after years to perfect the Portuguese language and
to enrich it with many neologisms of classical origin. It is fortunate,
however, for his country and his fame that he never followed the fashion
of writing in Latin; on the contrary, except for his Spanish poems, he
always employed his native tongue. After completing his grammar and
rhetoric the poet entered on his university course for the degree of
bachelor of arts, which lasted for three years, from 1539 to 1542, and
during this period he met Jorge de Montemayor, the author of _Diana_,
who was then studying music. He seems to have imbibed much of that
encyclopaedic instruction to which the humanists aspired, for his
writings show a very extensive reading, and his scientific knowledge and
faculty of observation compelled the admiration of the great Humboldt.
The thoroughness of his teaching is apparent when we remember that he
wrote his epic in the fortresses of Africa and Asia, far from books, and
yet gave proof of acquaintance with universal history, geography,
astronomy, Greek and Latin literature, and the modern poetry of Italy
and Spain. Much of the credit for this learning must be attributed to
the encouragement of D. Bento, now prior of Santa Cruz, who became
chancellor of the university the very year when Camoens entered it.
There is a tradition that this uncle destined him for the church and
caused him to study theology. The poet's knowledge of dogma and the
Bible, his friendly intercourse with the Lisbon Dominic