to Leuven University, founded in 1426. The foundation was confirmed by a Bull of Pope Paul IV on 31 July 1559, confirmed by Pope Pius IV on 6 January 1560. The letters patent of Philip II, dated 19 January 1561, authorized five faculties: Theology, Canon Law, Civil Law, Medicine, and Arts. The formal inauguration took place on 5 October 1562, when there was a public procession of the Blessed Sacrament, and a sermon was preached in the market-place by François Richardot, the Bishop of Arras. The university's first chancellor was the Englishman Richard Smith. Recent studies are coming to view the 16th century foundation of the University of Douai as an important institution of its time, and efforts are being made to reconstruct a portrait of the different aspects of its life, including prosopographies of its professors and students, especially for its Habsburg period. College du Roi (1562), College d'Anchin (1568) and College de Marchiennes (1570) The first university college established at Douai was the "College du Roi" (King's college), which opened in 1562. A second college was established in 1564 but was replaced by the College d'Anchin (1568). Another college supported by the Abbey of Marchiennes opened in 1570. These colleges were not only places of accommodation for students but also places of lectures. Royal appointed lecturers represent only a tenth of the three hundred teachers in the faculty. The faculty of the Jesuit College included up to 145 teachers and was considered as the most important center of power in the university. English College in Douai (1562–1793) Although the university was founded on the model of Louvain, from which it also drew the majority of the first professors, it also felt the influence of the English in its early years, several of the chief posts being held by Englishmen, mostly from Oxford. This makes it reasonable to suppose that many of the traditions of Catholic Oxford were perpetuated at Douai. The University's first Chancellor was Dr Richard Smyth, former Fellow of Merton College, Oxford and Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford. The Regius Professor of Canon Law at Douai for many years was Dr Owen Lewis, a former Fellow of New College, Oxford who had held the corresponding post at Oxford. The first principal of Marchiennes College was Richard White (Richard Gwyn), another former Fellow of New College, while after taking his licentiate at Douai in 1560, William