Province of Bavaria. In 1438, he was elected a province inspector and in 1452 as vicar general assisted the prior general during the Provincial Chapter that was held in Ratisbon, Germany. One of the key moments for the Polish Augustinians in the sixteenth century happened on 31 December 1547. At that time the prior general, Jerome Seripando O.S.A., separated the Polish Augustinians from the Province of Bavaria, which had suffered ill effects of the Protestant Reformation in Germany. The Polish Province was placed under the invocation of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin Mary. Spain Province of St. John of Sahagun A significant Augustinian missionary college was established at the former Spanish capital of Valladolid in 1759—and this house was exempted from the suppression of monastic houses in Spain c.1835, later becoming the centre of restoration for the order in Spain. In 1885 Filipino Augustinians took charge of the famous Escorial, and friars continue to administer it today. The modern Augustinian province of Spain was refounded in 1926—largely through Spanish and Filipino friars from the Philippines. During the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) ninety eight Augustinians were murdered—sixty five friars from the Escorial alone were executed. As of 2006 there were 177 Spanish Augustinian friars, with 23 in simple profession. In 2019 The Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus of the Philippines of Spain was formally merged with three other Spanish Augustinian Provinces (Province of Castille, Province of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Matritense, and Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus of Spain) to create a unified Spanish Augustinian Province of St. John of Sahagun, a move which aims to restore the Augustinian Order in Spain, which has been in decline prior to the decision. As a consequence to the unification of these provinces, some of the province's circumscriptions or dependents have been elevated, like the Augustinian Vicariate of the Orient, which has been elevated as The Augustinian Province of the Philippines (a new, separate province from the Province of Cebu). United States Province of St. Thomas of Villanova (Eastern United States) The North American foundation of the Order took place in 1796, when Irish friars arrived in Philadelphia, and founded Olde St. Augustine's Church in Philadelphia. Michael Hurley was the first American to join the Order, the following year. In May 1844 anti-Catholic rioters burned the Church of Saint Augustine to the ground, together with