Its origin lies in the establishment of Cardinal Loazes, who created the so-called College of the Patriarch in accordance with his rank as Patriarch of Antioch, in the year 1547.
Through a papal bull from Pope Julius II (1510) and a favor from King Ferdinand the Catholic, the University would be built near their convent in the city - the convent of the Virgin of Succour-which once stood on the site now occupied by the church.