COMPLUTENSES. — This name is given to those Discalced Carmelites who were professors of philosophy at the college of St Cyril in Alcalá de Henares (Complutum) and who published a philosophical course in the form of Disputations on the works of Aristotle, drawn up according to the genuine doctrine of St Thomas Aquinas.
The course first appeared in 4 vols. under the title: *Collegium Complutense philosophicum, hoc est artium cursus, sive disputationes in Aristotelis, dialecticam et philosophiam naturalem, juxta Angelici Doctoris D. Thomae doctrinam et eius scholam* (Alcalá 1624 et seq.). The first volume, dealing with logic, was written by Michele della S.ma Trinità (d. 1661); the other three, which concern physics and psychology, by Antonio della Madre di Dio (d. 1641). The French Carmelite Biagio della Concezione (d. 1694) added the part concerning metaphysics (2 vols., Paris 1640–42) and the part concerning ethics (ibid. 1647). The course, however, not being very suitable on account of its length for students, was abridged, better arranged and enriched with disputations to supplement the material by Giovanni dell’Annunziata (5 vols., Lyons 1669–71; Cologne 1732) under the title: *Collegium Complutense... cursus ad breviorum formam collectus et novo ordine ac faciliori stylo dispositus*; in which the doctrine is not personal but represents the official thought of the Order. The course and its compendium enjoyed many editions and were established in the schools of many nations and of several religious Orders, on account of their clarity and above all for their attachment to St Thomas; and they paved the way for the *Samlanticenses* (q.v.), also of the same Order, professors at Salamanca, who published the theological course.