CONIMBRICENSES. - This is the name given to those Jesuits, professors of philosophy at the University of Coimbra, who, between the final years of the sixteenth century and the early years of the seventeenth, published a complete philosophical course, developed upon an Aristotelian foundation, but in an entirely personal manner.
The lectures, first written down by the students from dictation, had multiplied in defective copies; therefore the Father General Claudio Acquaviva ordered the Provincial of Portugal, Pedro Fonseca, to see to their publication in print.
The course, bearing the general title Commentarii Collegii Conimbricensis S. I., comprises, in 4 vols., divided into eight parts, the whole subject matter of the philosophy of that time and is due in particular to Fathers Pedro Fonseca, Emmanuel Goes, Cosmas Magalhaens, Balthasar Alvarez, Sebastian Couto. The best editions are those of Lisbon (1592-1606) and those immediately following, almost year by year, of Cologne and Lyons; all won wide approval for their fluent Latin, their clear and guiding explanation of the Aristotelian text, their extensive and subtle discussions, and their broad knowledge of the literature on the works of the Greek philosopher.