The Cosentian Academy was founded in Cosenza

Cosenza

Cosenza is a city in southern Italy, located at the confluence of two historic rivers: the Busento and the Crathis. The municipal population is of around 70,000; the urban area, however, counts over 260,000 inhabitants...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, by Aulo Giano Parassio, in 1511. Initially named after its founder, Accademia Parassiana, it was dedicated to philosophical and literary studies. After Parassio’s death (in 1543) Bernardino Telesio

Bernardino Telesio

Bernardino Telesio was an Italian philosopher and natural scientist.While his natural theories were later disproven, his emphasis on observation made him the "first of the moderns" who eventually developed thescientific method.-Biography:...

 reorganized the academy, which was renamed Accademia Telesiana (Telesian Academy). A few years before Telesio’s death (in 1588) the Telesian Academy moved under the control of Sertorio Quattromani, who named it Accademia Cosentina. Around 1593, following the conspiracy of Tommaso Campanella

Tommaso Campanella

Tommaso Campanella OP , baptized Giovanni Domenico Campanella, was an Italian philosopher, theologian, astrologer, and poet.-Biography:...

 and Antonio Serra

Antonio Serra

Antonio Serra was a late 16th century Italian philosopher and economist in the Mercantilist tradition.Little is known about his life. He was born in Cosenza in the late 16th century. When working in Naples, he applied himself to solving the enormous social and economic problems created by the...

, who wanted to free Calabria from the Spanish viceroy system, the Academy was closed down. In 1608, however, the Church opened a new Academy, the Accademia dei Costanti, under the patronage of His Grace Constanzo. This new Academy was, in effect, the restoration of the Accademia Cosentina, but with the greater part of its members being from the Church. The Accademia dei Costanti continued under the guidance of Costanzo until his death in 1617. Around 1649 Archbishop Giuseppe Sanfelice founded in Cosenza the Accademia dei Negligenti, which lasted until his death in 1660. In 1668 the Accademia dei Costanti became active again under the leadership of the poet Pirro Schettini until his death in 1678 . In 1756 Gaetano Greco revived the old Academy changing its name to Accademia dei Pescatori Cratilidi, but this attempt at revival lasted only until 1794. In 1811, the Academy was revived through the work of Matteo Galdi, and named the Istituto Cosentino. In late 1817, the King gave his approval for it to take once again the name Accademia Cosentina.

On 11 June 1871 the Cosentian Academy founded the Civic Library (Biblioteca Civica), which remained inactive until 4 March 1898 when it was officially inaugurated.