In pursuance of this policy, she had to react against the learning and the culture of the classical revival; and her views were seconded not only by the overwhelming political force of Spain in the Peninsula, but also by the petty princes who felt that their existence was imperiled.
Independence of judgment was rigorously proscribed in all academies and seats of erudition.

New methods of education and new text-books were forbidden.

Professors found themselves hampered in their choice of antique authors.

Only those classics which were sanctioned by the Congregation of the Index could be used in lecture-rooms.

On the one hand, the great republican advocates of independence had incurred suspicion.