In 1601, the Colegio de San José was set up as an annex of Colegio Seminario de San Ignacio. Twenty years later, Pope Gregory XV, through the Archbishop of Manila, authorized the Colegio Seminario de San Ignacio to confer degrees in theology and arts and elevated it into a university. In 1623, Philip IV of Spain confirmed the authorization, making the school both a pontifical and a royal university, and the very first university in the Philippines and in Asia. In 1722, the Colegio de San José was granted "royal patronage".