The Protestant Reformation took an early hold in Silesia. Its leading advocates were Frederick II of Liegnitz and George von Ansbach-Jägerndorf, who promoted the adoption of the new faith in his own duchy and in the pledged duchies of Oppeln and Ratibor. Breslau not only adopted the faith but, as the seat of the Provincial governor, also promoted Protestantism in Breslau. After the death of Ferdinand I in 1564 only the bishop of Breslau, the rulers and lordships of Loslau, Pleß and Trachtenberg and 10% of the population remained Catholic. Silesia became closer to the center of the Protestant Reformation, Brandenburg and Saxony, and the country produced several important Protestant intellectuals. In 1526 Silesia received the first Protestant university of Europe when Frederick II opened an evangelical academy in Liegnitz. This school closed three years later due to economic difficulties and theological disputes between Lutherans and followers of Caspar Schwenckfeld, a sectarian and confidant of Frederick II whose ideas became popular.