In 1541 the Congregation elected Vermigli to the important post of prior of Basilica of San Frediano in Lucca. The prior at San Frediano exercised some episcopal authority over half the city, as well as control of the Lateran's religious houses. As at his earlier post in Spoleto, the monks of the San Frediano monastery as well as the clergy of Lucca were known for moral laxity, which led to an openness to the new Lutheran religion there. Vermigli saw his task as one of education as well as moral correction. He set up a college based on humanist principles of education and modelled on the newly founded St John's College, Cambridge, and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Instruction was in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. Among the professors were the humanists Immanuel Tremellius, Paolo Lacizi, Celio Secondo Curione, and Girolamo Zanchi, all of whom would later convert to Protestantism. The Congregation recognised Vermigli's work by appointing him to a disciplinary commission of seven canons in May 1542.