Question: How can I go about loading a Spring context with my own `ClassLoader` instance?

Answer: 
Many Spring Context Loader (for example [ClassPathXmlApplicationContext](http://static.springsource.org/spring/docs/3.0.x/api/org/springframework/context/support/ClassPathXmlApplicationContext.html)
) are subclass of [DefaultResourceLoader](http://static.springsource.org/spring/docs/3.0.x/api/org/springframework/core/io/DefaultResourceLoader.html).

`DefaultResourceLoader` has a [constructor](http://static.springsource.org/spring/docs/3.0.x/api/org/springframework/core/io/DefaultResourceLoader.html#DefaultResourceLoader%28java.lang.ClassLoader%29) where you can specify the Classloader and also has a [`setClassLoader`](http://static.springsource.org/spring/docs/3.0.x/api/org/springframework/core/io/DefaultResourceLoader.html#setClassLoader%28java.lang.ClassLoader%29) method.

So it is your task to find a constructor of the Spring Context Loader you need, where you can specify the classloader, or just create it, and then use the set to set the classloader you want.
```
    final ClassLoader properClassLoader = YourClass.class.getClassLoader();

    appContext = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext("application-context.xml") {

        protected void initBeanDefinitionReader(XmlBeanDefinitionReader reader) {
            super.initBeanDefinitionReader(reader);
            reader.setValidationMode(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.VALIDATION_NONE);
            reader.setBeanClassLoader(properClassLoader);
            setClassLoader(properClassLoader);

```

See here if you are doing this for OSGI purposes: [How do I use a Spring bean inside an OSGi bundle?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8039931/how-do-i-use-a-spring-bean-inside-an-osgi-bundle)