 The New Cathedral was originally the church of the Jesuit Formation house of Coimbra, established in the city in 1543.In 1759, the Jesuit Order was banned from Portugal by the Marquis of Pombal, Prime Minister of King José I.In 1772, the bishopric seat was transferred from the old Romanesque Cathedral of the city (now called the Old Cathedral of Coimbra) to the vacant, spacious and more modern Jesuit church.