The Academy is based in Yuste, Spain because that is where emperor Charles the Vth spent his last years after having brought a major part of Europe under his rule (he died there in 1558).
The European Academy of Yuste consists of symbolic chairs, each of which bears the name of an already dead but all-time outstanding European (Socrates, Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, Cervantes…). These chairs are held on a honorary basis.

The Academy was founded in 1992 by the regional government of Extremadura.