Close up of theplateresque façade of the University of Salamanca.Plateresque façade of the university facing a statue ofFray Luis de León.School Courtyard in the university.The old library of the University of Salamanca.Fray Luis de León's classroom.
Prior to the foundation of the university, Salamanca was home to a cathedral school, known to have been in existence by 1130. The university was founded as astudium generale by theLeonese kingAlfonso IX in 1218 as thescholas Salamanticae, with the actual creation of the university (or the transformation of the existing school into the university) occurring between August 1218 and the following winter.[1] A furtherroyal charter from King Alfonso X, dated 8 May 1254, established rules for the organisation andfinancial endowment of the university, and referred to it for the first time by that name.[11] Apapal bull ofAlexander IV in 1255 confirmed the Royal Charter of Alfonso X and granted universal recognition to the university's degrees.[12]
The historical phrasesQuod natura non dat, Salmantica non praestat (what nature does not give, Salamanca does not lend, in Latin) andMultos et doctissimos Salmantica habet (many and very versed Salamanca has) give an idea of the prestige the institution rapidly acquired.[13][failed verification]
WhileColumbus was lobbying the King and Queen for a contract to seek out a western route to the Indies, he made his case to a council of geographers at the University of Salamanca. While the geographers were skeptical of Columbus and his voyage calculations, the University of Salamanca always defended the theory of unknown territories to the west, and supported Columbus' voyage, believing that new territories may be discovered. In the next century, the morality and laws ofcolonization in theIndies were debated by theSchool of Salamanca, along with the development of the study ofscience,geography andcartography of theAmericas, and as well as the study of general subjects ofeconomics,philosophy andtheology.[citation needed]
Salamanca's colleges (Colegios Mayores) were founded as charitable institutions to enable poor scholars to attend the university. By the eighteenth century they had become closed corporations controlled by the families of their founders, and dominated the university between them. Most were destroyed by Napoleon's troops. In the 19th century, the Spanish government dissolved the university's faculties ofcanon law andtheology. They were later reestablished in the 1940s as part of thePontifical University of Salamanca.[citation needed]
The faculty renovated the theology department, laid the foundation for modern-day law, international law, modern economic science and actively participated in theCouncil of Trent. The school's mathematicians studied thecalendar reform, commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII and proposed the solution that was later implemented. By 1580, 6,500 new students had arrived at Salamanca each year, amongst the graduates were state officials of the Spanish monarchy administration. It was also during this period when the first female university students were probably admitted,Beatriz Galindo andLuisa de Medrano, the latter probably being the first woman ever to give classes at a university.[14]
In popular belief, the university was associated with sorcery. A certain cave in Salamanca was considered the site of a school of black magic. In Spanish, Salamanca may mean "cave", "an evil iguana" and "hand trick"[15] and thesalamanquesa (Tarentola mauritanica, the Spanish name is also derived from "salamander") is a reptile with magical attributes in Spanish tradition.[16]InRomanian folklore, the devil runs a school of black magic namedScholomance.
The name is derived from "Salamanca" and the wise king "Solomon".[17][18]
Salamanca draws undergraduate and graduate students from across Spain and the world; it is the top-ranked university in Spain based on the number of students coming from otherregions.[19] It is also known for its Spanish courses for non-native speakers, which attract more than two thousand foreign students each year.[20]
Scientific research is carried out in the university and research centers associated with it, such as at the Centro de Investigación del Cáncer [Cancer Research Centre],[21] Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León or INCyL [Institute of Neuroscience of Castile and León],[22] Centro de Láseres Pulsados Ultracortos Ultraintensos [Ultrashort Ultraintense Pulse Lasers Centre]. It is one of only twoHispanophone universities in the world that have aMoU with theUnited Nations to train language professionals for the organization.[23] In conjunction with theUniversity of Cambridge, the University of Salamanca co-founded theAssociation of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) in 1989.
In 2018, the institution celebrated its eighth centennial.[24]
Luisa de Medrano, (d. 1527) the first female professor at the University, teacher of Latin. The secondary school in Salamanca, IES Lucia de Medrano was named after her.
^Montaño Montero, Luisa, «Humanistas en la Corte de Isabel la Católica, Luisa de Medrano, ¿Primera catedrática en una universidad europea?», enCuadernos sobre Vico 27 (2013), p. 132.
Manuel Fernández Álvarez, Luis E. Rodríguez San Pedro & Julián Álvarez Villar,The University of Salamanca, Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, 1992.ISBN84-7481-701-3.
