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History of Salamanca University

By Amy Lambert

History of the University of SalamancaThe University of Salamanca was founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX, making it the oldest university in Spain and one of the oldest in the world. To this day it has maintained its excellent reputation as an academic institution and throughout the years some great Spanish minds have studied and taught there, such as Miguel de Cervantes, Christopher Columbus and Miguel de Unamuno.

In 1954 and 1955 some important documentation was created by the king and Pope Alexander IV, to confirm its status as a university, validate the degrees that it awarded and organise funding. At this time, the Pope recognised it as one of the world´s four great academic institutions, along with the universities of Oxford, Bologna and Paris. To begin with the university had 5 faculties: canon law (law of the Christian church) law, theology, medicine and arts and philosophy. There was also complementary teaching of languages, maths and music. During the middle ages, the regulation of the university was done by the Papacy. Afterwards, as of the 16th century the decisions were handed over to the Monarch and his council. The regulation included deciding what books would be used and what topics would be covered by each degree.

The ´golden era´ of the university took place during the 16th century. Gold and valuables that had been retrieved from the colonies was used to help finance the university and the many new ideas and concepts coming from its students and teachers. The university was part of the humanist movement, which, contrary to past academic studies, focused on the study of human beings and their rights, steering away from Catholic influences. These new ideas made up what was know as the School of Salamanca, lead by Francisco de Vitoria, and touched on the topics of human equality (particularly in light of the recent conquest of the Americas), the rights of people and the state, and the international community. At the end of the 16th century the University of Salamanca counted around 6,500 students, the most that it had ever had. These included students from across Europe and Spanish America.

In the following centuries however, Salamanca University would not remain so strong. From the 17th to the 19th century, a series of wars, plus economic crisis and various epidemics caused student numbers to significantly decrease and the university was forced to reduce its faculties to only Law and Arts-Philosophy at one point. As of the late 19th century, it began to make a slow recovery, with the help and guidance of the famous Spanish writer and philosopher Miguel de Unamuno. As the Vice-Chancellor of the University at this time, he supported the creation of the new faculty of medicine and sciences and encouraged the university to start growing once again.

Spanish language courses began in the university in 1929, to help students coming from abroad. This program has gradually grown over the years, to the extent that many foreign students now come to the University of Salamanca specifically to learn the Spanish language.

In the last few decades student numbers in the university have rapidly increased and it now has around 30,000 enrolled. As a consequence, many new developments and buildings have been built to accommodate them, although many of the old traditional buildings are still used too. One external façade famously features a skull with a frog sitting on it, which many visitors of Salamanca try to find among the intricate stonework. Around the city you can also see traces left behind of former scholars of the university, who, after graduating, painted their initials on the walls using a mixture of bull´s blood and olive oil.



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