Founded in 1218 by Alphonse IX, it is the oldest university in Spain and the Hispanic world, and the third oldest in Europe. It was created thanks to Alphonse’s willingness to make his kingdom literate, establishing “scholas Salamanticae,” the beginning of the University of Salamanca.
This University was also one of the first European universities, along with Paris, Oxford and Bologna. Furthermore, it is the only one that has been active for centuries in Spain. According to the decreto of 1254, the first degrees had a Law major, a Decreto major, two majors in Grammar, Logic, Physics, Medicine, an Apothecary, a Pipe Organ major, a Conservation major and a Library major.
In 1255, The pope Alexander IV published the papal bulls that acknowledged the degrees of the University of Salamanca to have universal validity and the University is given the privilege of having its own seal. From that moment, both the city and the University enjoy a prestige that prompts Salamanca to attract a high number of students coming Spain, Europe and even America.
The University of Salamanca experienced an unprecedented growth thanks to the foundation of the first American Universities as of 1551 that had the example and charter of the University of Salamanca as an example. It can be said that more of the 70% of the universities founded in the 16th and 17th centuries consider the University of Salamanca their alma mater nowadays.
This University has always been remarkable for the presence of distinguished characters. The science and technology that has been developed here were the main cause for some of the most important developments of the last centuries. Abraham Zacut can be highlighted for having developed the Almanach Perpetuum, an astronomy treaty that was indispensable for navigating and made possible the linking of continents. The sophisticated thinking of Francisco de Vitoria made Salamanca to be the cradle of International Law. However, others characters of importance had been sitting in its classrooms, such as Fray Luis de León, Francisco de Salinas o Antonio de Nebrija, the creator of the first Spanish grammar.
In more recent times, the University of Salamanca has also greeted great thinkers, such as Miguel de Unamuno, Jacques Delors o Adolfo Suárez that have contributed to the building of world order.
The Claustro de Doctores features the head of various Ibero-American countries, such as Fernando E. Cardoso, Oscar Arias, Ricardo Lagos, Luiz I. Lula da Silva o Tavaré Vázquez Rosas, and various Nobel winners, like Mario Vargas Llosa, José Saramago, Paul Nurse o Severo Ochoa.
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