University of Salamanca

Infobox University
name = University of Salamanca
native_name = Universidad de Salamanca


caption = Seal of the University of Salamanca
latin_name = Universitas Studii Salamanticensis
motto =
established = 1218
type = Public
endowment =
staff = 1,252 citeweb|author = University of Salamanca|title = Personal | url = http://www.usal.es/web-usal/Universidad/personal.shtml | language = Spanish | accessdate = 2008-09-15 ]
rector = José Ramón Alonso Peña
students = ca. 28,000 citeweb|author = University of Salamanca|title = Estudiantes| url = http://www.usal.es/web-usal/Universidad/estudiantes.shtml | language = Spanish | accessdate = 2008-09-15 ]
undergrad =
postgrad =
doctoral = 2,240
faculty = 2,453
city = Salamanca
state =
country = Spain
campus = Urban
free_label =
free =
colors =
affiliations = EUA, Coimbra Group
footnotes =
website = [http://www.usal.es/web-usal/Ingles/index.html www.usal.es]
address =
publictransit =
telephone =
coor =

The University of Salamanca ( _es. Universidad de Salamanca), located in the town of Salamanca, west of Madrid, is the oldest university in Spain (the older "Estudio general de Palencia", which soon later disappeared, never got the title of University),fact|date = September 2008 and one of the oldest in Europe. It was founded by Alfonso IX of León in 1218 as a "General School". This foundation did not last and the university was refounded by Alfonso's son, King St. Ferdinand III in 1243.

History

The university was founded as a "General School of the kingdom" by the Leonese king Alfonso IX in 1218 to allow the Leonese people to study at home without having to leave for Castile.

In the reign of Ferdinand, King of Aragon, and Isabella, Queen of Castile, the Spanish government was revamped. Contemporary with the Spanish Inquisition, the expulsion of the Jews, and the conquest of Granada, there was a certain professionalization of the apparatus of the state. This involved the massive employment of "letrados", i.e., bureaucrats and lawyers, who where "licenciados" (graduates) of the Universities, particularly, of Salamanca, and the newly founded University of Alcalá. These men staffed the various councils of state, including, eventually, the Consejo de Indias and Casa de Contratacion, the two highest bodies in metropolitan Spain for the government of the Spanish Empire in the New World.While Columbus 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. In the next century, the morality of colonization in the Indies was debated by the School of Salamanca, along with questions of economics, philosophy and theology.

By the end of the Spanish Golden Age (c. 1550-1650), the quality of academics in Spanish universities declined. The frequency of the awarding of degrees dropped, the range of studies shrank, and there was a sharp decline in the number of its students. The centuries old European wide prestige of Salamanca evaporated.

Like Oxford and Cambridge, Salamanca had a number of colleges ("Colegios Mayores"). These 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. Today some have been turned into faculty buildings while others survive as halls of residence.

In the 19th century, the Spanish government dissolved the university's faculties of canon law and theology. They were later reestablished in the 1940s as part of the Pontifical University of Salamanca.

Today the University of Salamanca is an important centre for the study of humanities and is particularly noted for its language studies.

In conjunction with the University of Cambridge, the University of Salamanca co-founded the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) in 1989.

Notable people

Notable students and academic teachers include:

*Abraham Zacuto
*Fray Luis de León
*Francisco de Vitoria
*John of the Cross
*Antonio de Nebrija
*Luis de Góngora
*Hernán Cortés
*Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimentel, Count-Duke of Olivares
*Pedro Gómez Labrador, Marquis of Labrador
*Jules Cardinal Mazarin
*Mateo Alemán
*Pedro Calderón de la Barca
*Miguel de Cervantes
*Diego de Torres Villarroel
*Miguel de Unamuno
*Pedro Salinas
*Adolfo Suárez
*Juan Zarate
*Manuel Belgrano

ee also

*School of Salamanca
*Pontifical University of Salamanca

References

External links

* [http://www.usal.es/ University website]
* [http://www.salamanca-university.org/ Spanish language courses in Salamanca University]
*