Forms of Knowledge. Liberal Arts in the Cloister of the Cathedral of Salamanca.

Conferencia de Antonio Ledesma González, CCHS-CSIC, Instituto de Historia

Presentación a cargo de: Sergio Vidal Álvarez, Museo Arqueológico Nacional y Rocío Martín Bonet, Caminos del Románico

The University of Salamanca, like other European centres, was established prior to the king’s concession process c. 1218. Therefore, the knowledge preserved in cloisters became the germ of cultural recomposition. Besides the identified books and other informative elements about the cultural universe around which the main constituent members of the subsequent Estudio General de Salamanca revolved, the preserved sculptures are the elements that confirm the relevance of the knowledge contained within its walls, given that several Romanesque capitals in its deteriorated cloister portray the personification of Liberal Arts. Studies to date suggest that these are the oldest representations found in the Iberian Peninsula, in closed connection with those observed in the rest of Europe. Said cultural manifestations confirm that during 12th and 13th centuries, prior to the foundation of the Estudio, the Cathedral counted on a powerful and highly qualified cultural elite, and knowledge was given great importance.