“If the Spaniards were Muslim, they would be complete Africans,” the French writer Stendhal remarked with disdain.

The image of a backward Spain in the 16th century, linked to the obscurantism characteristic of Catholicism of the time, has led illustrious European figures throughout history to attack the Empire that discovered America and circumnavigated the Earth (among other advances) with expressions such as “Africa begins at the Pyrenees” by Alexandre Dumas; “If the Spaniards were Muslim, they would be complete Africans” by Stendhal; or the question posed by Masson de Morvilliers in the French Encyclopedia: “What does one owe to Spain?” These enlightened appreciations will mark the decline of the Spanish historical image, which will become a rare bird located in southern Europe.

Historian Alfredo Vilchez finds in the Enlightenment the reason why Spaniards accept “that everything before was a kind of medieval residue, arguing that only the enlightened lights were synonymous with being modern. And from there we believe it so much that we consider that the change to modern Europe begins with the fall of Constantinople and not with the discovery of America, which is what radically changes the world.”

In the 16th century, the three main universities of Castile: Valladolid, Salamanca, and Alcalá de Henares, had an enrollment of 11,000 students, double that of all French and English universities combined. Alfredo Vilchez asks: “Isn’t that science?”

School of Salamanca

The cultural epicenter of the 16th century was located in Salamanca. The founder of this school was Francisco de Vitoria, precursor of the law of nations to protect the indigenous people of the New World, considering that all men are born free, not slaves. The main motive of this scientific focus is found in its own motto Ommium scientiarum princeps, Salamanca docet, that is, “Salamanca teaches, being prince in all sciences.”

The concept of the “School of Salamanca” according to theologian Juan Belda Plans is “polyhedral, with many faces and aspects, difficult to reduce to unity,” as it is always associated with a theological school formed by Vitoria and his disciples, but its scientific contribution encompasses legal, economic, sociopolitical, physical fields… It would also be a mistake to reduce its influence to Salamanca, as it would diminish its Hispanic reach of universal dimension.

The professors of this University sealed the definitive passage from the Middle Ages to modernity with their innovative contributions. The defense of people’s natural rights, economic freedom, the right to private property, or the creation of the Gregorian calendar were slogans that caused a “scientific earthquake” that would serve as an example to future nations.

In the economic field, Martín de Azpilcueta stood out, who analyzed the effect of the arrival of precious materials from America on inflation in Spain. The quintessential economist Joseph Schumpeter recognized in his research the role of Azpilcueta and the economic thinkers of this groundbreaking school.

In the theological field, the figure of Melchor Cano emerged. The most devoted disciple of Francisco de Vitoria instituted a new method of argumentation and treatment of theological questions with his work De locis. This treatise responded to the questions of the moment provoked by the new Protestant reforming ideas.

In the legal field, figures such as Ginés de Sepúlveda, defender of just war in America, or Luis de Molina, who considered the idea of law as a subjective faculty of the individual when performing or not certain actions, stood out.

In the social sphere, the humanist Juan Luis Vives sought a collective response to help the poor in society. The principle of social work.

In the branch of physics, Domingo de Soto stood out, who first related time to uniformly accelerated motion in the fall of bodies, fifty years before Galileo Galilei. His disciples Francisco de Toledo and Francisco Suárez also occupy a prominent place.

List of scientific advances

The best-known events such as the circumnavigation of the Earth by Sebastian Elcano, the exploration of America by conquistadors like Hernán Cortés or Francisco Pizarro, the technical and military superiority of the Tercios in combat, the pen of the Golden Age represented by Cervantes, Quevedo or Lope de Vega; should be sufficient arguments to demonstrate how the Hispanic Empire could be hegemonic for two and a half centuries thanks to the science handled within its territories.

Historian Alfredo Vilchez collects in his book Anatomía de la Leyenda Negra (Sekotia, 2024) the names of characters who contributed to Spanish scientific innovations, beyond the School of Salamanca. For example, Jerónimo de Ayanz designed an operational diving suit capable of withstanding an hour underwater, which he himself tested before an astonished Philip III in the Pisuerga River in 1602. Another unknown figure is that of Pedro Juan de Lastanosa, author of the most important treatise on hydraulic engineering in Europe, The Twenty-One Books of Engines and Machines.

Other examples of Spanish innovators would be: Álvaro Alonso Barba, creator of the procedure for separating silver and gold in mines. Francisco Hernández de Toledo, director of the first scientific exploration of America, reflecting the native flora and fauna. Juan Fragoso, author of the first monograph on legal medicine. Juan de Mariana, economist precursor of liberalism in denouncing monopoly.

Alfredo Vilchez in his interview for Hidden Trenches stops at the Valencian Miguel Servet who gained a name for his study on pulmonary blood circulation. His advances caused John Calvin to proclaim him a heretic and burn him at the stake. Even so, in the popular imagination, it has persisted that the author of this crime was the Spanish Inquisition.

Philip II and the Escorial

To put the finishing touch to the article, it is worth highlighting the most impressive architectural construction of the time that inspired the Palace of Versailles. “The White House of the 16th century,” in the words of historical popularizer Javier Santamarta. As an anecdote, this complex was so admired at the time that when the Spanish Jesuit Diego de Pantoja traveled to China in 1600, he took with him a plan of this building to demonstrate to the Ming dynasty emperor the universal power of his monarch.

Juan de Herrera was the chief architect of the monastery (after the death of Juan Bautista), but he was also behind the constructions of the cathedral of Valladolid, the General Archive of the Indies in Seville, or in the completion of the works of the Royal Palace of Aranjuez.

Philip II, whom the black legend has branded as an obscurantist king, demonstrated a profound passion for books reflected in the more than 40,000 volumes present in the library of the Royal Site. The “uncrowned emperor” also created the Academy of Mathematics in 1583, whose visible head was Juan de Herrera himself. This place would be the cradle of future astronomers, cosmographers, architects, pilots, and engineers.

The discourse favorable to Spanish scientific backwardness has attacked “The Pragmatic Sanction” promoted by Philip II in 1559 by prohibiting the most advanced innovators from leaving Spain. In the words of Alfredo Vilchez, what the monarch did not want was “a brain drain”. This same king hired the most prestigious European painters and architects to catapult the image of the Spanish Renaissance.

In short, excluding Spain from the list of nations that changed the world constitutes a serious historical error accepted by a considerable number of Spaniards who have not been explained the immensity encompassed by Hispanic thought, which in the 16th century had a universal scope. May this article serve as an element of help to value Spanish science, placing the School of Salamanca at the epicenter of the “Spanish scientific earthquake”.