Short answers, pulled from the story.
King Alfonso IX of León issued a royal charter in 1218 to establish the studium generale known as scholas Salamanticae. The actual transformation from cathedral school to university occurred between August 1218 and the following winter.
Pope Alexander IV issued a papal bull in 1255 that confirmed the Royal Charter of Alfonso X. That bull granted universal recognition to all degrees awarded by the new university.
Columbus made his case to a council of geographers at the University of Salamanca while lobbying for a contract. The geographers were skeptical of Columbus and his voyage calculations yet the university defended the theory of unknown territories to the west.
Luisa de Medrano died in 1527 as the first female professor at the university teaching Latin. She became the first woman ever to give classes at a university.
In 2018 the institution celebrated its eighth centennial marking over eight hundred years of operation. This celebration marked more than eight hundred years of continuous activity since its founding.