First female professor in Europe (1484–1527)
Luisa de Medrano y Bravo de Lagunas y Cienfuegos (Atienza 9 August 1484 – 1527) was a Basque-Castilian poet, philosopher, professor, and scholar from the Kingdom of Castile. In 1508, she became the first female professor in Europe and taught Latin at the University of Salamanca. Luisa de Medrano, daughter of Diego López de Medrano y Vergara, from the illustrious House of Medrano, was among the Renaissance women celebrated by their contemporaries as 'puellae doctae' ("learned girls"). The Hall of Cloisters at the Higher Schools of the University of Salamanca is named 'Lucía de Medrano' in her honor, and in 2015, the Castilla-La Mancha Regional Government established the 'Luisa de Medrano' International Award for Gender Equality. On 9 August 2022 Google celebrated Luisa's 538th birthday.
Life.
Luisa de Medrano was born on 9 August 1484 in Atienza. She was the daughter of Diego López de Medrano y Vergara, a "ricohombre" (rich-man) and Lord of San Gregorio in the Kingdom of Castile, as well as a member of His Majesty's Council, and Magdalena Bravo de Lagunas. Her father belonged to the Guadalajara branch of the illustrious Medrano family, one of the oldest and most noble lineages in the Kingdoms of Navarre and Castile. Luisa de Medrano came from a family of Castilian high nobility who were protected by King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Castile.
When she was only three years old, Luisa's maternal grandfather Garcí Bravo de Lagunas and her father Diego López de Medrano y Vergara died in the Queen's service at the Siege of Málaga in 1487. The Chronicle of the Catholic Monarchs by Juan M. Carriazo confirmed the news that Garcí Bravo de Lagunas and Diego López de Medrano had died in battle. Juan Bravo's wife Catalina Núñez de Cienfuegos, on the occasion of the death of her husband and son-in-law in that action, received a heartfelt letter of condolences and gratitude from the Catholic Monarchs on June 7, 1487.
Catalina de Medrano y Bravo de Lagunas, her sister, became an important benefactor in Atienza following her time at court, sponsoring the construction of the chapel at the San Francisco convent to serve as a family mausoleum. Meanwhile, her great–uncles from the Bravo de Lagunas family created a funerary chapel in the Collegiate Church of Berlanga de Duero. 
Maternal ancestry.
Luisa de Medrano's mother Magdalena Bravo de Lagunas came from the Salvadores lineage in Berlanga de Duero, and Atienza in the Kingdom of Castile. Magdalena was the daughter of Garci Bravo de Lagunas, Alcaide of Atienza and Sigüenza, and his wife Catalina Núñez de Cienfuegos. Luisa's mother Magdalena Bravo de Lagunas was the great–great–granddaughter of Alonso Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno (progenitor of the Dukes of Medina-Sidonia), which makes Luisa herself a great–great–great–granddaughter. Luisa's mother was also the first cousin of the comuneros captain of Segovia, Juan Bravo de Lagunas y Mendoza (nephew of the comuneros leader Maria de Mendoza y Pacheco), who was famously defeated at the Battle of Villalar.
Portrait.
It is thought that Luisa de Medrano is the First Sibyl, Samia, in Juan Soreda's "The Sibyls", painted sometime between 1527 and 1532, exhibited in the Museum of Religious Art of San Gil, in Atienza. Juan Soreda excelled in Sigüenza painting landscapes and returned to the previous fashion of golden backgrounds for Medrano's painting. Since gold does not rust, it better expresses the eternal. In front of that background, as if emerging from beyond, appears the powerful gaze of the academic Luisa de Medrano.
Luisa's portrait was featured on the front cover of the 2nd Edition of the International Women’s Day event in Castilla-La Mancha, held in Tomelloso on March 8, 2018. Organized under the "de Medrano" initiative, the event included notable contributors such as Miguel Lorente Acosta.
Career.
Widely recognized as the first female 'professor' in Europe, Luisa de Medrano's intellectual abilities and solid formation enabled her to teach Latin at the University of Salamanca. Her brother Luis de Medrano was a professor and rector of Salamanca University during her time. She received the chair left by Antonio de Nebrija (Antonio Martínez de Cala) in 1508 (Poetry and Grammar), although it is not known how long she maintained the post.
Queen Isabella I of Castile.
Her greatest protector and patron, Queen Isabella of Castile, ultimately enabled Luisa de Medrano to teach Latin at the University of Salamanca. Luisa de Medrano wrote poems and philosophy, though her work has been lost. She benefited from living in the climate of tolerance and advancement for women that Queen Isabella of Castile actively cultivated in her court. Luisa de Medrano not only received a privileged and nurtured education with the royal daughters, Isabel and Juana, she undoubtedly benefited from living in the climate of tolerance and advancement for women that Isabella I actively cultivated in her court, and which disappeared after her death. Under the protection of Queen Isabella I, Luisa de Medrano learned history, culture and humanist philosophy alongside children of the royal family.
The Medrano family in the University of Salamanca.
The Book of the University's Claustro for the year 1668-1669 describes the relationship between the Medrano family of San Gregorio and the University of Salamanca. For at least about one hundred and sixty years, they were linked to the University: in 1508, her brother Luis de Medrano was rector of the University, and in 1669, Domingo and García de Medrano y Mendizabal, 1st Count of Torrubia, her fourth nephews, were rectors of the University of Salamanca. The author Therese Oettele described the House of Medrano as "a family that combined nobility of blood with nobility of spirit". Princes and members of the royal household used to visit the university of Salamanca, sometimes giving lectures there. Clemencín in his Eulogy of Queen Isabel, page 48 reads: 
... the heir of the Constable of Castile explained on one side the Natural History of Pliny, while on the other side the echoes of the illustrious Doña Luisa de Medrano, who taught in Salamanca. 
Testimonials.
Isabel I's grandson, Emperor Carlos I of Spain, Karl V of Germany, tried to rid the world of the memory of his mother Joanna I and of other women as well, including Luisa de Medrano. He had one of Lucio Marineo Sículo's books censured, "Cosas memorables de España" (Alcalá de Henares, 1530)—a kind of encyclopedia covering various subjects. Few copies of the first edition remain because the Emperor ordered its removal. Notably, the book included a chapter that mentions and praises Luisa de Medrano: 
In Salamanca, we met Lucía de Medrano, an exceedingly eloquent maiden. We heard her not only speak as an orator but also read and interpret Latin texts publicly in the Salamanca study.
The news about Luisa de Medrano appears throughout history over and over again, referenced from two main sources: a note by Pedro de Torres, and Lucio Marineo Siculo, chaplain and historian of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella I of Castile.
Pedro de Torres.
In 1508, Luisa de Medrano was twenty-four years old. In the "Chronicle Registry of Salamanca" in 1513, a testimony by Pedro de Torres says:
 A.D. 1508, on November 16, at the third hour, the daughter of Medrano lectured in the Chair of Canons.
Lucius Marineus Siculus.
The scholar Lucio Marineo Siculo misspelled her name, using Lucía, instead of Luisa. Marineo Sículo recorded Luisa de Medrano's extraordinary talent in his work ""Cosas Memorables de España" (1530) and in one of his letters that compose his "Opus Epistolarum" (1514), also in both the Latin edition and in the Castilian edition of 1530, and in a Letter addressed to Luisa herself:
"Lucius Marineus Siculus to Lucía (Luisa) de Medrano: Your fame for your great studies and your eloquence had reached me before I had seen you, my dear and illustrious Clara. And now that I have had the privilege of seeing you in person and hearing you speak so elegantly, I have been even more impressed. You are not only learned and eloquent, but also beautiful and charming, surpassing all the Spanish men in eloquence in the Latin language. O happy parents who have given birth to such a daughter! You, my dearest girl, owe much to the Almighty God, who has bestowed great talents upon you, and also to your parents, who have not assigned you to the ordinary duties of women, nor to the unpleasant toils of the body, which are quickly destroyed, but have freed you for the pursuit of the most illustrious studies and arts, and have consecrated you to eternal memory. Debent and they owe you, for you have surpassed them all in hope and opinion with your singular virtue and great zeal."
"The whole of Spain owes you, as you illuminate it with the glory of your knowledge and steadfastness. As for myself, a most worthy young lady, I certainly owe you more than I can repay. Indeed, thanks to you, I envy neither the muses nor the Sibyls of past ages, nor the Pythian prophets, nor the female philosophers among the Pythagoreans. Now, what was previously in doubt, I easily believe that in Rome there were daughters of Lelius and Hortensius, and in Sicily, the daughters of Sthesicorus, and other most eloquent women. And now I know that nature has not denied women genius, which is especially proven in our time by you, who have raised your head higher than men in letters and eloquence. You, a tender and young girl in Spain, handle not wool, but books, not a spindle, but a pen, not a needle, but a stylus, with diligence and zeal. Farewell, and if there is anything in which you wish to use my help, know that I am always at your service. Farewell again, and please inform me of your health and the course of your life through letters.""
Bernardo Dorado.
Bernardo Dorado (b. 1710), priest, historian and professor of theology, said:
"Doña Luisa de Medrano, if she did not equal, exceeded the first (B. Galindo), since she not only knew Latin perfectly, but also publicly spoke in this University in Divine and Human Letters. This is affirmed by Marineo Siculo, who heard her, and brings it among the memorable things he saw in Spain."
Gil González Dávila.
The famous Spanish explorer and conquistador Gil González Dávila, in his "Ecclesiastical Theater of the Metropolitan and Cathedral Churches of the Kingdoms of the Two Castiles," says:
"Doña Luzía (Luisa) de Medrano: Marineo Siculus speaks of her as having heard her teach in the University of Salamanca and seen her pray in public, and that she was a woman of rare and admirable eloquence."
Modern testimonials.
On 23 April 1943, the Ministry of National Education of Spain granted, at the proposal of the Cloister of the National Institute of Secondary Education of Salamanca, female, that this Institute be called "Lucía de Medrano," and on October 12, 2015, the Rectorate and the University of Salamanca agreed that the Hall of Cloisters of the Higher Schools of the university be named "Lucía de Medrano" to honour the first female professor in Spain and Europe.
The German author Otto von Corvin (b. 1812–d. 1866) writes: 
"Distinguished ladies studied Greek and Latin... Lucía (Luisa) de Medrano, professor of Latin in Salamanca."
In various historical accounts, the scholarly contributions of Doña Luisa de Medrano to the University of Salamanca are noted with significant admiration. In the ""Memoirs of the Royal Academy of History" (1821), Clemencín praises her erudition and eloquence, noting that Marineo Sículo described her as publicly explaining the classics in Latin at the University of Salamanca. Don Manuel Hermenegildo Dávila, in his "Historical Review of the University of Salamanca" (1849), refers to documents that affirm Doña Luisa de Medrano's role as a professor, lecturing on pure Latin authors. Vidal y Díaz, in his "Historical Memoir of the University of Salamanca" (1869), mentions her contributions in a chapter dedicated to the university's notable figures, stating that she taught in Latin. Villar y Macías, in the "History of Salamanca" (1887), volume II, quotes Marineo Sículo, who heard her lectures and admired her rare eloquence. Menéndez y Pelayo, in his "Anthology"" (1896), volume VI, acknowledges her as a professor, citing her inclusion in the letters of Lucio Marineo and the "Gynaeceum Hispanae Minervae" by Don Nicolás Antonio, recognizing her as a distinguished female scholar dedicated to the Latin classics.
Luisa de Medrano Awards.
The Luisa de Medrano Awards, established by the Regional Government of Castilla–La Mancha, in Spain, honor the legacy