The Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM) held its International History Congress on May 14, featuring over 40 specialized presentations across five thematic panels as part of the institution’s 475th anniversary celebrations.
The event highlighted new research into the university’s origins. Dr. Jorge González Bolaños said, “La disertación de hoy ha mostrado una nueva hipótesis no conocida, en realidad, por nuestra historiografía acerca del origen fundacional de la universidad, porque lo que conmemoramos es un acto imperial que se ve cristalizado con la Real Provisión del 12 de mayo de 1551, que nos da 475 años de historia institucional, imperial, carolina y castellana.” He added that there is evidence for an earlier apostolic foundation dating back to a papal license granted in the early sixteenth century.
González explained that two Dominican emissaries traveled to Europe in 1536 and obtained a papal license from Pope Paul III in 1539. This allowed the Dominicans to establish an ecclesiastical province and begin educational activities at the Convent of Rosario in Lima by January 1540. “Esto quiere decir que San Marcos tiene una génesis apostólica anterior y distinta a la imperial,” González said.
He further described how this foundation followed church mandates from the Lateran Councils and established various levels of study before becoming what would later be known as San Marcos University. “De todo lo expuesto… la Universidad de San Marcos es una universidad apostólica, dominica, castellana, real, imperial y ecuménica,” he concluded.
González also said it was important for members of UNMSM to understand this history: “Es importante porque a los sanmarquinos nos permite apreciar y valorar el basamento histórico… para sentirnos orgullosos de esta institución que es no solamente vinculada al modelo salmantino por vía imperial, sino que por vía apostólica estamos emparentados en primer grado con las universidades de Bolonia, de París, de Oxford y también de Salamanca.”
The congress included commemorations such as awarding posthumous honors to historian Miguel Maticorena Estrada and recognizing UNMSM’s institutional legacy with medals presented by local officials. Other notable speakers included Dr. Consuelo Martínez-Sicluna y Sepulveda from Universidad Complutense de Madrid and municipal authorities from Cusco.
UNMSM operates as an autonomous public entity recognized by Peru’s constitution and leads public universities in several international rankings; it offers more than eighty undergraduate programs along with postgraduate options across multiple campuses according to the official website.
