Professor Matthias Lutz-Bachmann named guest of honour of the city of Salamanca

Professor Matthias Lutz-Bachmann, project manager of the academy project ‘The School of Salamanca’, was named guest of honour of the city of Salamanca.

Professor Matthias Lutz-Bachmann, holder of the Chair of Philosophy at Goethe University Frankfurt, has been named Huésped Distinguido (guest of honour) by the city of Salamanca. The award was presented on 11 February 2026 during an official reception at Salamanca City Hall. The occasion was the international congress ‘The School of Salamanca: Past, Present, Future (1526–2026)’ – an academic event marking the 500th anniversary of the historical intellectual tradition of the School of Salamanca. The programme included lectures and debates with more than 150 speakers from over 20 countries and highlighted the relevance of the School of Salamanca to today's global challenges. The School of Salamanca comprises a network of 16th and 17th century thinkers whose work shaped fundamental concepts of legal and political philosophy as well as early international law.

With the title Huésped Distinguido, the city honours Lutz-Bachmann's ‘significant contribution to repositioning Salamanca at the centre of European and international scientific debate’, in particular through his leadership of the digital research project ‘The School of Salamanca.’ The initiative, developed in collaboration with the Academy of Sciences and Literature | Mainz, creates a digital infrastructure that makes the texts and ideas of the school accessible worldwide and combines humanistic tradition with modern technology.

‘The School of Salamanca remains significant to this day, as its representatives contributed significantly to the development of modern law, the formulation of human rights, the recognition of cultural diversity and the commitment of states to a global order of peace,’ said Lutz-Bachmann during the reception in Salamanca. ‘This achievement was as groundbreaking as the contributions made in Salamanca to the teaching of philosophy and theology, law and economics.’

The Mayor of Salamanca, Carlos García Carbayo, presented Lutz-Bachmann with the award together with Juan Belda Plans and Virginia Aspe Armella – both internationally recognised experts on the history of ideas in the early modern period and the historical impact of the School of Salamanca. García Carbayo emphasised that the anniversary celebrations and honours helped to settle a ‘historical debt’ to one of the most influential schools of thought in history. He referred to its lasting contributions to law, economics, politics, ethics and the concept of human dignity.