Cambridge

History of Cambridge

Cambridge is world famous as the home of one of the two oldest English universities, but the city also has a long history of its own.
A town was established at Cambridge more than 1000 years ago when the Romans built an army camp on a small hill beside the river Cam. In the 5th century the town developed around the bridge over the river and became an important Saxon market. Four hundred years later it was under control of the Danish army and in the 11th century it became a Norman military base.
The first students arrived in Cambridge in 1209.

University Buildings

Before the completion of the old schools most University activities took place in Great St. Mary’s, often known as the University Church. Charters and other important documents were stored in the church which had a close connection with the University. The church was completely rebuilt between 1478 and 1519, mostly with University funds.
The Senate house was the first new University building for over two centuries. The architect was James Gibbs, who also designed King’s College and the church of St. Martin-in-the-fields at the corner of Trafalquer Square in London. The University ceremonial functions, such as the conferring of degrees, all take place here.
A part of the university is the Fitzwilliam museum. In 1816 Viscount Fitzwilliam left his collection of paintings, munuscripts, books and engravings, together with F100.000 to build a museum to the University. This was designed by George Basevi, who was killed in a fall from Ely Cathedral before the museum was finished. The entrance hall and main galleries are probably the most graceful rooms in Cambridge.

The Colleges

Christ’s College
Christ’s originated in a small college called God’s house, founded in 1439 by William Byngham, a London parish priest, to train schoolmasters. At first it was close to the river, but when Henry VI decided to purchase its land for his own new
college, King’s, God’s house had to move to a new place.

Clare College
Clare college is the second oldest of Cambridge’s thirty-one colleges. It was founded in 1326. The history of Clare in the later fourteenth century is not well known (a fire in 1521 destroyed most of the college history). The college has 83 Fellows, 120 graduate students and 420 students following undergraduate or professional courses.

Corpus Christi College
Corpus Christi is unusual beacause it had no individual founder. It was founded by two Cambridge guilds, The Guild of Corpus Christi and the Guild of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Corpus Christi is one of the oldest colleges in the University.

Downing College
Downing was founded in 1800 by Sir Gearge Downing, whose grandfather had given his name to Downing Street in London. The College was designed in the Greek style by William Wilkins.

Emmanuel College
Emmanuel College was founded by Sir Walter Mildmay in 1584, he had in mind to establish a College where Protestant preachers would receive education and training. Since 1979 the College is open to women as well as men.

Gonville and Caius College
The College was founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, Rector of Terrington. After a period of some decline, the College was refounded in 1557 by Dr John Caius.

Jesus College
The first thing that’s noticed from Jesus College are the open courts. The college was founded in 1496 and it originally consisted of buildings taken over from the Benedictine nunnery of St. Mary and St. Radegund.

King’s College
The College was founded by King Henry VI in 1441. The College is built on a riverside in the centre of the city. King’s College Chapel is probably the best known building in Cambridge

Magdalene College
This College was founded in 1542 by Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor, Baron Audley of Walden. The name of the College is pronounced different than how it’s spelt. You pronounce it as “maudlin”.

Pembroke College
The College was founded in 1347 by the widow Marie St Pol, whose marriage lasted less than 24 hours because her husband was killed on the day of the wedding. The college is well known for its architecture. The chapel is the first fully completed work of Sir Christopher Wren.

Peterhouse
Peterhouse was founded in 1284 by de Bishop of Ely: Hugh de Balsham. Peterhouse is de oldest of all the Cambridge colleges. The Great Hall is the only original part that’s left from the thirteenth century.

Queens’ College
Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI founded the College in 1448, while Elizabeth of Woodville, wife of Edward IV was Patroness. They both were Queens that’s why the College was called Queens’ College.

St Catherine’s College
St Catherine’s is a religious college, that’s why the college is not named after its founder, this college is named after St. Catherine of Alexandria.

St. John’s College
St. John’s was founded by Lady Margaret Beauford in 1509. The name from the college comes from the hospital that was runned by the Monks of St. John, The Hospital used stand on the place of the College.

Sidney Sussex College
The College was founded in 1596 by the money willed woman Lady Frances Sidney, Countess os Sussex (that explains the name Sidney Sussex).

Trinity College
This College is the largest college in Cambridge and Oxford. It was founded by Henry VII the year before he died. A tradition at the College is that the students have to try to run around the court as the clock strikes twelve, that’s a distance of 380 yards in less than 45 seconds.

Trinity Hall
Trinity College was founded by William Bateman in 1350. Then he was the Bishop of Norwich.

19th and 20th century Colleges

There are fourteen more, here is how or by who it was founded and in which year they were found

Churchill College - memorial to Winston Churchill, 1960
Clare Hall – Founded by Clare College, 1966
Darwin College – founded by Gonville and Caius, St. John’s and Trinity College, 1964
Fitzwilliam College – Started as a hall and took name of the Fitzwilliam museum, 1966
Girton College – founded by Emily Davis, 1896
Homerton College – Founded as a University for teacher training, 1894
Hughes Hall – originally started as the training college for women, 1885
Lucy Cavendish College - founded to enable women students to study for all the range of university degrees.
New Hall – founded to solve the shortage of places at Cambridge for female students, 1954
Newnham College – founded in Regent Street, 1871
Robinson College - founded by David Robinson, 1977
St. Edmund’s College – founded by the duke of Norfolk, 1896
Selwyn College – memorial to George Selwyn, 1882
Wolfson – founded by Cambridge University, 1965