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Bible Encyclopedias
Cambridge
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or See Cambridge (disambiguation) for articles sharing the titlethe occupant of Audley End, an estate near Saffron Walden, Essex. Some parts of the original building are preserved, but the most notable portion of the college is the Pepysian library, dating c. 1700. It contains the very valuable collection of books bequeathed by Samuel Pepys to the college, at which he was a student. Buckingham College had Archbishop Cranmer as a lecturer; Charles Kingsley and Charles Stewart Parnell were educated at Magdalene.
Pembroke College stands to the east of Trumpington Street. It was founded in 1347 by Mary de St Paul, widow of Aylmer de Valence, earl of Pembroke. Henry VI. made notable benefactions to it. The foundation consists of a master and thirteen fellows, and there are six scholarships on the original foundation, besides others of later institution. The older existing buildings are mainly of the 8th century, but much of the original fabric was removed and rebuilt in 1874. The chapel is of the middle of the 17th century, and is ascribed to Sir Christopher Wren. The poets Spenser and Gray, Nicholas Ridley the martyr, Archbishop Whitgift and William Pitt were associated with this college; and from the number of bishops whose names are associated with it the college has obtained the style of collegium episcopale. Peterhouse or St Peter's College is on the west side of Trumpington Street, almost opposite Pembroke. It has already been indicated as the oldest Cambridge college (1284). Hugh de Balsham, the founder, had settled some secular scholars in the ancient Augustinian Hospital of St John in 1280, but the experiment was not a success. Nor did he carry out his full intentions as regards Peterhouse, the foundation of which followed on the failure of the fusion of his scholars with the hospital; but Simon Montagu, his successor in the bishopric of Ely, carried on his work, and in 1344 gave the college a code of statutes in which the influence of the Merton code is plainly visible. A master and fourteen fellows formed the original foundation, but the present consists of a master, and not less than eleven fellows and twenty-three scholars. The hall retains some original work; it was first built out of a legacy from the founder. The library building (c. 1590) is due to a legacy from Dr Andrew Perne (master 1554-1580); and Dr Matthew Wren (master 1625-1634), uncle of the famous architect Sir Christopher Wren, directed the building of the chapel and cloisters. The most famous name connected with the college is that of Cardinal Beaufort.
Queens' College stands at the south of the riverside group, and one of its ranges of buildings rises immediately from the river. A college of St Bernard had been established in 1445 by Andrew Docket or Dokett, rector of St Botolph's church, who had also been principal of a hostel, or students' lodge, of St Bernard. He sought and obtained the patronage of Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI., who undertook the foundation of a new house on another site in 1448, to bear the name of Queens'. Docket became the first master. In 1465 Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV., became the college's second foundress. The foundation consists of a president and eleven fellows. The buildings are exceedingly picturesque. The main quadrangle, of red brick, was completed very soon after the foundation. The smaller cloister court, towards the river, retains building of the same period, and the beautiful wooden gallery of the president's lodge deserves notice. Another court is called Erasmus's; the rooms which he is said to have occupied remain, and a walk in the college garden across the river bears his name.
St Catherine's College, on the west side of Trumpington Street, was founded by Dr Robert Woodlark or Wodelarke, chancellor of the university and (1452) provost of King's College. It was opened in 1473, but the charter of incorporation dates from 1475. The foundation provided for a master (Woodlark being the first) and three fellows; there are now six fellows, and twenty-six scholars. The principal buildings, surrounding a court on three sides, date mainly from a complete reconstruction of the college at the close of the 17th century.
St John's College, at the north of the riverside group of colleges, was founded in 1511 by the Lady Margaret Beaufort, also foundress of Christ's College. It replaced the Hospital of St John, which dated from the early years of the 13th century, and has been mentioned already in connexion with Peterhouse. The Lady Margaret died before the college was firmly established, and her designs were not carried out without many difficulties, which were overcome chiefly by the exertions of John Fisher, bishop of Rochester, one of her executors. Thirty-two fellowships were endowed, but subsequent endowments allowed extension, and the foundation now consists of a master, fifty-six fellows, sixty scholars and nine sizars. A large number of exhibitions are appropriated to special schools. Of the four courts of St John's, the easternmost is the original, and has a very fine Tudor gateway of brick. The chapel is modern (1863-1869), an ornate example of the work of Sir Gilbert Scott. The second court, practically unaltered, dates from 1598-1602. In this there is a beautiful masters' gallery, panelled, with a richly-moulded ceiling; it is now used as a combination room or fellows' commonroom. The third court, which contains the library (1624), backs on to the river, and the fourth, which is on the opposite bank, was built c. 1830. A covered bridge connects the two, and is commonly called the Bridge of Sighs from a certain resemblance to the bridge of that name at Venice. Among the notable names connected with this college are Cecil, Lord Burghley, Thomas Cartwright, Wentworth, earl of Strafford, Roger Ascham, Richard Bentley, John Cleveland, the satirist, Thomas Baker, the historian, Lord Palmerston, Professor Adams, Sir John Herschel, Bishop Colenso, Dr Benjamin Kennedy, Dean Merivale, Horne Tooke, Samuel Parr and William Wilberforce, and the poets Herrick (afterwards of Trinity Hall) and Wordsworth.
Selwyn College, standing west of the river (Sidgwick Avenue), was founded in 1882 by public subscription in memory of George Augustus Selwyn, bishop of New Zealand and afterwards of Lichfield, for the purpose of giving university education with economy "combined," according to the charter, "with Christian training, based upon the principles of the Church of England." Sidney Sussex College faces Sidney Street. It was founded under the will (1588) of the Lady Frances Sidney, dowager countess of Sussex (d. 1589), and received its charter in 1596. The foundress provided for a master, ten fellows and twenty scholars, but thirty-six scholarships are now provided. The original buildings were of brick, but they were plastered over and greatly altered by Wyatville about 1830. The Grey Friars had occupied the site, and part of their buildings remained in the chapel until 1777. A beautiful block of new buildings, with a cloister, was erected in 1890. The most famous name associated with the college is that of Oliver Cromwell, who was a fellow commoner, as also was Thomas Fuller, author of the Worthies of England. Trinity College, the front of which is on Trinity Street, is the largest collegiate foundation in Cambridge, and larger than any in Oxford. It was founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII. and absorbed several earlier institutions - King's Hall (founded by Edward III. in 1336), St Michael's or Michaelhouse (founded by Hervey de Stanton, chancellor of the exchequer under Edward II., in 1323), Fyswick or Physick's Hostel, belonging to Gonville Hall, and other hostels. Henry's original foundation was for a master and sixty fellows and scholars, but Queen Mary and other later benefactors enabled extensions to be made, and the foundation now consists of a master (appointed by the crown), at least sixty fellows, seventy-four scholars and sixteen sizars, with minor scholars, chaplains librarian and the regius professors of Divinity, Hebrew and Greek. Major scholarships are open to undergraduates, not being of standing to take the degree of bachelor of arts, as well as to non-members of the university under nineteen years of age, while minor scholarships and exhibitions are open only to the latter. There are valuable exhibitions appropriated to certain schools, of which the most important are those confined to Westminster school. Trinity College is entered from Trinity Street by the King's Gateway (1518-1535) preserved from King's Hall, but subsequently altered. The principal or Great Court is the largest in Cambridge and very fine. Its buildings are of different dates. In the centre is a picturesque fountain, erected by Thomas Neville, master (1593-1615), under whose direction much of the building was carried out. The chapel on the north side of the court was begun in the reign of Mary. The carved oak fittings within date from the mastership of Richard Bentley (170o-1742). The organ is particularly fine. A statue of Sir Isaac Newton by Roubiliac stands in the antechapel, and Richard Porson and William Whewell are buried here. The hall on the west of the court is Neville's work (1605), and very beautiful. The second court is also his foundation and bears his name. The library on the west side is the work of Sir Christopher Wren. Its interior is excellent, and besides busts of some of the vast number of famous men connected with Trinity, it contains a statue of Lord Byron by the Danish sculptor Thorvaldsen. The New Court, Gothic in style, was begun in 1823. The beautiful grounds and walks of the college extend down to and beyond the river. The college has extended its buildings to the opposite side of Trinity Street, where the two courts known as Whewell's Hostel were built (c. 1860) at the charge of Dr William Whewell during his mastership. The eminent alumni of this great college are too numerous to admit of selection.
Trinity Hall, which lies near the river, south of Trinity, was founded by William Bateman, bishop of Norwich, in 1350. On the site there had been, for about twenty years before the foundation, a house of monastic students from Ely. The present college is alone in preserving the term Hall in its title. The foundation consists of a master and thirteen fellows, and the study of law, which the founder had especially in mind, is provided for by lectureships, and not less than three studentships tenable by graduates of the college. The buildings are for the most part modern or modernized, but the interior of the library well preserves its character of the early part of the 17th century.
Of the churches of Cambridge one has long been recognized as the church of the university, namely Great St Mary's, which stands in the centre of the town, between King's p ' '. P a rade and Market Hill. It is a' fine Perpendicular structure, founded in 1478; but the tower was not completed until 1608. Some Decorated details are preserved from a former building. The university preachers deliver their sermons in this church, but it was formerly the meeting-place of the university for the transaction of business, for learned disputations and for secular festivals. The "Cambridge chimes" struck by the clock are famous, and a curfew is rung each evening on the great bell. The Senate House, standing opposite Great St Mary's, dates from 1730 and is classical in style. The buildings of the university library, in the immediate vicinity, enclose two quadrangles, and in part occupy the site of the old court of King's College. One of the quadrangles was formerly occupied by the schools or lecture rooms, but as the library grew it usurped their place. The most important part of the building dates from 1842. The facade of the old schools is an excellent work of 1758. The library is one of those which is entitled to receive, under the Copyright Act, a copy of every book published in the United Kingdom. The Fitzwilliam Museum, a massive classical building, was begun in 1837 to contain the bibliographical and art collection bequeathed by Richard, Viscount Fitzwilliam, in 1816. The museum of archaeology (classical, general and local, 1884), is connected with the Fitzwilliam Museum. The Pitt Press (1833), housing the university printing establishment, was begun out of the residue of a fund for erecting the statues of William Pitt in Hanover Square, London, and Westminster Abbey. It stands near Pembroke, Pitt's college. The Selwyn Divinity School (1879), oppo s ite St John's College, was built largely at the charge of Dr William Selwyn, Lady Margaret professor of divinity. The museums and lecture rooms (begun in 1863) are extensive buildings on each side of Downing Street. Included in these are the museum of zoology, which had its origin in collections made by Sir Busick Harwood, professor of anatomy in 1785-1814, and contains the collection of fishes made by Charles Darwin in the ship "Beagle"; the medical school, botanical museum and herbarium, mineralogical museum, engineering laboratory (1894), optical and astronomical lecture room, chemical laboratory (1887), and the Cavendish laboratory for physical research (1874), the gift of William Cavendish, 7th duke of Devonshire and chancellor of the university. The Sedgwick Geological Museum, opened by King Edward VII. in 1904, commemorates Adam Sedgwick, Woodwardian professor of geology, and originated in the collections of Dr John Woodward (d. 1728). Adjoining this building, in Downing Street is the law library, founded on a bequest from Miss Rebecca Flower Squire (d. 1898) with the law school. The observatory (1824) is on the outskirts of the town in Madingley Road, and the pleasant botanic garden (1762) borders Trumpington Road. The club-rooms and debating hall of the Cambridge Union Society are adjacent to the Holy Sepulchre church.
The non-collegiate students of the university (i.e those who receive the university education and possess the same status as collegiate students without belonging to any college) have lecture and other rooms and a library in Fitzwilliam Hall. This body was created in 1869. The students reside in lodgings. There are two women's colleges - Girton, established in 1873 on the north-western outskirts of the town, having been previously opened at Hitchin in 1869, and Newnham (1875), originally (1873) a hall of residence for students attending special lectures for women. Among other educational establishments mention must be made of the Leys school, founded in 1875 by a number of prominent Wesleyans for the non-sectarian education of boys. The school is divided into classical and modern sides.
Out of a number of ancient churches in Cambridge, two, besides Great St Mary's, deserve special notice. In St Bene- dict's or Benet's, which has been already mentioned in connexion with Corpus College, the tower is of great interest, being the oldest surviving building in Cambridge, of pre-Norman workmanship, having rude ornamentation on the exterior and the tower arch within. The church of the Holy Sepulchre in Bridge Street is one of the four ancient round churches in England. Its supposed date is 1120-1140, but although it is doubtless to be associated with the Knights Templars, the circumstances of its foundation are not - known. The chancel is practically a modern reconstruction, and an extensive restoration, which has been adversely criticized, was 'applied by the Cambridge Camden Society to the whole fabric in 1841. At several of the villages neighbouring or suburban to Cambridge there are churches of interest, as at Chesterton, Trumpington, Grantchester (where the name indicates a Roman station, borne out by the discovery of remains), Fen Ditton and Barnwell, near which is the Norman Sturbridge chapel. In Cambridge itself there is a Norman house, much altered, which by a tradition of unknown origin bears the name of the School of Pythagoras.
The university is a corporate body, including all the colleges. These, however, are also corporations in themselves, and have y their own statutes, but they are further subject to the P statutes of Queen Elizabeth were only replaced in 1858. The statutes as revised by a commission in that year were soon found to require emendation; in 1872 another commission was appointed, and in 5882 new statutes received the approval of the queen in council. The head of the university is the chancellor. He is a member of the university, of high rank and position, elected by the senate. Being generally non-resident, he delegates his administrative duties to the vice-chancellor, who is the head of a college, and is elected for one year by the senate. The principal executive officers under the vice-chancellor are as follows. The two proctors have as their main duty that of disciplinary officers over the members of the university in statu pupillari. In each year two colleges nominate one proctor each, according to a fixed rotation which gives the larger colleges a more frequent choice than the smaller. The proctors are assisted by four pro-proctors. The public orator is the spokesman of the senate upon such public occasions as the conferring of honorary degrees. The librarian has charge of the university library. The registrar, with his assistant, records the proceedings of the senate, &c., and has charge of documents. The university returns two members to parliament, elected by the members of the senate. The chancellor and sex vin (elected by the senate) form a court for offences against the university statutes by members not statu pupillari. The chancellor and six heads of colleges, appointed by the senate, form a court of discipline for members in statu pupillari. The senate in congregation is the legislative body. Those who have votes in it are the chancellor, vice-chancellor, doctors of divinity, law, medicine, science, letters and music, and masters of art, law, surgery and music. The council of the senate, consisting of the chancellor, vice-chancellor, four heads of colleges, four professors and eight other members of the senate chosen by the vice-chancellor, brings all proposals (called Graces) before the senate. The revenues of the university are derived chiefly from fees at matriculation, for certain examinations, and for degrees, from a tax upon all members of the university, and from contributions by the colleges, together with the profits of the University Press. A financial board, consisting of the vice-chancellor ex officio and certain elected members, administers the finances of the university. There are boards for each of the various faculties, and a General Board of Studies, with the vice-chancellor at the head. There are university professors, readers or lecturers in a large number of subjects. The oldest professorship is the Lady Margaret professorship of divinity, instituted by the founders of Christ's and St John's Colleges in 1502. In 1540 Henry VIII. founded the regius professorships of divinity, civil law, physic, Hebrew and Greek.
The head of a college generally bears the title of master, as indicated above in the account of the several colleges. It has also been seen that the foundation of each college includes a certain number of fellows and scholars. The affairs of the college are managed by the head and the fellows, or a committee of fellows. The scholars and other members in statu pupillari are generally termed collectively undergraduates. Those who receive no emoluments (and therefore pay the full fees) are technically called pensioners, and form the bulk of the undergraduates. Another group of students receiving emoluments are termed sizars; the primary object of sizarships is to open the university course to men of limited means. The title of fellow-commoners belongs to wealthy students who pay special fees and have the right of dining at the fellows' tables. This class has virtually ceased to exist. As regards his work, the undergraduate in college is under the intimate direction of his tutor; the disciplinary officer in college is the dean. Besides the foundation scholarships in each college there are generally certain scholarships and exhibitions founded by private or special benefactions; these are frequently awarded for the encouragement of specific branches of study, or are confined wholly, or by preference, to students from certain schools.
The total number of students is about 3000. The colleges cannot accommodate this number, so that a student commonly spends some part of his residence in lodgings, which are licensed by, and under the control of, the university authorities. Such residence implies no sacrifice of membership of a college. There are three terms - Michaelmas (October), Lent and Easter (summer). They include together not less than 227 days, though the actual period of residence for undergraduates is about 24 weeks annually. Undergraduates usually begin residence in Michaelmas term. An elementary examination or other evidence of qualification is required for admission to a college. After nine terms' (three years') residence an undergraduate can take the first degree, that of bachelor of arts (B.A.). The examinations required for the ordinary B.A. degree are - (1) Previous examination or Little-go (usually taken in the first term of residence or at least in the first year), including classics, mathematics and a gospel in Greek and Paley's Evidences of Christianity, or an additional Greek or Latin classic and logic. (2) General examination in classics and mathematics, with a portion of English history, &c. (3) Special examination in a subject other than classical or mathematical. Candidates for honours are required to pass the Previous examination with certain additional subjects; they then have only a "tripos" examination in one of the following subjects - mathematics, classics, moral sciences, natural sciences, theology, law, history, oriental languages, medieval and modern languages, mechanical sciences, economics. The mathematical tripos is divided into two parts, in the first of which, down to 5909, the candidates were classed in the result as Wranglers, Senior Optimes and Junior Optimes. There was also an individual order of merit, the most proficient candidate being placed at the head of the list as Senior Wrangler. But in 1906 a number of important reforms of this tripos were proposed by the Mathematical Board, and among these the abolition of the individual order of merit was recommended and passed by the senate. It is not employed in any other tripos. The classical tripos is also in two parts, to the second of which certain kindred subjects are added (ancient philosophy, history, &c.). Individual order of merit is not observed in either part, the candidates being grouped in classes. There are a large number of university prizes and scholarships on special foundations. Such are the Smith's prizes for mathematics and natural philosophy, on the foundation (5768) of Robert Smith, master of Trinity, awarded up to 1883 after examination, but since then for an essay on some branch of each subject, and the Chancellor's medals, of which two have been awarded annually in classics since the foundation of the prizes in 1751 by Thomas Holles, duke of Newcastle.
The university may adopt as affiliated colleges institutions in the United Kingdom or in any part of the British empire which fulfil certain conditions as to the education of adult students. Attendance at these institutions is counted as equivalent to a certain period of residence at Cambridge University in the event of a student wishing to pursue his work here. There are over twenty such affiliated colleges. There are also, in England, certain "affiliated centres." These are towns in which there is no affiliated college, but students who have there attended a course of education managed in connexion with the university by a committee may enter the university aramount laws of the university. The university - with privileges similar to those enjoyed by students from affiliated colleges.
The principal social function of the university is the "May Week" at the close of the Easter term. It actually takes place in June and lasts longer than a week. There is a great influx of visitors into Cambridge for this occasion. The first four days are occupied by the college boat-races on the Cam, and on subsequent days there are college balls, concerts, theatrical performances and other entertainments. On the Tuesday after the races there is a Congregation, at which prize exercises are recited, and usually, but not invariably, a number of honorary degrees are conferred on eminent men by invitation. This final period of the academic year is called Commencement, or in Latin Comitia Maxima. /n==Authorities==- For details of the administration of the university and colleges, regulations as to studies, prizes, scholarships, &c., see the annual Cambridge University Calendar and The Students' Handbook to the University and Colleges of Cambridge; see also R. Willis and J. W. Clark, Architectural History of the University of Cambridge (3 vols., Cambridge, 1886); J. Bass Mullinger, History of the University of Cambridge from the Earliest Times to the Accession of Charles I. (2 vols., 1873-1884; third vol., 1909); and smaller History of Cambridge, in Longman's "Epoch" Series (1888); J. W. Clark, Cambridge, Historical and Picturesque (London, 1890); T. D. Atkinson, Cambridge Described and Illustrated, with introduction by J. W. Clark (London, 1897); F. W. Maitland, Township and Borough (Cambridge, 1898); C. W. Stubbs, Cambridge, in "Mediaeval Towns" series (London, 1905); Arthur Gray, The Dual Origin of the Town of Cambridge (publications of the Cambridge Antiquarian Soc., new ser. No. I, Cambridge, 1908); J. W. Clark, Liber memorandorum ecclesie de Bernewelle (Cambridge, 1907), with an introduction by F. W. Maitland. For the individual colleges, see the series of College Histories, by various authors (London, 1899 et seq.).
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Chisholm, Hugh, General Editor. Entry for 'Cambridge'. 1911 Encyclopedia Britanica. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/bri/c/cambridge.html. 1910.
