In 1264 Walter de Merton founded the first college at Oxford, an
institution which has ever since borne his name, and which really
originated the English college system. During the reign of Edward
III, William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, gave a decided impulse
to higher education by the establishment, at his own expense, of
Winchester College, the first great public school founded in England.
Later, he built and endowed New College at Oxford to supplement it.
In Merton's and Wykeham's institutions young men of small means were
instructed, and in great measure supported, without charge. They were
brought together under one roof, require to conform to proper
discipline, and taught by the best teachers of the day. In this way a
general feeling of emulation was roused, and at the same time a
fraternal spirit cultivated, which had a strong influence in favor of
a broader and deeper intellectual culture than the monastic schools at
Oxford and elsewhere had encouraged.