In the reign of Henry III., Walter Merton, Bishop of Rochester, removed
the college he had founded in Surrey, 1274, to Oxford, enriched it, and
named it Merton College; and soon after, William, Archdeacon of Durham,
restored, with additions, that building of Alfred’s now called University
College; in the reign of Edward I., John Baliol, King of Scotland, or, as
some will have it, his parents, founded Baliol College; in the reign of
Edward II., Walter Stapleton, Bishop of Exeter, founded Exeter College
and Hart Hall; and, in imitation of him, the King, King’s College,
commonly called Oriel, and St. Mary’s Hall; next, Philippa, wife of
Edward III., built Queen’s College; and Simon Islip, Archbishop of
Canterbury, Canterbury College; William Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester,
raised that magnificent structure called New College; Magdalen College
was built by William Wainflete, Bishop of Winchester, a noble edifice,
finely situated and delightful for its walks; at the same time, Humphrey,
Duke of Gloucester, that great encourager of learning, built the Divinity
School very splendidly, and over it a library, to which he gave an
hundred and twenty-nine very choice books, purchased at a great price
from Italy, but the public has long since been robbed of the use of them
by the avarice of particulars: Lincoln College; All Souls’ College; St.
Bernard’s College; Brazen-Nose College, founded by William Smith, Bishop
of Lincoln, in the reign of Henry VII.; its revenues were augmented by
Alexander Nowel, Dean of St. Paul’s, London; upon the gate of this
college is fixed a nose of brass; Corpus Christi College, built by
Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester—under his picture in the College chapel
are lines importing that it is the exact representation of his person and
dress.
Christ’s Church, the largest and most elegant of them all, was begun on
the ground of St. Frideswide’s Monastery, by Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal of
York, to which Henry VIII. joined Canterbury College, settled great
revenues upon it, and named it Christ’s Church; the same great prince,
out of his own treasury, to the dignity of the town and ornament of the
University, made the one a bishoprie, and instituted professorships in
the other.
Jesus College, built by Hugh Price, Doctor of Laws.
That fine edifice, the Public Schools, was entirely raised by Queen Mary,
and adorned with various inscriptions.
Thus far of the colleges and halls, which for the beauty of their
buildings, their rich endowments, and copious libraries, excel all the
academies in the Christian world. We shall add a little of the academies
themselves, and those that inhabit them.
These students lead a life almost monastic; for as the monks had nothing
in the world to do but when they had said their prayers at stated hours
to employ themselves in instructive studies, no more have these. They
are divided into three tables: the first is called the Fellows’ table, to
which are admitted earls, barons, gentlemen, doctors, and Masters of
Arts, but very few of the latter—this is more plentifully and expensively
served than the others; the second is for Masters of Arts, Bachelors,
some gentlemen, and eminent citizens; the third for people of low
condition. While the rest are at dinner or supper in a great hall, where
they are all assembled, one of the students reads aloud the Bible, which
is placed on a desk in the middle of the hall, and this office every one
of them takes upon himself in his turn. As soon as grace is said after
each meal, every one is at liberty either to retire to his own chambers
or to walk in the College garden, there being none that has not a
delightful one. Their habit is almost the same as that of the Jesuits,
their gowns reaching down to their ankles, sometimes lined with fur; they
wear square caps. The doctors, Masters of Arts, and professors, have
another kind of gown that distinguishes them. Every student of any
considerable standing has a key to the College library, for no college is
without one.
In an out-part of the town are the remains of a pretty large
fortification, but quite in ruins. We were entertained at supper with an
excellent concert, composed of a variety of instruments.
The next day we went as far as the Royal Palace of Woodstock, where King
Ethelred formerly held a Parliament, and enacted certain laws. This
palace, abounding in magnificence, was built by Henry I., to which he
joined a very large park, enclosed with a wall; according to John Rosse,
the first park in England. In this very palace the present reigning
Queen Elizabeth, before she was confined to the Tower, was kept prisoner
by her sister Mary. While she was detained here, in the utmost peril of
her life, she wrote with a piece of charcoal the following verse,
composed by herself, upon a window shutter:—
“O Fortune! how thy restless wavering state
Hath fraught with cares my troubled wit!
Witness this present prison whither fate
Hath borne me, and the joys I quit.
Thou causedest the guilty to be loosed
From bands wherewith are innocents enclosed;
Causing the guiltless to be strait reserved,
And freeing those that death had well deserved:
But by her envy can be nothing wrought,
So God send to my foes all they have thought.
A.D., M.D.L.V.”
“ELIZABETH, Prisoner.”
Not far from this palace are to be seen, near a spring of the brightest
water, the ruins of the habitation of Rosamond Clifford, whose exquisite
beauty so entirely captivated the heart of King Henry II. that he lost
the thought of all other women; she is said to have been poisoned at last
by the Queen. All that remains of her tomb of stone, the letters of
which are almost worn out, is the following:—
“ . . . Adorent,
Utque tibi detur requies Rosamunda precamur.”