Advanced education began in Oxford, England, in 1096. In 1167 Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris and other foreign colleges. Thus began the foundation of Oxford University, the oldest in Britain and one of the most famous universities in the world.
From humble, informal settings, University College, founded in 1249, lays claim to being the oldest of the official colleges and is still well-attended. Then, Balliol (1263) and Merton (1264) were established as official halls of residence under the supervision of a master. Today, there are 36 colleges and eight other educational facilities spread throughout the city. A few are rather drab, modern buildings, but most are rich in architecture as well as history.
Oxford lies west of London, about a four-hour drive on the A40. Accommodations for “outsiders” are at a premium, but places to eat and drink are plentiful. We took an audio bus tour of the city to get a good idea of what we wanted to see up close before setting out on foot. There are numerous sights, such as Radcliffe Camera on top of the Bodleian Library and the museum of Oxford, that are also well worth seeing.
Only men could attend Oxford for hundreds of years. University College was only open to fellows studying theology until the 16th century. Now, it boasts Stephen Hawking, C.S. Lewis, William George “Willie” Rushton, Peter Snow, Percy Shelley, and both Bill and Chelsea Clinton as graduates. Academic halls were not established for women until 1878, and they were only admitted to full membership of the University in 1920.
Balliol is the most centrally situated and diverse of the colleges. Traditionally, the undergraduates are among the most politically active in the university, and the college’s alumni include three former prime ministers. Alumni also include King Olav V of Norway, King Harald of Norway, and writers Aldous Huxley and Grahame Greene. Balliol also boasts about its college tortoises. Rosa, the original tortoise, was named after the German Marxist Rosa Luxemburg and lived at the College for at least 43 years. Each June, pet tortoises from various Oxford colleges are brought to Corpus Christi College, where they participate in a race; Rosa won many times.
Merton College was founded by Walter de Merton, who joined George Mallory for the third British expedition to Mount Everest in 1924. He later became chancellor of England. Eminent scholars who called Merton home include four Nobel Prize winners: the poet T.S. Eliot; William Harvey, the physician who discovered the circulation of blood; Sir Andrew Wiles, the mathematician who solved Fermat’s Last Theorem; and the founder of the Bodleian Library, Sir Thomas Bodley. Also of significant note is then Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan.
The Queen’s College, founded in 1341, is situated on the High Street and is renowned for its 18th-century architecture. Famous alumni include Henry V; Edmund Halley, the astronomer for whom the comet is named; Edwin Powell Hubble, the American astronomer; and Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web.
Christ Church College, Oxford University’s largest college, was founded in 1525 by Cardinal Wolsey. It has a huge courtyard created by alumnus Christopher Wren in 1682. Christ Church has produced 13 British prime ministers, along with such writers as John Locke, W.H. Auden, William Penn, and Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who is better known by his nom de plume, Lewis Carroll. Oh, yes, Albert Einstein also attended. The College is the setting for parts of several movies: Evelyn Waugh’s “Brideshead Revisited;” Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland;” J. K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series; and the film adaptation of Philip Pullman’s novel “Northern Lights,” better known as “The Golden Compass.
In 1324 when fleeing from the Battle of Bannockburn, Edward II vowed to the Virgin Mary that if she saved him, he would found an Oxford house in her name. Consequently, Oriel, the fifth college and the oldest royal foundation in Oxford, is also known as King’s College. The most famous undergraduate is the 16th-century explorer, Sir Walter Raleigh, but Cecil Rhodes and Beau Brummel also matriculated at Oriel. The College has produced many churchmen, bishops, cardinals, governors, and two Nobel Prize winners. In 1985, Oriel became the last all-male college in Oxford to admit women as undergraduates.
Exeter College was founded in 1314 to provide an educated clergy for the parishes of Devon, England. Oddly, two of its more famous graduates are J.R.R. Tolkien and Richard Walter Jenkins, better known as the actor Richard Burton. Dr. Roger Bannister, who first broke the four-minute mile, also graduated from Exeter.
Trinity College was founded in 1555. The remains of its founder, Sir Thomas Pope, are still encased beside the chapel altar. Famous alumni include Sir Richard Francis Burton, the famous 19th-century explorer and writer; Oscar Wilde, who was first at Trinity College and later at Magdalen College; and Norris Dewar McWhirter and his identical twin brother, Ross, who became known internationally for founding the Guinness Book of Records.
The links above provide information on all of the other colleges and institutions of Oxford. However, nothing will beat an actual visit, treading upon the historic grounds where so many great scholars and famous people once trod.
