THE QUEEN’S COLLEGE

A little to the east, on the north side of the High, is the Queen’s College. It was founded by Robert de Eglesfield[1] in 1341. He was a chaplain to Philippa of Hainault,[2] consort of Edward III, and it was in her honour and that of all the queens consort of England that he established it. The college was intended for northerners, for Robert himself was a native of Cumberland. He took Merton for his model, but indulged in a little pious fancy in his arrangement of the community. It is said that he arranged for a provost to represent Christ, twelve fellows to stand for the apostles, and seventy-two undergraduates for the first disciples.

None of the medieval buildings have been preserved. The present college was erected under the direction of Wren and his pupils and forms a harmonious eighteenth-century whole.

Cardinal Bainbridge,[3] archbishop of York and one of Henry VIII’s ambassadors to the Holy See, was at Queen’s.(From Goulder, Pilgrimage Pamphlets: Oxford & Cambridge, 1963)

Cardinal Bainbridge, archbishop of York and one of Henry VIII’s ambassadors to the Holy See, was at Queen’s. The Queen’s College produced two martyrs for the Catholic faith: John Bost (Durham, 1593) and Blessed Richard Thirkeld, confessor to St Margaret Clitherow (York, 1583).

The College's custom of serving a boar's head at its Christmas dinner is said to commemorate a medieval student who, studying Aristotle in the quiet of Shotover Wood, was attacked by a boar. He stuffed his book into the beast's mouth, and it choked to death.

For more on the history of The Queen’s College, see their site.

[1] Died 1349.
[2] Lived c. 1314-1369.
[3] Bishop of Durham 1507-1508, archbishop of York 1508-1514. Cardinal 1511. 110 Lived c. 1410-1431.