List of founding Fellows, Scholars and Commissioners of Jesus College, Oxford
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The royal charters that founded Jesus College, Oxford, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, appointed various Fellows, Scholars and Commissioners: the Fellows to educate the Scholars and to run the college, under the overall direction of the Principal, and the Commissioners to draw up statutes for the governance of the college, its officers and servants, and the management of the college property. The foundation of the college started in 1571, but it took more than fifty years and three charters, two from Elizabeth I and one from her successor, James I, to complete the process. Jesus College was the first Protestant college to be founded at the university, and it is the only Oxford college to date from Elizabeth's reign.[1][2] It was the first new Oxford college since 1555, in the reign of Mary, when Trinity College and St John's College were founded as Roman Catholic colleges.[1] The opening phrases of the charter, translated from the original Latin, have been noted as referring to the recent ecclesiastical changes in stating the purposes for which the college was founded:[3][4]
... to the Glory of God Almighty and Omnipotent, and for the spread and maintenance of the Christian religion in its sincere form, for the eradication of errors and heresies, for the increase and perpetuation of true loyalty, for the extension of good literature of every sort, for the knowledge of languages, for the education of youth in loyalty, morality, and methodical learning, for the relief of poverty and distress, and lastly for the benefit and well-being of the Church of Christ in our realms and of our subjects of our especial grace and of our own sure knowledge and spontaneous motion, we have decreed that a College of learning in the sciences, philosophy, humane pursuits, knowledge of the Hebrew, Greek and Latin languages, to the ultimate profession of Sacred Theology, to last for all time to come, be created, founded, built, and established...
Education in Wales had been stimulated by the foundation of grammar schools during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI: King Henry VIII Grammar School in Abergavenny and Christ College, Brecon were established in the 1540s, and Friars School, Bangor dates from 1557.[5] However, despite the numbers of Welsh students coming to Oxford University as a result, there was no special provision for Welshmen before 1571. A Welsh clergyman, Hugh Price, therefore petitioned Elizabeth to found a college at Oxford "that he might bestow his estate of the maintenance of certain scholars of Wales to be trained up in good letters."[6] The college came into being when Elizabeth issued a charter dated 27 June 1571.[7] The charter named a Principal (David Lewis), eight Fellows, eight Scholars and eight Commissioners.[8] The charter also gave to the new college the site and buildings of White Hall, located on Market Street and Ship Street – the site still occupied by the college today.[2][4] White Hall, which had closed in 1570, was one of the academic halls associated with the university: institutions that offered accommodation for students, but little in the way of teaching, and which were disappearing as the collegiate system at Oxford grew.[2][9] Whatever Price's wishes, and despite the links that he and many of the founding Fellows had with Wales, neither the 1571 charter nor any of the later charters limited entry to the college to Welshmen.[10] Nevertheless, the college students were predominately Welsh from the outset,[11] and the college became "the pinnacle of the academic ambition of the young men of Wales".[12]
The Commissioners appointed by the 1571 charter were required to draw up statutes, which had to be approved by a majority of them.[8] The Commissioners included Nicholas Bacon (Lord Keeper of the Great Seal), William Cecil, Lord Burghley (Principal Secretary of State) and Gilbert Gerard (Attorney General) – three "political heavyweights".[13] However, the Commissioners did not complete their task before too many of them had died to permit the remainder to act. This necessitated a second charter from Elizabeth, dated 7 July 1589, which was obtained by the then Principal, Francis Bevans. The 1589 charter appointed thirteen Commissioners, any three of whom could approve the statues, and also confirmed Bevans as Principal.[14] Thereafter Griffith Powell, a former student of the college who had been elected to a fellowship in 1589, attempted to obtain statutes from the new Commissioners.[15] However, neither Bevans nor his successor John Williams pressed for statutes to be confirmed. In their absence, the Principal had an autocratic position.[16][17] Powell's view was that successive Principals were "loath to have any statutes at all", since their power would be "limited" by them.[18] Powell drafted some statutes, based on those of other colleges, and gave them to Bevans in an attempt to get Bevans to have the statutes confirmed by the Commissioners.[15] Bevans took Powell's draft to his residence in Hereford, where he stayed for several years and lost the copy.[17] In 1595, Powell took another copy to John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury and chief Commissioner, who rebuked Bevans for not attempting to obtain statutes from the Commissioners. Whitgift passed the draft to two other Commissioners in turn, Gabriel Goodman, the Dean of Westminster, and Herbert Westphaling, Bishop of Hereford. Westphaling signed the draft in June 1601. With two more signatures still being required, the statutes were sent to John Herbert in 1602.[17] He said that he would read them through and sign them when he had time to do so. However, Williams took the draft statutes away before Herbert approved them, and he kept them in his study until 1609 without making further attempts to have them confirmed.[17][18]
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In 1609, Powell brought matters to the attention of Richard Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor of the university, and Bancroft compelled Williams to produce the statutes.[18] Williams expelled Powell from his fellowship, but the Chancellor ordered his reinstatement. Bancroft died in 1610, and his successor as Archbishop, George Abbot (who was not a Commissioner), found the statutes in his study and returned them to Williams, who took no further steps before his death in 1613. Powell was appointed Principal by Thomas Egerton, Lord Ellesmere, the Chancellor of the University, in 1613.[19] However, there were by that time insufficient living Commissioners to validate the statute.[20] It was not until Sir Eubule Thelwall became Principal in 1621 that matters moved forward. A third charter, from James I, was obtained on 1 June 1622, confirming Thelwall as Principal and nominating eight Fellows and eight Scholars. Two Fellows (Robert Johnson and John Higginson) and two Scholars (Lancelot Andrewes and Thomas Dove) were survivors from the 1571 charter. New Commissioners were appointed, and little time was taken in drawing up the statutes thereafter. The signatories included the Chancellor of the university, William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke.[21] The position of Visitor of the college has remained as an hereditary position for the Earl of Pembroke since 1622, with the current Visitor being William Herbert, 18th Earl of Pembroke.[22]
The eight Scholars named in the 1571 charter appear to have had nothing more than a purely notional connection to the college. Five of them are known to have studied at Merchant Taylors' School and Cambridge University, with four taking up scholarships in Greek at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. Lancelot Andrewes and Thomas Dove were also named as Scholars in the 1622 charter, although by that time Andrewes was Bishop of Winchester, Dove was Bishop of Peterborough and both were over 65 years old.[23] Four of the other six Scholars in the 1622 charter are known to have been undergraduates at Jesus College at the time; the other two appear to have been relatives of the Principal, Sir Eubule Thelwall, but do not appear in the records of the college.[24]
The 1571 charter
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The charter, written in Latin on the flesh side of a prepared calfskin, is 88 by 61 centimetres (35 by 24 in).[25] It is highly decorated with Tudor designs and motifs, with its style being similar to that of books of hours. Elizabeth is depicted in the opening illuminated letter, seated on a blue throne in robes of scarlet trimmed with ermine, and holding an orb and sceptre. It has been suggested by the art historian Roy Strong that the image is based on the work of Levina Teerlinc, a Flemish minaturist.[26] The border is decorated with floral and heraldic motifs, including the Tudor rose.[27] The Great Seal of England was attached to the charter to authenticate it, and the remnants of the Seal are still attached to the charter.[28]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Robert_Dudley%2C_1st_Earl_of_Leicester%2C_Collection_of_Waddesdon_Manor.jpg/220px-Robert_Dudley%2C_1st_Earl_of_Leicester%2C_Collection_of_Waddesdon_Manor.jpg)
Name | Position | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
Lancelot Andrewes | Scholar | Andrewes studied at Merchant Taylors' School and Pembroke Hall, Cambridge and was later Bishop of Chichester, Bishop of Winchester and one of the translators of the King James Bible. He was also named as a Scholar in the 1622 charter. | [23] |
William Aubrey | Fellow and Commissioner | A former Regius Professor of Civil Law (1553–1559); reappointed as a Commissioner in the 1589 charter | [29][30] |
Nicholas Bacon | Commissioner | Lord Keeper of the Great Seal under Elizabeth I | [30] |
William Cecil, Lord Burghley | Commissioner | Secretary of State and leading adviser to Elizabeth I; reappointed as a Commissioner in the 1589 charter | [30] |
The Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor of the university | Commissioner | The Chancellor at the time of the 1571 charter was Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester (Chancellor 1564–1588, with Sir Thomas Bromley deputising for him between 1585 and 1588). Dudley was succeeded by Sir Christopher Hatton (Chancellor 1588–1591), who was named as a Commissioner in the 1589 charter. The Vice-Chancellor in 1571 was Lawrence Humphrey. He was succeeded in 1576 by Herbert Westphaling, who was named as a Commissioner in the 1589 charter. After Westphaling, there was a new Vice-Chancellor every year until the 1589 charter. | [30][31][32] |
John Cotterell | Fellow | Clergyman, formerly Principal of White Hall and Laurence Hall, Oxford | [29] |
Thomas Dove | Scholar | Dove studied at Merchant Taylors' School and Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. He was also named in the 1622 charter, and became Bishop of Peterborough. | [23] |
Gregory Downhall | Scholar | Studied at Merchant Taylors' School (where he was a founding scholar) and Pembroke Hall, Cambridge | [23] |
William Garth | Scholar | Unknown background – no evidence that he matriculated at either Oxford or Cambridge | [23] |
Gilbert Gerard | Commissioner | Attorney-General under Elizabeth I; reappointed as a Commissioner in the 1589 charter | [30] |
John Higginson | Fellow | A Leicestershire priest, named as a Fellow of the college in the 1622 charter | [23] |
Thomas Huet | Fellow | Precentor of St David's Cathedral (1562–1588) | [29] |
Thomas Huyck | Fellow and Commissioner | Chancellor of the Diocese of London | [29] |
Robert Johnson | Fellow | Later Archdeacon of Leicester and founder of Oakham and Uppingham Schools, and named as a Fellow of the college in the 1622 charter | [23] |
David Lewis | Principal and Commissioner | First Principal (resigning 1572); Fellow of All Souls, former Principal of New Inn Hall, Oxford, a judge of the High Court of Admiralty (appointed in 1558) | [30] |
John Lloyd | Fellow | Former Dean of St Asaph, judge of the High Court of Admiralty | [23] |
Robert Lougher | Fellow | Principal of New Inn Hall, Oxford (1564–1570 and 1575–1580) and Regius Professor of Civil Law (1566–1577) | [29] |
John Osmand | Scholar | Unknown background – no evidence that he matriculated at either Oxford or Cambridge | [23] |
William Platt | Scholar | Studied at Merchant Taylors' School and Christ's College, Cambridge | [23] |
Hugh Price | Commissioner | Treasurer of St David's Cathedral and founder of the college, his name appears twice in the charter (as a benefactor promising a bequest worth £60 per year, and then as the first-named Commissioner) | [33] |
John Wilford | Scholar | Studied at Merchant Taylors' School and Pembroke Hall, Cambridge | [23] |
Francis Yeomans | Scholar | Unknown background – no evidence that he matriculated at either Oxford or Cambridge | [23] |
The 1589 charter
The charter of 1589 appointed 13 Commissioners– whilst Francis Bevans was confirmed as Principal, no Fellows or Scholars were appointed by this charter.[34]
Name | Notes |
---|---|
William Aubrey | Also named as a Fellow of the college and a Commissioner in the 1571 charter |
Francis Bevans | Principal of the college (1586–1602) |
William Cecil, Lord Burghley | Also named as a Commissioner in the 1571 charter |
The Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor of the university | The Chancellor at the time of the 1589 charter was Sir Christopher Hatton (Chancellor 1588–1591), who was also named personally as a Commissioner. His successors were Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset (1591–1608); Richard Bancroft (Archbishop of Canterbury) (1608–1610); Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley (1610–1616); and William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (1616–1630). There were 16 different Vice-Chancellors between 1589 and 1622.[31][32] |
Gilbert Gerard | Also named as a Commissioner in the 1571 charter |
Gabriel Goodman | Dean of Westminster |
Sir Christoper Hatton | Lord Chancellor |
John Herbert | Secretary of State |
Henry Jones | A Welsh clergyman and lawyer |
John Lloyd | Also named as a Fellow of the college, but not a Commissioner, in the 1571 charter |
Richard Harris | Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford (1573–1595) |
Herbert Westphaling | Bishop of Hereford, to whom Principal Francis Bevans was chancellor |
John Whitgift | Archbishop of Canterbury |
The 1622 charter
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/Lancelot_Andrewes.jpg/220px-Lancelot_Andrewes.jpg)
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Name | Position | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
Lancelot Andrewes | Scholar | Also named as a Scholar in the 1571 charter | [23] |
Sir John Bennet | Commissioner | Judge of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, elected MP for the university in 1621 | [21] |
William Bird | Commissioner | Dean of the Court of Arches (appointed 1618), and a former MP for the university | [21] |
Henry Bould | Scholar | Later became a Fellow of the college (1623–1638) | [24] |
The Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor of the university | Commissioner | The Chancellor at the time of the 1622 charter was William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, and he was one of the signatories of the statutes. The Vice-Chancellor, William Piers, did not sign. | [21][31][32] |
William Dolben | Fellow | Welsh clergyman | [24] |
Thomas Dove | Scholar | Also named as a Scholar in the 1571 charter | [23] |
John Higginson | Fellow | Also named as a Fellow of the college in the 1571 charter | [23] |
Robert Johnson | Fellow | Also named as a Fellow of the college in the 1571 charter | [23] |
Walter Jones | Scholar | Matriculated as a member of the college in November 1621, later becoming Sub-Dean of Westminster Abbey and Treasurer of Chichester Cathedral | [24][35] |
Robert Lloyd | Fellow | A Fellow of the college (1622–1637), but nothing else is known about him | [24][36] |
Hugh Madryn | Scholar | Matriculated as a member of the college in December 1621, later becoming rector of Newtown, Montgomeryshire | [24][35] |
Maurice Meyricke | Fellow | Registrar of the university (1600–1608) and a Fellow of New College, Oxford | [24][35] |
Willam Parry | Scholar | Matriculated as a member of the college in November 1621 | [24] |
Theodore Price | Fellow and Commissioner | Principal of Hart Hall, Oxford (1604–1622) | [21][24] |
Thomas Prichard | Fellow | A Fellow of the college since 1615, appointed Vice-Principal in 1623 | [24] |
William Prichard | Fellow | A former student of the college; Rector of Ewelme, Oxfordshire (1606–1629) | [24] |
Ambrose Thelwall | Scholar | Not found in the college records, but presumed to be a relative of Sir Eubule Thelwall | [24] |
Sir Eubule Thelwall | Principal and Commissioner | Master of the Court of Chancery (appointed 1617), and Principal from 1621 until his death in 1630 | [21] |
William Thelwall | Scholar | Not found in the college records, but presumed to be a relative of Sir Eubule Thelwall | [24] |
References
- General references
- Allen, Brigid (1998). "The Early History of Jesus College, Oxford 1571–1603". Oxoniensia. LXIII: 105–124. Cited in references as: Allen
- Baker, J. N. L. (1971). Jesus College, Oxford 1571–1971. Oxford: Oxonian Press Ltd. ISBN 0950216402. Cited in references as: Baker
- Bell, Nancy (1999). "Conservation of the College Charters". Jesus College Record. Jesus College, Oxford: 52–61. Cited in references as: Bell
- Hardy, E. G. (1899). Jesus College. London: F. E. Robinson & Co. Cited in references as: Hardy
- Specific references
- ^ a b "The University of Oxford". A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 3: The University of Oxford. Institute of Historical Research, University of London. 1954. pp. 1–38. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
- ^ a b c "Jesus College – The Beginning". Jesus College, Oxford. 8 April 2001. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
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: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Hardy, pp. 12–13
- ^ a b Baker, p. 1
- ^ Hardy, pp. 5–6
- ^ Hardy, p. 6, quoting Anthony Wood
- ^ Hardy, pp. 7–8
- ^ a b Hardy, p. 13
- ^ Hardy, p. 4
- ^ "Jesus College – The Welsh College". Jesus College, Oxford. 12 November 2000. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
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(help) - ^ Allen, pp. 117–123
- ^ Davies, John (2007). A History of Wales. Penguin Books. p. 250. ISBN 0140284753.
- ^ Bell, p. 53
- ^ Hardy, pp. 25–26
- ^ a b Hardy, p. 29
- ^ Hardy, p. 28
- ^ a b c d Hardy, p. 30
- ^ a b c Hardy, p. 31
- ^ Hardy, p. 33
- ^ Hardy, p. 32
- ^ a b c d e f Hardy, p. 50
- ^ "College Statutes, Statute XIV "The Visitor"" (pdf). Jesus College, Oxford. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Allen, p. 116
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Allen, p. 117
- ^ Bell, p. 54
- ^ Bell, p. 57
- ^ Bell, p. 58
- ^ Bell, pp. 59–60
- ^ a b c d e Allen, p. 114
- ^ a b c d e f Allen, p. 115
- ^ a b c "Chancellors of the University of Oxford". University of Oxford. 4 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
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(help) - ^ a b c "Vice-Chancellors of the University of Oxford". University of Oxford. 4 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
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: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Allen, p. 113
- ^ Allen, pp. 115–116
- ^ a b c Foster, Joseph (1891–1892). Alumni Oxonienses: The Members of the University of Oxford, 1500–1714. ISBN 978-1855068438 (reprint).
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(help)CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ Hardy, Appendix III List of Fellows