The Medieval Colleges

After Peterhouse, 5 more colleges followed in 26 years : Clare, Pembroke, Gonville, Trinity Hall and Corpus Christi.

They offer us a glimpse of who was paying for learning in medieval England.

Clare College was founded in 1326 by Elizabeth de Clare, a granddaughter of King Edward I and one of the richest women in England at the time.

Fun fact : its bridge (built in the 17th century) is one of the oldest surviving bridges in Cambridge and has a wedge missing on one of its stone balls - the legend being that the builder was underpaid and refused to finish it.

Some of its famous alumni include the naturalist David Attenborough and James Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA.

Pembroke College was founded in 1347 by the Countess of Pembroke, another wealthy widow.

Fun fact : its chapel was the first completed building of famous architect Christopher Wren, in 1665, and paid for by his uncle, the Bishop of Ely.

Gonville and Caius College was founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, a priest, and was then refounded in 1557 by a physician, John Caius - and has been called Gonville and Caius ever since.

Fun fact : the college has 3 gates - the Gate of Humility, the Gate of Virtue and the Gate of Honour.

They represent the stages of a student's progress - ending with the Gate of Honour leading towards the Senate House, where students are awarded their degrees.

Some of its famous alumni include William Harvey, who discovered the circulation of the blood, Francis Crick, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, and physicist Stephen Hawking.

Then the Black Death reached England, in the mid 14th century, and the parish clergy, who were the ones attending the dying, were among the hardest hit.

Trinity Hall was founded just 2 years later, specifically to train their replacements.

Finally, Corpus Christi was established in 1352 by 2 powerful guilds - the only Cambridge college founded by the town itself.

The Guild of Corpus Christi was a fraternity who ran services at St Bene't's church.

The Guild of the Blessed Virgin Mary was an older society whose members paid for prayers to be said for one another's souls after death.

Thus 150 years after the university was founded, the townspeople founded a college of their own.

Its most famous alumnus is the playwright Christopher Marlowe.