Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Corpus Christi College | |
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University of Cambridge | |
Scarf colours: cherry pink, with two equally-spaced narrow white stripes | |
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Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.[4] From the late 14th century to the early 19th century it was also commonly known as St Benet's College.
The college is notable as the only one founded by Cambridge townspeople:[5] it was established in 1352 by the Guild of Corpus Christi and the Guild of the Blessed Virgin Mary,[6] making it the sixth-oldest college in Cambridge. With around 300 undergraduates and 200 postgraduates, it also has the second smallest student body of the traditional colleges of the University, after Peterhouse.
The College has traditionally been one of the more academically successful colleges in the University of Cambridge. In the unofficial Tompkins Table, which ranks the colleges by the class of degrees obtained by their undergraduates, in 2012 Corpus was in third position, with 32.4% of its undergraduates achieving first-class degrees. The college's average position between 2003 and 2012 was 9th, and in the 2022 rankings it was placed 9th.
Corpus ranks among the wealthiest Cambridge colleges in terms of fixed assets, being exceptionally rich in silver.[7] The College's endowment was valued at £90.9M at the end of June 2017, while its net assets were valued at £227.4M.[8]
History
Foundation
The
Construction of a single modest
The newly constructed court could house 22 fellows and students. The statutes laid down the rules governing the behaviour of fellows only. Students were not part of the foundation at this stage and would not come within the scope of the statutes for another 200 years.[citation needed]
Name
The college's most formal name is the College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary in the University of Cambridge, usually abbreviated to Corpus Christi College. From the early 16th century, it was also known as Benet or St Benet's College, from the nearby St Bene't's Church, associated with the founding guild of Corpus Christi. Both the college and the church stand on Bene't Street.[13] Until the late 16th century, the church served as the college chapel, although St Botolph's was also used for some services. When Thomas Cosyn was master of the college in the late 15th century, a gallery was built which linked the college to St Benet's church.[14]
By the later 16th century, Benet College became the name most commonly used, as "Corpus Christi" was deemed to have a very Roman Catholic flavour. This preference continued until the early 19th century.[15]
Medieval period
In its early centuries, the college was relatively poor[6] and so could not construct new buildings; thus Old Court has survived to the present day. It had no chapel, so the members worshipped in St Bene't's Church next door.[10] From the late 14th century through to the 19th century, particularly during the Reformation when Catholic references were discouraged, Corpus was known as St Benet's College.[9] By 1376 it possessed 55 books, and many more would be donated or bequeathed over the succeeding centuries, including, those bequeathed by Thomas Markaunt and, most significantly, those donated in the 16th century by Archbishop Matthew Parker, who is celebrated by the college as its greatest benefactor.[6]
During the
In 1460 during the Wars of the Roses, the college paid for armaments including artillery and arrows, and protective clothing to defend the college's treasures from a "tempestuous riot".[10]
Reformation
Although spared the worst of the religious tumult that the
It was during this time that Matthew Parker became Master. He donated his unrivalled library to the college, much silver plate and its symbol, the pelican. In order to ensure the safety of his collection Parker inserted into the terms of his endowment one which stated that if any more than a certain number of books were lost, the rest of the collection would pass first to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and then (in the event of any more losses) to Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Every few years, representatives from both of those colleges ceremonially inspect the collection for any losses.[12]
Parker placed a similar condition on the silver that he bequeathed to the college and these stipulations are part of the reason why Corpus Christi College retains to this day the entirety of the library and the silver collection: they were unable to sell off (or melt down) the less valuable parts of either collection without losing both. (Parker's assiduousness in his acquisition of books and manuscripts has been suggested as an origin of the phrase "Nosey Parker".[18]) Parker was forced to resign as Master in 1553 by the accession of Mary I but was elected Archbishop of Canterbury upon the succession of Elizabeth I.[citation needed]
The playwright
In 1952, a portrait of a man "in the 21st year of his age" was discovered during renovation work at the college. As the painting is dated 1585, the year Marlowe was 21, it has been claimed as a portrait of the playwright, of whom no other known portrait exists.[20]
As the number of students rose a bigger chapel became necessary. In 1578
Owing to disputed appointments to the Mastership, Elizabeth I imposed the appointment of
Jacobean period
Corpus maintains an impressive collection of silver as it was the only college not to sell its silverware in support of either side during the Civil War.[6] That, and its unrivalled collection of manuscripts and massive collection of rare wines and ports, fuels rumours that it is Cambridge's richest college per student. This is a moot point, since these assets cannot be sold and the majority of them cannot be valued.[10]
Unlike other
Age of Enlightenment
In 1688, the college was attacked once again by a mob, this time with an anti-Catholic bent. They made for the rooms of the bursar, Clement Scott, whom they suspected of popery. He hid himself from the mob so they destroyed his books and papers. The college continued to grow throughout the 18th century and did produce several distinguished scholars and clergymen including the so-called Benedictine Antiquaries, a dozen or so men all well known for antiquarian research including such figures as Richard Gough and William Stukeley.[6][12]
In the 1740s,
Victorian Period
During the 19th century the college became associated with the
Edwardian period
Second World War
During the Second World War, the Master of the College was Sir Will Spens, who was also Regional Commissioner of Civil Defence for the Eastern Region: had Hitler invaded, he would have been in charge of running Eastern England. The college housed various government departments whilst the then Master was also the Regional Commissioner. Corpus would have hosted the organisation which may have been required to act as an autonomous government authority if central government was incapacitated.[23] This has led to a persistent rumour of a network of tunnels under the college excavated for this purpose. While there are extensive wine cellars, there is no evidence of such tunnels.[24] During the war there were fewer undergraduates in residence, but the space was taken up by cadets and officers of the armed services taking short courses. Due to the increase in student numbers in the 1930s, Corpus is one of the few British institutions to have lost more members in the Second World War than in the First. Their names are inscribed in the Chapel.
Corpus owns
Modern period
During the 1960s, central heating was extended across the entire college campus. Women were also allowed to join the college Chapel Choir and dine in hall. In 1963, the college's first bar was opened in New Court.[6] In 2008, it was moved to Library Court and the old bar was converted into a post room, staffroom and a graduate student common room.
In 1962, the college approved the conversion of the
In 1983, women were first admitted as undergraduates.
In recent years, the College has spearheaded the Northern Ireland Initiative.[27] It also has strong links with New Zealand, taking a student on a full scholarship from the country each year, paid for by the Worshipful Company of Girdlers.[28] A former president is the historian and Cold War scholar Christopher Andrew. He also chairs the 'Cambridge Intelligence Seminar' which convenes regularly in rooms.
The current college visitor is the Chancellor of the University of Cambridge,[29] Lord Sainsbury of Turville.[30]
In 2008, the college completed the renovation of an adjacent bank building and other college buildings to create Library Court, the third court within the main college campus.
In January 2012, several pieces of silver worth a total of £11,596 were stolen from the college collection. The items, which included chalices and patens, were taken from the college chapel while it was open to the public.[31] Several pieces worth £956 in total were recovered a fortnight later; the remainder was discovered to have been melted down. A local man was arrested and charged with the theft.[32] None of the pieces lost were part of Parker's bequest.
On 12 July 2017, the Fellowship of the College elected professor Christopher Kelly, President of the College and former Senior Tutor, as the College's 52nd Master.[33] He took up his post in the Michaelmas Term of 2018.
A major restoration of the college's dining hall and servery were undertaken in 2017–18 and completed in February 2019, revealing medieval stonework that had been covered up by the previous restoration in the 1950s.
In July 2019, the college announced that it would create 30 new undergraduate places, specifically aimed at helping students from under-represented backgrounds to take up places at the University.
Buildings
Old Court
Built in the 1350s, Old Court contains some of Cambridge's oldest buildings, and retains many of its original features, such as sills and jambs used to hold oil-soaked linen in the days prior to the arrival of glass. The court is the oldest continually inhabited courtyard in the country (a claim disputed by Merton College, Oxford, which says the same of its Mob Quad). It is possibly built from the core of an even older building. Four sided, it typifies the model of construction of the colleges in Oxford or Cambridge.[5] A passageway connects Old Court to Bene't Street. Due to its age the rooms are large and contain antique furniture but lack basic facilities and plumbing. In 1919 the ivy was removed from Old Court and a roughcast rendering was put in its place, followed by a major restoration in 1952 paid for by donations from old members.
During the summer months students are permitted to sit on the lawn in Old Court and garden parties may be held whereas, like other Oxbridge colleges, normally only fellows are allowed to walk on the lawns.[34] There is a large plaque, on the northern wall, dedicated to Christopher Marlowe and John Fletcher, both famous playwrights who studied at Corpus.[35] Standing inside Old Court one can see the tower of St Bene't's Church, the oldest building in Cambridge, and the Old Cavendish Laboratory where the structure of DNA was solved by Watson and Crick[36] and groundbreaking work on the structure of the atom was conducted by J. J. Thomson and Ernest Rutherford.[37] Around 1500, the master, Thomas Cosyn built a brick gallery which connects Old Court with St. Benet's Church; the gallery is now part of an Old Court room set.
St Bene't's Church
The adjacent St Bene't's Church served as the college's chapel until 1579[38] when one was built specifically for the purpose. The college remains the patron.[12] The tower of St Bene't's is the oldest building in Cambridge dating back to before the Norman Conquest, built in the late Anglo-Saxon period.[39] It is also notable for being the birthplace of the practice of ringing the changes, which was started by Fabian Stedman, a parish clerk, in 1670.[39]
New Court
New Court (completed 1827) was designed by
The Chapel
The current Chapel is the third the college has had and was completed in 1827 along with the rest of New Court. It was also designed by William Wilkins, but includes some medieval glass and features, including the fellows' stalls, several memorials and the floor of the older Elizabethan Chapel, which was demolished in the construction of New Court. The first four stained glass windows date to around 1500 and are believed to come from the Abbey of
The Chapel was extended in the late 19th century to make room for increasing student numbers, and the chancel dates from this time. The ceiling, which had been a stone fan-ribbed vault like the ceiling of the college gatehouse, was replaced by the painted wooden ceiling still in place today.
Services are held daily and there are sung services three times a week:
The current organ was built by Noel Mander MBE in 1968 and the casework was designed by Stephen Dykes Bower.[46] The previous organ was donated to Methodist College Belfast on their centenary in 1968.[47]
The Parker Library
The collection was begun in 1376 and much improved by a bequest from
The Parker Collection is one of the finest and most important collections of
The building was completed in 1827 in the construction of Wilkin's New Court. Currently the collection comprises over 600 manuscripts, around 480 of which were given by Parker, who also donated around 1000 printed volumes.[49]
Its most famous possession is the
In a joint venture between the college, the University Library and Stanford University in the United States of America the entire collection was digitised[51] and is now available on the internet.[52] Completed in 2010, the process involved the digitisation of over 200,000 separate pages.[51]
Kwee Court (formerly Library Court)
In 2005, the lease of the bank adjacent to Corpus expired and the college reclaimed it to begin construction of Library Court. Due to be completed in 2007, the project overran due to archaeological finds and issues removing the bank vault.
Library Court was completed in January 2008 and houses the college's student centre which includes the college bar,
While the outer facade of the bank building facing onto Trumpington Street, designed by architect Horace Francis,[53] is Grade II listed, the interior was not. The inside was stripped out and a modern library was installed. The other rooms including the bar, student rooms, fellows rooms and student centre were remodelled within the existing building. Facing onto Library Court from the Taylor Library is a large window decorated by an engraving by Lida Kindersley.[53] The project was designed by Wright & Wright Architects of London.[56] The building has received several awards including the 2009 Royal Institute of British Architects Award in the East.[57]
On 19 September 2008, physicist Stephen Hawking unveiled a new clock called the Chronophage, which means "Time Eater" in Greek. It is situated facing onto the corner of King's Parade and Trumpington where the old entrance to the bank used to be. The clock is unusual not only because of its design but also because it is accurate only once every five minutes.[58] The clock was conceived, designed and paid for by Taylor and donated to his alma mater. The clock is neon lit at night.
In 2013, the Library Court was renamed Kwee Court after a large financial donation was made to the college. Students and fellows, however, continue to refer to the court by its traditional name. The donation – made by the Kwee family – was made on the condition that a balcony was built somewhere in the college. As most of the college buildings are Grade I listed, the only practical space for a balcony was in library court. The balcony (Kwee Balcony) is at the far end of the court from the entrance to the library.[59]
Leckhampton
Leckhampton is a large, separate campus for postgraduate students. It is situated about a mile west of the main College site (which is traditionally referred to by postgraduate students as the 'Old House', to differentiate it from Leckhampton), just outside the city centre and is set off
Other buildings and gardens
There are several outlying college properties. These include Bene't Street Hostel, above
The Robert Beldam Building, adjacent to Bene't Street Hostel, is a modern accommodation block completed in the 1990s. It includes the
Between Trumpington Street and Library Court are a series of terraced houses, also designed by Wilkins, owned by the college. All have been reclaimed by the college for use as student rooms or part of the Library except for the block used by the Trumpington Street Medical Practice. The doors leading from Trumpington Street have been sealed and the buildings can only be entered through Library Court.[53]
There are two main gardens in the main college campus, the Bursar's Garden and the Master's Garden, the latter being the private garden of the Master and his family attached to the Master's Lodge. The Bursar's garden is a small garden situated between New Court, the Chapel and Old Court. Students are allowed to sit there throughout the Easter term at certain times of day. It is notable for the
Gallery
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The sundial in Old Court
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The Dining Hall seen from Old Court
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The terraced houses between New Court and the Taylor Library
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The entrance to the college
Student life
Most of the undergraduates, who refer to themselves as Corpuscles,[62] live in or very near the main college campus. Unlike most other colleges there is a dedicated accommodation site for graduates in Leckhampton.
As with all Cambridge colleges, Corpus has its own student unions (
In 2008 the college bar was relocated from New Court to an underground position in the newly built Library Court. It hosts regular themed parties known in Corpus slang as a slack,
Corpus hosts a biennial
Dramatically, each spring a duck chooses to lay her eggs in a flower pot in Old Court some 200 m from the River Cam.[68] When the ducklings hatch and are ready to leave for the water one of the porters must stop traffic on Trumpington Street to allow the duck and her offspring to cross.[69] The porters from St Catharine's across the road open the gates of their college and take over the responsibility of getting them to the river from there.[68]
Corpus challenge
Every year Corpus competes with its sister college in Oxford, also called
Playroom
The Corpus Playroom is a student theatre situated on
Traditions and anecdotes
College ghosts
The College is said to be haunted by a number of ghosts. Most famous, and feared, is the terrifying apparition of Henry Butts, hero of the plague of 1630, who hanged himself with his garters in the then Master's Lodge on Easter Sunday, 1632.[10] Butts' ghost was subject to an attempted (and purportedly unsuccessful) exorcism by three students in 1904.[6] The last sighting of Butts was in 1967 as a half length figure of a man in the passage between New Court and Old Court.
Another is that of Elizabeth Spencer and her young lover (both died in 1667). Elizabeth was the daughter of the then Master,
There have been few sightings of either apparition since the early 20th Century. This may have been because the Master in the 1930s, Sir Will Spens, let it be known that anyone complaining of a ghost would be
Coat of arms
The college's coat of arms consists of a quartered shield featuring a pelican on a red background in the top left and bottom right corners and three white lilies on a blue background in the top right and bottom left corners.[75]
The coat of arms was granted in 1570 by
The white lilies on a blue background are an ancient symbol of the
Although the college officially has no motto, the college toast, Floreat Antiqua Domus (i.e. "May the old house flourish") is often used as such. The nickname 'Old House' has historically been used to refer to the whole college, but most usually to designate the main college buildings, as opposed to outlying places.[77]
The College colours used on scarves, ties, and various sports' kits are two white stripes on a cerise background. The Boat Club use maroon, rather than the cerise shade of pink, for their strips and oar blades. The other sports teams use maroon or sometimes a lighter pink.[78] The Chapel scarf, worn by the choir or chapel wardens, is a dark maroon background with two white stripes on either side of a navy blue stripe running down the middle.
Grace
Latin | English | |
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Preface on Sundays and Feast Day (before dinner) |
Mensae caelestis participes faciat nos Rex gloriae aeternae. | 'May the King of eternal glory make us partakers of the heavenly table' |
Ante Prandium (before dinner) |
Benedic, Domine, nobis et donis tuis, quae de tua largitate sumus sumpturi, et concede ut illis salubriter nutriti, tibi debitum obsequium praestare valeamus, per Christum Dominum nostrum. (response – Amen) | 'Bless, O Lord, us and thy gifts, which we are about to take of thy generosity; and grant that we, healthily nourished by them, may be strong to render the thanks due to thee; through Christ our Lord (Response – Amen)' |
Post Prandium (after dinner) |
Laus Deo per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum (response – Deo Gratias) | Praise to God through Jesus Christ our Lord (response – Thanks be to God) |
Before dinner at Leckhampton, the College's postgraduate campus, a silent grace is held, with diners pausing to collect their thoughts and silently offer their own thanks before sitting. This unique tradition stems from the first dinner at Leckhampton, when new students and fellows, not knowing if the College grace should be said, hesitated awkwardly before sitting for dinner.
Notable alumni
Name | Birth | Death | Career |
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St Richard Reynolds
|
c1492 | 1535 | Catholic martyr |
Matthew Parker | 1504 | 1575 | Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge (1545, 1548)
|
Sir Nicholas Bacon
|
1509 | 1579 | Politician and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal |
George Wishart | 1513 | 1546 | Scottish reformer and Protestant martyr |
Robert Browne | 1540 | 1630 | English Congregationalist and separatist |
Francis Kett | 1547 | 1589 | Free-thinker; burned for heresy at Norwich |
Sir Thomas Cavendish | 1555 | 1592 | Navigator |
Robert Greene
|
1558 | 1592 | Author, playwright, and wit |
John Greenwood
|
1593 | Puritan and Separatist | |
Christopher Marlowe | 1564 | 1593 | Dramatist, poet, translator |
Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork | 1566 | 1643 | English Courtier and Lord Treasurer of Ireland |
Benjamin Carier | 1566 | 1614 | Chaplain to King James I, Fellow of Chelsea College and convert to Catholicism
|
John Robinson | 1575 | 1625 | Pilgrim Fathers
|
John Fletcher | 1579 | 1625 | Playwright |
Sir John Wildman | 1621 | 1693 | English soldier, Leveller, and politician |
Thomas Tenison | 1636 | 1715 | Archbishop of Canterbury (1694–1715) |
Samuel Wesley
|
1662 | 1735 | Poet and writer, father of John Wesley and Charles Wesley |
Stephen Hales | 1677 | 1761 | Physiologist, chemist and inventor |
William Stukeley | 1687 | 1765 | Antiquarian and biographer of Sir Isaac Newton |
Sir John Cust | 1718 | 1770 | Speaker of the House of Commons (1761–1770) |
Charles Yorke | 1722 | 1770 | Attorney General (1762–1763, 1765–1766)
|
Richard Rigby | 1722 | 1788 | Paymaster of the Forces (1768–1784) |
Frederick Augustus Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol
|
1730 | 1803 | Bishop of Cloyne (1767–1768) and Bishop of Derry (1768–1803) |
Richard Gough | 1735 | 1809 | Antiquarian |
Sir William Ashburnham, 5th Baronet | 1739 | 1823 | Member of Parliament (MP) for Hastings (1761–1774) |
George Capel-Coninsby | 1757 | 1839 | 5th Earl of Essex and Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire (1802–1827), MP for Lostwithiel (1781–1784), Okehampton (1785–1790), Radnor (1794–1799) and Westminster (1779–1780) |
William St Julien Arabin | 1791 | 1841 | British jurist |
Joseph Blakesley | 1808 | 1885 | Clergyman and author |
John James Stewart Perowne
|
1823 | 1904 | Theologian |
George Evans Moule
|
1828 | 1912 | English clergyman and first Bishop of Mid-China (1880–1907) |
Frederick Barff
|
1840 | 1886 | Chemist and co-inventor of the Bower-Barff process
|
Sir Horace Avory | 1851 | 1935 | English judge and the prosecution against Oscar Wilde |
William Henry Dines | 1855 | 1927 | English meteorologist |
Sydney Copeman | 1862 | 1947 | British medical doctor and civil servant |
Albert Harland | 1869 | 1957 | Conservative MP for Sheffield Ecclesall (1923–1929) |
John Cowper Powys | 1872 | 1963 | Writer, lecturer, philosopher |
Llewelyn Powys | 1884 | 1939 | Writer |
Sir Wilfred Marcus Askwith
|
1890 | 1962 | Bishop of Blackburn (1942–1954) and Bishop of Gloucester (1954–1962) |
Captain Henry Macintosh | 1892 | 1918 | British athlete, 1912 Olympic gold medal winner and World War One soldier |
Captain Sir B. H. Liddell Hart | 1895 | 1970 | Military historian |
Boris Ord | 1897 | 1961 | Composer and Director of Music and Choirmaster at King's College, Cambridge |
Edward Upward | 1903 | 2009 | Novelist |
Christopher Isherwood | 1904 | 1986 | Novelist |
Sheldon Dick | 1906 | 1950 | American publisher, photographer, filmmaker and literary agent |
Edward Curzon, 6th Earl Howe | 1908 | 1984 | Conservative politician |
Sir Desmond Lee | 1908 | 1993 | Classical scholar |
Robert Hamer | 1911 | 1963 | Film director |
Dudley Senanayake | 1911 | 1973 | Prime Minister of Ceylon (1952–1953, 1960, 1965–1970)
|
Sir Gordon Wolstenholme | 1913 | 2004 | Medical pioneer |
Nigel Trench, 7th Baron Ashtown | 1916 | 2010 | Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (1969–1971) and to Portugal (1974–1976)
|
John Chadwick | 1920 | 1998 | Classicist and decipherer of Linear B |
Robin Coombs | 1921 | 2006 | Immunologist |
T. E. Utley | 1921 | 1988 | English journalist and author |
Sir Alan Cook | 1922 | 2004 | Professor of Geophysics and President of the Royal Astronomical Society (1977) |
Sir Campbell Adamson | 1922 | 2000 | Director General of the CBI (1969–1976) |
Sir Colin St John Wilson | 1922 | 2007 | British architect |
Michael Havers, Baron Havers | 1923 | 1992 | British barrister and politician, Lord Chancellor |
E. P. Thompson | 1924 | 1993 | Historian, socialist, peace campaigner |
Michael William McCrum
|
1924 | 2005 | English academic and Headmaster of Eton College (1970–1980) |
Alistair Macdonald | 1925 | 1999 | Labour MP for Chislehurst (1966–1970) |
Sir Rhodes Boyson | 1925 | 2012 | Conservative MP for Brent North (1974–1997), Minister of State for Northern Ireland (1984–1986), Minister of State for the Environment (1986–1987) |
Eric Sams | 1926 | 2004 | Musicologist and Shakespearean scholar |
Christopher Hooley | 1928 | 2018 | British mathematician |
Sir John Michael Gorst
|
1929 | 2010 | Conservative MP for Hendon North (1970–1997) |
The Very Revd Michael Mayne | 1929 | 2006 | Dean of Westminster Abbey (1986–1996)
|
Joe Farman | 1930 | 2013 | Geophysicist and discoverer of the ozone hole over Antarctica |
David Blow
|
1931 | 2004 | Chemist and inventor of X-ray crystallography |
General the Rt Hon Lord Ramsbotham
|
1934 | 2022 | Soldier and Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons (1995–2001)
|
John C. Taylor
|
1936 | Inventor, entrepreneur, horologist and philanthropist | |
General Sir Jeremy Blacker | 1939 | 2005 | Master-General of the Ordnance (1991–1995) |
Prof Sir Alan Wilson | 1939 | Scientist, Master of Corpus (2006–2007) | |
Oliver Rackham | 1939 | 2015 | Ecologist , Master of Corpus (2007–2008)
|
Sir Anthony Bottoms | 1939 | Wolfson Professor of Criminology at Cambridge (1984–2006) | |
Michael Steed | 1940 | 2023 | Psephologist and Liberal politician |
Christopher Andrew | 1941 | Official historian of MI5 | |
Stewart Sutherland, Baron Sutherland of Houndwood | 1941 | Academic and Crossbench peer
| |
John Elliot Lewis | 1942 | Headmaster of Eton College (1994–2002) | |
Sir Richard Armstrong | 1943 | British conductor and musician | |
Prof Sir Colin Blakemore | 1944 | Neurologist and academic | |
Simon May | 1944 | Musician and composer | |
John Cameron | 1944 | Musician and composer | |
Richard Henderson | 1945 | Nobel Prize-winning biologist | |
Edward Higginbottom | 1946 | Musician and former Director of Music at New College, Oxford | |
Sir Mark Elder
|
1947 | Current Conductor and Musical Director of the Hallé Orchestra
| |
Neil Hamilton | 1947 | Mid and West Wales (2016–), Deputy Chair of the UK Independence Party (2014–2016), Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Corporate Affairs (1992–1994), Conservative MP for Tatton (1983–1997)
| |
Sir David Omand | 1947 | Former British civil servant and Director of the Government Communications Headquarters (1996–1997)
| |
Karol Sikora | 1948 | Controversial oncologist and Chief of the World Health Organization cancer programme (1997–1999) | |
Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent | 1949 | Commander-in-Chief Fleet (2005–2007) | |
Richard Shephard | 1949 | 2021 | Composer |
Sir Stephen Lamport | 1951 | Receiver General of Westminster Abbey, Private Secretary to HRH Prince of Wales (1996–2002)
| |
Lord Etherton
|
1951 | Lord Justice of Appeal (2008–2013). Former Olympic fencer (1980).
| |
Kenneth Falconer | 1952 | Regius Professor of Mathematics, University of St. Andrews (2018–) | |
Lord Hodge | 1953 | Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom | |
Lord Maude of Horsham | 1953 | Minister of State for Trade and Investment (2015–2016), Minister for the Cabinet Office (2010–2015), Conservative MP for Horsham (1997–), Conservative MP for North Warwickshire (1983–1992), Financial Secretary to the Treasury (1990–1992) and Chairman of the Conservative Party (1999–2001)
| |
Robert McCrum | 1953 | Writer and editor | |
Tom Utley | 1953 | English journalist | |
Tony Little | 1954 | Headmaster of Eton College (2002–2015) | |
Peter Luff | 1955 | Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology (2010–2012), Conservative MP for Mid Worcestershire (1997–), MP for Worcester (1992–1997)
| |
Sir Jeremy Stuart-Smith | 1955 | English High Court judge | |
Owen Paterson | 1956 | Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2012–2014), Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (2010–2012), Conservative MP for North Shropshire (1997–2022) | |
Kevin McCloud | 1959 | Designer, presenter of Grand Designs | |
Bernard Jenkin | 1959 | Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party for Candidates (2005–2006), Shadow Secretary of State for the Regions (2003–2005), Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (2001–2003), Conservative MP for Harwich and North Essex (1997–present), MP for Colchester North (1992–1997)
| |
Shah Mehmood Qureshi
|
1956 | Member of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Government of Pakistan (2008–2011; 2018–), Minister for Planning and Development of Punjab (1988–1990), Minister for Finance of Punjab (1990–1993)
| |
Makhdoom Ali Khan | 1954 | Barrister, Attorney General of Pakistan (2001–2007)
| |
Simon Heffer | 1960 | Journalist | |
Andrew J. Watson
|
1961 | Bishop of Guildford (2014– ), Bishop of Aston (2008–2014) | |
David Gibbins | 1962 | Novelist and archaeologist | |
Marty Natalegawa | 1963 | Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Indonesia), Government of Indonesia (2009–2014), Permanent Representative of Indonesia to the United Nations (2007–2009)
| |
Hugh Bonneville | 1963 | English actor | |
Madeleine Bunting | 1964 | Author, editor, and journalist | |
Philip Jeyaretnam | 1964 | Singaporean lawyer and writer | |
Murray Gold | 1969 | English composer for stage, film, and television | |
David Saint-Jacques | 1970 | Astronaut, physicist and physician | |
Ivo Stourton | 1982 | Author | |
Yeo Bee Yin | 1983 | Malaysia Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (2018-2020)
| |
Helen Oyeyemi | 1984 | Author | |
Pierre Novellie | 1991 | Comedian |
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Thomas Cavendish, explorer and privateer, attended Corpus Christi College in 1575 without completing his degree.
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Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, Great Earl of Cork, Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom of Ireland, attended Corpus Christi College in 1583.
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John Wildman, Politician and soldier, attended Corpus Christi College in 1639.
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Stephen Hales, Plant physiologist, attended Corpus Christi College in 1696.
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Dudley Senanayake, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for three terms, attended Corpus Christi College in 1930.
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Colin Blakemore, neurobiologist, attended Corpus Christi College in 1962.
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Kevin McCloud, designer and TV presenter, attended Corpus Christi College in 1976.
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Owen Paterson, MP and former Environment Secretary, attended Corpus Christi College in 1974.
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Hugh Bonneville, TV and film actor, attended Corpus Christi College in 1981.
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Helen Oyeyemi, British author, attended Corpus Christi College in 2003.
In popular culture
- In Porterhouse Blue and Grantchester Grind by Tom Sharpe, the college is mentioned several times throughout the books including a scene where the Senior Tutor wakes after having "dined in Corpus" the night before with such a bad hangover he becomes convinced he is insane.[79][80] Corpus also appeared in the television adaptation of Porterhouse Blue.
- In Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke when Lascelles and Drawlight are discussing Jonathan Strange, he is described as the man who "when an undergraduate at Cambridge, frightened a cat belonging to the Master of Corpus Christi".[81]
- In The Black Death: The Intimate Story of a Village in Crisis 1345–1350, which is a fictionalised account of the trials of the village of Walsham during the plague by John Hatcher, himself a fellow of Corpus, the author makes regular reference to the guild of Corpus Christi in Cambridge.[82]
- In Engleby by Sebastian Faulks there are several references to Corpus. At one point Engleby is talking about acquiring opium that he bought "from a boy who got it from a Modern History fellow in Corpus Christi".[83]
- Several of the college buildings briefly appear in the Doctor Who serial Shada with Tom Baker as the Doctor.[84] The show was never broadcast and the episode became the subject of some controversy when it was cancelled by the BBC. It was released on video in 1992.
- In the novel, The Night Climbers, by Ivo Stourton, himself a graduate of the college, Stourton refers to Corpus Christi on several occasions.[85]
- The Parker Library, and more often documents from it, make an appearance in several TV documentaries, particularly in those dealing with the Seven Ages of Britain. Most recently, Christopher de Hamel, then the Donnelly Fellow Librarian, appeared on the BBC Four series The Beauty of Books.[86]
- The front of the college chapel appears on the cover of Andrew Douglas's book, The King's Codebreaker the first in the Thomas Hill trilogy about an Oxford academic working for the King during the English Civil War in 1643. The use of the college as the cover is unusual given that the college is not in Oxford, neither was the facade of the Chapel built until the 1820s.[87]
- The college features prominently in the second episode of Guilty Pleasures, a two-part documentary presented by Cambridge academic Michael C Scott on the subject of luxury. Several shots included the Wilkins Room of the Parker Library, the front of the Chapel and Old Court.[88] Scott also discusses the foundation of the college, with the help of the Duke of Lancaster, as an example of the nature of luxury changing in the Middle Ages.
- New Court and the Chapel, as viewed from the main gate, feature in the British Government's GREAT Campaign to promote the UK abroad.Union flag.[90]
See also
- Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
- Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
- List of Masters of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
- Corpus Christi College Boat Club (Cambridge)
- List of Organ Scholars
References
- ^ University of Cambridge (6 March 2019). "Notice by the Editor". Cambridge University Reporter. 149 (Special No 5): 1. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
- ^ "Recommended Cambridge College Accounts (RCCA) for the year ended 30 June 2017" (PDF). Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
- ^ Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (8 February 2018). "Statutes" (PDF). corpus.cam.ac.uk. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ^ Wale, Kirstie (27 June 2022). "Corpus Christi College". www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
- ^ a b c "Corpus Christi: What's in a Name?". Corpus Christi College Cambridge. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "History". About. Corpus Christi College Cambridge. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
- ^ Trigg, Jo (17 November 2006). "Old, rich, landed and loaded" (PDF). Varsity. Cambridge: Varsity Publications Ltd. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
Corpus is exceptionally wealthy in silver, being the only college not to sell its silverware during the Civil War
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- ^ a b "St Bene't's Church Website-St Bene't's Church". St Bene't's Church. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
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- ^ "Norfolk: Hingham, Parish Church of St Andrew". Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi: Medieval Stained Glass in Great Britain.
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- ^ a b "Corpus Christi Website – Chapel". Corpus Christi College. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ^ "Corpus Christi Website – Chapel Choir". Corpus Christi College. Archived from the original on 6 June 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ^ "Corpus Christi Website – Chapel Choir – The Organ". Corpus Christi College. Archived from the original on 6 June 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ^ "Methodist College Belfast – History". Methodist College Belfast. Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ^ Garnet as Emblem of Goodness | Philosophical architecture from Henry III to George III, retrieved 14 September 2023
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- ^ [1] Archived 14 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine
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General bibliography
- QCC staff. "University of Cambridge – Foundation dates of Colleges". Queens' College Cambridge. Archived from the original on 20 February 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
Attribution
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cooper, Thompson (1898). "Spencer, John (1630–1693)". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 53. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 359, 360.