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Greyfriars | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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University of Oxford | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location | Iffley Road | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 51°44′48″N1°14′25″W / 51.746801°N 1.240168°W | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Motto | My God and My All | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Established | 1910 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Closed | 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Named for | The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Previous names | Grosseteste House (1919–1930) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Warden | Mark Elvins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Undergraduates | c. 50 (2008) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greyfriars is a Roman Catholic friary and parish located in East Oxford, which until 2008 was also a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford. Situated on the Iffley Road in East Oxford, it was one of the smallest constituent halls of the university. Its status as a permanent private hall (PPH) derived from the fact that it was governed by an outside institution (the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, a Franciscan religious order), rather than by the fellows of the University as a constituent college is.
In 2007 the decision was made to close the hall, with students transferred to Regent's Park College. The buildings continue to host the friary which formerly co-existed with the hall.
Greyfriars has one of the most distinctive buildings in Oxford; it is the only flint-stone Norman-style building in the city, and its green spire is prominently visible along the Iffley Road and from the university's Roger Bannister running track.
The original Greyfriars church and friary was founded by the Franciscans in 1224. The friars had a long and esteemed history in Oxford, listing many famous alumni, including the English statesman, Robert Grosseteste, also a theologian and Bishop of Lincoln, who became head of Greyfriars, Master of the School of Oxford from 1208, and the first Chancellor of the University of Oxford. In 1517, the order divided into two branches. The friars who had been living in city-convents, ministering there and teaching in universities became known as "Conventuals"; while the friars who preferred a more eremitical life became known as "Observants". (The Capuchins developed in 1528.) The friaries were suppressed during the Reformation in the 16th century. [1]
In 1905, [2] the Capuchin branch of the order established a friary, known as St Anselm's, which was recognised by the university as a house of studies in 1910. The Church of St Edmund and St Frideswide on Iffley Road was established in 1911 as a chapel of ease to the Jesuit church of St Aloysius. In 1928, the Jesuits handed it over to the Capuchins, who then built the friary. [3]
In 1919, the friars moved to the current site on the Iffley Road—first naming it Grosseteste House after the first head of the original Greyfriars—and on completion of the present building in 1930, the name of Greyfriars was adopted once more. The status of permanent private hall was conferred upon Greyfriars by the university in 1957 and surrendered in 2008.
In 2007, Greyfriars celebrated 50 years of its PPH status, with considerable flourish, and an unusually high number of first-class undergraduate grades marked the year.[ citation needed ]
In October 2007, the order announced its intention to withdraw from its ministry as a permanent private hall of the university, for financial and personnel reasons. Given the age of the building and the reduced number of friars, the cost of maintenance, rehabilitation, and staffing would be unsustainable for the province, and negatively impact other ministries elsewhere. Arrangements were made to transfer all students and prospective applicants so interested to Regent's Park College. [4] The decision aroused considerable controversy; substantial proposals by the fellows for the continuation of Greyfriars were considered by the Governing Body. The university eventually indicated that the friars' licence to run Greyfriars as a PPH would not be transferred to any other body, and the hall closed in June 2008, despite a last-minute attempt to save the hall by the Holy See. [5]
It may seem strange that the Greyfriars students did not migrate to St. Benet's Hall (the Benedictine PPH) or Blackfriars (the Dominican PPH). However, Greyfriars had some years earlier admitted female students, and at that time neither of these other Catholic PPHs had done so. Regent's Park welcomed the Greyfriars students warmly, and the migration is commemorated by a plaque at Regent's Park. The latter announced in 2018 that it would be seeking donations to fund a Greyfriars Scholarship at Regent's Park.
The Capuchin Order has stated that it will continue to exist at Greyfriars in Oxford and the premises will continue to operate as a friary; the order will maintain responsibility for the parish. [3]
At the time of Greyfriars' closure, the Visitor was Mauro Jöhri, Minister General, the Warden was Mark Elvins, and the fellows included Aidan Nichols, John Paul II Lecturer in Roman Catholic Theology. The immediate previous Warden was Nicholas Richardson (2004-2007). Honorary Fellows included Thomas G. Weinandy (Warden 1993–2004), and Vincent Nichols, RC Archbishop of Birmingham. Among earlier Wardens who were members of the Capuchin order, the highly respected musical scholar Peter Peacock (an Oxford D.Mus. who then became Professor of Music at Loyola University New Orleans) and then Cassian Reel served for long periods with distinction.
Greyfriars occupied an uncommon position in Oxford, in that its University Hall and Franciscan friary were part of the same institution and coexisted on the same site—however, the friars were not usually members of the academic hall (though this was not without exception), nor were the students actually affiliated to the friary—the two groups did, however, mingle, most notably at mealtimes. (A similar system continues to operate with great success at Blackfriars, Oxford.) Furthermore, no religious restrictions were placed on applicants; and, while the hall had a tradition of noted theology academics, a wide range of disciplines were studied by students—the most common being English, history, theology, geography and law. Although the hall employed tutors specialising in certain areas of some of these subjects, students generally went to other colleges for the majority of their tutorials. The college most closely linked with Greyfriars was Balliol College, owing to a long-standing tradition of sporting links, but Greyfriars students were tutored at a wide number of the university's colleges at some point or another.
While Greyfriars was small in terms of grounds and numbers, it had a close-knit community and a lively academic life. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, undergraduate numbers tended to be around the 30 mark, with an average of between nine and eleven students per year in addition to a handful of visiting and postgraduate students. From around 2003, numbers increased, and the student population of the hall when it closed numbered closer to 50.
The hall annually held a popular summer garden party, and a "bop" that was dubbed 'The Monastery of Sound' in tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement of the friars.[ citation needed ] Greyfriars was also influential in the Oxford Law Society, the Conservative Association, the Dramatic Society, and the Indie Music Society, as well as rowing, hockey, rugby, tennis and table tennis.[ citation needed ] Its increasing prominence was very much disproportionate to student numbers, which was testament to their eagerness to get involved in university life.[ citation needed ]
As with all Oxford colleges, Greyfriars' student community was a JCR, run by an annually elected committee usually consisting of a president, secretary, treasurer and various other officers as necessary.
Among the early Wardens was:
The Greyfriars Society was established in 1999 and is the official alumni organisation of Greyfriars. The main objectives of the society are to maintain and build relationships with the Hall's alumni and were also to raise money to enable Greyfriars to provide the best possible education for the growing student body. The first Patron was the late Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Cardinal-Archbishop emeritus of Westminster, and the President is David Alton.
The Franciscans are a group of related mendicant religious orders of the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi, these orders include three independent orders for men, orders for nuns such as the Order of Saint Clare, and the Third Order of Saint Francis open to male and female members. They adhere to the teachings and spiritual disciplines of the founder and of his main associates and followers, such as Clare of Assisi, Anthony of Padua, and Elizabeth of Hungary. Several smaller Protestant Franciscan orders or other groups have been established since late 1800's as well, particularly in the Anglican and Lutheran traditions.
Adam Marsh was an English Franciscan, scholar and theologian. Marsh became, after Robert Grosseteste, "...the most eminent master of England."
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of three "First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant, the other being the Conventuals (OFMConv). Franciscans reformed as Capuchins in 1525 with the purpose of regaining the original Habit (tunic) of St. Francis of Assisi and also for returning to a stricter observance of the rule established by Francis of Assisi in 1209.
The University of Oxford has thirty-nine colleges, and four permanent private halls (PPHs) of religious foundation. Colleges and PPHs are autonomous self-governing corporations within the university. These colleges are not only houses of residence, but have substantial responsibility for teaching undergraduate students. Generally tutorials and classes are the responsibility of colleges, while lectures, examinations, laboratories, and the central library are run by the university. Students normally have most of their tutorials in their own college, but often have a couple of modules taught at other colleges or even at faculties and departments. Most colleges take both graduates and undergraduates, but several are for graduates only.
A permanent private hall (PPH) in the University of Oxford is an educational institution within the university. There are four permanent private halls at Oxford, three of which admit undergraduates. They were founded by different Christian denominations. PPHs principally differ from colleges in the sense that the latter are governed by the fellows of the college, whereas the governance of a PPH fully or partially rests with the corresponding Christian denomination.
Greyfriars, Grayfriars or Gray Friars is a term for Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, in particular, the Conventual Franciscans. The term often refers to buildings or districts formerly associated with the order.
Agnellus of Pisa, was an Italian Franciscan friar. As its first Minister Provincial in England (1224–1236), he is considered the founder of the Franciscans in England. His feast day is variously observed in the Catholic church on 7 May or 10 September.
The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men founded in 1987. It follows the Capuchin Franciscan tradition.
St. Lawrence Seminary High School is a preparatory high school operated by the Province of St. Joseph of the Capuchin Order at Mount Calvary, Wisconsin. The school is in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. It is an all-male boarding school, with approximately 225 students enrolled in grades 9 through 12. The school's mission is to prepare its male students for vocations in the Catholic Church.
Greyfriars Church is an evangelical Anglican church, and former Franciscan friary, in the town centre of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The church forms part of the Church of England's Diocese of Oxford.
Mark Turnham Elvins OFMCap was Warden of Greyfriars, Oxford, until its closure in 2008.
Francis Nugent was an Irish priest of the Franciscan Capuchin Order. He was the founder of the Irish and the Rhenish Provinces of the Order.
Greyfriars in Canterbury was the first Franciscan friary in England.
Greyfriars Nottingham was a Franciscan friary in Nottinghamshire, England. It was founded c. 1224–1230, and dissolved in 1539 as part of King Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries. The site of the friary is now occupied by the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre.
In London, the Greyfriars was a Conventual Franciscan friary that existed from 1225 to 1538 on a site at the North-West of the City of London by Newgate in the parish of St Nicholas in the Shambles. It was the second Franciscan religious house to be founded in the country. The establishment included a conventual church that was one of the largest in London; a studium or regional university; and an extensive library of logical and theological texts. It was an important intellectual centre in the early fourteenth century, rivalled only by Oxford University in status. Members of the community at that time included William of Ockham, Walter Chatton and Adam Wodeham. It flourished in the fourteenth and fifteenth century but was dissolved in 1538 at the instigation of Henry VIII as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Christ's Hospital was founded in the old conventual buildings, and the church was rebuilt completely by Sir Christopher Wren as Christ Church Greyfriars after the original church was almost completely destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666. The building now standing on the site, designed by Arup Group Limited, is currently occupied by Merrill Lynch.
Greyfriars, Leicester, was a friary of the Order of Friars Minor, commonly known as the Franciscans, established on the west side of Leicester by 1250, and dissolved in 1535. Following dissolution the friary was demolished and the site levelled, subdivided, and developed over the following centuries. The locality has retained the name Greyfriars particularly in the streets named "Grey Friars", and the older "Friar Lane".
Ipswich Greyfriars was a mediaeval monastic house of Friars Minor (Franciscans) founded during the 13th century in Ipswich, Suffolk. It was said conventionally to have been founded by Sir Robert Tibetot of Nettlestead, Suffolk, but the foundation is accepted to be set back before 1236. This makes it the earliest house of mendicant friars in Suffolk, and established no more than ten years after the death of St Francis himself. It was within the Cambridge Custody. It remained active until dissolved in the late 1530s.
The Friary, formally known as Blessed Agnellus of Pisa Friary, formerly All Saints Convent or St John's Home is a centre of formation for the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor Conventual in Cowley, Oxford, England. The building was constructed in 1873 as the convent of the Anglican Society of All Saints Sisters of the Poor. It is situated between St Mary's Road and Cowley Road, next to St John's Care Home and Helen & Douglas House. The friary and its chapel are Grade II listed buildings.