The Regius Professorships of Divinity are amongst the oldest professorships at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. A third chair existed for a period at Trinity College Dublin.
The Oxford and Cambridge chairs were founded by Henry VIII. The chair at Cambridge originally had a stipend of £40 per year (which is still paid to the incumbent by Trinity College), later increased by James I with the rectory of Somersham, Cambridgeshire.[ citation needed ]
(Sources: Oxford Historical Register 1200-1900 and supplements; and the Oxford University Calendar)
According to a grant of 1590, the office of Regius Professor of "Devinity" at Cambridge has a coat of arms with the following blazon: [21]
The Regius Professor of Divinity at Trinity College Dublin was established in 1607 as the "Professor of Theological Controversies". [22] [23] The endowment was increased in 1674 by letters patent of Charles II. [23] The title "Regius Professor" was specified in 1761 by letters patent of George III. [23] [24] The School of Divinity was founded in the late 18th century with the Regius Professor as its head. [25] The School's link to the Church of Ireland was controversial after the Irish Church Act 1869 disestablished the church and the University of Dublin Tests Act 1873 allowed non-Anglican fellows. [26] The debate became dormant after 1911 letters patent altered the School's governance. [26] [27] It reignited in the 1960s, after which vacancies in the School of Divinity went unfilled, [26] [27] including the Regius Professorship in 1982. [28] The School of Divinity was replaced in 1978–81 by a non-denominational School of Hebrew, Biblical and Theological Studies (renamed the Department of Religions and Theology in 2004) although the statutes mandating a School and Regius Professor of Divinity remain unrepealed. [27] [28] [29]
Professors were: [23]
This prize was founded in 1935 by a gift from N. J. D. White, Regius Professor of Divinity 1930–35