William of Durham (died 1249) is said to have founded University College, Oxford, England. [1] [2] He most likely came from Sedgefield, County Durham and was educated at Wearmouth monastery and in Paris, France.
William of Durham was archdeacon of Caux and (in 1235, for a few months) archbishop-elect of Rouen in Normandy, France. [1]
When, in 1229, riots broke out in Paris, he may have been the leader of a group of students who migrated from that city to Oxford, but this tradition is not attested to by contemporary sources. What is more certain is that he held several rich benefices in England and died in Rouen, in 1249.
He left 310 marks, [1] a large amount of money, in his will to be invested in rents that would support scholars in Oxford. This benefaction resulted in one of the first of the Oxford halls or colleges. Subsequently, this foundation took the name of University College.
University College, Oxford now has a William of Durham Club for old members leaving a legacy to the College. [3]
William I, usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. A descendant of Rollo, he was Duke of Normandy from 1035 onward. By 1060, following a long struggle to establish his throne, his hold on Normandy was secure. In 1066, following the death of Edward the Confessor, William invaded England, leading an army of Normans to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands, and by difficulties with his eldest son, Robert Curthose.
Henry V, also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the Hundred Years' War against France made England one of the strongest military powers in Europe. Immortalised in Shakespeare's "Henriad" plays, Henry is known and celebrated as one of the greatest warrior-kings of medieval England.
John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford KG was a medieval English prince, general and statesman who commanded England's armies in France during a critical phase of the Hundred Years' War. Bedford was the third son of King Henry IV of England, brother to Henry V, and acted as regent of France for his nephew Henry VI. Despite his military and administrative talent, the situation in France had severely deteriorated by the time of his death.
John Cosin was an English churchman.
Alan III of Rennes was Count of Rennes and duke of Brittany, by right of succession from 1008 to his death.
A collegiate university is a university in which functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges. Historically, the first collegiate university was the University of Paris and its first college was the Collège des Dix-Huit. The two principal forms are residential college universities, where the central university is responsible for teaching and colleges may deliver some teaching but are primarily residential communities, and federal universities where the central university has an administrative role and the colleges may be residential but are primarily teaching institutions. The larger colleges or campuses of federal universities, such as University College London and University of California, Berkeley, may be effectively universities in their own right and often have their own student unions.
Walter de Coutances was a medieval Anglo-Norman bishop of Lincoln and archbishop of Rouen. He began his royal service in the government of Henry II, serving as a vice-chancellor. He also accumulated a number of ecclesiastical offices, becoming successively canon of Rouen Cathedral, treasurer of Rouen, and archdeacon of Oxford. King Henry sent him on a number of diplomatic missions and finally rewarded him with the bishopric of Lincoln in 1183. He did not remain there long, for he was translated to Rouen in late 1184.
Gerard la Pucelle was a peripatetic Anglo-French scholar of canon law, clerk, and Bishop of Coventry.
John Bowes was an English art collector and thoroughbred racehorse owner who founded the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, Teesdale.
Nicholas Farnham was a medieval Bishop of Durham.
Walter of Kirkham was a medieval English official who held the positions of Keeper of the Wardrobe, Dean of York, and Bishop of Durham. He was elected bishop over Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, the brother of King Henry III. As bishop, he was instrumental in the founding of Balliol College in the University of Oxford.
William Cumin was a bishop of Durham, and Justiciar of Scotland.
Events from the 1240s in England.
Events from the 1200s in England.
Richard Salveyn was a Master of University College, Oxford, England.
Anthony Salveyn was a Master of University College, Oxford, England.
Denis Granville was an English non-juring cleric, Dean of Durham and then Jacobite exile.
Henry de Stanton was an English medieval Canon law jurist, judge, churchman, and university chancellor.
Arthur "Mud" James Dingle was a rugby union centre and wing, who won three caps for England, and played for County Durham, Hartlepool Rovers and Oxford University.