The problems connected with the beginnings of the University of Cambridge and the conditions of life in its early days have always interested me. Much is uncertain and open to various readings³¹, but the following is a summary of the story, as it appears to me.

First, as to the site of the University. About the end of the eleventh century, Cambridge was little more than a village concentrated round StPeter’s church, having separate hamlets in its vicinity, one near StBenet’s church and the other at Newnham: at that time there was nothing to suggest the likelihood of its being chosen by students as a place where they might live and work in security. During the next century, however, it became of considerable importance. This was due to several causes. The chief of these were the castle erected in it by William the Conqueror to overawe the fen-men; its geographical location which gave it command of the [180] river passage by which most of the traffic between the midlands and the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk went; its position as a port of entry for small sea-going vessels coming from Lynn, of which a relic still survives in a bonded warehouse on the banks of the Cam; its vicinity to Sturbridge common on which came to be held one of the chief annual fairs in the kingdom; and lastly the establishment here of the large monastic Houses of the Augustin Canons, of the Brethren of StJohn’s Hospital, and of the Nuns of StRhadegund: it would seem also that it became³², maybe under the authority of the secular canons of StGiles, the seat of a grammar-school or schools. By 1200 the town had spread from castle-end to where Christ’s, Peterhouse, and Queens’ now stand, and along the east side of the river there were numerous small wharves, locally known as hythes. The writs of HenryI and HenryII and the charter of John bear witness to its importance in their reigns, but later this tended to diminish relatively to other towns.

The Universities of Cambridge and Oxford were initiated near the end of the twelfth century, both arising in towns free from disorder and where accommodation for students was obtainable. It was a time when men of scholarly tastes, especially [181] those resident in religious houses, were conscious of their ignorance of recent developments in theology as set out by Peter Lombard and in canon law, and were keen to study these subjects and scholastic logic. Schools to meet these needs arose in Cambridge and Oxford and became permanent. Like centres of instruction were established in other places, but for one reason or another did not survive long as degree-granting corporations.

It is not known whether the University of Cambridge began with a few teachers taking up their residence in the town, giving instruction, and attracting students and other teachers, or whether it started ready-made by a migration of a body of discontented teachers and students from some existing school. I believe the former view to be correct. If so, we may reasonably assume that a considerable proportion of the earliest adult students were previously living in monastic houses here or in the neighbouring fenland monasteries at Ely, Peterborough, or Croyland. It has been suggested that at first the lectures were given in the local grammar-schools: this is probable, and would fit in with the secular organization of the University and the fact that boys learning Latin grammar (glomerels) were reckoned among its students. Probably the movement was started with the sanction and direct encouragement of the bishop of Ely, [182] certainly it was not directly monastic, and more likely the teachers were secular clerks and not monks. I conjecture that at first the lecturers were strangers to the locality, but this in no way implies that a fragment of another university, students as well as teachers, migrated here as an organized body.

Whatever the origin of the University, its members organized themselves for mutual aid and protection as a Studium on the model of that at Paris, with which it seems later to have been frequently in touch. If we may trust ancient traditions quoted by Bulaeus and Peacock, the early University had also some connection with the studium of Orleans: this is possible but speculative. Bologna represented another type of organization which, however, was not adopted anywhere in England. The University of Cambridge existed in working order in 1209, and in my opinion its origin may be safely assigned to some time in the previous twenty years.

Of its external history during the century following its organization we know little: we read of its chancellor in 1225, of French students coming to it in 1229, of special privileges conferred by the crown in 1231 and 1251, of its recognition by the pope in 1233, and finally of a papal grant in 1318—exceptional in extent—of all rights which were or could be enjoyed by any university in Christendom. [183] Oxford went through somewhat similar stages. The two universities were closely connected, and by 1333 their position had become so firmly established that they agreed not to recognize any other studium in the kingdom, and in fact after that year no other university was established in England until less than a century ago.

Originally the main source of university authority was the body of active teachers (regents) acting with the concurrence of the chancellor who represented the bishop of Ely; their grouping in faculties was an obvious development, and probably took place early in the thirteenth century. Resident graduates who had ceased to teach (non-regents) were allowed a voice on matters of property, rights, and privileges. The establishment of monasteries and colleges with administrative officers tended to retain in residence graduates who were not lecturing; through them the house of non-regents grew in power, and finally in many questions obtained concurrent jurisdiction with that of the regents—the result was a very complex constitution. At first the University had no buildings of its own; the regent and non-regent houses met in StBenet’s or StMary’s church, and lectures were given wherever accommodation could be obtained. After this digression I return to the position of the students in the early University.

[184]
Numerous monasteries were established in Cambridge during the thirteenth century, and from this I infer that the number of members of the religious Orders studying in the University steadily increased during that century. Of monastic Houses in Cambridge previous to the foundation of the University I have already mentioned those of the Augustin Canons, founded in connection with St Giles’ church, about 1092, and moved in 1112 to Barnwell where their priory became in time one of the largest conventual buildings in England, and of the Austin Brethren of Frost’s or StJohn’s Hospital, built about 1135 on ground now occupied by StJohn’s College. Shortly after the organization of a studium in the town, five important Orders established Houses here. These were the Franciscan or Grey Friars, who, from their first home situated near the present Divinity Schools and used from 1224 to 1294, removed in 1294 to a site now occupied by Sidney Sussex College, where their church was one of the conspicuous architectural features of medieval Cambridge; the Dominican or Black Friars, who built in 1274 on ground now occupied by Emmanuel College; the Carmelite or White Friars, who, having previously lived in houses at Chesterton and Newnham, removed in 1290 to a site now occupied by Queens’ and King’s Colleges; the Augustine Friars, who built, about [185] 1290, a home on or near ground now occupied by the university examination halls and lecture rooms, in the basement of which some fragments of the old friary may be found; and the Sempringham or White Canons, who about 1290 obtained possession of StEdmund’s Priory which had been built before 1278 near the Trumpington Gate. The Houses of the Bethlehem Friars, opened in 1257, of the Friars of the Sack, opened in 1258, and of the Friars of StMary, opened in 1273, were suppressed in 1307, and probably were never important foundations. I believe that the presence in Cambridge of these great establishments, always housing a certain number of students, gave stability to the nascent University, and tended to prevent its dissipation in times of stress: this is a point in our early history which is sometimes overlooked. Students from Houses of the Benedictine or Black Monks were also sent to Cambridge, but until 1428 they seem to have had no special home of their own: in that year the Order built for them a hostel known as Buckingham House which now forms part of the first court of Magdalene College.

These conventual Houses were outside town and university authority, but their wealth and position made them influential. Striking evidence of this is afforded by the facts that they secured to their members the right to proceed direct to degrees [186] in divinity without graduating in arts—a privilege not granted to students in law or medicine—and that at every congregation of the University the senior religious doctor present could veto the offer of any grace and so block all business. These privileges suggest that monastic students were the dominant class in the early days of the University. They were, however, naturally distrusted by other students, for admittedly they owed allegiance to outside bodies, and no man can serve two masters. By the end of the thirteenth century the monastic movement had spent its force, and thenceforth the religious students took a constantly decreasing share in university activities; of course they disappeared at the reformation, when the monasteries throughout the country were suppressed.

I come next to the question of the secular students in arts, most or all of whom would be clerks in major or minor orders. Rejecting the migration theory of the origin of the University, I do not suppose that in its earliest days these secular students were numerous, for the vicinity cannot have provided many such men, but as soon as the University acquired reputation as a centre of higher teaching they would be attracted to it from a wide area, and their numbers would be increased by many glomerels who would continue their course as students in arts. In the course of the thirteenth century [187] these secular students became strong enough to assert themselves against the position and privileges assumed by the religious students, and after that century graces were constantly passed (ex.gr. in 1303) to prevent monastic interference in academic affairs, or (as in 1369) to limit the number of monastic graduates.

A non-graduate student in arts was, before admission, expected to know Latin, and, on admission, apprenticed to a master or doctor who acted as a tutor in scholastic matters: in 1276 this system of apprenticeship was made compulsory. The full medieval course lasted several years. Students who entered as boys stayed, if they took the full course, till they were grown men, gradually taking up teaching as part of their course of study. The bachelors may have assisted in the education of the younger arts students and of the glomerels who are mentioned below, but normally instruction in the arts course was given by masters, and in the higher faculties by doctors. The degree of master was a license to teach, and newly created masters were required to teach and to reside for two years (or later at least one year) for that purpose. This pre-reformation scheme is in marked contrast to the modern plan where the students enter as young men, all of about the same age, with a normal course lasting three years or so, and with their [188] studies sharply differentiated from those of a limited number of post-graduate and research students and of a separate body of teachers. Mullinger estimated that during the medieval period the number of resident regents varied from one hundred to two hundred, and the number of students (apparently exclusive of monastic students) never exceeded two thousand of whom the great majority were of humble birth; no doubt there were wide variations in the numbers at different times.

The history of Guilds in the University cannot be given with any certainty. It may be that in the early years of the University most secular students and teachers from any particular locality were associated together as a guild, and perhaps every student on arrival was expected to join his local guild, and through it become a member of the University. The guilds imposed on their members definite rules for their conduct in relation to one another, and enforced such regulations by means of money fines, refusal of assistance, and in extreme cases expulsion. The relations between the members of different guilds were, however, often unfriendly or worse; in particular there was constant friction between the guilds connected with localities north and south of the Trent. It has been suggested that at one time one of the proctors represented the cis-trentine guilds and the other the trans-trentine guilds: this [189] seems to have been the case at Oxford, but there is no evidence of such a custom at Cambridge where, according to Peacock, these trentine disputes were less violent than at the sister University.

We may take it that the master to whom a secular non-graduate student was apprenticed looked after his studies, and probably officers of the guild to which he belonged looked after him when sick or maltreated. In other matters, however, he was left to take care of himself, and thus was constantly liable to extortion. To meet this evil, the University early obtained powers enabling it to settle, without consulting the citizens, various local matters such as the prices of lodging and food.

Besides students in arts there was also another class of secular students consisting of boys, known as glomerels (grammarians) and rhetoricians, who were under a special officer of the University called the master of glomery. I conjecture that originally these were the boys at the local grammar-schools, that after the foundation of the University such boys were regularly treated as glomerel members of it, and that for this reason we hear nothing more of the local grammar-schools which had at first supplied them: most students of this type must have lived at home and come from the town or immediate neighbourhood. I suppose that in later times the number of glomerels was swollen by the [190] entry among them of students who had come to Cambridge, and were found to be ignorant of Latin grammar, and so inadmissible to the arts faculty.

The chief study of a glomerel was Latin grammar, and on attaining reasonable proficiency in it he could change over to the arts faculty if he wished. If a student continued in the glomerel faculty, the degree of master in grammar (or rhetoric) was open to him, but in processions of the University, such graduates took a lower place than students in arts, and their inferior position was emphasized by a statute which, while regulating the attendance of regents at the funeral of a regent master or student in arts, stated that graduates and scholars in grammar were not entitled to such recognition—Illis tantummodo exceptis, qui artem solam docent vel audiunt grammaticam, ad quorum exequias nisi ex devotione non veniant supradicti.

The ceremony of graduation in grammar has often been described: it involved the beating openly in the schools of a shrewd boy obtained by the university officers for the purpose, and the presentation to the new master of a ferule: this suggests that the course was regarded as a training for a schoolmaster’s career, it also facilitated admission to orders. As time passed, the glomerels, originally forming a large and important section of the University here and at Oxford, decreased in numbers, [191] and in the latter half of the fifteenth century they ceased to be of much importance in academic life. The faculty of rhetoric was constituted on similar lines to that of grammar, and practically treated as part of it. The last degrees in rhetoric and grammar of which we have notice were conferred in 1493 and 1548 respectively: probably the office of master of glomery fell into disuse about the beginning of the sixteenth century, though it is possible that it was held by Sir John Cheke as late as 1547.

The evils consequent on allowing inexperienced students, some of whom were quite young, to fend for themselves in all matters outside the schools were obvious, and it was not long before steps were taken to improve matters by the foundation of colleges and the licensing of private hostels.

Colleges were designed for selected scholars partly to provide assistance for them, and partly to protect them from pressure to join a monastic Order: the advantages offered being shelter, a common sitting room properly warmed, regular meals, the use of books, and general supervision. The earliest attempt to provide aid and protection of this kind for certain scholars was made, about 1275, by Hugh deBalsham, who arranged for their reception as members of Frost’s Hospital; but there were constant quarrels between the two sides of the House, and in 1284 he dissolved the union and [192] moved the secular students to a building (Peterhouse) of their own. Other similar foundations were soon created: the King’s Scholars (later incorporated as King’s Hall) in 1317, Michael-House in 1324, Clare in 1325, Pembroke in 1347, Gonville in 1348, Trinity Hall in 1350, and Corpus Christi in 1352. Every new college that was established provided fresh definite ties with the locality, and rendered less likely the break-up of the University and the scattering of its members—a serious risk to which in early days it was always subject. Then came an interval of nearly a hundred years, but in the fifteenth century the collegiate movement recommenced, and we have the foundation of God’s House in 1439, of King’s in 1441, of Queens’ in 1448 and 1465, of StCatharine’s in 1473, and of Jesus in 1496. In the sixteenth century we have the larger and more ambitious foundations of Christ’s in 1505, StJohn’s in 1511, Magdalene in 1519, Trinity in 1546, Emmanuel in 1584, and Sidney Sussex in 1596.

The colleges were intended for picked scholars. In the course of the fourteenth century the problem of the care of other students was taken up, and they were forbidden to live in lodgings selected by themselves and under no external supervision. To provide for them, the University licensed private hostels which were managed by masters of arts on lines somewhat similar to boarding houses in public schools [193] to-day. Thenceforth throughout the middle ages the majority of undergraduates resided in these hostels. Caius gave the names and sites of twenty-seven private hostels which he had known and all of which closed their doors during his life, the last in 1540: Fuller enumerated thirty-four hostels and two “inns” while his editor mentioned fourteen other hostels, but some of these certainly ought not to be included under the term. Perhaps we may say that the number open at anyone time rarely exceeded thirty or fell short of twenty: some were cheap, some expensive; some were well managed, others not so. After the development of these hostels the guilds decreased in importance, and finally disappeared.

With the establishment of colleges and private hostels the University was fairly launched on its career in a form which lasted till the middle half of the sixteenth century. My object was to state how, in my opinion, it originally took shape, and I do not propose here to follow its history further.