Cambridge, Buckingham College Priory

Buckingham College

Buckingham College was a monastic college of the University of Cambridge that existed from 1428 until its reformation in 1542. Established by Abbot John Lytlington of Crowland Abbey under license from King Henry VI, its initial purpose was to provide a dedicated hostel for Benedictine student-monks, situated north of the River Cam to offer a more secluded environment conducive to study.

History and Development

The Benedictine monks commenced construction of substantial new buildings in the early 1470s. John of Wisbech, Abbot of Crowland, was instrumental in planning First Court and overseeing the completion of the Chapel. Individual Benedictine abbeys were encouraged to fund their own student chambers within the college. Four prominent local Benedictine abbeys—Crowland, Ely, Ramsey, and Walden—contributed financially and architecturally to the college's development. The institution's name was changed from Monks' Hostel to Buckingham College between 1472 and 1483, a transition attributed to the patronage of the family of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. While primarily for monks, the college also admitted some lay students who paid rent for their accommodation to the host abbey.

Notable figures associated with Buckingham College include Thomas Cranmer, who served as a lecturer there in 1515 before becoming Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1519, Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, funded the construction of the college Hall. The college's existence concluded with the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Walden Abbey, one of the contributing abbeys, fell into the possession of Thomas, Lord Audley, who subsequently refounded Buckingham College as the College of St Mary Magdalene in 1542. Much of the First Court of the present-day Magdalene College originates from the architecture of Buckingham College.