Buckingham College is the name of a former college of the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, that existed between 1428 and 1542, when it was reformed as

Magdalene College Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

. Abbot John Lytlington of

Crowland Abbey Crowland Abbey (also spelled Croyland Abbey, Latin: ''Croilandia'') is a Church of England parish church, formerly part of a Benedictine abbey church, in Crowland in the English county of Lincolnshire. It is a Grade I listed building. History A ...

was licensed by

Letters Patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

King Henry VI Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V, he succeeded to the English throne a ...

to acquire a site so that a hostel could be established in Cambridge for

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

student-monks. The Benedictines sited their Monks' Hostel north of the

River Cam The River Cam () is the main river flowing through Cambridge in eastern England. After leaving Cambridge, it flows north and east before joining the River Great Ouse to the south of Ely, at Pope's Corner. The total distance from Cambridge to ...

at a distance from the temptations of town. The Benedictine monks began fine new buildings early in the 1470s. John of Wisbech,

Abbot of Crowland The Abbot of Crowland was the head of Crowland Abbey, an English monastery built up around the shrine of Saint Guthlac of Crowland by King Æthelbald of Mercia, and refounded as a Benedictine house circa 948. The last abbot was John Wells (also ca ...

, planned First Court and completed the Chapel. Individual Benedictine abbeys were invited to provide their own student chambers there. Four local Benedictine abbeys, Crowland, Ely,

Ramsey Ramsey may refer to: Geography British Isles * Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England * Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England ** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey" * Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...

and

Walden ''Walden'' (; first published in 1854 as ''Walden; or, Life in the Woods'') is a book by American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part ...

, contributed to the college buildings. As a result of patronage by the family of

Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, KG (4 September 1455 – 2 November 1483) was an English nobleman known as the namesake of Buckingham's rebellion, a failed but significant collection of uprisings in England and parts of Wales agains ...

, the name of the institution was changed from Monks' Hostel to Buckingham College (the change is known to have occurred between 1472 and 1483). Some students who were not monks were admitted and such lay students would have paid rent to the host abbey whose rooms they occupied.

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry' ...

, later Archbishop of Canterbury, was appointed a lecturer at Buckingham in 1515. In 1519,

Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham (3 February 1478 – 17 May 1521) was an English nobleman. He was the son of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Katherine Woodville, and nephew of Elizabeth Woodville and King Edward IV. Thu ...

built the college Hall. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries one of the abbeys involved in the College, Walden, came into the possession of Thomas, Lord Audley who then refounded Buckingham College as the College of St Mary Magdalene in 1542. Much of Magdalene's First Court dates from Buckingham College.

References

Former colleges of the University of Cambridge Magdalene College, Cambridge 1428 establishments in England 1542 disestablishments in England Educational institutions established in the 15th century {{UCambridge-stub