The Lord Almoner's Professorships of Arabic were two professorships, one at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and one at 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 ...

. They were both founded before 1724, but records of the holders of the chairs only date from that year. The professors were appointed by

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

and their salaries (£50 a year each) were paid by the Crown by a grant to the

Lord Almoner The Royal Almonry is a small office within the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, headed by the Lord High Almoner, an office dating from 1103. The almoner is responsible for distributing alms to the poor. The Lord High Almoner is usually a ...

. The Crown ceased to appoint the professors in 1903. Both universities had existing chairs in Arabic, the Laudian Professorship at Oxford and Sir Thomas Adams's Professorship at Cambridge.

Oxford

At Oxford the chair, although endowed for the teaching of Arabic, was sometimes used for teaching Hebrew, and sometimes held by the same person as the Laudian Professor. The chair was discontinued on the retirement of the incumbent in 1909.

Cambridge

At Cambridge the chair was initially founded as a

readership Readership may refer to: * The group of readers of a particular publication or writer: their target audience * The total number of readers of a particular publication (newspaper, magazine, book), as proxy-measured by web/app views or print circulat ...

. Before it was upgraded to a professorship before or in 1815 it was usually combined with the Sir Thomas Adams's Professor of Arabic chair and held by the same person. The chair, "which for two centuries" had "a distinguished record, but carried only a nominal stipend", was discontinued on the death of the incumbent, Professor Anthony Ashley Bevan, in 1933.''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 12 December 1933, p. 9.

Lord Almoner's Readers

* David Wilkins (1724) *

Leonard Chappelow Leonard Chappelow (1683–1768) was an English clergyman and orientalist. He was Sir Thomas Adams's Professor of Arabic at the University of Cambridge, from 1720, for life, and also Lord Almoner's Professorship of Arabic. Life He was born at Bever ...

(1729) *

Samuel Hallifax Samuel Hallifax or Halifax (1733–1790) was an English churchman and academic, holder of several chairs at Cambridge and was successively Bishop of Gloucester (1781–1789) and Bishop of St Asaph (1789–1790). Life He was born at Mansfield o ...

(1768) * William Craven (1770)

Lord Almoner's Professors

George Cecil Renouard George Cecil Renouard (7 September 1780 – 15 February 1867) was an English classical and oriental scholar. Biography Renouard, born at Stamford, Lincolnshire, on 7 September 1780, was the youngest son of Peter Renouard of Stamford (d. 1801), ...

(1815–1821) * Thomas Musgrave (1821) *

Thomas Robinson Thomas, Tom or Tommy Robinson may refer to: Artists * Thomas Robinson (composer) (c. 1560 – after 1609), English composer and music teacher * Thomas Heath Robinson (1869–1954), British book illustrator Politicians * Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron ...

(1837–1854) * Theodore Preston (1855) * Edward Henry Palmer (1871–1882) * William Robertson Smith (1883) * Ion Grant Neville Keith-Falconer (1886) *

Robert Lubbock Bensly Robert Lubbock Bensly (born in Eaton, Norwich, England, 24 August 1831; died in Cambridge, 23 April 1893) was an English orientalist. Life He was born at Eaton, near Norwich, on 24 August 1831. He was the second son of Robert Bensly and Harriet Re ...

(1887) *

Anthony Ashley Bevan Anthony Ashley Bevan, FBA (1859–1933) was a British orientalist. He was the son of the banker Robert Cooper Lee Bevan, and his second wife, the translator and poet Frances Bevan. Frances was the author of the famous book ''Three Friends of G ...

(1893) - contributor to the '' Encyclopaedia Biblica''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Professor of Arabic, Almoner's, Lord Arabic, Almoner's, Lord School of Arts and Humanities, University of Cambridge Arabic, Almoner's, Lord 1724 establishments in England 1933 disestablishments in England Arabic, Almoner's, Lord Arabists