St Frideswide's Priory was established as a

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

canons regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by a ...

, in 1122. The priory was established by Gwymund,

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

Henry I of England Henry I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in ...

. Among its most illustrious priors were the writers

Robert of Cricklade Robert of Cricklade (–1174×79) was a medieval English writer and prior of St Frideswide's Priory in Oxford. He was a native of Cricklade and taught before becoming a cleric. He wrote several theological works as well as a lost biography of ...

and

Philip of Oxford Philip of Oxford (died after 1191) was an Augustinian canon and head of the Priory of St Frideswide, Oxford. Philip is the author of a collection of miracles attributed to Frithuswith, ''The Miracles of St Frideswide'' (''Miracula sancte Frideswid ...

. The original

nunnery A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican C ...

founded by

Frideswide Frithuswith, commonly Frideswide (c. 65019 October 727; ang, Friðuswīþ), was an English princess and abbess. She is credited as the foundress of a monastery later incorporated into Christ Church, Oxford. She was the daughter of a sub-kin ...

was destroyed in 1002. After that there was a monastery of

Augustinian canon Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both Secular clergy, secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, ...

s. In 1524,

Cardinal Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figur ...

dissolved the Priory, using funds from the dissolution of

Wallingford Priory Wallingford Priory was a Benedictine priory dedicated to the Holy Trinity in Wallingford in the English county of Berkshire (now Oxfordshire). Nothing remains of Holy Trinity Priory, which is believed to have stood on the site of the Bullcrof ...

and other minor priories. He then used its premises, together with those of other adjacent religious houses, to found a new college to be called Cardinal College on the land where the Priory once stood. After Wolsey fell from power in 1530, King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

took over the nascent foundation, which he renamed Christ Church ("''Aedes Christi''"). The Church's five western bays of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

made during the time of the Augustinian canons were demolished to make space to build the main quadrangle of the new college (now called Tom Quad). The intention was to demolish the remainder of the Church and replace it with a chapel on the north side of the quadrangle. That never happened, and the surviving portion of the Church, including the five remaining bays of the nave, became both the chapel for the new college, Christ Church and the cathedral for the new

Diocese of Oxford The Diocese of Oxford is a Church of England diocese that forms part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Oxford (currently Steven Croft), and the bishop's seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. It contain ...

which Henry VIII had separated from the

Diocese of Lincoln The Diocese of Lincoln forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire. History The diocese traces its roots in an unbroken line to the Pre-Reformation Diocese of Leices ...

Burials

Frithuswith Frithuswith, commonly Frideswide (c. 65019 October 727; ang, Friðuswīþ), was an English princess and abbess. She is credited as the foundress of a monastery later incorporated into Christ Church, Oxford. She was the daughter of a sub-ki ...

Lady Elizabeth Montacute Lady Elizabeth de Montfort, Baroness Montagu (died August 1354) was an English noblewoman. Life Elizabeth Montfort was the daughter of Peter de Montfort (d. before 4 March 1287) of Beaudesert Castle in Warwickshire and his wife, Maud de la Mare ...

William Orchard (architect) William Orchard ( fl. 1468died 1504) was an English gothic architect, responsible for the elaborate pendant vaults of the Divinity School, Oxford and the chancel of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. He worked on the cloister and designed the Grea ...

Notes

External links

British History Online - The priory of St Frideswide, OxfordSaint Frideswide's Monastery at Oxford: Archaeological and Architectural Studies
from ''Oxoniensia'' vol. 53 {{coord missing, Oxfordshire Religious organizations established in the 1120s 1524 disestablishments in England Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Monasteries in Oxford Augustinian monasteries in England 1122 establishments in England