William of Durham (died 1249) is said to have founded

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

.University College
''A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 3: The University of Oxford'', 1954, pp. 61–81.Darwall-Smith, Robin, ''A History of University College, Oxford''.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2008. . He most likely came from

Sedgefield Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. History Roman A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...

, County Durham and was educated at Wearmouth monastery and in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. William of Durham was archdeacon of Caux and (in 1235, for a few months) archbishop-elect of Rouen in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, France. When, in 1229, riots broke out in Paris, he may have been the leader of a group of students who migrated from that city to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, but this tradition is not attested to by contemporary sources. What is more certain is that he held several rich benefices in

and died in Rouen, in 1249. He left 310 marks, a large amount of money, in his will to be invested in rents that would support scholars in Oxford. This benefaction resulted in one of the first of the Oxford halls or colleges. Subsequently, this foundation took the name of University College.

Legacy

University College, Oxford now has a William of Durham Club for old members leaving a legacy to the College.

References

* Year of birth missing 1249 deaths People from Sedgefield 13th-century scholars Christian scholars People associated with University College, Oxford Archdeacons of Durham Founders of colleges of the University of Oxford {{England-bio-stub