King's College is a constituent 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 ...

. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto

King's Parade King's Parade is a street in central Cambridge, England.Henry VI soon after he had founded its sister institution at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

. Initially, King's accepted only students from Eton College. However, the king's plans for King's College were disrupted by the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the throne of England, English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These w ...

and the resultant scarcity of funds, and then his eventual deposition. Little progress was made on the project until 1508, when King Henry VII began to take an interest in the college, probably as a political move to legitimise his new position. The building of the college's chapel, begun in 1446, was finished in 1544 during the reign of Henry VIII.

King's College Chapel King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan vault. The Chapel was bui ...

is regarded as one of the finest examples of late

English Gothic architecture English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ar ...

. It has the world's largest fan vault, while its stained-glass windows and wooden chancel screen are considered some of the finest from their era. The building is seen as emblematic of Cambridge. The

Choir of King's College, Cambridge The Choir of King's College, Cambridge is an English Anglican choir. It is considered one of today's most accomplished and renowned representatives of the great English choral tradition. It was created by King Henry VI, who founded King's Coll ...

, composed of male students at King's and choristers from the nearby King's College School, Cambridge, is one of the most accomplished and renowned in the world. Every year on Christmas Eve, the

Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols Nine Lessons and Carols, also known as the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols and Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, is a service of Christian worship traditionally celebrated on or near Christmas Eve. The story of the fall of humanity, the ...

(a service originally devised for Truro Cathedral by Edward White Benson in 1880, adapted by the college dean Eric Milner-White in 1918) is broadcast from the chapel to millions of listeners worldwide.

History

Foundation

On 12 February 1441, King Henry VI issued letters patent founding a college at Cambridge for a rector and 12 poor scholars. This college was to be named after Saint Nicholas upon whose feast day Henry had been born. The first stone of the college's Old Court was laid by the King on Passion Sunday, 2 April 1441 on a site which lies directly north of the modern college and which was formerly a garden belonging to Trinity Hall. William Millington, a fellow of

Clare College Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...

(then called Clare Hall) was installed as the rector. King's College, Cambridge by Loggan 1690 - sanders 6177

Henry directed the publication of the college's first governing statutes in 1443. His original modest plan for the college was abandoned, and provision was instead made for a community of 70 fellows and scholars headed by a provost. Henry had belatedly learned of William of Wykeham's 1379 twin foundations of New College, Oxford and Winchester College, and wanted his own achievements to surpass those of Wykeham. The King had founded

on 11 October 1440 but, up until 1443, King's and Eton had been unconnected. However, that year the relationship between the two was remodelled upon Wykeham's successful institutions and the original sizes of the colleges scaled up to surpass Wykeham's. A second royal charter which re-founded the now much larger King's College was issued on 12 July 1443. On 1 September 1444, the Provosts of King's and Eton and the Wardens of Winchester and New College formally signed the ''Amicabilis Concordia'' ("friendly agreement") in which they bound their colleges to support one another legally and financially. Members of King's were to be recruited entirely from Eton. Each year, the provost and two fellows travelled to Eton to impartially select the worthiest boys to fill any vacancies at the college, always maintaining the total number of scholars and fellows at exactly 70. Membership of King's was a vocation for life. Scholars were eligible for election to the fellowship after three years of probation, irrespective of whether they had achieved a degree or not. Undergraduates at King's – unlike those from other colleges – did not have to pass university examinations to achieve their BA degree and instead had only to satisfy the college. Every fellow was to study theology, save for two who were to study astronomy, two civil law, four canon law, and two medicine; all fellows save those studying secular subjects were obliged to take Holy Orders and become priests, on pain of expulsion. In 1445, a Papal Bull from Eugenius IV exempted college members from parish duties, and in 1457, an agreement between the provost and chancellor of the university limited the chancellor's authority and gave the college full jurisdiction over internal matters.

Henry VI, Henry VII and Henry VIII

The original plans for Old Court were too small comfortably to accommodate the larger college community of the second foundation, and so in 1443 Henry VI began to purchase the land upon which the modern college now stands. The gateway and south range of Old Court had already been built, but the rest was completed in a temporary fashion to serve until the new court was ready. The new college site was itself left unfinished and the "temporary" Old Court buildings, arranged to accommodate 70, served as the permanent residential fabric of the college until the beginning of the 19th century. Henry's grand design for the new college buildings survives in the 1448 ''Founder's Will'', which describes his vision in detail. The new college site was to be centred on a great courtyard, bordered on all sides by adjoining buildings: a chapel to the north; accommodation and the entrance gate to the east; further accommodation and the provost's lodge to the south; and a library, hall and buttery to the west. Behind the hall and buttery was to be another courtyard, and behind the library a cloistered cemetery including a magnificent bell tower. 20130808 Kings College Chapel 01

The first stone of the chapel was laid by the King on St James's Day, 25 July 1446. The King encouraged support for the college. In 1448, John Conches, former prior of Wootton Wawen gave the priory's lands to ''"John Chedworth provost of the king's college of St. Mary and St. Nicholas Cantebrigge and the scholars thereof, and to their successors."'' Within a decade Henry's engagement in the

meant that funds began to dry up. By the time of Henry's deposition in 1461, the chapel walls had been raised 60 ft high at the east end but only 8 ft at the west; a building line which can still be seen today as the boundary between the lighter stone below and the darker above. Work proceeded sporadically until a generation later in 1508 when the Founder's nephew Henry VII was prevailed upon to finish the shell of the building. The interior had to wait a further generation until completion by 1544 with the aid of Henry VIII. The chapel was the only part of Henry VI's ''Founder's Will'' to be realised. King's College Chapel - stonework detail - Cambridge - UK - 2007

King's College Chapel - stonework detail - Cambridge - UK - 2007

It has been speculated that the choice of the college as a beneficiary by the two later Henrys was a political one, with Henry VII in particular concerned to legitimate a new, post-civil war Tudor regime by demonstrating patronage of what was by definition the King's College. Later building work on the chapel is marked by an uninhibited branding with the Tudor rose and other symbols of the new establishment, quite against the precise instructions of the ''Founder's Will''. King's College - Gibbs' Building

Front Court completed

The college remained as the Old Court, chapel and a few small surrounding buildings for nearly two-hundred years until in 1724 the architect James Gibbs provided a new plan to complete the courtyard of which the chapel formed the north side. Although his design was for the courtyard to be closed by three similar detached Neoclassical buildings, due to lack of funds only the western of these was constructed. The first stone of what became known as the Gibbs' Building was laid by Provost

Andrew Snape Andrew Snape (1675–1742) was an English cleric, academic and headmaster, provost of King's College, Cambridge from 1719. Life He was born at Hampton Court, Middlesex, the son of Andrew Snape (the younger), serjeant farrier to Charles II, and a ...

, at the time also vice-chancellor of the university, on 25 March 1723 and the building completed six years later. King's College, Cambridge2

Front Court was finally completed in 1828 under plans drawn up by William Wilkins. The courtyard was closed by a screen and gatehouse to the east; and residential staircases either side of a hall to the south. The southern buildings continued towards the river with a library and Provost's lodge. All these buildings were, at the college's insistence, built in the Gothic Revival style rather than Wilkins's preferred Neoclassical. With the courtyard to the south of the chapel now able to accommodate the college, the land to the north was sold to the university in 1828. The university demolished most of the original Old Court buildings in order to make room for an extension to the

University Library An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution and serves two complementary purposes: to support the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. It is unknown how many academic libra ...

; only the gateway arch opposite Clare College survives. The library subsequently moved away from this site, known as the

Old Schools The Old Schools are part of the University of Cambridge, in the centre of Cambridge, England. The Old Schools house the Cambridge University Offices, which form the main administration for the University. The building is Grade I listed.

, and the buildings are currently used for the main administrative offices of the university.

Victorian reforms and expansion

Scott's Building, King's College - geograph

Under the provostship of Richard Okes, from 1850 until his death in 1888, the college began a period of reform. On 1 May 1851 it was agreed to abolish the privilege of King's members to be granted a degree without passing the university examinations. In 1861 the college statutes were amended so as to expand the college and, more radically, to allow for the election of non-Etonian King's members: the new statutes provided for 46 Fellows, 24 scholarships reserved for boys from Eton, and 24 "open" scholarships for boys from any school. At the same time all formal obligation to take Holy Orders – unenforced since the seventeenth century – was removed. The statutes were again amended in 1882, this time ensuring fellowships were not always for life and were awarded on merit after submissions of original research. In his 1930 memoir ''As We Were, A Victorian Peep Show'',

E. F. Benson Edward Frederic Benson (24 July 1867 – 29 February 1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer. Early life E.F. Benson was born at Wellington College in Berkshire, the fifth child of the headm ...

, an alumnus of King's, recollected the peculiar behaviour of some of the surviving Life Fellows from his undergraduate years of 1887–1890 and before. Of one he wrote, "He then shuffled out on to the big lawn, with a stick in his hand, and he prodded with it at the worms in the grass, muttering to himself, 'Ah, damn ye: ye haven't got me yet.'" The first non-Etonian students were admitted to study at King's in 1865, and the first non-Etonian scholars and the first non-Etonian fellow were elected in 1873. These reforms continued over subsequent decades and there are now no special privileges for Etonians at King's. Bodley's Court, Kings College, Cambridge - geograph

Bodley's Court, Kings College, Cambridge - geograph

Expansion of the college through the 1861 statutes necessitated more building work to accommodate the larger community. In 1869, the area along

King's Parade King's Parade is a street in central Cambridge, England.George Gilbert Scott. When completed a year later, the new courtyard formed was named after Walter Chetwynd, a fellow of the college. However, after subsequent plans to expand college accommodation fell through, King's opened negotiations to amalgamate with St Catharine's College. Although St Catharine's had been founded by

Robert Woodlark Robert Woodlark (also spelled Wodelarke) was an English academic and priest. He was the Provost (college), Provost of King's College, Cambridge, and the founder of St Catharine's College, Cambridge. He was also a professor of sacred theology at th ...

(sometimes spelled Wodelarke), a Provost of King's, the college declined the invitation to combine. Eventually, in 1893, the east and south wings of another new courtyard within King's – designed by George Frederick Bodley and overlooking the river – were completed.

Twentieth century

In 1909, the south range of a third new courtyard – named after its architect

Aston Webb Sir Aston Webb (22 May 1849 – 21 August 1930) was a British architect who designed the principal facade of Buckingham Palace and the main building of the Victoria and Albert Museum, among other major works around England, many of them in p ...

– was built to the south of the library. In 1927, designs by G. L. Kennedy completed Bodley's Court with a new northern range, and Webb's Court with a new Provost's Lodge on its western side. In 1930, a Cambridge Borough Police officer was shot by a student who also shot his tutor in the same incident. On 1 September 1939, the day of the German invasion of Poland and the cause of the UK's entrance into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, permission was sought from the College Council to remove the stained glass from the east window of the chapel. By the end of 1941, all the ancient glass had been removed to various cellars in Cambridge for safekeeping. Despite most of the windows of the chapel being covered over by sheets of tar-paper which rattled loudly in the wind, the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols continued to be broadcast from the chapel every Christmas Eve throughout the war – even though the name of the college could not be broadcast for security reasons. King's took the opportunity of these years to clean, repair and photograph the glass. By 1949, all the windows had been restored. King's College Chapel, Cambridge, altare

King's College Chapel, Cambridge, altare

In 1961 the property millionaire Alfred Ernest Allnatt offered King's the ''

Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, ...

'' by

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradit ...

, which he had purchased in 1959 for a world-record price. The college accepted "this munificent gift" with the intention of displaying the painting in the chapel, possibly as an altarpiece. The painting was initially displayed in the antechapel but a significant faction of the fellowship – including

Michael Jaffé Andrew Michael Jaffé (3 June 1923 – 13 July 1997) was a British art historian and curator. He was Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England for 17 years, from 1973 to 1990. Life Born in London, he was educated at Wagner's ...

and the Provost

Noel Annan Noel Gilroy Annan, Baron Annan OBE (25 December 1916 – 21 February 2000) was a British military intelligence officer, author, and academic. During his military career, he rose to the rank of colonel and was appointed to the Order of the Briti ...

– were determined for the painting to become the focal point of an entirely redesigned east end planned by the architect Sir Martyn Beckett, who was "philosophical about the furore this inevitably occasioned – which quickly became acceptance of a solution to a difficult problem." As the first stage of this project, the Edwardian reredos and 17th-century wood panelling were removed and the Rubens installed in their stead behind the altar in April 1964. The painting was so big that the raised floor of the chapel's east end, required by the 1448 ''Founder's Will'', would have to be levelled so as to prevent the baroque artwork obscuring the bottom of the Tudor east window. However 20 fellows and the honorary fellow E. M. Forster signed a letter urging the college to reverse its plan and "admit that it has made a mistake"; the levelling of the floor nevertheless went ahead. The newly refitted east end opened in 1968 and proved highly controversial, with the ''

Architects' Journal ''Architects' Journal'' is an architectural magazine published in London by Metropolis International. History The first edition was produced in 1895. Originally named ''The Builder's Journal and Architectural Record'', from 1906 to 1910 it was ...

'' criticising it as "motivated not by the demands of liturgical worship but by those of museum display." The last main-site building to be erected by the college was the Keynes Building, finished in 1967 and named after the former college bursar

John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...

. This building enclosed Chetwynd Court along with the Wilkins' and Scott's buildings, and provided over 70 en-suite accommodation rooms along with other facilities. The first women students arrived at King's in 1972. The college, along with most others at the university, had been all-male since its foundation. However, under the provost Edmund Leach, King's together with

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

and Clare became the first three previously all-male colleges to admit women. Henry VI is not completely forgotten at the college. The Saturday after the end of Michaelmas term each year is Founder's Day, which begins with a Founder's Eucharist in the chapel, followed by a Founder's Breakfast with ale and culminating in a sumptuous dinner in his memory called "Founder's Feast" to which all members of college in their third year of studies are invited.

Buildings and grounds

Chapel

The College Chapel, an example of late

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It ...

, was built over a period of a hundred years (1446–1531) in three stages. The Chapel features the world's largest fan vault ceiling; twenty-six large stained glass windows, twenty-four of which date from the sixteenth century; and

's painting the ''

'' as an altarpiece. The chapel is actively used as a place of worship and also for some concerts and college events. The world-famous Chapel choir consists of organ scholars, choral scholars (male students from the college and other colleges) and choristers (boys educated at the nearby King's College School). The choir sings services on most days in term-time, and also performs concerts and makes recordings and broadcasts. In particular, it has broadcast its Nine Lessons and Carols on the BBC from the Chapel on Christmas Eve for many decades. Additionally, there is a mixed-voice Chapel choir of male and female students,

King's Voices King's Voices is an English choir, and is the mixed-voice chapel choir of King's College, Cambridge. It is a resident choir to the college's chapel, alongside the Choir of King's College, Cambridge. Foundation and Role in College The choir was ...

, which sings evensong on Mondays during term-time.

Front Court

Academic profile

The unofficial Tompkins Table comparing academic performance ranked King's 12th out of a total of 29 rated colleges at the University of Cambridge in 2019. In terms of first-class degrees, King's ranked 9th in the university with 31.3% of final year students achieving a first. King's offers all undergraduate courses available at the university, except for

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

, Land Economy and veterinary medicine, although Directors of Studies for Anglo-Saxon Norse & Celtic and Management Studies visit from other colleges. With more than 100 fellows and some 420 undergraduate students, King's has one of the highest ratios of fellows to students of all the Cambridge Colleges. Since its foundation, the college has housed a library, providing books for all students, covering all the subjects offered by King's. Around 130,000 books are held: some available for teaching and for reference, others being rare books and manuscripts. The library operates a user-oriented purchasing policy: students and Directors of Studies recommend new purchases in their subject. There is both Wi-Fi and Ethernet internet access throughout the library as well as a library computer room. Special collections include a separate Music Library, the Keynes Library, a Global Warming collection, and an Audio Visual Library.

Intake and access profile

The college has gradually broadened its intake to include many students from state schools, often having the highest proportion of maintained school acceptances of the undergraduate colleges. This has led to accusations of reactionary bias against public school pupils and of affirmative action (positive discrimination), although the relatively high proportion of state-school students reflects the far greater number of applications from pupils at maintained schools in comparison to other Cambridge colleges. King's has established a Schools Liaison Officer post in order to provide support to students, whatever their background, and schools and colleges of any type to find out more about the

and the college. King's is the link Cambridge College for schools in North East England through Cambridge University Area Links Scheme. Generally, the atmosphere at King's is considered to be easier than that of other colleges to integrate into for students from a working-class or minority background. However, a survey conducted by Varsity Newspaper in January 2009 revealed that the average parental income of students who participated in the survey at King's was higher than the university average. In June 2018, Dr. Priyamvada Gopal alleged racial profiling by college porters at the gate of King's College, Cambridge. Gopal said that she was subjected to racial profiling and aggression by the porters and gatekeepers of King's and said porters frequently hassled non-white staff and students at the gates. While several students and staff corroborated her accusations, a university spokeswoman has denied wrongdoing by staff. As a result of the attention the issue received, Cambridge University students came forward describing similar experiences. Gopal said that she received hate mail following her announcement. Gopal announced that she would no longer supervise students at King's until there was a resolution to the long-standing problem.

Student life

King's has its own student unions, both for undergraduates (King's College Student Union or KCSU) and for graduates (King's College Graduate Society or KCGS). Students at King's have used both organisations to assist in the decision-making processes in the college itself and the university. The college students have a reputation for radical political activity going back to the late 1960s, and the college has not infrequently been the centre of demonstrations, rent strikes and so forth, sparked by political events. There are a number of rooms around college which students can book out to hold society events. Societies who commonly do this include King's Politics, The Turing Maths Society, The History Society, The Marxist Society, Keynes Economics Society and King's Feminist Society. The main bar at King's is the site of many social events, open mic nights, and informal meetings and debates between students, whilst a venue known as the Bunker (formerly the Cellar), a second bar in a basement of the college, acts occasionally as a music or dance-night venue and most recently the set for a King's Drama productions including Sartre's ''No Exit'' and a series of monologue showcase events. Even more recently, the Bunker has been used by the King's Electronic Music Society, allowing students to learn how to DJ. Whereas many Cambridge colleges celebrate

May Week May Week is the name used in the University of Cambridge to refer to a period at the end of the academic year. Originally May Week took place in the week during May before year-end exams began. Nowadays, May Week takes place in June after exam ...

with a May Ball (which actually falls in June), since the early 1980s King's has instead held a

June Event June Events are alternatives to May Balls held by some Cambridge colleges. The necessarily high price of May Ball A May Ball is a ball at the end of the academic year that takes place at any of the colleges of the University of Cambridge. Th ...

(an informal version of a May Ball with fancy dress) known as The King's Affair. This takes place annually on the Wednesday night of May Week (usually around 20 June), and is attended by around 1,500 students, occupying the Front Court, bar, Hall and Chapel. Past performers have included The Stranglers, Fatboy Slim, Noah and the Whale and, in 2009,

Clean Bandit Clean Bandit are an English electronic music group, formed in Cambridge in 2008. They have had four number 1 hits and ten top 10 hits on the UK Singles Chart. They direct and produce their own music videos, many of which have been nominated for ...

. There are also large student-run College parties at the end of each term known as Mingles.

Sports

King's has a number of competitive and casual sports clubs. King's College Boat Club has the largest active membership of any club in King's. In 2013 the first men's boat qualified to race in the Temple Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta. After several years of poor performances, the boat has returned to a definitive mid-table position in the first division of the Lent and May Bumps, with blades being awarded in Lent 2019. Another major club is the King's Mountaineering and Kayaking Association, which has a fleet of kayaks for use on the River Cam (which runs through the college) and regularly runs climbing, walking and kayaking trips for students of the college during university vacations. Its rugby team is joint with Corpus Christi and Clare colleges and consequently known as CCK. Its historic crest is the hallowed Elephant of Wisdom.

Music

King's College is home to the

, which was founded in the fifteenth century and is now one of today's most well-renowned representatives of the English choral tradition. In 2013 the choir launched its own label, King's College Recordings, which would allow it to gain more artistic freedom over its releases. Its releases and worldwide fame have led to global tours and performances. The Choir of King's College sings evensong and Eucharist services on all days of the week apart from Mondays, with two services on a Sunday. It is currently led by the incumbent Director of Music, Daniel Hyde. The other resident choir of the college is the mixed-voice choir

, founded in October 1997 under Dr John Butt, with the intention of giving women in King's the opportunity to sing in the chapel and be eligible for choral awards within the college. Currently, the choir sings evensong every Monday in university term, as well as performing at King's College Music Society (KCMS) and college events throughout the year. King's Voices has also appeared on albums alongside the Choir of King's College, most recently in the Te Deum and Magnificat of the ''Collegium Regale'' service by Herbert Howells on a double album of music by Howells. Sopranos in King's Voices also featured in a live recording of Britten's ''St Nicolas'' alongside the BBC Singers and Britten Sinfonia as part of Sir Stephen Cleobury's Farewell Concert, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 2019. The choir's current director is Ben Parry, who is assistant director of Music at King's.

Entrepreneur-ship and business at King's

In 2014, King's College established an Entrepreneurship Prize opened to King's College students with famous alumni as judges, including Hermann Hauser, and Stuart Lyons, the former chairman of Beales. In 2021, it launched th
King's Entrepreneurship Lab
to "support students with a future interest in innovation, entrepreneurship, and business" co-directed by Kamiar Mohaddes, Senior Lecturer in Economics, and Thomas Roulet, Senior Lecturer in Organisation Theory, both faculty members at the

Cambridge Judge Business School Cambridge Judge Business School is the business school of the University of Cambridge. The School is a provider of management education. It is named after Sir Paul Judge, a founding benefactor of the school. The School is considered to be pa ...

People associated with King's

File:Robertwalpole cropped cropped.jpg, Robert Walpole, first Prime Minister of Great Britain File:MRJames1900.jpg, M. R. James, scholar and ghost-story writer File:George Santayana.jpg, George Santayana, philosopher File:E. M. Forster von Dora Carrington, 1924-25.jpg, E. M. Forster, novelist File:Keynes 1933 cropped.jpg,

, economist File:Rupert Brooke Q 71073.jpg, Rupert Brooke, poet File:Philip Noel-Baker 1942.jpg, Philip Noel-Baker, Olympic medallist and Nobel laureate in peace File:Xu Zhimo.jpg, Xu Zhimo, poet File:Blackett-large.jpg,

Patrick Blackett Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, Baron Blackett (18 November 1897 – 13 July 1974) was a British experimental physicist known for his work on cloud chambers, cosmic rays, and paleomagnetism, winning the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1948. ...

, Nobel laureate in physics File:Alan Turing portré.jpg,

Alan Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical ...

, mathematician and computer scientist File:Frederick Sanger2.jpg, Frederick Sanger, double Nobel laureate in Chemistry File:Salman Rushdie 2012 Shankbone-2.jpg,

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and ...

, novelist File:Stephen Poliakoff.jpg, Stephen Poliakoff, playwright and director File:Mervyn King.jpg, Mervyn King, former Governor of the Bank of England File:Davidbaddielnightingale2.jpg, David Baddiel, comedian File:Zadie Smith NBCC 2011 Shankbone.jpg, Zadie Smith, novelist Once someone has been admitted to the college, they become a member for life. Alumni of the college includes prime ministers, archbishops, presidents and academics. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' published in 1999 a list of what it considered the most "influential and important" people of the twentieth century. In a list of one hundred names, King's claimed two:

and

who had been both students and fellows at the college. Heads of State and Government educated at King's include the first Prime Minister of Great Britain, Robert Walpole. Also in the 18th century alumni include the Secretary of State Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend (Turnip Townshend), who was also known for his interest in agriculture and his role in the

British agricultural revolution The British Agricultural Revolution, or Second Agricultural Revolution, was an unprecedented increase in agricultural production in Britain arising from increases in labour and land productivity between the mid-17th and late 19th centuries. Agric ...

, the judge and Lord Chancellor Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden. Historical figures include

Francis Walsingham Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wal ...

, spymaster to

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen ...

. Politicians educated at King's include the former British Home Secretary Charles Clarke, the peer and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge

David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville David John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville, , raeng.org.uk. Accessed 8 September 2022. (24 October 1940) is a British politician, businessman and philanthropist. From 1992 to 1997, he served as chairman of Sainsbury's, the supermarket c ...

, and Martin Bell. In Law, alumni include the barrister and vice-chancellor Robert Alexander, Baron Alexander of Weedon, the former President of the British Supreme Court Nicholas Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers; and the Judge of the General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union Geert de Baere. Alumni in religion include William Thomas, the 16th-century Protestant martyr John Frith, the Archbishop of Canterbury John Sumner, and Richard Cox, who served as

Chancellor of Oxford This is a list of chancellors of the University of Oxford in England by year of appointment. __TOC__ Chronological list See also *List of vice-chancellors of the University of Oxford * List of University of Oxford people * List of chancel ...

before appointment as Dean of Westminster and eventually Bishop of Ely. Notable alumni in literature and poetry include the authors Zadie Smith,

, Martin Jacques, J. G. Ballard and E. M. Forster, the Nobel Prize winner Patrick White, the poets Rupert Brooke, Walter Raleigh and Xu Zhimo, and the playwright Stephen Poliakoff. The ghost story writer and medievalist M. R. James spent much of his life at King's as a student, fellow and Provost. The author and translator of Aristotle Sir John Harington is also an alumnus, and a benefactor of mankind for having invented the flush toilet. In the arts, alumni include the philosopher George Santayana; the historians Benedict Anderson, Eric Hobsbawm and Tony Judt; composers George Benjamin, Judith Weir ( Master of the Queen's Music), Thomas Ades, and Julian Anderson; the original members of the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

-winning a cappella group

King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 19 ...

; the folk musician John Spiers; the comedian David Baddiel; the model Lily Cole; the tenor James Gilchrist; and the countertenor John Whitworth. In the sciences and social sciences, King's alumni include the British sociologist Anthony Giddens, the physicist

, the chemist Frederick Sanger, The psychologist

Edgar Anstey Edgar Anstey (16 February 1907 in Watford, Hertfordshire, England – 26 September 1987 in London, England), was a leading British documentary film-maker. Anstey was educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys and Birkbeck College. He spen ...

, the palaeontologist Richard Fortey, the economist John Craven, the political theorist John Dunn, the engineer Charles Inglis, and the mathematician and eugenicist Karl Pearson. The Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King was also educated at King's. The technology entrepreneur Hermann Hauser, of Acorn and ARM, studied postgraduate physics there. Of the current fellows of King's prominent fellows include Whitehead and Adams' Prize Winner Clément Mouhot and the Fellow of the Royal Society and Clay Research award winner

Mark Gross (mathematician) Mark William Gross (born 30 November 1965)Anon (2017) is an American mathematician, specializing in differential geometry, algebraic geometry, and mirror symmetry. Education Gross studied from 1982 at Cornell University graduating with a bach ...

Nobel laureates

There are eight Nobel laureates who were either students or fellows of King's: *

Charles Glover Barkla Charles Glover Barkla FRS FRSE (7 June 1877 – 23 October 1944) was a British physicist, and the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1917 for his work in X-ray spectroscopy and related areas in the study of X-rays (Roentgen rays). Life ...

was awarded the

Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

1917 "for his discovery of the characteristic Röntgen radiation of the elements". *

, fellow of King's, was awarded the

1948 "for his development of the Wilson cloud chamber method, and his discoveries therewith in the fields of nuclear physics and cosmic radiation". * Frederick Sanger, fellow of King's, was awarded the

Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...

1958 "for his work on the structure of proteins, especially that of insulin". Sanger was awarded his second Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1980 jointly with Walter Gilbert for "their contributions concerning the determination of base sequences in nucleic acids". Sanger is one of only five people to have won a Nobel Prize twice, and the only affiliate of the University of Cambridge to have done so. * Philip Noel-Baker was awarded the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolo ...

1959 for work towards global disarmament. * Patrick White was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1973 "for an epic and psychological narrative art which has introduced a new continent into literature". * Richard Stone, fellow of King's, was awarded the

Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel ( sv, Sveriges riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne), is an economics award administered ...

1984 "for having made fundamental contributions to the development of systems of national accounts and hence greatly improved the basis for empirical economic analysis". * Sydney Brenner, fellow of King's, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2002 jointly with H. Robert Horvitz and John E. Sulston "for their discoveries concerning genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death". * Oliver Hart was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences 2016 jointly with Bengt Holmstrom "for their contributions to contract theory".

Provosts

The head of King's College is called the Provost. The current Provost, , is Michael Proctor, physicist and Professor of Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics at Cambridge.

Visitor

The visitor of the college is the Bishop of Lincoln.King's College Statutes 2007
s. P(1).
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Arms

References

Footnotes

Printed sources

* * * * Patrick Wilkinson, ''Kingsmen of a Century: 1873–1972'' (Cambridge: King's College, 1980)

External links

Official website

King's College Student Union

King's College Graduate Society

Virtual tour of the library
{{Authority control Colleges of the University of Cambridge Educational institutions established in the 15th century Grade I listed buildings in Cambridge Grade I listed educational buildings James Gibbs buildings 1441 establishments in England Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Cambridgeshire