Robert de Eglesfield (), 1341 founder of

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

, and a chaplain of Queen

Philippa of Hainault Philippa of Hainault (sometimes spelled Hainaut; Middle French: ''Philippe de Hainaut''; 24 June 1310 (or 1315) – 15 August 1369) was Queen of England as the wife and political adviser of King Edward III. She acted as regent in 1346,Stricklan ...

in whose honour he named the college. Robert was the third son of John of Eglesfield and Beatrix. John was himself third son of Thomas of Eglesfield and Hawisa. Their family held lands in and near Eaglesfield, near

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cocke ...

in Cumberland. Robert is recorded, aged about 21, as a valettus or yeoman in the service of Sir Anthony Lucy, lord of Cockermouth. In the next few years, he acquired lands in Middlesex, which in February 1328 he exchanged for the manor of Renwick, Cumberland.

King's clerk

He appears in April 1328 serving as member for Cumberland in the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

which met at Northampton. By 1331 he is recorded as a king's clerk and thereafter remained in royal service but only on minor administrative duties. There is no record of a marriage or children.

Ordination

There is no evidence that he took a degree or studied anywhere. To provide income he had been admitted to the rectory of Brough,

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

in July 1332 though he was not ordained a priest until February 1333 and did not permanently reside in his parish.

Hall of the Queen's scholars of Oxford

Robert was one of Queen Philippa's chaplains in 1340 and next year founded what became known as

, purchasing the site from his own funds and adding to that gift his manor of Renwick. Having taken on the headship, he is named as Provost in deeds dated January and September 1347, he is known to have lived there during half of 1348 but he seems to have died elsewhere on 31 May 1349. His remains were interred in the chapel as he requested, but interment may not have taken place until some years after his death. The

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

and

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

assisted in the establishment of a modest endowment. Not forgetting the 'devastated state, poverty and lack of letters' of the men of Cumberland and

from which he came, he asked for preference to be given to them, expecting few candidates, and to his own kin.

References

*''The Queen's College'', by John Richard Magrath, Provost, Clarendon Press, 1921 *Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eglesfield, Robert De 1295 births 1349 deaths Provosts of The Queen's College, Oxford Founders of colleges of the University of Oxford