William Waynflete (11 August 1486), born William Patten, was Provost of Eton College (1442–1447),

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except ...

(1447–1486) and

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

of England (1456–1460). He founded

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the ...

and three subsidiary schools, namely Magdalen College School in

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 ...

, Magdalen College School, Brackley in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It ...

and Wainfleet All Saints in Lincolnshire.

Early life

Waynflete was born in Wainfleet in Lincolnshire (whence his surname) in about 1398. He was the eldest son of Richard Patten (alias Barbour), a merchant. His mother was Margery, daughter of Sir William Brereton of

Brereton, Cheshire Brereton is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census, the population of the entire civil parish was 1,012,dean of

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...

. It has been suggested that Waynflete attended

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at ...

, but this is improbable. Neither college claimed in his lifetime that he was one of its former students. However, that Waynflete was 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 probably a scholar at one of the grammar schools there, before passing on to the higher faculties, is shown by a letter of the Chancellor addressed to him when Provost of

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 ...

, which speaks of the university as his mother who brought him forth into the light of knowledge and nourished him with the alimony of all the sciences. Waynflete is probably the William Barbour who was ordained as an acolyte by Bishop Fleming of Lincoln on 21 April 1420 and

subdeacon Subdeacon (or sub-deacon) is a minor order or ministry for men in various branches of Christianity. The subdeacon has a specific liturgical role and is placed between the acolyte (or reader) and the deacon in the order of precedence. Subdeacons i ...

on 21 January 1421; and as William Barbour, otherwise Waynflete of Spalding, was ordained deacon on 18 March 1421, and priest on 21 January 1426, with entitlement from Spalding Priory. Waynflete may have been the William Waynflete who was admitted a "scholar" of the

King's Hall, Cambridge King's Hall was once one of the constituent colleges of Cambridge, founded in 1317, the second after Peterhouse. King's Hall was established by King Edward II to provide chancery clerks for his administration, and was very rich compared to Mich ...

, on 6 March 1428, and was described as LL.B. when receiving letters of protection on 13 July 1429 to enable him to accompany

Robert FitzHugh Robert FitzHugh (d.1436) was Bishop of London and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. Origins FitzHugh was the second son of Henry FitzHugh, 3rd Baron FitzHugh (-1425), KG, of Ravensworth Castle in North Yorkshire, by his wife Elizabet ...

, Warden of the hall, on an embassy to Rome. The "scholars" of the King's Hall were what are now called

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

s, as may be seen by the appointment to the hall on 3 April 1360 of Nicholas of Drayton, B.C.L., and John Kent, B.A., in place of two scholars who had gone off to the

French wars French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

without the Warden's leave. The William Waynflete who was presented to the vicarage of Skendleby, Lincs, by the Priory of Bardneyon 14 June 1430, may also have been our Waynflete. There was, however, another William Waynflete, who was instituted rector of Wraxall, Somerset, on 17 May 1433 and was dead when his successor was appointed on 18 November 1436. A successor to the William Waynflete at the King's Hall was admitted on 3 April 1434.

Early career

In 1429, Waynflete became headmaster of Winchester College, a position which he held until 1441. During this time, Waynflete was appointed by Bishop Beaufort to the mastership of St Mary Magdalen's Hospital, a

leper Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria '' Mycobacterium leprae'' or '' Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve d ...

hospital on St Giles Hill, just outside the city of Winchester. The first recorded headmaster after the foundation of the college, John Melton, had been presented by

William of Wykeham William of Wykeham (; 1320 or 1324 – 27 September 1404) was Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England. He founded New College, Oxford, and New College School in 1379, and founded Winchester College in 1382. He was also the clerk of wor ...

to the mastership of this hospital in 1393 shortly before his retirement. On 3 July 1441 Henry VI went for a weekend visit to Winchester College to see the school for himself. Here he seems to have been so much impressed with Waynflete that by the autumn Waynflete had ceased to be headmaster of Winchester. In October he was dining in the hall there as a guest, and at Christmas 1442 he received a royal livery, five yards of violet cloth, as provost of Eton. Under the influence of Archbishop Chichele (who had himself founded two colleges in imitation of Wykeham); Thomas Bekynton, the king's secretary and

privy seal A privy seal refers to the personal seal of a reigning monarch, used for the purpose of authenticating official documents of a much more personal nature. This is in contrast with that of a great seal, which is used for documents of greater impor ...

; and other Wykehamists, Henry VI, on 11 October 1440, founded, in imitation of Winchester College, a college in the parish church of Eton by Windsor (not far from his own birthplace) called the King's College of the Blessed Mary of Eton by Windsor, as a sort of first-fruits of his taking the government on himself. The college was to consist of a provost, 10 priests, 6 choristers, 25 poor and needy scholars, 25 almsmen and a ''magister informator'' (later "headmaster") to teach (Latin) grammar to the foundation scholars and to all others coming from any part of England, at no cost. On 5 March 1440/41, the king endowed the college with some £500 a year taken from the alien priories: almost exactly the amount of the original endowment of Winchester. Though reckoned first headmaster of Eton, there is no definite evidence that Waynflete acted as such. The school building was not begun until May 1442. William Westbury left New College, Oxford in May 1442, transferring himself to the king's service. He appears in the first extant "Eton Audit Roll 1444–1445" as ''magister informator'', and was probably such from May 1442. If Waynflete was headmaster from October 1441 to May 1442, his duties must have been little more than nominal. As Provost, Waynflete procured the exemption of the college from archidiaconal authority on 2 May, and made the contract for completion of the carpenter's work on the eastern side of the quadrangle on 30 November 1443. On 21 December 1443 Waynflete was sworn to observe the statutes by Bishop Bekynton and the Earl of Suffolk, the king's commissioners, and he himself administered the oath to the other members of the foundation: then only five fellows and eleven scholars over 15 years of age. (Younger scholars were not required to take an oath.) It is said that he took half the Fellows and scholars of Winchester College to Eton to start the school there. However, only five scholars and perhaps one commoner (pupil not on the foundation) left Winchester for Eton in 1443, probably in July, just before the election. Three of them were admitted scholars of

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. 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 in the centre of the cit ...

on 19 July. That college, by its second charter of 10 July 1443, had been placed in the same relation to Eton that New College bore to Winchester: i.e. it was to be recruited entirely from Eton. The chief part of Waynflete's duties as Provost was the financing and completion of the buildings and establishment. The number of scholars was considerably increased by an election of 25 new foundation scholars on 26 September 1444. The college's annual income was then £946, of which the king contributed £120 and Waynflete £18, or more than half his stipend of £30 a year. The full number of 70 scholars was not filled up until Waynflete's last year as Provost, 1446–1447 (''Eton Audit Roll'').

Bishop of Winchester

So greatly did Waynflete ingratiate himself with Henry that when Beaufort, bishop of Winchester, Henry's uncle, died on 11 April 1447, the king wrote to the chapter of Winchester, instructing them to elect Waynflete as bishop. On 12 April he was given the custody of the temporalities, between 15 and 17 April he was elected,Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 277 and on 10 May provided to the see by a papal bull. On 13 July 1447 he was consecrated in Eton church, when the Warden and Fellows and others of his old college gave him a horse at a cost of 10 marks (£6 13s 4d), and one mark (13s 4d) to the boys. Subsequent visits to Winchester inspired Henry with the idea of rebuilding Eton church on cathedral dimensions. Waynflete was assigned as the principal executor of his will for that purpose, and if there was any variance between the executors, he was to determine it. From 1448 to 1450 £3336 was spent on the church, of which Waynflete with the Marquis of Suffolk and the

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...

contributed £100 or £1,000 according to interpretation. The

troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...

which began in 1450 put a stop to the work. Waynflete, as bishop, lost no time in following the example of Wykeham and his royal patron in becoming a college founder. On 6 May 1448 he obtained licence ''in

mortmain Mortmain () is the perpetual, inalienable ownership of real estate by a corporation or legal institution; the term is usually used in the context of its prohibition. Historically, the land owner usually would be the religious office of a church ...

'' and on 20 August founded at Oxford for the extirpation of heresies and errors, the increase of the clerical order and the adornment of holy mother church, a perpetual hall, called Seint Marie Maudeleyn Halle, for study in sacred theology and philosophy, to consist of a president and 50 scholars. Its site was not that of the present college, but that of two earlier halls called Bostar Hall and Hare Hall, where the Examination Schools now are. Thirteen M.A.s and seven bachelors, besides the president, John Hornley, B.D., were named in the charter. The dedication to St Mary Magdalen was no doubt derived from the hospital at Winchester of which the founder had been Master. On St Wolstan's Day, 19 January 1448/49, Waynflete was enthroned in

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

in the presence of the king; and, probably partly for his sake, parliament was held there in June and July 1449, when the king frequently attended the college chapel, Waynflete officiating. When Jack Cade's rebellion broke out in 1450 Waynflete was employed with Archbishop Stafford, the Chancellor, to negotiate with the rebels at St Margaret's Church,

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, close to Winchester House. A full pardon was promised, but on 1 August Waynflete was one of the special commissioners to try the rebels. On 7 May 1451 Waynflete, from ''le chambre'' in his manor house at Southwark, asserting that his bishopric was canonically obtained and that he laboured under no disqualification, but feared some grievous attempt against himself and his see, appealed to the protection of the pope. It is suggested that this was due to some disturbances at Winchester where one of Cade's quarters was sent after his execution. But it is more likely, that it was some Yorkist attack on him in progress in the papal court. To meet this, he next day appointed 19 proctors to act for him. In the end result nothing disturbed Waynflete's peaceable possession of the see: so that with the

archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...

he was able to receive Henry VI when he came to Canterbury on pilgrimage on 2 August 1451. When in November the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was ...

encamped near Dartford, Waynflete with three others was sent from the King's camp at Blackheath to propose terms, which were accepted. Edward, Prince of Wales, was born on 13 October 1453 and was baptised by Waynflete the next day. That year Waynflete acquired the reversion of the manor of Stanswick, Berks, from Lady Danvers for Magdalen Hall. The king became insane in 1454. The Chancellor,

John Kemp John Kemp ( – 22 March 1454, surname also spelled Kempe) was a medieval English cardinal, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Chancellor of England. Biography Kemp was the son of Thomas Kempe, a gentleman of Ollantigh, in the parish ...

, Archbishop of Canterbury, died during the sitting of parliament, presided over by the Duke of York. Commissioners, headed by Waynflete, were therefore sent to Henry to ask the king to name a new Chancellor, apparently intending that Waynflete should be named. But no answer could be extracted from the king, and after some delay Lord Salisbury took the seals. During York's regency, both before and after the

First Battle of St Albans The First Battle of St Albans, fought on 22 May 1455 at St Albans, 22 miles (35 km) north of London, traditionally marks the beginning of the Wars of the Roses in England. Richard, Duke of York, and his allies, the Neville earls of Salisb ...

, Waynflete took an active part in the proceedings of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

. With a view to an ampler site for his college, Waynflete. Retrieved 5 July 1456 a grant of the Hospital of St John the Baptist outside the east gate at Oxford and on 15 July licence to found a college there. Having obtained a papal bull, he founded it by deed of 12 June 1458, converting the hospital into a college with a president and six fellows, to which college two days later Magdalen Hall surrendered itself and its possessions, its members being incorporated into the New College of St Mary Magdalen.

Lord Chancellor

Meanwhile, Waynflete himself had been advanced to the highest office in the state, the Chancellorship, the seals being delivered to him on 11 October 1456Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 87 by the King in the priory of Coventry in the presence of the Duke of York, apparently as a person acceptable to both parties. On 27 October 1457 he took part in the trial and condemnation for

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important relig ...

Reginald Pecock Reginald Pecock (or Peacock; c. 1395– c. 1461) was a Welsh prelate, scholastic, and writer. Life Pecock was probably born in Laugharne and was educated at Oriel College, Oxford. Having been ordained priest in 1421, Pecock secured a masters ...

, Bishop of Chichester, who had been ordained subdeacon and deacon on the same day and by the same bishop as Waynflete himself. Only Pecock's books and not the heretic were burnt. As the heresy consisted chiefly in defending the clergy on grounds of reason instead of authority, the proceeding does not show any great enlightenment on Waynflete's part. It must have been at this time that an addition was made by Waynflete to the Eton College statutes, compelling the Fellows to forswear the heresies of

John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of ...

and Pecock. Waynflete presided as Chancellor at the parliament at Coventry in November 1459 (the

Parliament of Devils The Parliament of Devils was a session of the Parliament of England, held at Coventry in the Benedictine Priory of St Mary's. The primary reason for summoning Parliament was to pass bills of attainder for high treason against Yorkist nobles, fo ...

), which

attainted In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and heredit ...

the Yorkist leaders after their defeat at

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The ...

. Because of this, three days before the Yorkist attack at Northampton, he delivered the great seal to King Henry VI in his tent near Diapre Abbey, a nunnery near Northampton, on 7 July 1460.

Later life

Political difficulties

Williamwaynfletechantrytombwinchestercathedral

Whether, as alleged by some, Waynflete fled and hid himself during the period covered by the battle of Wakefield and Edward's first parliament in 1461 is very doubtful. A testimonial to his fidelity written by Henry to the Pope on 8 November 1460 was written while Henry was in Yorkist hands. Complaints of wrongful exaction of manorial rights laid before Edward IV himself in August 1461 by the tenants of the episcopal manor of

East Meon East Meon is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is west of Petersfield. The village is located in the Meon Valley approximately north of Portsmouth and southwest of London, on the headwater ...

, Hampshire, were decided in the bishop's favour in parliament the following December. This also suggests that he was not regarded as an enemy by the Yorkists, even though he was a personal favourite of Henry's. A general charter of confirmation to him and his successors of the property and rights of the bishopric of Winchester on 1 July 1462 points in the same direction.

Eton College

It is certain that Waynflete took an active part in the restoration of Eton College. Edward had annexed it to St George's, Windsor in 1463, depriving it of a large part of its possessions. In the earliest Audit Rolls after the restoration of the college in 1467 there are many entries of visits of Provost Westbury to the lord of Winchester, which in January 1468–69 were for beginning the work of the church and providing money for them. Why a pardon was granted to Waynflete on 1 February 1469 does not appear. On the restoration of Henry VI on 5 October 1470 Waynflete welcomed him on his release from the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

. This necessitated a new pardon, granted a month after Edward's reinstatement on 30 May 1471, and a loan to the king of 2000 marks (£1333 6s 8d). In the years 1471–1472 to 1474 Waynflete was largely engaged in completing the church, now called the chapel, at Eton: his glazier supplied the windows, and he contracted on 15 August 1475 for the rood-loft to be made on one side "like to the rode bite" in Bishop Wykeham's college at Winchester, and on the other like that of the college of St Thomas of Acre in London. In 1479 he built the ante-chapel at the west end of the chapel, of

Headington stone Headington stone is a limestone from the Headington Quarry area of Oxford, England. Geology Around 160 million years ago, during the Late Jurassic period, Britain was located further south and was submerged beneath a subtropical sea. The warm ...

Magdalen College

In 1474 Waynflete, being the principal

executor An executor is someone who is responsible for executing, or following through on, an assigned task or duty. The feminine form, executrix, may sometimes be used. Overview An executor is a legal term referring to a person named by the maker of a ...

of Sir John Fastolf, who died in 1459 leaving a much-contested will, procured the conversion of his bequest for a

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...

of seven priests and seven almsmen at Caistor, Norfolk, into one for seven fellows and seven poor scholars at Magdalen. In the same year the college took possession of the alien priory of Sele, in what is now

Upper Beeding Upper Beeding is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the northern end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, four miles (6.4 km) north of Shoreham-by-Sea and has a land area ...

, Sussex, the proceedings for the suppression of which had been going on since 1469. The new, now the old, buildings at Magdalen were begun the same year, the foundation-stone being laid in the middle of the high altar on 5 May 1474. Licences from 1477 to authorized additions to the endowment. On 23 August 1480, the college being completed, the great west window being contracted to be made after the fashion of that at All Souls' College, a new president,

Richard Mayew Richard Mayew (1439/40–1516), also written Mayo, was an English academic, who became Bishop of Hereford (1504 to 1516) and a diplomat for Henry VII of England. Biography Mayew was born in Hungerford, Berkshire, England. He was President of Magd ...

, fellow of New College, was installed on 23 August 1480, and statutes were promulgated. The statutes were for the most part a replica of those of New College, members of which were, equally with members of Magdalen, declared to be eligible for the presidency. They provided for a head and 70 scholars, but the latter were divided mto 40 fellows and 30 scholars called ''demies'', because their commons were half those of the fellows. Magdalen College School was established at the gates of the college to be, like Eton, a grammar school free of tuition fees for all comers, under a master and usher, the first master being John Ankywyll, with a salary of £10 a year, the same as at Winchester and Eton. The renewal of interest in

classical literature Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classic ...

was shown in the prohibition of the study of

sophist A sophist ( el, σοφιστής, sophistes) was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, and mathematics. They taught ' ...

ry by any scholar under the age of eighteen, unless he had been pronounced proficient in grammaticals. On 22 September 1481 Waynflete received Edward IV in state at the college, where he passed the night, and in July 1483 he received

Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Bat ...

there in even greater state. In 1484 Waynflete founded another Magdalen College School in his birth town of Wainfleet All Saints, Lincolnshire as a satellite feeder school for Magdalen College, Oxford. The building is now used as a library, with a museum upstairs. On 27 April 1486, Waynflete, like Wykeham, made his will at their favourite manor, now

Bishop's Waltham Palace Bishop's Waltham Palace is a moated Bishop's Palace ruin in Bishop's Waltham, Hampshire, England. It is a scheduled ancient monument and a Grade II* listed building History The bishops of Winchester held lands in Waltham from Saxon times, hav ...

. He gave the same pecuniary bequests to Winchester and New Colleges as to his own college of Magdalen, but the latter he made residuary

devisee A will or testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property ( estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the property until its final distributio ...

of all his lands. Waynflete died on 11 August 1486 at

Bishop's Waltham Bishop's Waltham (or Bishops Waltham) is a medieval market town situated at the source of the River Hamble in Hampshire, England. It has a foot in the South Downs National Park and is located at the midpoint of a long-established route betw ...

in Hampshire. He was buried in the Magdalen Chapel at

Commemoration

The Waynflete Building at

, a hall of residence, commemorates Bishop Waynflete, and the college endows four professorial fellowships in science in his honour, which are collectively known as the

Waynflete Professorships The Waynflete Professorships are four professorial fellowships at the University of Oxford endowed by Magdalen College and named in honour of the college founder William of Waynflete, who had a great interest in science. These professorships are s ...

. There is also a

Waynflete School Waynflete School is a private, coeducational, college preparatory day school established in 1898 for early childhood education (from age 3) to twelfth grade, in Portland, Maine. History In 1898, Waynflete School was established by Agnes Lowell a ...

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

, which is named after him. There is a road named Waynflete Road in his honour in the Barton area of Headington, Oxford , one named Waynflete Place in

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

and another named Waynflete Street, in Earlsfield, London. "Waynflete" is a boys' boarding house at

. An annual memorial service, known as the Waynflete Obit, is held in

on the anniversary of his death. The choir for the occasion is formed from members of the

Waynflete Singers Waynflete could refer to: *William Waynflete (1395–1486), English Lord Chancellor and bishop of Winchester * Waynflete Professorships at Magdalen College, Oxford, named after William Waynflete *Waynflete School Waynflete School is a private, c ...

, who are named after the bishop. Waynflete projects are research projects undertaken by sixth formers at

Magdalen College School, Oxford Magdalen College School (MCS) is a public school (English independent day school) in Oxford, England, for boys aged seven to eighteen and for girls in the sixth form. It was founded by William Waynflete about 1480 as part of Magdalen College ...

. Awards are given for the best projects by the President of Magdalen College,

Dinah Rose Dinah Gwen Lison Rose KC (born 16 July 1965) is a British barrister. She has been President of Magdalen College, Oxford since 2020. A member of Blackstone Chambers, she was named Barrister of the Year in ''The Lawyer'' Awards 2009. In 2016, she ...

. Alumni of the school are known as "Old Waynfletes".

Notes

References

Sources

* * *

External links

Biographical sketch
at th
Magdalen College website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waynflete, William 1390s births 1486 deaths Lord chancellors of England Bishops of Winchester Founders of English schools and colleges Headmasters of Winchester College People associated with Magdalen College, Oxford Burials at Winchester Cathedral 15th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Founders of colleges of the University of Oxford Provosts of Eton College