The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, Italy, for the training of priests for
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...
. It was founded in 1579 by
William Allen on the model of the
English College, Douai.
The current Rector is the Rev. Stephen Wang from the
Diocese of Westminster.
History
St Thomas' Hospice (1362–1579)
The English Hospice of the Most Holy Trinity and St Thomas was founded in the
Regola quarter of Rome in 1362 when the English community in Rome purchased a house from the rosary sellers John and Alice Shephard.
["History", Venerable English College]
/ref> The Jubilee Year of 1350, which had seen the influx of over a million pilgrims anxious to gain the Plenary Indulgence
In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission bef ...
offered by Pope Clement VI, had exposed the notorious shortcomings of accommodation in the Eternal City. English pilgrims had paid extortionate prices to stay in damp and filthy hostels far from St Peter's Basilica and the Holy Door through which they had come to pass. Innkeepers gave rooms designed to accommodate four people to groups of eight or more and often treated the pilgrims with violence and extortion. Many had drowned in the Tiber after the collapse of a temporary bridge and others died from the disease endemic to their rat-infested lodgings. The foundation of the Hospice was in direct response to this situation, with the stated aim of caring for "poor, infirm, needy and wretched persons from England".
The Hospice of St Thomas grew into the major centre for English visitors and residents in Rome. In 1376 a Chapel was erected on the site of the present College Church, and remnants of the impressive structure still remain in the College Garden. The new Chapel attracted royal patronage and by the reign of Henry VII the institution had become known as "The King's Hospice",[ with a Warden appointed by the Crown. Evidence of this early royal connection may be seen in the present-day building, which contains a corbel of fumed oak and a stone shield, both bearing the arms of the Plantagenet Kings.
Wardens included Thomas Linacre, founder of the ]Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...
, and Cardinal Christopher Bainbridge, Archbishop of York and Papal Legate, who was poisoned by one of his chaplains at the Hospice on 7 July 1514 and whose magnificent marble tomb remains in the College Church. Robert Neweton, described in 1399 as chaplain procurator of the Hospice of the Holy Trinity & St Thomas the Martyr, may have been a warden as might William Holdernes (fl. 1396)
During the 237 years of its existence, the English Hospice received many thousands of pilgrims, one of the most famous being the mystic, Margery Kempe, who visited in 1416. In 1481, 218 pilgrims stayed here, and during the plague of 1482, the Hospice cared for 96 sick pilgrims. However, two events in the early sixteenth century led to a radical decline in the fortunes of the Hospice.
During the Sack of Rome in 1527 troops of the Holy Roman Emperor broke into the Hospice and carried away the greater part of its gold and silver ware, its movable property and its extensive archive of papers and manuscripts. The decision of Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
to break with Rome almost entirely impeded the flow of English pilgrims to Rome. Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III (; ; born Alessandro Farnese; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death, in November 1549.
He came to the papal throne in an era follo ...
took over the Hospice in the year 1538 and placed it in the hands of Cardinal Reginald Pole, himself cousin to Henry VIII. When Pole returned to England as Archbishop of Canterbury under Mary I
Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...
, it seemed that the Hospice would revive as a pilgrim institution, but the accession of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
brought darker days. Acting as little more than a refuge for a few decrepit chaplains and exiles, the Hospice spent less than a tenth of its income on welcoming guests.
Foundation of the college (1579)
In 1576, with the encouragement of Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII (, , born Ugo Boncompagni; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake ...
, William Allen converted the moribund Hospice into a seminary, known as the ''Collegium Anglorum'' or English College. Allen had already founded a seminary, the English College at Douai
Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...
(now in France) in 1568 and had drawn to it 40 students. Its first students arrived there from Douai in 1577 and Gregory XIII issued the Bull of Foundation in 1579.[ The Pope gave the new English College a yearly grant and property, including the Abbey of San Savino at ]Piacenza
Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...
. The tradition of hospitality continued, and the College received several eminent guests, including the philosopher, Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5 April 1588 – 4 December 1679) was an English philosopher, best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan (Hobbes book), Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. He is considered t ...
, (26 December 1635), the physician, William Harvey
William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions to anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, pulmonary and systemic circulation ...
(1636), the poets John Milton (1638) and Richard Crashaw (1646), and the diarist, John Evelyn (1644).
Division and disorder overhung the first years of the English College. A Welshman, Maurice Clenock (Morus Clynnog), was made perpetual warden in 1578, an appointment unpopular with both the students and the Hospice chaplains, whom he had just expelled. He was accused of unduly favouring his Welsh fellow-countrymen at the expense of the English students, who numbered thirty-three as against seven Welsh students. Clenock, together with Owen Lewis, an influential curial official, saw the new College as a home for exiles which would wait for the restoration of the old order. Students were encouraged to learn Italian so that they could take up posts in Italy while they waited for England's conversion. However, many of the students shared the missionary ideals of the Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...
, equating the jungles of heathen South America with the woods of Protestant England. What they wanted was a house of studies preparing ordinands for immediate mission. For over a year, the two factions circulated petitions and memorials, including one that called the Welsh barbarous savages who dwelt in a remote mountainous corner of Britain. Students waylaid the Pope to ask for his assistance, and the future Martyr, Ralph Sherwin, drew his sword in the refectory (the kitchen of the present-day building). In April 1579, the Pope appointed a Jesuit, Alfonso Agazzari rector, leaving Clenock still warden of the hospital.[ Jesuits remained in charge until 1773.
]
''The English Romayne Life'' and Anthony Munday
An interesting description of life in the early days of the seminary comes from the pen of Anthony Munday. Coming to Rome in 1578 with a friend, Thomas Nowell, he stayed at the College and later published his impressions in ''The English Romayne Life'' (1582). Here he describes a typical dinner at the College;
“Every man has his own trencher, his manchet, knife, spoon and fork laid by it, and then a fair white napkin covering it, with his glass and pot of wine set by him. And the first mess, or antepast (as they call it)….is some fine meat to urge them to have an appetite….The fourth is roasted meat, of the daintiest provision that they can get, and sometimes stewed and baked meat....The first and last is sometimes cheese, sometimes preserved conceits, sometimes figs, almonds and raisins, a lemon and sugar, a pomegranate, or some such sweet gear; for they know that Englishmen loveth sweetmeats.”
On returning to England, Munday turned informer and helped to betray Edmund Campion and other Jesuit priests.
The age of the martyrs (1581–1679)
The College has been known as the "Venerable English College" since 1818 because of the 44 students who were martyred for the Roman Catholic faith between 1581 and 1679, as well as the 130 who suffered imprisonment and exile. Forty of these have since been canonised or beatified by the Church.
The College's Protomartyr was St Ralph Sherwin. He was born in Rodsley, Derbyshire, around 1550 and educated at Eton College
Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
and at Exeter College, Oxford, before leaving for Douai and then Rome, where, like every subsequent generation of seminarists, he studied at the Roman College, which later became the Pontifical Gregorian University. His name stands first in the ''Liber Ruber'' (a list of students who took the missionary oath in Rome before returning to England), where he is recorded as saying that he was ready, "today rather than tomorrow, at a sign from his superiors to go into England for the helping of souls".
His time soon came, and within four months of landing, he was captured, imprisoned, tortured and finally hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on 1 December 1581. Many others followed – including St Robert Southwell, the Jesuit poet (1595), and his fellow Jesuit St Henry Morse, the "Priest of the Plague" (1645). The last College martyrdoms were in 1679 during the anti-Roman Catholic hysteria following the " Popish Plot", when David Lewis, John Wall and Anthony Turner suffered.
The College soon gained a reputation as a nursery of Martyrs. A custom arose of a student preaching before the Pope every Saint Stephen's Day
Saint Stephen's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Stephen, is a Christian saint's day to commemorate Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr or protomartyr, celebrated on 26 December in Western Christianity and 27 December in Eastern Ch ...
on the theme of Martyrdom. Blessed John Cornelius called the College the "Pontifical Seminary of Martyrs" in his St Stephen's sermon of 1581. St Philip Neri
Saint Philip Neri , born Filippo Romolo Neri, (22 July 151526 May 1595) was an Italian Catholic priest who founded the Congregation of the Oratory, a society of secular clergy dedicated to pastoral care and charitable work. He is sometimes refe ...
, the "Second Apostle of Rome", who lived opposite the College at S. Girolamo della Carità, used to greet the students with the words "''Salvete Flores Martyrum''" (Hail! flowers of the Martyrs), and the great Oratorian historian, Cardinal Cesare Baronio, paid tribute to the English martyrs in his 1585 revision of the martyrology
A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by na ...
. In the College church Niccolò Circignani painted a series of frescoes of English saints and martyrs which began with St Joseph of Arimathea's supposed visit to Britain and ended with the College martyrs, their sufferings shown in graphic detail. Copies of these frescoes can be seen in the tribune, and afforded important evidence of contemporary veneration of the martyrs during the process of their beatification and canonisation.
“The Martyrs’ Picture” is the first thing one notices upon entering the College church. It was painted by Durante Alberti in 1580, just after the foundation of the College, and depicts the Blessed Trinity with two English martyrs: St Thomas of Canterbury on the left-hand side and St Edmund, King of East Anglia
East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included.
The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...
, on the right. Blood from Christ’s wounds is shown falling onto a map of the British Isles, and from this blood fire is springing up. This ties in with the College motto, held by a cherub: ''Ignem veni mittere in terram'' (I have come to bring fire to the earth). According to tradition, students gathered around this picture to sing a ''Te Deum'' whenever news reached Rome of the martyrdom of a former student. This custom continues today when the ''Te Deum'' is sung in front of the painting on 1 December, “Martyrs’ Day”, and the relics of the Martyrs, preserved beneath the Altar, are venerated by the students.
The college martyrs
Cardinal Howard and the "king over the water"
The last College martyr suffered in 1679. Two years later most of the College was rebuilt,[Cronin, Charles. "The English College, in Rome." The Catholic Encyclopedia]
Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 18 February 2018 although plans to build a new oval church with a double dome never materialised. The Jesuit Andrea Pozzo designed the fresco of the Assumption in the domestic chapel, for which, as College documents attest, he was paid 22 scudi. Between 1682 and 1694 part of the College site was rebuilt as a Palazzo by the Cardinal Protector of Great Britain, Philip Howard, third son of the Earl of Arundel
Earl of Arundel is a title of nobility in England, and one of the oldest extant in the English peerage. It is currently held by the Duke of Norfolk, and it is used (along with the earldom of Surrey) by his heir apparent as a courtesy title ...
. Of particular note is the fresco of St George slaying the dragon on the ceiling of the College Refectory.
During the eighteenth century, the College attached itself to Jacobitism
Jacobitism was a political ideology advocating the restoration of the senior line of the House of Stuart to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British throne. When James II of England chose exile after the November 1688 Glorious Revolution, ...
, praying for a restored Stuart monarchy which would be sympathetic to the Catholic faith. The Stuart pretenders, who lived nearby at the Palazzo Muti, were occasional visitors to the College.
Shortly after the death of the " Old Pretender" (James Francis Edward Stuart) in 1766, Charles Edward Stuart was received by the Rector and attended Mass here. A rumour spread around Rome that the Prince had been crowned during the service and proclaimed as Charles III. The Pope, who had recently withdrawn his support for the Stuart cause, was furious and dismissed the Rector. However, Jacobite sympathies lingered on in the College until the death of the last Pretender, Henry, Cardinal Duke of York, in 1807.
In 1773 Clement XIV was persuaded to suppress the Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...
, which until then had run the affairs of the College. The General of the Jesuits, Lorenzo Ricci, was imprisoned in the College for a month before being removed to Castel Sant'Angelo. The College passed under the supervision of Italian secular priests.[
In 1796 ]Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
invaded Italy and in 1798 General Berthier entered Rome. The Pope, Pius VI
Pope Pius VI (; born Count Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio called Giovanni Angelo or Giannangelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to hi ...
, fled to Sienna and the students of the College left were sent back to England. The College buildings were sacked,[ turned into a barracks and finally a police station. The church roof was used as a supply of timber and the lead coffins were taken up from the crypt and melted down to make bullets. Mass obligations were farmed out to neighbouring churches.
]
Wiseman and the golden age
The College, without staff or students, survived the Napoleonic period: account books and legal meetings continued throughout the period, largely due to the support of the Cardinal Protector, Romoaldo Braschi-Onesti, nephew of Pius VI. In 1818 an English rector, Robert Gradwell, was appointed and started the life of the College anew with a small group of students, including Nicholas Wiseman, who subsequently became rector at the age of 27 (1828) and the first Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster (1850).
Wiseman succeeded in making the College a centre of intellectual and social life. He became a professor of Syriac at the University of Rome and received many distinguished visitors to the College, such as John Henry Newman, Thomas Babington Macaulay, William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party.
In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...
, Henry Edward Manning, Hugues Felicité Robert de Lamennais and Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire. One of his students was Ignatius Spencer who later joined the Passionists.
In 1866 Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...
laid the foundation stone of a new College Church, designed by Count Virginio Vespignani
Virginio Vespignani (12 February 1808 – 4 December 1882) was an Italian architect.
Biography
Vespignani was born in Rome. A student of Luigi Poletti (architect), Luigi Poletti, he was highly interested in classical architecture, becoming o ...
, the old Hospice church having been unusable for decades. This building was completed in 1888. During the Capture of Rome
The Capture of Rome () occurred on 20 September 1870, as forces of the Kingdom of Italy took control of the city and of the Papal States. After a plebiscite held on 2 October 1870, Rome was officially made capital of Italy on 3 February 1871, c ...
in 1870, the College was slightly damaged by cannon fire, as it had been in 1849, and students sheltered in the cellar.
The World Wars
The inter-war period saw the rectorships of Arthur Hinsley (1917–1929) and William Godfrey (1929–1939), who both later became Cardinal Archbishops of Westminster. They encouraged a highly Anglicised type of Romanitas in which a consciousness of Imperial superiority was tempered by a deep affection for Italy and all things Italian. Students put on concerts, plays and Gilbert and Sullivan operas, organised debates and societies, and ran a successful in-house journal, ''The Venerabile'', as well as the periodical ''Chi Lo Sa?'' (Who Knows?), in which the Superiors of the College were mercilessly satirised. Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910.
The second child ...
visited the College in 1903, and George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936.
George w ...
sent a signed photograph to the students during his visit to Rome exactly twenty years later. The products of this healthy regime, including Cardinals Griffin
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...
and Heenan, were to lead English Roman Catholics into the 1970s.
Hinsley did a great deal of restructuring work, including the buying of a new villa at Palazzola. This former Franciscan Friary replaced the cramped summer house at Monte Porzio which students had used since the seventeenth century. In 1926, with the help of front page support from ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'', Hinsley saved the College from a scheme of the Rome city planners to destroy some of the buildings to make room for a covered market.
World War II resulted in a second period of exile for the College. Dressed in civilian clothes, courtesy of the stageman, the house left Rome on 16 May 1940 and narrowly secured places on the last boat for England from Le Havre
Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...
, which was about to fall. The College buildings were used as a hospital organised by the Knights of Malta from 1941 to 1944. Students continued classes and seminary life first at Ambleside in the Lake District
The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...
and then at the Jesuit Stonyhurst College, returning to Rome in the autumn of 1946.
The Second Vatican Council
The English and Welsh bishops stayed at the College during the Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...
(1962–1965), as they had done during the First Vatican Council
The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I, was the 20th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the preceding Council of Trent which was adjourned in 156 ...
(1869–70).
Recent history
In 1979, on the College's fourth centenary, John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005.
In his you ...
celebrated Mass in the Church and joined the students for a festive banquet in the refectory. The College Church, having been rebuilt in 1888, was finally dedicated on 1 December 1981, the fourth centenary of the martyrdom of St Ralph Sherwin.
On 1 December 2012 (Martyrs' Day – its annual commemoration of former students who had suffered martyrdom), the College celebrated the 650th anniversary of the foundation of the original hospice on the site with a concelebrated Mass at which the Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
and Duchess of Gloucester were present as representatives of the Queen, together with the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, and the Cardinal Archbishop Emeritus of Westminster, Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, a former Rector of the College. This celebration was followed by a papal audience with Pope Benedict XVI
Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...
on 3 December 2012.
In April 2017 Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.
Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...
visited the college, along with Archbishop Nichols, during the Prince's European tour.Lamb, Christopher. "Fire Breaks Out in Rome's Venerable English College", ''the Tablet'', 31 May 2017
/ref>
The college arms
The College's coat of arms follows ecclesiastical usage. It features the symbol of the Pope's apostolic authority, namely, the Triple Tiara used in conjunction with the silver key (symbolising the power of St Peter's successor to bind and loose on earth) and the golden key (symbolising the power of St Peter's successor to bind and loose in heaven). Cardinal Allen and Pope Gregory XVI, who co-founded the College, are represented by the dragon rampant and the three hares. The two Lions Rampant come from the arms of Edward III
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...
, representing in some sense the patronage bestowed on the College by every English king between the fourteenth century and the Protestant Reformation. During this period the Warden of the College was often England's Ambassador to the Holy See. The shell at the bottom of the arms is the traditional emblem of the pilgrim and recalls the origins of the present institution as a hospice for English visitors to Rome. The motto "''Ignem Veni Mittere In Terram''" ( "I have come to bring fire to the earth", Luke 12:49) is taken from the Martyrs' Picture, which hangs behind the altar in the College church and reflects the zeal with which the first Martyrs returned to possible death in Protestant England and Wales.
The college garden
Although located in central Rome, the College possesses an extensive garden (laid out substantially as it was in the days of the Martyrs) and a swimming pool, recently refurbished with the aid of the Friends of the Venerabile. As swimming pools were for many years prohibited for reasons of water conservation, it was once classified as a water storage facility, and a remnant of this former association survives in the College slang term for the pool, the tank. The garden contains a number of Roman columns and other pieces of classical stonework, as well as pillars and window frames from the 14th-century Chapel.
College alumni
Twentieth century
* Cardinal Francis Aidan Gasquet
* Cardinal Francis Bourne
* Cardinal Arthur Hinsley
* Cardinal William Godfrey
* Cardinal William Theodore Heard
* Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor
* Norman St John-Stevas
* Sir Anthony Kenny
* Archbishop Paul Gallagher
* Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald
* Archbishop Patrick Altham Kelly
* Cardinal Vincent Nichols
Burials
* Christopher Bainbridge, in the chapel of St Thomas of Canterbury at what was then called the English hospice in Rome.
* Francis Fenwick (1645–1694), an English Benedictine monk.
* George Gilbert, benefactor of the Jesuits.
See also
*Beda College
The Pontifical Beda College () is a Catholic seminary in Rome. It was founded as the ''Collegio Ecclesiastico'' at the Palazzo dei Convertendi in 1852 by Pope Pius IX and is intended for older men, often convert clergymen, wishing to prepare fo ...
* English College, Douai
* English College, Lisbon
* English College, Valladolid
*The Scots College (Rome)
The Pontifical Scots College ( Italian: ''Il Pontificio Collegio Scozzese'') in Rome is the main seminary for the training of men for the priesthood from the dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. It was established, in response to t ...
* San Silvestro in Capite
* List of Jesuit sites
This list includes past and present buildings, facilities and institutions associated with the Society of Jesus. In each country, sites are listed in chronological order of start of Jesuit association.
Nearly all these sites have be ...
References
External links
Venerable English College, Rome
The College Villa, Palazzola
Friends of the Venerabile
* ttps://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/1979/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_19790926_coll-inglese-gallese_en.html Letter from Pope John Paul II for the Fourth Centenary of the Collegebr>National Archives College Details
Interactive Nolli Map Website
{{Authority control
Educational institutions established in the 1570s
Catholic Church in England and Wales
Roman Colleges
1362 establishments in Europe
14th-century establishments in the Papal States
1579 establishments in Italy
History of Catholicism in England
Charles Edward Stuart
Henry Benedict Stuart