St John's College (or ''Auld pedagogy'') of the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

as a constituent college founded between 1418 and 1430 and was the precursor to present-day St Mary's College. The founder of the college was Lawrence of Lindores (1372–1437) under the chancellorship of Bishop Wardlaw.

History

King James I used the rivalry between Bishop-Chancellor Wardlaw and Lawrence, to petition the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

, in 1426, to transfer the University from St Andrews to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, in line with the King's policy of bringing the Scottish Church under royal control. This move failed, but it made the academic community aware of its common interests. The college was located on South Street, on the present site of the King James library and Parliament Hall, to the immediate east of the present St Marys College buildings. Parts of the original college buildings were incorporated into the King James library and adjoining structures in the nineteenth century. St John's College was refounded by Cardinal

David Beaton David Beaton (also Beton or Bethune; 29 May 1546) was Archbishop of St Andrews and the last Scottish cardinal prior to the Reformation. Life David Beaton was said to be the fifth son of fourteen children born to John Beaton (Bethune) of Balf ...

under the name the "New College of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary" or " St Mary's College" in 1538. St Mary's preserves the link to St John's in its motto, ''In Principio Erat Verbum'', from the gospel of St John, 1.1, English translation 'In the beginning was the word'. The motto can be seen above the entrance gate to the college. St John's College coat of Arms was the red phoenix of St John the evangelist on a silver background with the motto ''in principio erat verbum'' diagonal across the phoenix.

References

Former colleges of the University of St Andrews 15th-century establishments in Scotland {{UK-university-stub