St Leonard's College is a

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

institute at 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 ...

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Founded in 1512 as an autonomous

theological college A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and Christian theology, theology, generally to prepare them for ordinatio ...

of the University of St Andrews, it merged with St Salvator's College in 1747 to form the United College. In 1974 it was re-instituted as a postgraduate institute.

History

Named after the 6th-century Frankish saint

Leonard of Noblac Leonard of Noblac (also Leonard of Limoges or Leonard of Noblet; also known as Lienard, Linhart, Lenart, Leonhard, Léonard, Leonardo, Annard; died 559) is a Franks, Frankish saint closely associated with the town and abbey of Saint-Léonard-de- ...

, St Leonard's College of the

was founded as 'The College of Poor Clerks of the Church of St Andrews' in 1512 by Alexander Stewart,

Archbishop of St Andrews The Bishop of St. Andrews (, ) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews in the Catholic Church and then, from 14 August 1472, as Archbishop of St Andrews (), the Archdiocese of St Andrews. The name St Andrews is not the town ...

and John Hepburn, Prior of St Andrews (receiving Papal recognition by proxy in 1545), on the site of St Leonard's Hospital and Church. Its founding was a result of the poverty and declining status of St John's College, also known as the Pedagogy. The first Provost of St Leonard's was the Dominican John Annand, a pupil of Jan Standonck and a determined reformer of the clergy. St Leonard's was consequently extremely monastic in nature, with members of the college being subjected to a far more rigorous and formal code of conduct than was in practice at St Salvator's. Because of financial considerations and the general decline of the university, in 1747 St Salvator's and St Leonard's Colleges were amalgamated to form the United College of St Salvator and St Leonard. The buildings of St Leonard's College on South Street were sold, and all teaching thereafter was on the St Salvator's site on North Street. Famous alumni of St Leonard's College include Alexander Ales ( Alesius),

John Knox John Knox ( – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Church of Scotland. Born in Giffordgate, a street in Haddington, East Lot ...

George Buchanan George Buchanan (; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth-century Scotland produced." His ideology of re ...

, Patrick Adamson and James Melville.

Re-establishment

In 1974 a new St Leonard's College was established as a non-statutory college exclusively for postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Currently, after matriculation, all postgraduate students are ''de facto'' members of St Leonard’s College. The head of the college retains the medieval title of the older St Leonard's College, Provost. During 2024, St Leonard's College celebrated it
50th Anniversary
since its reconstitution as a Postgraduate College with a variety of activities.

Notable Principals

from 1568 to 1570 * Robert Wilkie from 1591 to 1611 (Moderator of the Church of Scotland in 1600) * Joseph McCormick from 1781 to 1799 (Moderator of the Church of Scotland in 1782) * James Playfair from 1799 to 1819 * Francis Nicoll from 1820 to 1835 * John Lee 1837/8 (Moderator of the Church of Scotland in 1844) *

David Brewster Sir David Brewster Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order, KH President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, PRSE Fellow of the Royal Society of London, FRS Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, FSA Scot Fellow of the Scottish Society of ...

from 1838 to 1859 (the first principal with no religious background) * James Donaldson 1886 to 1915 - including the transition to university status in 1890 *Sir John Herkless 1915 to 1920

Buildings

The old college site was visited by

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

and

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of the English writer Samuel Johnson, '' Life of Samuel ...

in August 1773. The old college site has, since the late 19th century, been occupied by

St Leonards School St Leonards School is a co-educational private boarding and day school for pupils aged 4–19 in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. Founded in 1877 as St Andrews School for Girls Company, it adopted the St Leonards name upon moving to its current pre ...

. The college chapel remains the property of the university. When it was re-established in 1974 it did not own any property, but since then it has accumulated several buildings including Deans Court and the Martyrs Kirk postgraduate library. St Leonard's College has been based in the Old Burgh School since 2020.

Provosts of St Leonard's College

* Professor Douglas M. G. Lloyd
Professor Ian Gray Kidd
* Professor Robert Crawford * Professor Christopher Smout * Professor Martin Kemp * Professor John A. Guy * Professor Philip Francis Esler * Dr Frank Riddell * Professor Christopher John Smith * Professor Peter Clarkhttps://peterclark.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/about-peter/ * Professor Dina Iordanova * Professor Malcolm McLeod * Professor Derek Woollins * Professor Andy Murphy * Professor Monique MacKenzie
Professor Frank Lorenz Müller

References

Bibliography

*R.G. Cant ''The University of St Andrews, A Short History'' (Oliver and Boyd Ltd. 1946)

External links

Official College website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Leonard's College, Saint Andrews Colleges of the University of St Andrews Educational institutions established in the 1510s 1512 establishments in Scotland 16th century in Scotland Postgraduate colleges in British universities