St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge was a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

nunnery in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, England. It was founded before 1144 (probably in the late 1130s) and dissolved in 1496 by the initiative of John Alcock,

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with ...

History

Radegund Radegund (; also spelled ''Rhadegund, Radegonde, or Radigund''; 520 – 13 August 587) was a Thuringian princess and Frankish queen, who founded the Abbey of the Holy Cross at Poitiers. She is the patroness saint of several churches in Franc ...

was a 6th-century

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

princess, who founded the monastery of the Holy Cross at

Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...

. Between 1159 and 1161,

Malcolm IV of Scotland Malcolm IV (; ), nicknamed Virgo, "the Maiden" (between 23 April and 24 May 1141 – 9 December 1165) was King of Scotland from 1153 until his death. He was the eldest son of Henry, Earl of Huntingdon and Northumbria (died 1152) and Ada de War ...

, as

Earl of Huntingdon Earl of Huntingdon is a title which has been created several times in the Peerage of England. The medieval title (1065 creation) was associated with the ruling house of Scotland ( David of Scotland). The seventh and most recent creation dates t ...

, gave to the nuns 10 acres adjoining Grenecroft (

Midsummer Common Midsummer Common is an area of common land in Cambridge, England. It lies northeast of the city centre on the south bank of the River Cam. The common borders the River Cam and houseboats are often moored on the common's bank. The boathouses ...

) on which to place their church; the dedication to St Mary and St Radegund was probably connected with Malcolm's visit to Poitiers, "the special centre of the cult of St Radegund", in 1159. Jesus College was founded in 1496 on the site by Bishop John Alcock of Ely. It has been traditionally believed that the nunnery was turned into a college because the nunnery had gained a reputation for licentiousness. Contemporary churchman

John Bale John Bale (21 November 1495 – November 1563) was an English churchman, historian controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory in Ireland. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English (on the subject of King John), and developed and ...

dubbed it "''Spiritualium meretricum cœnobium''" (lit. "a community of spiritual harlots"), while both King Henry VII and

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II (; ; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death, in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope, the Battle Pope or the Fearsome ...

consented to its dissolution. The College's full name is "The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge". When founded in 1496, the College took over the buildings of the nunnery: namely the

Chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

, and the Cloister attached to it; the nuns’ refectory, which became the College Hall; and the former lodging of the prioress, which became the Master’s Lodge. These conventual buildings remain the core of the College, and account for a distinctly monastic character which sets it apart from other Cambridge colleges. A library was soon added, and the Chapel was considerably modified and reduced in scale by Alcock. Founded in the mid-12th century, the Chapel is the oldest university building in Cambridge still in use.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Radegunds Priory Cambridge Monasteries in Cambridgeshire Benedictine nunneries in England History of Cambridge Jesus College, Cambridge 15th-century disestablishments in England