St Bernard's College, Oxford

College of the University of Oxford
St Bernard's College, Oxford is located in Oxford city centre
St Bernard's College, Oxford
Location in Oxford city centre

St Bernard's College was a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded by the Cistercian order in 1437 and dedicated to Bernard of Clairvaux, it was suppressed in Spring 1540 during the dissolution of the monasteries.[1] Its buildings were later used to found St John's College, Oxford.

History

The College of St Bernard, a monastery and house of study of the Cistercian order, was founded in 1437 and closed during the dissolution of the monasteries.[2]

It was founded by Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury, under licence in mortmain for Cistercian monks, on the model of Gloucester Hall and Durham College for the southern and northern Benedictines. Nothing more than a site and building was required by way of endowment, as the student monks, who were sent there to study under a provisor, were supported by the houses of the order to which they belonged. The site was five acres, and the building is described in the letters patent "as a fitting and noble college mansion in honour of the most glorious Virgin Mary and St Bernard in Northgates Street outside the Northgate of Oxford."[3] It was suppressed with the Cistercian abbeys, and, on 11 December 1546, granted to Christ Church, Oxford, which sold it to Thomas White in 1554 for St John's College.[4]

Construction of the college quadrangle started in 1437. When the site passed to the crown in 1540, the Eastern range, which was to be a library with chambers below, was nearly complete but lacked its roof. The quadrangle of St Bernard's would accommodate 50 students.[4]

Chapel interior of St John's College, Oxford

The chapel was built and dedicated to St Bernard of Clairvaux in 1530.[5] It survives, rededicated to St John the Baptist, as the chapel of St John's College.

Alumni

  • Gabriel Donne (died 1558), Abbot of Buckfast Abbey
  • Thomas Skevington (died 1533), Bishop of Bangor

References

  1. ^ Clark, James G. (2021). The Dissolution of the Monasteries: a new history. Yale University Press. p. 449.
  2. ^ "History". St John's College. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  3. ^  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Leach, Arthur Francis (1911). "Chicheley, Henry". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 127–128.
  4. ^ a b H. E. Salter and Mary D. Lobel, ed. (1954). "St John's College". A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 3: The University of Oxford. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  5. ^ "History". St John's College Oxford. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
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