Founding of Emmanuel College, Cambridge
- When
- 1583–1585
- Where
- Cambridge Blackfriars site; Cambridge
- Episodes
- 3
Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I, founded Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1584. He obtained the Queen's royal licence on 11 January 1584 to establish the college on the site of the former Cambridge Blackfriars priory, which he had purchased in late 1583.
Episodes
- Purchase of Blackfriars Site
Mildmay's agents purchased the former Dominican priory site for £550 in 1583.
- Royal Licence Granted
Mildmay received the Queen's licence to found Emmanuel College on 11 January 1584.
- Statutes Attested
Mildmay's statutes for governing Emmanuel College were dated 1 October 1585.
Background and detail
Background. Sir Walter Mildmay was an English politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer to Queen Elizabeth I. Born in Essex, he was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, though he did not take a degree. He was a significant patron of education, supporting institutions like Christ's Hospital and Christ's College before founding his own college.
Site Acquisition. The college site was formerly Cambridge Blackfriars, a dissolved Dominican priory. In June 1583, Laurence Chaderton and Richard Culverwell purchased the property for £550 on Mildmay's behalf. They conveyed the property to Mildmay on 23 November 1583, preparing the ground for the new institution.
People involved
- Sir Walter Mildmay · Founder and Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Laurence Chaderton · Master-elect and purchaser of the site
- Richard Culverwell · Purchaser of the site
Sources
- Walter Mildmay Wikipedia, revision of 2026-06-14
- Emmanuel College, Cambridge Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-11
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.