Editing Ancient university

{{Short description|British and Irish universities founded before 1600}}
{{About|the oldest universities in Britain and Ireland|ancient centres of higher education around the world|Ancient higher-learning institutions}}
[[File:1_oxford_aerial_panorama_2016_(cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1|The [[University of Oxford]] in [[Oxford]], England, is the oldest university in the [[English-speaking world]]]]
[[File:MS Laud Misc 165 fol 109.png|thumb|Illustration of [[William of Nottingham II|William of Nottingham]] teaching at either Oxford or Cambridge, {{circa|1350}}.]]
The '''ancient universities''' are seven British and Irish [[Medieval university|medieval universities]] and [[List of early modern universities in Europe|early modern universities]] that were founded before 1600.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://ukinusa.fco.gov.uk/en/newsroom/?view=News&id=5586301 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110809124918/http://ukinusa.fco.gov.uk/en/newsroom/?view=News&id=5586301 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-08-09 |title=Radcliffe dean to lead historic university in Scotland |publisher=Ukinusa.fco.gov.uk |access-date=2012-02-17 }}</ref> Four of these are located in [[Scotland]] ([[University of Edinburgh|Edinburgh]], [[University of Glasgow|Glasgow]], [[University of Aberdeen|Aberdeen]], and [[University of St Andrews|St Andrews]]), two in [[England]] ([[University of Oxford|Oxford]] and [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]]), and one in [[Ireland]] ([[University of Dublin|Dublin]]). The ancient universities in Great Britain and Ireland are amongst the [[List of oldest universities in continuous operation|oldest extant universities in the world]]. The ancient universities in Britain are also among twenty-seven institutions recognised by the British monarchy as [[privileged bodies of the United Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Elston |first1=Laura |title=King invites leading institutions to reaffirm loyalty to him at historic ceremony |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/charles-british-boris-johnson-london-edinburgh-b2295255.html |work=The Independent |date=7 March 2023}}</ref>

{{Location map+|United Kingdom and Ireland|alt=Map of Great Britain and Ireland with the locations of the ancient universities highlighted|caption=Locations of the ancient universities or colleges (red: extant; blue: defunct)|float=right|width=297|places=
{{Location map~|United Kingdom and Ireland|lat=51.76|long=-1.26|position=bottom|label=[[University of Oxford|Oxford]]}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom and Ireland|lat=52.21|long=0.12|position=bottom|label=[[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]]}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom and Ireland|lat=56.34|long=-2.79|position=top|label=[[University of St Andrews|St Andrews]]}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom and Ireland|lat=55.87|long=-4.29|position=bottom|label=[[University of Glasgow|Glasgow]]}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom and Ireland|lat=57.17|long=-2.1|position=left|label=[[University of Aberdeen|Aberdeen]]}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom and Ireland|lat=55.95|long=-3.19|position=right|label=[[University of Edinburgh|Edinburgh]]}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom and Ireland|lat=53.34|long=-6.26|position=top|label=[[University of Dublin|Dublin]]}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom and Ireland|lat=52.23|long=-0.89|mark=Blue pog.svg|position=left|label=[[University of Northampton (thirteenth century)|Northampton]]}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom and Ireland|lat=52.66|long=-0.48|mark=Blue pog.svg|position=top|label=[[University of Stamford|Stamford]]}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom and Ireland|lat=57.69|long=-2.01|mark=Blue pog.svg|position=top|label=[[Fraserburgh University|Fraserburgh]]}}
}}

==Foundation and development==

The surviving ancient universities in [[England]], [[Scotland]] and [[Ireland]] are, in order of formation:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Name !! Nation of Founding !! Location !! Notes
|- valign="top"
| 1096
| [[University of Oxford]]
| rowspan="2" | [[Kingdom of England]]
| [[Oxford]], England
| Oxford's official website says, "There is no clear date of foundation, but teaching existed at Oxford in some form in 1096 and developed rapidly from 1167, when [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] banned English students from attending the [[University of Paris]]."<ref>[http://www.ox.ac.uk/about_the_university/introducing_oxford/a_brief_history_of_the_university/index.html A brief history of the University of Oxford] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411014607/http://www.ox.ac.uk/about_the_university/introducing_oxford/a_brief_history_of_the_university/index.html |date=2008-04-11 }}, [[Oxford University]]</ref>  Teaching suspended in 1209 (due to town execution of two scholars) and 1355 (due to the [[St Scholastica riot]]).
|- valign="top"
| 1209
| [[University of Cambridge]]
| [[Cambridge]], England
| Founded by scholars leaving [[Oxford]] after a dispute caused by the execution of two scholars in 1209. It was generally recognized as a ''[[studium generale]]'' by the late 13th century and this was either confirmed or formally granted by a [[Papal bull]] in 1318.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7zorDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA59|title=The Medieval English Universities: Oxford and Cambridge to C. 1500|author=Alan B. Cobban|pages=58, 59|publisher=Taylor & Francis|date=5 July 2017|isbn=9781351885805}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1OMGDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA162|pages=162–170|title=Law as Profession and Practice in Medieval Europe: Essays in Honor of James A. Brundage|editor1=Kenneth Pennington|editor2=Melodie Harris Eichbauer|publisher=Routledge|date=15 April 2016|chapter=When did Cambridge become a ''studium generale''|author=Patrick Zutshi|isbn=9781317107682}}</ref> 
|- valign="top"
| 1413
| [[University of St Andrews]]
| rowspan="4" | [[Kingdom of Scotland]]
| [[St Andrews]], Scotland
| Founded by a [[papal bull]] building on earlier bodies established between 1410 and 1413, but officially recognized in 1413<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jobson Lyon |first=Charles |title=The History of St. Andrews, Ancient and Modern |publisher=BiblioLife |year=2009 |isbn=978-1103782949 |pages=68}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1451
| [[University of Glasgow]]
| [[Glasgow]], Scotland
| Founded by a [[papal bull]] of Pope Nicholas V<ref>{{Cite book |last=Devine |first=Thomas |title=Glasgow: Beginnings to 1830 |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1995 |isbn=9780719036910 |pages=3}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1495
| [[University of Aberdeen]]
| [[Aberdeen]], Scotland
| [[King's College, Aberdeen|King's College]] was founded in 1495 by [[papal bull]] and [[Marischal College]] in 1593; they merged in 1860
|- valign="top"
| 1582
| [[University of Edinburgh]]
| [[Edinburgh]], Scotland
| Established by the town council under the authority of a [[royal charter]] granted by [[James VI]]
|- valign="top"
| 1592
| [[University of Dublin]]
| [[Kingdom of Ireland]]
| [[Dublin]], Ireland
| Founded by charter of Queen Elizabeth I; [[Trinity College Dublin|Trinity College]]<ref name="autogenerated1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Meenan |first=James |date=May 30, 1946 |title="The Universities." II.—The University of Dublin: Trinity College |url=http://www.tara.tcd.ie/bitstream/2262/5699/1/jssisiVolXVII594_610.pdf |website=TARA - Trinity College Dublin}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newmanreader.org/works/historical/volume3/universities/chapter17.html |title=Rise & Progress of Universities – Chapter 17 |publisher=Newman Reader |access-date=2012-02-17}}</ref> is the only constituent college of the university
|-
|}

In the middle ages, universities followed the [[canonical hours]] of the church. As the masters in the arts faculty would often also be students in one of the higher faculties, universities used these canonical hours to define periods when the compulsory lectures in the different facilities were given in order to prevent timetable clashes. At Cambridge, for example, only the canon lawyers could lecture between ''[[Prime (liturgy)|prime]]'' (dawn) and ''[[Nones (liturgy)|nones]]'' (mid afternoon).<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Pedersen |first=Olaf |title=The First Universities |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0521594318 |pages=252–253}}</ref> In the morning, there were lectures offered by [[regent master]]s on standard texts that they wanted to lecture. Then in the afternoon there would be advanced bachelors that would give lectures that reviews the material learned that morning. Also in the afternoon, the junior masters would discuss about other books of mathematical science or natural philosophy.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lindberg |first1=David |last2=Shank |first2=Michael |date=2013 |title=The Cambridge History of Science |chapter=Medieval Science |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=2 |pages=222–223 |doi=10.1017/CHO9780511974007 |isbn=978-0-511-97400-7 }}</ref>

==Governance==
[[File:20130808 Kings Back Court 02.jpg|thumb|upright=1|The [[University of Cambridge]] in [[Cambridge]], England]]
[[File:StAndrewsWedding 2013-08.jpg|thumb|upright=1|The [[University of St Andrews]] in [[St Andrews]], Scotland]]
[[File:University of Glasgow Quadrangle.jpg|thumb|upright=1|The [[University of Glasgow]] in [[Glasgow]], Scotland]]
[[File:King's College Chapel, University of Aberdeen.jpg|thumb|upright=1|The [[University of Aberdeen]] in [[Aberdeen]], Scotland]]
[[File:Old College, University of Edinburgh (24923171570).jpg|thumb|upright=1|The [[University of Edinburgh]] in [[Edinburgh]], Scotland]]
[[File:Dublin - Trinity College Dublin - 20180925051055 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1|[[Trinity College Dublin]] Ireland]]
These universities are often governed in a quite different fashion to more recent foundations. The [[ancient universities of Scotland]] also share several distinctive features and are governed by arrangements laid down by the ''Universities (Scotland) Acts''. In addition to these universities, some now-defunct institutions were founded during this period, including the [[University of Northampton (thirteenth century)|University of Northampton]] (1261–1265),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-37165019|title=Northampton: The ancient English university killed by a king|author=Laurence Cawley|work=BBC News|date=11 September 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230718143926/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-37165019 |archive-date= Jul 18, 2023 }}</ref> [[University of Stamford]], Lincolnshire (1333–1335),<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1WU-AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA468|pages=468–474|title=Stamford University|series=The Victoria History of the County of Lincoln|author=William Page|date= 1906}}</ref> and the [[Fraserburgh University|University of Fraserburgh]], Aberdeenshire (1592–1605).<ref>{{cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-10099?genre=book&sid=oup%3Aorr&title=Fasti+academiae+Mariscallanae+Aberdonensis&volume=1|title=Fraser, Sir Alexander, of Philorth|date=23 September 2004|author=R. P. Wells|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/10099}}</ref> There was also the [[medieval University of Dublin]] which was an early but largely unsuccessful attempt to establish a university in Dublin, the capital city of the [[Lordship of Ireland]]. Founded in 1320, it maintained an intermittent existence for the next two centuries, but it never flourished, and disappeared for good at the [[Reformation in Ireland]] (1534–41). It was located in [[St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin]]. It had no connection with the present University of Dublin, better known as Trinity College Dublin (its sole college), which was founded in 1592.

==Undergraduate Master of Arts degree==
{{Main|Master of Arts (Scotland)|Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin)}}
The ancient universities are distinctive in awarding the [[Magister Artium]]/Master of Arts (MA) as an undergraduate [[academic degree]]. This is commonly known as the '''Oxbridge MA''', '''Trinity MA''' (Dublin), or the '''Scottish MA'''.

The ancient universities in Scotland confer the MA degree at graduation with honours and a final mark; in contrast, the ancient universities in England and Ireland award the MA purely after a period of good standing following graduation as [[Bachelor of Arts]], usually around three years.

Because they award the MA as an undergraduate Arts degree, the ancient universities award differing titles for their postgraduate master's degrees in the Arts and Humanities, such as the taught Master of Letters ("MLitt (T)"). Some confusion can arise as to whether such degrees are taught degrees or the most established (and advanced) two-year research degrees, although this is often specified.

==Acts of Parliament related to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge==
While both universities received grants of liberties and privileges by royal charter, the charters granted to Cambridge in 1231 and to Oxford in 1248 being the earliest recorded on the Privy Councils list of chartered bodies,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2018-12-06-Record-of-Charters-Granted.xls.xlsx|title=List of chartered bodies|publisher=Privy Council|access-date=18 July 2020}}</ref> neither university was created or incorporated by royal charter. After existing for the first few centuries of their existence as common law corporations, they were formally incorporated by the [[Oxford and Cambridge Act 1571]], under [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]]. The [[Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act 1859]] repealed the parts of the 1571 act that required the mayor, aldermen, citizens or municipal officer of the City of Oxford to take any oath for the conservation of the liberties and privileges of the University of Oxford.

Parliament passed the Chantries Act in 1545, which transferred ownership of all [[Chantry|chantries]] and their properties to [[Henry VIII|King Henry VIII]]. Members of the University of Cambridge sent letters to the king's wife, [[Catherine Parr]], about the potential threat this posed to the university. It is evident that the king already had special plans for the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and that they were given special treatment compared to the other schools of England.{{clarification needed|there were no other universities in England, so what does this mean?|date=December 2023}} At Cambridge, for example, King Henry VIII founded [[Trinity College, Cambridge|Trinity College]], which would later become an important part of the University.{{clarification needed|why is this relevant to the Chantries Act?|date=December 2023}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rex |first=Richard |date=Oct 2022 |title=The University of Cambridge and the Chantries Act of 1545 |journal=The Journal of Ecclesiastical History |volume=73 |issue=4 |pages=779–780|doi=10.1017/S0022046921001494 |s2cid=253081569 }}</ref>

In the 19th century a series of acts and commissions reduced the powers of the universities to make their own statutes. A Royal Commission in 1850 looked into both universities and proposed major reforms to their constitutions. These were enacted by the [[Oxford University Act 1854]] and the [[Cambridge University Act 1856]]. The [[Universities Tests Act 1871]] removed almost all religious tests from both universities (and from [[Durham University]]). The Oxford and Cambridge Universities Act 1877 set up commissioners to look into further reform of the statutes of both universities and of their constituent colleges. Further Royal Commissions into both universities were established in 1919, resulting in the Oxford and Cambridge Universities Act 1923, setting up a commission to again make statutes and regulations for the universities and their colleges. This has resulted in there being two kind of statutes at these universities – those made by the universities themselves, which may be changed by them, and the "Queen-in-Council" statutes made under the 1923 act or the [[Education Reform Act 1988]] that can only be changed with permission from the Privy Council.<ref name=OxfordStatutes>{{cite web|title=Preface: Constitution and Statute-making Powers of the University|work=Statutes|publisher=University of Oxford|url=https://governance.admin.ox.ac.uk/legislation/preface-constitution-and-statute-making-powers-of-the-university|access-date=18 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-g.eng.cam.ac.uk/125/1875-1900/milestones_03.html|title=Royal Commission of 1850|work=125 Years of Engineering Excellence|publisher=University of Cambridge|access-date=18 July 2020}}</ref>

==Universities (Scotland) Acts==
{{Main|Ancient university governance in Scotland}}
The Universities (Scotland) Acts created a distinctive system of governance for the ancient universities in [[Scotland]], the process beginning with the 1858 Act and ending with the 1966 Act. Despite not being founded until after the first in these series of Acts, the [[University of Dundee]] shares all the features contained therein.

As a result of these Acts, each of these universities is [[governance|governed]] by a tripartite system of [[General Council (Scottish university)|General Council]], [[University Court]], and [[Academic Senate]].

The [[chief executive]] and [[academic|chief academic]] is the [[University Principal]] who also holds the title of [[Vice-Chancellor]] as an [[honorific]].  The [[Chancellor (education)|Chancellor]] is a [[Titular ruler|titular]] non-resident head to each university and is elected for life by the respective General Council, although in actuality a good number of Chancellors resign before the end of their 'term of office'.

Each also has a [[students' representative council]] as required by [[statute]], although at the University of Aberdeen this has recently been renamed the ''Students' Association Council''.<ref>{{cite web|title=University of Aberdeen Students' Association Constitution| url=http://www.ausa.org.uk/about/constitution| access-date=2007-04-21| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070408093630/http://www.ausa.org.uk/about/constitution| archive-date= 8 April 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref>

==Later universities==
{{main|List of UK universities by date of foundation}}
Following the creation of the ancient universities, no more universities were created in Britain and Ireland until the 19th century except three defunct universities in England (Northampton, Stamford and Durham), which were quickly shut down after opening due to strong opposition-lobbying efforts by Oxford and Cambridge.

Which of the 19th-century institutions should be considered the earliest post-ancient university is [[Third oldest university in England debate|a matter of debate]]. The main university-level foundations up to the mid 19th century were:

*[[Durham College (17th century)|Durham College]] (1657–1660) founded under [[Oliver Cromwell]], for which a charter as a university was drawn up under [[Richard Cromwell]] but never sealed<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/history/university/college|title=Plans for a College in Durham|work=Durham World Heritage Site|access-date=17 July 2020}}</ref>
*[[University of Wales Lampeter|St David's College, Lampeter]] by the [[Bishop of St David's]] in 1822 (royal charter 1828) (now part of [[University of Wales Trinity Saint David]])
*[[University College London]] as a [[joint stock company]] in 1826 under the name "London University" (royal charter as University College, London 1836)
*[[King's College London]] by royal charter in 1829
*[[Durham University]] by [[act of parliament]] in 1832 (royal charter 1837)
*[[University of London]] by royal charter in 1836
*[[Queen's College, Birmingham]] (now [[The Queen's Foundation]]) by royal charter in 1843
*Queen's College Belfast (now, [[Queen's University Belfast]]), Queen's College Cork (now [[University College Cork]]) and Queen's College Galway (now [[University of Galway]]) by royal charters in 1845
*[[Bedford College, London|Bedford College]], London founded by [[Elizabeth Jesser Reid]] in 1849 and the first institution of higher learning for women in the British Isles; now part of [[Royal Holloway, University of London]]
*[[Queen's University of Ireland]] by royal charter in 1850, with the above Queen's Colleges as constituent institutions (dissolved 1882; replaced by the [[Royal University of Ireland]], which was in turn replaced by the [[National University of Ireland]] and [[Queen's University Belfast]])
*[[Catholic University of Ireland]] in 1851 (royal charter as [[University College Dublin]] 1908)
*Owens College Manchester in 1851, now the [[University of Manchester]] (via the [[Victoria University of Manchester]])

Only Durham, London and the Queen's University of Ireland were recognised as universities at the time of their foundation, granting their first degrees in 1837, 1839 and 1851 respectively. Durham was a collegiate university, London was an examining board, and the Queen's University was a federal university. The other institutions, while teaching at university level, were colleges, some becoming universities later. In addition, many other universities trace their roots to institutions founded in this period, including the [[University of Strathclyde]] to the Andersonian Institute (1796), [[Heriot-Watt University]] to the School of Arts of Edinburgh (1821), [[Birkbeck, University of London]] to the London Mechanics' Institute (1823), the [[University of Manchester]] (via [[UMIST]]) to the [[Manchester Mechanics' Institute]] (1824) and (via Owen's College) to the [[Manchester Royal School of Medicine]] (also 1824), the [[University of Chester]] to Chester Diocesan Training College (1839), [[Plymouth Marjon University]] to St John's College, Battersea (1840) and St Mark's College, Chelsea (1841), the [[University of Winchester]] to Winchester Diocesan Training School (1840), the [[University of Roehampton]] to [[Whitelands College]] (1841), [[York St John University]] to York Diocesan College (1841) and the York Diocesan Institution for Female Teachers (1846), and [[St Mary's University, Twickenham]] to St Mary's College (1850). Many medical schools also date from the 18th century or earlier, including [[St Thomas's Hospital Medical School]]  (now part of [[King's College London]]) between 1693 and 1709,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kingscollections.org/catalogues/kclca/collection/s/10sa70-1/|title=ST THOMAS'S HOSPITAL: Medical school records|work=King's College London College Archives}}</ref> [[St George's, University of London]] in 1733, [[UCL Medical School|Middlesex Hospital Medical School]] (now part of University College London) in 1746, [[London Hospital Medical College]] (now part of [[Queen Mary, University of London]]) in 1786.

The [[Red brick university|redbrick universities]] were established as university colleges in the latter half of the 19th century and mostly became universities in the early 20th century. The [[Royal University of Ireland]] (1881, as the successor of the Queen's University of Ireland), the [[Victoria University (UK)|Victoria University]] (1881), and the [[University of Wales]] (1893) were the only other universities established in the 1800s, all as federal or examining universities. The first unitary university in the British Isles outside of Scotland was the [[University of Birmingham]] (1900).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LdXhBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA128|page=128|title=Redbrick: A Social and Architectural History of Britain's Civic Universities|author=William Whyte|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=16 January 2015|isbn=9780191025228}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[List of oldest universities in continuous operation]]
*[[Ancient universities of Scotland]], oldest universities in Scotland
*[[Colonial colleges]], oldest universities in the United States of America
*[[Imperial Universities]], oldest universities founded during the Empire of Japan 
*[[Sandstone universities]], oldest universities in Australia

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{University associations and groupings in the United Kingdom}}
{{Portal bar|United Kingdom}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Ancient history]]
[[Category:Ancient universities|United Kingdom and Ireland]]
[[Category:Universities and colleges in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:History of higher education in the United Kingdom]]