Cambridge University Eight Centuries Old
English Medieval Institutions Mark Multiple Century Anniversaries
Oct 9, 2009
The world-renowned Cambridge University is 800 years old in 2009 while a few miles away the Anglican diocese of Ely is celebrating its ninth century.
Cambridge 800 Celebrations
Cambridge University celebrations include a reminder of the achievements and ideas nurtured in its colleges, including research into the fundamentals of physics and the discovery of the structure of DNA. The university has also nurtured leading philosophers, poets and artists.
Great Names Associated with Cambridge
Cambridge has produced a number of Nobel prize-winners and has established itself as one of the world’s leading research universities. Thanks to the Cambridge Footlights it has also contributed to satire and comedy, helping to start Monty Python and Beyond the Fringe.
Among the great names associated with Cambridge are Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Francis Crick and James Watson (DNA), Charles Babbage (the first computers) and Stephen Hawking (astrophysics). Cambridge is also where the first 3D computer game was written and the original webcam developed.
Celebratory Events for the Year
Artist Quentin Blake has produced a history of the university in his unique pictorial style with illustrations of the leading inventions, discoveries, philosophies and personalities associated with Cambridge. His work is in the form of a mural called “Cambridge 800; An Informal Panorama” and was hailed as Cambridge’s answer to the Bayeux Tapestry when it was unveiled in September.
A host of celebratory events have marked the year including the Festival of Ideas, visitors to which have been given the chance to explore the big Cambridge-based ideas behind history, literature, politics, art and more. There has also been the Darwin 2009 Festival to mark 200 years since the birth of Cambridge man Charles Darwin and 150 since the publication of his ground-breaking “Origin of Species”.
The History of Cambridge University
The university traces its history to 1209 when a group of scholars gathered at Cambridge, a former Roman trading post on the River Cam, to study. Peterhouse was founded in 1284 by the Bishop of Ely whose own diocese was already a century old. Clare College was founded in 1326, Pembroke in 1347 and King’s, site of the famous chapel, in 1446. Jesus, Christ’s and Trinity were founded in the early 16th century. Other colleges followed through the centuries.
Humanist scholar Erasmus worked at Cambridge and Thomas Cranmer had a career at the university before becoming Henry VIII’s Archbishop of Canterbury. John Milton was a student in the 17th century and John Harvard, founder of Harvard University in the US, was at the university in the 1620s. Charles Babbage invented the first calculating machine, the original computer,at Cambridge. Harvey published his work explaining his discovery of blood circulation while working at Cambridge, X-rays were devised and jet engine inventor Frank Whittle studied there.
In philosophy, Wittgenstein worked at Cambridge and in the arts Byron and Tennyson were students and the Bloomsbury group originated at Cambridge.
A History of The Diocese of Ely
Sixteen miles to the north, in the midst of the East Anglian Fens, lies Ely Cathedral, centre of the Ely diocese which was founded in 1109 when Cambridge was a tiny and insignificant village on the edge of the fen marshes. The diocese includes Cambridgeshire and parts of Norfolk.
A book about the history of Ely diocese is now available from the Cathedral and a series of events have taken place across the diocese to mark the 900th anniversary. Among the historic figures featured is local landowner and farmer Oliver Cromwell.
The celebration of the 900 years was launched by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, head of the Anglican church and the Church of England, and will be wound up by his deputy, Archbishop of York John Sentamu.
The religious house at Ely was founded in the middle of the seventh century by Sir Etheldreda and the original cathedral subsequently built as the abbey of one of the great five Fenland monasteries. The present cathedral was begun in the early 12th century when the diocese itself was founded.
As both these institutions are close, and Cambridge is in the Ely Diocese, many of the celebrations have overlapped as the two medieval institutions prepare for their next few centuries.
Sources: Cambridge University, Ely Cathedral, Ely Diocese, local newspapers in Cambridgeshire, BBC local news, Telegraph, Times and BBC national websites.
 |
 |
