History

Recent History

Today Cambridge remains at the top of the research league in British universities. It owns a prestigious publishing firm and a world-renowned examination syndicate; it's the leading centre for astronomy in Britain; its Fitzwilliam Museum contains an outstanding art collection, and its library is used by scholars from around the world. Though it's hardly a centre of industry, today's Cambridge is certainly not rural. A busy market town brimming with history and antiquities, it still boasts shopping streets lined with exclusive designer outlets and its fair share of restaurants and cafes. Despite its modern amenities, though, Cambridge has a sense of timeless tranquillity that is forever England.

Modern Day History

The honour roll of famous graduates reads like an international Who's Who of high achievers; a list of their accomplishments in a wide variety of fields could fill a couple of thick volumes. So far the university has produced 78 Nobel Prize winners (29 from Trinity College alone), 13 British prime ministers, nine archbishops of Canterbury, an immense number of scientists, and a healthy host of poets and other scribblers, and this is but a limited selection.

Pre 20th Century History

Initially a Roman fort and later a small Saxon settlement, Cambridge was just a tiny rural backwater until 1209, when the university town of Oxford exploded in a riot between scholars and townspeople, forcing a group of students to quit (while their heads were still intact) and found a new university at Cambridge. The facts surrounding the foundation are a little hazy, undoubtedly due to another riot in 1261 between 'town and gown', when the university records were burnt. At the rioters' trial the judges ruled in favour of the students, setting a precedent that would last for centuries. The new university had found favour with the law and began to establish a firm footing within the town. The collegiate system, unique to Oxford and Cambridge, gradually came into being. The first Cambridge college, Peterhouse, was founded in 1284 by Hugo de Balsham (later Bishop of Ely). The plan was for tutors and students to live together in a community, much as they would in a monastery. From the 14th century on, a number of colleges were founded by royalty, nobility, leading church figures, statesmen, academics and trade guilds - all for men only. With the founding of women-only Girton and Newnham colleges (in 1869 and 1871 respectively) women were finally accorded the right to study here, although they had to wait until 1948 before being allowed the privilege of graduation.