cambridge

TheUniversityofCambridge(informallyCambridgeUniversity,orsimply

Cambridge)isthecondoldestuniversityinEnglandandtheventh

-nominalstheuniversity'snameisabbreviated

asCantab,ashortenedformofCantabrigiensis(anadjectivederivedfrom

Cantabrigia,theLatinidformofCambridge).

Theuniversitygrewoutofanassociationofscholarsinthecityof

Cambridgethatwasformed,earlyrecordssuggest,in1209byscholars

leavingOxfordafteradisputewithtownsfolk.[5]Thetwo"ancient

universities"havemanycommonfeaturesandareoftenjointlyreferred

tiontoculturalandpracticalassociationsasa

historicpartofBritishsociety,thetwouniversitieshavealonghistory

ofrivalrywitheachother.

Academically,Cambridgeoftenranksasoneoftheworld'stopmost

universities,[6]theleadinguniversityinEurope,[7]andcontendswith

OxfordforfirstplaceinUKleaguetables.[8][9][10]TheUniversity's

affiliatesinclude87NobelLaureates-thecondhighestforan

institutionaccordingtomanycalculations.[11]TheUniversityisamember

oftheRusllGroupofrearch-ledBritishuniversities,theCoimbra

Group,theLeagueofEuropeanRearchUniversitiesandtheInternational

AllianceofRearchUniversities.

History

Cambridge’sstatuswanhancedbyacharterin1231fromKingHenryIII

ofEnglandwhichawardedtheiusnontrahiextra(arighttodiscipline

itsownmembers)plussomeexemptionfromtaxes,andabullin1233from

PopeGregoryIXthatgavegraduatesfromCambridgetherighttoteach

everywhereinChristendom.

AfterCambridgewasdescribedasastudiumgeneraleinaletterbyPope

NicholasIVin1290,andconfirmedassuchinabullbyPopeJohnXXII

in1318,itbecamecommonforrearchersfromotherEuropeanmedieval

universitiestocomeandvisitCambridgetostudyortogivelecture

cours.

Foundationofthecolleges

Cambridge’scollegeswereoriginallyanincidentalfeatureofthesystem.

legeswereendowed

erealsoinstitutionswithoutendowments,

telsweregraduallyabsorbedbythecollegesover

thecenturies,buttheyhaveleftsomeindicatorsoftheirtime,suchas

thenameofGarretHostelLane.

HughBalsham,BishopofEly,foundedPeterhouin1284,Cambridge’s

llegeswerefoundedduringthefourteenthand

fifteenthcenturies,butcollegescontinuedtobeestablishedthroughout

thecenturiestomoderntimes,althoughtherewasagapof204years

mostrecentlyestablishedcollegeisRobinson,builtinthelate1970s.

However,HomertonCollegeonlyachievedfulluniversitycollegestatus

inMarch2010,makingitthenewestfullcollege(itwaspreviouslyan

"ApprovedSociety"affiliatedwiththeuniversity).

Inmedievaltimes,collegeswerefoundedsothattheirstudentswouldpray

treasontheywereoftenassociated

einthecolleges’focusoccurredin1536

nryVIIIorderedthe

universitytodisbanditsFacultyofCanonLawandtostopteaching

“scholasticphilosophy”.Inrespon,collegeschangedtheircurricula

awayfromcanonlawandtowardstheclassics,theBible,andmathematics.

AsCambridgemovedawayfromCanonLawsotoodiditmoveawayfrom

yasthe1520s,thecontinentalrumblingsof

LutheranismandwhatwastobecomemorebroadlyknownastheProtestant

Reformationweremakingtheirprencefeltintheintellectualdiscour

heintellectualsinvolvedwasthetheologically

influentialThomasCranmer,

itbecameconvenienttoHenryVIIIinthe1530s,theKinglookedtoCranmer

andothers(withinandwithoutCambridge)tocraftanewreligiouspath

thatwaswhollydifferentfromCatholicismyetalsodifferentfromwhat

MartinLutherhadinmind.

Nearlyacenturylater,theuniversitywasatthecentreofanother

bles,intellectualsandevencommonfolksawthe

waysoftheChurchofEnglandasbeingalltoosimilartotheCatholic

Churchandmoreoverthatitwasudbythecrowntousurptherightful

gliawasthecentreofwhatbecamethe

PuritanmovementandatCambridge,itwasparticularlystrongatEmmanuel,

ine’sHall,SidneySusxandChrist’sCollege.[12]They

producedmany“non-conformist”graduateswhogreatlyinfluenced,by

socialpositionorpulpit,theapproximately20,000Puritanswholeftfor

NewEnglandandespeciallytheMassachuttsBayColonyduringtheGreat

Migrationdecadeofthe1630s

Teaching

TheprincipalmethodofteachingatCambridgecollegesisthesupervision.

Thearetypicallyweeklyhour-longssionsinwhichsmallgroupsof

students–usuallybetweenoneandthree–meetwithamemberofthe

university'tsarenormally

requiredtocompleteanessayorassignmentinadvanceofthesupervision,

whichtheywilldiscusswiththesupervisorduringthession,alongwith

anyconcernsordifficultiestheyhavehadwiththematerialprented

inthatweek'esatCambridgeareoftendescribedas

beingalmostamere'bolt-on'tsreceive

betweenoneandthreesupervisionsperweek,dependingupontheirsubject.

ThispedagogicalsystemisoftencitedasbeinguniquetoCambridgeand

Oxford(where“supervisions”areknownas“tutorials”)

Theconceptofgradingstudents'workquantitativelywasdevelopedbya

tutornamedWilliamFarishattheUniversityofCambridgein1792