It was on this day in 1326 that Adam de Brome, Rector of the church of St Mary the Virgin in The High in Oxford took a decisive step in relation to his recent collegiate foundation within the University.
He had founded a small college in the autumn of 1324 and acquired for it Tackley’s Inn, which still stands, considerably altered, almost opposite the church on the south side of the street. His students had a home and the beginnings of an endowment but Adam knew that it would need much more to become a successful foundation. The other existing four colleges had been founded by a landed magnate ( Balliol ), bishops ( Merton and Exeter ) or by the University itself using an earlier bequest ( University). In order to join their ranks his scholars had to attract the support of a wealthy patron with influence beyond that at Brome’s command.
Since the beginning of the century he had been not just Rector of the University church but employed in the service of the Crown in a variety of tasks, as what today we might term a civil servant, and notably so in the mid-Thames region. With that as his background and doubtless aware of King Edward II’s interest in education, the monarch having founded Kings Hall in Cambridge ( which was to be incorporated by King Henry VIII into his new foundation of Trinity College in 1546 ) for the study of Civil Law in 1317, and having presumably outlined his ideas to him, Adam handed over to the King on this day seven hundred years ago his own foundation. With a speed that puts modern government to shame, three weeks later the King fulfilled his side of the bargain - but for that you will have to wait until January 21st.
