Emily Harris, age 16, of Beaumont, Tex., for her question:
WHEN WAS CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY FOUNDED?
Cambridge University in England is one of the World's great institutions of higher education. Now made up of 29 independent colleges, the first school was founded more than 700 years ago in 1284. The first college was named Peterhouse, or Saint Peter's college.
Earlier, in the 12th century, several religious orders, including the Franciscans and Dominicans, established monasteries and affiliated schools along the Cam River. Students from Oxford University and the University of Paris came to study and associations of students were formed that were distinct from religiously affiliated groups. They resided in independent hostels or halls.
Over the centuries these hails were endowed by private benefactors, beginning with a man named Hugh de Baisham, the Bishop of Ely. It was he who founded Peterhouse in 1284.
In 1318 Pope John XXII recognized Cambridge as a university. Five new colleges were established during the 14th century, four in the 15th and six in the 16th. Then no other colleges were added to Cambridge University until the 19th century.
The University of Cambridge figured prominently in the Protestant Reformation. The Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus was a professor of Greek and divinity at Cambridge from 1511 to 1514 and translated the New Testament from Greek into Latin there. Also, many religious reformers were educated at Cambridge.
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Cambridge became a stronghold of Puritanism.
During the 17th century a group of scholars known as the Cambridge Platonists emerged and, through the influence of such faculty members as the scientists Isaac Barrow and Isaac Newton, an emphasis on the study of mathematics and natural sciences developed for which Cambridge has been subsequently noted.
Repeal of restrictive Elizabethan statutes came in the 19th century and brought greater academic freedom.
Other 19th century reforms at Cambridge University included the abolition in 1871 of religious tests for admission and the adoption of a broader curriculum. Girton College, the first such establishment for undergraduate women, was founded in 1869.
John Harvard, founder of Harvard college (later Harvard University), was a graduate of Cambridge, as were the statesman Oliver Cromwell, the poet John Milton, the naturalist Charles Darwin and the economist John Maynard Keynes.
Today the university, governed by a senate headed by the chancellor, conducts entrance examinations, examines candidates for degrees during their residency and at the conclusion of their studies and confers degrees. In addition, it regulates the system of education, deals with disciplinary problems and administers facilities, such as libraries, lecture rooms and laboratories, that are beyond the scope of the colleges.
The colleges provide their students with lodgings and meals, assign tutors and offer cultural, social and athletic activities.