JESUS COLLEGE, OXFORD

'Jesus College' (in full: 'Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation') is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is the eighth wealthiest college, with closing reserves and endowments of £79,700,391 (2003).^[1] The main entrance is on the west side of Turl Street. It is flanked by Ship Street to the north and Market Street to the south.
Jesus has been called "the first Protestant College in Oxford",^[2] and was founded by Elizabeth I in 1571 for the education of clergy, though students now study a broad range of secular subjects. A major driving force behind the establishment of the college was Hugh Price (or Aprice), a churchman from Brecon in Wales, and the college continues to be associated informally with Wales to this day.^[3] Today the college has around 500 students, and the Principal is Lord Krebs.^[4]

Contents

History

Location and Buildings

Student life

Sports

Welsh connection

St. David's Day

Silverware

Coat of Arms

College Prayers

The Founder's Prayer

The College Prayer

Graces

Grace to be said before Dinner

Grace after Dinner

People associated with the College

References

External links

History

Jesus College was founded in 1571, occupying in part the site of the earlier White Hall, which had existed for several hundred years from the 13th century up until 1570, just before Jesus began. Jesus was founded by eight commissioners, of whom Hugh Price is usually credited as the main force, and received its Royal Charter from Elizabeth I.
The college was originally intended primarily for the education of clergymen. The particular intention was to satisfy a need for dedicated, learned clergy to promote the Elizabethan Religious Settlement in the parishes of England, Ireland and Wales. The college has since broadened the range of subjects offered, beginning with the inclusion of medicine and law, and now offers almost the full range of subjects taught at the university. The letters patent^[5] issued by Elizabeth I made it clear that the education of a priest in the 16th century included more than just theology, however:
Hugh Price continued to be closely involved with the college after its foundation. On the strength of a promised legacy, worth £60 a year on his death, he requested and received the authority to appoint the new college's Principal, Fellows and Scholars. He financed early building work in the college's Front Quadrangle, but on his death in 1574 it transpired that the college received only a lump sum of around £600.

Significant benefactions in the 17th century placed the college on a more secure financial footing. One Herbert Westfaling, Bishop of Hereford, left enough property to support two fellowships and scholarships (with the significant proviso that "my kindred shallbe always preferred before anie others").^[6] Sir Eubule Thelwall, principal from 1621–30, spent much of his own money on the construction of a chapel, hall and library for the college. This library, constructed above an overly-weak colonnade, was pulled down under the principalship of Francis Mansell (1630–49), who also built two staircases of residential accommodation to attract the sons of Welsh gentry families to the College.

It was Leoline Jenkins, whose 1661–73 principalship followed Mansell's brief reinstatement, who secured the long-term viability of the college. On his death in 1685 he bequeathed a large complex of estates, acquired largely by lawyer friends from the over-mortgaged landowners of the Restoration period. These estates allowed the college's sixteen Fellowships and Scholarships to be filled for the first time (officially, sixteen of each had been supported since 1622, but the college's income was too small to keep all occupied simultaneously).^[7]
In the inter-war years (1918–39) Jesus was seen by some as a small college and something of a backwater; it attracted relatively few pupils from the public schools traditionally seen as the most prestigious.^[8] The college did, however, attract many academically able entrants from the grammar schools (particularly those in northern England and Scotland). Among these grammar-school boys was Harold Wilson, who would later become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.^[9]
In 1974, Jesus was among the first group of five men's colleges to admit women as members, the others being Brasenose, Wadham, Hertford and St Catherine's. Five women's societies (Lady Margaret Hall, Somerville, St Hugh's, St Hilda's and St Anne's) had been granted full collegiate status fifteen years earlier in 1959.
Jesus' long-standing rivalry with nearby Exeter College reached a peak in 1979, with seven police vehicles and three fire engines involved in dealing with trouble in Turl Street.^[10]

Location and Buildings

Jesus is located on Turl Street in the centre of Oxford, on a comparatively small site by the standards of many Oxford colleges, and is one of the three Turl Street colleges along with Lincoln College and Exeter College. Much of what are considered the original buildings date from the 17th century, although parts date back to the college's foundation. Most of these earlier buildings have undergone some degree of restoration, although this is not generally obvious, and parts of the rear of the college are much more modern.

The main college buildings include the chapel (in the First Quadrangle) which was built in the early seventeenth century in Jacobean-Gothic style under Thelwall, and extended at the east end in 1636. It has a fine barrel vaulted roof, a late seventeenth-century ante-chapel screen and an early seventeenth-century pulpit. The chancel arch was widened in 1864 by George Edmund Street. The stone flooring and much of the woodwork also date from Street's alterations. The chancel features a Victorian stained-glass window and stone altarpiece, as well as a large copy of Guido Reni's ''St Michael subduing the Devil''. This last item was given to the college by Thomas James Bulkeley, 7th Viscount Bulkeley (a student in 1769), who acquired it in Rome during his Grand Tour. The organ, by the organ builder William Drake, was installed in 1994.


The college Hall, accessed from the screens passage that links the two main quadrangles, contains a fine full-length portrait of the college's Founder, Elizabeth I, attributed to Nicholas Hilliard or his school. This was presented to the college in 1687 by James Jeffreys, brother of George Jeffreys, the "Hanging Judge". Other portraits to be found here include contemporary likenesses of Charles I and Charles II, as well as numerous other benefactors, former Principals and alumni including T. E. Lawrence and Harold Wilson.
The college library provides an extensive lending collection, primarily for undergraduates, and supplements the (often reference-only) University libraries including the Bodleian. There is also an important Celtic collection. Notable antiquarian holdings include the Red Book of Hergest (one of two manuscript sources for the Mabinogion), a copy of the laws of Hywel Dda, and one of two manuscript copies of The Owl and the Nightingale. Some of these can be viewed online as part of the University's Early Manuscripts Imaging Project.^[11]
In recent years the college has also built two annexes for student accommodation in the north and east of the city (named Stevens Close and Herbert Close respectively). Many students continue to live on the main central site, which remains the hub of the social and academic life of the college. The Herbert Close annexe, at which the college sports grounds are located, is also known as "Barts", after nearby Bartlemas.

Student life

The college has a reputation within Oxford for being a friendly, close-knit community.^[12] Some have attributed this to the relatively small physical size of the main college site, where first-year students live in close proximity to one-another and form strong bonds of friendship and a keen sense of college spirit. The college has a reputation for apathy when it comes to Oxford Union and OUSU student politics.
Students from the college participate in a variety of extracurricular activities, their successes not being limited to any one field in particular. Some contribute to student journalism for ''Cherwell'' or ''The Oxford Student''. In the Arts, the annual Turl Street Arts Festival is of particular note. This week-long student-organised event is held annually in conjunction with Exeter and Lincoln colleges. The festival, which takes place in Fifth Week of Hilary term, includes exhibitions, plays and concerts. Although the college does not award Choral Scholarships, the Chapel Choir is well-attended by enthusiastic college members and others. The choir is non-auditioning for college members, and is run by one or more undergraduate Organ Scholars.

Sports

In common with many Oxford colleges, Jesus is well provided with sporting facilities. These include extensive playing fields at the east Oxford Bartlemas site for (association and Rugby) football, field hockey, cricket, tennis etc., and modern squash courts at a separate city-centre site on St Cross Road. In addition, the college provides students with membership of the university's Iffley Road gym and swimming pool.
The college boat house on the Isis is home to the Jesus College Boat Club. The club is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world, and competed in Oxford's first Head Race (against Brasenose College Boat Club) in 1815.

Welsh connection

Stained glass window in the college chapel, showing St David. Late 19th century.

Although it accepts students from all over the United Kingdom and indeed the world, Jesus has a particular association with Wales and is often referred to as "the Welsh college". The college is home to the university's Professor of Celtic, and a specialist Celtic library in addition to the college's normal library.
To reflect this connection, the college's undergraduate gossip sheet is entitled ''The Sheepshagger'' in allusion to a racist joke about Welsh people's supposed penchant for sheep. Furthermore, the Welshness of the College is self-perpetuating, as Welsh students will often apply to Jesus because it is seen as the Welsh college. Old members recall the college having a majority of Welsh members until well into the 20th century;^[13] today, however, around 15% of undergraduates come from Wales. For comparison, the Welsh comprise around 5% of UK population.^[14]

St. David's Day

In modern times, the Welsh roots of the college come to the fore most prominently on Saint David's Day. The feast is marked by a choral Evensong in the chapel, decorated for the occasion with the inevitable Daffodils. The service, including music, is conducted entirely in Welsh (despite only a small minority of the choir usually being native speakers of the language). It is generally well attended by members of the Welsh community in Oxford.
The college's annual St. David's Day Dinner traditionally culminates with the serving of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn's Pudding. The name recalls the Welsh politician and prominent Jacobite who attended the college early in the eighteenth century.

Silverware

Like many of the older Oxford colleges, Jesus has an impressive collection of silver. The most notable single item is a massive silver gilt punch bowl, presented by Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn in 1732.^[15] The bowl, which weighs more than 200 ounces (roughly 5.7 kg) and holds 10 gallons, was most famously used at a dinner held in the Radcliffe Camera in 1814, to celebrate what was supposed to be the final defeat of Napoleon. Those present at the dinner included the Tsar, the King of Prussia, Blücher, Metternich, the Prince Regent, the Duke of York and the Duke of Wellington.^[16]

Coat of Arms of Jesus College, Oxford

Coat of Arms

The source of Jesus College's coat of arms is unknown. The arms were in use at the college by 1590, but unlike those of most Oxford colleges they are not known to have been adapted from those of a significant figure in the early years of the college's existence (for example, the founder).
In heraldic terminology: ''Vert, three stags trippant argent attired or''.^[17]
The arms, which originally had a blue field but later began to be used with the present green, depict three stags in profile with their right legs raised. The arms appear to be linked to those of the Green family.^[18] The stag is the motif on the college crested tie.

College Prayers

The Founder's Prayer

This prayer, which gives thanks for Jesus College's foundation and benefactions, expresses the early hope that the college would produce graduates capable of providing leadership for both Church and State:

We praise and thank thee, O Lord, for thy servant, Elizabeth, Queen of England, our founder, and other our benefactors; humbly beseeching thee, that as they have charitably bestowed thy gifts to our relief, so both we may fruitfully use them to their due end, and other by such examples may be moved to provide for the maintaining of good learning; so that thy Church may be plentifully furnished with true preachers and dispensers of thy holy Word and Sacraments, and the Commonwealth well served in all necessities with godly and learned ministers; that we and our posterity may enjoy sincere religion with just government, and praise thy name forever.

The College Prayer

O God, by whose manifold grace all things work together for good for them that love thee; establish we pray thee, the good work thou hast begun in us, and make this College like a field that the Lord hath blessed; that whatsoever things are pure, true, lovely, and of good report, may here forever flourish and abound, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Graces

The grace is read by a Scholar of the college at Formal Hall (the second, more elaborate sitting of dinner) on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. It is relatively unusual for the grace ''after'' dinner to be read, as the custom is for those not dining on High Table to retire after finishing dinner, the Scholar who read the first grace having first requested permission from the Principal or the senior Fellow present.

Grace to be said before Dinner

''Nos miseri et egentes homines pro cibo quem ad alimoniam corporis sanctificatum nobis es largítus, ut eo utamur grati tibi, Deus omnipotens, Pater caelestis, gratias reverenter agimus, simul obsecrantes ut cibum angelorum, verum panem caelestem, verbum Dei aeternum, Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum nobis impertiaris, ut illo mens nostra pascatur et per carnem et sanguinem eius foveamur, alamur et corróboremur.''

We wretched and needy men reverently give thee thanks, almighty God, heavenly Father, for the food which thou hast sanctified and bestowed for the sustenance of the body, so that we may use it thankfully; at the same time we beseech thee that thou wouldst impart to us the food of angels, the true bread of heaven, the eternal word of God, Jesus Christ our Lord, so that our mind may feed on him and that through his flesh and blood we may be nourished, sustained and strengthened.

Grace after Dinner

''Quandoquidem nos, Domine, donis tuis, omnipotens et misericors Deus, exsatiasti, effice ut posthac quid per nos fieri aut secus velis diligenter observemus, atque illud animo sincero effectum praestemus, per Iesum Christum Dominum nostrum.''

'VERSICLE' — ''Domine, salvam fac Reginam.''

'RESPONSE' — ''Et exaudi nos in die qua invocaverimus te.''

''Deus, in cuius manu sunt corda regum, qui es humilium consolator et fidelium fortitudo et protector omnium in Te sperantium, da Reginae nostrae Elizabethae populoque Christiano triumphum virtutis tuae scienter excolere, ut per te semper reparentur ad gloriam, per Christum Dominum nostrum.''^[19]

Since, O Lord, almighty and most merciful God, thou hast satisfied us with thy gifts, ensure from henceforth that we may diligently regard what thou wishest to be done or left undone by usand cause this to be effected with sincere heart, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

'VERSICLE' — O Lord, keep the Queen safe.

'RESPONSE' — And hear us in the day in which we call on thee.

God in whose hands are the hearts of Kings, who art the consoler of the humble and the protector of all who hope in thee, grant to our Queen Elizabeth and to the Christian people to celebrate wisely the triumph of thy goodness so that they may be always renewed to glory through thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord.^[20]

People associated with the College

Notable former students of the college have included politicians, scientists, writers, entertainers and academics.

T. E. Lawrence

Perhaps the best-known single former Jesus student is T. E. Lawrence, better known as "Lawrence of Arabia", who is widely known for his soldiery and leadership during the Arab Revolt of 1916-18, and for his writings. He is remembered in college as a fine historian, and his thesis on Crusader castles (the fieldwork for which marked the beginning of his fascination with the Middle East) remains in the college library today.^[21]

Harold Wilson

Jesubites made their mark on politics in the 20th century, both at home and abroad. Harold Wilson, Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1964–1970 and 1974–1976) was a Jesus man, as were Jamaican statesman Norman Washington Manley and Pixley ka Isaka Seme, founder and president of the African National Congress.
The founders' hopes that their college would produce prominent Welsh clergy were fulfilled in no small measure when a former student, Alfred George Edwards, was elected the first Archbishop of the disestablished Church in Wales in 1920.

References

1. The Oxbridge College Accounts 2001-2005 Andrew Malcolm
2. Literary Landmarks of Oxford: Jesus Laurence Hutton, quoting J.R. Green
3. Jesus College and Wales Jesus College, Oxford
4. Jesus : 2008/9 Oxford University Undergraduate Admissions University of Oxford
5. Jesus College Oxford 1571-1971, , J.N.L., Baker, Oxonian Press, 1971,
6. Westfaling, Herbert (1531/2–1602)
7. Benefactors Jesus College, Oxford
8. Harold Wilson, , Ben, Pimlott, Harper Collins, 1992,
9. The 20th Century Jesus College, Oxford
10. Oxford at War?, Unknown, , , The Oxford Student, 1999
11. Jesus College
12. Jesus OUSU
13. Debate on Hunting Bill, House of Commons Standing Committee F Garnier, Edward
14. List of United Kingdom nations by population
15. A Treasured Inheritance, , Philippa, Glanville, Oxford Today,
16. War and Peace
17. ''Oxford University Calendar 2004-2005'' (2004) p.255. Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-951904-8.
18. Price, Hugh
19. Graces Jesus College, Oxford
20. Adams, Reginald, ''The College Graces of Oxford and Cambridge'' The Perpetua Press, Oxford (1992) pp. 68 and 95. From a card for use by the scholar on duty, translations by J. G. Griffith, Fellow of the college and Public Orator from 1973 to 1980. ISBN 1-870882-06-7.
21. History Jesus College, Oxford

External links

★ GCR (postgraduates) website

★ JCR (undergraduates) website

★ Virtual Tour of Jesus College