A Brief History of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Created | Updated Aug 8, 2003
Gonville And Caius College
for having two founders,its name having come from both of theirs. Its main courts are situated on Trinity Street, next
to the Senate House and opposite St. Mary's Church ( View Map). It has approximately five hundred undergraduate and two hundred graduate students,
one hundred fellows2 and nearly
two hundred staff; making it one of the largest colleges in Cambridge.
What Is a College?
Some of the oldest universities3 in England are arranged in a "Collegiate System". Colleges are, in essence, self-contained units of students and staff (both academic and domestic). Each have their own eating and living areas and other such amenities. They are each responsible for their own admissions, and collectively form the "Univerity".
The College's Beginnings
In 1348 Edmund Gonville started to form a small college of only twenty fellows for post
graduates. This first, very early college, was set up in Free School Lane, where the Corpus Christi College
Master's garden is now situated. Unfortunately he died in 1351 and so did not finish this
process. His money and vision for the college he left to the Bishop of Norwich, William Bateman,
who had already founded Trinity Hall College in 1350. The role of Bateman in developing the college is somewhat
controversial, there can be no-doubt that he attempted to usurp the position of founder from
Gonville, but theories that he used some of Gonville's money to extend Trinity Hall are less
substantiated. What can be said though, is that without him the college would have died a very early death, having been left unfinished and with an uncertain future following the death of Gonville.
Bateman arranged, with the founder of Corpus Christi College4,
the relocation of Gonville Hall5 to its present site on
Trinity Street, close to the site of Trinity Hall. Bateman gave Gonville Hall a slightly
revised list of statutes from Trinity Hall and left instructions that graduating students from
Trinity Hall were to receive their degrees before those from Gonville Hall6.
However, after William Bateman's death three and a half years later, this snub to Edmund Gonville,
and his college, was reversed by the university.
The college continued through the 14th, 15th and first half of the 16th centuries much the same way-
a very small college, of only four or five fellows. With the college based around what is now
known as Gonville Court7.
The Second Founder
In the 1550s Gonville hall was still a small, fairly poor college, when John Caius (who had graduated
from Gonville Hall and gone on to Padua University to study medicine) returned. He was born John Keys but spent some
time in Italy and whilst there Latinised his name to "Caius"- however his name is still pronounced
"Keys". A myth exists that Caius was a royal physician- but this seems unlikely as 16th century royalty were notorious for not
paying bills! He gained permission to refound the college in 1557, extending its buildings and forming Caius and
Tree court, as well as increasing the numbers of fellows and students in the college. He also commissioned the
three gates for which Gonville and Caius College is famous- Humility, Virtue and Honour8.
These gates are fine examples of a mixture of gothic medieval and renaissance architecture and have fine
stone and plaster carvings decorating them. One enters the college through the gate of Humility9into
Tree Court, then through the gate of Virtue10 into
Caius court and then past the chapel into Gonville court. The gate of Honour11
is used for graduation ceremonies and, traditionally, can only be used by graduates.
During the
lifetime of Caius, the college increased greatly in wealth and numbers as it gained more bequests
and land and its reputation increased. Since this time the college name has often been abbreviated
to just Caius College.
Caius College since the 19th Century
Since the mid to late 1800s the college has seen extensive additions to its buildings- unfortunately
its position in the very centre of Cambridge has meant that there was not room on the original site
and so these new buildings have been placed increasingly further away from the Old Courts12. The college has built St. Mary's and St. Michael's
courts on the other side of Trinity Street and Harvey Court the other side of the backs (View Map)13
where most first years are accommodated. In addition the college has acquired a number of houses around Trinity Street
and near Parker's Piece for student accommodation, as well as the Cockerell building, the original
University library, situated next to Caius for use as the college library. Further buildings are
planned close to Harvey Court.
1Caius is pronounced
Keys2Lecturers, supervisors and researchers3Cambridge Durham and Oxford4The Duke of Lancaster5As it was then called6Students receive
their degrees in an order determined by the date of their founding, oldest colleges first7A court in Cambridge, or a Quad in Oxford, refers to either an area surrounded by buildings or to the area plus the buildings8An unofficial
name for a fourth gate is The Gate of Necessity- this is where the toilets are located9The
original gate was very badly maintained and its ruin was moved into the Master's garden. The current
gate is a replacement10This gate has some carvings of some somewhat less
than virtuous ladies- Virtue obviously having a subtlely different meaning then11This gate
was used in the TV series "Weirdsister college"- the follow up to "The Worst Witch"12As
the original site on Trinity Street is known13The
backs is the area of land behind the colleges, between the back of Kings, Clare, Trinity and Queens Road
Keys2Lecturers, supervisors and researchers3Cambridge Durham and Oxford4The Duke of Lancaster5As it was then called6Students receive
their degrees in an order determined by the date of their founding, oldest colleges first7A court in Cambridge, or a Quad in Oxford, refers to either an area surrounded by buildings or to the area plus the buildings8An unofficial
name for a fourth gate is The Gate of Necessity- this is where the toilets are located9The
original gate was very badly maintained and its ruin was moved into the Master's garden. The current
gate is a replacement10This gate has some carvings of some somewhat less
than virtuous ladies- Virtue obviously having a subtlely different meaning then11This gate
was used in the TV series "Weirdsister college"- the follow up to "The Worst Witch"12As
the original site on Trinity Street is known13The
backs is the area of land behind the colleges, between the back of Kings, Clare, Trinity and Queens Road
