Editing The Queen's College, Oxford (section)

== History ==
[[File:Robert de Eglesfield.jpg|thumb|left|140px|Statue of [[Robert de Eglesfield]] in the Provost's garden]]
The college was founded in 1341 as "Hall of the Queen's scholars of Oxford" by [[Robert de Eglesfield]] (d'Eglesfield), chaplain to the then queen consort [[Philippa of Hainault]], after whom the hall was named.<ref name="History"/> Robert's aim was to provide clergymen for his native [[Cumberland]] and where he lived in [[Westmorland]] (both part of modern [[Cumbria]]). In addition, the college was to provide charity for the poor. The college's coat of arms is that of the founder; it differs slightly from his family's coat of arms, which did not include the gold star on the breast of the first eagle. The current coat of arms was adopted by d'Eglesfield because he was unable to use his family's arms, being the younger son. D'Eglesfield had grand plans for the college, with a [[Provost (education)|provost]], 12 fellows studying theology, up to 13 chaplains, and 72 poor boys. However, the college did not have the funding to support such numbers, and initially had just two fellows.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

The college gained land and patronage in the mid-15th century, giving it a good endowment and allowing it to expand to 10 fellows by the end of the century. By 1500, the college had started to take paying undergraduates, typically sons of the gentry and [[middle class]], who paid the fellows for teaching. There were 14 of these in 1535; by 1612, this had risen to 194. The college added lectureships in Greek and philosophy. Provost [[Henry Robinson (bishop)|Henry Robinson]] obtained an Act of Parliament incorporating the college as "The Queen's College" in 1585, so Robinson is known as the second founder.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Following the new foundation, the college had a good reputation and flourished until the 1750s. [[Joseph Williamson (English politician)|Joseph Williamson]], who had been admitted as a poor boy and went on to become a fellow, rose to Secretary of State and amassed a fortune. He funded a new range on Queen's Lane built in 1671–72. Following a bequest of books from [[Thomas Barlow (bishop)|Thomas Barlow]], a new library was built between 1693 and 1696 by master builder John Townesend. A further bequest from Williamson of £6,000, along with purchase of the buildings along the High Street, allowed a new front quad to be built and for the remaining medieval buildings to be replaced. This was completed by 1759 by John's son William Townesend.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/history|title=The Queen's College, Oxford|website=queens.ox.ac.uk|access-date=30 April 2017|archive-date=10 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110135036/https://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/history|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.countrylife.co.uk/articles/queens-college-oxford-60488|title=Oxford's greatest neo-classical college is restored|date=17 August 2014|work=Country Life|access-date=30 April 2017|archive-date=31 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231083831/http://www.countrylife.co.uk/articles/queens-college-oxford-60488|url-status=live}}</ref> The college gained a large number of benefactions during this time, which helped to pay for the buildings and bring in more scholars from other, mostly northern, towns.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

From the 1750s, as with other Oxford colleges, standards dropped. The Oxford commission of 1850–1859 revised the statutes and removed the northern preference for fellows and most of the students. Over the coming years, requirements for fellows to be unmarried were relaxed, the number of fellows required to have taken orders and studied theology was reduced, and in 1871 the [[Universities Tests Act 1871|Universities Tests Act]] allowed non-conformists and Catholics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol3/pp132-143|title=The Queen's College {{!}} British History Online|website=british-history.ac.uk|access-date=1 May 2017|archive-date=5 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705013555/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol3/pp132-143|url-status=live}}</ref>

Like many of Oxford's colleges, Queen's admitted its first mixed-sex cohort in 1979, after more than six centuries as an institution for men only.<ref name="Launch of the Queen's Women's Network">{{cite web|url=https://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/news/launch-queens-womens-network/|title=Launch of the Queen's Women's Network|publisher=queens.ox.ac.uk|access-date=28 February 2019|archive-date=28 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228194129/https://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/news/launch-queens-womens-network/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Naming ===
The college is named for its first patroness, Queen Philippa. Established in January 1341 'under the name of the Hall of the Queen's scholars of Oxford' (''sub nomine aule scholarium Regine de Oxon''), the college was subsequently called the 'Queen's Hall', 'Queenhall' and 'Queen's College'. The Queen's College, Oxford Act 1584 ([[27 Eliz. 1]]. c. ''2'') sought to end this confusion by providing that it should be called by the one name "the Queen's College";<ref>''A History of the County of Oxford'': Volume 3: "The University of Oxford", 1954, p.132</ref> in practice, the definite article is usually omitted. The full name of the College, as indicated in its annual reports, is ''The Provost and Scholars of The Queen's College in the University of Oxford''.<ref name="Accounts2011">[http://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/accounts.pdf Annual Report and Financial Statements, 2011] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423102021/http://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/accounts.pdf |date=23 April 2012 }}</ref> [[Queens' College, Cambridge|Queens' College]] in Cambridge positions its apostrophe differently and has no article, as it was named for multiple queens ([[Margaret of Anjou]] and [[Elizabeth Woodville]]).{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

=== In popular culture ===
In April 2012, as part of the celebrations of the [[Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II]], a series of commemorative stamps was released featuring A-Z pictures of famous British landmarks. The Queen's College's front quad was used on the Q stamp, alongside other landmarks such as the [[Angel of the North]] on A and the [[Old Bailey]] on O.
<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/a-z-of-britain-in-stamps-royal-mails-784766|title=First class: A-Z postal portrait of Britain in stamps is complete|date=10 April 2012|work=Mirror Online|access-date=16 August 2020|archive-date=20 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520152609/https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/a-z-of-britain-in-stamps-royal-mails-784766|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Traditions ===
One of the most famous feasts of the College is the Boar's Head Gaudy, which originally was the Christmas dinner for members of the College who were unable to return home to the north of England over the [[Christmas]] break between terms, but is now a feast for old members of the College on the Saturday before Christmas.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Queen's College|url=http://www.oxocn.org.uk/colleges/queen-college.html|access-date=24 February 2022|website=oxocn.org.uk|archive-date=17 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217013733/http://www.oxocn.org.uk/colleges/queen-college.html|url-status=live}}</ref>