Editing King's College, Cambridge (section)

=== Foundation ===

On 12 February 1441, [[Henry VI of England|King Henry VI]] issued [[letters patent]] founding a college at Cambridge for a rector and 12 poor scholars.{{sfn|Saltmarsh|1959}}  This college was to be named after [[Saint Nicholas]] upon whose feast day Henry had been born.{{sfn|Austen-Leigh|1899|pp=3–4}}  The first stone of the college's Old Court was laid by the King on [[Passion Sunday]], 2 April 1441 on a site which lies directly north of the modern college and which was formerly a garden belonging to [[Trinity Hall, Cambridge|Trinity Hall]].  William Millington, a fellow of [[Clare College]] (then called Clare Hall) was installed as the rector.{{sfn|Fay|1907|pp = 5, 8, 49}}

[[File:King's College, Cambridge by Loggan 1690 - sanders 6177.jpg|right|upright=1.2|thumb|Old Court]]
Henry directed the publication of the college's first governing statutes in 1443. His original modest plan for the college was abandoned, and provision was instead made for a community of 70 fellows and scholars headed by a provost. Henry had belatedly learned of [[William of Wykeham]]'s 1379 twin foundations of [[New College, Oxford]] and [[Winchester College]], and wanted his own achievements to surpass those of Wykeham.<ref name="infobrit">{{cite web |url=http://www.infobritain.co.uk/Henry_The_Sixth.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026213450/http://www.infobritain.co.uk/Henry_The_Sixth.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 October 2007 |title=Henry VI |work=Monarchs and Royals |publisher=InfoBritain |access-date=19 July 2012 }}</ref> The King had founded [[Eton College]] on 11 October 1440 but, up until 1443, King's and Eton had been unconnected.{{sfn|Fay|1907|p = 49}}  However, that year the relationship between the two was remodelled upon Wykeham's successful institutions and the original sizes of the colleges scaled up to surpass Wykeham's. A second royal charter which re-founded the now much larger King's College was issued on 12 July 1443.  On 1 September 1444, the Provosts of King's and Eton and the Wardens of Winchester and New College formally signed the ''Amicabilis Concordia'' ("friendly agreement") in which they bound their colleges to support one another legally and financially.<ref name="eton-history">{{Cite web | url = http://www.etoncollege.com/userfiles/file/Eton%20history.pdf | title = Eton College History | access-date = 17 July 2012 | publisher = Eton College | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120608010713/http://etoncollege.com/userfiles/file/Eton%20history.pdf | archive-date = 8 June 2012 | url-status = dead }}</ref>{{sfn|Austen-Leigh|1899|p=15}}

Members of King's were to be recruited entirely from Eton. Each year, the provost and two fellows travelled to Eton to impartially select the worthiest boys to fill any vacancies at the college, always maintaining the total number of scholars and fellows at exactly 70.{{sfn|Fay|1907|p = 52}}  Membership of King's was a vocation for life.  Scholars were eligible for election to the fellowship after three years of probation, irrespective of whether they had achieved a degree or not. Undergraduates at King's – unlike those from other colleges – did not have to pass university examinations to achieve their BA degree and instead had only to satisfy the college.  Every fellow was to study theology, save for two who were to study astronomy, two civil law, four canon law, and two medicine; all fellows save those studying secular subjects were obliged to take [[Holy Orders]] and become priests, on pain of expulsion.{{sfn|Austen-Leigh|1899|p=11}}{{sfn|Fay|1907|p=54}}{{sfn|Saltmarsh|1959}}  In 1445, a [[Papal Bull]] from [[Eugenius IV]] exempted college members from parish duties, and in 1457, an agreement between the provost and [[Chancellor (education)|chancellor]] of the university limited the chancellor's authority and gave the college full jurisdiction over internal matters.

[[File:Historical plan of King's College, Cambridge - unbuilt 1440s scheme (1897) - cambridgedescri00atkiuoft 0449.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Henry VI's revised plan for the college]]