[441] The original double monastery of Ely did not become Benedictine till 970. See i. p. 12. Etheldreda (‘S. Audrey’) was the daughter of Anna king of the East Angles, and of Hereswitha sister of Hild, and wife to Oswy king of Northumbria. She thus united in her person the destinies of the northern provinces and East Anglia (where she was born) a union which has been perpetuated in the university of Cambridge. She was born _circa_ 630, and died in 679. As “the Lady of Ely” her will, living or dead, was held to decide the fortunes of the city. [442] i. p. 16. Her name was given to the only monastic house in Cambridge. Rhadegund was abbess of Ste. Croix A.D. 519-587. [443] It is sufficiently remarkable that a conspicuous rôle pertained almost exclusively to Englishwomen who were of the blood royal. This is true in the case of the great abbesses, and from the time of Hild and Etheldreda to that of Lady Margaret. [444] For the circumstances in which Clare and Pembroke were founded, see chap. ii. pp. 67-8 and 69, 71-2. [445] The countesses of Clare, Pembroke, Richmond, and Sussex. [446] Erasmus’ “three colleges” which represented for him the university and its new learning were Queens’, Christ’s, and S. John’s, all founded by women. [447] Lady Mildred Cecil gave money to the Master of S. John’s “to procure to have fyres in the hall of that colledg uppon all sondays and hollydays betwixt the fest of all Sayntes and Candlemas, whan there war no ordinary fyres of the charge of the colledg.” And pp. 72, 86, 120, 155. [448] A pioneer committee had been formed in October 1862 to obtain the admission of women to university examinations; Miss Emily Davies was Hon. Secretary. The first step taken was to secure the examination of girls in the university Local Examinations which had been started in 1858, and a private examination for girls simultaneously with that for boys was held on the 14 Dec. 1863. These examinations were formally opened to girls in February 1865 (_infra_ p. 358). Meanwhile the Schools Enquiry commission of the previous year had brought into relief the absence of any education for girls after the school age. The commissioners were memorialised, and the immediate outcome was the scheme for a college, and the formation of a committee to carry it into effect. Cf. pp. 317-18 _n._ [449] There were present Mrs. Manning, *Miss Emily Davies, *Sedley Taylor, and *H. R. Tomkinson. *Madame Bodichon, who was ill, was not present, but George Eliot wrote to her four days before the meeting, à propos of an appointment to see one of the members of the committee: “I am much occupied just now, but the better education of women is one of the objects about which I have _no doubt_, and I shall rejoice if this idea of a college can be carried out.”