Cambridge PapersBall, W. W. Rouse (Walter William Rouse)
History
Cambridge Papers
Ball, W. W. Rouse (Walter William Rouse)
Trinity College (University of Cambridge); University of Cambridge -- History
The manuscript of the suggested scheme, to which Mr Bird first called
my attention, is endorsed _Distribucio Collegii_ and headed "the
proporcon diuised for Trinite College." It is undated, but in a later
hand it is added that it was made Anno 37 Hen. 8, and therefore before
22 April 1546. From internal evidence it must have been composed in or
after March in that year, since those who graduated in that Lent term
are described as being of the standing of the degrees then taken. Of
those who graduated afterwards some are described correctly, others
not so: doubtless Redman knew about the standing of the members of
King's Hall and Michael-House, but he may well have made mistakes
about the standing of some of the junior students of other colleges.
If however we accept the endorsement as correct, we may fix the date
of the composition of the plan as being in the early half of April,
1546. This manuscript has not been printed, and I proceed to describe
it.
The object of the compilers of this scheme was to see what income
would be required for the suggested new College, and to arrange how
the income should be used; incidentally it reveals the general
organization proposed. The constitution of the College, the various
offices to be created, and the stipends intended are specified. In
most cases the names of the proposed fellows, scholars, bedesmen, and
servants are given, but generally the allocation of the proposed
principal offices is not indicated and probably had not been then
arranged. The names of the proposed fellows and scholars agree with
those appointed later, though the order is not always the same, but
the provisional list of bedesmen differs from that of those ultimately
nominated.
The _Distribucio_ begins with a statement of the names and suggested
stipends of the master and fellows. The stipend of the master was to
be £100 a year: that of each of the next fifteen fellows (one of those
proposed being a doctor of divinity, ten bachelors of divinity, and
four masters of arts) was to be £10 a year and £1 a year for livery:
that of each of the next twenty-five fellows (twenty-two of those
nominated being masters of arts and three bachelors of arts) was to be
£8 a year; that of each of the next twenty fellows and scholars (seven
of the nominees being bachelors of arts and thirteen junior scholars)
was to be £6. 13s. 4d. a year. The names are given and agree with
those in the letters patent of 19 December.
There was to be a schoolmaster (Richard Harman) who was to have £20 a
year, an usher of grammar (William Boude) who was to have £10 a year,
and provision was made for forty childer grammarians, whose names are
given, each of whom was to have £4 a year. This shows that it was
intended that the foundation should include students in grammar, and
the two teachers specially responsible for them were to be a
schoolmaster and usher.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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