Corpus Christi College | |
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Corpus Christi College New Court
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University | University of Cambridge |
Location | Trumpington Street (map) |
Full name | The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary in the University of Cambridge |
Motto | The college has no motto, but there is a toast used at many events: Floreat Antiqua Domus (Latin) |
Motto in English | May the old house flourish |
Founders | The Guild of Corpus Christi, The Guild of the Blessed Virgin Mary |
Established | 1352 |
Previous names | Informal: Bene’t College (this seems to have died out in the 1820s) |
Sister college | Corpus Christi College, Oxford |
Master | Stuart Laing |
Undergraduates | 266 |
Postgraduates | 201 |
Website | www |
JCR | www |
MCR | www |
Boat club | www |
Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus", or previously "The Body") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is notable as the only college founded by Cambridge townspeople: it was established in 1352 by the Guild of Corpus Christi and the Guild of the Blessed Virgin Mary, making it the sixth-oldest college in Cambridge. With around 250 undergraduates and 200 postgraduates, it also has the second smallest student body of the traditional colleges of the University (after Peterhouse).
The College has traditionally been one of the more academically successful colleges in the University of Cambridge. In the unofficial Tompkins Table, which ranks the colleges by the class of degrees obtained by their undergraduates, Corpus's 2012 position was 3rd, with 32.4% of its undergraduates achieving first-class results. The college's average position between 2003 and 2012 was 9th, and in the most recent rankings, placed in 10th.
Corpus ranks among the wealthiest Cambridge colleges in terms of fixed assets, being exceptionally rich in silver. The College's endowment valued at £97.4M at the end of June 2016 and its freehold land and buildings were valued at £118M at the end of the fiscal year 2013.
The guild of Corpus Christi was founded in Cambridge in 1349 by William Horwode, Henry de Tangmere, and John Hardy in response to the Black Death. They determined to found a new college in the University of Cambridge, the sixth in the University's history. Later the same year the new guild merged with an older guild, the Guild of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which had been decimated by the Plague. The united guilds acquired land in the centre of town and their patron, the Duke of Lancaster, applied to King Edward III for a licence to found a new college, which was granted in 1352.