From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 52°12′37″N 0°6′58″E

Colleges of the University of Cambridge Magdalene College
Full name	The College of Saint Mary Magdalene
Founders	John Lytlington, Abbot of Crowland(1428)[1] Thomas, 1st Baron Audley (1542)[2]
Named after	Mary Magdalene
Established	1428[1] Refounded 1542[2]
Previously named	Buckingham College (1428–1542)
Admission	Men and women
Master	Rowan Williams
Undergraduates	339[3]
Graduates	240[3]
Sister college	Magdalen College, Oxford
Location	Magdalene Street (map)
Garde ta Foy (Old French, "Keep your faith")
College website
JCR website
MCR website
Boat Club website

Magdalene College (ⁱ/ˈmɔːdlɪn/ mawd-lin)^[4] is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.

The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary Magdalene. Magdalene College has some of the grandest benefactors including Britain's premier noble theDuke of Norfolk, the Duke of Buckingham and Lord Chief Justice Sir Christopher Wray.^[5] However the refoundation was largely the work of Sir Thomas Audley, Lord Chancellor under Henry VIII. Audley also gave the College its motto — garde ta foy (Old French: "keep your faith"). Audley's successors in the Mastership and as benefactors of the College were, however, prone to dire ends; several benefactors were arraigned at various stages on charges of high treason and executed.^[6]

The College's most famous alumnus is Samuel Pepys, whose papers and books were donated to the College upon his death, and are now housed in the Pepys Building. The College boasts a portrait of the famous diarist by Sir Peter Lely, which hangs in the Hall. Magdalene is noted for its 'traditional' style: it boasts a well-regarded candlelit formal hall (held every evening) and was the last all-male College in Oxford or Cambridge to admit women in 1988 (Oriel College was the last in Oxford, admitting women in 1985). This resulted in protests by some undergraduates, including the wearing of black armbands and flying the college flag at half-mast.^[6]

Magdalene's old College buildings are representative of the College's ramshackle growth from a monks' foundation into a centre of education. It is also distinctive in that most of the old buildings are in brick rather than stone (save for the frontage of the Pepys Building). Magdalene Street divides the most ancient courts from more recent developments. One of the accommodation blocks in the newer part of the college was built by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the early 1930s.

Magdalene remains, despite this 20th-century expansion, one of the smaller colleges within the University, numbering some 300 undergraduates and an expanding postgraduate community. Opened in 2005, Cripps Court, on Chesterton Road, features new undergraduate rooms and conference facilities.

Contents [hide] 1 History 1.1 Buckingham College 1.2 Refoundation 1.3 Enlightenment 1.4 Modern development 2 Buildings and grounds 2.1 Main site 2.1.1 Porter's lodge and First Court 2.1.2 Second Court and gardens 2.2 The Village 2.3 Quayside 2.4 Cripps Court 3 Events and traditions 3.1 Spelling and pronunciation of name 3.2 College grace 3.3 May Ball 4 People 4.1 Master 4.2 Notable current and past fellows 4.3 Notable alumni 4.4 Notable Honorary Fellows 5 References 6 External links