1.1 FOUNDER

1.1.1 GENERAL

William Waynflete (c. early 15th cent.-1486) was the son of John Patten of Wainfleet in Lincolnshire. He began his career in 1429 as headmaster of Winchester College and went on to be Provost of Eton (1441) and Bishop of Winchester (1447). From 1456-60 he was the foremost adviser to Henry VI as his Chancellor and head of the Privy Council. It was during this period that he began negotiations for the foundation and endowment of an educational establishment in Oxford. His first foundation was Magdalen Hall, not to be confused with the later hall of the same name. Later end he acquired the site of the Hospital of St John the Baptist, a thirteenth-century foundation which lay outside the east gate of the City of Oxford on the west bank of the Cherwell, a tributary of the Thames. Both the Hospital and Magdalen Hall were then suppressed in favour of a more grandiose scheme for the foundation of a college similar to New College, the latter having been founded by an earlier bishop of Winchester, William of Wykham. The possessions of the Hospital were surrendered to the College as its initial endowment and Waynflete then began to amass lands and advowsons for the further endowment of the College. Building was delayed by the Wars of the Roses and the deposition of Henry VI, but began in c. 1467. Waynflete at first exercised tight personal control. From c. 1480, however, he prepared for the independent government of the college after his death (he died in 1486) by transferring properties and formulating statutes.

For a recent biography of Waynflete see Virginia Davis, William Waynflete, Bishop and Educationalist (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1993). The classic account is Richard Chandler, The Life of William of Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester (London: White and Cochrane, 1811); see also Peter Heylin, Memorial of Bishop Waynflete, Founder of St Mary Magdalen College, Oxford, ed. by John Rouse Bloxam, (London: J. Russell Smith for Caxton Society, 1851). On the subject of the tomb of the Founder's father, now in Magdalen College Chapel, see John Steane, 'The tomb of John Patten', in Magdalen College Record (1996), 65-72.

For the early history of the College see also John Mills, 'The foundation, endowment and early administration of Magdalen College, Oxford' (unpublished B. Litt. thesis, University of Oxford, 1973). For the general history of the College see H. A. Wilson, Magdalen College (London: F. E. Robinson and Co., 1899), in the University of Oxford College Histories series. The foundation of the College is placed in its University context in James McConica ed., The History of the University of Oxford, vol.III, The Collegiate University (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986).

On the pronunciation of "Magdalen" as "maudlin", see Peter Gilliver, 'Magdalen: Why "Maudlin"?', Magdalen College Record 1999, pp.65-75.

See too now Chapters 1 and 2 of L. W. B. Brockliss (ed.), Magdalen College: A History (Oxford, 2008).

1.1.2 DEEDS AND STATUTES OF THE FOUNDER

CRC/63 First foundation deed of Magdalen College, with seal of William of Waynflete (30 Sep 1457).

CRC/66 Second foundation deed of Magdalen College, with seal of William of Waynflete (12 Jun 1458)

DD1/MS1/1 Copy of Statutes with note and part of table said to be in hand of Waynflete (c. 1483).

CRC/98 Waynflete's will with codicil and probate (27 Apr 1486)

1.1.3 BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL

(a) Contemporary records:

EL/1 Register 'A', recording Waynflete's visits to the College, inter alia (1480-1531)

MS 367 Volume of ms letters. Letters 1-14 were addressed to Waynflete (1460-86 and n.d.). [See Woolgar: some listed as Letters series]

(b) Biographies and related papers:

P377 Ms translation of John Budden's biography of William Waynflete (1602) [n.d., 18th cent.(?)]

MS 224 Ms version of Peter Heylin's metrical biography with preface by President Langton [n.d., c. 1618-26]

PR30/1/MS1/1-2 Ms text, partly autograph, of Richard Chandler's 'Life…' [n.d., late 18th cent.]

PR30/1/MS1/3 Collected 'Papers relating to Bishop Waynflete's Life' (1767-1851 and n.d.)

(c) Patten family papers:

FA9/1/1F/1 Memorandum of expenses at funeral of John Waynflete, Dean of Chichester and brother of William Waynflete (c. 1479)

(d) Genealogical papers:

MS 446 Ms copy, by J. R. Bloxam, of 'The Genealogy of the Ancient Family of Patten…to 1770' by Ralph Bigland (1848).

PR20/MS1/2 President Clerke's statute book, including memoranda on the Patten family (1671)

PR30/1/MS1/3 Waynflete collection (see (b) above), including Patten material (1767-1851 and n.d.)

1.1.4 ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL

(a) Note on non-archival material

For information on portraits, a model of the founder's tomb in Winchester Cathedral and the founder's stockings and buskins see the ts list, 'Paintings, Sculpture, Tapestries etc in Magdalen College', nos. 1-15, available in the search room.

(b) Engravings and sketches

MS 766, fols. 1-3 Engravings and sketches, Waynflete and Patten (1790-1830 and n.d.)

PR30/1/MS4/1, MS 655 (c), FA1/9/1P/2 fol. 15 and FA1/9/4P/3 fol. 90 Engravings of the tomb of Richard Patten, formerly in Wainfleet church, moved to Magdalen College c. 1833 and now in the Ante-Chapel (1790).

B/1/21 Photograph of Greenbury's 17th cent. portrait of the founder

B/4/18 Photographs of the Founder's buskins

(c) Historical

MS 434 Fols. 17-22 are copies of documents relating to the confiscation of the Founder's mitre, crozier-staff in 1646 and unsuccessful attempts to have them restored, 1662 [19th cent.]

1.2 FOUNDATION DEEDS

1.2.1 GENERAL

The foundation deeds include Royal letters patent and confirmation charters, and also papal bulls, as well as Waynflete's foundation deeds listed in 1.1.2 above. There are also charters relating to the annexation of the Augustinian Hospital of St John the Baptist (site of the College) and charters dated 1447-57 relating to Magdalen Hall, an earlier foundation not to be confused with the sixteenth-century hall of residence of the same name. Both the Hospital and Magdalen Hall were suppressed in favour of Magdalen College in 1458. The future of the College was uncertain until 1467, when a confirmation charter was granted by Edward IV, and building on the Hospital site was started. Further confirmation charters were granted from 1468-1610. These foundation deeds and confirmation charters were calendared by W. D. Macray, in the series titled Chartae Regiae et Concessae (CRC/).

1.2.2 FOUNDATION DEEDS, CONFIRMATION CHARTERS AND PAPAL BULLS

See in general:

CRC/ Chartae Regiae et Concessae, calendared by Macray, ts volume (1231-1610)

Among the most important foundation deeds are the following:

CRC/40 Foundation deed of Magdalen Hall (28 Aug 1448)

CRC/50 Letters patent of Henry VI granting the Hospital of St John the Baptist to the hall of St Mary Magdalen (27 Oct 1456)

CRC/55 Letter patent of licence from Henry VI to Waynflete to found Magdalen College (18 Jul 1457)

CRC/63 First foundation deed (30 Sep 1457)

CRC/64 Letters patent of Henry VI for the foundation of the College and the incorporation of the Hospital of St John the Baptist (13 Oct 1457)

CRC/52 Copy of the bull of Pope Calixtus III, confirming the foundation of the College and the annexation of the Hospital of St John the Baptist (14 Mar [1458])

CRC/66 Foundation deed of the College by William Waynflete (12 June 1458) NB actual endorsed RefNo is CRC/81. CRC/66 is the calendar number.

CRC/78 Confirmation charter of Edward IV (1467)

1.3 STATUTES

1.3.1 GENERAL

Waynflete exercised personal control of the College in its early decades but in 1480, towards the end of his life, when the first phase of building was almost complete, he issued a code of statutes for the independent government of his foundation. This code was confirmed by papal bull in 1481. Further statutes were added in 1482-3 and amendments were made up to the date of Waynflete's death in 1486.

These statutes established the composition and government of the College and were drawn up on lines similar to those of New College, although with significant differences. They regulate the holding of elections of officers and scholars, the administration of the chapel and its services, academic and social discipline, and the grammar schools, as well as the care of accounts, books, ornaments, muniments and endowments, and the establishment of college servants. They survived (with some modifications of practice) until the university reforms of the mid-19th century.

Davis, William Waynflete, discusses the Statutes in their educational context in her biography of William Waynflete (1993). A printed edition of the Statutes of Magdalen College, Oxford, Printed by Desire of Her Majesty's Commissioners for Inquiring into the State of the University of Oxford (Oxford: J. H. Parker; London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1853) was based on Bodleian Library MS Rawlinson Q.c.14, collated with British Library Harleian MS 1235 and Hargrave MS 148. An unofficial translation, also based on the Bodleian ms, was published as G. R. M. Ward, The Statutes of Magdalen College Oxford now first Translated and Published (Oxford: Henry Alden; London: Jackson and Walford, 1840). For further details on the items listed below see the handlist to the MSS, kept in the searchroom.

1.3.2 THE ORIGINAL STATUTES

(a) Ms versions of the statutes

MS 276, 278 and DD1/MS1/1

15th century copies of the Latin statutes, with additions and amendments of 1485-6. DD1/MS1/1 is thought to be partly in the hand of the founder. See MS handlist for fuller details [n.d., late 15th cent.]

MS 279 Copy of the statutes [n.d., 16th cent.]

MSS 561, 656, 779-83 & DA1/L1/1

Later copies of the statutes. MS 656 is in English and Latin. [n.d., 17th-19th cents]

PR20/MS1/2 President Clerke's statute book, with annotations and additional memoranda on miscellaneous subjects. The President refers to matters regulated by 'statute and practice', such as the power to choose a college steward. (1671)

(b) Published editions of the original statutes (full references above, section 1.3.1)

MS 730/1 J. R. Bloxam's annotated copy of Ward's published translation of the Statutes (1840)

MS 730/2 Published version of the Statutes, based on Bodl. Rawl.Q.c.14, printed for the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry. (1853)

1.3.3 REFORMED STATUTES: THE ORDINANCE OF 1857

(a) Background

From 1832 there was a growing feeling in the nation that the University was misinterpreting its statutes and misusing its endowments, and that it could be reformed only by the State and the Crown. Lord Radnor's bill of 1837 was defeated, but in 1850 a Royal Commission of Inquiry was appointed to investigate the discipline, studies and revenues of the University. The ensuing report led to the University Reform Act of 1854. Among its most important provisions were the admission of dissenters to Bachelors' degrees and the expansion of the Honours Schools, hitherto restricted to Literae Humaniores and Mathematics. One of the aims of the Act was to reform outmoded College statutes, and significant changes were embodied in the Ordinance of 1857, despite outraged opposition from the Colleges. This and the following commissions are discussed in more detail in Volumes VI and VII (ed. Brock and Curthoys) of the History of the University of Oxford (Oxford, 1997 and 2000), and, for their effects on Magdalen, in Chapter 5 of L. W. B. Brockliss (ed.), Magdalen College: A History (Oxford, 2008).

The provisions were published as Ordinance Concerning Magdalen College, Framed by the Oxford University Commissioners in Pursuance of the Act, 17 and 18 Victoria, chapter 81 (Oxford: University Press, 1863). They included the establishment of ten new demyships and twenty exhibitions, and also four Waynflete Professorships. Certain limitations on the choice of the President, Fellows and Demies were abolished.

(b) Copies of the Ordinance

MS 672/b/1 Copy of the published Ordinance (see (a) above) (1863)

(c) Related papers:

MS 672/b/4 Bloxam's bound collection of printed and ms papers, titled 'University Commission'. Includes: copies of Lord Radnor's Bill; a copy of the petition against the Bill by the President and Fellows; letters from the Visitor, who presented the petition; correspondence and printed papers relating to the 1850 Commission and Act of 17 & 18 Victoria (1837-55)

MS 672/b/6 & 7 Correspondence including letters from the Commission, William Gladstone, President Routh, President Bulley, J. R. Bloxam, C. G. B. Daubeny, Henry Harris, H. L. Mansel and J. Morland Rice (1851-7 and n.d.)

MS 828 Dr Philip Bliss's bound volume of printed papers and newscuttings relating to the 1854 reforms, titled 'Oxford's Inflicted Evils' (1854)

PR31/2 (all) Printed papers and correspondence relatingto the 1854 reforms. Also papers concerning an amended statute of 1863, with the Order in Council. Correspondence includes 26 letters from Goldwin Smith, Regius Professor of Modern History, to President Bulley, 1856-7. (1854-63)

F23/MS5/1-14 Papers concerning controversial changes to the Fellows' oath, including case for legal opinion and letters, printed and ms, from Roundell Palmer, M.P. and F. H. Deane (1854)

1.3.4 REFORMED STATUTES: THE UNIVERSITIES ACT OF 1877

(a) The Royal Commission of 1872

The second Royal Commission aimed at reform of the finances of the colleges and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Following its report in 1874, the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act, 1877 was passed. This Act to some extent redistributed college revenues so as to help poorer colleges and create a common University fund. A new set of statutes for the College followed, made by the University of Oxford Commissioners, 16 June 1881. These statutes, approved by the Queen in Council, were published as Statutes made for Magdalen College, Oxford, by the University of Oxford acting in pursuance of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act, 1877 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882).

These statutes could be amended by the College, provided that the changes were approved by the University and the Visitor, and ratified by Order in Council. Revised editions were published as Statutes made for Magdalen College, Oxford by the University of Oxford Commissioners and by the College, under the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act, 1877, approved by Order in Council (Oxford: Horace Hart, 1899) and (Oxford: Oxonian Press, 1921).

(b) The 1881 statutes

The 1881 edition of the reformed statutes:

MS 703/3/3 Printed Statutes (as in 1.3.4.(a) above) (1882)

(c) Associated papers

MS 672/b/5 Bound collection of draft statutes (1875-81)

MS 665 Bound volume of ms 'Copies of papers connected with the Visitor, the Universities' Commissioners etc' (1876-86 and n.d.)

MS 693 MS volume titled 'Statutes of 1881 and Correspondence with Commissioners'. Copy of the College Statutes and of relevant University statutes concerning college contributions and the publication of college accounts. With schedule of financial forms and copies of related correspondence. (1881)

MS 773/b Volume of printed papers titled 'Draft Statutes etc 1875-1898'. Includes: Report of the Committee on College Improvements, 1875-76; Statement of the University of Oxford Commissioners, 1878 (1875-81)

PR31/2/MS3/1-16

Printed and ms presidential papers concerning the University Commission. Correspondence with Commissioners includes a printed letter from Edward Chapman to Lord Selborne on the teaching of science at Magdalen, 1877. (1871-80)

MS 1017 File of printed papers concerning the Commission and Act. Includes sets of ms and printed supplementary Statutes, prepared by a College committee in 1879, amended by the College Meeting and presented to the Commissioners. Also 'Statutes..as partly settled by the Commissioners', Nov 1879. (c. 1879)

(d) Amendments to the 1881 Statutes

Printed, revised editions of the reformed Statutes:

MS 703/4-5 Revised printed editions, incorporating amendments approved by Order in Council, as listed in Section 1.3.1 (a) above) (1899, 1921)

(e) Related papers:

MS 1017 File (see (b) above) includes draft and final versions of supplementary statutes of 1898, approved 1899 and papers relating to statute amendments of 1902 (1897-1902)

See also Section 1.3.5. (c)

1.3.5 REFORMED STATUTES: THE UNIVERSITIES ACT OF 1923

(a) The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act, 1923

A third Royal Commission (Asquith) was appointed after the First World War, which led to an Act of Parliament in 1923 and another set of statutes framed by the Commissioners and issued in 1926 as Statutes made for Magdalen College, Oxford, by the University of Oxford Commissioners under the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act, 1923: Approved by Order in Council (Oxford: Oxonian Press, 1926). Subsequent editions, with proposed alterations or approved amendments, have been issued since 1926: Statutes, with Proposed Alterations for Magdalen College, Oxford (Oxford: Holywell Press, 1930); Statutes made for Magdalen College by the University of Oxford Commissioners and by the College, under the University [sic] of Oxford and Cambridge Act, 1923, including all Amendments Prior to 31st December 1938, Approved by Order in Council (Oxford: University Press, 1939); Statutes…including all Amendments Prior to 31st December 1947 (Oxford: University Press, 1947)

(b) Editions of the statutes, 1926 and after (full details in Section 1.3.5.(a) above)

MS 703/6 Printed Statutes made …by the University of Oxford Commissioners under the University of Oxford and Cambridge Act, 1923 (1926)

MS 703/7 Printed Statutes (of 1923) with Proposed Alterations (1930)

MS 703/9 Printed Statutes (of 1923), with all amendments prior to 31 December 1938 (1939)

MS 703/10 Printed Statutes (of 1923) with all amendments prior to 31 December 1947 (1947)

(c) Related papers

MS 703/a Printed loose papers including copies of Orders in Council (1889-1954)

EMD/ See index to EMD/ [modern deeds] for Orders in Council (1882-1926) and Emergency Statutes (1916 & 1920)

CP/9/60/15-19, 23 Bundle of loose papers, ms and printed, includes draft statutes, printed statutes, related papers (1877-1930)

See also Statutes Committee, section 4.2.2 (16) below

1.4 BYLAWS

1.4.1 GENERAL

Since 1857 it has been permissible for the governing body to make minor amendments to the constitution through Bylaws which do not have to be confirmed by Orders in Council.

1.4.2 EDITIONS OF BYLAWS

Early editions were published: see Bylaws of Magdalen College, Oxford, as Adopted at a College Meeting held 20 July 1892 (Oxford: Baxter for Magdalen College, n.d.) Bylaws of Magdalen College, Oxford, as adopted at a College meeting held 20 July 1892, Revised to 31 December 1898 (Oxford: Baxter for Magdalen College, n.d.); Bylaws of Magdalen College, Oxford, as Adopted at a College meeting held 20 July 1892, Revised to 25 March 1908 (Oxford: Baxter's Press for Magdalen College,n.d.); Bylaws of Magdalen College, Oxford, as Adopted at a College meeting held 20 July 1892, Revised to 8 March 1922 (Oxford: Oxonian Press for Magdalen College, n.d.). Subsequent editions have been privately printed.

CP/1/28 Ms 'Book of Bylaws', Bursary copy, with loose index (1858-90)

MS 701 Ms volume 'President's Book of Byelaws (1858-74)

MS 702/1 Printed Bylaws of Magdalen College… (1892)

MS 702/2 Bylaws… of 1892, revised to 31 Dec 1898

MS 702/3 Bylaws… of 1892, revised to 25 Mar 1908

MS 702/4 Bylaws… of 1892, revised to 8 Mar 1922

MS 702/5 Bylaws of Magdalen College, revised to 16 Dec 1926

MS 702/6 Revised edition of 1926, annotated to 5 Dec 1934

1.4.3 RELATED PAPERS

EMD/47.16.4 Visitor's consent to Bylaws (1902)

1.5 VISITORS' AND EXTERNAL INJUNCTIONS

1.5.1 THE COLLEGE VISITORS: THE BISHOPS OF WINCHESTER

By a grant of Pope Sixtus IV dated 1481, the college was made exempt from the jurisdiction of the bishop of Lincoln, in whose diocese Oxford University then lay, and placed under the jurisdiction of William Waynflete as bishop of Winchester. Successive bishops of Winchester have since acted, ex-officio, as the college Visitor. The present-day role of the Visitor is mainly ceremonial, but in the past the Visitor played an important part as patron and protector of the College, its persons, possessions and privileges, and as arbiter in any disputes. The Visitor safeguards the constitution of the College and his consent must therefore be obtained for any proposed changes to the statutes.

A full series of decrees or injunctions of the bishops of Winchester is to be found in the episcopal registers of the diocese, in Hampshire County Record Office. Selected decrees, 1488-1558, have been published as an appendix to the published Statutes (1853).

For a list of Bishops see Sir F. Maurice Powicke and E. B. Fryde eds, Handbook of British Chronology (London: Offices of the Royal Historical Society, 2nd edn, 1961), 257-60. Lists may also be found on such on-line resources as Wikipedia.

1.5.2 VISITORS' DECREES, ORDINANCES AND INJUNCTIONS

(a) Original ordinances and injunctions:

CRC/125 Signed Ordinances of Bishop Cooper (1585)

MS 731 File titled 'Acts and Injunctions' includes two sets of signed injunctions of Bishop Morley (12 May 1665 and 7 Jun 1676)

EMD/58,60,61 Visitor's orders, consent and decisions (1906-26)

(b) Copies of decrees and injunctions:

MS 784 Copies of Bishop Morley's Injunctions, 12 May 1665, 11 Apr 1666 and 7 Jun 1676 [n.d., 17th cent.]

VP1/A1/1-5 Copies of decrees and injunctions in Vice-President's Registers, passim (1547-1913)

MS 785 Extract made from the Register of Bishop Horne, 1566 (1858)

MSS 435,787 Visitatorial decrees copied from the Register of Bishop Fox (Visitor 1501-28) [n.d., 19th cent.]

MS 786 Volume titled 'Visitatorial Decrees' comprising copies of decrees and decisions 1585-1849 [n.d., 19th cent.]

(c) Correspondence and administrative papers involving Fellows

CS/35/5 Petitions and appeals to the Visitor, with related papers (1674-78 and n.d.)

CS/36/2 Correspondence concerning disputes with regard to graces, college officers, lections, seniority (1596-1662)

CS/40/12 Corr. and papers as in 36/2 (1596-1600 and n.d.)

CS/37/1/6 Case by lay Fellows opposed to clerical privileges [n.d., c. 1782]

MS 684 Bundle of c. 60 letters and papers concerning appeals to the Visitor (1584-1736 and n.d.)

PR30/4/C2/1-38 Martin Routh's correspondence with the Visitor (1796-1854)

PR30/1/MS3/4 Collected papers on the Lay Fellowship case (1830-40)

P274 (passim) Correspondence and copy corr. concerning the Spur Royals (Waynflete's cash reserve) (1789)

CP/9/28 Copy appeal of Dr Ellerton concerning the Ingledew Fellowship (1803)

MS 721 Printed critique of the conduct of Bishop Thomas as Visitor in the case of Dr Walker (1770)

See also MS index for individual disputes 15th-19th cents

(d) Correspondence and administrative papers concerning University reforms:

MS 665 Papers and letters concerning the Visitor and the University Commission (1867-80)

1.5.3 TUDOR VISITATIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY, 1535-1558

(a) Background

Royal Visitations and Commissions of the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Elizabeth I aimed at fostering Protestantism in the University, but at the same time they represented royal attempts to increase the power of the crown within the University. The most far-reaching was the visitation of Edward VI in 1549, when new statutes were imposed on the College and Oglethorpe's successor was elected under compulsion. The statutes have survived only in a fragmentary document, and were withdrawn when Mary Tudor ascended the throne.

(b) Cranmer's visitation, 1535:

EL/3 Register 'C' fol. 64 records the President's reply to Cranmer's citation, and the College's declaration of allegiance (1535)

Note: Wilson has a brief account of this visitation in Magdalen College, 77-78

(c) Visitation of Edward VI, 1549:

For an account of this visitation under President Oglethorpe see Wilson, Magdalen College, 90-98. See also John Rouse Bloxam, A Register of … Saint Mary Magdalen College, 7 vols and Index (Oxford: J. H. Parker, Broad Street, 1853-85), II (1857), 309-22. William Dunn Macray, A Register of the Members of Saint Mary Magdalen College from the Foundation of the College, New Series, 8 vols (London: Henry Frowde, 1894-1915), II (1897), 23-6, has transcribed Misc. 435.

MS 727/a Admissions Register notes the early proceedings of the visitation (1539-1614)

Misc 435 Part (articles 17-44) of a copy of the Injunctions ssued by the Commissioners appointed by Edward VI. relating to the chapel, its services and furnishings (1549-50)

(d) Visitation of Elizabeth I, 1558:

See Wilson, Magdalen College, 113-4.

VP1/A1/1 Vice-President's register (1547-1839)

(printed Macray, Register II, 23)

1.5.4 THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION FOR VISITING THE UNIVERSITY, 1647-59

(a) Introduction

There is little in the archives on this visitation, during which President Oliver and many Fellows, Demies and other members were expelled. The Vice-President's Registers are incomplete for that period. Wilson, Magdalen College, 160-7 and Bloxam, Register, II, ciii-cxviii, draw on external sources for their accounts of the event.

(b) Official College papers:

CS/41 Papers relating to the visitation by the Parliamentary Commission, including fellowship election papers, orders, minutes, correspondence and memoranda (1648-9)

(c) Historical papers:

MS 669 J. R. Bloxam's list of Parliamentary visitors [n.d., 19th cent.]

1.5.5 THE VISITATION OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONERS, 1687-8: THE EXPULSION AND RESTORATION OF THE FELLOWS

(a) Introduction

The 1687 visitation by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners appointed by James II affected only Magdalen, and arose because the College refused to elect Anthony Farmer, the candidate recommended by James II, to the Presidency. A number of ms accounts of the events of 1687-88 are extant, mainly from the papers of those who were Fellows at the time, and there are also copies of some of the published versions. The batells book for 1688 records the expulsion of the intruded Fellows. The College's triumph is commemorated annually in October, when the Restoration Dinner is held.

For a printed edition of many of the relevant documents see J. R. Bloxam, Magdalen College and King James II, 1686-1688: a Series of Documents (Oxford: Clarendon Press for Oxford Historical Society, 1886). A recent publication obtainable from the College Bursary, is: L. W. B. Brockliss, G. L. Harriss and A. D. M. Macintyre, Magdalen College and the Crown: Essays for the Tercentenary of the Restoration of the College, 1688 (Oxford: Magdalen College, 1988). See too Brockliss, Magdalen College, Chapter 3.

(b) Official archives

CRC/132 Final decree of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners (10 Dec 1687)

BB/2 Batells book with list of Fellows, original and intruded (1687-9)

CS/36/10/4 List of keys, documents and plate delivered up (16-17 Oct 1688)

(c) Contemporary ms accounts and papers

P261 (passim) Miscellaneous documents on the affair (1687 and after)

P305/MS2/1 Contemporary account by Robert Almont, a draft of the Impartial Relation (1687)

(d) Contemporary publications

There are a number of publications in the archives, 1688-1711 and n.d., which relate to the events of 1687-8. See the MS handlist for MSS 714, 715, 716, 717, 719, 722, 724. See also MS 448: Some Account of the Right Reverend Dr John Hough, Late Lord Bishop of Worcester (London: John and Paul Knapton, 1743), bound with seventeenth-nineteenth century ms papers including copies of State Papers concerning 1687-8.

(e) Historical accounts

MS 419 Holograph ms of Bloxam's Magdalen College and James II (1886), with some engravings (1886)