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College of the University of Cambridge

Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as God's House. In 1505, the college was granted a new royal charter, was given a substantial endowment by Lady Margaret Beaufort, and changed its name to Christ's College, becoming the twelfth of the Cambridge colleges to be founded in its current form. Alumni of the college include some of Cambridge University's most famous members, including Charles Darwin and John Milton. The current Master is Lord McDonald of Salford.

Christ's College was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as God's House, on land which was soon after sold to enable the enlargement of King's College. Byngham obtained the first royal licence for God's House in July 1439. The college was founded to provide for the lack of grammar school masters in England at the time, and the college has been described as "the first secondary school training college on record". The original site of Godshouse was surrendered in 1443 to King's College, and currently about three quarters of King's College Chapel stands on the original site of God's House. After the original royal licence of 1439, three more licences, two in 1442 and one in 1446, were granted before in 1448 God's House received the charter upon which the college was in fact founded. In this charter, King Henry VI was named as the founder, and in the same year the college moved to its current site. In 1505, the college was endowed by Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII, and was given the name Christ's College, perhaps at the suggestion of her confessor, the Bishop John Fisher. The expansion in the population of the college in the seventeenth century led to the building, in the 1640s, of the Fellows' Building in what is now Second Court. Third Court is also noted for its display of irises in May and June, a gift to the college in 1946. The controversial tiered concrete New Court (often dubbed "the Typewriter") was designed in the Modernist style by Sir Denys Lasdun in 1966–70, and was described as "superb" in Lasdun's obituary in the Guardian. Design critic Hugh Pearman comments "Lasdun had big trouble relating to the street at the overhanging rear". It appears very distinctively in aerial photographs, forming part of the northern boundary of the college. An assortment of neighbouring buildings have been absorbed into the college, of which the most notable is the Todd Building, previously Cambridge's County Hall. Through an arch in the Fellows' Building is the Fellows' Garden. It includes two mulberry trees, of which the older was planted in 1608, the same year as Milton's birth. Both trees have toppled sideways, the younger tree in the Great Storm of 1987, and are now earthed up round the trunks, but continue to fruit every year.

Christ's College is one of only 5 colleges in Oxford or Cambridge to have its own swimming pool. It is fed by water from Hobson's Conduit. Recently refurbished, it is now known as the 'Malcolm Bowie Bathing Pool', and is thought to be the oldest outdoor swimming pool in the UK, dating from the mid 17th century. The other four swimming pools within colleges belong to Girton College (indoor pool), Corpus Christi College (outdoor pool), Emmanuel College (outdoor pool) and Clare Hall (indoor pool).

With a deserved reputation even within Cambridge for the highest academic standards, Christ's came first in the Tompkins Table's twentieth anniversary aggregate table, and between 2001 and 2007, it had a mean position of third. Academic excellence continues at Christ's, with 91% of students in 2013 gaining a first class degree or an upper second (II. i). This is significantly higher than the University average of 70%. Christ's is noted for educating two of Cambridge's most famous alumni, the poet John Milton and the naturalist Charles Darwin, who, during the celebrations for the 800th anniversary of the University, were both placed at the foreground as two of the four most iconic individuals in the University's history. The college has also educated Nobel Laureates including Martin Evans, James Meade, Alexander R. Todd, Baron Todd and Duncan Haldane. It is the University's 6th largest producer of Nobel Prize winners. Some of the college's other famous alumni include former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, theologian William Paley, historian Simon Schama, South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts, Lord Louis Mountbatten of Burma, medical doctor, scientist, and diplomat Davidson Nicol, and comedians John Oliver, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Andy Parsons.

Christ's, like most other Cambridge Colleges, also hosts a biennial May Ball in the time after undergraduate examinations which is by students commonly known as May Week. A separate society called "Christ's College May Ball Committee" is set up every two years to organise and direct this event. The 2010 May Ball, named "L'Esprit Nouveau", was held on 15 June 2010 and featured a 1920s Parisian theme, Two Door Cinema Club headlined the entertainment. The May Ball in June 2012 featured a Rio de Janeiro carnival theme. Other previous themes include Le Reve in 2002, Silhouette in 2004, Elysium in 2006 and 'The Jasmine Ball' in 2008. The May Ball on Tuesday 17 June 2014 was hailed as one of the best May Balls of the year, coming close to perfection. It was themed "The Emerald City". The May Ball on Tuesday 14 June 2016 was themed as Biophilia. In 2018 the theme was A Night's Tale. While the 2020 Ball was cancelled due to the COVID 19 Pandemic, the May Ball returned in 2022, themed as Mythos. The 2024 May Ball will be held on 18 June 2024, themed after the William Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Night's Dream.

NameBirthDeathCareerPrince Ra'ad bin Zeid Al Hussein1936Jordanian PrincePrince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al Hussein1964UN High Commissioner for Human RightsWilliam Ames15761633Reformed TheologianThomas Baines16221680Physician, original Fellow of Royal SocietyRichard Bancroft15441610Archbishop of Canterbury, Organiser of James I BibleJasmine Birtles1962British financial and business commentator, television presenter, author and journalistJagdish Chandra Bose18581937 Indian physicistC. Delisle Burns18791942Atheist and secularist writer and lecturerBrian Cantor1948Vice Chancellor of the University of Bradford and previously Vice Chancellor of the University of YorkSir Anthony Caro19242013SculptorRandolph Carter18741932ExplorerSacha Baron Cohen1971ComedianJohn Cook19181984Prolific Anglo American composer and organistMiles Corbet1594/51662RegicideFrederick Cornwallis17131783Archbishop of CanterburyJohn Cornwell1940British author and journalistJohn James Cowperthwaite19162006Credited with policies allowing Hong Kong's economic boom in the 1960sJohn Cridland1961Director General of the Confederation of British IndustryCharles Darwin18091882British naturalistPatrick Arthur Devlin, Baron Devlin19051992Jurist, Lord of Appeal in OrdinaryColin Dexter19302017NovelistJill Duff1972 Bishop of LancasterGeorge Dwyer19081987Archbishop of Birmingham; Council Father of the Second Vatican CouncilJames Chuter Ede18821965Home Secretary and Leader of the House of CommonsSir Martin Evans1941Biochemist, Nobel laureate in medicineDee Ferris1973British PainterJohn Finch16261682Ambassador, original Fellow of Royal SocietyNoel Gay18981954ComposerNina Gold1964BAFTA winning casting directorEdmund Grindal15191583Archbishop of CanterburyAlfred Cort Haddon18551940Father of modern anthropologyDuncan Haldane1951Physicist, Nobel laureate in physicsYusuf Hamied1936Chemist and industrialistNatalie Haynes1974Writer and broadcaster and a former comedian. John Healey1960British politicianDerry Irvine, Baron Irvine of Lairg1940Lord ChancellorPhillip King19342021SculptorDavid Knowles18961974HistorianDavid Konstant1930Roman Catholic Bishop of LeedsJohn Kotelawala18971980Prime Minister of Ceylon (Sri Lanka)John Lelandc 15061552Father of English historyTony Lewis1938England and Glamorgan cricket captain; writer and broadcasterMichael Liebreich1963Clean energy expert, founder of Bloomberg New Energy FinanceRichard Luce1936Lord ChamberlainMichael Lynch1965Founder of Autonomy SystemsEdward Petronell Manby18641929Medical Officer to the Ministry of HealthAllama Mashriqi18831963Founder of the Khaksar TehreekSir Peter Mathieson1959Vice Chancellor of the University of EdinburghDavid Mellor1949British politicianSir Walter Mildmay1589Founder of Emmanuel College, CambridgeMiles Millarc 1967Hollywood screenwriter and producerJohn Milton16081674English poetHelen Mort1985PoetLouis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma19001979British Admiral of the Fleet and statesmanThomas Nelson, Jr.17381789Governor of Virginia; signer of the American Declaration of IndependenceDavidson Nicol19241994Sierra Leonean academic, diplomat, physician, and writerJohn Oliver1977British political comedianJ. Robert Oppenheimer19041967American theoretical physicist and 'father of the atomic bomb'Andy Parsons1967English comedian and writerWilliam Paley17431805English theologian and philosopherSteve Palmer1968Professional football playerJohn Peile18381910PhilologistWilliam Perkins15581602Leading Puritan Theologian of the Elizabethan EraSir John Plumb19112001British historianThomas Plume16301704English clergyman, founder of the University's Plumian Chair of Astronomy and Experimental PhilosophyRoy Porter19462002British historianBeilby Porteus17311809Bishop of Chester and Bishop of London, leading reformer and abolitionistMaheshi RamasamyPhysician and lecturerPeter Rawlinson, Baron Rawlinson of Ewell19192006Attorney General for England and WalesForrest Reid18751948Cambridge apostle, novelist, literary criticAustin Robinson18971993British Economist and economic historianThomas Robinson, 2nd Baron Grantham17381786British Foreign SecretaryDavid Say19392006Bishop of RochesterSimon Schama1945British historian, author, and television presenterSir Nicholas Serota1946Director of the Tate GalleryWalter William Skeat18351912PhilologistJan Smuts18701950Prime Minister of South Africa, Field Marshal, and Commonwealth statesmanC. P. Snow, Baron Snow19051980British novelist and philosopherJohn Soothill19252004Paediatric immunologistF. Gordon A. Stone19252011British chemistSzeming Sze19081998Chinese Diplomat, WHO co founderNicholas Tarling19312017HistorianSir Jeffrey Tate19432017ConductorJohn Tayloe III17701828Plantation owner, horse breeder and American politician. Imported Diomed to the United States Henry Teonge16201690Naval chaplain and diaristAndrew Turnbull, Baron Turnbull1945Cabinet Secretary and head of the Civil ServiceEdward Whitehead Reid18831930AviatorRichard Whiteley19432005British television presenterRowan Williams1950British theologian, Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Master of Magdalene College, CambridgeSir Christopher Zeeman19252016British mathematician