It is these
features which distinguish the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, and
which have determined their history.
Walter de Merton definitely prescribed that none of the fellows who
benefited by his foundation should be monks or friars; to take the
vows involved forfeiture of a fellowship. He also especially urged on
the members of his society that, when any of them rose to "ampler
fortune" /(uberior fortuna)/, they should not forget their /alma
mater/.
The founder died in 1277, so that none of the college buildings were
complete in his time, except perhaps the treasury, which, with its
high-pitched roof of stone, lies in the opposite corner of the Mob
Quad to that shown in our picture. Why the Quad is called "The Mob
Quad," nobody knows. As was fitting, the chapel was the first part of
the college to be finished--about 1300--and it is a splendid specimen
of early Geometrical Gothic; it retains a little of the old glass,
given by one of the early fellows.
The north side of the Mob Quad, which is shown in our picture, is
very little later than the Chapel, and the whole of the Quad was
finished before 1400; the rooms in it have been the homes of Oxford
men for more than five centuries.
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