In 1525, the Lord Chancellor of England and Cardinal Archbishop of York, Thomas Wolsey, founded a new college on the site of Oxford’s ancient St Frideswide’s Priory. Wolsey’s eponymous project was grand in both its physical size and its academic aims, designed to show his contemporaries – often jealous and resentful noblemen - the power and influence he held from the king and the pope, and to combat Lutheran heresy. After Wolsey’s fall, all appeared lost, but it was the statutes and site of Cardinal College that formed the base on which Christ Church would be established by King Henry VIII in 1546 as a unique joint foundation of college and diocesan cathedral.
This exhibition celebrates 500 years since the foundation of Cardinal College and is a unique opportunity to see some of Christ Church’s oldest and rarest items, from the Foundation Charter for Cardinal College to Cardinal Wolsey’s stunning epistle-lectionary manuscript.
Opening hours: Tuesday and Thursday 10am-1pm; Wednesday 1 – 4pm
Venue: Christ Church Upper Library, St Aldates, Oxford OX1 1DP. Please note that there is no step-free access.
Entry: Free entry, but access is for the exhibition only. If you wish to look around the rest of the college, you must purchase a ticket separately. Find out more Daily multimedia tours | Christ Church, University of Oxford
Access: Enter via Tom Gate on St Aldates (exit will be Canterbury Gate, near Oriel College).
