OUR HISTORY


2015 was a momentous year for us and represented multiple landmarks in our history. It was the year that we began work on our new Waterside Campus (read more on page 16) and marked our 10th Anniversary since we were awarded full university status. Furthermore, 2015 marked the 750th anniversary of the dissolution of ancient University of Northampton which had been established (and then dissolved) in the reign of King Henry III.


Dr Drew Gray, (pictured) alumnus and current Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Northampton, tells the tale of our ancient history.


According to one historian, between 1176 and 1193 the studium at Northampton ‘rivalled or even eclipsed the Oxford schools’ 1


. But when


Richard went off on crusade (and ended up getting captured) the focus shifted to Oxford. The schools at Northampton continued however and under the patronage of Simon de Montfort and Henry III it looked possible that Northampton would be recognised as a studium generale (or a fully-fledged university).


By the mid-13th century, England had two universities, Oxford and Cambridge but scholars from both of these travelled to Northampton and some settled here. In Cambridge fights between ‘town’ and ‘gown’ in 1249 led some students to decamp to Oxford and in 1260 there was a major outbreak of rioting in Cambridge which resulted in the execution of 16 townsmen and the severe punishment of many more; in the aftermath several scholars fled seeking sanctuary, some of whom arrived in Northampton. In 1261 Henry III granted permission for the settlement of a university in the town.


Henry III and Simon de Montfort (the King’s brother-in-law and Earl of Leicester) started off as best of friends but the relationship soured. More importantly perhaps, de Montfort and many of the king’s barons were unhappy that Henry seemed to be riding roughshod over the tenets of Magna Carta and the more recently agreed Provisions of Oxford. It led to a civil war and on 5 April 1264 King Henry III won a major battle at Northampton ‘taking the town and castle and capturing the entire Montfordian garrison’ 2


.


During the siege of Northampton the scholars resisted the King’s forces and so the angry monarch supposedly eked revenge by revoking the town’s license to have a university. But an interesting proclamation from Henry III suggests a more parochial and self-interested reason for the folding of the town’s 13th century university.


On 1 February 1265, Henry wrote to the mayors and burgesses of Northampton: “We acceded to their request [to establish a university in 1261] because we believed then that this would benefit your town and that advantage would accrue to us; but now we have learned on the testimony of men worthy of belief that, if the university remains at Northampton, no small damage would be incurred by our borough of Oxford, which is of ancient creation, confirmed by our ancestors, and is generally approved as a convenience to students. We should on no grounds be willing that this should happen, especially as all the bishops agree that for the honour of God, the advantage of the Church of England and the well-being of the students, the university should be removed from Northampton”.3


As F.M.Powicke noted,‘one feels that it was the borough of Oxford that really mattered; it had got the better of Northampton’. It wasn’t just the siege and the opposition to the King, it was the vested interest of Oxford University in preserving its status as the primary studium generale in central England that persuaded the King to revoke our license.


The capture of Northampton by Henry III, marked the end of an attempt to launch a university. Finally, in 2005, the University of Northampton was established, 750 years later.


Education has an extensive history in Northampton dating back to the 13th Century while the University of Northampton has evolved from the beginning of the 20th Century:


1924-1937 Northampton Technical College was established. The St George’s Avenue building was opened by the Duke and Duchess of York in 1932. The School of Art opened in 1937.


1972 Margaret Thatcher opened the College of Education at Park Campus in 1972.


1975


Nene College was formed from the amalgamation of the College of Education, College of Technology and College of Art.


1978 The Leathersellers’ College in London was integrated into Nene College.


1992


Nene College transferred its Further Education provision to Further Education colleges in Northamptonshire and focused on Higher Education.


1993


Nene College incorporated St Andrew’s School of Occupational Therapy and was granted undergraduate degree awarding powers.


1997


Sir Gordon Roberts College of Nursing and Midwifery was incorporated into Nene College.


1999


Nene College became University College Northampton.


1 Alan B Cobban, The Medieval English Universities 2 J.R. Maddicott, Simon de Montfort


3 F.M.Powicke, Ways of Medieval Life and Thought 4 Alan B Cobban, The Medieval English Universities: Oxford and Cambridge to c.1500


2005 The University of Northampton was established, having been awarded full university status and research degree awarding powers.


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