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History at Cambridge gives you the opportunity to explore the past from the ancient world to the present day. Choose from a range of different topics that interest you, from politics in the Roman Republic to material culture in the Ottoman Empire and neoliberalism in modern Britain and America.
Many of the University's customs and unusual terminology can be traced to roots in the early years of the University's long history, and this section of our website looks to the past to find the origins of much that is distinctive in the University of today.
Year YearEvent EventYear 1209Event Groups of scholars congregate at ...Year 1284Event Peterhouse, the first College at ...Year 1347Event Mary, Countess of Pembroke, founds ...Year 1446Event Henry VI, founder of Eton and of ...By combining the results of archaeological excavation carried out over the last thirty years with important discoveries in previous centuries, Alison Taylor is able to piece together the history of Cambridge through prehistoric, Roman, Anglo-Saxon and medieval times, and then the expansion of the university in later centuries. Her book is full of surprises — […]
This History shows how and why the university grew to encompass the whole of knowledge and most of the world, how it developed an intellectual tradition common to all Europeans, and how it trained academic and professional elites whose ethos transcends national boundaries. Volumes in the series. A HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY IN EUROPE.
- Why Did People Settle in Cambridge?
- Ancient Cambridge
- Roman Cambridge
- Conclusion
If you look closely you will realise Cambridge was the perfect place to build a settlement. It is on the edge of the fens: a large flat expanse of fenland. Until the fens were drained it was a huge area of wet marshland and small rivers. The site of Cambridge lay at a convenient crossing point of what is now called the ‘Cam’ river. This made it per...
The evidence for ancient Cambridge unfortunately now lies underneath the city itself. But excavations have revealed evidence of settlements here dating back thousands of years. Archaeological evidence of the earliest traces of human habitation lie beneath the layers of gravel deposited in the last ice age. Cambridge’s location in a valley has meant...
England changed dramatically when it was conquered by the Romans. By the end of the Iron Age the settlement on Castle Hill was a seat of power for the local area. It was a perfect place for the Romans to adopt: a defensive position commanding a major river crossing and meeting point of several roads. The Romans adapted the town to their needs, addi...
So there we have it. A very quick rundown of around 300,000 years of Cambridge history. A period where Cambridge very slowly developed as a central settlement for trade and defence in the surrounding area. But in c.410 AD the Romans left Britain and the country was to enter the ‘Dark Ages’. The end of Roman Cambridge remains a mystery. There are no...
The place of Cambridge at the forefront of northern European universities was eventually assured when Henry VIII founded Trinity College in 1546, in the face of changes and difficulties experienced during the course of the Reformation.
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Read about the University's history since 1945. Despite these developments, there was in the first half of the 19th century a continued call for change and reform in the University, which in part reflected.
