I went to such a Grad Hall at Corpus Christi a few weeks ago. Corpus, despite being really near where I work, is one of the colleges that I had never been to until hall. Interestingly, it was founded by the townspeople (not by some wealthy individual) which makes it unique among the Oxbridge colleges. It was founded by members of the guilds of Corpus Christi and of the Blessed Virgin Mary and was granted it's license in 1352. It's also one of the oldest colleges and was the first one to have a "court" (a quad basically).
Corpus has a very well-endowed library, owing mostly to Matthew Parker, the master from 1544-53 (later Archbishop of Canterbury under Elizabeth I), who donated many of the books. He saved books and documents during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and bequeathed them to the college. These books were very precious (among them is a sixth century Gospel believed to have been given to St. Augustine by Pope Gregory), and were kept under lock and key (three keys were held by the Master, two by the Fellows). They were inspected each year by the Masters of Gonville and Caius and Trinity Hall. If any of the manuscripts were missing, the whole college would move to Caius. If any books went missing from Caius, the collection would move to Trinity Hall, and if they lost anything, it would all go back to Corpus and start the cycle over again. Apparently this process has been discontinued.
Corpus also has the best collection of pre-Reformation silver in Cambridge, mostly because instead of giving it all back tot he King or Parliament during the Civil War, it distributed the loot among the fellos, who hid it until the Restoration.
Some Corpus men include:
Thomas Cavendish: the second man to sail around the world
Christopher Marlowe: English dramatist and rival of Shakespeare
The hall at Corpus is quite unique. I love all of the colors. The food was also amazing, as this was a special hall and there were therefore five courses. All in all a great night at a fun hall!
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