of St. Peter, which stood on the site of the
present St. Mary the Less, supplied the students with all they needed
in this direction.
CLARE.--Michael House, the second college, was, as we have seen, swept
away to make room for Trinity, so that the second in order of
antiquity is Clare College, whose classic facade of great regularity,
with the graceful little stone bridge spanning the river, is one of
the most familiar features of the "Backs." The actual date of the
founding of the college by Elizabeth de Burgh, daughter of Gilbert de
Clare, was 1342, and the court, then built in the prevalent Decorated
style, continued in use until 1525, when it was so badly damaged by
fire that a new building was decided upon, but the work was postponed
until 1635, and was only finished in the second year of the
Restoration. Although no shred of evidence exists as to the architect,
tradition points to Inigo Jones, whose death took place, however, in
1652. The bridge is coeval with the earliest side of the court, having
been finished in 1640. In the hall, marred by great sheets of
plate-glass in the windows, there are portraits of Hugh Latimer,
Thomas Cecil (Earl of Exeter), Elizabeth de Clare (foundress), and
other notable men.
PEMBROKE.--Like Clare, Pembroke College was founded by a woman. She
was Marie de St. Paul, daughter of Guy de Chatillon, and on her
mother's side was a great-granddaughter of Henry III. She was also the
widow of Aymer de Valance, Earl of Pembroke, whose splendid tomb is a
conspicuous feature of the Sanctuary in Westminster Abbey.
Instead of the usual modest beginning with one or two existing hostels
adapted for the purposes of a purely academic society, the foundress
cleared away the hostels on the site nearly opposite historic
Peterhouse, and began a regular quadrangle, the first of the
non-religious type Cambridge had known. An existing hostel formed one
side, but the others were all erected for the special purpose of the
college. A hall and kitchen were built to the east, and on the street
side opposite was a gateway placed between students' rooms. Marie de
St. Paul also received permission from two successive Avignonese Popes
to build a chapel with a bell tower at the north-west corner of the
quadrangle, and to some extent these exist to-day, incorporated in the
reference library and an adjoining lecture-room. Of the other
buildings to be seen at the present time the oldest is the Ivy Court,
dating
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