Christ+Church+College

by Miss Denny A long dining hall is filled with tables. Each table has candles and a place setting underneath the high ceiling supported by wooden beams. Portraits hang on the walls for visitors and students to admire as they walk by. To some, the room may remind them of Hogwarts Castle’s famous dining hall. For others, the room is the dining hall at Christ Church College, the inspiration for the fictional dining hall in the Harry Potter movies. This remarkable dining hall is only a small part of the college's rich heritage and history. Oxford University's Christ Church College has an important and interesting place in England's history.

The beginnings of Christ Church College are found in the person of Cardinal Wolsey. Cardinal Wolsey was a butcher's son who attained his education at Oxford's Magdalen College (Guide 9). Wolsey's ambition served him well for a while, as he "became the most powerful man in England apart from the King" (Guide 9). By 1514, Wolsey had become the Archbishop of York, a Cardinal, and the Lord Chancellor of England (Ridley 95). The Cardinal's interests, however, did not soley lie within the realms of religion and politics. Wolsey used his power and influence for several large building projects, including Hampton Court, York Place, and Cardinal's College (Ridley 95). Unfortunately for Wolsey, he was not able to remain the master of these projects for long.

Wolsey's dream of founding a college found its realization in Cardinal's College. In 1524, Wolsey took over St. Frideswide's Monastary (History). He also suppressed twenty-two other monastaries, taking their assests as well in order to fund his college, in addition to "asking, cajoling, and in some cases bullying and threatening, many noblemen and wealthy persons and institutions into contributing donations towards the cost of the work" (Ridley 97). The irony in Wolsey's bullying other to contribute to his work is that he was bullied out of keeping the college.

Wolsey probably never realized that the King's desire for a son would be the inadvertent cause of his fall from power. Henry VIII gave Wolsey a task: obtain permission for Henry to divorce his wife Catharine. When Wolsey failed to get a divorce, Henry VIII became angry with the Lord Chancellor and took all of the Cardinal's property, including his project of founding a college (Guide 9). Cardinal's College then switched hands to Henry VIII.

The King did not waste any time in making changes at the college. When he took over in 1529, Henry had Wolsey's coat of arms removed and changed the name to King Henry VIII's College (Ridley 98). In 1546, he made the old manastary a church and part of the diocese of Oxford and renamed the school //Aedes Christi//--Christ Church (History). Christ Church has bore this name proudly ever since.

Undeniably, Christ Church's long and rich story has earned it a place in history. It has been a home for kings, a school for ministers and politicians, and a location for tourists. Its magical atmosphere has made it an ideal location for filming, as the producers of Harry Potter discovered. The dining hall that inspired Hogwart's dining hall has for centuries fed students from all over the world, and it all began with the dream of one man: a man who rose to power and fell to power on the whim of a king who eventually took the college for his own. The future of Christ Church is certain to continue to produce great scholars, great ideas, and great histories.

Works Cited
//Guide to College & Cathedral//. Oxford: 2011. Ridley, Jasper. //A Brief History of The Tudor Age//. London: Constable, 2002. "The History of Christ Church." //Christ Church, Oxford//. N.p., 7 Feb 2011. Web. 13 Feb 2012. <[]>.

**Related Videos **

 * YouTube Video of Christ Church Cathedral

Media Credits

 * All photos taken by Miss Denny

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