THE ARCHIVES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
The University's muniments (fn. 1) are by origin and by
literal interpretation the documents with which it
could support its claims of privilege. As such they
were the object of attack by the townspeople in times
of disturbance. They were burnt during a disturbance in 1261, (fn. 2) and in 1381 many were destroyed in
the market-place whither the townspeople had carried them from the tower of Great St. Mary's
church. (fn. 3) Thereafter they were moved from place to
place until in 1836 they were deposited in the tower
of the Pitt Press building. In 1893 a serious fire
broke out in the top room of the tower, two stories
below which the muniments were stored, but they
were removed just in time. (fn. 4) In 1935 they were
moved to the Old Schools, and in 1947 were placed
in a group of rooms in the western quadrangle, near
the University registry. (fn. 5) In 1949 an archivist and
an assistant archivist were appointed with the aid of
a sum given by the University Press; (fn. 6) in 1953 the
posts of keeper and deputy keeper of the archives
were established, and from 1954 the full cost of
maintaining the archives was placed on the University Chest. These changes left the registrary, whose
office was established by Grace in 1506, still ulti-
mately responsible for the custody and arrangement
of the archives. (fn. 7) At Oxford, on the other hand, there
has been a separate office of keeper, and the archives
have had a settled home since 1634. (fn. 8)
The earliest surviving document in the archives is
one of 1266, being the oldest in the series which
records privileges granted to the University. Many
of the University's early charters, apparently including those of an earlier date than 1266, are said to
have been burnt in 1381. A list of the charters and
documents from 1266 to 1544 kept in the registry
was published by H. R. Luard, the registrary, in
1876, and this list includes entries from a catalogue
of 1420 for documents which had disappeared from
the archives by 1876. (fn. 9) An early printed list, made
about 1574, includes documents and registers in the
registrary's keeping. (fn. 10)
The early statutes of the University were authorized by the University itself and recorded by the
proctors. The earliest collection of statutes formed
the Old Proctor's Book (or 'Fragmenta Vetera'),
some of the folios of which were later removed and
rebound in the Junior Proctor's Book. This collection was made about 1398, (fn. 11) possibly to replace
documents lost in 1381, and subsequent statutes
were added to it. Transcripts of the early statutes,
made at various dates and preserved in the archives,
include the Senior Proctor's Book (c. 1498), the Old
Vice-Chancellor's Book (16th century), and the
Black Parchment Book (early 16th century). The
Elizabethan statutes of 1570 and subsequent codes
derive their authority from the Crown. The most
notable printed editions of the statutes at large are
those of 1785 (fn. 12) and 1852. (fn. 13) The statutes produced
by the University of Cambridge Commissioners
under the Act of 1877 were published in 1882, and
since then there have been frequent new editions,
with supplements published between editions, of
the statutes and ordinances. The archives contain,
in addition to statutes and early grants, printed Acts
of Parliament and Orders in Council relating to the
University.
Until the establishment of the office of registrary
in 1506 the proctors were also responsible for recording the administrative business of the University.
The principal record of such business consists of the
series of 'Grace Books', which extends from 1454 to
1870. From 1870 onwards the Grace Books are replaced by the Cambridge University Reporter, an
official set of which is kept in the archives. Graces
were originally granted, by the Senate, to individuals
to exempt them from fulfilling the statutory obligations of the University, and since from the 15th
century degrees increasingly became gratiosi rather
than rigorosi (fn. 14) the Grace Books provide a sort of
register of degrees. In the 16th century the use of
graces was extended. Whereas they were originally
granted for the benefit of individuals, they gradually
came to serve more general purposes. The earliest
sign of this change is apparently the Grace for the
bedells of 1483–4, which is 'something between a
grace and a statute'. (fn. 15) Grace Books A, B, [gamma], and [delta],
covering the period 1454–1589, have been published. (fn. 16) Up to 1501 the Grace Books contain, in
addition to graces, the accounts of receipts and expenditure made by the proctors to the congregation.
From 1501 to 1544 Grace Book B (1488–1544) contains accounts only, the graces for that period being
contained in Grace Books [gamma] (1501–42) and [delta] (1542–
89), and from 1544 there is a separate series of audit
and account books. For a later period these include
the accounts of various syndicates and trusts. An
early set of indentures, accounting for the state of
the chest at the annual audit, begins in 1363.
No records originating from the caput of the
University survive, so that its activities are to be
traced only in records from other sources. The
minutes of the Council of the Senate, which has
taken the place of the Caput since 1856, (fn. 17) are kept in
the archives for the period up to 1901. The minutes
of syndicates and committees begin in 1737, the
first volume including the minutes of all syndicates
then existing. Later volumes contain the minutes of
separate syndicates, and some of these are retained
by the syndicates concerned. Official letters and
royal letters and mandates in the archives cover the
period from the 16th to the 19th century. The
archives also contain a number of ecclesiastical
letters and decrees, and papers on University
matters, dating from the 13th and 14th centuries.
Two groups of records in the archives (fn. 18) relate to
matriculations. First, there are the praelectors' lists,
submitted to the registrary by the individual Colleges,
which are very rough and usually undated. These
survive from about 1589. Secondly, the registrary or
his clerk compiled from these lists the matriculation
registers which extend from 1544, when matriculation was instituted by statute, to the present. For the
earlier years, however, these registers present some
inaccuracies and omissions. The principal record of
degrees conferred is in the graces listed in the Grace
Books. From 1498–9 the graces for each degree are
normally accompanied in the Grace Books by the
Ordo senioritatis, which was later replaced by the
printed tripos lists. (fn. 19) For the period 1491–8 miscellaneous lists of the Ordo survive. The names of
graduates given in the Grace Books are supplemented by the supplicats (1568–1870), in which the
College concerned certified to the Caput the candidate's qualifications and requested that the degree
be conferred, and by the subscription books (1613–
1870), in which candidates for degrees (fn. 20) signified
their assent to the declarations in the 'Three
Articles'. The incorporation of a graduate of another
university took the form of a grace, and until the
17th century was normally recorded in the Grace
Books; from the 17th to the 19th century separate
volumes record incorporations.
Many of the holders of University offices in the
Middle Ages are recorded in the archives in various
books of transcripts, notably in that made by
Matthew Stokys, registrary, 1558–91. (fn. 21) The Junior
Proctor's Book contains, in addition to statutes and
miscellaneous memoranda, pages which have been
used as a sort of autograph book by the proctors.
The register of the admission of proctors covers the
period 1720–1890. For the period from 1649 there
are in the archives several miscellaneous books
relating to professorships, prizes and scholarships.
The University's jurisdiction (fn. 22) in suits in which
members of the University were involved is represented in the archives by the records of the ViceChancellor's court and the commissary's court. For
the Vice-Chancellor's court there are Act Books
(1552–1861), Exhibita (1559–1627), and Depositions
(1591–1675); for the commissary's court, Act Books
(1580–1746), Exhibita (1580–1692), and Depositions
(1580–1640). The probate records of the ViceChancellor's court comprise wills (1501–1765), administration bonds (1541–1746), and inventories
(1498–1744). A calendar of the wills, which were
transferred to Peterborough Diocesan Registry under
an Order in Council of 1857 (fn. 23) and restored to the
University archives in 1956, was published in
1907. (fn. 24)
Documents relating to the University's dealings
with the town up to the year 1605 are contained in
a book in the archives entitled 'Burgus Cantabrigie'.
The University, through the proctors, exercised the
right of regulating certain aspects of the town's life: (fn. 25)
there are court leet rolls and books for the period
1756–82, and in 1596 there begins a series of
registers of the assize of bread, of spinning-house
committals, and of licences to lodging-house keepers,
victuallers, and others. The relationship of the University and the town was adjusted by Sir John
Patteson's Award of 1855, (fn. 26) which together with
some related papers is contained in two volumes in
the archives. The University had courts for the
fairs which were under its control: (fn. 27) the act books of
the court of Sturbridge Fair cover the period 1562–
1855, and those of the Barnwell Fair the period
1583–1647.
Until recent times the University has owned very
little real property in its own right. Nearly all the
property which has been administered by the University for any length of time came into its hands
as endowments of professorships, and there is in
the archives a considerable number of documents,
including maps, correspondence, court rolls, and
rentals, relating to such estates. Some of these documents are of a much earlier date than the professorships or other special endowments to which the
estates pertained: the court rolls of Ovington, a
property belonging to the Rustat benefaction for the
University library, begin in the reign of Edward III.
Connected with these properties are the documents
relating to Commissions of Sewers, which cover the
period 1618–1827. Of the documents relating to
property which did not form special endowments
the most important are those which concern the
University buildings, or the Old Schools. (fn. 28) The
oldest of these is dated 1614, but they are mostly of
the 19th century.
As a result, perhaps, of the disturbed history of
the archives there were by the second half of the
19th century many miscellaneous documents, manuscript and printed, in haphazard order. Under the
direction of H. R. Luard, registrary from 1862 to
1891, these were pasted into guard books, to which
subsequent additions have been made. These
volumes are arranged into 137 different subjects,
some subjects filling more than one volume; many
of the documents belong properly to one or other of
the groups of documents described above; it appears
that the earliest documents in the guard books are of
the 16th century. Documents relating to the Colleges
figure among the University archives, particularly
in the guard books and among the papers concerning
real estate which have been mentioned above.
Among the considerable number of miscellaneous
collections of transcripts the most useful for the
period up to the 16th century were made by the
registraries Matthew Stokys (1558–91) and James
Tabor (1600–45), (fn. 29) and by Robert Hare (d. 1611),
who also gave to the University an earlier collection
made by Thomas Markaunt, (fn. 30) Fellow of Corpus
Christi College 1417–39. (fn. 31) The 'Liber Rerum
Memorabilium' is the most notable among several
other miscellaneous collections of the 16th century.
In addition to the Acts of Parliament, the Orders
in Council, and the set of the Reporter, which have
already been mentioned, the printed material in the
archives includes a set of bound volumes of local
newspaper cuttings, beginning in 1774, and numerous
other printed papers relating to University affairs.