An Illuminated Chronicle
Forty-five foundations, eight centuries, one university — set down here
in order of their first stone, with notes upon what each has become known for.
Dominus illuminatio mea — The Lord is my Light
Oxford counts no founding date of its own. Teaching is known to have existed here in some form as early as 1096, but the institution itself is a constellation rather than a single house. What follows is a chronological reading of its forty-five constituent foundations — the great colleges, the smaller halls, and the modern societies that now sit alongside them as equals.
Each entry records the year of foundation, the present status of the institution, and what — for better, for worse, or merely for memory — it has become known for. Where dates are contested, the conventionally accepted year is given, with the original in a marginal note.