Subarquivo 1 - Foundation

In 1539 Crowland Abbey was dissolved and its land, including that on which Buckingham College stood, were forfeit to the Crown.

In 1542, Thomas, Lord Audley, the Lord Chancellor, asked the King (Henry VIII) to found a new College on the site. Audley would name it, issue its Statutes and endow it. Letters Patent were issued by Henry on 3 April 1542.

The original Letters Patent issued to the College and the corresponding privy seal warrant retained by the Crown have both been lost and, because the grant was never entered onto the Patent Roll, no contemporary copy of the grant survives. The text does survive in numerous copies including in the 'Old Book'. There is also a later copy [MCBG/1/1].

Lord Audley never in his lifetime referred to himself as the 'founder' of Magdalene. His widow, Lady Elizabeth Audley, referred to herself as 'fundatrix' of the College in the original Statutes of 1555. From that time on Audley's heirs have claimed their ancestor to be the founder and principal benefactor of Magdalene.

Cunich, P., Hoyle, D., Duffy, E., Hyam, R., A History of Magdalene College Cambridge, 1428-1988, pp. 36-40