TRINITY COLLEGE | Scavenger Hunt with Great-Nieces, April 2019

L to R: Grace, Helen and Alice, with a portion of the
Portrait Gallery of Trinity Alumnae behind them.

OXFORD, April 14, 2019—We are visiting Trinity College with Alice's great-nieces, Grace and Helen.

We organized the visit as a Scavenger Hunt with nine treasures to hunt for and one more for advanced credit. All nine of the main treasures were located and visited.

L to R: Helen and Grace, in front of
the double-headed griffin.

Trinity College is Stop 14 on the Oxford Bus Tour. It is a short walk to Stops 19 and 20 to the west, Stop 8 to the south and stop 13 to the east.

Trinity was founded in 1555 by Sir Thomas Pope, who handled the dissolution of the monasteries for Henry VIII and thereby became personally wealthy during that period. 

He also became an adviser to Henry VIII's daughter Mary Tudor, who became Queen Mary I. The tomato-juice drink "Bloody Mary" is named after her, perhaps unjustly since the number of Protestants she executed was a fraction of the Catholics and others who resisted Henry VIII. 

The Trinity College Chapel was the first at Oxford to be designed on pure classical principles. Its design was assisted by Sir Christopher Wren. The tomb of the founder is in the Chapel; Trinity is the only college at Oxford to have its founder buried within.

SCAVENGER HUNT, TRINITY COLLEGE 

[✔️] The Portrait Gallery of Trinity alumnae (see photo at the top of this post).

[✔️] The Two-Headed Griffin (see photo above right). The griffin, also spelled griffon or gryphon, was in ancient times considered to be the guardian of gold and empires. The griffin has the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion — the king of the air atop the king of the jungle.

L to R: Helen and Grace, in
front of the Pig & Whistle.

[✔️]The justly famed Grinling Gibbons carvings, recently restored. Photo to be included...

[✔️] The Stuart gate, which is kept locked until the House of Stuart returns to the throne.

[✔️] The Pig & Whistle, guest room (see photo at left). Note to potential guests: This is emergency accommodation more than a royal suite. You may prefer the Presidential Suite at the Randolph.

[✔️] The Portrait of Pitt the Elder (Lord Chatham), who championed the colonies in their battle with the French in what is called in the United States the "French and Indian War", and made possible the American Revolution. Pitt was a Trinity alumnus.

[✔️] The Portrait of Lord North, who was intransigent in his advocacy, in Parliament and in his recommendations for policy to George III, that the American colonies must pay for British troops in America. Lord North thereby made the American Revolution inevitable. He is one of Trinity's three Prime Ministers, and the least admired. (The third Prime Minister was Lord Wilmington, who gave his name to the capital of Delaware.)

L to R: Helen and Grace in front
of a tribute to Trinity's four bumps
in 2013.

[✔️] The Commemoration of four "bumps" in Eights Week, 2013, by the First VIII (see photo at right). The bumps that year included Trinity neighbor Wadham College and rival Balliol College. A bump means that a boat's prow passed the stern of the boat in front, and they exchange places in the "head of the river" races.

[✔️] The Portrait of George Calvert, 1st Lord Baltimore, who with his two sons Cecil (who became the 2nd Lord Baltimore) and Leonard (who became Governor of Maryland) founded the colony of Maryland. The colony was named either after Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I, or, more probably, the Virgin Mary. All three Calverts were Trinity alumni.

L to R: George Calvert (1st Lord Baltimore, 
founder of Maryland), Helen.

The photo at left shows Helen in front of the portrait of George Calvert, 1st Lord Baltimore (1579-1632), Secretary of State for England, Founder of the Maryland Colony (later the State), as a haven for Roman Catholics. 

The original portrait was by Daniel Mytens the Elder, circa 1624. The copy was donated to Trinity College by the Society of the Ark and the Dove, by permission of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore. The donation was arranged as the result of a relationship with the Calvert family under Trinity College Presidents Michael Beloff and Sir Ivor Roberts.

Although George Calvert never went to what is now Maryland, he made the voyage to Newfoundland, where the colony was originally going to be settled. His son Leonard became Maryland's first governor, while the other son, the 2nd Lord Baltimore, pleaded the case of the colony in Parliament.

[  ] For extra credit (requires a special advance appointment): The stained-glass window showing the Washington coat of arms inherited and used by George Washington, and incorporated in the flag of Washington, D.C. The window dates back to Durham College, which occupied the Trinity College site before the Reformation.

HERALDRY: Trinity College, Oxford (Updated Apr. 15, 2016)

Shield of Trinity Coat of Arms, granted
 by Sir Christopher Barker, Garter King of
Arms, to Sir Thomas Pope.

Blazon: Per pale or and azure on a chevron between three griffins' heads erased four fleurs-de-lys all counter-changed. ("Counter-changed" is a translation of the Latin transmutatus and the French de l'un en l'autre.)

Authority: Patent granted from Sir Christopher Barker, Garter King of Arms, June 26, 1535: Party per pale or and azure on a cheveron between three gryphons heads eraſed four fleur de lys all countercharged. The following year, October 15, 1536, "he [Thomas Pope] was knighted by Henry eighth, amid the ſolemnities attending the creations of the earl of Southampton, and the gallant Edward Seymour, earl of Hertford, afterwards the famous duke of Somerſet." (Warton, 1753, 16-17.)

Full Achievement: The full achievement of arms includes two griffins azure and or as a crest on a crown. See arms at right from the collection of Oxford college coats of arms that John P. Brooke-Little (1927-2006) published in 1951 under the auspices of the Heraldry Society. He rose to become Clarenceux King of Arms, second-highest-ranking officer at the College of Arms.

Full Achievement of Trinity
College Coat of Arms. Source:
Brooke-Little (1951).

Nominee of Arms: Sir Thomas Pope, Founder, was a Hertfordshire man who shared his family arms with the college at its foundation in 1555 and asked for daily prayers in perpetuity, a request that has reportedly been honored ever since. The arms are on his tomb in the College Chapel. The Pope family griffins appear to survive only through the College.

Institutional History: Durham College was founded in about 1286 for the Benedictine monks of Durham and was a cell of that monastery. In 1544 it was suppressed as part of Edward VI's extension of Henry VIII's acquisition of the property of the Roman Catholic monasteries. Eleven years later, almost immediately upon the accession of Mary Tudor, Sir Thomas purchased the old Durham property and founded on it Trinity College. Sir Thomas, who was a Roman Catholic, made a founder's plea to future generations of students to pray for his soul. He and his wife may have been concerned about his possible punishment in the next life for having enriched himself as a manager of the sale of monastic properties on behalf of  Henry VIII and his successors.

Physical History Highlights: Trinity used the old buildings of Durham College, especially those clustered now around what is called Durham Quad. For example, the Old Library at Trinity has windows from the Durham College Chapel, including one showing the coat of arms of an ancestor of George Washington. The current Trinity College Chapel was built in 1691 in the presidency of Dr. Bathurst; the carvings by Grinling Gibbons have recently been restored using the highest standards of care and the chapel will reopen soon.

Intellectual and Religious History: Because of its Catholic founder, Trinity College has continued to have an allegiance among Roman Catholics, although its chapel has Church of England services. It has consistently over the years attracted students from Ampleforth College, for example. It also seems to have had a way of pushing high-church Anglicans toward Rome. John Henry (later Cardinal) Newman was a student at Trinity College and later converted to Roman Catholicism. Ronald Knox was appointed Trinity's (Anglican) Chaplain during the administration of Herbert Blakiston. When students went to war, enrollment plummeted, Knox resigned for lack of meaningful work, and eventually converted to Rome. He returned to Oxford as its Catholic Chaplain at the Newman Center; Trinity's Fellows elected him a member of the common room and he ate at the college regularly. Other famed Trinity Alumni leaders include: the first and second Lords Baltimore (George Calvert, founder of what became the State of Maryland, and his two son Cecil; another son  Leonard was Governor; all three were alumni); Lord Wilmington, Prime Minister; William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, PM; Lord North, PM under George III; Lord Stanhope, Whig Leader. Famed Trinity Alumni writers include: Viscount Bryce (The American Commonwealth), Lord Clark (Civilization), James Elroy Flecker, Walter Savage Landor, and Q (Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch).

Related Heraldic Highlights: As mentioned, both of the first two Lord Baltimore were alumni of Trinity College. The City of Baltimore, Md., is named after Cecil. The name of the Baltimore Orioles came from the black (sable) and red (gules) colors in the coat of arms granted to the second Lord Baltimore. Trinity College's former Senior Tutor, Michael Maclagan, was also Richmond Herald of the College of Arms in 1980-89. The immediate past President of Trinity, Sir Ivor Roberts, is a Welshman and was H.M. Ambassador to Italy. His granted coat of arms uses a Welsh motto Bid ben, bid bond, translated into Latin as Fiat princeps, fiat pons–"Be a leader, be a bridge."

Sources 
Barnard, Francis Pierrepont and Shepard, Major T. Arms & Blazons of the Colleges of Oxford. London: Oxford University Press, 1929.

Brooke-Little, John P., "The Arms of Oxford University and Its Colleges," The Heraldry Society, 1951.

Clerehugh, R. H. A. A Concise Guide to Colleges of Oxford University. Oxford: The Chapter House, Christ Church, 10th ed., 1992.

Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles. Armorial Families. London: Hurst & Blackett, 1929.

Warton, Thomas, B.D., Fellow of Trinity College and F.S.A., The Life of Sir Thomas Pope: Founder of Trinity College Oxford. London: Thomas Cadell in the Strand, 1753, 2nd ed., 16-17.

Acknowledgment
Thanks to Paul Walton for showing me his copies of the Barnard & Shepard and Clerehugh books and to Clare Hopkins for directing me to useful sources,

Other Posts on the Arms of Oxford Colleges and PPHs: Original Article in Oxford Today . Heraldry as Branding . Heraldry as Fun .  Coat of Arms vs. Crest . Sinister Questions . Visit to the College of Arms . Windsor Herald Talks to New Yorkers . Shaming of Harvard Law Shield :: Rapid Expansion of Oxford's Colleges and Halls . Oxford Stars . Links to Heraldry, Oxford, GW . Harris Manchester College . Linacre College . Lincoln College . St Catherine's . St Cross College . St Edmund Hall . Trinity College :: Regent's Park College . St Benet's Hall .