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All Souls College, Oxford
All Souls College (in full: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. All Souls is an oddity in that its students automatically become Fellows, i.e. academics who are full governing members of the College. Every year, the top finalists of the University are invited to sit the examination for fellowship of the College. About two are elected to fellowship each year. Fellowship of All Souls is thus regarded as one of the highest academic honours in the United Kingdom.
HistoryThe College was founded by Henry VI of England and Henry Chichele (fellow of New College and Archbishop of Canterbury), in 1438. The Statutes provided for the Warden and forty fellows - all to take Holy Orders; twenty-four to study arts, philosophy and theology; and sixteen to study civil or canon law. Today the College is primarily an academic research institution.
CustomsEvery hundred years there is a commemorative feast after which the fellows parade around the College with flaming torches, singing the Mallard Song ¹ and led by a "Lord Mallard" who is carried in a chair, in search of a fictional giant mallard that supposedly flew out of the foundations of the college when it was being built. The last mallard ceremony was in 2001 and the next will be held in 2101.
Fellows
Those Who Tried and Were DisappointedExternal linkThe contents of this article are licensed from Wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License.
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