SCHOOLS 



scale on which the foundation was carried out. The mere number of 

 the scholars of New College seventy was almost equal to the whole 

 number of the scholars of all the other colleges put together, and its 

 endowment did actually exceed that of them all put together. If Win- 

 chester were reckoned the preponderance of Wykeham's foundations was 

 of course immensely increased. 



But the really important new departure taken was that Wykeham 

 made his school a separate and distinct foundation independent of the 

 Oxford college. Others had erected collegiate churches for university 

 students. He erected one for schoolboys. The old collegiate churches 

 had kept grammar schools, and flourishing grammar schools, but they 

 were, though inseparable accidents, still accidents. The new collegiate 

 churches at the university, called colleges, substituted growing scholars 

 for grown priests, and study for psalm singing as the essence of the 

 institution, but the schoolboys remained an accident, and a rather un- 

 important accident. In Winchester College the accident became the 

 essence. The corporate name of ' warden and scholars, clerks ' stamped 

 the school and the schoolboys as the aim and object of the foundation. 

 The collegiate church form was afterwards adopted, the fellows occu- 

 pying the place of canons, but instead of the boys being subordinate to 

 the canons, the canons were subsidiary to the boys. For the first time a 

 school was established as a sovereign and independent corporation exist- 

 ing by and for itself self-centred and self-governed. 



SCHOLARS AND COMMONERS 



Though Winchester was an independent corporation it was bound 

 by close ties to New College. New College elected the warden of 

 Winchester, who was to be a past or present fellow of New College or of 

 Winchester, and the fellows of Winchester were preferentially to be or 

 to have been fellows of New College. 



Every year the warden and two fellows of New College were to 

 visit Winchester and hold a visitation, which was called, as at Merton, 

 a ' scrutiny,' of everybody there. At this visitation they, with the war- 

 den, sub-warden and ' master teacher in grammar ' of Winchester were 

 to elect the scholars from Winchester to New College and also from 

 outside to Winchester. The election to New College was (except in 

 the case of founder's kin, who had a right of admission if fit, even up 

 to the age of twenty-five) strictly by competitive examination among 

 those who were or had been scholars of Winchester. The fittest (tnagis 

 ydonei] were to be elected. The election to Winchester was also on 

 examination, but the examination was not seemingly to be competitive. 

 Founder's kin, wherever born, had an absolute right to admission at any 

 age from seven to twenty-five. The others were to be ' poor and needy 

 scholars, of good character and well conditioned, of gentlemanly habits, 

 able for school (ad studium habiles), completely learned in reading, plain 

 song and old Donatus.' They were to be between eight and twelve 



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