Walter de Merton, Lord Chancellor and Bishop…

Walter de Merton, Lord Chancellor and Bishop of Rochester, founds Merton College, which has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford, although this claim is disputed between Merton College, Balliol College and University College.

The substance of Merton's claim to the title of oldest College is that Merton was the first college to be provided with "statutes", a constitution governing the College set out at its founding.

Merton's statutes date to 1264, whereas neither Balliol nor University College will have statutes until the 1280s.

Merton is also the first to be conceived as a community of scholars working to achieve academic ends, rather than just a place for the scholars to reside.