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Gilbertine Priory of St Edmund, Trumpington Street

History of St Edmunds Priory Trumpington Street

The Priory was established in 1291 and dissolved 1539. There had been a redundant private chapel that was given to the Gilbertine order of Sempringham, Norfolk. It seems to have operated as a college of students and must have seemed very similar to its neighbour, Peterhouse, which was established just a little earlier.

A detailed history of the Priory can be found on British History Online:

https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/cambs/vol2/pp254-256

The Gilbertines were also known as the White Canons. It followed a modified Augustinian rule. It was the earliest monastic college and the second college foundation in Cambridge. The last prior, Humphrey Spensley, was pensioned off in 1539.

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