http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Edmund_Hall,_Oxford

St. Edmund Hall, University of Oxford

Queen's lane, Oxford

Founder unknown circa 1236 named after St, Edmund of Abingdon, Archbishop of Canterbury, who taught in
taught in a house this site in the 1190s. It was run by Queen's College in the 16th century. The modern college's foundation was 1957.

St Edmund Hall (Latin: Aula Sancti Edmund, the hall or court of St Edmund (wikt:aula), and thus sometimes known as The Hall or affectionately as "Teddy Hall") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college has a claim to be "the oldest academical society for the education of undergraduates in any university" and is the last surviving medieval hall at the University.[3]

The college is located just off Queen's Lane, near the High Street, in central Oxford and has a reputation for being a friendly college with a wide range of extra-curricular strengths in areas such as creative writing, drama, sport and music. Like the University of Oxford itself, the precise date of establishment of St Edmund Hall is not certain; it is usually estimated at 1236, before any other college was formally established. It is named after St Edmund of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, the first known Oxford Master of Arts and the first Oxford-educated Archbishop of Canterbury, who lived and taught on the college site. The name St Edmund Hall (Aula Sancti Edmundi) first appears in a 1317 rental agreement.[4]

St Edmund Hall began life as one of Oxford's ancient Aularian houses, the medieval halls that laid the foundation of the University, preceding the creation of the first colleges. As the only surviving medieval hall, its members are known as "Aularians". St Edmund Hall acquired the status of a college in 1957, though retaining the historical moniker of "Hall".

The college has a history of independent thought, which brought it into frequent conflict with both Church and State. During the late 14th and early 15th centuries it was a bastion of John Wycliffe's supporters, for which college principal William Taylor was ultimately burnt at the stake, and principal Peter Payne fled the country. In the late 17th century, St Edmund Hall incurred the wrath of the Crown for fostering non-jurors, men who remained loyal to the Scottish House of Stuart and who refused to take the oath to the German House of Hanover, whom they regarded as having usurped the British throne.