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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 it has no students, consisting entirely of 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.

1 History

The 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.

2 Customs

Every 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.

¹ Chorus: Hough the bloud of King Edward, By ye bloud of King Edward, It was a swapping, swapping mallard! (Compare with Terry Pratchett's cruel but accurate parody, the Hedgehog Song .)

3 Fellows

• Isaiah Berlin
• Robin Briggs
• David Caute
• Professor David Dilks
• Sheppard Frere
• Michael Howard (historian)
• Susan Hurley
• Thomas Linacre
• Derek ParfitDerek Parfit is a philosopher who specializes in problems of personal identity, rationality and ethics, and the relations between them. His 1984 book, Reasons and Persons (described by Alan Ryan of The Sunday Times as "something close to a work of genius"
• Anthony Quinton
• John RedwoodThe Right Honourable John Redwood (born June 15, 1951) is a British Conservative politician, MP for Wokingham and Shadow Secretary of State for Deregulation. Redwood, born in Dover, Kent, had a brilliant academic career behind him (Fellow of All Souls' Co
• Peter Salway
• Gilbert SheldonGilbert Sheldon ( 1598- 1677), Archbishop of Canterbury, was born at Stanton in the parish of Ellastone, Staffordshire, and educated at Oxford. He was ordained in 1622 and was appointed chaplain to Lord Coventry ( 1578- 1640). Four years later he was elec

4 External link

• Official Website