Balliol College, Oxford facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Balliol College
Blazon: Azure, a lion rampant argent, crowned or, impaling Gules, an orle argent.
University	Oxford
Location	Broad Street
Coordinates	51°45′17″N 1°15′28″W / 51.7547°N 1.2578°W / 51.7547; -1.2578
Full name	Balliol College
Latin name	Collegium Balliolensis
Established	1263; 760 years ago (1263)
Named for	John I de Balliol
Sister college	St John's College, Cambridge
Master	Dame Helen Ghosh
Undergraduates	366 (2017–18)
Postgraduates	359
Boat club	Balliol College Boat Club
Map
Location in Oxford city centre

Balliol College, pronounced “Bailey'll”, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the foundation and endowment for the college. When de Balliol died in 1268, his widow, Dervorguilla, a woman whose wealth far exceeded that of her husband, continued his work in setting up the college, providing a further endowment and writing the statutes. She is considered a co‑founder of the college.

The college's alumni include the incumbent Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, as well as three former prime ministers (H. H. Asquith, Harold Macmillan and Edward Heath), Harald V of Norway, Empress Masako of Japan, five Nobel laureates, several Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, and numerous literary and philosophical figures, including Shoghi Effendi, Adam Smith, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Aldous Huxley. John Wycliffe, who translated the Bible into English, was master of the college in the 1360s.

Images for kids

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  Front Quadrangle, Old Library

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  William Butterfield's chapel

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  The interior of the chapel

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  The gateway to Balliol, designed by Alfred Waterhouse.

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  Cricket on the Master's Field with the Jowett Walk buildings in the background

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  St Cross Church

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  Balliol College rowing to Head of the River in Summer Eights 2008

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  Balliol College Dining Hall

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  The front of the college in Broad Street

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  Garden Quad

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  Balliol College Hall and SCR (from Fellows' Garden), Oxford

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  H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

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  Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

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  Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith

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  Aldous Huxley, writer and philosopher

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  Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

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  Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

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  Adam Smith, economist and author

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  Richard von Weizsäcker, former President of Germany

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  Sir Seretse Khama, Founding President of Botswana

See also

In Spanish: Balliol College para niños