Glasgow University 1451-1951
Walter Elliott on how an illustrious institution has weathered countless storms.
The University of Glasgow is at present celebrating its 500th year of corporate existence. It is thus the fourth oldest in Britain. Oxford, Cambridge, and in Scotland St. Andrews, alone can claim seniority. Yet Glasgow was already a very old centre of learning when William Turnbull, its Bishop, obtained from Pope Nicholas V the Bull of Foundation of its University. Twenty-four Bishops of Glasgow had preceded him; and the tradition of learning in and around Clydesdale goes back to the very earliest historic times.