White Horse Tavern, Cambridge

The White Horse Tavern or White Horse Inn[1] was in the 16th century the meeting place in Cambridge for English Protestant reformers who discussed Lutheran ideas. These discussions met as early as 1521.[2] According to the historian Geoffrey Elton the group of university dons who met there were nicknamed 'Little Germany'[3] in reference to their discussions of Luther.

Among those who attended these meetings were the future Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, the future Bishop of Worcester, Hugh Latimer and the reformers Robert Barnes and Thomas Bilney. The group was not confined to those associated with the reform movement of the next two decades, however, and also included future conservatives like Stephen Gardiner, the future Bishop of Winchester. Others who met at the tavern included Miles Coverdale, Matthew Parker, William Tyndale, Nicholas Shaxton, John Rogers and John Bale.[4]

The tavern was located on the site of King's Lane, to the west of King's Parade.[4] When the King's College screen was extended in 1870, the tavern was demolished, but a Blue Plaque on the college's Chetwynd Court commemorates this.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Friaries: Austin friars, Cambridge
  2. ↑ J. D. Mackie, The Earlier Tudors, 1485-1558 (OUP, 1991), p. 343.
  3. ↑ Geoffrey Rudolph Elton, England under the Tudors: Third Edition (Routledge, 2005), p. 111.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Elisabeth Leedham-Green (1996). A Concise History of the University of Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. p. 44.
  5. ↑ King’s Parade / Senate House Hill

Coordinates: 52°12′13″N 0°07′01″W / 52.2037°N 0.1170°W