Founders & Benefactors
Founding a college is no mean feat. When Walter de Merton set up the 'House of Scholars of Merton' in 1264, he called on the support of his most influential friends and benefactors, counting among their numbers royalty, the Church and even the occasional powerful woman.
Some of those who made possible the establishment of the House of Scholars of Merton and who supported it in its early decades are here represented by their seals. Possession of a seal indicated personal or corporate status, and, as at the time of the founding of the college wax seals were used to authenticate documents, Merton's archive contains a wide range of different seals representing some of the most powerful people of the time.
Seal of Walter de Merton, 1264
Merton College's founder, Walter de Merton's seal on the 1264 Founders Statutes for the college. The seal has de Merton's motto written around the edges - 'Qui timet Deum faciet bona' ('He who fears God shall do good'). There are no extant contemporary depictions of Walter de Merton, but careful craftsmanship of his episcopal seal as Bishop of Rochester is an indication of his power and wealth.
Seal of King Henry III, 1264
The Great Seal of the realm depicts the king, Henry III (1207-1272) enthroned as ruler, and was added to Merton's Founder's Statutes of 1264 as a literal royal seal of approval.
Seal of Ela Longespee, Countess of Warwick, 1266
Ela was connected to royalty through her father, an illegitimate son of King Henry II. She and her second husband Philip Basset granted the manor of Thorncroft in Surrey to Walter in 1266. Ela’s seal depicts her as a fashionably-dressed noblewoman.
Merton College Seal, 14th century
The 14th-century college seal depicts the Virgin and Christ Child seated on an elaborate throne below which a small tonsured figure kneels in prayer.