Story
The story of University of Glasgow
Somewhere, perhaps lost in France, lies the document that founded this university. In 1451 Pope Nicholas V issued a papal bull, at the suggestion of King James II, allowing a university to be added to Glasgow's cathedral. In 1560, during the unrest of the Scottish Reformation, the chancellor, Archbishop James Beaton, fled to France with the bull and many other treasures for safe-keeping.
The Mace came back in 1590, but the bull never did, and if it was not lost by then, it went astray during the French Revolution. Yet it remains the authority by which the university awards its degrees. Teaching began in the Chapter House of the cathedral, and for four hundred years the university stood on the High Street, until it moved here to Gilmorehill in 1870. Look for Pearce Lodge, rebuilt from parts of the old college facade, and the Lion and Unicorn Staircase brought from the same site.
Adam Smith, James Watt, Lord Kelvin and Joseph Lister are among its alumni.
This story is compiled from Wikipedia and other open sources; dates and numbers are checked against the source. The text is shared under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Source ↗
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