Queens’ College

Queens’ College at Cambridge was founded in 1448, then re-founded in 1475, by boss women with a crackling royal rivalry. Margaret of Anjou penned the original request for the college. It was granted, but she and her husband, the less-than-adored King Henry VI (that’s right—the same Henry who founded King’s College), were deposed. The new queen, Elizabeth Woodville, took over the college’s creation. Its name and punctuation reflect its multiple monarchs—unlike King’s. With the queens’ combined efforts and patronage, the grand redbrick college grew.

As one of Cambridge’s older colleges, it carries an elevated, regal air. An academic feast awaits those lucky enough to attend, though most of its students admit to being distracted by the view: Queens’ offers idyllic proximity to the iconic Mathematical Bridge. A marvel of design and construction, it was built without a single nut or bolt. Origin myths swarm around the bridge (such as the notion that Sir Isaac Newton conceived of it—but he would have had to do it from the grave).

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