A memory hath taken root in stone,
Here Raleigh shone."
L. JOHNSON.

[Plate VIII. Oriel College and St. Mary's Church]

It is a curious coincidence that three of the most troubled reigns of
English history have been marked by double college foundations in
Oxford. That of Henry VI, in spite of constant civil war, threatening
or actual, saw the beginnings of All Souls' and of Magdalen; the
short and sad reign of Mary Tudor restored to Oxford Trinity and St.
John's; and in an earlier century the ministers of Edward II, the
most unroyal of our Plantagenet kings, gave to Oxford Exeter and
Oriel. The king himself was graciously pleased to accept the honour
of the latter foundation, and his statue adorns the College Quad,
along with that of Charles I, in whose day the whole College was
rebuilt. The front may be compared architecturally with those of
Wadham and of University, which date from about the same period (the
first part of the seventeenth century), when, under the fostering
care of Archbishop Laud, Oxford increased greatly in numbers, in
learning, and in buildings. Though Oriel has neither the bold sweep
of University nor the perfect proportions of Wadham, it yet is a
pleasing building, at least in its front.

Like New College, Oriel is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and, also
like New College, the name of "St. Mary's" early gave way to a
popular nickname. The College at once on its foundation received the
gift of a tenement called "L'Oriole," which occupied its present
site, and its name has displaced the real style of the College in
general use.