View source for Queen's College - Queens' College

Each of the two ancient Universities in England (Oxford and Cambridge) has a [[College]] named after a wife, or wives, of [[English monarchs|kings]]. *The College in [[Cambridge]] is always written nowadays as a [[plural]] [[possessive]], '''Queens<nowiki>'</nowiki>''', to mark the fact that it was first founded, in 1488 by [[British royal consorts by name|Margaret of Anjou]], wife of [[King Henry#Henry VI|Henry VI]]; and later, in 1465, re-founded by [[British royal consorts by name|Elizabeth Woodville]], wife of [[King Edward#Edward IV|Edward IV]]. The College's formal title is ""The ''Queen's'' College of St Margaret and St Bernard, ''commonly called Queens' College'', in the University of Cambridge" (AWE's italics). The change reflects changes in the conventions surrounding the [[apostrophe]] which are explained in the page "That Apostrophe" on the College's own website, at [[http://www.quns.cam.ac.uk/page-237]]. (See also [[apostrophe (possession)]].)
*The [[Oxford]] College has always been in the singular form, '''Queen's College'''. It was named in honour of [[British royal consorts by name|Philippa of Hainault]], Queen of [[King Edward#Edward III|Edward III]], on its foundation in 1341 by her chaplain Robert de Eglesfield.

**Many other educational institutions throughout the anglophone world are known as '''Queen's College''', '''Queens' College''' or simply '''Queens College''', including '''Queens College''' of the City University of New York (CUNY), named for Queens, the [[Five Boroughs|borough]] of New York in which it sits (the borough was named for [[British royal consorts by name|Catherine of Braganza]], Queen of [[King Charles#Charles II|Charles II]]; '''Queen's University''' (formerly '''College''') Belfast, named for [[Queen Victoria]]; Queen's College of the University of Melbourne (named "in honour of the Queen's [Victoria] Jubilee"; Queens University of Charlotte (North Carolina, USA), named after the city, which was named for [[British royal consorts by name|Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz]], married to [[King George#George III|George III]]; schools such as Queen's College, London, a pioneering secondary school for girls and others in Hong Kong, Lagos, Nassau and so on.

 If you refer to any of these institutions, check its own preference for the punctuation of its name.

::See also [[Magdalen - Magdalene]], for another institutional name shared between Oxford and Cambridge - with subtle orthographical differences.

[[Category:academic culture]]
[[Category:UK culture]]
[[Category:ancient Universities]]