Balliol College ( /ˈbeɪliəl/), founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.
Traditionally, the undergraduates are amongst the most politically active in the university, and the college's alumni include three former prime ministers. H. H. Asquith (a Balliol undergraduate and British Prime Minister) once wryly described Balliol men as possessing "the tranquil consciousness of an effortless superiority....
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Balliol College ( /ˈbeɪliəl/), founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.
Traditionally, the undergraduates are amongst the most politically active in the university, and the college's alumni include three former prime ministers. H. H. Asquith (a Balliol undergraduate and British Prime Minister) once wryly described Balliol men as possessing "the tranquil consciousness of an effortless superiority." Adam Smith, a graduate student of the college, is perhaps its best known alumnus. As of 2009, Balliol had an endowment of £64 m.
The College was founded in about 1263 (leading some to argue that it is the University's oldest college, a claim contested by University College and Merton College) by John I de Balliol under the guidance of the Bishop of Durham. After his death in 1268, his widow, Dervorguilla of Galloway (their son and grandson both became Kings of Scotland) made arrangements to ensure the permanence of the college in that she...
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