Gresham College Opens

1594

The bequest of the merchant Sir Thomas Gresham opened a new London college in Bishopsgate offering free public lectures in divinity, law, astronomy, geometry, music, and physic. Gresham College drew scholars and mathematicians and would later provide the nucleus from which the Royal Society would grow. Free lectures in English opened advanced learning to London's mercantile class, creating the community that later formed the Royal Society.