This is a study of an Oxford college during its formative centuries which traces the history of Exeter College, from its first endowment by Walter Stapeldon, bishop of Exeter, in 1314 until the College's refoundation by Sir William Petre in the 1560s. This perceptive and meticulous account of the early history of Exeter College is not only a welcome contribution to Oxford history; it throws a distinctive light on the changing role of the graduate cadre in the development of England.