William Van Mildert Green, between the Castle and the Cathedral. These are currently in use by various departments of the university (principally law, music and a small portion of the University Library). William Van Mildert William Van Mildert (6 November 1765 – 21 February 1836) was the last palatine Bishop of Durham (1826–1836), and one of the founders of the University of Durham. His name survives in Van Mildert College, founded in 1965 and the Van Mildert Professor of Divinity. He was the son of Cornelius van Mildert, a gin distiller, and his wife Martha née Hill. Cornelius Van Mildert was the great-grandson
History of the University of St Andrews University of St Andrews owed its origin to a society formed in 1410 by Laurence of Lindores, abbot of Scone, Richard de Cornell, archdeacon of Lothian, and the later bishop of Dunblane, William Stephenson, among others. In 1411 the Bishop of St Andrews, Henry Wardlaw, issued a charter which attracted the most learned men in Scotland as professors. In 1413 Avignon Pope Benedict XIII issued six bulls confirming the charter and constituting the society a university. Lectures took place in various parts of the town until 1430, when Wardlaw allowed the lecturers the use of a building called the "Paedagogium",