Clare College, Cambridge /

Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs" (the back of the colleges that overlook the River Cam). The current Master is Tony Badger, Paul Mellon Professor of American History. Clare is consistently one of the most popular Cambridge colleges amongst prospective applicants. As of 2009, it had an endowment of around £50m. The college was founded in 1326 by the university's Chancellor, Richard de Badew, and was originally named University Hall. Providing maintenance for only two fellows, it soon hit financial hardship. In 1338, the college was refounded as Clare Hall by an endowment from Elizabeth de Clare, a granddaughter of Edward I, which provided for twenty fellows and ten students. The college was known as Clare Hall until 1856, when it changed its name to "Clare College". (A new "Clare Hall" was founded by Clare College as an exclusively postgraduate institution in 1966.) Clare's Old Court, a Grade I listed building, frames King's College Chapel