View source for Commoner (academia)

{{Short description|University student without a scholarship}}
{{distinguish|Commoner}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
A '''commoner''' is a student at certain universities in the British Isles who historically pays for his own tuition and [[dining hall|commons]],<ref name="Cambridge">{{cite web |url=http://www.quns.cam.ac.uk/Queens/Misc/jargon/CUjargon-all.html |title=Glossary of Cambridge jargon |author=Walker, R.D.H. |year=1997 |accessdate=18 April 2013}}</ref> typically contrasted with [[Scholarship|scholar]]s and [[exhibitioner]]s, who were given financial emoluments towards their fees.
==Cambridge==
[[File:Agar Cambridge MA etc 1815.jpg|thumb|Academics at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] in 1815: a pensioner sits at left, with two Masters of Arts (standing, in robes) and a [[sizar]] (the boy at centre).]]
Commoners were also known as '''pensioners''' at the [[University of Cambridge]]. Pensioners paid for their own tuition and [[dining hall|commons]].
A fellow‑commoner was a rank of student above pensioners but below noblemen. They paid double the tuition fee and enjoyed more privileges than pensioners, such as commoning with fellows. As fellow‑commoners had considerable wealth, they were ineligible for scholarships and paid fellowships at some colleges.<ref>Bristed, p. 133</ref> Fellow‑commoners who wore a hat instead of a velvet cap were known as hat fellow‑commoners. They were often sons of [[British nobility|nobility]] but not the eldest, who enjoyed the rank of "noblemen".<ref>Bristed, p. 17</ref> Today, a fellow‑commoner at Cambridge is one who enjoys access to the [[senior common room]] without a fellowship.<ref name="Cambridge" />
==Trinity College, Dublin==
Historically, most junior members of [[Trinity College, Dublin]] are commoners (or pensioners) who must pay for commons and tuition as distinct from [[Trinity College, Dublin#Scholarship|scholars]] and [[sizars]] who both receive free commons and, in the case of scholars, free tuition.
Formerly, there were also fellow-commoners (''Socii Comitates'' or, more likely, ''Sociorum Commensales''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=74MwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA15|title=Dr Ashley's Pleasure Yacht|year=2017|publisher=Lutterworth Press|isbn=9780718844851 |accessdate=19 November 2018}}</ref>) who paid twice the normal fees but could incept for their degree a year earlier, dined at the high table and wore velvet collars and sleeves. Above these were noblemen (nobles and sons of nobles) who paid four times tuition and were entitled to many privileges, including gold and silver tassels on their gowns.<ref>''Alumni Dublinenses'', Dublin, Alex. Thom & Co. Ltd., 2 Crown Street, 1935</ref>
==Oxford==
[[File:Shrimpton Oxford Gentleman Commoner 1885.jpg|thumb|Oxford Gentleman Commoner. From Shrimpton's Series of the Costumes of the Members of the University of Oxford (1885)]]
In the [[University of Oxford]], a commoner is a student without a scholarship or [[exhibition (scholarship)|exhibition]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ox.ac.uk/about_the_university/introducing_oxford/oxford_glossary/ |title=Oxford Glossary |year=2012 |publisher=[[University of Oxford]] |accessdate=18 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090311042409/http://www.ox.ac.uk/about_the_university/introducing_oxford/oxford_glossary/ |archive-date=11 March 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/organisation/history/oxford-glossary|title=Oxford Glossary |year=2018 |publisher=[[University of Oxford]] |accessdate=15 November 2018}}</ref>
A gentleman‑commoner at the [[University of Oxford]], equivalent to Cambridge's fellow‑commoner, was historically a rank of student above commoners but below noblemen. According to [[Merriam-Webster]], the first known usage of "gentleman‑commoner" was in 1687.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gentleman-commoner |title=gentleman-commoner |work=Merriam-Webster Online |publisher=[[Merriam-Webster]] |accessdate=18 April 2013}}</ref>
==See also==
{{wiktionary|commoner|fellow-commoner|pensioner}}
* [[Battel]]
* [[Servitor]]
* [[Sizar]]
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==References==
*{{cite book |last=Bristed |first=Charles Astor |authorlink=Charles Astor Bristed |title=Five years in an English university |url=https://archive.org/details/fiveyearsinengli01brisuoft |year=c. 1857 |publisher=[[G. P. Putnam's Sons|Putnam]] |location=[[New York City|New York]]}}
[[Category:Terminology of the University of Cambridge]]
[[Category:Terminology of the University of Oxford]]