Blackfriars Private Hall is a Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford. It houses three distinct institutions: the Priory of the Holy Spirit, where Robert Gay is the current prior of the friars. Blackfriars Studium, the center of theological studies of the English Province of the Dominican Friars (although its students and lecturers include members of other orders and lay people). And Blackfriars Hall, one of the constituent educational institutions of the University of Oxford.
The name Blackfriars refers to a Dominican Friar’s house in Britain, a reference to their black habit known as the cappa. The current Regent of both the hall and studio is John O’Connor. Blackfriars was founded in 1221 and refounded in 1921.
Blackfriars Hall is a Permanent Private Hall, which means it is owned and managed by an external institution (in this case, the English Province of the Order of Preachers) and not by its fellows.
What is Blackfriars' Affiliation?
Blackfriars is Roman Catholic (Dominican). The Dominican Order of Preachers was founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III via the papal bull Religiosam vitam on 22 December 1216. Members of the order generally carry the letters OP after their names, standing for Ordinis Praedicatorum, of “of the Order of Preachers”.
What Degree Subjects Can you Study at Blackfriars?
Undergraduate degree subjects include PPE, Philosophy and Theology, and Theology.