ABSTRACT
Edmund Campion was among the first group of scholars at the restored college in Oxford, which Sir Thomas White dedicated to St John the Baptist on 24 June 1557. In 1554, Sir Thomas White was led 'by divine inspiration in a dream to restore this building'. Sir Thomas White, Sir William Chester and Anthony Hussey remained Campion's patrons in Oxford. Campion was summoned to attend to the dying founder and receive his dying wishes. Campion's funeral speech for Sir Thomas White is evidence both of Campion's rhetorical genius and of his remarkable gift for friendship. Campion is named in the earliest extant Foundation Deed of 5 March 1558, when St John's was a very small college. Campion attracted the patronage of monarchs, nobles, churchmen and merchants, and repaid it with warmth and affection. Campion's speech is a masterpiece of diplomacy, especially against the background of an interventionist Leicester.
