Frederick the Second

Frederick II studied at Aldergate for five years before he ran off to be Holy Roman Emperor. He wrote most of his “De Arte Venandicum Avibus” while he was at Curmantle College – quite an enlightened fellow,when he wasn’t off crusading.

Freddy's association with the University led to a certain amount of kerfuffle when he started feuding with Pope Gregory IX (the ungrateful creep). The really enduring legacy of that vendetta is Oxford University's claim to being the second oldest university - besides excommunicating Freddy on three separate occasions, Pope Greg refused to accredit Aldergate as a studium generale, and certain Oxonians claim that means we don't count.

Anyhow, Freddy endowed a small menagerie while he was at the University, and his donations built an observatory up near what's now Mount Borehole.