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All Souls College (in full: '''The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford''') is one of the constituent colleges of the University Of Oxford in the United Kingdom . All Souls is an oddity among Oxford colleges in that all its members automatically become Fellows, i.e., full members of the College's governing body. Every year, the top finalists of the University are invited to sit the examination for fellowship of the College. About two are elected to fellowship each year. Fellowship of All Souls is thus regarded as one of the highest academic honours in the United Kingdom. These Fellows are known as Prize Fellows, their term of office is seven years and roughly a dozen are at the college at any one time. Other categories of fellowship include Senior Research Fellows, Post-Doctoral Research Fellows, Fifty-Pound Fellows (open only to former Fellows no longer holding posts in Oxford) and Distinguished Fellows. There are also many Professorial Fellows who hold their fellowships by reason of their University post. It is one of the wealthiest colleges with an estimated Financial Endowment of £144m (2003). HISTORY The College was founded by Henry VI Of England and Henry Chichele (fellow of New College and Archbishop Of Canterbury ), in 1438. The Statutes provided for the Warden and forty fellows - all to take Holy Orders; twenty-four to study arts, philosophy and theology; and sixteen to study civil or canon law. Today the College is primarily an academic research institution. CUSTOMS Every hundred years there is a commemorative feast after which the fellows parade around the College with flaming torches, singing the Mallard Song ¹ and led by a "Lord Mallard" who is carried in a chair, in search of a fictional giant mallard that supposedly flew out of the foundations of the college when it was being built. The last mallard ceremony was in 2001 and the next will be held in 2101. :¹ Chorus: ''Hough the bloud of King Edward, By ye bloud of King Edward, It was a swapping, swapping mallard!'' (Compare with Terry Pratchett 's cruel but accurate parody, the Hedgehog Song .) FELLOWS
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