Cambridge is located about 60 miles (100 Km) from London. Its university was founded in the twelfth century by disaffected academics from Oxford University. The oldest building from that time is in St John's College but the oldest surviving college is Peterhouse. Cambridge and Oxford are similar distances from London: Oxford lies to the west and Cambridge to the north. The distance was sufficiently great that the ruling monarch could not travel from London to either town in mediaeval times in one day. This was an advantage for academics if the monarch acted on impulse and thought a few executions would boost morale!