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Why could Alexander Pope not attend an English university?
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Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope, portrait by Thomas Hudson, c. 1739; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Alexander Pope was unable to attend an English university because he was a Roman Catholic. During his lifetime, English universities did not admit Catholics, which precluded him from pursuing a formal course of higher education.1
This exclusion was part of a broader system of civil disabilities and discrimination against Catholics in Britain following the Reformation, often enforced through various Penal Laws. Because of these restrictions, Pope was largely self-educated, supplemented by training from Catholic priests and attendance at specific Catholic schools. It was not until the passage of the Universities Tests Act in 1871 that English universities were officially opened to Roman Catholics.213