Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Mary and St Radegund by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely. The cockerel is the symbol of Jesus College, after the surname of its founder. From 1560 to 1860, Jesus College was primarily a training college for Church of England clergy.