Cambridge Apostles
The Cambridge Apostles, also known as the Cambridge Conversazione Society, is an elite intellectual secret society at Cambridge University, founded in 1820 by George Tomlinson, a Cambridge student who went on to become the Bishop of Gibraltar.
The society takes its name from the idea that its members are supposedly the 12 cleverest students at Cambridge. The active membership consists largely of undergraduates, though there have been graduate student members. The society traditionally centered around King's College and Trinity College, though this is no longer the case.
Undergraduates being considered for membership are called "embryos" and are invited to "embryo parties," where members judge whether the student should be invited to join. The "embryos" attend these parties without knowing they are being considered for membership. Becoming an Apostle involves taking an oath of secrecy and listening to the reading of a curse, originally written by Apostle Fenton Hort, the theologian, in or around 1851.
