 Edward's approach to religion was normal for the period, and the historian Michael Prestwich describes him as "a man of wholly conventional religious attitudes". There were daily chapel services and alms-giving at his court, and Edward blessed the sick, although he did this less often than his predecessors. Edward remained close to the Dominican Order, who had helped to educate him, and followed their advice in asking for papal permission to be anointed with the Holy Oil of St Thomas of Canterbury in 1319; this request was refused, causing the King some embarrassment. Edward supported the expansion of the universities during his reign, establishing King's Hall in Cambridge to promote training in religious and civil law, Oriel College in Oxford and a short-lived university in Dublin.
