The Hogwarts founders, also known as the Hogwarts Four, were a quartet of witches and wizards who established Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during the medieval era, in the 10th century. These four founders, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin, were widely described as being the most brilliant witches and wizards of the time. Each of them created their own House in Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, respectively. Students were divided into these Houses based on the virtues that each of the founders valued most in their students. They laid the foundations for the largest and most prestigious Wizarding school in Britain.